Anyone been on a cruise? Thoughts?

[Waffles]

Sept 16, 2014 15:22:16 GMT -5 milosh said:

I posted this to travel, but this place gets more traffic.

Has anyone had a great experience on a cruise? We want to go somewhere warm this winter. I want to do an AI with private pool, but H tells me he can't sit on a beach for a week straight, he needs 'stuff'! We have never been on a cruise before, we are thinking Royal Caribbean probably the Independence. Any thoughts?

I've been on several cruises, but honestly I feel like I did more "stuff" while I was at an AI in Jamaica.  Couples resorts are awesome because they include so much.  Snorkeling, scuba, catamaran cruise, and a ton more stuff is all included.  We had schedules planned and were busy every day.  Though we definitely like our beach time, we cut out the schedules and went with one main activity a day.

It's been several years since my last cruise, and we never did splurge for Royal Caribbean.  Went on Carnival a few times, and enjoyed it.  Norwegian has been great, and Disney (Wonder?) had an amazingly clean and nicely kept up ship.  RCI has always been appealing to me because it seems like they have so many activities, and the ships just simply look cool!

[milosh]

Sept 16, 2014 16:02:47 GMT -5 ilovecandy said:

Sept 16, 2014 15:30:43 GMT -5 jillianashley6 said:

I've cruised twice and had a great experience both times. There is a ton of stuff to do, and we really enjoyed the ports we stopped at.
We're hoping to do another cruise out of Galveston this winter or next spring.

Lurker but I have gone on both carnival and royal and prefer royal.  I worked at the terminal for royal in glaveston for awhile.  Tip don't go on the cruise that goes to Belize (there are two different iternaries for that ship they alternate weeks).  Coming back through customs is awful after you get off.  The terminal was built to accomadate a cruise ship that holds 2500 passengers.  The cruise ship that goes out holds just over 4000.  If you do go on the belize iternary once you get back do the self-assist (take your own luggage off) so that you will be one of the first ones off because the custom line gets really long and you can be waiting an hour or more in it the later you get off (and that is on a day where there are no other problems)

Thanks for the advice. Belize was sounding good, but I will think about it more.

[pantsparty]

Sept 16, 2014 15:22:16 GMT -5 milosh said:

I posted this to travel, but this place gets more traffic.

Has anyone had a great experience on a cruise? We want to go somewhere warm this winter. I want to do an AI with private pool, but H tells me he can't sit on a beach for a week straight, he needs 'stuff'! We have never been on a cruise before, we are thinking Royal Caribbean probably the Independence. Any thoughts?

What location are you considering? I really love AIs because we rotate excursions with being lazy blobs. Depending on the destination there's not really a shortage of things to see and do. 

[milosh]

Sept 16, 2014 17:42:45 GMT -5 pantsparty said:

Sept 16, 2014 15:22:16 GMT -5 milosh said:

I posted this to travel, but this place gets more traffic.

Has anyone had a great experience on a cruise? We want to go somewhere warm this winter. I want to do an AI with private pool, but H tells me he can't sit on a beach for a week straight, he needs 'stuff'! We have never been on a cruise before, we are thinking Royal Caribbean probably the Independence. Any thoughts?

What location are you considering? I really love AIs because we rotate excursions with being lazy blobs. Depending on the destination there's not really a shortage of things to see and do. 

I was looking at a resort in Punta Cana in the Dominican. My H just can't sit on the beach and enjoy himself, and at the same time he does not feel safe with us leaving the resort on our own. We also know quite a few couples that have gone to Jamaica and loved it, so I was looking at AI's there too. He thinks the cruise sounds like more fun because we get to safely and very easily check out different places and plus lots and lots of bars and restaurants to choose from. 

[bc1206]

My H and I have been on two. Both were through Royal Caribbean, but this was years ago. With the recent problems cruise lines have experienced I'm not sure if I would go again. My in laws were one one of ye ships last year that came down with the noro virus.

Anyway, I enjoyed both, however I am prone to sea sickness and I got sick on one of the trips during rough seas. It has pros and cons. Depends on what you really want to do. For example, dinner is set times and you are put at a table with strangers. Some people may not be bothered by that though. Also, some don't like the confinement of being on the ship. If you do go, pay the extra money and get a room with a balcony. Well worth it. I didn't like being in a small room with a small porthole window. When we cruised again we upgraded and got the balcony. Much better!


