How has the popularity of cruises changed travel in Europe?

[Pauline]

I have never been on a cruise, so I condemn what I have no direct experience of, but I have talked to enough people to understand what a cruise is like. I don't like the way the cruise ship traveler experiences Europe and I don't like the affect cruises have on European destinations. Cruises have become very popular in the last decade. Many non-cruise travelers what the cruise ship schedules so they avoid visiting a place the same day that a cruise ship stops.

But, maybe cruise ships are just replacing tour buses? I am not a fan of fast travel tours either, on a bus zipping around Europe, 1 or 2 night stops in different places. Are cruise ships better than bus tours for seeing Europe?

I wonder if it isn't just the vast size of the cruise ships that makes me dislike them. I could see myself taking a river cruise.

CONS OF DOING A CRUISE IN EUROPE
- Money is kept out of the local economy because people do not stay in local hotels and eat in local restaurants.
- Each destination is a day trip, and I think you don't really get to know a place on such a short stay.
- You travel in a crowd.

PROS OF DOING A CRUISE IN EUROPE
- Similar price to a bus tour but you don't have to unpack every night in a different hotel room.
- Seeing Europe from the water is probably pretty interesting, since many of the main cities are ports.
- You don't have to learn the local language!

Any comments? I have been thinking about this after reading about the cruise ships going into Venice and I want to know what other Europe travelers think.

 

[Chris]

A couple who are my oldest and closest friends are veteran cruisers, and even after many long conversations over the years, I just don't get it. Their cruises through the Panama Canal make some sense to me, but their recent two-week cruise to Hawaii from LA seems crazy, with a proportion of something like 10 days on the open sea and 4 days in the islands. My friend emailed me that she liked the tour of "the volcano" and lunch in Waikiki. They did a Mediterranean cruise several years ago, and when I suggested that they might really enjoy spending some time sometime in Florence and Venice, she said they'd already seen them. On one-day excursions from the ship.

I guess it's just a matter of different priorities. They love sunning by the pool and dressing up for dinner and dancing. She says it's similar to staying in a vacation rental because they don't have to keep moving their stuff and they always know where they will have dinner.

I agree with you, Pauline, about the river cruises. The Danube cruise always looks appealing to me, although another friend who did that last year hated the restriction of having to be back to the ship at a certain time and said she'd never do it again.

 

[Jerr]

I have only been on a cruise once and that was the cruise of the Greek islands that I won. We did combine it with slow travel though by renting an apartment in Athens for 10 days before we set sail. I can not say that I loved the cruise but I didn't hate it either. It was a small ship and so it was able to go to ports that other shops do not. I did enjoy the fact that we saw a number of islands over a period of time. I know where I want to go back. I know where I do not.

We only went on one of the package tours, preferring to research and do our own thing.

One of the things that was a problem was that there was a group of folks from a country I will not name but it was like being stuck in an episode of Coronation street. They were rude, crude, loud, and felt the need to criticize anyone who didn't look like them. At one point we thought a group of Brazilians on board were going to toss them overboard.

I sometimes think that fast travel isn't such a bad idea for the first time you go to a country - you get a taste of the various places that you want to go back and explore in depth.

One of my good friends turns 50 in a few years and she has informed me that we will be celebrating with a Caribbean cruise so I guess I'll have another go at it.

 

[Kathy]

When I was eight years old, our family moved to Australia for four years and we traveled there on a 350 passenger cruise ship, a trip of 3+ weeks. At the end of the four years, we traveled back to the USA on the same cruise line, a different route up through the South Pacific. These were fantastic experiences I still remember vividly... the great meals and fun on the ship (we were many days at sea without a stop) as well as the ports of call at places like Bora Bora and Fiji.

I've never been on a cruise since, though Charley and I have talked about perhaps one day doing one of the river cruises on a small boat. I also think a Windjammer-type cruise would be fun. At one point we looked into doing a boat cruise around the Croatian islands in a "gulet," but this would have been a very small boat. (Eventually we decided that it would be too small and we weren't into sunbathing and stopping to swim and snorkel.)

For some people I think the Mediterranean cruises provide a "sampler," a way to get a taste of many different places. We've had people in our Luberon Experience groups who first visited Provence while on a Mediterranean cruise and did a day trip here when the ship docked in Marseille. They liked what they saw and wanted to come back and stay longer.

