Sheer joys of on-board life say we’ll keep on cruising

CRUISE ships, what a wonderful way to spend a holiday.

Walk on board, hang your clothes up and that’s it for a couple of weeks. They entertain you with mostly great entertainers, feed you with mostly great food.

If you get a cheap cabin, say from Brisbane to Cairns for a seven-day cruise, it will cost you about $600 or less and if you get a cabin for three or four times that amount, the entertainment and food are exactly the same unless you decide on one of the specialty restaurants.

All this for about half of what you would pay on land. We have had well over 30 cruises, so we experience a few lurks and perks.

We have never been crook after a cruise, touch wood.

My biggest bugbear with these companies is that the turn around time in absolutely too short. You arrive at around 6 or 7 and the next mob of somewhere between two or three-and-a-half thousand start embarking between about 11am and 1pm and off they tootle at about 4 or 5 that afternoon.

Now this goes on month after month and there is no way that they can get these ships germ free in that time. With the record profits that these companies are enjoying, they should be made to spend an extra day in port.

Will we cruise again? Bloody oath we will. We have had one so far this year which was over the New Year, that’s a bit of fun and have three more booked for this year for which we will be happy to receive credits and cruise as soon as we can.

This virus is certainly a downer on most things but we will get over it and will we cruise again. Bloody oath we will.

OK Tom, let’s get this thing happening. People here don’t realise what this would mean to this area.

The thing that we really need is a company that is based here. That is where the big bucks are.

Most of the letters I have read are from people here who may have cruised once or never cruised at all. You have to go to Japan to appreciate how they value a ship coming to port. We have been on the Diamond Princess twice and will we go again, bloody oath we will!

DAVE RODGERS, GAVEN