Have you ever been on a cruise other than Disney?

[Antonia]

My husband and I have never cruised, but are considering this for our 20th anniversary. We would go in May or June of 2003. We are not really interested in a Disney cruise because we think that is more for families with kids, etc.
What other cruise line have you used and would you recommend it? How were the staterooms? Any that were so tiny you would not recommend? What about inside vs. outside stateroom?
Any particular port that you just loved? We are thinking we would like to include Cozumel to see the Mayan ruins. Is 7 days too long? And what port did you depart from - we would definitely want to depart from somewhere in Florida. Any recommendations? Thanks!

 

[ChiTownZee]

We've never done either, but are planning a DCL cruise. You might want to head over the the Cruise board, there are lots of people there that have done DCL and other lines, and lots of couples with no children that frequent DCL. It's my understanding that DCL is excellent for the couple traveling without children because Disney strictly enforces it's adults only areas (beaches, pools, restaurants) and because DCL has so much more for kids to do, they are less bothersome, even with more kids on the ships, than lines with less for them to do. Good Luck on your decision.

 

[ripleysmom]

Here is a link to a cruise discussion board. Certainly you can get some great info from these guys!!

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=cfrm&s=927093444

 

[RUDisney]

My DH and I went on a Norwegian cruise in October 2000. It sailed from Miami and I purchased it a month in advance from the now defunct onsale.com auction site. For the two of us, in an inside cabin, with port charges, I paid $800, or $400 per person.

The thing that I loved about the NCL cruise was that there is open seating for each meal. If we were ready at 5:30, we could go to dinner. If we weren't ready until 8:00, we could go then. We could eat alone, or ask to be seated with others.

We went to the Bahamas (blech,) Old San Juan, and St. Thomas. On the last day, we went to their private island.

Didn't mind the inside cabin as we were hardly in the room.

We can't wait to take our kids cruising.

 

[scarlett873]

i've also done a cruis on norwegian. i enjoyed the cruise, but i think that it just wasn't the right cruise line for my age group. there were a lot of older cruisers on board..not too many younger cruisers. but it was still ok...we went to cozumel and roatan, honduras. we were supposed to hit cancun, but weather prohibited that.

i would suggest checking into DCL though...i have had friends who went without their kids and said that she knows there were kids all over the ship, but they rarely saw any! they have great adults only areas...and usually when you book a cruise, they will ask for your age or age group and they try to seat you for dinner with people right around your age. that doesn't always work, but they try!

 

[Margie J]

I've been on 8 cruises, all non-DCL. The ships I've sailed on have been from Carnival, RCCL, Majesty Cruise Line (the ship now belongs to NCL) and another small line.

As for ports, in no particular order: Cozumel, St. Thomas, St. John, San Juan, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Martin, Aruba, Martinique, Antiqua, Grand Caymen, Bahamas, Bermuda, Miami, Key West ...

Royal Caribbean was great IMO. Lots of fun but not over the top. The food, entertainment and service was really nice. For ships, I liked both the Majesty of the Seas (RCCL) and the Norwegian Majesty (NCL). The first is a mega-ship but don't let that scare you. You will quickly find your way around. The Norwegian Majesty was small and elegant. It's been stretched since I last sailed it.

I've usually had an inside stateroom. You don't spend that much time in your cabin so it may not be worth the extra price for an outside cabin. Midship cabins are often better for those who may have sea sickness.

Cozumel was interesting if you like that sort of thing (I do). We took a bus out there and it was really hot. On the way we made a stop at a souvenier shop to bargin for handmade items. At the ruins, the view was striking .... the ruins against bright blue water.

Other ports:
St. John - lush with nice snorkling
Grenada - "the spice island" smells just like that, colorful island
St. Martin - nice shopping areas
Martinique - mountainous, little private beaches
Grand Caymen & Bahamas - wonderful snorkling and diving
Bermuda - great for golf, friendly people

 

[MerryPoppins]

DH and I took a Carnival cruise for our honeymoon in '84. There were few children on board - mostly newleyweds like us. Our family of 4 took a Disney Magic cruise in '01. No comparison! Disney was MUCH better.

Don't get me wrong, the honeymoon was great. I wouldn't trade it for anything. But the folks on the cruise were mostly college-aged or just a couple of years older. It was a loud and sometimes wild group.

DCL is clean and the shows are first-rate. They do a great job of giving adults plenty to do without kids. There is an area where kids can't go, and they don't even want to because they have too many kid centered activities. Disney pays attention to all the little details.

