Anyone ever been on a cruise? They seem pretty inexpensive. Worth it?

I'm not really sure I'd ever take one but it's something nice to think about, at least. Worth it? Not worth it? Companies to avoid? Things to watch out for?

And so on. Or, if you have a good website where people discuss this sort of thing, lemme know so I can read mor ethere.

Thanks

PB

It's worth the extra for a balcony room, IMO. I am satisfied with the vacation I got for the money I paid. Keep in mind that in addition to the cost of your tickets, there is the bar tab and if you are a drinker it can add up fast. There is also the cost of shore excursions, souvenirs, and restaurants you might eat at on shore.

You will want a room close to the lido deck because that is probably where you will be spending most of your time. Do not get a room on the lower level. It smells.

passengers. Avoid inside rooms. They have no natural light. First time get a room toward the ship's middle on an upper deck. Try to be near the laundry. We almost always go Holland America. Great pricing, nice ships, good itineraries.

It was alright. Lots of food and drink but I hated being on that boat for so long. I was so happy when we got to port and could get off and go explore. There was lots to do on the ship and all but I wouldn't go again.

Oh and also, international waters = maritime law/Captain Rules. Anything happens and your SOL as far as American law goes. I never forgot that once when I was on board. It's kinda scary if ya ask me.

until around the early part of this century, a cruise was all inclusive, and if you got a great price, that was the price, it really was a good deal

now it's like being trapped in a big stadium paying stadium drink prices FOR DAYS, you will rack up hundreds or even thousands of dollars above the cost of the cruise unless you are a good smuggler

everything now has an extra fee attached, it has become a complete rip-off

however, the best site out there is cruisecritic.com and they do have a thread somewhere that will tell you how to smuggle alcohol onboard so that your cruise won't end up costing you thousands of dollars -- i sometimes get free cruises so i make use the information to make sure the cruise stays truly free instead of a gift i regret receiving

things that used to be free now have fees, i mean, honestly $10 for yoga class? $10 for a wine tasting? all that crap used to be included...and half the restaurants now you have to pay for too!

...one unexpectedly gets popped for on a cruise that one would expect were free?

PB

Nothing better and worth the price. But be careful, you are fed at least 7 times a day. Very fattening. I gained 7 pounds on one of them.

Unfortunately, Windjammer is out of business :( There will never be another like them.

One of the most interesting, well-written long essays I've ever read. You beat me to this suggestion!

Royal Caribbean all the way

is a good site

Much thanks!

PB

Once we booked a cruise Through Royal Caribbean a year in advance for Spring Break. It was to be a 7 night Western Carib. trip. WE got to the Airport 2 hours early like they said and for some reason, the airline canceled the one hour flight to connect us to the flight that would take us to Miami. Instead they put us on a Greyhound which broke down 10 times on the hiway. Needless to say, we missed the boat. To make a long story short, RCL put us up in a very nice hotel in Miami once we finally got there and then flew us to Jamaica to catch the boat there. Once we were on the boat, they refunded all 4 of our cruise prices by 1/2. It was the airline screw up, but RCL treated us right.


There were people at the airport taking a carnival cruise the same day and Carnival told them so sorry too bad

Again, thank you! One of the they don't necessarily advertize about DU is that it's a great place to tap people for their experiences with X or Y.

:thumbsup:

PB

I have enjoyed my Carnival cruises. That is the only cruise line I have been on. I have heard a few stories about Carnival where things went wrong, some them were their fault and they did nothing. I might try RC next time. Have you tried Carnival? If so, how did your experience differ?

but we had been on RCL before so we noticed the differences.

More kids

Less "class"

for instance on RCL, on Lobster night, we got the entire tail and the waiter took the shell off...Carnival we got half the tail and no waiter to take off the shell...little things I know but noticable

especially if you don't really drink alcohol like my wife & me. Food was excellent, people were friendly and the staff was generally over-the-top friendly & helpful.

I've only been on one cruise - Royal Caribbean.

If you want to do excursions off the boat, you can book some of them online before going on the cruise for like half the price you can book them through the cruise line. Most of the time, we just paid a local taxi driver to take us around the island and we'd stop in certain areas for pictures and whatnot (unfortunately, my wife does not swim, so snorkeling/swimming was out)

...saving that kind of moolah!

PB

But it's not in my current budget. :)




http://www.nationcruise.com/

Unfortunately both RiverBarge Excursions and Delta Queen Steamboat Company are essentially out of business due to the economy.

http://cruises.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Mississippi_River_Cruise

Premier had a Big Red Boat promotion/tie in with Disney.
You could get a week's vacation-four days at Disney World, three days on a cruise to nassau and back.
Now those ships are considered small. The Oceanic was 780 feet long and had seven decks.

It was a cruise for families with kids. I went with the parental units and my five year old daughter.

