Have You Ever Been On A Cruise? Did You Like It?

[arwalden]

... what cruise line AND where did you go?

I've never been on one, but my partner is hinting and hinting that he might be wanting to take me on one soon. I'm not sure if I want to do an all-gay/lesbian cruise... if we end up taking a cruise, I think I'd be just fine traveling on a regular cruise. (Or would I? Hmmm.)

-- Allen

[Frodo]

1. Actually a reletively affordable vacation

Cruising can be an "all expense paid" vacation with a great mix of locations/food/entertainment etc.

Which cruise line to use depends on what your priority is. A great room? four-star food? "party" atmosphere?

Your orientation obviously can have a big impact on which cruise is for you and I have no information in that area (though I understand there are "gay cruises".

[cally]

2. The extended family went on a cruise for my parent's 50th

wedding anniversary. I enjoyed the non-stressful time with my family, not cooking, some of the activities, and that my parents loved it. I will never go on a cruise again. I love to travel and see new sights and I felt too isolated from the communities we visited. We only had a few hours at each site and there wasn't time to see much. Also, the rooms were smaller than at an equally expensive hotel. My sisters loved it. :shrug:

[Noordam]

3. 14 cruises

HAL, Cunard, Princess, NCL, Crystal... and others no longer in business.

I have been on two Europe cruises and Bermuda and the Caribbean. And have been on very $$$$$$$ to very cheap lines....

PM me if you have a question.

[Jonte_1979]

4. I've been on cruises to Finland - does that count?

You haven't really lived until you've seen drunken finns sing kareokee.

[Rainbowreflect]

5. My whole family went on an Alaskan cruise last year.

It was the best vacation I've ever had. Lot's of beautiful nature, whales, waterfall, glaciers, etc. and major pampering.

[Enraged_Ape]

10. I'll second the Alaskan cruise idea, in a big way

My wife and I went last July. Every day was just fantastic. I didn't want to go to sleep, which was easy not to do because the sun didn't set until midnight. It was just breathtakingly beautiful the whole way.

We plan to go again, someday.

[MaineDem]

6. I've been on many

I prefer smaller ships but they're hard to find these days. My favorite lines are Celebrity, Holland America, and Raddison (expensive but pretty much all inclusive.) I also enjoy longer cruises, 10 days and more.

I can't imagine you having problems on a "regular" cruise. Gay friends of mine cruise often and they rarely do an all-gay sailing.

Where is entirely up to what you want. If you want warmth and sun, the Caribbean and Panama Canal cruises would be ideal. I believe Royal Caribbean is the only line that can now sail to Hawaii without a stop in Mexico or another country. If you want history you might want to consider a northern European itinerary - Great Britain, Scandanavia, Russia. That's on my short list for destinations right now.

Check out some web sites for cruises.
http://www.vacationstogo.com
http://www.cruise411.com/
http://www.icruise.com/

Look around and find something that excites you. Now I want to go, too. :) Good luck!

[hlthe2b]

7. I'd like to take the QE2.....................

on my lottery winnings (yeah, right). Seriously, though, they even let you take your pets!

I have taken a Caribean Cruise with a former SO. It was ok, but, with all the food they push on you, and the encouragement you get to just lull around, I started feeling like a steer in a feedlot, being fattened up for the sale.

THe side stops were great, but too short, generally and I was always afraid of missing the reboarding after a few too many tropical drinks...

Basically I enjoyed it, but then again, I get so few vacations that I probably wouldn't opt to do it soon.

[MaineDem]

24. Wait til the new Queen Mary comes out next year

Now that's one amazing ship!

[hlthe2b]

27. Yes, I expect I might have to wait at least that long

(to be able to pay for it.... LOL)

But, look at what happened to the Titanic... Maybe its not that great to be that wealthy?

[TNDemo]

8. Everyone I know recommends Royal Caribbean

because of the service. I am taking my first cruise in January with the whole family in celebration of our 25th anniversary but we are going Carnival because we are paying for five. It is only $1,200 for all five of us for four days, stopping at Cozumel and Key West. Apparently the service and food are not up to the par of other cruise lines and I would upgrade if it were just the two of us but the cost plus five air fares made us go Carnival. I'll let you know how it goes.

