I've always wanted to go on a cruise, but never got around to it. Hopefully we'll get the chance when Charlie and Olive are a little bit older!
Have you ever been on a cruise? What is the most awesome part about them?
I've always wanted to go on a cruise, but never got around to it. Hopefully we'll get the chance when Charlie and Olive are a little bit older!
Have you ever been on a cruise? What is the most awesome part about them?
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
Never been on a cruise! Want to take our LOs on a Disney cruise one day though! I heard the food is really good
Kinda nervous about being out in the middle of the ocean though..
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
We went on one a little before we got pregnant with RJ. Went with another couple-- my college roommate (MOH) and her husband. It was pretty much 4 straight days of being happily buzzed, chasing down free drinks, eating, dancing, participating in games, and taking crazy pictures. Probably the BEST vacation I've ever had in my life. The 4 day 3 night cruise was cheaper than the flights to get us down to the port in Miami!! ($144/person!!) The cabins were tiny and no portholes/windows, but since we only used them to sleep in and get ready in, it totally didn't matter.
This makes me wanna go on another cruise and SOON We haven't looked into them because I didn't feel comfortable being out of the country and not very reachable for whoever was taking care of RJ. It's tough and expensive to even check your email!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
Yep! 3! I went on a Western Caribbean cruise senior year of high school with girlfriends... then DH & I went an Eastern caribbean cruise in *08... and we went on another Western Caribbean cruise in April last year with a group of our "couple" friends.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE cruising. The easy access to food, drinks, pool, while traveling at sea... and the short day trips to multiple destinations. Senior spring break trip was just teenagers being crazy... the trip with DH - we loved all of the stops (Bahamas, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic)... and our trip with friends last year was a blast because we could enjoy all of the ship activities + port stops with a big group of fun people :)... if we cruised again, we would def go with friends or family; not just us.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Hubs and I went on one cruise with two of our friends back in... 2005 I think. It was a 7 day cruise in the Caribbean and it was AWESOME. We started in Miami and went to the Bahamas (Nassua), St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. It was so much fun!
Highlights:
- Spending full days on islands, exploring, swimming, eating the local food, shopping.
- All the food you can eat on the cruise.
- The ship has its own pool, gym, casino, etc
- SHOWS! The shows on the ship were pretty awesome!
Downside:
- Drinks were not included and even sodas were expensive
- You had to get up EARLY if you wanted a decent lounge chair on the deck
- Cruise ships can be CROWDED
- When island hopping, you have to make sure you're back to the ship on time.
Overall, it was an awesome experience! I'd love to go on another one!
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
I've never been but we hope to go on a Disney cruise when LO is older and hopefully with friends and their LOs!
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
I went on 2. One with my parents and friend as a gift for graduating grad school, and then my honeymoon.
I usually like to see new things and be on the go during vacations, and cruising isn't like that. But it's perfect when you need some relaxation!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
The most awesome part of the cruise - not having to plan anything!! We spent days at the pool (me) and casino (him) and spent our evenings together gorging ourselves on delicious foods.
Adira mentioned sodas - you can buy a soda card and get them on the cheap that way. If you're not a big drinker, it's not a huge deal that they charge for alcohol - we had no problem with it. We actually took two bottles of wine on with us!
cherry / 216 posts
I've been on a cruise three times- twice in highschool with family (including aunts, uncles, cousins etc.) and once with my husband and immediate family.
Cruising is fun, with all that great food, accessible at any hour, being my favourite thing.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@tina: wow best vacation ever?
i think i would love it because it's so stressful to plan vacations. but i bet i would come back like 5 pounds heavier!
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
I've been on 3, loved every single one, I'm a cruise-a-holic. We're not HUGE drinkers, so we don't mind paying for a drink here and there, but we're total foodies and the food on cruises (especially Disney.... best food ever!) is amazing and plentiful. I love that you get set up in your room, but get to see different places every day. Make nice with a server on the pool deck, and they always manage to find you a place to sit
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
@Mrs. Bee: on our last cruise, by the end of the week, some of my pants were a little.. ahem.. snug! lol!
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
@Mrs. Bee: ohhhhh yes I lost weight in preparation because I knew I'd gain at least 5 lbs. I think I ended up gaining around 8 or 9 :T but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT. Seriously you don't have to plan a THING... one of the funnest things was sitting down each night with our friends and planning out the next day's itinerary! We didn't plan a single thing in advance! There is SO much to do when you get there.
