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cruise help!?
Hey ladies,
DH and I are looking at different ideas for our 1 year anniversary trip (which isnt until October) but we would be having other people join us as well-so we are researching different options..... (the most cost effective)
If you have cruised before, what was your experience like? What website did you book through? Where'd u go to research, etc....? TIA!!
Randi
Re: cruise help!?
Like Jaye said, definitely check out Cruise Critic. You can get TONS of information without even signing up, and then you can get even more info by signing up for free. I think you can access some of the forums on there without signing up, but I know you have to sign up in order to access other forums... and we all know how helpful people on forums can be.
I've cruised Carnival twice, and we are cruising with them in January. Carnival is probably going to be one of the most economical choices out there, and if you go in October then you shouldn't have to worry about being overrun by kids, like their ships can get during the Summer. I've never cruised with anyone else so I can't compare, I can just say that I've enjoyed both experiences, obviously, since I'm going with them again. I am looking forward to cruising with Royal Caribbean at some point, but $$ wise cruising Carnival made more sense for us right now.
As far as tips... obviously a newer ship is going to be better, to be honest. There's just no two ways around it. New ships are new, more modern, they often times offer more, but that will also come with a bigger price tag.
You just have to figure out what you want. Since this is your first cruise I would say to try and find a compromise somewhere, without sacrificing too much. You want to make this the best experience for yourself.
I should add that the Carnival ship I went on (The Elation) was one of the oldest in the fleet. There's a new one, I think it's called Magic, that looks AMAZING! There's another new Carnival ship called Dream that is it's sister ship and was brand new this year. Those ships look amazing.
Royal Caribbeans Oasis and Allure of the Seas are the ships I want to sail on next if possible. they're like little cities on the sea with shopping malls, skating rinks, rock walls, etc. I'm very much a "must stay busy" sort of person so I like all the extra "stuff". If you like just relaxing and laying around the pool any ship will do for you, really! I'd figure out where you want to go, what you want to spend, and start there. Then pick ship and activities second.
Definitely agree with pp's, check out cruise critic. The message boards are a wealth of knowledge. I have been on Royal, Princess, Carnival, and NCL. NCL was my least favorite, and I was pleasantly surprised with Carnival. I like Carnival, Royal, and Princess all for different reasons so I don't have a favorite really. I usually narrow my options down by itenerary and price.
I like to book directly with the company, but I have booked with TA's before. I've used travelocity and smartcruiser. I usually check every online travel agent I can and see who has the best offers. Sometimes you can get free upgrades or trip insurance. The one I'm going on in May we got pre-paid tips. Make sure you read the fine print though, sometimes TA's will charge fees for changing rooms or cancellations.
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We just went on our first cruise. It was a 9-day RC out of Baltimore. We went with a group of 20, many were 1st time cruisers. I did not enjoy it and think an AI is a much better value but the majority of us are big drinkers so it might be different for you. My opinion is definitely jaded because we had terrible weather. Hanging out on the pool deck is supposed to be the best part. Well we had about 4 hrs of sun in 9 days and even then there were 40 mph winds. Of course, none of this is the ship's fault and I might feel differently if I had gotten a tan! I thought the food was tolerable but nothing special as I've heard from people. It was a much older crowd and it turned into a ghost ship before midnight. Don't get me wrong, we made the best of it and had a great time with our friends but won't be going again.
My point is, if you're trying to find the most cost effective trip for a group, you're better off picking an AI. The cruise prices look nice and cheap but obviously you'll have to fly somewhere to get the boat and the bar bill at the end is a little shocking. We could have easily gone to Jamaica for $2k less than we ended up spending and we didn't even have to pay for airfare. The other girls listed the sites I recommend. Good luck and have fun planning your trip.
I've only cruised Carnival the two times that I've cruised. For us, the cost of the cruise was definitely worth it! And since we're within 5 hours of one of their ports they sailed out of, we just drove versus fly.
With Carnival, I contacted their Group department and they really worked with us to get in the price range we were looking at. I booked the Group about 10 months out and everyone had 2 months from when I booked to get their deposits on their cabins paid. We locked in at $199 per person + taxes and fees ($51.20). Plus each cabin received a $50 on board ship credit and our group received a one hour cocktail party. Most of our guests were first time cruisers as well, and a lot of them were flying from Minnesota, so the low cost of the cruise was a deal for them.
