Cruise Experiences

[smilie]

DH and I will be going on our first cruise this October. I was just wondering if anyone has any experiences to share? Either about the cruise itself or the ports....

 

[snowball22]

Check out the cruise discussion forum here on the dis. You will get alot of great information!!

 

[clm3]

We did Disney Wonder 4 day last March and loved it !! It was our 1st and took all 3 kids. In June DH and I are going on Carnival out of Galveston and can't wait.

You may also want to check out cruisecritic.com they have a forum section loaded with info on ports you stop at and all the cruise companies.

 

[4cruisin]

You've made a BIG mistake by booking a cruise.


Once you cruise, it's the only vacation you will want to take. You will dream and plan for your next cruise constantly!!

Give me some more info about the line and what ports and I will see if I've been there. We have cruised 4 times and have our 5th booked for next year. I love cruising...it's the only way to vacation as far as I'm concerned.

 

[smilie]

It's not a Disney Cruise... (hiding ). It's a Carnival Eastern Caribbean Cruise. The ports we're stopping at are Half Moon Cay-Bahamas, St. Thomas, San Juan-Puerto Rico and Grand Turk-Turks & Caicos. I've NEVER traveled further then Florida. That's as tropical as I've gotten. We're very excited about it.

ETA: We'll be in St. Thomas the same day as the Disney Magic!!

 

[melomouse]

You've made a BIG mistake by booking a cruise.


Once you cruise, it's the only vacation you will want to take. You will dream and plan for your next cruise constantly!!

Give me some more info about the line and what ports and I will see if I've been there. We have cruised 4 times and have our 5th booked for next year. I love cruising...it's the only way to vacation as far as I'm concerned.

so right, 4 cruisin'!!

And no shame or hiding cuz it's not a Disney cruise. I have been on 9 - with and w/o kids at all ages. It will be terrific!!!

Check out other cruise boards because on the DCL section you may, indeed feel like you have to hide! They are loyal and devoted fans - great for them and for DCL - but far from representative of the total cruise vacation experience.

 

[noseybuddy]

I have been on two cruises and going on my 3rd this Nov. One Carnival cruise when I was younger and Royal Caribbean in 2003 and Royal Caribbean again in Nov. There are so many things to do on the ship, so if you get bored its basically because you didn't venture out to try anything. Do you reasearch as far as doing excursions. Many good ones out there and many bad ones. Just be careful. I don't know much about the Carnival ships since I went on that one back in 1984. Much has changed since then. I do like RCCL. I went on the Mariner and this time the new Freedom of the Seas. Have a great time.

 

[Mishetta]

I'm snooping around to see what sort of responses you get. We're considering taking a 4 day Disney Cruise. Never cruised before & truthfully, I'm quite nervous about it. (I keep thinking 'Titanic.') Also worried about the motion sickness. I still get car sick from time to time!

 

[noseybuddy]

I'm snooping around to see what sort of responses you get. We're considering taking a 4 day Disney Cruise. Never cruised before & truthfully, I'm quite nervous about it. (I keep thinking 'Titanic.') Also worried about the motion sickness. I still get car sick from time to time!

My last cruise I went on was Dec. 2003 where I think the sea would be rough. I had no problem at all. Of course the first day you need to get used to walking around but after that no problem. The ships are so BIG now you really don't feel anything.

 

[caribear]

Cruising is the best!! I've never been on a Disney cruise, but I have cruised on Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess. Cruising is really what you make of it...you can do as little or as much as you want. The only thing we have done in San Juan is tour the old fort and we enjoyed that. I love St. Thomas! We have done the same tour 2 years in a row....it is by Captain Nautica and is usually offered by the cruise line. It is a snorkeling tour on a zodiac boat that zooms through the water. We saw stingrays, huge sea turtles and tons of fish/coral/lobsters. St. John is accessible from St. Thomas and is also very beautiful. I do get motion sickness, so I always take Meclazine the night before the cruise begins and every night thereafter.

You will have a wonderful time!!!

 

[4cruisin]

Ok, I've been on 2 Carnival and 2 Disney cruises. I loved Disney because the entertainment was top notch, DCL has separate adult areas for swimming etc. I loved the decor of the ship and Chip and Dale were an added bonus!! However, I cannot afford to travel on DCL when their rates are at least 1/3 more expensive than other lines.

Carnival has a different type of cruiser. Yes, there are still a few party til you puke types but that is pretty rare. There was a good mix of ages on Carnival. We had a ball and we are booked for next March with 2 other couples. We are not partiers, just 6 middle aged people (mid 40's to mid 50's) that love to cruise and have fun. The food on CCL was much better than DCL. The entertainment was ok, not great. I love having a casino on CCL.
For the money CCL charges for a cruise, you can't beat it.

The only port I have been to on your list is St. Thomas and it was by far the most beautiful place I have seen. Very safe also. Cruisecritic has a great website that will give you tons of info. My best suggestion is to read and plan. Ask questions. Make a list or keep a binder. You can do excursions more cost effective on your own than through the ship.

Regardless of what you do, you are going to have a fantastic time. Enjoy it.

 

[4cruisin]

I'm snooping around to see what sort of responses you get. We're considering taking a 4 day Disney Cruise. Never cruised before & truthfully, I'm quite nervous about it. (I keep thinking 'Titanic.') Also worried about the motion sickness. I still get car sick from time to time!

