Packing for 4 Month Cruise

[TheOtherCruiser]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

Well, that is what you call jumping in with both feet. The humor here, unlike our general living scenario is a bit dry, but you will get used to it. Welcome and enjoy the forum. A common interest of the sea is all that is needed. There are some bias about cruise ship cruising, so you might want to hold off on declaring that as a passion. Some cruisers here (I won't name who) cruise on a budget that is, shall we say, rather limited and have found that certain destinations have in their eyes been spoiled by wealthy cruise ship patrons coming ashore and driving up the cost of a beer and other needed items.

LOL, I do tend to jump in with both feet. I thought your insights were interesting on the "other board" and certainly you seemed very welcoming. Guess I was surprised at the rather mean comments I found here about cruising folks and the lumping of everyone into one. Perhaps I followed the wrong thread link! I am not in a position to own my own boat with which I can sail the seas, as much as I would love to, and cruising gives me the chance to vacation on the water and show my kids at least a little of other countries and destinations in a relatively cost effective manner. Not to be sarcastic, but why are a love of the water from a cruise ship and a love of the water from a small vessel considered mutually exclusive? Can one not enjoy both? I have also been on sailboats and other smaller boats and would love to see the planet from one at some point.

I'm far from a "wealthy cruise ship patron," but I will apologize in advance as I have an upcoming college freshman who may by virtue of his age and stage of life soon be responsible for driving up the cost of beer in the ports!

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by TheOtherCruiser

LOL, I do tend to jump in with both feet. I thought your insights were interesting on the "other board" and certainly you seemed very welcoming. Guess I was surprised at the rather mean comments I found here about cruising folks and the lumping of everyone into one. Perhaps I followed the wrong thread link! I am not in a position to own my own boat with which I can sail the seas, as much as I would love to, and cruising gives me the chance to vacation on the water and show my kids at least a little of other countries and destinations in a relatively cost effective manner. Not to be sarcastic, but why are a love of the water from a cruise ship and a love of the water from a small vessel considered mutually exclusive? Can one not enjoy both? I have also been on sailboats and other smaller boats and would love to see the planet from one at some point.

I'm far from a "wealthy cruise ship patron," but I will apologize in advance as I have an upcoming college freshman who may by virtue of his age and stage of life soon be responsible for driving up the cost of beer in the ports!

I'm very glad you returned. Congrats on getting one off to college, I have to run for a second, taking care of my 92 year old dad, I'll return and re post to you.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by TheOtherCruiser

Not to be sarcastic, but why are a love of the water from a cruise ship and a love of the water from a small vessel considered mutually exclusive? Can one not enjoy both? I have also been on sailboats and other smaller boats and would love to see the planet from one at some point.

I'm far from a "wealthy cruise ship patron," but I will apologize in advance as I have an upcoming college freshman who may by virtue of his age and stage of life soon be responsible for driving up the cost of beer in the ports!

Got back in time to be the next post. What you said is just what I mean, "but why are a love of the water from a cruise ship and a love of the water from a small vessel considered mutually exclusive?" In my opinion it isn't. Let me lay out a scenario for you. You worked hard, raised the kids and got them through college and have even included a cruise or two for the kids. Now it is Empty Nest syndrone and you want to downsize your home. By enjoying this forum over the years, you decide to sell the home and purchase a catamaran (sorry mono folks) sailboat for live aboard in the marina and location of your choice. Then you start taking your new home out on day sails and a few overnighters. The next thing you know, you find yourself island hopping in the Caribbean and the kids (and their kids) want to fly down and spend some time on the hook with you. Geez, the next you know, you are a cruiser and doing the summer in the Med, winter in the Caribbean shuffle and your kids are all vying for time on the catamaran, because they sail flat, anchor flat, and have (4) staterooms.

Sound like a good idea?

[savoir]

. . . . . only if you are one of the kids.

[97fxdwg]

Originally Posted by TheOtherCruiser

Wow. I followed a link to this thread from deckofficer from "the other board" as I love water and am interested in learning to sail someday and he presented this board as a source of friendly knowledge.