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[Deleted]

I would only want to do an Alaska or turnaround cruise.

We have family friends that do a 3 week turnaround cruise each year and say it's awesome. Very laid back and a lot less money.

[TheSeaward]

I have done 4 cruises and 5 AI, I would pick an AI over a cruise anytime. the time in port is so short. Playa del carmen is nice and close to Xplor (look it up) water taxi to cozumel, snorkel, his the hotel zone in cancun, isla mujeres. so much to do and a real bang for your buck - or sit on the beach, you have a choice

[compassrose]

I will personally never go on Carnival again.

I've been on lots of research cruises for work, and only one 'fun' cruise. It was three days long. I came home with a parasite that the CDC actually tracks.

Never again.

[IrishBelle]

We did a cruise earlier this year on the Celebrity Reflection. We loved it and would do it again.

[bronxgirl]

We did a Norweigan cruise, which was eh, but I loved our Disney cruise.

[kc421]

I loved our cruise on Royal Caribbean and would do another cruise in a heartbeat - though I don't think I'd go with Carnival, based on the experiences that others have had. That being said, if I had a choice, I'd pick going to an AI. If you're looking for a vacation with lots to do and a lot of running around, I'd recommend the cruise. If you want a more relaxing vacation, I'd recommend going the AI route. We had an amazing time on the cruise, however, I don't think we came back "rested". We wanted to go everywhere and see everything so it felt like we were always on the run. There's just not enough time at the ports but it's an opportunity to see a bunch of different places.

[vanillacourage]

Sept 16, 2014 17:53:53 GMT -5 milosh said:

Sept 16, 2014 17:42:45 GMT -5 pantsparty said:

What location are you considering? I really love AIs because we rotate excursions with being lazy blobs. Depending on the destination there's not really a shortage of things to see and do. 

I was looking at a resort in Punta Cana in the Dominican. My H just can't sit on the beach and enjoy himself, and at the same time he does not feel safe with us leaving the resort on our own. We also know quite a few couples that have gone to Jamaica and loved it, so I was looking at AI's there too. He thinks the cruise sounds like more fun because we get to safely and very easily check out different places and plus lots and lots of bars and restaurants to choose from. 

If you're worried about safety when you're outside the resort then I wouldn't do Jamaica. Multiple people I know who have gone say that when you're inside the resort gates it's fine but ten feet past and it gets totally sketchy. 

If you're open to Cancun, we've been to Excellence Playa Mujeres twice and loved it - there's lots of excursions you can arrange right from the hotel lobby (companies that have a desk there with a full menu of choices). 

[joenali]

We did an Alaska cruise with Holland America. We had a blast and would do it again for sure!

[ilovecandy]

Sept 16, 2014 17:41:57 GMT -5 milosh said:

Sept 16, 2014 16:02:47 GMT -5 ilovecandy said:

Lurker but I have gone on both carnival and royal and prefer royal.  I worked at the terminal for royal in glaveston for awhile.  Tip don't go on the cruise that goes to Belize (there are two different iternaries for that ship they alternate weeks).  Coming back through customs is awful after you get off.  The terminal was built to accomadate a cruise ship that holds 2500 passengers.  The cruise ship that goes out holds just over 4000.  If you do go on the belize iternary once you get back do the self-assist (take your own luggage off) so that you will be one of the first ones off because the custom line gets really long and you can be waiting an hour or more in it the later you get off (and that is on a day where there are no other problems)

Thanks for the advice. Belize was sounding good, but I will think about it more.

Belize just takes longer because they don't have an agreement with customs so if you go there customs has to do a  full check not just a customary look and go.  The other one can get long too but it tends to move faster, though once again the later you get off and longer you will wait in the customs line. I do not know how the carnival one out of Galveston works but i have heard that their terminal is also not built to process as many as the ship hold.  They are suppose to do constructon on both terminals to help with that but it won't start until later this year.  

[Deleted]

We've cruised 4 x. 1 Disney, 1 RC & 2 Carnival. We only did Carnival because our friends wanted to go and they could afford it.
Carnival was the least favorite. Food wasn't good at all.

I'd go with your choice and to to an AI. We loved it the one time we went. I wanna go again!