Need your tips on taking a cruise.

[July]

I've never taken one, and I'm designated to look into one for a gang of relatives.

I'll take any advice. Good cruise lines? Bad ones? Best for people with mobility problems? Best for Mediterranean travel? Booking, traveling, stateroom, etc.?

I'm a complete cruise newbie, so thanks to anyone with ideas for me.

[RebelOne]

1. Well, go on a diet before you go

because you will be eating at least 7 times a day. It's been many years since I have been on a cruise, so I have no other advice.

[malta blue]

4. they will roll you off the plank when you are done eom.

[Beausoir]

40. I went with Celebrity Cruiseline and really enjoyed it. Immaculate ship.

The ship was The Galaxy. Lovely vessel. Everywhere there were workers cleaning, vacuming, picking up.

The state room was very comfortable...get a balcony if you can afford it.

Lots to do on board. Food and wines were very good.

[Strong Atheist]

2. I liked going to the western Caribbean. Did it twice, on

different lines. Both were good. I think one was Holland America, and the other Carnival? Don't remember, But the Caymans, and Mexico, and Jamaica were all neat to see...

[malta blue]

3. DO NOT use Royal Olympic Cruises

if you are going to Greece....

We used them for a 5 day greek island cruise on our honeymoon, paid for a mid level double bed and got a bottom of the barrel stateroom with two twin beds that were perpendicular to each other...

We complained, they upgraded us and then three months later there was a $1500 charge for the upgrade on our credit card. Neat huh?

[AtomicKitten]

5. tether yourself to the ship

too many instances of people disappearing.

Don't go.

[Strong Atheist]

11. Oh, nonsense. Incredibly sensationalized cases that happen,

what? One in hundred thousands? If you are not young, drunk, and stupid, cruises are perfectly safe ...

[AtomicKitten]

13. like I said IMO too many instances ....

oh, nonsense, yourself. Nice debating technique.

[Strong Atheist]

35. You want to talk debating techniques?

Got some FIGURES to back up your ridiculous claims?

[Bzzzz]

21. Have You Ever...

read the book 'Skinny Dip'...good read.

[AtomicKitten]

31. will it make me more afraid?

[Bzzzz]

39. Only if you don't trust...

spouse/signigicant other.

[GOPisEvil]

26. My parents take 3-5 cruises per year. Never a problem.

[Rabrrrrrr]

32. Bwuhahaha!

I love urban legends.

Good one! :thumbsup:

[AllegroRondo]

6. I loved Disney

Took our honeymoon on a Disney cruise.

its NOT just for kids anymore! They have separate areas for adults only, kids only, and families. Live entertainment, new release movies, a whole deck where kids can go entertain themselves (they give the parents a beeper in case they need to contact you).
Great if you are getting a bunch of relatives together.

But they do not do Mediterranean.

Other advice - you probably wont spend a lot of time in your room, so dont worry too much about getting a really big one. DO get one with a window or balcony. If you get seasick easily, go for a cabin lower in the ship, as it rocks less. Drink ginger ale, it helps.

[kay1864]

7. I can recommend...

Holland America and Celebrity (and by association, Royal Caribbean). Celebrity had excellent food, but Holland America was very good.

Many ships have a "specialty restaurant" that is superior quality, for a $20-35 surcharge. Oftentimes on the first night, that restaurant will offer a discount. On Holland America, we ate like kings on the first night for $10pp. We returned 4 more times since it was so much better than the main dining room. But on Celebrity we didn't bother, since the food in the main dining room was so good.

The spa usually offers discounts at night or when the ship is in port.

I doubt there's a "best for people with mobility problems" since AFAIK all cruise ships are handicap-accessible. We took our 4-month-old daughter everywhere on the ship in her stroller on a 7-day Caribbean cruise.

If any of your relatives works for an airline or cruise line, they can get up to 4 rooms at a lower rate. Have them register at dargal.com to see the available rates.

[Aristus]

8. My wife and I did a Carnival cruise for our honeymoon.

It was terrific and very memorable. The food was incredible, our stateroom, for what we paid, was very nice. And there was an awful lot to do on board. I liked the one afternoon when we skipped the shore excursions and did some self-pampering. I worked out in the gym, got a massage, and soaked in the hot tub while my wife got her hair done, a facial, a manicure and a pedicure. What a relaxing afternoon.