Instead I find a group of people (on this thread at least) who amalgamate cruise ship passengers into obnoxious, fat, mindless, over-imbibing sheep (I could go on) and complaints about being forced to cruise free to a stunning destination that many will never have the opportunity to see from a cruise ship or otherwise.

I can promise you that your stereotype of cruisers is not representative of the entire group. I hope the comments on this thread are not representative of yours, either.

Nope, you were right. There is an inordinate number of negative, pompous know-it-all, If-you-do-it-different-from-me-then-you're-an-idiot types on this forum. If you don't think like they do, they'll grind you down until you leave. Just letting you know up front. However, there are a few helpful souls though and if you're willing to put up with the asses, you might get something good from it.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by 97fxdwg

Nope, you were right. There is an inordinate number of negative, pompous know-it-all, If-you-do-it-different-from-me-then-you're-an-idiot types on this forum. If you don't think like they do, they'll grind you down until you leave. Just letting you know up front. However, there are a few helpful souls though and if you're willing to put up with the asses, you might get something good from it.

Don't sugar coat it, tell it like it is. lol

[97fxdwg]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

Don't sugar coat it, tell it like it is. lol

Am I not tellling the truth?

[TheOtherCruiser]

Originally Posted by sarafina

If you are expecting big fans of the Cruise Ship Mode of Travel... well... frankly not so much. Not really our cuppa tea.

Not so much expecting fans... just wasn't expecting the clear disdain.

On the other hand, I went to Cruise Critic, appropriately, for information about what my experience might be like on an Alaskan cruise and was pretty much lambasted for presenting honestly my concerns about cruising and how that was going to work for me. And rather than satire and silliness, which is mostly what this thread has become as my friends have offered advice, both humorous and pertinant, I was greeted with very personal attacks.

Not defending Cruise Critic, I post there only rarely, and I have seen personal attacks, although not usually with honestly presented concerns about cruising and how it was going to work for someone. You seemed from here to be very much against it before you started.


And your comment about how ungrateful it is to not be over the moon with the opportunity to take a cruise ship (insert itinerary here) is typical. Just because you think cruising, in a huge combo malllasvegasresortfoodcourt, is a treat doesn't mean everyone will.

I certainly don't expect them to. But I don't bash people who would prefer to see the world from a smaller vessel, either. I don't frequent malls, Vegas, many huge resorts, or food courts (unless forced by my children, haha) either on land or at sea. But sitting in the middle of the ocean watching the water go by, in my own boat or on a ship, is the best thing I can think of. I'm not overly concerned with the size of the boat, I'm just so happy to be on the ocean.


I have a great deal of experience with online communities and forums and I have to say that while I have met folks on Cruise Critic who have been helpful and pleasant, and I have gathered a great deal of information that has been valuable in planning for our Alaska trip, over all I find it to be one of the worst moderated and virulent communities I have ever spent time on. You yourself may be the nicest guy in the world, I have no reason to think you are anything else, but the nastiness in the threads involving formal wear, this line or that line, enforcing alcohol policies, and children on cruise ships astounds me. It's not just newbies who get attacked. People attack each other like rabid piranhas!

Again, I never compared this to CC or how people are treated either place, and I don't participate in the endless "piranha" discussions about formal wear or people's children. I am usually there to find information so that we can get the most out of our ports and the local culture as opposed to hanging out at Margaritaville or whatever, which would not be our reason for being there.


Slavishly adores huge cruises no matter how well or badly they are staffed/priced/organized/provisioned seems to be pretty much the big picture over there. But I don't feel that just *being on a cruise ship* is a sufficiently wonderful enough thing to negate any expectations about the actual experience. And that was pretty much the most common message I got. As you yourself expressed, how dare I not be delighted?

Well, I dare ; -)

LOL, dare away, it's your right. You don't have to be delighted by the ship, and that wasn't my point. My point was that someone else is apparently paying for you to go to one of the prettiest places (IMHO) on the planet. That alone seems thrilling to me. You don't have to love the mode of transport, but it's not like they're forcing you to swim there in sewage infested waters. Alaska is amazing, truly, and I think once you see it you'll be able to overlook the the cruise experience (which you may just like if you let yourself) and enjoy that fact that you are there in such awesome natural beauty.