The drawbacks were that twice on the trip I wanted to spank PARENTS who didn't even try to make their kids behave! Still, two times on a 7 week cruise isn't bad. I think there were more than two incidents on our honeymoon with big kids!

 

[maleficent1959]

Our Carnival experience was pretty different. There were kids absolutely everywhere. This was before we had kids, and we really didn't enjoy that aspect. We also thought the staterooms were small and tacky. Our entire deck was orange. The only thing to do when you were at sea was bake in the sun and drink or go to the casino. Since we're not tanning people, we went to the casino a few times, hung out in the library and did a lot of walking. We'll never do a Carnival cruise again.

Our first Disney cruise we were a little wary thinking that we would see screaming kids eveywhere. But we saw almost none. There was some great programming for adults, the movie theaters etc. We hardly even saw children at dinner. Toward the end of the cruise we ran into the cruise director on evening. DH made the comment that there weren't many children onboard, and the cruise director laughed and said there were well over 600. Dh said "where are they?" so he took us around and showed us all the "kid only" places. He was right, there were tons of kids onboard. We cruised again with DCL before we had our son, and now that we have him we have been back several times (and he's only 2).

We would, however, like to try some other cruise lines and something other than the Caribbean. Alaska here I come.

 

[wovenwonder]

A must read trip report for cruising 'childless'!
http://www.castawayclub.com/threepeat.htm

A small section Copied from the trip report linked above:

The Adult Experience
Being childless, we always have a great opportunity to indulge in the adults-only pleasure like the spa, the Quiet Cove Pool, and Serenity Bay. In my view, that is one of the very best things about Disney Cruise Line. We've had overall good experiences on Royal Caribbean, but one of their biggest failings is the lack of some adults-only escapes. On a couple of their ships, there were supposed to be adult areas, but enforcement was totally lacking.

In contrast, Disney protects the sanctity of the adult spaces as vigorously as they cater to families. We didn't spend as much time at the adult pool as usual, but when we were there, we saw youngsters jump in several times and they were almost always quickly shooed away by a crew member. The sad thing is that the majority of them are there with the parents, who surely could not miss the large, prominent adults-only sign. Also, the fact that the other pools are packed with youngsters, while Quiet Cove is not, would be a big clue. One woman even plopped in her diapered kid. I don't think she lasted long enough for a crew member to discover her. From my vantage point in the whirlpool, I noticed that she was out within a couple minutes...I think the adults in the pool probably said something to her (I don't blame them one...who wants to swim in her child's salmonella?).

There was definitely a high population of youngsters on board, but as always, they seemed to be keeping busy and were rarely under foot enough to cause us any disturbance. In my opinion, the only adults who would dislike a Disney cruise are the type who cannot stand to be around kids at any time. You will certainly see little ones around the ship, I mean come on, it's DISNEY! But they are busy with their activities, and I get a real kick out of watching them. We even stayed on the family beach for two out of our three cruises because sometimes I like to be in the thick of the crowd. Too much peace and quiet can get a little boring. Our house is very peaceful and quiet, so sometimes I like a change of pace. Maybe Disney just appeals to us because we happen to be overgrown kids ourselves, but I think that DCL does a great job of accommodating adults even if they prefer to stick to their own areas and activities.

 

[AngieBelle]

I've been on one cruise. I went on a Princess Cruiseline to Alaska with my family about 3 years ago, right before I started college. It was very cool- like a whole floating community. There were shows every night, fancy dinners, karaoke, talent show, plus Alaska itself. There were all sorts of activities going on. My dad wanted to see the huge glaciers. It was fun exploring the towns as well- totem poles, little shops, museums, lotsa stuff. We also saw whales in the ocean.

 

[Catzeyes]

We went on the Carnival Victory last Janurary with 2 other couples. We sailed out of Maimi and stopped at Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Croix. The staterooms were very large(both inside and outside). We paid $800.00 per couple for inside staterooms and $1200 per couple for outside staterooms. The food and entertainment were wonderful. We all thought the ship was beautiful. It was a great seven day cruise.

 

[MadMadamMim]

We did a Holland America cruise last year and LOVED it... it was mostly an middle aged crowd (we're 34 and 28) - I'd say the average age was early 50's, very few children - lots to do and we were pampered to the hilt! This was our first cruise and definately not our last! (we're planning another one for next year )

www.hollandamerica.com

 

[Jeafl]

We've been on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, the now defunct Big Red Boat, and just a couple months ago, NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines). They all had advantages and disadvantages, but overall I would highly recommend Royal Caribbean and NCL. We took our 3 kids on board, and rarely even saw them, let alone anyone else's kids! They found their own group of friends and went to all the kids activities, so we were able to do what we wanted to do.

