Random thoughts on cruising

Marg & John leaving Melbourne

This is our fifth cruise – previously we have cruised on the Princess of Tasmania from Melbourne to Devonport, Tasmania (1 night each way) and return with a car and camper trailer, Sydney to Devonport, Tasmania with a van and camper trailer, and back (2 nights each way), Cunard’s Queen Victoria from Sydney to Southampton via the Pacific, Panama Canal, Caribbean Sea, USA (San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale) (54 nights), from Southampton to New York on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 (8 nights), and a 7 nights Alaskan “inside passage” cruise on Celebrity Solstice.

We have also travelled extensively in Australia, the UK and Ireland, and the USA.

Our experiences on each of these cruises has varied, and I’ll explain how a little later.

And now (May 2016) we are a bit over a week into a 66 nights cruise to New York from Sydney via Australia’s southern coast, the Indian Ocean, the Suez Canal, the Baltic Sea, UK, and the “other” Sydney in Canada aboard the Sea Princess – with many ports of call along the way. After we disembark in NYC we will spend two weeks there, catch the Amtrak to Washington DC, then fly to San Francisco for a week there, and then fly home.

In the Lido

So we are not inexperienced cruisers but also not seasoned like many on board, some of whom have done many world cruises.

Travelling anywhere is a challenge, but when you have quadriplegia and use a 150kg power wheelchair the challenges mount.

The biggest challenges are access on and off the ship in some minor ports, access to on-shore tours, but mostly the amount of extra stuff you need to bring with you. In my case three months abroad means three months of medications ( a shopping bag full), three months of colostomy and urostomy supplies (two shopping bags full), a CPAP, two months (refill in NYC) of the concoction I add to my breakfast cereal (in case you’re curious, I have IBS and I control it with a mix of psyllium husk, quinoa flakes, black chia, and pumpkin seeds), and of course a portable commode chair – a brand new one this trip to replace the one made for me by Russel Cragg of Met-a-Lite in 1995 for our first circumnavigation of Oz – camping all the way.

On this trip we have also brought with us my 1mtr long portable ramp – good for one step, because we guess that I some ports the street access will not be up to Oz standards.

Within the ship’s cabin (or any motel for that matter), circulation space is a major factor. The height of the bed is critical, as is access into and within the bathroom.

Our bathroom and cabin on the cruise are quite okay for me. I can transfer on and off the commode chair after adjusting its height. The bathroom is also okay for me except that the shower controls are out of my reach and Margaret needs to stay with me and turn taps on and off and hand me things.

In comparison, the Princess of Tasmania was cramped with bunk beds and a tiny bathroom, Queen Victoria (inside cabin with no view at all) was about as okay as this one, the Queen Mary2 (window high up wall – so daylight but no view at all for me) was cramped and difficult, and the Celebrity Solstice (balcony cabin with push button opening door to balcony) was bigger and better appointed than any motel room we have ever had.

Okay. Cruising. What’s good, what’s not, and what’s tolerable?

The thing that I like most is that you are not constantly packing and unpacking. The cabin becomes your home bedroom with accessible en-suite for however long you are on board.

Getting in and out of the cabin, however, is often, as on this trip, a chore as the door springs are very heavy, and the key card entry requires manual dexterity – insert and withdraw the card quickly and then unlatch the door and get it open at least a bit within about 2 seconds. Sometimes it takes me several goes to manage it.

All the ships we have been on have plenty of lifts to get you between decks – although you do have to wait sometimes for a lift with enough space for me and my chair.

There are certainly areas which are not wheelchair accessible – like the swimming pools and spas, and, on Sea Princess, the top deck (15).

All cruises we have been on book you into a restaurant for lunch and dinner. These vary in quality and service, but mostly are ok by our standards as far as the food goes. The service, on the other hand, is mostly “over the top”, with waiters and even the maitre de hovering and constantly interrupting conversations to ask if “is everything okay, sir? More water?”

On Cunard ships about a third of the evenings are “formal”, requiring at least a lounge suit with a shirt and tie. Most passengers, however, seem to relish the chance to wear a dinner suit with bow tie. The women dress to the nines. To my mind they are trying to recreate the early 1900s of the rich who “dressed for dinner” in some country manor or perhaps on the Titanic. I find it pretentious.

So we mostly eat in the bistro (or Lido, as it’s called) where there are no dress rules, the variety of food is quite good, and the atmosphere much more relaxed.

We have breakfast in our cabin – hot food is available but we eat cereal, fruit (plus yoghurt for Margaret), juices and coffee (not too bad, either).

But what do we do all day?

Not much, really.

A knitting group

There is lots to do – cards, mahjong, make up parties, craft groups, lectures on all sorts of things (ports we are visiting, wellbeing, history, etc), acupuncture demos, palm reading, a variety of musical entertainment in various on-board locations – some quite good.

A communal jigsaw puzzle

There is a book club, a Scottish dance group, various sporting groups (carpet bowls and the like), and much more.

The library

There is a casino where you can lose your money (you’re allowed to draw up to $3000 per day in chips and add the cost to your cruise account). There a several bars serving grog.

There are some 20 TV channels showing movies, TV serials, history stuff, art stuff, nature stuff, and info about the events on board, a channel showing on a map where we have been, are now, and will be later, the weather and other fascinating information, plus a channel showing the image from a camera on our bow which shows the view ahead (mostly just ocean).

You can drink, eat and dance til midnight, if you wish.

None of it really appeals to me.

I read a lot, write this and plan to write more of my life story.

The Internet Cafe

There is internet (including an internet café) but it’s very slow and very expensive - $200 for 640 minutes – that’s about $500 for 24 hours – don’t ever forget to log off!!!

Margaret is working on her assignments for her Family History Diploma from Uni of Tasmania, in between talking and eating.

The Nook, where Common Interest groups are held

Margaret noticed the lack of a common interest group for family history, so asked for a space and for it to be advertised in the daily event guide. And guess what?  Twenty-eight people turned up, and we had an interesting hour together swapping stories and sharing sources of info, and agreed to meet again next week.

That was yesterday, and today several people have come up to talk to us about it in the Lido.

Cruising would not appeal to many people – but it does indeed appeal to many. It depends on one’s interests and temperament as to which group you fit in to.

Watching other ships we pass

We like not having to unpack and repack.

The on-board activities leave us pretty cold – but we don’t object to others enjoying them – and plenty do.

We don’t like that usually only one day is spent in any one port. On this cruise we get two days in St Petersburg and a day and a half in Dubai.

A cruise where the ship docked for four or five days in each port would allow us to explore more thoroughly. But apparently it would be expensive as port fees are huge.

We don’t like, of course, the ports where the ship anchors off-shore and access is only by tender (small boat) with no wheelchair access (supposedly none on this trip). On our Cunard trip from Sydney to Southampton about 25% of the ports were inaccessible, and it was the same for the Alaskan cruise.

We are told that Holland America has wheelchair accessible tenders.

The reception desk - very informative and helpful

We like that the other passengers are mostly very friendly and we quickly make friends with some. There is always someone to chat to. And there are quiet areas where those who wish to read in peace can do so. The library, in particular (don’t expect more than airport novels, though) is usually quiet.

We like that on this trip it’s about 80 to 90% people in our age group (65 to 80), the rest being in their mid 50s or so, and only a couple of children on board.

There you go: my thoughts on cruising – it’s obviously your decision as to whether you cruise or not.

John

May 2106

In the middle of the Indian Ocean.