I don't like the way that the big cruise ships dump so many people into a small place for a short time. We spent a week in Dubrovnik a few years ago, a place that is too small for the big ships that stop there for a day. The thousands of cruise ship people jammed the little streets and then all these people waited in long lines to be transported back to their cruise ship. The cruise ship traffic was a big negative of Dubrovnik to me... it took away the charm of a beautiful little city.

I know there are "different strokes for different folks," and I can see that a cruise can be easy and relaxing for many people. However, I think some of the ships are just way too big and totally unnatural, and I hate to see the impact on places like Dubrovnik and Venice.

 

[Shannon]

There are cruises (mammoth, cheap, booze cruise, Costa comes to mind) and the smaller more intimate cruises with way less people on board.

Those giant cruise ships make me sick to my stomach whenever I see one. Besides the obvious total lack of regard for the environment or the total disregard of the quality of life for the local people, there is what I consider to be a "dumbing down" of food and products wherever these behemoths decide to land. Gone are the butchers and bakers and real artisans in areas where the cruisers have taken over - in their place are gift shops filled with the cheapest and ugliest Chinese crap. There were always tourists, but at least the locals could get around them.

Imagine all the trash these things generate - where does it all go? The cruise ships even hand out bottled water to people as they leave the ship. Can you imagine a cruise with 3000 people, and every day they get a bottle of water to bring to shore. So on a busy cruise ship day in Dubrovnik, when there are 3 or 4 ships there, that is 12,000 empty plastic bottles. IN ONE DAY. IN ONE CITY. Thinking of it kind of grosses one out.

I am not carbon footprint free - I fly instead of taking the train. But I have a refillable water bottle, I recycle wherever I can, I contribute to the local economy of wherever I am staying. I am not so sure the cruise industry bothers to do any of this, and that is sad.

 

[artnbarb]

We've cruised a few times, and many years ago I took a Caribbean cruise with my parents and siblings. For the Caribbean cruises we visited a variety of places we never would have visited on our own, but now, with a total of 2 Caribbean cruises under my belt I know I'd never want to do another (in the Caribbean).

Art and I have also taken 2 transatlantic cruises from Europe back to the states. I loved the first week when we had stops every day and got to discover places like Marseille, Barcelona, Cadiz, Funchal and Tenerife. The second week of the TA cruise was pretty boring for me since I'm just not a sit-around-the-pool kind of person. Both times we chose the TA cruise because it was cheaper than airfare, we had the added benefit of the ports of call, and of course we arrived in the U.S. with NO jetlag. If I had my choice I'd prefer to cruise TO Europe just to avoid the jetlag! As others have mentioned, we did discover places we wanted to explore further, like Barcelona, but on the day the ship stopped in Livorno we skipped the (too long, imo) trip to Florence since we'd been numerous times for much longer periods.

Another reason we took the TA cruises was to fulfill a dream of mine, inspired by "An Affair To Remember" to cruise to England. At one time the dream was to fly the Concorde to England and cruise back but sadly that never happened. When we stumbled across a 2 week TA from Rome to Ft Lauderdale one year in late November, for the incredible price of $699 we decided that would have to do - but of course I'd still like to cruise to England, especially since it's a much shorter trip.

Anyway, in general we're not cruisers, but know many friends who are addicted to cruising. If you live in Florida or other places where the ships depart apparently there are great deals.

As we've become more aware and educated we dislike the idea of huge ships disgorging thousands of people into a city each day.

We met a couple last summer who'd been on a European river cruise, and I got the impression that they weren't big fans. Since I already know for sure that I'd like to visit most, if not all, of the ports of call, that's not something we'll ever do, and the same goes for Med cruises. The idea of a gulet (sp?)cruise, with 8-10 people, visiting remote locations sounds appealing.

 

[Fmax]

My vacation of choice over the years has been cruise. I don't like sea/sand vacations so all inclusive vacations don't appeal whereas the cruise allows me to travel with friends who can do their sun/sea days in port if they wish, and I can do tours of the local areas etc. The service has always been excellent, there's generally lots to do for all ages. My friend recently went on one with her son and they spent most of the time at the waterslide and poolside whereas I'm generally never on that deck when cruising.

Both a med cruise and a greek isles cruise (starting from Venice) i did years ago, is the reason I'm vacation in Italy this year as I knew I wanted to spend more time exploring certain areas. When cruising the Med ports, I organized tours with local tour companies at every port, eat in local restaurants etc. Often for europe the main sites are far enough away from where the ship docks, that many will not go back to ship for lunch.