 

[beachbunny]

DH likes to cruise so we've been on a few. Here's a summary:

Cruise Lines: Mid-priced cruises we've been on include Princess; Royal Carribean; NCL; and Disney. Of these, Disney was the best as far as quality and service.

High end cruises we've been on include: Seabourn and Crystal. What can I say? You get what you pay for. These cruises are also a LOT more formal than the mid-priced cruises -- more formal nights -- most men wore tuxes and women wore long gowns, and those who didn't stuck out.

Destinations: We've been to the Hawaiian Islands -- absolutely beautiful and you don't need pack/unpack, get on a plane, etc. to see the islands. The Mediterranean -- started in Barcelona, Spain and toured the med including Greece and Italy -- very romantic. The Nordic countries -- took a ship through Norway, Sweden, and Finland. It was o.k. but a little rough. Alaska -- they only do these cruises during the late spring to early fall -- the glaciers were increadible -- but there were lots of families with kids aboard. Bahamas and Central/South America -- yuck! poor, dirty, not my idea of a vacation -- really, for these two places, the cruise ship is the true desitnation, not the place you're visiting so keep that in mind.

Suggestion: NCL has a 7-day cruise that stops at 4 of the Hawaiian islands. It's a brand new ship (Norweigen Star) and is a great deal for the price.

Lastly, if you can swing it, go for the outside stateroom with balcony. Generally, you'll find that even that category of room is about the same size as a room at the All Star resort -- inside rooms are smaller.

 

[denisem]

Yes...Carnival, RCCL, NCL, defunct Premier Big Red Boat, Celebrity, Disney and Princess...total of 14 cruises.

(Keep in mind my FIRST cruise in '86 was gonna be a "trip-of-a-lifetime" thing. Wrong. Beware: cruising may become part of your yearly budget )

As mentioned, cruiselines all have strengths/weaknesses/personalities. I'd start by asking "what is most important to YOU?", and narrowing it down from there. A great book is "Unofficial Guide to Cruises" by Showker/Sehlinger (pretty accurate on comparisions and a small investment when you consider the total cruise price).

I.E., Livilier/party ship = Carnival. Celebrity is generally known for best food of the bunch, but is a much more sedate experience (some people consider it "boring"). We're now Princess fans because of Personal Choice dining. If you enjoy gambling that would rule out Disney ships. See all the variables?

As far as cabins...yes, they're generally smaller than any hotel room, but well configured and functional. I've had great cruises in insides. If you're the active sort that will be "out and about", an inside is fine. (I found little difference in inside/outside unless one is claustrophobic).

HOWEVER....after splurging on a balcony for our '99 honeymoon cruise in Alaska (mid-40's couple), we found it to be an entirely different cruise experience. With a balcony, you DO spend more in your cabin relaxing & watching the world go by. Nuthin' like morning coffee/evening drinks watching the sun rise/set! If your budget can swing it and you desire some romantic down-time, I highly recommend a balcony.

I prefer sailing from Ft. Lauderdale rather than Miami. Less airport/port hassle. Favorite port? St. Thomas (Eastern) for jewelry shopping and Grand Cayman (Western) for snorkeling at Sting Ray City.

Hope this helped a little.

Denise < ---- no cruises planned for 2003. YET

 

[denisem]

Double post, sorry.

 

[EROS]

LOL.......Why would we want to do something like that?? .........

 

[Nikki_Nikki]

YES!!!! It was the best time I've had in my life so far!!! I can't tell any stories about it here on the DIS though.

 

[supercarrie]

I have been on several Royal Caribbean cruises, and had an amazing time each trip. The staterooms were small, but they are small on basically every ship. I would definitely recommend getting an outside stateroom with a balcony, because, IMO, it is worth the extra cost to be able to sit on the balcony in your pajamas in the morning while the ship pulls into port, or even just sails across the ocean. It is so nice and relaxing.

 

[Kteacher]

I've sailed once on celebrity and 6 times on RCI . Cruisecritic is definitely a great source of info. I also agree with the above poster. A balcony is well worth the extra money, especially for a special anniversary trip. We loved eating breakfast on our balcony every morning, and sailing away every evening from a different port and seeing it from our own balcony was great too!! for a first cruise the Southern Caribbean might be a little port intensive-you usually visit a different port every day, which can be a bit overwhelming. Eastern routes tend to be a bit more relaxing. Have fun whatever you decide-but beware-cruising is addictive!