Some people love them and some hate them. If a person gives an opinion but has never been on one just ignore them because they just do not know. I am actually quite antisocial at times and thought I would hate cruises but the wife wanted to try one so we compromised and did what she wanted. I actually had a good time and we have been on several now and the experiences have been mostly positive but varied. The only bad one was a cheap 5 day cruise out of New Orleans on Carnival. The ship was filled with rude pushy people that wanted to get the most out of the little bit that they spent. Best overall experiences have been on Celebrity and Norweigan. I liked Celebrity better and my wife liked Norweigan better but we never could put our finger on exactly what we liked better. Best people watching was a Carnival cruise over Spring Break with my kids. It was a hilarious circus. Drink package hits a break even point at around 6 drinks per day. If you start your morning with a bloody mary or 2 when you are on vacation you will likely come out ahead with the package. I have never bothered with the dining package as I tend to snack all day and eat more than I should on vacation anyhow without spending money on the upgraded food. Departure port matters. If the mannerisms of a certain area bother you do not leave from that port because even though people travel from all over to get on there will be alot of people from around the area that the port is located. Not sure where you would be leaving from but Eastern Caribbean is warmer than Western Caribbean in the winter. We have always had a better experience on newer ships. They are cleaner and everything just seems like it is a tiny bit better. I would spend a bit more and get a nicer room. Basement level interior room is probably OK for college kids who drink all night and sleep all day with limited funds but IMO it is nice to have the ability to sit on a balcony with a coffee in the AM or have a quiet place to go when at sea if you get sick of seeing people. In theory you are confined to a boat but realistically if you are at an all inclusive how often do you leave the resort. I know any times we have been at an all inclusive we pretty much just stayed on the resort. I have found bigger ships tend to have more to do, more dining options and better availability of chairs for laying in the sun. If you do excursions definitely sign up early. You can usually find excursions for a bit cheaper if you book outside the cruise line but if you are late back to the ship they will leave you. If you are on an excursion set up by the cruise line and something happens they will not leave without you The good: Low stress, no planning really required once you are onboard Even though everything seems crowded when you first get on by day 2 you can usually find a spot with as much or as little to do as you want There is always someone to drink with They are designed so you do not feel as confined as you think you would out on a boat Lots of dining options The bad: As Allen said, tons of competition for deck chairs. You are on a boat so if there is someone that annoys you plan on seeing them more than you want thru the day. Structured dining with set times can be a pain. Norweigan does not require you to have a set time but you will wait in line a bit if you try going during the popular times.
we've done 2 celebrity cruises, and i wouldn't go below that (disney, royal carribean, ...) get at least a balcony suite. if you're not going to drink a lot ,but still quite a bit, find your 1 barkeeper and tip him well (cash on the spot) . it will pay out over the course of a few days. plan and book off-boat excursions before. zip-lining and beaches are way cheaper that way and you don't end up seeing the same ship peeps. bring nice clothes. skip on the internet and have a vacation. cheers!
Do not take a cheap cruise! We went with a group of friends who got us a deal on a Carnival cruise. It was a floating Walmart. Imagine the "people of Walmart" all on the same boat with you. The ship was dirty and very outdated. If it weren't for the drink package it would have totally sucked.
Last cruise we did they had dining upgrades. We did 3 but only 1 was worth it - Chef’s table. On our boat it was supposed to be 12 guests, but apparently they had a slow night and it was just us 3 couples and they did everything but tickle my taint at the end. It was completely at the chef’s discretion what he wanted to serve, and we had wine service at each course. I wanna say it was $100 a couple, but it was tux and black dress kinda deal, and it was worth every dollar. I also had fun snapping pics of the wine list and sending to my brother (certified sommelier) who gave me the skinny on each bottle. The wine guy and I had a nice discussion! Chris, you got my #. Gimme a shout this weekend if you want.
Walmart prices = Walmart people for sure. Not trying to be a snob, but don’t go Carnival unless you feel comfortable being around people that think Golden Corral is an elegant dining experience.
