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"Sampler" Cruises.


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Anyone been on one these 2 night cruises out of and returning to the same port?

 

A friend who has been on one told me of the one he was on being a swim-through event, with a lot of drunks and yobbos making life unpleasant.

 

The ship we are considering carries 600 passengers, and the one he was on was much larger. Is the size of a ship a factor in this regard?

 

I'm no wowser, but I don't really relish the thought of being confined to a small area with unsociable, uninhibited and potentially aggressive individuals hell bent on carousing night and day. I can do that for much less at my local rugby club!

 

Seriously, is it more trouble than it's worth? I have cruised a few times before, and while there has been one occasion where I encountered a nuisance drunk, there has never been any real issues.

 

A peaceful weekend relaxing on board prior to the Christmas break is still very tempting ...

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We did one last year n Solstice, sure It was crowded as everyone was trying to jam everything in. We aren’t drinkers or even partiers, but enjoyed it and liked the ship enough to be looking at future cruises on her.

 

I’d expect a 600 pax ship may be tamer. Which ship?

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there are lots of anecdotal reports of the 'sampler' cruises being out-of-control "party cruises", with passengers trying to make the most of the limited time & therefore somewhat more raucous etc then a 'regular' cruise. People threatening to not go on such cruises again etc etc.

 

We have done a number of cruises, including a 3N RCI cruise to nowhere, and our experience was yes, it was more raucous, the bars were crowded etc etc, but nothing to turn us off doing it again, oh apart from it was far too short :) It was actually a family cruise to celebrate our Mum's 80th birthday & she loved it. MicCanberra even made a cameo appearance of that cruise!

 

Smaller ship with many fewer passengers I suggest would be fine.

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For a smaller ship, I'd say the number of 'exceptions' at the wilder end will also be fewer, so less concern. Though there are fewer places to hide if there's a wild group as well...

 

I've seen good and bad short cruises like that; it really depends how many yobbos get on. There are usually party groups and other groups but they tend to do their own thing, albeit visible. Whereas yobs cause trouble with others.

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there are lots of anecdotal reports of the 'sampler' cruises being out-of-control "party cruises", with passengers trying to make the most of the limited time & therefore somewhat more raucous etc then a 'regular' cruise. People threatening to not go on such cruises again etc etc.

 

We have done a number of cruises, including a 3N RCI cruise to nowhere, and our experience was yes, it was more raucous, the bars were crowded etc etc, but nothing to turn us off doing it again, oh apart from it was far too short :) It was actually a family cruise to celebrate our Mum's 80th birthday & she loved it. MicCanberra even made a cameo appearance of that cruise!

 

Smaller ship with many fewer passengers I suggest would be fine.

Yes, that was a fun cruise, and it was more than a cameo as I was there for the whole cruise.;p

I have done a few of these 'samplers' - other names for these maybe be 'cruises to nowhere', Comedy cruises or Food and Wine cruises or short 2 or 3 night relocation cruises. I have found that there is much more of a party atmosphere but the ships tend to be big enough to avoid that if you wish.

These cruises tend to have larger groups of friends and family for birthday celebrations or Hen's or buck's parties etc. If you like a party, they can be great fun, if you don't then the groups are easily avoided.

A smaller ship will likely have fewer of these groups but then it is always price dependent, if the price is low enough, any cruise addict will want to try out the ship.

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True that, OzKiwiJJ.

 

I've booked, It'll be great, and if I can'beat 'em, I'll join 'em.

 

I've had a lot of practice in my youth at the rugby club, after all!

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Carnival and P&O are a bit like this for these short cruises, however on CMV Astor your only worry would be evading the wheelie walkers! They attract a different demographic, enjoy.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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One big difference with these short cruises is that if it is a stand alone cruise they will be like what I described however, often these short cruises on lines other than P&O and Carnival are simply part or small leg of a longer voyage or world cruise. If this is the case then only half the cabins would be available as many would be part of the longer cruise already.

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The OP referred to a short cruise "out of and returning to the same port."

 

These would not be part of a longer voyage or world cruise.

Yes, I know, I just wanted to let people know that there can be a difference, as I had mentioned them briefly in a previous post.

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The problem I have with sampler cruises is not the passengers, it's that I hate the feeling of not going anywhere. The ship pretty much may as well stay tied up to the dock and save on fuel.

 

 

A cruise without ports, is like a cake without icing.

Depends on the cake though, a Cheesecake or an Icecream cake do not need icing and are still very good.
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Yes, I know, I just wanted to let people know that there can be a difference, as I had mentioned them briefly in a previous post.

 

Sure. I just wanted to clarify that they would not occur in the scenario he asked about.

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So do you prefer a cruise without ports? :)

 

I'd actually be happy to go on a 7 night (minimum) cruise without any ports, as long as the ship went somewhere warm so I could spend time outside enjoying the sea air during the day.

 

We recently did the Diamond Princess repositioning cruise up to Japan. 22 nights with only 7 ports. The first half of the cruise was five sea days after leaving Sydney, Darwin, four sea days, Kota Kinabalu. Bliss!

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I'd actually be happy to go on a 7 night (minimum) cruise without any ports, as long as the ship went somewhere warm so I could spend time outside enjoying the sea air during the day.

 

We recently did the Diamond Princess repositioning cruise up to Japan. 22 nights with only 7 ports. The first half of the cruise was five sea days after leaving Sydney, Darwin, four sea days, Kota Kinabalu. Bliss!

We had 7 sea days between Fremantle and Port louis, that was wonderful.:D

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