Fighting Cruise Misconceptions

It’s a sad thing, a really sad thing, but can you believe that some people don’t have any desire to cruise? In fact many people WILL NOT cruise. Why? Some had a bad cruise previously (I have heard some rumors, that this phenomenon, “bad cruises”, does actually exist…though I have my doubts), some people are afraid of stepping off land, and then there are even more who buy into the ridiculous misconceptions about cruising and the cruise industry. DON’T LISTEN TO THOSE MISCONCEPTIONS!! CRUISING IS GREAT!!!! GREAT I TELL YOU!!!! ……really I am not biased at all. ;)

This blog is here for one sole purpose, to express my love of the cruise industry, ships and cruising. I feel that because of this, I must fight this beast of wrong ideas and misconceptions. If someone sees this article, and decides after reading it, that they will forget about their baseless reservations, and cruise, well then, I will have made a difference in the world, and sent someone on a great vacation! However, that said, I always try and be honest with you, my readers, about the realities of ships and cruising…the good, the great, and the ugly (which I will admit…there is sometimes ugly in regards to cruising).

The funny thing about some of these misconceptions is that they, in fact, have historical basis. Ideas like structured schedules, tiny rooms, violent seasickness and nothing to do, all had some truth back in the olden days. Admittedly, though, there are still some small traces of this around. For example, structured schedules...they do still partially exist on some ships, but not in the way some people fear. On a cruise you can do what you want, when you want, but there still is a schedule in the sense that onboard activities, shows and sometimes dinner, happens at a set time. In the case of dinner, many cruise lines will assign you to either early, or late seating schedules, meaning you either eat at 7:00, or later at 8:30 (I made up those times by the way, the actual times vary), and this is only in the main dining room.

A few years back, NCL started a new concept in cruise ship dining that they called, “Freestyle Cruising”. With this new concept, NCL did away with the traditional big main dining room and seating times, opting instead, for many smaller restaurants. This in turn allows their passengers to eat where they want, when they want, and with who ever they want (I think I should point out that many, if not most cruise lines, may assign you to a table shared with other passengers, though you can opt out of this), much like land based restaurants.

There are a lot of difficulties with this concept (NCL found that out the hard way), like longer wait times to be seated, more restaurant staff, and other organizational problems that I won’t go into right now. That said, Freestyle Cruising has overall been successful with passengers, and NCL seems to have found its groove in regards to it. Though there were problems at first, NCL is now getting pretty good reviews, and people seem to like the Freestyle concept.
Now due to its success, other cruise lines have launched their own (but scaled down) version of it. Basically when you book your cruise, you can opt either for traditional seating arrangements, or you can opt for to eat when it suits you (as long as it’s during dinner hours). There are many people on both sides of the issue, who like it one way or the other. My point in telling you all this is to show you that while, yes, there is still a schedule onboard ships nowadays, there is also flexibility and choice.

On to my next misconception, tiny rooms, or cabins, as I call them (some say staterooms)... Cruise ship cabins can be small. The standard hotel room that most people are used to, are bigger (sometimes by a lot) then the standard cruise ship cabin. The reason for this is obvious…space on a ship is limited; therefore, cabins are made to be compact. This does not mean, however, that you will be cramped or uncomfortable in one. Actually quite the opposite is true. Cabins are designed to be compact, yet still feel roomy and bigger than they actually are, while being very comfortable. Some are small (and feel that way) but I think that is the exception. Also worth noting, unless you have an amazing suite, you really won’t be spending a lot of time in your cabin anyway.

(Above photo, Norwegain Epic's single person 'Studio Cabins' are small at only 100sq ft)

This tiny room misconception though, again has some historical basis. There are some old ocean liners, and even older cruise ships, that had/have cabins that are legendary for their small size. QE2 (Queen Elizabeth 2) had rooms that accommodated 2 people, their stuff and a full bathroom all in just 100sq ft…that is pretty tiny. These tiny tiny rooms though are simply not the case in the modern cruise industry anymore (except for maybe the Norwegian Epic SEE HERE http://shipgeek.blogspot.com/2010/06/epic-update.html). Small and compact rooms, yes, but not tiny.