Don't get sick on the boat. I ended up with the flu 2nd day out. It was miserable. The ships doctor charges you and gives you a voucher to send to your insurance Co.. You CAN NOT get meds on the boat without going through the doctor. You can't even get flu meds on the boat. Sucks. Take meds if you go. I got off the boat, filled myself with flu meds in Miami and slept for a day. Next day was almost cured. There is always food. But they are always making food for 3000 people.. You do the math. You don't pay for anything til the end. Everything goes on account. At the end the maids left is a nice bill that I think was 50 a day for 2 of us maybe? I was sick and never let them in. Still got the bill. You do get to see a bunch of places though.. But so does the Navy. Another one I did we had a balcony room.. it was awesome to sleep on. Crowds.
Wife and I did Princess cruise lines, out of Seatlle to Alaska and back. 7 days and it was fantastic. We paid for the tips up front OR get the bill at the end. Did a soda card and bought my own booze, I happily had my evening night caps or carried a flask did refills from the room. Considering what is charged per day for the booze card (which is limited types you can have) check it out closely. Excursions cost, pick those up front. The food, you can ask for a table for 2, but could very well have to wait and they are so close together why bother. If you take open table you get to meet people from all over. None were the Walmart types. We had one night with the upscale dining. While we didn't have any issues with the standard food. For $25 getting really great food that would have been a $100 to 200 meal at a normal restaurant we will do most of our dinners in the upgraded dinning. Get a balcony, for the cost getting to wake up and take it easy with the best view you will ever see is well worth the price. On the room, you want MID ship it has the least amount of motion. SO if you have had a great 10 years, and don't mind saying babe you are worth every cent. DO it have fun. OH, take your camera and a laptop to download the pictures. Would post up a time lapse I made but seems thats a no no around here.
Yeah, i look at the menu, "that steak looks good" run calculation in my head of total trip cost. "Ill have the cheeseburger". Even when i plan ahead for the cost, I just have a hard time spending it on myself. For others, no problem. Wife, kids, no problem. Me, "ill take a water".
Something else I remember.. Everytime I was inline for something, those photographers always want to take your picture.. I did norweigen and can't remember the other.. One night norweigen did the dessert free for all. It brought out some classy people. I so wish I had a photo of the destruction that was left. It's fun watching the pool on the aft deck sloshing. Like a wave pool. Lol
I looked at taking the rv down to the keys once. Even after paying the bar tab the cruise was cheaper for both of us by half.
I like cruises but a balcony is a must. I go up to the decks early have coffee and a smoke and read. It's great. There are always empty areas of the ship to hang out at if you want to get away from others but if you don't like them - the balcony is always great. They have room service. We do walmart cruises on Carnival when we can do one because it's what we can afford. I accept the food isn't as high end as others and the company may be a little on the trashy side and have always had a great time. Even the one with the hurricane was enjoyable. The best part for me is days at sea and seeing different places. I like the forced time not being able to go too far but having access to anything you could want at the same time. Vacation to me isn't running around all day every day which is what happens if we go somewhere and stay in one place. That is a race weekend and that is work.
Cruises can kiss my ass. My entire life is run on a crazy tight schedule and a cruise was way too scheduled for me. Yes you can skip this or that but I always felt I couldn’t take enough time to do what I wanted or wasn’t the time I wanted. Your mileage may vary. I’d rather hit a resort (or two) then do my own thing (tours being guided of course, not about to go missing on some island without ginger n Mary Anne)
LOL. We have done quite a few "Walmart" cruises too. I had no idea we were in the presence of so many sophisticated people on the beeb... I really do think it is where you depart from, cruise length and size/age of the ship. If you are from New York and depart out of Galveston you are going to think the ship is full of inbred hillbillies. If you are from Texas and depart from New York you are going to think the ship is full of rude arrogant assholes. If you go on Spring Break you will think cruises are nothing but young people and non stop partying. If you go after New Year you will think all cruises are full of geriatrics. If you pick the cheapest cruise possible expect that there will be more lower income people. We have been on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian and Carnival. As I said, worst one was a cheap assed short one out of NOLA. For the most part the food has been decent on all and there has been little difference in quality at the main dining room. The only one that was noticeably better was Celebrity. Celebrity also had the best drink package and the staff seemed more polished. But you definitely pay for the improvements. At the end of the day even the cheap shitty cruise was not bad. I can not imagine how pear shaped things would have to go for me to say that I hated it and wished I had stayed home.
