Cruising (on a BFB (big ol boat)???

Wife wants to go on a cruise this fall. I have never been on one. She is thinking Western Caribbean in September for seven days. I would appreciate any and all advice about cruises, as I have never been on one and really don't know anything about them. What brand is best? What kind of room to get? Where do you get the best values? etc.?



THANKS for any advice.

Do you want real advice or only positive advice like you want to hear.



Gerry

My wife loves them, I hate them. Don't like "cramped" spaces and would rather fly to an all inclusive resort, lay around for a week and drink Peligrino water. Bob

I've been on three cruises. First was on Princess Cruise lines to Alaska.

2nd and 3rd, Carnival, 2nd was to Cabo, 3rd to eastern Carribean. (St. Martin and down to Barbados.)

My favorite was to Alaska. Both Princess and destination.

Carnival is considered the "fun ship"...IF all you do is, want to drink and party the whole time.

Depending on the time and destination, you can find good deals. i.e., Carribean was extremely inexpensive (for a cruise) only because we went during the last part of the cruising season which was also hurricane season down in the area. ( Late September) And, because of the timing, the cruise line had difficulties trying to fill rooms, so they opened the cruise to the locals and NOT trying to sound racist, the Pueto Ricans, which accounted to over half of the cruisers on board. They were disrepectful, loud, irresponsible, and rude. Made the cruise part very uncomfortable for us. The destinations and excursions were awesome, though.

Wherever you choose... book excursions!

Royal Carribean, Norwegian and Princess lines seem to be the favorites among fellow cruisers.

Our last room was a balcony room. Loved it! Great way to view some fantastic sunsets! (Or get away)

If you get seasick, we were told lower levels in the middle, is where to book a room.



Check with a travel agent for good deals.

I enjoyed the Princess line and rcommend them, and heard great things about Norwegian.

I have a friend doing the western Carribean as we speak and they are on the 'Freedom of the sea'.

I'd say, pick a destination you and the missus have wanted to visit. Then work with a travel agent.

Again, book excursions!

Cruises are very subjective....some people love them, some people hate them. Some favor certain cuise lines, but it all depends upon what your age and exactly are looking for. Some cruises are geared for young people while other are more for older people. Some cruises are a bit more formal, while others are very casual...so nobody can really decide what you like.



There is a website, www.vacationstogo.com, that offers a lot of Cuise info, and discounted cruises from all the major and minor cruise lines including river boat cuises on the major rivers in Europe.



You can sign up for their news letter and receive an email everyweek with price updates, discounts and other helpfull cruis information for cruises all over the world. The seem to offer the lowest prices I have ever seen on most cruises.



Look them up and see what they have to offer.



...Rich

Like Bob, I prefer an all inclusive resort, fly there and enjoy it with no schedules to abide by. The only cruise I have interest in is an Alaskan cruise, not sure why.

I concur with Hugh. A cruise ship is a floating prison. You are stuck there with someone's else agenda and schedule. You see where they take you and go where they want you to go. All this and there is some serious question as to safety.I hate them. Would not go again if it was free.



Fly to an all inclusive resort.



Gerry

I love cruisin. My wife and I went on Royal Caribbean 6 years ago for our honeymoon and enjoyed it. We went on a cruise with Carnival this last january and did not like them as well as RC but, we still had a good time. Like others have said it is not for everyone, and really depends on your style of vacationing. We have only ever booked inside staterooms but we only go there to sleep so we don't need the balcony.

Cruises are my favorite vacation. Royal Caribbean is my favorite, others I have sailed on are Princess and Carnival.

Royal Caribbean

Eastern Caribbean is better than western Caribbean

Loose 10 lbs before you go and try to gain 15.

Don't go if you are a big drinker, unless you smuggle in your own. (make sure your shampoo bottle is completely empty as it adds a strange flavor to your rum.)

Always get a room with a balcony.

Get the early seating for dinner then you won't be full for the midnight buffet.

In most town it is better to avoid the tours. Just go into town and find a taxi for the day to take you around.

When participating in the lifeboat drill, size up the ones you will want to eat first. Usually, the guy with the loud mouth or the crew member in charge of the boat.

For me three days is to short and 11 days is to long. Go with the 7.

Remember: "Rum is not drinking, Rum is surviving."

Royal Caribbean

Eastern Caribbean is better than western Caribbean

Loose 10 lbs before you go and try to gain 15.

Don't go if you are a big drinker, unless you smuggle in your own. (make sure your shampoo bottle is completely empty as it adds a strange flavor to your rum.)

Always get a room with a balcony.

Get the early seating for dinner then you won't be full for the midnight buffet.

In most town it is better to avoid the tours. Just go into town and find a taxi for the day to take you around.