For the most part, I enjoyed Canival. Brian has cruised with Carnival and Royal Caribbean and he said they were on opposite sides of the spectrum.
Good luck!!
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I've only cruised with NCL (wedding cruise for me) and I loved them! DH has cruised on Disney and NCL and preferred NCL over Disney hands down. This coming November we are booked for a cruise on Royal Caribbean.
When we booked NCL, we did it directly through their website. The Royal Caribbean cruise is being done through a TA because it's a group cruise that my girlfriend is coordinating. One thing to keep in mind when deciding to use a TA or not is to make sure the TA doesn't charge any booking fees when you're comparing services.
Personally, I liked NCL because we could eat whenever we wanted vs. Disney and Royal Caribbeans scheduled meals (Choose from 6pm dinner or 8 pm dinner) -- I don't know about Carnival, Celebrity, etc.
Cruise Critic is the mecca of cruise information. I'm usually there at least once a week checking the roll call thread to see who else is cruising during our cruise.
OK, now that I am not on a plane 30,000 feet in the air, running off of four hours of sleep, and still on my natural Jamaica high (as in I'd had a good time and was all grinny from it, come on people! Haha!) I decided to do a slightly longer post.
I am going to admit something- I recently became OBSESSED with cruises for various reasons. The big one being I was booked on two longer cruises (a 7 day and a 6 day) that both got canceled and now I am itching to go on a cruise. We also have a 25% off thing from Carnival because of our canceled Splendor cruise so it's REALLY been on my mind. So I've been spending more time on Cruise Critic than here (sorry guys!!). I am also wanting to do a group cruise with my family at some point, or at least with my parents, and picking the perfect one is very important to me since it may be their one and only cruise. Here's what I've discovered:
-People tend to have a favorite cruise line and will tell you their favorite cruise line is the best. This is all subjective. From what I can tell Carnival tends to have the better food but it's starting to go downhill fast. Royal Caribbean has the best entertainment with Hairspray on board their newest ships, but those new ships are pricey. Carnival has recently started cutting back on their shows (they have fired several dancers from each ship, fired some singers, and are trying to get more comedy nights instead of show nights on their ships). NCL always seems to be middle of the road for everyone- it rates as "Pretty Good" for food and "Pretty Good" for entertainment and doesn't seem to be as making as many cuts as everyone else.
So, really, pick your cruise based on your budget and where you want to go first. No one line is really that much better than another because your preferences are different from the next persons. If you don't care about anything else, book it. If you want to read reviews first remember to take them with a grain of salt. Everyone has their opinions. While I didn't like Elation for it's lack of "stuff" other people love Elation for it's size (smaller therefor more navigable), and it's laid backness.
-I have been told that if you really want to experience a "real cruise" you need to go on 7 day or longer cruise. It's really like any other vacation- it's hard to "fit it all in" in just 3-4 days. Most people I talk to said they don't even bother on anything less than 7 days unless they just want a quick vacation to relax and those people all live near the port so they don't have to fly. 4 days when you have to fly = waste of your time. Go for 7+ days.
-Now Cruise versus AI. Since someone mentioned that AIs tend to have better value I thought I'd chime in here. If you...
-Drink
-Are on a tight budget and want to know all costs up front
-Like going on vacation and "leaving your wallet behind"
-Like sitting on a beach and relaxing all day
-Like to explore the area you are in and really see all it has to offer
...an AI is better for you. Cruises have LOTS of hidden charges that I had no idea about until I started doing more research. That price quote you see SEEMS nice, but you really have to add a bit more to your budget. Tips are not included in this and they are automatically added to your bill at the end of the cruise by most cruiselines ($10 on Carnival, $12 on Royal Caribbean and Norwegian per person, per day last I checked). On Carnival with 2 people in the room for a 7 day cruise that is $140 extra you have to add to your vacation. Plus the port fees (which can be $50 per port) and government fees can really add up, too. For dinner only the Main Dining Rooms and Buffets are free. All of the specialty restaurants you need to pay for. So if you want the Steak House or Italian Restaurant it's going to cost you $20-30 per person extra. Drinks cost an arm and a leg- and it's most expensive on Carnival! $8.50 for a mixed drink! On other lines I've been told it's more like $7.50 so still really pricey. This is PER DRINK AND you are expected to tip the bartender. If you order a double they WILL CHARGE YOU DOUBLE! Just an FYI.
