DH and I never got a honeymoon and are planning a trip but have kind of a limited budget and cruises seem to fit into our budget. The hitch in our giddy-up? We'll be going in March. Spring break. We don't want a CRAZY cruise, but still want fun options.
Any suggestions? Any giant red flags?
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
We went in early march for our honeymoon. We did the oasis, I think carnival is more of a party cruise line than royal Caribbean. We had so much fun..... and on such a huge ship even managed to get some alone time in the hot tub. We asked what the busy time was in the dining area, ate earlier then everyone else, and hit the hot tub when everyone was eating.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
I've never been on a cruise. I was leaning towards a cruise or an all-inclusive trip to Mexico for our honeymoon. Money wise, it was cheaper to go to an all inclusive resort. I've heard you could walk away from a cruise with a $500 alcohol and soda bill. If you gamble and do excursions it could be more.
I really want to go on a cruise next. We are entertaining the idea of an Alaskan Cruise while we are still on the west coast. Though, we might consider flying directly to Alaska and doing a land tour and skipping the cruise part.
ETA: I also have to say that I'm not the best ocean traveler as I get pretty bad motion and sea-sickness. Taking a cruise is something that I can hope to do at some point.
grapefruit / 4136 posts
@artbee: Oh those are good tips! Do you remember what the cost of food/drinks was? (looking at the next post!) 
@bluestriped bee: We were looking at Mexico too! I'm just afraid that March is going to be SO crazy with all the students...?
bananas / 9628 posts
I have! A couple & we're going on another one two weeks from today. Because you need someone over 21 to book & travel with you, it's not that crazy. That and you pay for your booze. It's not all inclusive, so a lot of young ppl who wanna drink a ton can't afford to pay crazy cruise bar tabs & would rather to a cheap all inclusive spot. Read reviews for cabin #s and you'll be able to find what they're near and the noise level.
grapefruit / 4136 posts
@mrs. bird: Oh the reviews for cabin #'s is a great idea!! Thanks for the tip!!
bananas / 9628 posts
@babyjmama: food is all included on carnival unless you eat in the steak house. Which, OMG, you should do one night! Seriously amazing! There's an additional fee, $30 I think. I wanna say soda is like $2 a drink, but you can bring one small personal cooler with your own soda in it & stick it in the fridge in your room if you want. So much cheaper than paying for every drink. The pails of beers are cheaper than individual ones, I don't remember how much though. I know my mixed drinks were between 6-8 though, so we only had a couple drinks a day. You can hide booze in a mouth wash bottle & pregame before going to dinner though (shhhh, don't tell! Hahaha). We also got a free bottle of wine for going to the steak house the first night of the cruise, woohoo! and lots of the excursions give you drinks. We drank for free whenever possible 
Edit to add: best tips- bring a travel alarm clock to remind you for dinner, there are no clocks in the rooms, a power strip as outlets are limited, and hangers because there are never enough, and clothes pins to hang your wet bathing suits to dry in the bathroom.
clementine / 878 posts
Yes it was great! Carnival is supposed to have the rowdiest party atmosphere. We have only done one on Princess cruise lines which was good and quite calm, from Florida to the Carribeans. Yes, drinks add up, as do the extra excursions.
grapefruit / 4136 posts
@mrs. bird: LOL oh the mouthwash idea is perfect!!! Do you have a suggestion of what kind of room? Interior, ocean view? More than that worth it?
bananas / 9628 posts
@babyjmama: well once you've had a balcony it's hard to go back I loooove being able to sit out there and relax while DH sleeps in. We took pics on the balcony every day. I know other ppl had inside staterooms because they'd rather spend it on excursions, but for us the balcony is worth it. Oh & bring your own hair dryer, theirs suck and take 10x linger to dry your hair with. You can find great cruise deals that make the balcony am affordable option. We have a partially obstructed view balcony this time, so you can't look straight down to see the ocean since there's a lifeboat below us, so you look out at the water, I'm still ok with it!
nectarine / 2504 posts
I have and I honestly did not enjoy it. We got off the boat every chance we had but we still felt "trapped" on the boat. DH enjoyed it but I didn't... doubt we'll go on a cruise again.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
@babyjmama: Oh, we ended up going in April. We delayed our honeymoon for about 5 months. Yeah, I avoided the spring break time. Do you need to go at spring break? We went around mid April, so it was just after spring break and right before college students finish their semester. It was great time.
grapefruit / 4136 posts
@mrs. bird: DH likes to sleep in too...hmmmm....I might have to think about that!
@keiki_mama: Thanks for your honesty!! I really do want both sides of the coin 
I've thought about the "trapped" feeling. I guess we just wouldn't know until we tried, which sucks bc we don't want to spend this kind of cash to be disappointed!
@bluestriped bee: I really wish we could go at a different time but DH is a full time student (a 31 year old sophomore LOL) so we don't really have other options 
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
@babyjmama: Oh, yeah. I understand. I have a lot of friends that are teachers. You'll have a great time no matter what.
cantaloupe / 6800 posts
We went on a cruise in April and were worried about spring break but it wad totally fine!
cantaloupe / 6923 posts
We went on a cruise in January. Loved the food, loved the entertainment, loved the stops. But if you are anxious or claustrophobic I might rethink it. I was in a state of panic the whole week and would cry myself to sleep nightly. But everyone in our group had a blast!
pomelo / 5789 posts
Http://www.cruisehotsheet.com is the place to find the cheapest deals.
Http://www.cruisecritic.com is the best place for reviews.
I've sailed with Norwegian, carnival and celebrity. Celebrity was by far the best experience but also the most expensive.
bananas / 9118 posts
We went at the end of April and it was great. Carnival did a good job. We should have gotten a balcony since my husband got pretty sea sick during the days at sea.