We DID do a lot of research on how to cruise economically though. So we made friends with a bartender and ordered buckets of beer for daytime, very strong cocktails for night (and he'd make them very strong for us!), we each got a soda cup per couple (free refills for the entire cruise, it was like $24 or so) and would get refills with no ice.... there are always drink deals like free drinks at the reception to meet the captain, and each day there's a special drink for 1/2 price. Drinking is really the only thing you end up spending a lot of $$ on, other than excursions at the various stops, which we didn't do. We just hung on the beach and shopped at the little market stalls.
The ONLY bad thing was that our server for the sit-down dinners wasn't very good, so we ate at other locations on the ship for some dinners. All included, of course!
pear / 1965 posts
Nope! I have always wanted to go on one though. My SIL has been on many and we plan to go one one together. Maybe for my 30th Birthday seeing as DH wont be here.
@PRETTYLIZY- I sooo want to go on a Disney cruise. I LOVE Disney!!!!
honeydew / 7968 posts
=( never been on a cruise. i really want to take the alaskan cruise. or a european cruise. i'm afraid we'll get seasick though, since both hubby and i get seasick.
pomegranate / 3503 posts
Cruises never used to appeal to me but now that we have kids, I might give it a try. Most people I know who's been loves them.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
No, never been but I hear now is the best time to go.
eggplant / 11824 posts
We went on a 2 week European cruise for our honeymoon and LOVED it. It was so nice not to have to stress about travel through different countries. You unpack once and that’s it – you’ve got your room for your stay and don’t have to mess with anything! The ship does everything for you. The food on Holland America was really good. We don’t drink soda, so I have no idea how their soft drink prices work, but alcohol was basically the same price as ordering drinks at any bar (some drinks were less expensive) and they were strong! They also had cocktail specials every day, so you could have money that way. The spa was so nice, and there were several pools including one with a taco bar – which I basically stationed myself at.
It was fun to see a bit of each country and then make plans to go back at a later date if you wanted – already knowing whether or not you liked that place, rather than risking the chance of booking a week long vacation somewhere you might not love.
We plan on doing Disney cruises when LO is old enough to enjoy them!
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
@Rescuemom10: My parents took my sister and I on the Disney cruise when we were 21 & 19. We had no kids in our party, spent most of our time at the adults only pool (called quiet cove = heaven), and Disney always does everything to the nines. You'll LOVE it
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
My friend went on an Alaskan cruise with her hubby and her in-laws, and while it was boring, she's a total chocoholic and put herself into glucose shock!
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
Cruises never appealed to me so I haven't been on one in my lifetime so far.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
Ive been on two so far. I think the best part is 24/7 access to food! The worst part is not getting to spend a lot of time in each location you visit.
kiwi / 575 posts
I've been twice courtesy of my parents and grandparents - both times were transAtlantic on the QE2 before it was retired. The first time for my grandfather's 80th birthday and the second when my dad retired. Cruises are nice because of all the planned activities and the food available all day long!!
cantaloupe / 6146 posts
Never. Hoping to go for our anniversary, with our newborn. We'll see!
pear / 1861 posts
OMG. I LOVE them. I've only been on 3 so far, which sucks, trying to go platinum.LOL I thought they were lame until I took one. SO much bettter than being stuck on a plane to get somewhere and NOT being confined to ONE island.
I love it. It's like a little city you can walk all the way around out on the ocean going places. That's how I describe it. Plus, for the price, it's a steal. My sister and I went on our most recent one for 8 days at $2k total for 2 people. Not bad for 5 islands. (I'm not a fan of mexico, so yes, I know it's cheaper, but grosser too. To me anyway.LOL)
If you are a big drinker, bring money just for that., not saying what my tab was last time, but let's just say I could have used that to book a little 3 day cruise.LOL
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
@pastemoo: I'm serious! She couldn't stop drinking water, was falling asleep at the dinner table in front of her in-laws... when she looked up her symptoms when she came home, she realized she was in glucose shock! Too many sweets!!!
grape / 86 posts
We love cruising. Been all over Caribbean, Europe and even Asia. We also got married on a cruise! We are going next month to Eastern Carib with LO -- ports that we've been before so our expectations will be low for activities. Just walk around and relax with LO.
