*~ Cruising (travel by Waterways) megathread ~*

Ladycurvy wrote: »

....... My question and concern is that after reading some of the reviews on cruise critic is that because MSC is an Italian company the focus is NOT on the English speaking and there are VERY few Irish & English on board (which wouldn't be the main issue for me) but the main area of concern is that some reviews say that because the majority of the passangers on board are Italian that all the announcments and the entertainment is in Italian and even the KIDDIE CLUBS are not through English - which would be a disaster for us with our 5 year old!! (One English family report that even the Movie nights in the kiddie club was in Italian too!!:eek::eek:)

Beware of reading reports from British people, they hate foreigners anyway. They probably should have gone with Cunard or Fred Olsen who provide a 'British' cruise experience and you don't have to mix with Johnny Foreigner.

I was on an MSC cruise in 2010, the passengers were about 40% German, 40% Spanish and the rest a mix, including a few British and Irish. We had absolutely no problem with language for the basic reason that the waiters who were assigned to our table in the dining room spoke English, the cruise newsletter delivered to our cabin every night was all in English and if you went to the reception desk, most of the staff spoke English.

While MSC is an Italian line, there is almost nothing specifically 'Italian' about the ships, the staff are from all over the world (every member of the staff had a badge with their name and country of origin) and the cuisine is general European. There are almost no announcements over the PA system.

Can't speak about kiddies club but I never got the impression that English-speaking people were at a disadvantage on an MSC ship and would have no hesitation going on another cruise with them.

coylemj wrote: »

Beware of reading reports from British people, they hate foreigners anyway.

The last two cruises I've been on have focused on all languages of the passengers. So the music entrainment is mostly in English, but the stage announcers talk in Spanish, Italian and English.

I speak both Spanish and English, so it's funny to see how it translates from one to another at the start, but a few days in it wears thin as a 5 minute standup piece takes 15 mins to get through.

efc67 wrote: »

Having come off the Explorer of the Seas 10 days ago after a 10 night cruise around the Carribbean.........Caught in a storm for 3 days...gusts of up to 135 mph, 28 feet waves....windows on ship getting smashed by the waves onboard pools closed for 6 days of the cruise, ship moved that much that you had to hold onto something to keep standing....then to top it off...missing out on Haiti because of delay caused by storm........it wasn't that much fun

That wouldn't be fun - Sorry to hear your holiday was so rough. Did the crew do alot to keep you entertained?

Reati wrote: »

That wouldn't be fun - Sorry to hear your holiday was so rough. Did the crew do alot to keep you entertained?

Crew were great and the food was top class....had a good time apart from that.....you can now buy drinks packages on RC....beer package is $45 a day...and beer,spirits and cocktails is $55 a day, you must take the package for every day your on the cruise.....they also do a soda package....great for kids, think it was $60 for the 10 days we were on there

Blamed out..... Have you ever cruised before?

Probably too late now, but for what its worth, I went on Honneymoon on MSC Fantasia, and there were only 3 English speaking couples on the whole ship, and we were searted together at mealtimes, it was definitely aimed for Italian market, and they seemed to be having a ball - Going RCC Liberty of the Seas this year with 4 kids in tow, and yes its very expensive

2 summers ago I was on MSC Fantasia. 2/3 Italians. Plenty of English but a suprising amount of Irish particularly people from Cork and Galway for some reason, few Americans and got talking to a ref groups of Swedish people too. Great trip. I got a further discount to what I mentioned in my last post form having cruised with them before.

Think cruising great. I tend not to really drink much on holidays so barely spent a penny on board. You get plenty of sunbathing with a gentle breeze to booth with a different city to explore each day. If I cant take a month off together to explore the andes or whatever then a cruise is the holiday for me.

Did it 20 yrs ago as a group of 6 young single fellas and as it happens I'm hiring a cruiser in two weeks time from Banagher for a week, this time with wife and 4 kids ages 4-11. Heading north as well, and hoping to get to Carrick. Little nervous have a 6+2 cruiser (Silver Swan from Silverline Cruisers) so big craft and kids are young.

Will post a reply when I return the end of June, PM me if I forget.

Later.

Thoie wrote: »

Do Norwegian include drinks, or do you pay for those separately?

We were on the Norwegian Gem last year around the Caribbean (9 night cruise) - Water was free and some 'generic' sodas etc. There was drinks packages, Soft drinks, wine and beer packages that we didn't bother with. We don't drink a lot anyway and at $500 each it meant we'd have to have 10 bottles each a day to justify it. Considering the amount of time you spend off-ship we couldn't justify it. Bottles were $5 each or a bucket of 6 for $25 so that's the way we went. Made friends with a bar-man too - very cost effective

efc67 wrote: »

Having come off the Explorer of the Seas 10 days ago after a 10 night cruise around the Carribbean.........Caught in a storm for 3 days...gusts of up to 135 mph, 28 feet waves....windows on ship getting smashed by the waves onboard pools closed for 6 days of the cruise, ship moved that much that you had to hold onto something to keep standing....then to top it off...missing out on Haiti because of delay caused by storm........it wasn't that much fun

I'll see you and raise you one!!
We were on a 9 night cruise that turned into 14 due to Hurricane Sandy
That was fun..got some hammering the night that the storm struck. 3 or 4 bad days but that night in particular was kinda rough!!

Thanks for the replies.
There's 6 of us travelling (3 adults & 3 Kids), wednesday to wednesday on the silver spirit from banagher. Any suggestions north of athlone?
Thanks again.

How much is it to hire one of these during July August and outside of these times?
Do you need any licence or training course to drive one of these?
It seems like a nice way to do a holiday, do a bit of fishing and see some places along the way. Clonmacnoise would be lovely for a picnic, real nice place.

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

How much is it to hire one of these during July August and outside of these times?
Do you need any licence or training course to drive one of these?

They're all on the web, Google 'shannon boat hire'. You don't need a licence, the hire company will give you instruction and there is a map of the navigable stretches of the Shannon onboard showing all of the harbours and important navigation markers and buoys. There's one or two driving positions on each boat with a steering wheel and the throttle is a simple forward/reverse stick with neutral in the middle. The engines are restricted in terms of revs so it's not possible to go at an unsafe speed.

budhabob wrote: »

Really Useful thread, thanks for all the great info.

Myself and the OH are getting married next May, and would never have considered a cruise for the honeymoon initially, however after talking to a number of people our opinion has changed. We are looking at Royal Carribean Cruises, however not sure what route to take yet. Any recommendations welcomed.

Hi. We were the same as you. As part of our honeymoon we are doing the Western Carribean cruise - leaving Port Canaveral on 21st July. Heard really good things about it. Any advice from people who have already done this re drinks packages, day trips etc.

Budhabob, I will most certainly update you when we get back. Send me a PM if I forget!

Will do! Looking for any tips too.