Our ship was the Carnival Destiny, the first all-non-smoking cruise ship. They were very serious about the no-smoking policy and enforced it mercilessly. Apparantly a passenger on the cruise just before ours had got caught smoking on board the ship, and was put off in Puerto Rico, from where he had to get home at his own expense! For a resolute non-smoker like me, that was good news.

The 24-hour pizza parlor and the Grand Midnight buffet were excellent features of the ship. And the nightly shows were very entertaining and professionally mounted.

[KitchenWitch]

36. hehehe ... you said "professionally mounted"!

:rofl:

[Aristus]

41. Uh...

not THOSE kinds of shows, KitchenWitch. :+

[bleedingheart]

9. my sister did a trip from Venice to Greece...

she loved it.

But take comfy shoes for walking about when you do dock at a port.

[July]

10. Thanks to everyone who's replied so far.

Whether with tips or warnings!

[kay1864]

12. One other thing

Don't carry a purse OR wallet when you go ashore. Use a money belt instead (or neck purse--either one is $5 at Target). And pass along this advice to your relatives.

Pickpockets are everywhere, and they know when the cruise ships are in port.

[Blue-Jay]

14. Watch out for pirates!

yarrr.

[MsAnthropy]

15. I took an Alaskan cruise

it was mostly senior citizens

[Missy Vixen]

16. Avoid NCL at all costs

Ooookay, it's time to dust off the Cruise Story From Hell.

We took an NCL "repositioning" cruise in October of 2001 from Vancouver, BC to Hawaii. Here's the highlights: No matter what anyone says, it's possible to be seasick on an ocean liner. You might want to take appropriate precautions. (I had been on boats my entire life and never been sick. The ship was a different story. Unfortunately for me, seasickness meds take several days to work unless one starts taking them prior to cruising.) I would recommend a cruise that stops in a port every other day. Be sure and take a look at the amenities onboard before you cruise. In other words, if the weather's bad and there's not a lot to do, an onboard movie theater or some other type of indoor activity will loom large. NCL is much less concerned with passenger satisfaction and much more concerned with separating those same passengers from as much of their cash as possible. The biggest thing -- if you have your heart set on a port (and will be unhappy if it's missed,) bag the cruise and take a flight to the place you wanted to go. We missed Kauai due to the US dropping bombs on Afghanistan that morning, for instance. We went on a 10 day cruise and the best day was the 10 hours we spent in Maui. Watch out for shore excursions sponsored by the cruise line, they'll blow a hole in your wallet. The worst experience we had: A totally obnoxious guy that started fistfights among other passengers, interrupted the nightly entertainment repeatedly, and a cruise line that did not act to contain him until he was physically threatened by another passenger in front of us. It was amazing to me that one person could spoil the fun for 1199 other people.

According to the other people I've asked about their cruise experiences, they can either be the best vacation ever, or they can be beyond awful. It's best to book after checking out the various cruise lines and whom they cater to -- Carnival's crowds trend young and want to party, HAL is lots of retirees, I have never heard anyone say anything even remotely negative about Celebrity.

Julie

[AirmensMom]

18. I second that.

NCL sucks. I'll spare you my cruise story from hell. NCL sucks and their customer service is beyond terrible. I'll never go on NCL again or recommend them to anyone else.

Our two Carnival cruises were great. I'd love to try Celebrity or Princess. My parents loved Princess.

[Awsi Dooger]

23. I had a great experience on NCL

I took a cruise to Alaska on the Norwegian Star last May and it was fantastic. There were 7 of us and no one had a negative word and everyone is desperate to go again. The freestyle cruising was incredibly convenient; eating whenever you wanted with maybe 10 choices of restaurants, some free with others having minor cover charges. The cabin was plenty spacious especially the bathroom and shower. It was far superior to the accomodations I had in previous cruises to Europe. And the cabin crew was phenomenal in cleaning up and making sure you were OK. I got a bit seasick the first night and from that day forth the girl who cleaned our cabin was offering seasick medicine and everything else whenever she saw me.

My only complaints were lack of shore time, generally 6 to 12 hours per stop, and the ridiculous emphasis on shopping once you were ashore. Tons of jewelry shops within blocks of each port. It's true the excursions were very pricey but based on sheer competence you're supposed to research that ahead of time and handicap properly. Actually, I was winning so much money on the bonus slot machines in the little casino that I added excursions, including a trip to the top of a glacier in Juneau.

