They are also great for traveling easily and economically with older family members and in many cases the cheapest way to see some places (e.g. Tahiti).
In general, if you like eating, drinking and trinket shopping, they are ideal. You can make it what you want though. You don't HAVE to go on their excursions, and if you don't party the night away, you get a nice quiet ship for most of the morning.
I do tend to feel a bit bad about the (below deck) crews though. I am sure it's better than where they are coming from, but they seem to have a tough life on those.
In reply to aircooled :
we've met some really cool crew members over the years. wife and I thought about that 6 months on, 3 months off lifestyle.... but we couldnt have our pets.
bobzilla said:
wife and I thought about that 6 months on, 3 months off lifestyle....
No need for a cruise ship to do that, amiright?
Duke said:
In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :
Exactly. And it would cost what, half a million a year to sandbag it somewhere? If that?
If this is true, which I have no idea, it looks like you are off by a substantial amount.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/cruise-lines-could-store-ships-months-coronavirus/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20estimate%20the%20cost%20per,company%20said%20in%20the%20filing.
ShawnG said:
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:
I want to purchase one to start a BDSM cruise line called "cruising for a bruising" and we'll have our own private island to visit as a port of call, Knots Landing.
They already have those.
Or so I've heard.
No idea on the cruise ship, but I know in Negril, the Sandals resort is next to the "Hedoism" resort down the beach and Thanksgiving, they do "Spanksgiving"
Where a bunch of people you likely don't want to see with nothing but a G-string parade up and down the beach by all the other resorts.
Peabody
UltimaDork
10/23/20 4:05 p.m.
In reply to nderwater :
Not everybody knows about that...
Duke
MegaDork
10/23/20 4:14 p.m.
In reply to z31maniac :
Indeed. I figured a million a year - absolute tops - for what they're calling "cold layup" in that article. Looks like that's off by a factor of 10.
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:
Duke said:
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to NOHOME :
I was just looking into it. I'm amazed they are scrapping them considering they don't get E36 M3 for them for how much they cost new.
That's kind of what I was thinking. It can't cost that much to mothball one for a while, compared to scrapping it now and building new in 3-4 years.
I'm seeing tens of millions to billion to build one, and like 4-10mil in scrapping.
Having gone to many of the "Captain's Corners"- the old ships are just not efficient enough. And only part of that has to do with how much fuel they use. The big deal is that it actually costs the same to operate a 6000 passenger ship as it does a 4000 passenger one (ignoring food). Which means that the huge massive ships MAKE A LOT OF MONEY. And relative to the 2000 passenger ships that are being scrapped- the difference is pretty stark. Given the cost of operation, at some point, it's cheaper to build a brand new ship vs keeping an old one alive.
At least 2 of the ships being scrapped are 30 years old (speaking of the PullmanTur ships that used to be part of the RCI fleet). They cost a lot to just keep running.
Duke said:
In reply to z31maniac :
Indeed. I figured a million a year - absolute tops - for what they're calling "cold layup" in that article. Looks like that's off by a factor of 10.
I'm guessing it's like The Shining. Even with no guests, there are certain things that still need to be done very regularly to make sure it doesn't quickly turn into a rusty, barnacle floating at sea.
In terms of cruising- it's not for everyone. But it certainly is for quite a few people, including us. We have found them to be very fun.
Having met crew that spend their entire career there, I'm leaning to the side of "some crew are abused" but many others are treated really really well. Again, like passengers, life on a ship isn't for everyone. But it works well for very many.
Can't speak much for cruises, but my old man is a private chef on boats. Currently on 3 year trip from Seattle down to panama, back up to east coast, and then over to Europe. Private charters are booming business right now
Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:
I read a blurb about the cruise industry and where all the cruise ships have ended up. That lead to a little more digging and I came across this site.
www.marinetraffic.com
A little sorting and you find clumps of cruise ships anchored all over the world.
Bahamas Anchorage
Singapore Anchorage
They have sent their housekeeping employees home. Left the ship employees onboard and anchored them everywhere. They apparently cruise into port every month or so to stock up on consumables.
If you turn off all the filters, it is simply amazing how many ships are cruising the world.
That's a lot of ships.
I thought it was pretty interesting and figured I'd share.
this is so cool. i have time to waste...
11GTCS
Reader
10/23/20 6:18 p.m.
alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:
Duke said:
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to NOHOME :
I was just looking into it. I'm amazed they are scrapping them considering they don't get E36 M3 for them for how much they cost new.
