Least enjoyable aspect of cruising

None of the above.

For me, it's the hole in the budget, and the (occasionally) rough waters.

Least enjoyable aspect of cruising?

That's a real nobrainer...when it ends!!!!

You could always get a table for two. I love eating with new people. Actually, we have a LOT in common with them right off the bat. That is, a love of cruising and travel. I love hearing about the ships they've been on and the ports. There is never a lull in conversation! When you think about it, your friends will never be as interested in your cruising experiences than your tablemates.

After 20+ cruises all of the OP lists has happened to us. But we're still cruisin', nothing is as bad as stopping cruising.

We do have a table for 2 , as that is the hardest to overcome.

Byw, that's a great list, alot of thought went into it.

None of the mentioned bothers me. My most "bother" is the air travel! Once I get thru that fiasco, the rest is a breeze.

I do experience apprehension re: the cabin though. On one occasion we went without a toilet for over 24 hours. Another time, our AC didn't work & it was horribly hot. And the time the sewer backed up into the shower 3 times in a 7 nite cruise. The time there was a sewage smell so strong in our cabin that it made me sick - but luckily we did get moved to another cabin. I've seen other folks' cabins flooded with sewage, carpets cleaned, fans in place to dry the carpet, & no where to go because the ship was full - yuk! By the way, our experiences were all on different cruiselines; different ships.

The only thing I can't stand while on the cruise is not the chair hogs, not our dinner mates, not waiting in lines, but the "line cutters"! This happens on the cruiselines that have cafeteria style buffets & a single line forms. It really bugs me when some people believe they are that superior to me & I don't matter! That's one reason why I like Royal Caribbean's buffet setup - have never had that problem with them.

Happy cruising everyone.

The real downers to cruising these days for us are the number of out of control kids running around, the nickel and diming and the continued cost cutting measures which affect quality of food and service.

For these reasons, we stick to a very selection of ships and lines.

Getting off the ship is my number one downer. Sitting and waiting is not fun. Why do we have to wait our turn? Just let me grab my own bags and get off on my own. If all 3,000 people wnats to get off all at once, so be it. Have you ever seen a crowd leaving a football game? It is 100,000 and they empty the palce in no time. Let every men, women and children fend for themselves.

I too hate the drill. I understand it's necessary but I hate being packed in like that, feel ridiculous in the life jacket and get SO MAD that everyone cannot manage to get to it on time!

I hate getting off and going back to reality!!! The rest I can cope with.

For some anxiety reason, waiting for my luggage on day of departure. I am always sure I will end up wearing flipflops and the same clothing for a week.

<None of the mentioned bothers me. My most "bother" is the air travel! Once I get thru that fiasco, the rest is a breeze.>

Me too. Exactly what I was going to say, and it seems to be getting worse by the day. We had the cruiseline plan our air to Acapulco on our last cruise. We were to fly from SFO to Chicago, then to Houston or Dallas (I forget which) and then Acapulco. The air to get to the ship was longer than the cruise!

We contacted the cruiseline and told them their routing was unacceptable. We had to fly to LAX on our own, stay overnight and then fly Mexicana Airlines direct to Acapulco. Extra expense, but it was worth it to us not to be half dead when we walked up the gangway!

WE prefer the smaller ships, so generally don't have the long waits in lines.

I absoulutely hate having to wait for luggage. My husband laughs at me when ever we go on a cruise, because it does not matter if the cruise is five days or twelve I bring ONE 20in suitcase, and I carry it myself. Other than that everything else is a breeze. At one point I hated disembarking, but now I catch the earliest flight I can, so I can get off the ship faster.

Too much eating and food. I also don't like being stuck at a table where people feel the need to brag.

After having flights (arranged by the cruiseline) with impossible connection times, we find our own flights. Then, we use custom air to book it. Most of the time, it doesn't cost any more that a flight they chose. The people doing the flights just don't seem to care!

Southeasten ==>

I was lucky enough to be able to squelch a braggard. From the first night, our table was innundated by the heroics of a supposed Air Force navigator.

On the third night, I asked him when he went thru Mather (Mather AFB, the USAF advanced navigator training base). He gave me a rather blank stare. I then told him that I had been in course development there in the 60s (true).

