"I will not cruise until cruising is fun again.
I will not waste my money on a very limited experience."
That comment left on my channel got me thinking, can cruising, as we return post shutdown,
post COVID, be fun, be enjoyable and be relaxing?
And that's what I'm about to put to the test because I'm here on board my very first cruise
after 15 months of shutdown.
I'm on Viking Venus.
And I'm going to find out, can cruising post shutdown, be fun, be enjoyable and be relaxing?
If you're new here, I'm Gary Bembridge.
And my goal is to help make it fun and easy to discover, plan and have unforgettable cruise
vacations.
So, what exactly makes for an enjoyable and relaxing vacation?
I had a list, but I went out and asked people on the channel.
And hundreds and hundreds of people replied.
And everyone came up with the same seven things that I did.
So I'm going to use those seven things to test out about cruising post COVID.
Now, many of the videos that I've watched and reports that I've read on post COVID cruising
has tended to focus very much on the restrictions, the rules, but that's not what's important.
What's important for me is what does it feel like to be back out cruising?
Does it feel the same?
Does it feel different?
And is it magnificent?
The number one item, which everybody said universally was key to a cruise being relaxing
and enjoyable, was being disconnected.
So that's being disconnected from work, being disconnected from your phone, being disconnected
from having to do chores, walk the dog, cook your own food.
So of course, that's absolutely true of post COVID cruising.
So this is my first cruise in 15 months since the shutdown.
And I was able to disconnect as simple and easily as I did before.
So that's definitely a tick.
However, it's not entirely possible to disconnect because there is constant reminders of the
world that we live in.
So, let's look at some of the things that were happening on this cruise.
Now I would say, though, that although they did remind you of the world we're living in,
they did actually, in other ways, make me feel reassured, which did help me disconnect.
So, what was in place?
Well, first of all, to come on the cruise, it was for vaccinated guests only.
So certainly that reminded you that there was that restriction in place.
Unlike before when you could arrive at any time you wanted, there was very strict embarkation
times in half hour slots.
You had to show proof of your vaccination status.
You had to have temperature checks.
And ultimately, you had to have a PCR test done before you could actually happily sail.
We had to do a PCR test, which is a saliva test every single day.
We had to have our temperature taken every single day.
We had to fill out a little health questionnaire, digital on our apps, every single day.
There was distancing around the ship in line with the current regulations in the UK, where
we were selling from.
Everyone also had to wear one of these, which is a contact tracing device.
So if there was any sort of outbreak, this would enable them to know who you've been
in close contact with, so they didn't have to lockdown the whole ship.
Again, a reminder of what life is like on land.
I do want to talk a little bit about wearing of masks on this cruise.
So you have to wear a mask on the particular cruise that I was on because the rules say
that whether you're vaccinated and unvaccinated, you still have to wear a mask indoors.
That's the current prevailing thing.
So we had to wear a mask when we were outside of our cabin, so in all the internal areas.
We didn't have to wear it when we were outside on the decks, or in the swimming pool, or
when, for example, you're in the gym, you didn't have to wear it, but walking around
inside, you did have to wear it.
You could remove the mask when you were seated to be drinking and eating, so you could take
it off for that time period.
Also, on excursions, you had to wear a mask, certainly on the buses.
If you were outside, you didn't have to wear a mask.
But again, under regulations, if you were in some building, for example, you had to
wear a mask.
Now, I know in other regions that's changing.
So for example, in the United States and cruises linked to the United States, mask wearing
is not required for vaccinated passengers, but we certainly had to wear masks.
So, there were a whole layer of things that didn't entirely enable you to disconnect and
remind you of what's going back on land.
However, these became for me anyway, and other passengers I spoke to, just part of your daily
routine.
And actually, we soon forgot about those because the bigger disconnecting was possible.
The next area that people said was absolutely critical for an enjoyable and relaxing vacation
was, and someone put it really well, airplane mode and sea days.
So switching off, disconnecting, but reminding everybody that actually going on a cruise
is all about the ocean.
It's about drifting through and sailing through when the sun's rising, the sun's setting,
heading in and out of port, sitting out on your balcony, perhaps having a coffee or a
drink, just watching the sea go by and unwinding.
Of course, in post COVID cruising, the ocean is still there.
We're out at sea.
It reminded me a lot that one of the things that I love most about cruising is actually
being out on the ocean.
This particular cruise had many sea days.
