Anyone gone on a Cruise?

Cruises are a huge waste of money, but then, so are RV's.

we've done 2 cruises (Carnival). Both 7 days. First was Eastern Caribbean, second was Western Caribbean. We enjoyed them both.

It took me a couple days to realize how much FOODS there was on that first cruise. I had no clue that you can get food from somewhere, literally 24x7. Once I discovered the self-serve ice-cream station at the back of the boat, I practically lived there! I think I got my money's worth for the trip in ice-cream alone!

RAllison wrote:
My wife and me have been on 10 cruises,going on our 11th this Feb. Been on Carnival,Royal Caribbean,Princess,and Norwegian. Don't know what age you are but Carnival is the younger crowd, while the other three are more my age 55-70. We cruise Jan.-Mar. cheaper less kids. We love the entertainment and of course the food. The specialty dining on Norwg. is really good, probably our most enjoyable cruiseline. We always get a balcony room,little more expensive but more room and enjoy sitting out there in the mornings and evenings.Most relaxing vacations I have ever had. If you have any questions just let me know. Rich

We use Carnival in January to avoid the kids. We are 70 so after spending a couple of months in our RV park 55++ crowd it is refreshing to have younger adults around. We use a larger ship often as its options are larger from entertainment to the nightlife. We also do the balcony as I like o read in the sea breeze and it is pleasant at night. Don't think you can just leave the door open as they are heavy and lock up tight to be weather tight. Also bear in mind (I have a cpap) there is but one plug in the stateroom so bring an extension cord.

I've been on 26 cruises so far with #27 scheduled for February 2020. Eastern or Western Caribbean is negligible in difference other than the Atlantic is a bit rougher than the Caribbean UNLESS you hit a storm, which are common in the late winter in the Caribbean.

We've been on most all of the "regular" cruise lines. Not Oceana, Silversea, Seabourn or some other of those. If you want to know which ones they are, google: upscale cruise lines. With that being said, here is MY rankings. Also to consider, I am 55+, retired, but do have teenage kids.

1. NCL
2. MSC
3. Princess
with Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America and Royal Caribbean being pretty equal, but with VERY different price tags.

NCL is my all-time favorite because of their service, cleanliness, food quality (all have food quantity) and price for what you get.

MSC is very European and there are lots of Europeans on the cruise. It is one of the top-ranked cruise lines in and about Europe, so it is familiar with Europeans wanting to see the Caribbean.

Carnival is full of kids.. young kids, middle kids, older kids and usually lots of college age kids that are of the age to drink. They utilize that function extremely well. I explain it as the Walmart of cruise lines....it's for everybody and everybody is on board. Entertainment is kinda cheesy and again, it's for the masses.

Royal Caribbean is about the same as Carnival. They have lots of gadgets on their ships, but I'm not going to go try to climb a wall; I'm not going to play mini-golf, nor try a Wave Rider. I don't want to pay for stuff I'm not going to use. These also attract younger cruisers.

I want peace and quiet, good food, good service, clean areas to lounge around in, some spa time (Extra $$) and a good show occasionally.

My best advice is to get on Trip Advisor and look at the available tours that would be in the locality you might want to go to. This will help you decide on East vs West. They are both good, but some are better for some people. Our crew (6 couples each have favorite ports and they are NOT the same one.)

Now, since you are in Illinois, unless you are going to fly, New Orleans is your closest cruise port. They have some wonderful cruises out of there. The last 3 years, we have gone out of NOLA. It goes smoothly, but not as smooth as in Miami. The other ports, Ft Lauderdale, Tampa and Port Canaveral go as well as NOLA, but not as well as Miami. We have not been out of Mobile, nor Galveston. They have the smaller to medium ships. I like the medium size ships, but the last few have been on the larger ships. They have more people, a few more amenities and usually newer ships.

Any cruise line will be good the first trip, but try out others to see which one fits YOU. Also, if you are going in February, do not go out of NOLA if it is the week of Mardi Gras. LA schools are usually out of school during that week and the ship will be full of young kids. (Ask me how I know!!)

