Cruise Experiences

[TxJasmine]

I have been on 15+ cruises on multiple different cruise lines. My kids have even been on 6 cruises so far. We all love cruising! The best thing about cruising IMO, is that you get to travel to different places while only unpacking one time, and you don't have to worry about meals. This is really important when traveling with kids! I also think that cruises are very reasonable in price when you consider that they include lodging, transportation, and all food.

As some have already mentioned - you don't get to know a port or an island in depth because you are only there for a day, but it gives you a taste of the place. And you can see multiple places and then decide which ones you'd like to come back to. If you stay in a resort, then you only see one place. Last year we took a cruise around the Hawaiian islands. We spent a day or two on each island. It was a great way to appreciate the differences between the islands. You can't do this if you are staying at a resort.

My main bit of advice for you is to avoid the ship's shore excursions. Especially the sightseeing ones. You can rent a taxi for a fraction of the cost and see the same things (or more) as the people who are all crammed into a bus. We always do things independently and have never had a problem. Plus we've saved lots of money! There are always lots of locals at each port trying to sell you tours. You don't need to book ahead.

Whatever you end up doing - I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!

 

[Ladyhawke10]

My main bit of advice for you is to avoid the ship's shore excursions. Especially the sightseeing ones. You can rent a taxi for a fraction of the cost and see the same things (or more) as the people who are all crammed into a bus. We always do things independently and have never had a problem. Plus we've saved lots of money! There are always lots of locals at each port trying to sell you tours. You don't need to book ahead.

Whatever you end up doing - I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!

I was always nervous to do this in case we didn't make it back to the ship on time (on our Disney cruise,they left a couple in Grand Cayman who didn't return to the ship when it was time to leave!!)

But I'd like to try it because you could be more spontaneous with what you felt like doing that day without being locked into an activity months ahead of time in order to get a spot--also, like you said, it's less expensive

Has anyone done a Tahitian cruise? Yes, I'm still researching on that one
Have agreat trip

 

[Blueeyes101817]

i forgot i didnt add a link....this is my trip report and pictures from my cruise on royal caribbean in January
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1002595

 

[Pugdog007]

LOVE cruising! DD17 and I are doing a Baltic cruise with RCCL in July. We will see Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg & Tallin Estonia.

I've done Eastern, Western & Bahama cruises with DCL and loved all.

We did Alaska last Summer with RCCL.

I love unpacking once and seeing new places every day!

 

[luvmyeor]

I am leaving this Saturday on my fourth Carnival cruise. We are doing the Eastern Caribbean with stops in Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. I have been to Nassau two other times and don't plan to spend much time off the ship there. I'm traveling with a group of 18 so we need to stop at a few stores and that's it. I was in St. Thomas once before but didn't have enough time to really check it out because I was on a jewelry hunt. So this time I hope to see a little more.

We are also planning to do our own tour as it is much cheaper than booking a tour through Carnival. I wouldn't recommend doing that at every port of call but I checked with my travel agent and she said any of these ports would be fine. I'd be a little leary in Jamaica or Dominican Republic.

Sometimes you don't receive your luggage until late...once I didn't get mine until almost 10pm. So if there is anything you want to have when you arrive make sure you put it in your carry-on. Carnival is pretty relaxed about dinner attire the first night because they know that not everyone will have their luggage.

My dream cruise right now is the Panama Canal. We're trying to get 8 couples together because then we will qualify for a group rate. We want to have balcony cabins for this cruise so any discount we get will be a great help. I normally just book an inside cabin because we don't spend a lot of time in the cabin. I had a balcony cabin on my last cruise because it was the only cabin left as Carnival really overbooked their cruises out of Baltimore two years ago. I really liked having a balcony but I don't think I'll miss it that much this time.

What ever you do don't let them "upgrade" you to Empress forward because that is not the ideal location to be on a cruise ship. There wasn't one night that we didn't rock and unfortunately the bed was turned the wrong way so I rocked head to toe. I thought I was going to fall out of bed the one day when we reached a port...that's how bad it rocked our cabin.