I never had a desire to cruise. I was afraid that if I couldn't see land, I would be uncomfortable. Plus, my dh has a big problem with motion sickness. After my mom passed away, my dsis decided we needed to get away so we went to Disney for 5 days and then took a 3 day Disney cruise to see if we would like cruising. It was me, dh, dsis and dbil. OMG, we all loved it. I had my dh get the seasickness patch from his dr. before we sailed and he was fine. We immediately booked a 7 day DCL as soon as we returned. DH and I took a CCL cruise the next year (it was a gift from my boss) and we really enjoyed it. My dsis was so impressed by our "trip report" that she "made us" go with them the following year. My dcousin and her dh came along and we had a ball. We are now booked on CCL for next March and can't wait.
I love cruising because it allows us to see several places during a week. If we don't like someplace, we are only there for a day and then on to the next port. We have already decided what places we would return to for a week long stay (St. Thomas and Costa Rica) and where we wouldn't set foot again (Nassau). The ship also allows you to participate in activities or just veg out and relax. It is the best vacation in the world.

I use seabands and ginger pills if we hit rough waters and have never really had a problem with being sick. If you have any doubt, talk to your doctor about the patch.

 

[mickeyboat]

We have cruised twice. DH and I went on a 4 day Carnival cruise to the Bahamas. That was a country music cruise, so we spent most of the cruise at concerts (a great way to see them, too!). The second was a 7 day Eastern Carribbean with the kids on DCL. We enjoyed both cruises.

I love St. John - we honeymooned there. But one day docking in St. Thomas is really not enough time to enjoy it, there is a lot of travel involved to get to and from the island, which doesn't leave much time to explore. It has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, though.

With regard to motion sickness, DD is prone to car sickness, but had no trouble on board. But I did have a few issues a couple of evenings, right around dinner time. I figure I should have had a light snack before dinner, to stave off the empty stomach, motion-sickness feeling. Also, the theaters where there were no portholes were the worst - don't watch the curtains sway back and forth. One more point, the movement of the ship is most noticeable the night you leave Florida. Once you get into the Carribbean, it is pretty smooth sailing.

Denae

 

[EthansMom]

Count me in with all of the other cruise lovers. We'll be taking the kids on their first cruise at the end of April.

My best advice that I can give: T

Take a carry-on with your clothes for dinner that night, swimsuits, and possibly your jammies and medecines you take at bedtime. All of the luggage that you check at the port is tossed into very large bins and then loaded into the ship and sorted out later. I've seen many folks at dinner who had not yet received their luggage... and were stuck wearing the same clothes they had worn onto the ship.

Check to see if the ship has a laundromat for your use. If so, pack light.

I've been to both St. Thomas and San Juan. At St. Thomas, we LOVED the kayak/snorkeling excursion in a protected (as in no fishing, no removing vegetation) cove. The snorkeling part wasn't great, but the kayaking was really fun (2 person kayaks) and the guides were very knowledgeable.

In San Juan, DO NOT GO ON THE BACARDI TOUR. Everyone I know that has gone to San Juan, has gone on the tour of the Bacardi Facility and it isn't worth it. You get on a bus that drives forever through the worst slums I've ever seen (really bad) and then get to the Bacardi facility in the middle of nowhere. The little tour goes past replica buildings of cabins where the sugar cane harvesters of past would have lived. A quote (kid you not) from this tour was that, "the happy workers worked in exchange for their room and board." Umm... yeah... they call that slavery where I come from. At any rate, you don't get to see any interesting mixing of ingredients or anything. You get a brief view of the bottling process.... yawn. And then you each get like two dixie cups of Bacardi Rum. Save your time and do something fun.

I hope this helps. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I love to cruise and it's DH's favorite way to vacation. It's so laidback and you don't have to worry about budgeting for everything like you do on a "regular" vacation. We always splurge and get a verandah stateroom so we can sneak out before the kids get up or enjoy a bottle of wine at sunset. It's very romantic plus the kids get their own time away from us when they hit the kids club. I just wish Disney was not so expensive. This may be our last cruise with them.

 

[MoniqueU]

You've made a BIG mistake by booking a cruise.


Once you cruise, it's the only vacation you will want to take. You will dream and plan for your next cruise constantly!!

Give me some more info about the line and what ports and I will see if I've been there. We have cruised 4 times and have our 5th booked for next year. I love cruising...it's the only way to vacation as far as I'm concerned.

That's not true. Some people cruise and hate it. I have been on 2 cruises just to make sure it wasn't just the cruise I went on and didn't like either one of them. I won't hijack the post but cruising is NOT for everyone.

 

[4cruisin]

That's not true. Some people cruise and hate it. I have been on 2 cruises just to make sure it wasn't just the cruise I went on and didn't like either one of them. I won't hijack the post but cruising is NOT for everyone.

Ok, since I have offended someone by my blanket statement....let me revise it to say that "most" people love cruising and want to spend all their vacations that way.

That of course is JMHO

 

[MagicKingdom05]

smilie,

Thanks for posting this. I'm in the same boat as you are since I changed my vacation plans from a landbased vacation to a cruise. I am currently looking at a back to back West/East Caribbean Cruise (12/31-1/14) on NCL.

 

[budbeerlady]

Have fun shopping in St. THomas. We also did Carnival for our honeymoon but we did the western carribean. It is a great trip and you will be spoiled and love it! We went snorkeling there and the views of the fish were great. It was the best trip and I cannot wait to go again. The only problem is then we would have to take a year off WDW? What is a girl to do?

 

[Toby'sFriend]

We are taking a 6 day Carnival Western Caribbean cruise in a couple of weeks. I honestly cannot tell you the last time I was looking forward to a vacation so much.