[northzax]

13. Royal Carribean has perhaps the single worst environmental record

read their list of fines here: http://www.stopcruisepollution.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&pageID=976

my personal favourite: 1998 Plea Agreement
Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd
Nordic Empress
Ship observed and filmed by Coast Guard aircraft as it discharged oil while en route to Miami, FL. The company pled guilty to the willful presentation of a false oil record book for the ship during a US Coast Guard Investigation. In addition, investigations revealed that the ship had been fitted with a bypass pipe allowing employees to discharge bilge waste from the ship without first processing it through an oily water separator.
$1 million
Oil discharge, falsifying records


roughly, what they did was build the required water treatment facilities on board the ship, so it would pass inspection, and then ran a pipe around the system, so the waste water was dumped directly into the ocean. this is the rough equivalent of me building a septic tank and leach field, so I can get a residential permit, and then running a pipe right into the river from my toilet.

[Kolesar]

15. they used to dump photographic chemicals into Alaskan harbors

They developed vacation photos onboard and just dumped the used chemicals into the sea.

[northzax]

20. and furthermore, they have an abysmal labour record

according the the book Crusie Ship Blues the average crew member works ten straight months, with no days off, for around $1.55 an hour (for a janitor) subtracted from that are lodging and food.

Next time you're on a cruise, ask to see the crew cabins. ten bucks says they won't let you see them. Submariners have more room.

[Red State Rebel]

14. Royal Carribean is wonderful

The service, the food, everything WOW!!! Would go again in a heartbeat.

[northzax]

9. before you do this please read about it

www.stopcruisepollution.com cruise ships do incredible amounts of envrionmental damage to reefs and coastlines.

[Zero Gravitas]

11. No

But I tried to sneak on board a cruise ship in Bermuda once. (We got caught).

[av8rdave]

12. Windjammer!!

When I got remarried, we were trying to decide what to do for a honeymoon. I was a compuserve subscriber at the time (ok, it was a few years back), so I went to their travel forum. They had a whole section devoted to Windjammer, so I checked it out. There were dozens of "what I did on my summer vacation" synopses of Windjammer cruises, so I read 'em. I couldn't BELIEVE how many started with "...this was our <11th, third, fifth, 10th, etc> cruise with Windjammer..." I figured they must be doing something right. So we did it.

We loved it, and have since done another, and can't wait for our next one. What a blast. Sooooo much more laid back than a "standard" luxury megaliner cruise. You get to know everyone on the ship, including all the crew. You go places the huge liners can't get into. They don't sponsor any shore excursions, so they just give you a list, then tell you which ones are good and which ones suck.

On our last one, one of the "shore excursions" was a late night pub crawl hosted by the captain, on some tiny island in the Grenadines.

You don't have to pack anything but shorts, swimsuits, sandals, and maybe some casual stuff for wearing into some of the towns on the islands.

If you don't feel like sleeping in your cabin, you can sleep under the stars on the deck. You can help the crew with the ship, or not - totally your choice. The parties are great and the people even greater.

Trip(s) of a lifetime!

av8rdave

[greatauntoftriplets]

28. I also loved Windjammer.

Have sailed many times on the Polynesia and twice on the Mandalay.

www.windjammer.com

[av8rdave]

29. No kidding! Sailed the Poly, and the

Legacy, and spent a lot of time on the Fantome (it was a tandem cruise with the Poly due to hurricane season).

Can't wait for the next one!

av8rdave

[underpants]

16. "NO! WAIT!"

Overheard Thursday evening as the Carnival cruise ship was pulling away from the Key West dock. This guy (early 20's) comes running down the dock and yells, "NO! WAIT!" as the ship had pulled up their lines and had moved about 20 feet. His girlfriend came flip flopping along about 20 seconds later.

We thought he was joking at first but he wasn't. I don't know what happened to them (all their clothes were on board) but let it be a lesson to you

DON'T MISS THE BOAT

[mitchtv]

17. I would go again

My partner might not however. He got the Norwalk Virus and was quarateened on Celebrity during our "big" cruise, around South America. , he missed most of the good ports.In fairness, they gave us a coupon for $1900. It might expire ,as he is afraid to use it. We also went on 2 Carnival cruises, and enjoyed the food on them. It was however like a floating Trailer Court, with far too many kids.However food was better than Celebrity, so were amenities,and the ship. We have't been on a Gay cruise,but I have heard that they are more for the white party crowd, and the straight cruised are more age appropriate for us.(Carnival, we went to the Mexican Riviera)
Oh Yeah, the Cayman Islands, You remember? them refusing to allow a Gay ship to dock in their Country?. I hope you will avoid any itinerary that includes the Caymens. Please Not one nickle to that god forsaken place.

