Really did not enjoy cruising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Choose a small ship, kid free, and upscale. Much more enjoyable not to have to stand in buffet lines or make reservations at upcharged restaurants.

You don’t need to go to the buffet or upcharge restaurants on ANY ship.

I agree that smaller/midsize ships are less crowded and chaotic overall. Plus the food and service are better than on the mega-ships.

But rest assured the things you have flagged are easily avoided on every ship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should try doing a cruise in first class. They all offer some form of it. On Royal it is called star class and on big ships it worth it.

We never ate in the dining hall for anything. You get unlimited access to specialty dining and they deliver anything from any restaurant to your room.

You also never wait in a line, they escort you on and off the ship personally. We were off ship in literally 10 Minutes with our luggage last day.

They won’t watch your kids for you, but will save seats at shows and stuff like that.

Op here - we did this on celebrity. I just couldn’t enjoy it because of the toddler

Though in general I really don’t love cruises, or at least not this experience on celebrity’s ever growing ships. The suite and speciality restaurant were nice but even in the retreat dining room it felt packed and so many people were sick. Two mornings ago at breakfast in the exclusive dining room there was a woman at the next table hacking up a lung talking about how sick she’d been the first few days of the cruise. And sure enough, my oldest woke up with a cold this morning as we prepared to return home. Constant close proximity to so many people was just too gross for me. Everyone is packed in like sardines, even in “first class.” We got on and off the ship first as part of this class and even that is just irritating to me. I think if you’re older, childless or your kids are older it’s easier. But it doesn’t change a lot of the factors I did not enjoy.

I enjoyed celebrity in the past - but obviously it was impacted by being with a toddler in, and I also think the ships are getting bigger and more jammed. Lastly, like I previously said, too much access to food.

I’m happy to be home!

That sounds terrible. On Royal we had our own deck only accessible with star class cards. There were 7 restaurants plus one for suite guests. Sun deck for suite guests only where it was 20 chairs to 1 guest.

We had reservations at a different restaurant every night and breakfast/lunch delivered to suite.
Room ranges from 30k a week to 90k, but there were only 9 of them on the ship.

30 - 90k for one week on a lame ass cruise lol

Maybe…but when you pay that much it is not the same experience as the other 6k people on the floating mall.

Cannot speak for all the cruise lines - but if you pay for first class it literally is first class as close to charter as they can make it.

Cruising on a 30M boat is typical, trying to pull off similar experience on a 2B boat with 6k other people is new. Worked for us.

I expect this business model will expand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Choose a small ship, kid free, and upscale. Much more enjoyable not to have to stand in buffet lines or make reservations at upcharged restaurants.

You don’t need to go to the buffet or upcharge restaurants on ANY ship.

I agree that smaller/midsize ships are less crowded and chaotic overall. Plus the food and service are better than on the mega-ships.

But rest assured the things you have flagged are easily avoided on every ship.

We typically do Disney which I think has better food overall, and even still we skip the buffet and the upcharge dining. I love that Disney includes room service at no charge so we do that on port days and sit down breakfast the other days. We also skip most of the group port excursions and either just taxi to a nice beach or book something with a small local provider. But mostly we book itineraries that stop at the two Disney islands because we cruise to relax not to sightsee. I wouldn’t go to the Caribbean for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Choose a small ship, kid free, and upscale. Much more enjoyable not to have to stand in buffet lines or make reservations at upcharged restaurants.

You don’t need to go to the buffet or upcharge restaurants on ANY ship.

I agree that smaller/midsize ships are less crowded and chaotic overall. Plus the food and service are better than on the mega-ships.

But rest assured the things you have flagged are easily avoided on every ship.

We typically do Disney which I think has better food overall, and even still we skip the buffet and the upcharge dining. I love that Disney includes room service at no charge so we do that on port days and sit down breakfast the other days. We also skip most of the group port excursions and either just taxi to a nice beach or book something with a small local provider. But mostly we book itineraries that stop at the two Disney islands because we cruise to relax not to sightsee. I wouldn’t go to the Caribbean for that.

I’ve cruised several lines multiple times (more than a dozen cruises under my belt in the last decade).

Disney’s food is fine, but other lines have better food imho.

Disney has the comfiest beds and the split bathroom is a real perk.

While I agree that going to a cruise line’s private island is easy/relaxing/fun, you lost me at not wanting to explore islands in the Caribbean. We never do group excursions since we prefer a private driver/guide or boat. When you have a private option, you can explore as much or as little as you like—and avoid crowds. You also end up at off the beaten path places. And all of this is still relaxing. (Some private islands are better than others. And all of them are best when you are on a small ship and the only ship on the island that day. Otherwise it’s a crowded scene.)

[Anonymous]

Pro-tip. Stay at a Ritz Carlton and use the kids club and nannies. Best money ever spent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Choose a small ship, kid free, and upscale. Much more enjoyable not to have to stand in buffet lines or make reservations at upcharged restaurants.