As you can guess, we didn't see our navigator for the rest of the cruise.

JimM- Great shot on the bragging guy. I just get quiet other wise I would say something nasty. It amazes me that people say how much their houses cost, what car they drive, etc. Sometimes, I play with them by saying, "we live in public housing" or " we can't afford a car, lucky you" or "we're about to have our house taken back by the mortgage company" and watch their reaction. They get the hint or maybe they just think I have a screw loose.

My spouse and I have been on just eight cruises but we have four scheduled for next year. Last december we enjoyed an international cruise(RCCL) from Barcelona. One gentleman had been on 35 cruises in five years. There are very few negatives. Disembarking can be long. dining with strangers, especially with folks from abroad is very interesting. We had to move one time from a couple that bragged about his exploits in VietNam. I guess the elevators on one cruise is a pet peeve. You can't tell which one is for you. It can be a problem sometime!

Gotta plagarize JimM's answer of "when it ends," and add
when you get the bar bill!!! :0

Two of my petty gripes are lack of outlets and shower stalls that make it difficult to shave one's legs. Norwegian had a handy little shelf you could put your foot on to facilitate this tedious chore, which I loved.

Mickrory,
I am retired and am done with kids. But what bothers me the most is out-of-control kids screaming and running w/o concern of others - or maybe it's the parents that have no concern for others. My favorite saying applies here too :they can't hurt you if you don't let them...
so you pick a flight when most kids have to be in school.

papermoon~that problem is not only on cruiseships and flights.....even the grocery store is no longer safe!

Yes, no doubt the air part is a real downer. Trouble to start and loads of anxiety at the end, especially if you end up in Philadelphia on USAirways. Then there the shore excursions that cost an arm and a leg and reserve half the trip for shopping - at a rug shop or favored T-shirt shop. Also on some the elderly are worse than the kids. On our recent cruise, I found myself dodging "scooters" all over the ship. Some others were so far out of it that they delayed everyone else repeatedly. Then there are the cruise collectors who have been on every ship afloat - twice. But mostly cruises are great, if in depth sightseeing is not important to you. There are other ways to travel.

All the above and...

1. The Hairy Chest Contests
2. All the stupid games being yelled over the loud speaker around the pool
3. Lounge chairs crammed together that are actually touching each other
4. Feeling like cattle
5. Being pounced on immediately upon arriving at a port
6. Pretty much everything about cruising.

However...everyone keeps insisting that I will like 'high end' cruises, but I am too afraid to try in fear of finding much the same as what I've experienced on Carnival and RCB.

Maybe one day, I'll get the nerve to try again.

Try Star Cipper Sail boat cruising. Max is 170 people and no silly games, etc. You go into small harbors, no one fools with you on the dock, etc. It's a great way to go. I did one Celebrity cruise. Left from Ansterdam and did the Baltics. Never again.

We are recently back from what is likely our last cruise until we book a luxury line.

The crowds, sloppily dressed people at dinner, kids on wheelies flying through public areas, undisciplined kids in the restaurants and the all around cost cutting necessary for the cruise lines to survive have made the experience one neither my husband nor I have a desire to repeat.

We will stick to Europe at every opportunity and enjoy the adult only resorts in the Caribbean which are getting better and better and give us a better standard for our vacation.

It always pays to at least explore making your own flight plans. On an upcoming Celebrity cruise, the airline tickets would have cost us $1100 per person through Celebrity but only $675 by purchasing them myself.
Also, since I want to make sure that we and our luggage arrive together and on time, I am nervous about connections of less than 90 minutes, especially when the connecting flight is the last one of the day. If you rely on cruise lines or tour companies or even the airlines to select your flights, you will often get unrealistically short connections in today's uncertain flying environment.

We've been on several cruises and I've enjoyed them all but the thing that is the least enjoyable (compared to a non-cruise vacation such as to a resort) is that it seems like you start preparing for the end of the cruise on about the third day. You get forms in your cabin with information about disembarkation procedures, onboard luggage checkin options, tipping, etc. I feel like my vacation has just started and I already have to think about the end. It's depressing! If I'm at a resort I don't think about leaving until the evening before I leave.

