For and against cruise ships

In 2026

 For

You can visit four destinations in up to four countries.

 If you cannot drive, and don't want to be stuck on a coach, ideal for the elderly and handicapped.

All entertainment in one place, no need to order tickets and taxis. Free.

No need to find reasonably priced restaurants.

Buffets suit your entire family of picky eaters.

Keeps adults and children amused.

Simple organization. Pay one fee and get the accommodation food and travel all sorted.

Fresh sea air. Not polluted cities.

All inclusive options, meals paid for, in some cases drinks too.

English speaking staff and doctor on call.

You can pick a ship with a swimming pool.

Less trouble with visas.

Against

Awkward stairs.

If there is an outbreak of illness it spreads quickly and you could end up stranded and missing your holiday and getting back home and back to work.

Buffets are so tempting you are bound to put on weight.

If you get back late, the ship could sail off without you.

You could be taken ill at sea miles from a specialist hospital.

Inside and low down cabins and bunk beds can be claustrophobic.

You may have to book a flight to the ship, a day earlier to be sure not to miss the departure. This means more organizing, co-ordinating, time off work, and cost.

How could they improve?

Check temperatures to keep sick people in cabins and away from restaurants.

Hand washing as you enter the dining room.

Hand washing as you exit toilets.

Some supposedly free all inclusive cruises surprise you by asking you to tip staff who look agter your cabin.

The shore excursion could cost more than you want to pay.

You might be stuck with no wifi or have to pay extra.

Alternatives To Cruise Ships

Want to try a short cruise?

1 Short cruises go from Florida.

2 Short cruises go from Singapore.

3 You can take a cruise with no destinations.

Advantages of Overnight Ferries

4 Try an overnight ferry which has on board entertainment. Some ferries from the UK to Spain and back one or two nights, depending on route, day of the week and time of day and year, have lots of on board entertainment. If you like cruising and your family refuse to go on a cruise, this could be your answer, cabin with bunks, all day entertainment, but no swimming pool.

I loved my trips to and from Spain on Brittany Ferries to Santander and back from a different port. (See my previous posts)

Pop Over to France, Holland, Ireland or Belgium Before Christmas

Seagull taking a stroll before catching a boat. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

A popular pre-Christmas trip out of England for lunch, the whole day, or an entire weekend is to go across to France, Belgium or Holland for the weekend. Especially if you live or work in London or the South, or near a port. Why? Why not.

Reasons people give are: It's like a holiday. It's cheap. It brightens up winter. It's a chance to stock up on French wines at French supermarket prices for a Christmas party or the family's Christmas lunch.

Possible routes
Fishguard Rosslare (Wales to Ireland)
Ramsgate-Ostend (England to Belgium)

https://www.dfdsseaways.co.uk/ferry-routes/ferry-to-holland

P  and O

Channel Tunnel
Ryan Air
Wiz air
Coaches

See my previous post on the beer festival in December in December.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my books on Amazon and Lulu.com

A Poem About Fishguard Bay And Seagulls In Wales

I've revised my poems. Here they are with another verse.

The Invention of The Pop Up Toaster
by Angela Lansbury

For centuries the world would bake
Buns and teacakes loved by most
But when King Alfred burned the cakes
And many people burned the roast

Somebody thought a small machine
Could cook pieces of small toast

At last a toaster came along
Transforming every cup of tea
At first in Scotland after porridge
In eighteen hundred and ninety three

By nineteen eighteen toast popped up
The patent of the smart Charles Strite
His invention still pops up toast
For breakfast or your snack at night.

I wrote three poems, but I have only two, for reasons which will become clear from Poem 2:

Birds By the Bay of Fishguard
Song by Angela Lansbury

By the sunlit bay of Fishguard
Trains trundled in by cars so brave
Some crossed the rough seas to Ireland
Took daily ferries facing waves.

In the bar, we writers watched them
Writing poems full of sharp wit
Scribbling stories, plotting novels
In the bar, sipping wine we'd sit.

One seagull swooped down to the terrace
Seeking food, looked cute at me
But the damned bird grabbed my poem
Flew my wise words out to sea

And now it's perched on a lamp post
And I'm sure that you'll all agree
Don't anyone dare feed that greedy bird
That's cawing, laughing at me.

Qwar! Qwar! Qwar! Qwar! Qwar!

Copyright 2016
Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author, poet, songwriter.

I wrote one two verse poem about writers sitting writing watching the bay, another one verse poem about a seagull. Poetry teacher Alison Chisholm suggested I should have something happening in the poem about the writers. I suddenly had a vision of the seagull stealing the writing, so I combined the two poems.

More about Fishguard Bay Hotel in previous posts. More about author Angela Lansbury in Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Lulu.com, amazon com, and other blogs.