When participating in the lifeboat drill, size up the ones you will want to eat first. Usually, the guy with the loud mouth or the crew member in charge of the boat.

For me three days is to short and 11 days is to long. Go with the 7.

Remember: "Rum is not drinking, Rum is surviving."

Click to expand...

Couldn't have said it better.



And it is pretty easy to smuggle your booze back on the boat. That's what I have done on each cruise.

Just got back from our most recent cruise on Sunday. Had a blast!



We've done three cruises--our honeymoon seven years ago on Royal Caribbean (stops in Ocho Rios, Jamaica; and Labadee, Haiti--the latter of which was a hurricane-forced detour from Grand Cayman), last year with our three kids on RC (stops in Grand Cayman and Cozumel), and the recent one with the three kids on Disney (stops in Nassau and twice at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island).



Our opinion--if you have kids, plain and simple, do Disney. The difference between them and the rest of the pack for all ages of youth is light years apart, and easily worth the cost increase.



If you don't have kids, or you do but aren't taking them with you :banana:, Disney was still slightly better than RC, but not by a big enough margin to justify the price difference.



I disagree with the advice about "always get a balcony". You're in your state room basically just for sleeping--otherwise, you're either elsewhere on the boat or ashore. Why pay extra for a feature you'll use so little.



I agree with avoiding the generic tours--but if you want a specific type of excursion (snorkeling, parasailing, fourwheeling, whatever), you'll probably be best off booking an excursion. But you DON'T need to book them through the cruise line, and in fact can often find better deals through non-affiliated websites. Note, however, that if something goes wrong on an excursion and you're delayed, most boats will wait for you if you're on a ship-coordinated excursion, but NOT if you went outside of them.



I had good luck booking my first two cruises, comparing costs and features of different cruise lines and boats and ports, finding the best deals, etc., through www.vacationstogo.com. But don't just rely on the online info when booking--call them up and talk to a human. If you want more on Disney, a good agent I worked with was www.smallworldvacations.com.



You definitely want trip insurance for a cruise--I used travelguard.com, seems to have the best rates, especially if you're traveling with children. And even if you're told you don't need a passport, go ahead and get one--if something goes wrong and you have to fly into the US (rather than boat in--examples are ship problems, missed getting back on at port, serious injury/illness, etc.), you're screwed unless you have a passport.



Most importantly--HAVE FUN!

I think different cruise lines cater to different groups of people often based on their cruise destinations. Carnival tends to cater more to the younger party hounds, and their routes tend to be in the eastern and western Carribean or the west coast of Mexico. The often have shorter cruises the lowest prices.



Norwiegen, and some of the other more expensive cruises cater more to the senior citizens who may be retired and have a lot more time and money. They cruises are often in the Mediteranean or other European waters, with more formal formats, and higher prices.



I have met a lot of people who either love or hate cruises. Some feel that you are a prisoner on the ship, while others feel they are on a floating palace with their every wish catered to. I think a happy medium would be to consider the ship is like a hotel where you sleep and eat, and you wake up every morning at a new place. That's why its important to pick a cruise that is going to destinations that you really want to see.



...Rich

We went on Disney for our Honeymoon and loved it. Even without kids it was a great ship with good adult accomodations. We have a cruise scheduled for Sept on Carnival in the Western Carribean. Unfortunately on our first cruise they upgraded our room from a room with a window to a balcony room. Now the problem is we had to reserve a balcony room again because we couldn't see going on a cruise any other way.

I have friends that love cruises, but they almost always come back sick. The worst time was norovirus; the guy shit his way from Florida to Wisconsin on the return flight. Usually, it's a cold, strep throat, or pink eye. Those cruise ships are a festoon of sickness. All those people from all over the country (or world) crammed onto a boat for two weeks, all sharing their viruses and bacteria.



I'll never take a cruise for that reason.

Mark, odd that you should say that, as I've never had a problem on any of our cruises, and I've honestly never heard of anyone having such problems.

I like river cruises myself. Wife and I traveled up and down the Columbia River in Oregon a couple of years ago and it was really fun. They make daily stops and excursions so your not cooped up on the boat for any long length of time. Also was very interesting going through the many locks.

Hey Tom, did you do the Sternwheeler cruise or the Queen of the Columbia(I think...)?

I live on the Columbia. Have heard some of those are pretty nice.

Pappy. It was the Queen of the West but I believe they got bought out by a different company since our trip. We absolutely loved the Columbia River. After our week cruise trip we rented a car and drove to Hood River. Stayed at the Columbia Gorge Hotel then on to Mt. Hood. Such a beautiful area.

I've done the not-quite-as-big-of-a-boat river "cruise" too. Best trip of my life--I highly recommend it to everyone, it's beyond compare...