I ran up and down stairs all day (--built in the sixties, the elevator was inadequate) and ate tons of yummy fresh fruit. I thought you could gain weight if you sat around and worked at it.

I had a good time except for not finding anything to do in Nassau. The beaches are beautiful but I don't snorkel. They had casinos, but I don't gamble. The shopping was not much, just stuff made out of straw.

I would like to go on the Lewis Black Comedy Cruise. www.lewisblackcomedycruise.com

on RC. Sounds like a riot and a half.

Eat? Drink?

I can see special purpose cruises, like The Nation one someone linked to. Or since I do needlework, a cruise with classes for that. Or a genealogy cruise, though that seems a little bit of a stretch since you would not have access to sources to immediately use what you are learning.

I just don't get the allure of being trapped on a large ship with hundreds of other people. That sounds like my worst nightmare!

Yeah, I eat, but I don't drink, don't gamble. I've heard there are shows, but I am not interested in those either.

I don't drink and don't gamble and managed to entertain myself.

As I said, running up and down stairs with seven decks and eating fresh fruit all the time was fun. I didn't gain any weight.

She walked every morning, I slept in. Very relaxing cruise to Bermuda. And a wonderful chance to spend time with my sister. I loved it!

After years and years of working in the public sector, Mr. dixie and I both have no desire to be around groups of people.
To each their own, tho. Our dear friends take a cruise every single year and love it!
We water their plants for them while they are gone.
works out fine for all of us.:evilgrin:

The cruise itself was basically synchronized eating.

My partner and I went on a Norwegian a few years back and are going again this fall. We loved it. After the craziness of living and working in NYC it was so nice just to sit back and do nothing for a week. Yes the bar bill adds up but since we live in NYC and the ship left from NYC there was no airfare to deal with. I loved that we locked up our apartment door and were on the ship a few hours later vacation began right away.

You have to watch the money, since everything is billed to the room its easy to jack up the cost. We learned the "endless soda" cup was not worth it, but the bucket of beer worked out nice. Spend the extra money on a balcony room the extra space alone is worth it. What we loved was that we could arrange for a lite breakfast to be delivered in the morning then enjoyed coffee and tea on our balcony.

We just hung out, went to a show or two, enjoyed nice dinners (yes paid a small extra fee for the good restaurant) Bring a pocked full of 5 and 10 dollar bills, tips while not expected really do get you remembered and waited on quickly.

All in all I estimate that our total bill for our next trip will be about $3500. The room, a back balcony mini suite, with meals taxes etc was $2400 for two people, if we spend another grand on extras like a massage, good meals, and drinks that's fine with me.

And also kind of getting a feel for what line I'd want to take (I think it'll be one leaving from the West Coast) and where I might be interested in going on a "test cruise". Also, love the places like CruiseCritic.com where people even post pictures of the food they got so you can actually see what you're likely to be served, etc.

Thanks again!

PB

I have been on cruises with Carnival and Dolphin. I enjoyed them, but be advised any booze is extra and averages around $10/drink. I don't drink much so this wasn't a problem for me. The shore excursions cost extra and you should book them your first day on board because they can sell out fast. I recommend a short cruise for a first timer because if you don't like it you aren't stuck on the ship for very long.

I have been mining the various information in this thread and doing research in my free time over the last few days. CruiseCritic.com has also been very...like very...helpful in kind of figuring out what to expect. I'm not a drinker but things like internet access, how certain ships handle food and (as you mentioned) the shore excursions, have all come up at one time or another. The shore excursion part is very interesting to me. In some of the places I've looked it looks like most of the "full stops" run about a day or a day and into the night sometimes, which makes the possibility of seeing quite a bit very much possible.

I think someone mentioned making sure to book them even before the cruise, something I've also been kind of nosing around the prospects of. I'm the kind of guy who really don't like to do something like this unless I have a really good idea what it's going to cost me. A little over 10 years ago, I was lucky enough to have saved up to go to Europe and while the rest of the trip was relatively "fine" money-wise, my first stop was in London and I have never seen such an expensive place. I mean...I knew it would be expensive but I became fairly adept at quickly doing the conversions in my head and then (LOL) actually taking a look at what I was getting in return. Heh heh...very expensive place. Best news though is my last stop was Amsterdam and everything was so cheap there it almost made up for the super-expensive nature of London.

Thanks again!

PB

One price and everything included ... I don't drink or gamble ....
the shows are usually pretty good ...

they never appealed to me but everyone I know who took one enjoyed it

they never appealed to me but everyone I know who took one enjoyed it

booked a last minute deal
got big discount
prob one of the best vacation i have ever had

pay attention to the line image--some more family oriented, some more party oriented.

have no real tips--went years ago and things may have changed alot- do not want to mislead you.