[Noordam]

18. Good Review site from Holland LOL

http://psp.club.tip.nl/

[amazona]

19. a cruise boat is an anthill

I was given some cruises when I used to play blackjack and, while I had a good time, the truth is that I would have had a better time elsewhere. Even the small cruise ships are crammed with people, and the larger cruise ships have literally thousands of people on the boat. The whole idea is for old people who want to socialize with other old people or for the hopeless who need to be led by the hand, whether because they are older or because they plan to be drunk for the entire cruise. You can plan a better vacation for yourself without any risk of seasickness or Norwalk. If you are cruising because you actually like being around tons of people, I would think twice or three times about scheduling a "regular" cruise unless you are over 60. Pick out a special interest, whether it's a birding cruise, or an educational cruise, or gay/lesbian...even then the crowd will be skewed older so be prepared for that.

In my humble opinion, if the vacation is supposed to be a romantic one, I would prefer something PRIVATE like a B&B in the Caribbean or something. Also, and no one ever seems to mention it, but cruise ships can be very noisy with all the engine noise.

On Edit: Before taking your first cruise, read David Foster Wallace's essay, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again." It tells the unacknowledged truth about cruises.

[proud patriot]

21. Yep , did the Hawaiian Cruise 7 days all the Islands

It was a blast

[Scottie72]

22. I am going next year

In fact I will be just getting home from ours. My partner and I are going on a cruise with my Parents, family and friends to celebrate my mothers 60th birthday. This will be my first cruise and I am greatly looking forward to it.

Anyway I have heard that the "gay" cruises tend just to be "hook up" cruise etc... has anyone ever experienced a "gay" cruise and if yes were you partnered at the time?

[TXlib]

23. KCDem throw up so much I thought her shoes would come out of her mouth!

In her defense, she was pregnant, and had awful morning sickness...

[Skittles]

25. NO

I would hate to be with a bunch of f***ing tourists.

[youngred]

26. One in the Carribbean and one in Alaska

and I would go again in a heartbeat. There is a lot of BS associated with Cruises but I do like them a lot

[ALago1]

30. Yup. Loved it

I met my current girlfriend (whom I am madly in love with) this summer on a cruise. It was the Norwegian Dawn and it went to the Bahamas.

We are going next summer to Puerto Rico. Fun times!

[ploppy]

31. Yuck

If you want to spend a few days around really drunk people take a Norweigan Cruise. If you are really lucky you may hit the tail end of a hurricane and be around really drunk people in ugly loungewear and worse evening wear in frightening weather conditions. Give me a fancy hotel in the city any day of the week! :puke:

[Nikia]

32. Carnival, Bahamas, it sucked

I was 12 or 13. It was close to Christamas. On the way there, there was a big storm. The whole ship was rocking. It was difficult to walk straight. In my room, everything, I put on the nightstand fell off. I heard the sounds of breaking glass from the late dinner sitting and the bar. No one was allowed above deck. All the water from the on deck swimming pool poured out. I was sick and thought that I was going to die. It was awful.

[regnaD kciN]

33. Holland America to Alaska...

...on the Westerdam (no longer part of their fleet...she's now the Costa Europa) in 1996. Had a great time, but I'm an ocean liner/cruise ship fanatic from way back, ever since crossing the Atlantic on the S.S. United States (aka the "Big U") when I was seven.

[Le Taz Hot]

34. Hated it

I just kept wanting to get off the damned boat. Not enough time in each port to cavort with the natives. But then again, I went Carnival and I hear that was the worst I could have chosen. I guess I'm just not a cruise person.

[Noordam]

36. You have to pick the cruise and ship to match

your style.....

Some ppl have to do the Big ship thing and other the Windjammer thing.

[Ediacara]

35. yes, been on 4, plan on going on one for our first aniversary

We cruised on Princess, Carnival, and Celebrity.

Overall it was a very fun time, and we had a blast. We went to the western Carribean (Princess), the eastern Carribean (Carnival), the Mexican Pacific (Princess, and Bermuda (Celebrity).

BY FAR AND AWAY THE MOST FANTASTIC PLACE I HAVE BEEN TOO ON EARTH EVER IS BERMUDA!!!

I can't even describe how stunning and beatutiful the place is, nor how friendly everyone who lives there is.

As for the cruise lines..... Take a look at the people pictured in the brochures, it's a pretty good representation of who actually buys tickets to be on the ship. Carnival was a little tacky for my tastes, Princess, a little old, but Celebrity was just right.

As for our aniversary cruise.... We're thinking about the Disney cruise-theme park package, but I would alternately, like to go back to Bermuda very much.