We only called on two ports in seven days.
And just being out and that sense of freedom and water, and just being able to relax and
disconnect from the world was really magical.
So absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, I think post COVID cruising ticks that box.
Cruising is about experiencing that magical sense of being at sea.
And the sailing was just magnificent.
Another really important area that people said, and I agreed with, around what makes
a cruise enjoyable, and relaxing is the ability, as someone put it and I'm going to quote them
here, they said, "Being able to do everything or nothing just as the mood takes me.
I don't feel like I have to do something or anything, but I have the opportunity to do
so, if I want, when I want."
Post COVID cruising is a mixed bag on this front.
Now, we were certainly setting with 50% occupancy, so it wasn't as big an issue as occupancy
grows.
However, because of distancing rules, you cannot be completely spontaneous.
So certainly the amount of activities is reduced.
So things like quizzes, karaoke has been significantly reduced because they can't run those, anything
which is contact or sports-like, those weren't running.
So the entertainment, although there was a lot of different kinds of opportunities, it
tended to be more lectures or enrichment.
You weren't able to do those activities where you're mixing with other people or where you're
touching and sharing lots of things.
So for example, golfing games or table tennis.
The other key thing is when it came to actual entertainment, because of a reduced capacity
in the theatre, they had to put on more shows, so that everyone had an opportunity to go.
You couldn't just be completely spontaneous and decide you wanted to go, for example,
to the fitness centre or to use the spa, because you had to book a slot because there was only
say 10 people allowed in the fitness centre at any one time.
So, whilst there was a lot of things that you could do, there wasn't as much as you
used to be able to do, and certainly some of the spontaneity was gone.
Was it completely gone?
No, because you could still head off to a bar and you'd find a seat where you could
sit, but it definitely wasn't as do what you want when you want without thinking about
it.
There was a little bit of planning that had to be in place.
Did this make my cruise less enjoyable?
For me, it didn't.
It just meant I had to plan a little bit more, but I'm actually one of those people that
like to plan things.
So I don't mind planning.
I'm going to go to the gym at a certain time.
I don't mind planning what time I'm going to the show.
I don't mind having to plan what time I wanted to eat, because you did have to very carefully
book in any of the main restaurants or the specialty dining.
However, if you like to be completely spontaneous, that probably is less ideal with the way that
post COVID cruising is at this point in time.
Now, the third area is much more challenging post COVID versus pre COVID cruising.
And that's about exploring in ports.
One quote that somebody left really summed it up extremely well.
Kat Dennings said, "A big part of cruise enjoyment for me is port exploring, especially independent
port exploration."
And Corona Guy said, "Not being able to wander the port on your own would be the issue for
me."
Now, although it is changing, certainly on this cruise for me in my first after 15 months,
we had very few ports, but you could only get off the ship to go on a cruise line bubble
excursion.
You could not break away from the excursion.
You could not go and explore in any other way other than within that controlled bubble.
And again, that's part of the regulation.
Now around the world, that's evolving and that's changing, but certainly that was key.
And for many people, a bit like the mask issue, that is a no go.
What did I find about it?
Well, for me, of course, exploring ports is really, really important.
And I love to self-explore.
However, for me, it didn't dampen as much because certainly we were given a wide range
of excursions.
There was at least one that was included.
And then there was others which were much more active and much more outdoors.
And because they're trying to control the environment, they were basically designed
around not coming into contact with people.
So I went on much more active ones.
I went to see a stately home.
I went on some walking ones.
But definitely I would say, the freedom and the ability to explore new places and discover
things yourself definitely was different versus post.
So that's kind of a mixed so-so for me anyway.
Now, what about meeting new people?
This was another area that people were really concerned about.
Going on cruising is an opportunity to meet with strangers, find interesting people, hear
all sorts of stories.
And that often happens by bumping into people on an excursion, or meeting someone at a bar,
or be allocated a table with strangers to sit with.
That is pretty different in post COVID cruising.
However, it was much less restrictive than I thought it would be before I got on to the
cruise here on Viking Venus.
So, although in the bars and seating areas, the chairs had been spaced out a little bit
more, there are seats marked off where you can't sit, you're still close enough to people
to be able to start and strike up a conversation.
And I found many times I'd be sitting down, for example, in the atrium or I might be up
in the Explorer Lounge, and we would just start talking to people.