I found a ton of things to do: basketball court, ping pong tables, golf driving net, movie theater, jogging track, library, computer room. But best of all was just walking the ship and beholding the Alaskan inside passageway while meeting friendly, interesting people. Now NCL is sending me brochures with big discounts on future cruises. I hope to take advantage.

[Le Taz Hot]

17. I have a different take on Carnival

I thought it was terrible. Not enough time in the Ports of Call and never in the evening so you could enjoy the nightlife. The reason Carnival is so inexpensive is that you are a captive audience for most of that time. Every 30 minutes or so they're hawking their their casinos or art auctions or "special sales" or ship stores, etc. I understand the smaller cruise lines are the way to go as you get more personalized attention. With Carnival there were 1200 people on the ship which prohibited anything remotely related to personal service -- I felt like a head of cattle. Turned me off of cruises forever.

[LostinVA]

19. If you have the money, go Windjammer

It's cruising done right.

[greatauntoftriplets]

25. I love Windjammer.

It's been a few years, but it is great.

Re Carnival, someone I knew described it as a week spent in a singles bar.

[LostinVA]

27. Exactly -- with Windjammer, you're on a REAL ship, and you

go to "realer" places. It's wonderful.... hmmm... I wonder how much I have left on my credit card...

If I want to go to a resort, I'll go to Mexico.

[greatauntoftriplets]

30. I'd never have been to Saba without Windjammer.

Or Nevis. Or St. Kitts. Or Statia. Or Mayreau. Or...I could go on and on and on.

[LostinVA]

37. I know! Isn't Saba cool???

[greatauntoftriplets]

43. Saba is amazing.

The first few times I sailed on Windjammer, the weather was such that we missed Saba. But it was worth the wait. It seemed so elusive and so remote.

:D

[SoCalDem]

20. Enjoy..

Even the worst cruise is probably 100 times better than your daily life..

take some shore excursions..bring lots of money for shopping.. diet before you go..take the late seating for dinner...don't buy stuff on the ship (they over charge like mad)

don;t OVERPACK..(they will open your stuff at customs when you return, and they are not careful when they shove it all back in)..pack light when you go and bring an empty suitcase for your treasures you buy :)

We use nesting suitcases and pack the smaller one..then put it inside the bigger one.. lots of room for the rturn trip home:)

edit:

There are tons of people who expect a tip, so read up on tipping before you go.. bring lots of extra money.. They do give good service and are rather underpaid, so just prepare in advance)

[mtnsnake]

22. Make sure you go snorkeling!! Also, here are some other tips...

My wife and I went with another couple on Royal Caribbean and we have no complaints. It was a blast!

For your first cruise, consider a 3 night cruise instead of a long one, unless you're rich, but either one you'll be happy with. We did 3 nights from Miami to the Bahamas.

Don't worry too much about getting a balcony with your room for the first cruise because you'll rarely be in your room anyway. You'll be spending all your time trying to explore what's on board the ship. Plus, if you need to get out onto a balcony, you can always to to the upper deck and take in the stars up there. A room with a balcony comes at a huge extra cost.

A window is nice as opposed to a porthole, but again...for your first cruise it won't matter that much because you'll rarely be in your room.

Dinner: Some of the most fun we had was getting to know the people at our table, who were perfect strangers at first but great friends by the end of the first day! Since you're going with relatives, you're going to be tempted to ask for a table with all of you together, but don't worry if that's not possible for some reason. In fact, it might be a lot more fun NOT to sit with the relatives and meet some new friends instead over dinner. Get to know the waiters and be friendly with them. Most of these guys come from other countries and have a hard life and miss their families back home, so take a few seconds to let them know how much you appreciate them. They all seem like such good people working on the ship.

Photographs: On board, they're going to try to convince you to take photographs on one of the days, which you can buy. We weren't going to do it, but are glad we did. They came out really nice and were professionally done.

BTW, I was the one relegated to set up the cruise we went on. I got much of my help on planning it from the cruise message boards. You should definitely register on one of two of them and ask lots of questions. The people on those cruise forums are veteran cruisers and love to help out. You can easily find out which online service to get the best cruise prices from, just by asking them on the forums.

For example, go here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/

Or here for the Royal Caribbean forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83
There is even a thread right now called "Royal Caribbean vs Carnival"

If you have any other specific questions, I'd be glad try to answer them if I can. Have fun! Half the fun is in the planning and the anticipation!

[WolverineDG]

28. I've sworn off cruisecritic

(bad experience with a bunch of rightwing nuts over there) BUT the ports of call area is a great resource for less expensive options for shore tours!