[Piltdown13]

37. Just once...Royal Caribbean

For my boyfriend's brother's wedding (they got married on St. Thomas). The whole experience was kind of fascinating, from the ship itself to the people -- I think a good description might be "hyperreal." And, it was fun to just be more or less lazy for a week.

However, a cruise is not for you if you actually want to see anything other than your fellow tourists. You don't stay in any of the ports long enough to do much exploring, usually. For a socializing vacation with friends, it can be fun; to actually experience the world, plan something else.

[4_Legs_Good]

38. Princess to Alaska (7 day one way)

My wife and I went on a Princess Cruise to Alaska. It was the most incredible thing ever. A seven day cruise one way from Vancouver to Seward then bus to Anchorage. Only mistake we made was to fly back almost immediately at the end of the cruise. We should have stayed in Anchorage for a week. BLAST!

I'm not used to luxury, but that damned boat coulda been sailing on the Styx, and it still woulda been great fun. Best food I've ever had (and had and had and had). Some people were actually complaining about it, though, so if you've got insanely extravagant tastes, who knows, it might be disappointing.

So anyway, add the great service and the boat and all that to the utter glory of the Alaskan coast and viola, you've died and gone to heaven, but without the death part.

Very expensive for us regular schmos, though. I think we're still paying it off 6 years later. Bring lotsa extra cash for excursions and the like.

david

Kucinich 2004

[Noordam]

39. And one of the Cruises I want to take

I got this travel journal from
http://www.igougo.com/planning/default.asp


The Hanseatic

This was the most dreaded part of our trip because the seas can be brutal. And I read about crossings that were smooth as glass. I prepared for the worse.

..cut..

When we were getting off the plane, the passengers that had just left our ship were making all kinds of hand motions of the sea. They waved their hands up and down to let us know that it was bad out there -- also, most of them looked green.

we left the beautiful bay of Ushuaia through Tierra del Fuego, and the scenery made all my queasiness disappear. Tiny penguins were swimming along side us, and the Patagonian glaciers and wildlife were picture perfect. The water in this passage was indeed smooth. But that would change.


After dinner, we entered the Drake Passage, and the waves were huge. The bow of the boat would completely disappear, and I headed for the room. There were straps to hold us in the bed, and I had to put pillows around my head to protect me from hitting the nightstand on each side of my twin bed. The boat would hit and wave, then my body would be tossed into the air for a few seconds of weightlessness before the dropping boat rose from the ocean to meet me on my way down from my airless perch. This continued for thirty-six hours.

..cut..

For two night, no one came out of their rooms, and I heard toilets flushing all night. My girlfriend never came out of the bathroom, and she prayed that she ship would crack open and take her from this misery. As long as I kept in the bed, with my head flat, took ginger pills, wore my wrist accupressure bands, and ate soda crackers, I did not get sick. But it was no fun, yet I kept thinking of the great explorers who had crossed these seas in small wooden crafts, so I knew I would be fine -- and I was. Now I have a story to tell, and a memory that has outlived the momentary misery. Plan for the worse, and know that it will be over. But at the same time, you know that you must pass this way again when you return from Antarctica.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. Once at age 13

My grandmother somehow decided that we should all take a cruise to the Bahamas, so we did.

We drove down to Florida via Springfield, Illinois (Lincoln country), Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta, and left from Port Everglades on the Anna C., a Costa Line ship.

Our cabins were just above the water line with no windows, but all we did was sleep there. The rest of the time we were above deck.

I mostly remember the fancy dinners with charming Italian waiters, hanging out with the other kids on the boat (one family each from England and Canada), and drinking Cokes in the night club area while a comedian and a singer entertained us.

The other thing I remember is the utterly beautiful tropical blue water near the shore.

The Bahamas were my second foreign country, and we did have a full day in Nassau, so that was exciting. The other port of call was Freeport, but we were told that the only attraction there was a casino, so we didn't bother getting off.

The return trip was through St. Augustine, Savannah, Charleston, Williamsburg, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.

Before he was married, my youngest brother took two Windjammer cruises and had a great time.

More recently, my mother and stepfather have taken an Alaska cruise and a riverboat cruise in Europe. They raved about the level of service on the riverboat.

About two years ago, I received a brochure from the Yale Alumni Association about a cruise in French Polynesia, with at least a full day in each port. I kept hoping I'd win the lottery in time to go, but no such luck. That's still one I'd like to do.

