Cruises
 

Curious what everyone thought about cruises. Americans seem quite mad about them - anyone been on one?

Some American friends of ours have asked us if we would like to go on one with them....

Any experiences or thoughts....?

Re: Cruises
 

Few of the missus uncles and what not go on them with family...the last one was a mare, bloomin' expensive, rained out the whole time and the one's the didn't get sea sick got food poisoning and missed all the events :D

But they have been on some good ones, just a bit of luck really, but most of the activities tend to be extra...

Re: Cruises
 

Someone once told us, that once we had cruised that we would never want to vacation any other way...

They were pretty close... We've done at least one cruise per year for the past seven years. MY kids are now 17 and 14 (both boys) and they never cease to amaze me just how excited they can still get over this type of vacation. We all LOVE it.... We do RCCL and the Voyager Class ships. We've tried smaller ships but these babies are so big, you never meet a crowd and there is tons to do...

TO say we are hooked, is an understatement. This spring break we are on the Mariner of the Seas, rock climbing wall, shopping mall, Eastern Carribean, Ice Rink, Roller Blades, 7 Restaurants 2 show rooms, 2 theaters and and and..... Wake up to a new destination, no parking worries.... Ahhh, heaven......

Re: Cruises
 

I think cruises have their place on the list, but wouldn't say they were the 'be all and end all" as far as holidays go. I also think it depends to a large extent on which line you go with.

We did a few when we were out in the far east on Star Cruises. Ships were incredibly tackily decorated, but the facilities were good, with lots of good stuff for the kids to do (we have 2 toddlers) and a great selection of restaurants. We always took a suite so that we could put the kids to bed in the bedroom and sit in the sitting area or balcony and relax.

We've done one with Royal Caribbean out of Galveston (Houston). It was OK, but I doubt we'll go with that line again. I'd heard them billed as pretty close to the top of the range, but the ship we were on (Splendour of the Seas) certainly wasn't. Not so tacky decoration as Star, but it was looking ready for a lick of paint. Not very good facilities or activities - the main restaurant was very good, but not a lot of alternatives. I like to get a look at the bridge, galley, and Engine Room (although only managed the ER on one cos its normally off limits for security reasons), but RC didn't allow any of that. And virtually nothing for the toddlers - they were even officially banned from the pool, although a blind eye seemed to be turned most of the time. Maybe it was lack of research on our part, but there was nothing in the literature we had to indicate the boat wasn't toddler friendly. If this was the first cruise we'd ever done, I think it would also have been our last...

As it is, I think we probably will go again, but try one of the other lines - maybe Carnival next time - we saw a couple of theirs and they looked to be a lot more along the Star Cruises lines. Buit its very much horses for courses, and if you don't get it right, it can be a fairly pricey mistake.

As far as going with friends - we've done it a couple of times, and its generally worked - as someone else mentioned, some of the boats are pretty big, so if you want some time away from the friends, its not hard to arrange.

Re: Cruises
 

Had the worst experience of my life on a ship so there won't be any cruises in my future.
I was under the impression though that most pleasure cruises were for ....hmmm.....mature folks.

Re: Cruises
 

We did go on a cruise 2 years ago which was for a special wedding anniversary. We went on Adventure of the seas which is one of the biggest ships. We would go on it again, but money is tight right now. Lots to do on the ship, whatever your interests. There is an ice skating rink, rock climbing wall, lots of bars and the food is pretty good. (If I don't have to do the cooking and cleaning up afterwards most food is pretty good.) We went to the eastern carribean which was nice.

Re: Cruises
 

I think what makes it for me is the big and newer ships. Like any Hotel, older ships/rooms can go down hill quite fast. I cruise the newest and biggest and can honestly say, every one of our many cruises on them has been more than awesome. We went on a smaller older princess ship last year and regretted it. It just did not live up to the standards of RCCL's large cruise ships where one week just is not enough. Mariner of the seas which we are going on in April is only a year or so old. Check it out - Mariner - what to do . There is a new one out next year called freedom of the seas.

I do understand the other views though and it's a shame one bad experience can put you off for life. But hey, we are all different.

Re: Cruises
 

This cruise is with one of the larger/newer Royal Caribbean ships - it seems like something I should give a go!

Plus with friends it will be fun. The other fabulous factor is not having to fly - as it is out of a port in NJ which is about 25 mins from my home!

Someone said to me, and I also have found this to be true - the people who make faces or say negative comments about cruises are generally those who have never taken them!

What the heck - I'll give it a whirl!!!

Re: Cruises
 

Lot of truth in that.

Give it a go -= at least then you'll know!

Have fun - send us a postcard!

Re: Cruises
 

Check it out - Mariner - what to do . There is a new one out next year called freedom of the seas.

I do understand the other views though and it's a shame one bad experience can put you off for life. But hey, we are all different.[/QUOTE]

The "experience" I had was being on a capsizing ferry in a Belgian harbour and I'm still thanking God, my guardian angel and my lucky stars so I won't be tempting fate again anytime soon. ("Soon" meaning never) :o

Re: Cruises
 

The Memsahib & I went on a 8 day Royal Caribbean cruise last year out of Miami, calling at Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel & Grand Caymans.

We found it was superb, although one word of warning, watch how much you spend in the bars. We had a card to pay for everything on the ship. Then you get it put on your real credit card after the holiday. With bottles at $ 5 a time it can get very expensive. Also one trick they pulled was when we were in Belize. They charge you $4.50 for a bottle of water on the ship, when you get ashore you find they sell them for $1 in the port, and by the time we arrived at the Belize Zoo ( well worth the trip I assure you ! ) the tour guide handed out free of charge iced water. The water we had got on the boat was hot enough to make a cup of tea with. Mind you it was 100* with 100% humidity.

Re: Cruises
 

I made a reservation! We'll see how it goes, but its something to look forward to - the weather here in NYC is horrid.

Re: Cruises
 

I worked on Cunard passenger ships for about 18 years, over 12 of those on the Queen Elizabeth 2.

Despite knowing as much as I do about the behind the scenes side of cruising I still think they are the best holiday since sliced bread was invented.

If we won the lottery tomorrow we would book a World Cruise, preferably on QE2 if she was available.

Re: Cruises
 

Hi I used to live in the Grand Cayman Islands and let’s just say I have had my experiences with the cruise shippers both pleasant and unpleasant. I would look out of my shop window every day and see all these happy people come ashore. I have heard a lot of complaints and also compliments about different ships. Carnival is not rated very high with a lot of people not a lot for kids and they are seemingly always packed and the food is not so good. Royal Carib are up there on the list along with princess cruise lines There are so many I could go on. If you have Kids Disney cruise is a must they will look after your kids for the day so you can get off and enjoy yourself shopping or touring and all that kind of stuff you would like to do and whish you had a baby sitter with you. I have not heard any complains about them. Going on excursions with Disney is also easier as they have agreements at a lot of ports that if they dock at there island for the day they run the show so it is smooth sailing all the way and no waiting. They also stop of at there private island. So I have heard but I have never been on a cruise I am not expert I served cruise shippers for 5 years. Yes people do have bad experiences but you really have to try them for your self to see if you like them. But go for the ship that would cater for your needs I would go on a cruise even though I have been told a few horror stories.

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Well personally we thought is was excellent & that was before I won $ 5 k on the bingo. I love a good curry & spoke to the head chef about the chance of a curry in the week. They arranged to let me have a curry each night.