Thinking of a Cruise

[Brian Probetts (Site Admin)]

Thinking of a cruise? Have a look at Ellena and Ian's website....


http://www.merchant-navy.net/History/GoCruise.html

[Neville Roberts]

It would be a blast if we all could get together on a cruise ,reunion. the last one I did I had a bar bill that was larger than my fare, took a week to get over it .

[happy daze john in oz]

G'day Neville, know the feeling. We did one on a U.S. owneed ship with all bar prices in U.S. dollars. Fare per person for 10 days $1520. Bar bill $1750. All I wanted was a drink, not to buy the brewery.

[Duke Drennan]

I just did a cruise with Royal Caribbean last Oct, 7 days, ended up with a bill for just over $1400 and I DON'T DRINK !! Don't believe the old adage that once you buy your ticket, everything else is free.....that's crap.

[happy daze john in oz]

Every thing in life is free, until the bill arrives. $1400 is a lot of orange juice.

[karenml]

Is it me or do the Cruise Ships of today look really crude & not like what i class as a proper ship ! if that makes sense ! I live in Fareham which is right on the solent & my Husband goes to Southampton docks to deliver things to the big ships ! he often takes pics on his phone of the ships when there in port ! The Grand Pincess is the most ugly ship i have ever seen ! would post a pic of it but can only see the http link not option to upload or it just me being dumb !

[Neville Roberts]

the crews of today dont have the luxury of union or government controls , so they pay the crew as little as possible.Glan Phillips ex Captain, told me that they are garanteed $50 a month. think about that. when I left the merch in 65 we got 59 pound a month base pay . then sundays at sea and one day for every week away also overtime. so the tips you pay them makes up for what the company dose,nt. over all they make about $600 a week thats for aprox 70 hours a week , and more they adopted the USA system of tipping so too save money of the backs of the crews.its true the ships look like blocks of flats ,I dont think they could do continuose crossings of the oceans, I would like too see some of them cross the Atlantic in a winter storm. however ita a big market now and the ships are realy lavish and have a lot of things too do aboard. but its all about money ,money ,money $$$

[happy daze john in oz]

You are right about them not being able for rough weather, some onlyu sail in certain waters for that very reason. Many cabins are smaller than the ones we knew in our day but the public areas are very good, more like 5 star hotels than ships. Rates of pay appear to be a bit of a mystery. The chef on the cruise we did told me the crew, mainly Philipino are on six month contracts and earn from $50 to $150 U.S. per week tax free. The shape of most is I agree a bit different from what we knew, but if you are not a big drinker then it can be a reasonably priced holiday, but if you go dont be tempted to take an inside berth, unless you like sleeping in a dungeon.

[Terry Wilcox]

For all of you ex- sea going lads and lasses, and those still at sea. I would recommend The Thopson Spirit, My wife and I have had 7 cruises on the above ship, and I have had some great cruises, last year we went to Syria. 2 ports in Egypt, Israel, and Cyprus, had a great time, and at a reasonable price, all inclusive. I wonder why you do not see the ship or company advertised. Take care........Terry

[Ian Warren]

Hi Terry,

The Thomson Spirit is still around, and cruising to the Med and The Baltic's this summer. I don't think that Thomson tend to advertise their cruises as much as P&O and royal Caribbean, but there do seem to be some good deals about.

Ian