Cruise questions

[ProBusiness]

take the excursions fom the companies offered on the ship. you can go to the same place booking with a company that is not sponsored by the cruise line, but there maybe a reason the cruise line did not include this excursion company.

my personal experience is that we used a non cruise sponsoroed excursion co for about a 1/3 of the cost. long story short is that it is the closet i have every come to dying because they did not provide appropriate equipement.

 

[dennishoddy]

take the excursions fom the companies offered on the ship. you can go to the same place booking with a company that is not sponsored by the cruise line, but there maybe a reason the cruise line did not include this excursion company.

my personal experience is that we used a non cruise sponsoroed excursion co for about a 1/3 of the cost. long story short is that it is the closet i have every come to dying because they did not provide appropriate equipement.

I'm only talking about Celebrity cruise lines on this one.....

If you take a non cruise sponsored excursion, and something happens that you can't make it back to the ship on time, you have to pay to get to the next destination to re-board the ship.

If its a cruise ship sponsored excursion, and you don't get back in time, the cruise line will pay to get you to the next destination.

All that being said, we had to use some red neck ingenuity in the Carib. because 80% of the cab drivers or van drivers would delay you until you paid extra money to get back to the cruise ship.

NEVER EVER tell a cab driver your on a cruise and need to get back to the ship.

 

[Renegadethreads]

I've cruised quite a bit. I would recommend not doing less than 5 days and I really prefer 7. It can be a hassle getting on and off the boat. A short cruise will leave you feeling short changed for the effort. Get a balcony if possible. I don't mind an inside cabin at all, but you might be surprised by how much you enjoy just hanging out on your balcony while you watch the deep blue water.

Disney or Royal Carribean are my favorites so far and we frequent them almost yearly. Disney was a surprise as we don't travel with children any longer and thought that we might not appreciate them. The kids weren't much of an issue and besides Disney being one of the last to allow bringing your own alcohol, the movie theater has proven to be a really enjoyable feature. Try Palo at least once if you do Disney. NCL is nice as well, but is a bit slower pace with kind of an older crowd. I've done 4 Carnival cruises and wouldn't recommend them and won't do any more with them.

http://www.cruisecritic.com Check it out for lots of info on ports and such.

 

[OKjoe]

A lot of good advice posted. IMHO Royal Caribbean is the only way to go...specifically the Oasis of the Seas. Great service and food! Good times!!!

 

[dennishoddy]

Well, it looks to me with all the responses, that all of the cruise line offer a quality service.

There has been a few isolated incidents, but overall, cruising is a great way to go!

 

[Podman]

I've been on a cruise in the Caribbean and the one thing you better be sure of is: Are you prone to seasickness? It's horrible. I didn't have
any problems myself, but a fellow passenger did and he was miserable. Other than that cruises are great, lots of food, entertainment etc.
Have fun.

 

[Old Fart]

I've heard that lower interior cabins help with the sea sickness. Don't have any experience. Just curious if any pukers have tried them to see.

 

[The German]

I have been on 2 Norwegian cruises. They were fine and even though they were during spring break we never felt crowded. There is plenty to do and try. I would recommend you go on cruisecritic.com and find the message board for the cruise you want and see what they have to say and ask your questions there. If you are a people person you can even find a roll call on that message board for the dates you are going and start conversing with some of them.

 

[aviator41]

The seasickness patches that go behind your ear work - they REALLY work. Seriously, they WORK. The doctor isn't the only place to get them. You put them on and forget about them. seasickness solved.

We've been on Royal, Carnival, Princess,Celebrity, and Disney.

Of all of them Royal is the only we we go back to now. Disney was nice but overpriced. Carnival felt run-down. The staff was nice, but the food wasn't nearly as good and RC - and food is a BIG part of cruising. Princess was nice, but he activities were aimed more towards a senior crown so we got bored.

We've now cruised with Royal so much that we're Diamond plus members of the Crown and Anchor Society which makes for some cool perks like priority boarding and special little stuff in the state rooms.

For your first cruise, I'd recommend spending the extra money for a windowed room. It can help with queasiness and it's nice to wake up and see out the window (or go balcony). We really enjoyed the formal dining and thought it was a lot of fun to play "Fancy" for a night or two. Of course, it's optional but the food was incredible!

Excursions are expensive if all you want to do is snorkel on the beach. If you're going to Cozumel, Roatan, etc. . . (which is a typical Caribbean cruise), then get off the ship with some new friends, enjoy a few minutes of shopping then grab a cab and ask to be taken to a beach where you can rent snorkel gear. We took a family of 5 snorkeling for all of $35 and that included everything but the taxi ride. Don't forget your in a foreign country. There is safety in numbers. DO NOT LOSE YOUR PASSPORT WHILE OFF THE SHIP - this is a nightmare waiting to happen.

If you want to do try your hand at scuba, and you're in Cozumel, hit up Sand Dollar sports They will do a "first dive" without a scuba license. They're a short walk (or cab ride) from both sets of docks, it's run by expats from the U.S. and they have excellent equipment and an exclusive area of the reef to dive on.

We ALWAYS make it a point to eat at Mr. Chiles when we're in Cozumel. Last time we were there, they recognized our family from the previous year and gave me a free tequila double shot. Super nice folks!

Partake in a Cuban cigar, but know it's probably NOT from Cuba.

Do not even THINK about buying medications there and bringing them back. Just don't do it.

 

[Bluewing]

We've only done two.
Royal Caribbean = southern caribbean, Flew from Tulsa, Overnight in Puerto Rico, 7 day, 5 islands, balcony cabin. It was my 25th Wedding anniversary gift to wifey (and myself).
Carnival = western carribbean, 5 days, three islands, balcony cabin. 30th Anniversary.
from my limited expierience, all good advice from posts.
We took both types of sea sickness meds with us and did not use any of it. These ships are HUGE.
RC did seem geared more toward adults but was slightly more expensive.
Wife had 1. never flown anywhere in here life. 2. had never even seen the ocean. 3. had never been out of the continental U.S.
We both had a ball on both cruise lines.
My preference is Royal Carribbean.
Her's Carnival.
Darn kids--you throw one over board and there's two more to take their place----JK