Royal Caribbean has a baby program. Order diapers so no need to lug with them around and also a Toy Lend program. There are also activities/ baby Fisher Price room.
Most expensive part is the excursion, in my opinion. ($100/p) But since we're going on our first family vacay, I doubt we will be participating in much.
apricot / 256 posts
I've been on 2. Once with 40 other high school classmates for our senior spring break trip and the second time this past December with DH for a week. I loved both times. Cruising is great because it's so easy. You are able to see multiple ports with little effort and it's not very expensive to do so. The best thing about cruising is the ports, sailing away, feeling like you're on a floating city and being totally relaxed. I went on Carnival twice and the food wasn't the greatest but it didn't break the vacation for me! I would definitely say everyone should giving cruising a try at least once.
persimmon / 1135 posts
I've been on 2. They were both family reunion-type things. The cruise line you go on makes a huge difference. The first cruise was a Caribbean on on NCL and it was a lot of fun. The second one was a Canada/New England one on Holland America. While we enjoyed the ports and scenery, the ship itself was way less our style.
I think the tone of the line you choose is most important. I'd want to avoid "woo-hoo lets get drunk!" party lines as well as "uptight old people" ones.
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
@BoogieBea: Same here. I think I would go on one now because it seems like it might be a good vacation with a kid. But I've never wanted to go on one myself because I love exploring too much, and feel like I would never want to get back on the ship once in any given port!
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
I love cruises! But you have enjoy them for what they are. They are definitely "commercial" and very American, if that makes sense. You will be 100% a tourist in every port you stop in. If you love to travel for the adventure and the culture, you might not love cruising. But if you are looking for a relaxing, tropical vacation with no end of things to do and stuff to EAT!, then cruising will make you very happy - and on a reasonable budget too.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
I have never had a desire to go on a cruise, but reading all the previous posts is changing my mind. I just don't know how I would deal with the being in the middle of the ocean thing! If I did one, I would want to do the European one and hit up all those countries!
clementine / 994 posts
I've been several times! My parents are huge fans of cruising, so between family cruise vacations and little vacations with the hubs, I've been on 7 (Mexico a few times on both sides, Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean and Western Caribbean). I agree with @daniellemybelle in that they are quite touristy and commercialized, but once you get out of the port itself, it's not hard to create your own sightseeing itineraries and adventures. You don't always have to do just the ship approved activities. It just takes a little more planning ahead.
I also agree that the ship makes a big difference in the experience, as well. I've only been on Carnival (the cheapest and is fairly on-ship activity friendly--for both kids and adults--but I didn't like the food as much), Royal Caribbean (in my experience, nicer than Carnival, with better food but fewer activities overall, but I haven't been on RC in years), and Princess (my least favorite of the three since it has few activities and the food didn't impress me); but I've heard great things about Disney cruises and can't wait to take LO on one.
I always recommend to people to definitely try the fine dining restaurant on board. It will cost you extra, and many people avoid it because all the other food is included in your fare; but the ones I've tried have been SO worth it.
As a side note, I always purposely lose weight before a cruise since I *always* gain weight on one. The least I've ever gained was 4lbs. I was so proud of myself, too. There was one year that my family went on a 10 day cruise, and when we look back at the vacation photos, you can literally see my brothers and I getting larger as days went by. Horrible, but hilarious.
grapefruit / 4903 posts
I went on a cruise from Istanbul to Athens on Windstar and loved it! It was a smaller, sailing ship which meant we could dock in smaller ports. You definitely don't get the depth of experience at each port, but I loved getting to see a wide range of places and built time into the beginning and end for a longer stay. Two thumbs up for sure!
grapefruit / 4681 posts
Nope, well not what you traditionally think of as a cruise anyway. They kinda freak me out, although I have a degree in Marine Biology...go figure.
I was on a "cruise" (I guess you can call it that) for 10 days in the Galapagos, but it was a small 16 passenger boat, including staff. We ate on the boat but it wasn't those big fancy meals they have on cruises and there were no luxury amenities. I actually got very sick if I slept in the cabin or went to the bathroom below deck, so I ended up having to sleep on the top deck, outside, the ENTIRE trip (yes, even in the rain).
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