Some, in fact, a surprisingly large amount of people who watch my channel would say,
"You're Gary, aren't you?"
And we'd start chatting because you were able to just chat and start talking to people.
So like on other cruises, people are extremely friendly and they want to chat.
And it's not that you're completely banned from doing it.
What's also really important is the rule of six applies.
So up to six people were able to dine together, even if they were from different households.
So actually, during the course of this cruise, I did have dinner with other people.
We sat with a table one evening for the five of us, another night for the four of us.
And they were different people that I'd met or vaguely knew before I came on the cruise.
So certainly, it was a chance to meet people.
On the excursion, I started talking to people.
We sat outside having some snacks and got a chance to get to know those people and find
out about them.
So I had expected to be really restrictive.
I was on this cruise by myself as a solo traveller.
And I was talking to loads of people at the bar, at the restaurant, all over the place,
at the theatre and so on.
So definitely this was a big surprise to me.
It was much easier to meet people than I expected.
Where you allocated tables when you went into the restaurant?
No, but you could choose to dine with people.
There was also one other critical aspect in that that did make a massive difference, and
I found was as good as it was pre COVID, in some ways it was actually even better, and
that is in the whole area of dining and food.
Food is a phenomenally important part of cruising.
We all know that.
When we go on cruises, we like to try lots of different food, probably eat too much food
and try loads of things.
That still exists in post COVID cruising.
So, for example, on this particular ship on Viking Venus, we had the main dining room,
which was open breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We had the World Cafe, which is the buffet, again, open for all of those meals.
We had a Pool Grill where you could have hamburgers.
We had two specialty dining restaurants.
We had Manfredi's, which is an Italian.
We had The Chef's Table, which has a set menu and wine pairing.
You could have room service.
You could have snacks in the Mamsen's or in the Explorer Lounge.
So there was a wide and diverse range of food options.
The only key difference was, as I mentioned earlier, you had to plan and book much more
in advance.
Now, even with reduced capacity, they had to make sure that they had people spread out
in the restaurants and weren't all sitting very close to each other.
So you just had a plan a bit more, but planning ahead wasn't a great big onerous thing to
do.
And it was pretty easy to do.
You could do it on the app or you go and see someone and sort it out.
But certainly, I got to try a very wide and diverse range of food.
So for example, at The Chef's Table, I was able to go to an Asian night.
I went to a British night.
They had a California night.
And so definitely trying anything, loads of different types of food, it's still there
post pandemic and there's still probably too much of it.
Another area that people said was really important, in terms of making a cruise unforgettable,
was in the area of being stressed.
And what people meant by that was very interesting.
So what they said is, they didn't want to have to stress about what they wore all the
time.
They didn't want to have to stress about their bill mounting up with lots of add-ons.
Now certainly, on this particular cruise, on Viking, that stress wasn't there as it
wasn't pre COVID cruising because Viking, for example, the cruise that I'm on, had loads
of inclusions.
So it had, as a start, a pretty informal dress code.
You just couldn't wear jeans in the evening, so that ticked that box in terms of people
worrying about that.
Wi-Fi was included.
Gratuities were included.
One excursion was included in every port, or the specialty dining was included, wine
and beer and soft drinks were included at meals, for example.
There were no photography sales.
There was no casino.
So certainly by choosing the right line, that's going to allay your stress.
You will solve that problem.
So, what I realised is actually choosing the right cruise line for what you are liked to
be worried about or want to avoid is as important before COVID as it is after COVID.
And certainly, this cruise addressed a lot of those issues for those people like me,
who just like to know what it's going to cost me and not have to worry that I'm going to
have a big bill at the end.
There is a whole bunch of elements that make a cruise fun, make a cruise enjoyable and
make a cruise relaxing.
What I discovered through this whole process, of my first cruise post COVID, is that many
of those still apply.
There are a couple of things that remind us of what we've been through and what we're
still going through.
But actually, talking to other people, I found being back at sea, being cruising and meeting
people who love cruising was more than enough to compensate for those things.
So certainly, my experience is, can a cruise post COVID be fun, be enjoyable and relaxing?
I would say, it can.
And in fact, I believe that so much so that I have six more cruises lined up straight
after this one.
If you want to find more about Viking, which I was cruising on, take a look at this short
playlist where you'll find in the first one, what makes Viking completely different to
other cruise lines?
So why don't you take a click on that, and I'll see you over there.