Disembarking at the end of the cruise. They make you leave your cabin early, and then you have to sit around for hours waiting to get off the ship.

Disembarking can be a real pain, especially if you are crammed into one of the restaurant or lounge areas and wait for several groups of people to get off first (called by number). This was particularly bad on a Princess cruise we took this year when lines of people waiting to get off the ship mixed in with lines of people waiting to get into a waiting lounge (too many areas too close together).

For me it's getting off at Ports of Call, especially when we have to be tendered off.

I don't mind taking time at the beginning and end of the cruise because I'm not going anywhere anyway. When I have a half day in port, I don't want to lose half of it to getting on and off the ship.

Does anybody mind the constant music EVERYWHERE? I enjoy quiet. We use to love laying around the pool. Now the music never stops and it is LOUD. You have to yell to talk. It is just not peaceful anymore.
That being said -- we enjoy cruising!

I hate disembarking for the final time.

Everything else I can deal with. Ok. Except for the hairy chest contest. Thank goodness my cruiseline of choice has not yet started that. Or, if they have, I have been blissfully unaware.

I'm not a fan of the goofy hijinks that usually goes on during a cruise either. The beautiful part about it is you certainly don't have to participate or even watch.

I think the biggest turn-off for me was a contest in which a bunch of fruit (of varying size--up to pineapple) was thrown in the pool. The contestants (loonies IMHO)dove in and the one who was abale to put the most fruit inside their bathing suit won. I must admit the size of women's swim wear these days would put you at a decided disadvantage. LOL

Pineapple in your swimsuit?!? OUCH!

WE LOVE TO CRUISE! BUT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT REALLY BOTHERS ME IS WHEN WE HAVE A BALCONY WE ALWAYS SEEM TO HAVE A LOUD MOUTH ON EITHER SIDE OF US! THE LAST TIME IS WAS SOMEONE WHO HAD A CONSTANT LOUD COUGH. THERE ALSO WAS A GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT WOULD NOT GO ANYWHERES WITHOUT THIER BOOM BOX PLAYING! OH AND WHEN I FINALLY WENT TO RELAX IN THE ADULTS ONLY POOL, THERE WERE KIDS IN IT THAT HAD TAKEN IT OVER WHILE THEIR PARENTS SAT AND PLAYED CARDS. I HAD ASKED WHY THE KIDS WERE IN AN ADULT POOL, THAT HAD SIGNS ALL AROUND ADULTS ONLY, I WAS TOLD THAT THEY HAD TO CLOSE THE BIGGER POOL FOR SOME REASON. THERE WAS ANOTHER KIDS POOL ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SHIP, BUT I GUESS THAT WAS TOO FAR AND SO MUCH FOR THE RULES! THIS WAS ON THE PRINCESS LINE, YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU WILL RUN INTO! STILL CRUISING THOUGH.

My least favorite things are:

1. Disembarking
2. Muster Drill. Yes I know it's important, but I still hate it.
3. Settling my bill at the end of the cruise. Did I really have that many drinks? Why did I charge all this stuff to the room?? Oh, the pain!!

Oh, P_M, muster drill is fun! Bring your camera, and start snapping pictures. We even posted ours

P_M, the muster drill means you're on a cruise and about to set sail! I love it!

Plus, like Faina said, take your camera and take pictures of your cabin mate (in my case, my parents). It's fun, and most importantly, it may one day save your life.

OK you muster-lovers, you win!! Next time I must muster up a better attitude during the drill.

Wait a moment! Just waaaaiiiiittt a moment!

Are you saying you don't like muster drink or muster drill?

Oh, well, just combine the two

I once had to muster the courage to drink a mustard drink on a dare.

But I do wipe down my life jacket with purell wipes before putting them on!

Movies shown on big screens at the pool area. Who in the right mind decided more noise was needed?

For me the biggest downer is the lack of manners of so many people today.

I can't believe it when I see people cutting in line, reaching around you when you're in the buffet line to get food, not allowing the elderly and/or disabled any courtesy, and the one that gets me the most... people standing in the buffet line, eating!

In spite of this, I would never give up cruising either.