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I take it then that you don't fancy a jolly rodgering! Aye aye captain, it be your turn in the barrel Jim lad, fetch me another boy, this ones split.

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They didn’t show that bit because it was before the “watershed” but it’s pretty obvious that’s how some of the crew must while away the time below deck. I have “cruised” but that was just son and self around the Inner Hebrides in a 6.4 metre boat. If you like frightening experiences that’s the way to do it!

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I would like to try an Atlantic crossing aboard a liner.  I don't mean. Butlins type cruise just a nice sea crossing.  Mrs Loppy won't have any of that.  Says she can't swim and the name on the ship would probably be Titanic.

 

I wonder if anybody ever even travels that way anymore between the UK and USA in these days of cheap airfares.  They are ok if you don't mind being stuck in a flying sewer pipe for six hours or so.  ;). The QE,s look pretty good.

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Several years ago, a friend of mine found a merchant shipping company that had several berths for passengers. It originated from Sweden I believe, and he sailed to many European ports, but the highlight was across the Atlantic to South America. He said the food and comfort were as good as any cruise ship he gad been on, and the service and cleanliness were exemplary. Also, no shops, discos, second rate entertainment, and casinos. However there was a superb lounge bar. 

Re cruising the Med. the thing is to choose a small ship, not some floating city with 3,000+ others. I sailed the Med over thirty years ago, on a small ship with only 350 passengers. Superb !

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FLY2 is spot on in cruising the Med. If you want to see how proper cruising is done you need to drop down here to the Riviera, especially Monaco and Cannes. Butlins it most certainly ain't - more like the Ritz. Not called the billionaire's playground for nothing - used to be termed the millionaire's playground but millionaires are two a penny these days. I would say that any vessel that holds more than 200 is too big to get a reasonable vacation without encountering rejects from Jeremy Kyle.

 

Please don't think just because I live near these super luxury places that I am a billionaire. I live slightly inland where there is a rapid fall-off in the cost of living compared with being close to the sea.

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I regularly visit Southampton, and always park either in the West Quay or the Pier CP's, so I pass the liner terminals, and although the gigantic cruise ships I see are superb, it just seems to fill me with dread having to spend time with over 3,000 others. Can you imagine disembarking at some port, struggling to alight with wheelchairs, old folks, kids, ostentatious show off's ?

On the smaller ships, everything is more relaxed, friendly, unhurried, casual and less regimented.

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I quite often went out in a hired rowing boat at Trent Bridge when I was young. Has that all stopped now because of elf & Safety?

 

I remember seeing a dead sheep in the water trapped in the rushes on the bank. It was all inflated and looked ready to explode!

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Has anyone actually been on any of the large cruise ships? I was dragged on to one quite a few years ago now, cursing "floating breeze blocks!", "floating Butlins!", "pretentious t***s!", "floating hotels!" .... absolutely loved it!

 

Comfortable accommodation, attentive staff (that guy on the telly is a one-off!), the sort of food you'd pay a fortune for (steak, lobster, you name it). Mind you, you CAN pay a fortune for drinks, but on P&O bottled stuff like Doombar, Speckled Hen (they have a "real ale" menu) is under £4.00 a bottle.

 

Plenty do do. Hilarious drunken games of shuffleboard, interesting lectures, climbing walls, ice shows, swimming pools. What's not to like. AND you don't have to be with the other 000's of passengers - go out early, get back early and have the ship virtually to yourselves until sailing.

 

Going to San Fran and Alaska in June. Can't wait!

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10 minutes ago, jonab said:

I quite often went out in a rowing boat at Trent Bridge when I was young. Has that all stopped now because of elf & Safety?

Yes, I think now you must have at least two lifejackets each, and four manned lifeboats in tender and distress flare's. Oh and show certification of suitable training before being allowed to think about getting into a boat.

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Me and the mrs went on a taster cruise to Bruges, Le Havre and Cherbourg in 2016 and thoroughly enjoyed it. This year we're going to see the Norwegian Fjords and can't wait. Each to their own I say.

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The only cruise I’ve been on was a short return trip Southampton to Hamburg on QM2 a couple of years ago. It was great fun as we were a party of 60, all from Nottingham, celebrating a friend’s 60th birthday.  The ship is so big and it was easy to get lost but always easy to find someone we knew in one of the bars.  Had a great day in Hamburg too.

5 years ago we ALMOST made it onto a 3 week Silver Seas cruise up the west coast of South America from Santiago in Chile, stopping at several ports, through the Panama Canal and disembarking in Ft Lauderdale. Literally the day before we were due to pay for the trip my husband was diagnosed with ‘aggressive’ Prostate Cancer and he was advised to start treatment straight away.  We saved thousands by not going on the cruise but it was a worrying time.  Thankfully he recovered fully so we’ll possibly look into booking a similar cruise in the future.  The Silver Seas cruiseline does have smaller ships which I’m sure is a better bet than the enormous  Disney ships I’ve seen in Caribbean ports. 

Some friends have asked us to go with them on a gulet in Turkey this summer. They look great but once again my husband’s health is interfering with plans, he’s having a knee replacement in a month’s time!! Anybody else experienced gulet holidays?

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Did a large number of cruises in the 60/70s Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Ocean , Barents sea, (Don't tell the Russians) Arctic, Med Still have a photograph of a group of us on the Ice whilst surfaced near to the North Pole. Travelling for HM Government in pressurised tubular steel at the time non of the comforts  seen on the cruise though.

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A submariner eh?!!  Don’t think I could cope with being in a submarine for weeks on end, sounds too claustrophobic to me. Just as I can’t imagine working down a pit, but that’s a thing of the past in Notts, 

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Strangely enough I went down the pit at Calverton when I was at school despite the fact that there was lots of jobs on offer I decided it wasn't for me so I joined the RN and ended up in Submarines . The attraction was the 2/6 a day extra pay 

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Deeps...... Coal mines and submarines.... being under the surface obviously appeals to you.  Like Lizzie I would feel claustrophobic in both places.  Even when going into the Castleton caves, it makes me feel a bit weird, especially in Speedwell cavern when the boat leaves you alone standing on rock at the far end while it goes away to turn round.

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6 minutes ago, catfan said:

Down Gedling colliery years ago there were some roadways where you could drive a double decker bus ! How you would get a DD bus down the pit is another question !

Did 2 1/2years down gedling, you would be referring to the roadway to the top hard seam. Most of the others, a10, a17s were quite a bit lower.

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Catfan.... Take the bus down in bits and build down there.  :biggrin:

 

Here is a classic example of a thread drifting a bit off the original topic which was cruises, but the digression is interesting, informative and a bit of fun.

 

If one is strictly interested in ship cruises steer the topic back and don't bother to read the ones you are not interested in.  Simple. :)

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