That said, if you have any questions I'd be happy to try to help in any way possible. I'm not an "over-imbibing, crowd-following" cruiser, lol. If I am ever fortunate enough to own a boat again, you can help me out with that.

[TheOtherCruiser]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

Then you start taking your new home out on day sails and a few overnighters. The next thing you know, you find yourself island hopping in the Caribbean and the kids (and their kids) want to fly down and spend some time on the hook with you. Geez, the next you know, you are a cruiser and doing the summer in the Med, winter in the Caribbean shuffle and your kids are all vying for time on the catamaran, because they sail flat, anchor flat, and have (4) staterooms.

Sound like a good idea?

All except for the part about letting my kids onboard, lol!

[deckofficer]

I've always been slow on the uptake if I'm getting flamed, cause I've got such an ego I think "they can't mean me" so happily oblivious. I had a new experience on a new forum to me, and found myself out of my element, but it was a learning experience, and that is always a good thing, right?

[TheOtherCruiser]

Originally Posted by 97fxdwg

Nope, you were right. There is an inordinate number of negative, pompous know-it-all, If-you-do-it-different-from-me-then-you're-an-idiot types on this forum. If you don't think like they do, they'll grind you down until you leave. Just letting you know up front. However, there are a few helpful souls though and if you're willing to put up with the asses, you might get something good from it.

LOL, guess that's that case with many forums. If I get a boat one of these days I guess I'll have to grow a thick skin and put up with it!

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by TheOtherCruiser

All except for the part about letting my kids onboard, lol!

In that case just tell the kids you have time shares in retirement facilities all over the world. Won't be a lie, and the kids as young adults will shy away from the "retirement facility". Just email them from paradise (wi-fi in lot of anchorages), tell them your kicking butt in shuffleboard and they'll leave you alone.

[sarafina]

Originally Posted by TheOtherCruiser

Not to be sarcastic, but why are a love of the water from a cruise ship and a love of the water from a small vessel considered mutually exclusive? Can one not enjoy both?

It seems contrary on the surface, doesn't it? I am sure there are people who beat the demographics on this issue and both enjoy liner cruising and sailing cruising as well. But I bet that Venn diagram is going to have a really really small intersection...

I would speculate that in general the kind of person who loves being on a (relatively) crowded, limited sail boat with a hull measured in tens of feet, not football fields, is not going to share a lot of common values with someone who views the finest vacation experience as being one where one does nothing for one's self more strenuous than ordering another cold one from the lido.

I expect that most cruise liner passengers would not think that the constant maintenance, course management, watch-standing, jury rigging and plain hard work of manning a small sailing vessel would be a very attractive activity.

The goal of most sailors who are cruising is to explore and experience the places they visit in a slow intimate way. For them the goal is not the destination, it's the journey. Which includes the satisfying and challenging experience of risk management and self-sufficiency that is a requirement of anyone sailing a small vessel.

I think most sailors view the somewhat hysterical cruise ship port calls as an adult equivalent of Disneyland. Many people, all croweded in a small area, standing in queues, paying a premium to experience what might be considered a facsimile of a real experience.

I know that here in San Francisco the cruise dock is along side pier 39 and fisherman's wharf, both venues viewed as tourist traps for the unwitting visitor who lacks the creativity or the time and resources to actually step into the city and experience it.

In contrast I really do not think that your average cruise liner tourist would be interested in the rigors of making port, dealing with port authorities, quarantine, documentation, fees and licenses needed to visit each new country.

Can you see how the demands of the two different modes of travel call for completely opposite mind sets?

It seems like a somewhat de facto situation. Would you expect the subset of people who love the symphony AND heavy metal to be very large?

I bet you might be in that small subset ; -)

[deckofficer]

Wow Sara, that came from the heart and made a lot of sense. Either you have a very eloquent thought process or you have been enjoying Humbolt County's finest! I hope your bet is correct and TheOtherCruiser fits that pencil thin cross section you speak of.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by 97fxdwg

Am I not tellling the truth?

Only from your perspective. People are people, now matter where you go. We do joke around a lot on here and some are just tooo serious to deal with it.