That's kind of what I was thinking. It can't cost that much to mothball one for a while, compared to scrapping it now and building new in 3-4 years.
I'm seeing tens of millions to billion to build one, and like 4-10mil in scrapping.
Having gone to many of the "Captain's Corners"- the old ships are just not efficient enough. And only part of that has to do with how much fuel they use. The big deal is that it actually costs the same to operate a 6000 passenger ship as it does a 4000 passenger one (ignoring food). Which means that the huge massive ships MAKE A LOT OF MONEY. And relative to the 2000 passenger ships that are being scrapped- the difference is pretty stark. Given the cost of operation, at some point, it's cheaper to build a brand new ship vs keeping an old one alive.
At least 2 of the ships being scrapped are 30 years old (speaking of the PullmanTur ships that used to be part of the RCI fleet). They cost a lot to just keep running.
As a lapsed merchant mariner I can only hope and pray that there is never a serious fire or flooding casualty on one of these newer monster cruise ships. It won’t end well if something major happens with such a large passenger count. I spent enough time at sea to respect it and to expect the unexpected.
ShawnG
UltimaDork
10/23/20 6:52 p.m.
alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:
I'm leaning to the side of "some crew are abused" but many others are treated really really well. Again, like passengers, life on a ship isn't for everyone.
Every place I've worked, there has been at least one person, sooner or later who makes it hard on themselves or everyone else.
There's some people who would complain about finding a $100 bill because it wasn't new.
noddaz
UltraDork
10/23/20 7:21 p.m.
mad_machine (Forum Supporter) said:
good riddance, in my opinion. Who wants to get stuck on a ship with 7000+ guests all determined to have a good time and an unknown number of crew who are at their wits end trying to satisfy those guests.
A lot of people think racing is a waste of time and effort also. Almost everyone is entitled to an opinion.
Anytime I'm by the ocean, I go-to Marine Traffic to see what is near by. Prepare to lose track of time being on that site!
Cruises aren't for everybody and if you do go on one, you can make it what you want by doing nothing or everything. Cruises are a good deal in some cases. Two IMHO are going to Bermuda and visiting multiple places in the Caribbean in one trip.
Serious question for the cruisers, can one buy/consume cannabis legally on a cruise ship yet?
ShawnG
UltimaDork
10/25/20 12:41 a.m.
I have no idea.
Wife unit and I use Disney cruise line because the service is excellent and they have a "not allowed to be E36 M3faced on board" policy.
You can drink but there aren't really drink packages and there is no smoking except for a small area of the boat.
I enjoy a drink or two but I can't stand drunks, myself included.
preach
Reader
10/25/20 2:20 a.m.
Two pretty big cruise ships have been anchored off of San Diego since the COVID started.
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to NOHOME :
I was just looking into it. I'm amazed they are scrapping them considering they don't get E36 M3 for them for how much they cost new.
You think they took it on the chin like you or I would? Think again.
bobzilla said:
In reply to aircooled :
we've met some really cool crew members over the years. wife and I thought about that 6 months on, 3 months off lifestyle.... but we couldnt have our pets.
Look into crewing private yachts. That seems more enjoyable to me. There’s a couple of YouTube channels that show that.
In reply to Placemotorsports :
I was thinking the same thing. Or send them to a disaster zone for temporary housing.
A 401 CJ said:
bobzilla said:
In reply to aircooled :
we've met some really cool crew members over the years. wife and I thought about that 6 months on, 3 months off lifestyle.... but we couldnt have our pets.
Look into crewing private yachts. That seems more enjoyable to me. There’s a couple of YouTube channels that show that.
Since I don't swim and am the closest thing genetically to a vampire small yachts scare the poo outta me in open water.
bobzilla said:
A 401 CJ said:
bobzilla said:
In reply to aircooled :
we've met some really cool crew members over the years. wife and I thought about that 6 months on, 3 months off lifestyle.... but we couldnt have our pets.
Look into crewing private yachts. That seems more enjoyable to me. There’s a couple of YouTube channels that show that.
Since I don't swim and am the closest thing genetically to a vampire small yachts scare the poo outta me in open water.
Honestly, I would take a seaworthy 30 or 40 foot sailboat through a storm before I took any of those huge super cruise ships through one. they are not designed for bad weather.