So it seems like in this novel I'm talking up AIs a lot, but wait! If you like going to different places every day and doing something different you will love a cruise! A port heavy cruise that brings you from the Bahamas to Jamaica to Grand Cayman all in one week? You can't do that on a land vacation! And staff on cruises stay the same all week long. You will really get to know the guy that cleans your room and really get to know your waiter (if you eat in the MDR). Some people love this feeling of personal attention. The dining room staff is usually pretty good about learning who you are and what your food preferences are and they can help you make decisions at dining time. And if you have a food allergy they will go above and beyond to care for you. The one downside to this is- if you feel they did a really good job you should tip them above and beyond the tips you've already paid. They are paid almost entirely on tips with a very, very small (almost jokingly small if it weren't so sad) salary.
PERSONALLY I prefer AIs because I have to fly or take a 5+ hour drive to cruise terminals right now. But I wish I'd discovered cruising while I was still living in San Diego. You can get some amazing deals last minute that I would have taken advantage of in a heart beat!
I realize this is totally rude to ask, but how bad was your bar bill? DH and I are big drinkers too - I'm afraid if we went on a cruise, we'd have a $3000 bill when we went to leave (or do you pay as you go? For some reason I am under the impression that you get one giant bill when the cruise ends).
I can't answer to how much their bill was, but I know on Carnival you can "prepay" your on-board account, and therefore only spend that amount.
Yep, you can prepay. But then what if you get "thirsty" after your credit is gone, Lol. I can give you a good estimate but your bill at the end includes everything you purchase on the ship. We spent a little under $2,000 on alcohol alone. AND I really took it easy during the day. My DH did not. Also, keep in mind, 4 of the days we were in port for around 8 hours. You can check your bill as you go. We did not because it would just stress us out and we wouldn't have changed anything.
That's what I thought (we spent over $150 when we were stuck in Boston overnight over Xmas just drinking and watching football for a few hours!). I just told DH and his response was, well of course we'd end up spending about $100 each per day on alcohol! I think I want to do a short weekend cruise just for the experience. Luckily, now that I'm in Houston, I have a bunch of local options (in Galveston).
As far as booze goes you can also bring the allotted amount onboard. Just check the FAQ section of the cruiseline or ask on Cruise Critic. On Carnival it was up to 750ml of wine and a 12 pack of sodas each. I did the max both times.
BUT, if you like hard alcohol there's a way to get that onboard in a semi-legal way. Just get a brown bottle of wine (or any color you can't see through), drink it at home, then recork it with your favorite booze. You can get a corker for $10 (a good one for $40-50). Then you don't have to sneak the booze on! It just looks like wine.
I've noticed A LOT of reports of rum runners getting caught and confiscated on cruises lately. Honestly, if you really like to drink I'd say add $1,000-2,000 to your budget (depending on cruise length). Then just figure out if that's cheaper than an AI or not still.
There is one Carnival Ship that leaves from San Diego. Then there are 2.5 Carnival ships that leave from Los Angeles (I'm counting the Splendor as the .5 since it's not in service until who knows when...), 1 NCL ship, 1 Princess ship, and 1 Holland America ship. Royal Caribbean pulled it's last West Coast ship as of this month (grrrrrr, RC, grrrr). Then there are a few Alaskan cruises that leave from Seattle but I don't know what cruise lines those would be besides NCL. Otherwise, yeah, the West Coast is totally lacking in cruises.
DH and I are big cruiser and we go a atleast twice a year. We absolutely love it! To us it is just such an easy vacation. We are Royal Caribbean fans and will stay loyal to them. We took one Carnival cruise because we were invited by friends and it was cheap, and in our experience we got what we paid for. We always book through our travel agent, which is nice because it doesn't cost us a thing and he does all the calling around if we have questions. We are not big drinkers (maybe 2-3 drinks a day for each of us) so I can't really help in that department. If you have any specific questions feel free to page me.
Ohhh and we were on Oasis in September, it is AMAZING! One of the best vacations we had been on. We were onboard for 7 nights and still hadn't done everything we wanted to do.