Incidentally it was good luck for us, our son was born 39 weeks later Not a bad conception moon after close to a year of trying!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
Cruisecritic dot com is a great site for cruises. You can get any questions you have answered on there and get tips and tricks to the best way to travel / pack.
We took a cruise on Princess and loved it. It was not cheap. An all inclusive probably would have been more reasonable but we didn't need alcohol included. We enjoyed it because we didn't have to do anything! When we stopped at ports, we didn't have to get off the boat. And if we didn't, the boat was empty! It was great. We did two excursions but they weren't through the cruise line, they were private trips we found through cruise critic. They were tons of fun and we had no trouble getting back to the ship in time for us to leave.
If you love eating great food, relaxing and don't get sea sick, cruises are amazing. Of you're willing to have an inside cabin with no windows, (you can't be claustrophobic) it can be really cheap! Just remember, they charge you tax and tips at the end so you'll get a bill at the end with that plus any extras you bought like booze and specialty restaurants.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
@babyjmama: we went through a travel agent and since they weren't able to get us a discount she got us $250 to spend on the ship. Dh and I aren't drinkers..... so we had trouble spending all of that money! We were literally going from store to store trying to buy gifts for people on the last day. There are some specialty restaurants that cost extra money that we ate at, normally we would have stuck with the free /included restaurants.
honeydew / 7687 posts
@babyjmama I've been on Carnival twice, once to Cozumel in high school and for our honeymoon to Alaska. I think it is a fun way to travel! It is so worry free because all the food is free, etc. I can't speak for other lines but we really enjoyed Carnival's food, lots of options. We didn't drink but I know there are lots of ways to smuggle your own booze in and just buy a soda card for mixing. I think it depends where you're going if a balcony is worth it - Alaska was because we could whale watch in our robes, Mexico I don't think it would've been We've always booked through a travel website like Expedia & then through Ebates for cash back. Let me know if you have any specific questions!
@bluestripedbee we did an alaskan cruise for our honeymoon! we want to go back and fly in for more land exploration, but it was amazing and so fun. We did 3 excursions, a specialty whale cruise where we saw humpbacks & orcas, snorkeling (!!) with the thickest wet suits ever, and a bald eagle raft trip. We also spent 2 extra days in Seattle. beautiful!!
grapefruit / 4649 posts
We have done several cruises, always with one of our families, and it has been great. Like @keiki_mama, the first one I went on I felt trapped-- my parents had been on one before that and raved about how there was always something to do so I expected to be entertained 24/7. Once I figured out that the primary activity was going to be reading, laying on deck and general relaxation on the days at sea I loved it. For the record there are quite a few things to do, especially in the evenings but I think I had it in my head that it was going to be like summer camp... The days in port we zip around and see lots of different things, sometimes doing excursions and other times just wandering.
We went once during a peak spring break time and it was really not an issue-- most college kids can't afford cruises unless they are going with their family in which case their behavior is toned down and you aren't usually in port after 7 or so.
Others have mentioned that there are other things to budget for so that would be my only hesitation. Tips, drinks, excursions, travel to the port you leave from, parking etc. Also, we have always needed to go to the departure city the day before, leaving the morning of the cruise has always been too risky because of possible bad weather, lost luggage etc.
I have only done an all inclusive place once before and I didn't love it, it sort of felt like being on an open air ship if you will, there wasn't anywhere within walking distance of the resort so you had to pay for an excursion or a cab so I prefer being stuck on the boat sometimes but knowing I get to get off on certain days and be somewhere new.
Good luck with your planning!
pomelo / 5331 posts
Yep, we loved it! We did one for our honeymoon. We did carnival and are not partners at all, I don't even drink, and I found it was easy to avoid. They have a "party pool" area where they have all their games and music but then all the way on the other side of the boat there's a quiet adult-only pool, and then an adult oasis on the upper deck. Of course it probably depends on the boat, but I think they're all similar on their concept. We went in November so not spring break, but it's a huge boat so if there is a raucous crowd it doesn't really affect you. We loved the food - the steakhouse is indeed amazing - and since we did a 7-day, it was a perfect mix of 4 ports and then sea days. We loved that we didn't have to try to figure out where to go or how to get there. There are lots of varied activities or you don't have to do anything. Tip, spring for a balcony room, it was so nice to be able to sit on the balcony and eat breakfast or watch the port come up or just the sea, and makes the room feel bigger and not so trapped.
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
The most important thing to consider for your specific question is which cruise line! Carnival WILL be all spring breakers, so do not go on that line if you are trying to avoid that. Your best bet is probably Royal Caribbean - very middle-of-the-road in terms of price and quality, which is a good thing! It won't break your bank, and because it's not the cheapest line out there, you'll avoid most of the party kids. There are always going to be some people partying on cruises, but you should be good to go on that one. Have a blast! I've been on RC 4-5 times (my mom sells cruises for a living so I've been on a gazillion cruises!) and it's a great line. ETA: Celebrity is another good option if they sail the itinerary you're looking for! We did one of those in Alaska and loved it. Post on my wall if you want more info or her contact info for more information or booking - she doesn't charge her clients (only the cruise lines) so it won't cost you a dime.
pomelo / 5041 posts
@jojogirl we were just talking about going on a cruise in the spring. Will you wall me your mom's info? Thanks!
apricot / 321 posts
DH and I went to Bermuda for our honeymoon. It was amazing. The cruise was so relaxing. We were able to do what we wante and not have a care in the world. I highly suggest going on one. We cruised with Royal Carribean. I love their ship. The staff is incredibly friendly as well.
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