There are cruiseboards, similar to this one, where cruiselines, cruiseships, ports of call etc are all discussed. Many experienced cruisers want to go the route of local tour companies and out of the way places and not the general large bus cruise tours organized by the ship. Also many will choose the "do it yourself" route, utlizing local transportation etc.

It definitely gives people a taste of europe and where they might want to revisit for a longer period of time. I know that I wouldn't contemplate a bus tour (get motion sick in car/bus), dubious about driving in europe, so a cruise is the perfect way for me to discover new places especially in the limited time I would generally have for vacation... north america is definitely behind in that respect.

I definitely agree that ships are getting way too large and they should definitely limit europe to the smaller ships as its too many people to drop off in the area in one day. Although hotels don't get the business, it's maybe not business they would have anyway if the tourists chose not to visit, if not by cruiseship. I do believe they do add to the economy of the area, but definitely more work should be done by cruiseships, cruiseports and cities to ensure the most positive outcome possible for all.

 

[Pauline]

Thanks for the post Fmax, you present the positive sides of cruising.

I have been thinking about this, and my main criticism that you only see places as a day trip is not valid . When you do Slow Travel, staying in a vacation rental for a week, you get to experience one place in depth, but you spend some of your days doing day trips to other places. If you stay near Siena, you see Siena as a day trip. How is that different than the person on a cruise who sees Venice as a day trip?

Maybe it has to do with the size of the place. Most Slow Travelers would spend a week or more in Venice because it is a large place, with much to see and do. They would not do a day trip to Venice. But I have done day trips to Florence (and don't recommend it - stay in Florence).

My main complaint is a personal one. I don't like large hotels, high rises or crowds and those cruise ships seem have all these elements. I picture a tsunami of tourists going into a town from one of these ships. Shannon, that is interesting to think about all those plastic water bottles.

I think that cruise ships have changed Europe travel, making it easier for more people to do easier travel to specific places.

Dana mentioned in the Venice thread that tourist numbers are increasing because of the traveling Chinese and Indians. This is also changing travel in Europe. The popular destinations are more crowded now. So we non-tour-bus and non-cruise-ship travelers will have to seek out secondary destinations, that the crowds have not reached (yet).

Edited to add: And I don't like boats! I would much rather drive or take trains.

 

[KeithfromVA]

Many years ago, we cruised on what we then considered a large ship (2000 passengers) and didn't like it. Each meal felt like a cattle call. I find it hard to believe that there are now ships with 5000 passengers and I know we wouldn't enjoy that. Two years ago, I was convinced to try a smaller ship (450 passengers). We really enjoyed the experience -- for the intimacy, customer service, good food and wine. The port stops are like daytrips, but even shorter in some instances. However, I realize as I get older that I'm not going to be able to spend a week or two in all the places I'd like to experience. Visiting them from a pleasant small ship is a reasonable compromise -- plus I get to sleep in the same bed each night.

 

[Fred]

It's interesting to hear the variety of opinions on cruising, which, understandably, would not have a chorus of kudos among those gravitating to Slow Travel. I am a veteran cruiser and enjoy the experience for the positives aptly described by a minority of my fellow scribes. Cruising is a mode of travel which unquestionably delivers a rapid fire approach to many of the world's finest ports, large and small. I can certainly sympathize with those averse to these staccato rhythms so diametrically opposed to the essence of a leisurely stay in a vacation rental, but I can also say I have seen the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets over coastal islands, magnificent views of famous harbors from Sydney at dawn to Rio at dusk, not to mention the more intimate anchorages from Italy to Greece to the Croatian coast. Yes, these are all short-lived experiences but indelible memories which can only be experienced from the decks of a ship, and cruising makes them most accessible. While, if I had to choose, an extended stay in a favorite Italian venue would take precedence, I am grateful for all the world's marvels I have been fortunate to see, if even for a day.

 

[italian excursion]

This is a very lively discussion and seems to have touched on all the salient points. I don't think, besides my personal opinion, I can add anything new to what you all have said. Being an optimist for the most part it's still difficult for me to see much about cruises that is appealing. Not to mention I get terribly sea sick on any size boat!

I think the one thing that might touch close to a positive note is that most cruise lovers would likely never get to Europe if they didn't do by that mode of transport. Although, that might also be considered a good thing by some of us who prefer less people around when we travel!

Well, I doubt they are going away anytime soon. And the germ factor will keep me away, for sure.

Ciao,
Cheryl
www.italianexcursion.com