Ok next!!!! Seasickness...Once described as “not sick, but going to be”, seasickness is miserable and does still happen. The problem is that no matter how big a ship gets, if Mother Nature wants to throw that ship around, it can, and unless you have your sea legs and a strong stomach…you can definetely get seasick. But fear not, there is hope for those with a weak constitution!

For the most part, ships always try and avoid harsh weather, thereby keeping the ship on flat, calm waters. On top of this, ships are built today with advanced stabilization technology, such as stabilizers. These mechanisms are basically wings that jut out from the hull of the ship below the waterline, in rough weather. When the ship starts to roll, these wings (or fins as they are more usually called) pivot and move which forces the ship into a counter roll, cancelling out the ships rolling motion. Stabilizers are able to cut a ships roll by over 90%! After this, if you still find your self feeling queasy, there are several other ways to fix that…

All cruise ships have a hospital onboard and a doctor(s) to oversee it. In the event that someone gets seasick onboard, the doctor can give you a shot that will help you. The only negative side effect is that you might start to feel drowsy after awhile. Other than the doctor, there are several drugs on the market that will help, such as less drowsy-Dramamine, Bonine, or for some people, Benadryl. With these medicines, drowsiness can still be a side effect, which some people don’t mind, but there are also some other solutions. Seasickness patches work very well for some people and do not cause drowsiness. One woman I met recently down in San Pedro (she herself is prone to seasickness) swears by them. On top of that there is also ginger, or ginger pills, which I have heard is one of the most reliable solutions.

It should be noted that everyone is different and no one thing, or drug, works for everyone. You have to figure out which one works best for you. It's also important to note that most people (even those prone to it) never get seasick on a cruise. Cruise ships are extremely comfortable and steady nowadays.

There are many other misconceptions about cruising. I won’t write about them here, as I wrote about them in a previous article (SEE HERE http://shipgeek.blogspot.com/2011/01/man-goes-overboard-fire-norovirus.html).

Though I will mention a couple more I do hear a lot....inceberg and tidal waves...Some people are afraid of cruising because they have seen Titanic and the Poseidon movies, and are convinced that this could happen to them. First of all, the Titanic disaster happened almost 100 years ago (just over 99 years to be precise) and ship design and ship safety have come a long way since then. You will not crash into an iceberg and sink and die like the Titanic (on most cruises the only ice you will see is the ice in your ice cold fruity drink). Secondly, the Poseidon movies…please, take these movies with a grain of salt. Cruise ships have been hit by rouge waves before and have come out fine. Even little ships have been hit and survived. Rouge waves will not flip your ship like in the movies. It will list momentarily but flip it will not. Not to mention that the size of the wave in the movies is pretty much impossible (or at least a wave 200 ft tall has never been recorded).

Interesting fact is that the RMS Queen Mary was the ship used in the original Poseidon Adventure. In the movie the ship flips over but in reality this wouldn’t have happened. The Queen Mary while serving as a troop ship during WWII, and carrying thousands and thousands of soldiers, was broadsided by a huge 90ft rouge wave. The ship leaned over very close to the tipping point (about 52 degrees over…about 3 to 4 degrees from her estimated “point of no return”), but in the end was able to right herself, and continue on with her voyage with no fatalities (though there were a few injuries I believe).

And while there are a couple of cases of modern cruise ships getting hit by rouge waves, like the Bremen (which lost power and propulsion for 2 hours) or the small Caledonian start, (which was damaged but sailed on) this is really, really unlikely to ever happen on your cruise. In both these cases, both ships survived, no one was killed and both are still cruising successfully.

That’s it for right now. While I am not sure if my arguments here are enough to convince people that cruising is fun, and most of all safe, at least I have tried. And I hope that the people who see this blog, will consider a cruise vacation. Just go and relax. Be smart but don’t be worried that at any moment you might get killed by a 300ft wave. You won’t, I promise you. And if you are afraid of icebergs...cruise in the Caribbean. Problem solved (even though you are perfectly safe even in icy waters)!

I would suggest, though, that you don’t go to Hawaii for your vacation………you might get blown up by a volcano. ;) ;)

(One of Royal Caribbeans great Voyager Class ships anchored at RCI's privet resort, Labadee)