David

Ship Faced

Breaking the cruising stereotypes

There are lots of cruising stereotypes out there (which have been around for decades) and my overall aim as a passionate cruiser is to re-educate young adults by making them aware that they are only myths and not facts. 

When you speak to a young adult that does not know anything about cruising they automatically think: The Titanic, cruising is for old people, dress codes, cruises are expensive and cruising is boring. There are 4 major cruise lines that try and break stereotypes: Norwegian cruise line, Royal Caribbean, Carnival and MSC. They want to appeal to young adults and families. So I am going to go through some of the stereotypes now.

Cruising is boring

People who are not familiar with cruising think when you are on the ship there is nothing to do and it will be boring. They could not be more wrong! The four cruise lines I have mentioned try to find new and innovative activities and entertainment that you can enjoy while you are on board. For example; on Carnival they have the first sea coaster called “Bolt” which can reach up to 40 MPH, while Royal Caribbean has many diving and ice-skating shows for you to enjoy. As well as this, Royal Caribbean also have: zip lines, a 10 story slide and skydiving simulators on their ships. Furthermore, Norwegian Cruise line have go kart tracks and an outdoor laser tag arena. MSC has the first humanoid robot at sea called “Rob”.

This is only some of the activities on these ships. There are so many more I could talk about but we would be here for days. The cruise lines try to better themselves and compete with one another by designing new ships that will be coming out over the next few years. For example; Icon Class by Royal Caribbean and the World Class ships by MSC. We will be seeing lots more extravagant activities and innovative ideas on these ships. The future is exciting!

Dress codes

When I talk to people about cruising they think that when you are on a cruise you have to dress up to a high standard every night and adhere to their dress code around the ship. For these cruise lines that is definitely not the case. However, there are cruise lines which do have strict dress codes and regulations but these are for a different market of cruisers. These four cruise lines which i have mentioned do have something called formal night where you can dress up if you would like but it really is not mandatory. As for myself, I didn't want to dress up one time and preferred to just have a nice meal in the buffet in casual clothing. But I do like dressing up once in a while and recently I have only been dressing up on a cruise.

During the day there is not really any set dress code. However, there are rules, such as; not going to the buffet in wet clothes from the pool and you can't wear flip flops to the main dining room. In my opinion this is completely acceptable and normal.

You may be wondering, how many formal nights are there? Well, iIt all depends on the length of your cruise. Typically on a 3 night cruise and lower there is 1 formal night and on a 5 night cruise there is sometimes 1 or 2 depending on which cruise line you are sailing with. Also, on a 7 night cruise there will be 2. While on a 14 night cruise there will be 3 formal nights.

Cruising is expensive

This is a massive stereotype that cruising is expensive. Yes it can depend on what cruise it is and what room grade you pick. That is like any holiday. But there is always a good deal to be found. The best prices I have seen from a cruise line is MSC. They are normally the ones with the good deals and are the best value for money. When MSC Grandisoa was brand new I embarked on a 5 night cruise for ONLY £379. However, it's important to remember that on MSC you have to pay for the extra activities on board. For example; the F1 simulator and bowling. Compared to Royal Caribbean where you pay more upfront but all of the activities are included within that cost. You just have to take all of this into consideration when choosing your cruise.

How expensive a cruise is depends on what time of year you decide to cruise. For example: school holidays and peak times for the countries you are visiting will inflate the overall price of your cruise. Therefore a good piece of advice is to book your cruise outside of these times if you can as it will save you a lot of money. If you are cruising from the UK an ideal time to cruise is either June or September so that you can skip the summer holiday period where prices are inflated.

“It's going to be like the titanic”

Most people in the world have heard about the Titanic and have watched the movie. When I talk to people they think the ships I go on are going to be like that and that it's going to sink. With the disaster became rules. For example; there has to be room for everyone on a lifeboat. When i`m on a cruise I always witness the crew doing drills in case of an emergency so that they are prepared. Also, if you think you are going to hit something, the amount of technology on the bridge is amazing. They always have people on look out but they also have scanners under the water. It is very safe on board modern day ships.

Breaking the stereotype

Overall, what I am trying to do is break the stereotypes surrounding cruising. In order to do this, I created a youtube channel and an instagram account where i share all my positive cruise experiences and amazing memories which i have created with my friends and family on board. Cruising is for everyone! There are cruises for the old and the young, families and solo travelers, you just have to travel with the cruise line which best suits your needs.