Don't overpack when you go. You will not need lots of outfits. One pair of khaki pants with a couple of golf shirts will work for dinner at night, no matter which line you choose. Change right before and then after dinner and those two will last for a week. I take a black jersey skirt and a couple of tops along with a sundresses that can also be used as a swimsuit coverup. A dressy pair of sandals and I wear a good pair of walking shoes and flip flops to wear around the ship on sea days. I have done this so much that I can pack 8 days of clothing in a backpack that will fit under my seat on the airplane. I then have a large pocketbook for meds, travel papers, passport, etc.

If you have specific questions, you are welcome to PM me.

Been on 8 cruises. Our last was by far our most luxurious. We went on the Norwegian Breakaway. We got an upgrade to a Haven Suite. Butler, concierge, private haven pool, huge suite with huge wrap around rear balcony. Ports were mediocre at best. The ship more than made up for that. We also had the unlimited drink and specialty restaurant package. This was 3 years ago.
More than likely our last cruise. Being on the west coast we only have the Mexico or Alaska cruises available. Hate flying across the country and we've done Mexico 3-4 times and have no interest in doing the Alaska cruise so we're probably done cruising.

Our all time fav cruise was on Carnival to Mexico. Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan. We were in our late 50's when we did the cruise. We were concerned about the Carnival party reputation but found it to be really over hyped. Yeah there were lots of party type activities but it wasn't like there were drunk people running all over.
It was a good mix of just regular people of all ages. What was really nice is the dress code was really casual with out the need to have a dress up formal night.
I know people that have gone on 30-40 cruises and people that have gone on one and won't do another. It can be addictive and I would imagine if I lived on the east coast I'd definitely do more.

I would also add that throwing in a couple excursions is a must.
We've done the zip line, Americas Cup sailing, trips to secluded private beaches, Salas Salsa, etc.

Original Poster - suggest you find and spend some time reading posts on the forum, " Cruise Critic ". It is a wealth of inside information from those who cruise frequently.
https://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/

bgum wrote:
Princess has a 15 day cruise to Hawaii. 4 over 4 back and 1 at Ensenada. 5 islands. Great excursions. 4 over and back is very relaxing. We went in December.

We did this one. At 51 years old and married for 30 years ..... we were practically the newlyweds on the cruise. Had a great time and met some wonderful people.
If cruising to Hawaii look up Roberts Hawaii for excursions. They guarantee you will get back to the ship on time or they will fly you to the next port. They also do the ship sponsored tours but it is a lot cheaper to book it through Roberts.

Princess has a 15 day cruise to Hawaii. 4 over 4 back and 1 at Ensenada. 5 islands. Great excursions. 4 over and back is very relaxing. We went in December.

Lots of cruises but only Carnival, Norwegian, & Holland. Carnival is not bad but NCL/Holland just better in every way.
Our favorite is the NCL cruise around the Hawaiian islands. We've taken it twice .. Alaska on Holland is #2.
If doing eastern Carribean go from either Florida or Puerto Rico and do Western from Galveston. One other thing, you will need a passport if you don't have one and I just had to renew my DL so it had the gold star on it for security purpose.

rhagfo wrote:
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Something else that many don't include in planing, as I see your are in Illinois plan to arrive at the cruise port location at least one day before your departure. This will protect you from delayed flights. I can't tell you the number of times flying to South Florida, and have a flight delay, and people going crazy because they planed to arrive in the departure city 6 to 8 hours before denature, only to have a major flight delay. Keeping mind cruising outside hurricane season, is late fall winter and early spring, many land storms affect flights.

We talked with people about this... and arrived a day early and stayed in a hotel room. Ask in advance about transportation to the dock... I can almost guarantee you they will have some sort of bus / taxi arrangements. On return, we also had a hotel room... not really sure that was needed, but it was nice to decompress a little before jumping on a flight.

And give yourself time for "boarding".... there will be a LOT of people at the dock. Don't Panic! There will be marked lines, people to help, people to answer questions, etc. The cruises do this all the time, so they can handle crowds. It might seem like a mess and you will never get on the ship, but the boarding will go surprisingly quickly.