I've gone on 3 cruises, all on Carnival, all Western Carribbean. I've had a great/good time on each one, most recently this past October on the Valor. They had to change the Cozumel stop to another stop, but it was fun. My favorite was my cruise last year on the Elation, but it's switching ports. :(

All ages cruise on Carnival. I've been well-treated on all my cruises & they've upgraded the bedding & linens on all the ships.

dg

[mtnsnake]

29. To each his own. Cruiscritic was a fantastic resource for me,

and I found nothing but helpful people there.

Sorry you had a bad experience with them. BTW, I'm sure that they're no more rightwing than any other cruise forum. LOL

[WolverineDG]

38. the carnival board was pretty bad

maybe because i took a CC group tour & got to know folks more than just an online presence. i agree that cc is a great resource, but after having to put up with continuous right-wing rants, some of which were down-right mean-spirited, when anything considered "liberal" was deleted or shut down (it wasn't just me), i got tired of it & looked elsewhere. one poster apparently pays the $25 deposit on the group tours just so he can post rw bs on the group thread. he was not very nice to other posters either, but he was "in" with the host, so he got away with it. we were glad when "something came up" & he couldn't make the cruise.

plus, someone on the valor group cruise wanted to form her own cc group cruise for NYE 2006 & was following the rules they had posted for doing so. all of a sudden, the "plan your own cc group cruise" section was shut down & a good friend of one of the cc hosts was touting her own NYE 2006 group cruise, while this other person (who started earlier) got shut out. left a bad taste in several peoples' mouths.

dg

[sbj405]

24. Don't

Floating environmental disaster

If you want to be on the water, consider a sailboat charter or smaller boat. If it's the ports, look into land tours.

[Rabrrrrrr]

33. I took a Princess cruise, and was totally impressed with their level

of service and excellence.

We did the Inside Passage to Alaska from Vancouver.

Basically, if you are with people who like to travel and see new things and aren't a bunch of drunkards and don't have small children that they have to take with them, the Alaska cruises are great, or a cruise to Norway or perhaps some of the mid-eastern and world-wide cruises.

Otherwise, the Carribean cruises are good options if you just want to drink, party, buy shitty trinkets, and have sunny, lazy, restful days.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

34. Make sure it won't coincide with this...

http://home.att.net/~alanj.hall/FreeperCruise.html">Cruise Group.

[nini]

42. Depends on the age range of those relatives

If you're taking kids through elderly - go Princess. They go everywhere on the planet and have a great kids program, easily accessible areas for older and mobility challenged etc.. Their staff is trained to go to anyone with mobility needs and assist. They also have handicapped cabins with wider doors and bathrooms etc.

Their prices are fair, food is great and itineraries are good.


IF your group is mostly older - over 60s. Try something like Holland America.

IF they're major partiers - go Carnival.


Alaska is a perfect destination as it's not too hot for those who don't like heat and humidity and it's absolutely beautiful. EVERYONE will love Alaska.


Have fun. I love cruises. My goal is to get a whole year at sea (365 days!). I've got about 250 so far and look forward to those next 100!

[bluecrush]

44. RCI is pretty good

or at least that was my experience after sailing NCL, Carnival and two UK lines. Southern Caribbean (Grenada, St. Lucia, etc.) is a great destination. Pack a change of clothes and all the stuff you really need in your carry on luggage, as it takes time for your big bags to arrive at your cabin. Book a stateroom amidship if you think you are prone to sea sickness. Save money by booking internet shore excursions instead of the ones hawked by the cruise line. If you're taking a tender away from the ship for a shore excusion, be mindful of lines (check with the purser's desk first thing in the morning for a tender ticket). Always negotiate a price in advance with taxi cab drivers and others on land.
Have fun!

[kay1864]

45. More hints...

- When you depart, board early if you can. If the ship sails at 4 pm or so, you can board as early as 11 am (call the cruise line and ask--it's usually a couple hours before the official boarding time). Free lunch buffet, of course.

- Before you eat lunch though, find out when the ship's tour is, and definitely take it. It's usually conducted by an assistant cruise director. On our Alaska tour, he told us of a little-known spot for glacier viewing. So four of us had the entire rail to ourselves for picture-taking. Everyone else was packed three and four deep on the deck above.

- Read the daily newsletter (delivered to your cabin after dinner). That's where you find out about spa discounts, onboard movies (if there's a movie theater), etc. Skip the shopping seminars though.