[Missy Vixen]

41. The cruise from Hell

>what cruise line AND where did you go?<

We cruised from Vancouver, BC, to Hawaii on NCL in October of 2001.

I will never, EVER cruise again, for the following reasons. This is a fraction of the things that went wrong on our cruise vacation.

RANT MODE ON!

1) Seasickness
When one books a cruise, the cruise line tells you that the boat has stabilizers, and it's "very rare" for anyone to become seasick. Uh, that's a lie. The Pacific is notorious for rough seas. It also takes quite some time for seasickness meds to kick in (in my case, five days,) if you haven't started taking them before you even left port. Seasickness bands were unavailable; those in charge of the ship's gift shops didn't stock them for the trip.

We hit a storm six or seven hours out of Vancouver, BC, that generated 20-foot swells for the better part of two days. According to the ship's doctor's office, half the ship was ill and incapacitated, including the captain. There is an injection one can get to eliminate the symptoms of seasickness. I was told that the injection was unavailable.

2) Hidden costs
If you aren't a major-league drinker, gambler, really enjoy art auctions, or like playing bingo at $40 per throw, there's not a lot to do. There was a gratuity for everything. If one wanted a can of pop, the pop was $1.50; if one did not tip .75 - $1.00 for each can of pop, one would not receive the can of pop in any timely manner. Speaking of alcohol, most drinks are $8.00 and up, and that does not include the gratuity. We drank a lot of bottled water, because the drinking water onboard was loaded with chemicals. Of course, there was a charge for each bottle of water as well.

The "fabulous food" on cruise ships is now in their alternative restaurants, which charge for each meal on top of existing fare. The mere mortal food was okay, but nothing to write home about. If you'd like a picture of your embarking or disembarking, it'll be $14.00. Per photo.

Shore excursions, via the cruise line, were unbelievably expensive. For instance -- a trip to Kaanapali Beach in Maui for a bit of sunbathing was $26.00 per person. They weren't feeding you, there was no other assistance offered besides making sure you got to the beach (a mile or so from where the ship's tender docked,) and getting you back to the dock.

3) NCL first, passengers far down the list
Just remember, if it's not making money for NCL, they're not interested. If you miss a port, you will get no refund on your port fees. They'll also lie about the real reason you're missing the port, so they won't have to refund those fees. The same morning we missed the one port we'd booked for (Kauai,) a woman onboard (and sailing against doctor's orders,) gave birth. The entire ship was then taken to Honolulu to offload she and her family. We'd been onboard for six out of the seven days of our cruise. Did NCL think it would be a nice gesture to let some passengers off for a couple of hours to perhaps see the sights and stand on dry land? NO.

There was another passenger who was so loud, obnoxious, and rude that he (and his antics,) were known to the entire ship. He specialized in doing things like disrupting the evening entertainments, foisting himself on older women who didn't appreciate his boorish and amorous attentions, etcetera. It got so bad that one older gentleman, after "Bob" the passenger had bothered the first guy's wife once too many times, invited "Bob" to step outside. The ship's management had scores of complaints about Bob. Did they ask him to leave at the first port? NO. He ruined the vacation of 1700 other people.

4) Safety
How safe is it to be sailing in seas so rough that the ship's captain is ill and incapacitated?

How safe is it to "tender" back to the ship after visiting a port, only to have crew members who don't think that they have to secure a safe passage for passengers to reboard the ship? (It's quite an adventure to cross a three-foot gap between vessels when both are wildly bobbing in rough surf. I got off easy by almost being dropped in the water, (and gigantic bruises,) instead of the broken leg on one elderly passenger, and the broken nose on another after she did a face-plant on deck when shoved across the gap by crew members. While leaving the ship, we were supervised by the captain. The trip back was another story.

As you've probably guessed, I could go on and on on this subject. When one goes to a vacation spot on dry land and things aren't working out, you can switch hotels, go to a different restaurant, or even end your vacation and fly home early. When on a cruise, you've just paid a fortune for an experience that can either be tremendous, or the worst vacation you've ever had.

Our vacation fell into the latter category. We spent several thousand dollars for the worst vacation we've ever had.

Julie

[mitchtv]

42. on a 14 day cruise around S America

beside seasick my partner got quaranteend in cabin for 5 days, missing all the major sightseeing ports. They tried to keep me in for 24 hrs , i went ashore instead. Celebrity charges for the TV movies channel, while it was free on Carnival. Food was better on Carnival- meals on Celebrity were extra $3 if you chose to not dress and skip the sit down restaurant. the prison ship Zenith we were calling it. half the people were confined.