You don’t need to go to the buffet or upcharge restaurants on ANY ship.

I agree that smaller/midsize ships are less crowded and chaotic overall. Plus the food and service are better than on the mega-ships.

But rest assured the things you have flagged are easily avoided on every ship.

We typically do Disney which I think has better food overall, and even still we skip the buffet and the upcharge dining. I love that Disney includes room service at no charge so we do that on port days and sit down breakfast the other days. We also skip most of the group port excursions and either just taxi to a nice beach or book something with a small local provider. But mostly we book itineraries that stop at the two Disney islands because we cruise to relax not to sightsee. I wouldn’t go to the Caribbean for that.

I’ve cruised several lines multiple times (more than a dozen cruises under my belt in the last decade).

Disney’s food is fine, but other lines have better food imho.

Disney has the comfiest beds and the split bathroom is a real perk.

While I agree that going to a cruise line’s private island is easy/relaxing/fun, you lost me at not wanting to explore islands in the Caribbean. We never do group excursions since we prefer a private driver/guide or boat. When you have a private option, you can explore as much or as little as you like—and avoid crowds. You also end up at off the beaten path places. And all of this is still relaxing. (Some private islands are better than others. And all of them are best when you are on a small ship and the only ship on the island that day. Otherwise it’s a crowded scene.)

I find the private islands fine for a day but they’re kind of trash as far as Carribean destinations. They are usually in Bahamas so the water is not as warm and there isn’t good snorkeling. Belize, Cozumel, roatan, cayman, etc are all better options for snorkeling which is my favorite thing to do in the Carribean and I also like the Mayan ruins you can see from Belize or some of the Mexican stops.

We’ve done the “first class” cabins on a couple ships and I have mixed feelings. The club room for disney is fire — we liked that a lot and the snacks there are great, but they don’t have a real club restaurant on disney. The haven restaurant on ncl is great but has a very limited menu (which is also supper meat heavy) so doesn’t work great for a full week (I don’t know why they can’t add rotating nightly specials). You end up paying for a lot of stuff like butler service which isn’t actually all that helpful. On NCL, they gave you 3 bottles of high end liquor — I would rather have that rebated to my tab.

I do think that the upcharge restaurants can be a lot better than MDR and definitely than buffet. The quality in th MDRs has really slipped a lot in the last decade, unfortunately. The upcharge restaurants vary but some of them are quite good. (For some reason th Italian ones are always a weak spot, but the steak and sushi and similar places are usually very good.) I am super picky about food quality.

I think the issue about lines is overstated. The only time I’m in a crowded line is muster call. I hate lines. But the check in lines are now really efficient even for non first class. And I rarely do the ship excursions so basically just walk off the ship and walk on when I’m done.

[Anonymous]

Which lines still do a muster call? Disney?

RC and Celebrity just have you check in at your muster station and then you can leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which lines still do a muster call? Disney?

RC and Celebrity just have you check in at your muster station and then you can leave.

Disney still has in person muster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:David Foster Wallace once wrote an essay called "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" about a week long cruise. Tina Fey has a chapter in her book of essays with the same title about a similar experience. A lot of people dislike cruises, even without small kids!

I think cruises are a vacation designed for older people who want to relax, see some sights, but not have to plan too much or do too much walking. It's a way to do a multi-city or even multi-country vacation without much effort. Also I think the Caribbean cruises are generally considered not great and most people would do better just staying at a beach resort somewhere in the Caribbean or Mexico. Especially if you have young kids because the resort contains them well and most family resorts have kids clubs for older kids and babysitting services for younger kids.

The cruises I've heard of being "worth it" (all by older couples who don't have young kids:

1) Alaska
2) Panama Canal
3) Greek Isles
4) European river cruises

Many of these don't even allow kids.

What? I took my kids on an Italy/Greek Isles cruise at ages 8 & 10 (Norwegian). We did Alaska at ages 11 & 13 (Princess). Kids are definitely allowed on a lot of the Greek Isles and Alaska cruises.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:David Foster Wallace once wrote an essay called "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" about a week long cruise. Tina Fey has a chapter in her book of essays with the same title about a similar experience. A lot of people dislike cruises, even without small kids!

I think cruises are a vacation designed for older people who want to relax, see some sights, but not have to plan too much or do too much walking. It's a way to do a multi-city or even multi-country vacation without much effort. Also I think the Caribbean cruises are generally considered not great and most people would do better just staying at a beach resort somewhere in the Caribbean or Mexico. Especially if you have young kids because the resort contains them well and most family resorts have kids clubs for older kids and babysitting services for younger kids.

The cruises I've heard of being "worth it" (all by older couples who don't have young kids:

1) Alaska
2) Panama Canal
3) Greek Isles
4) European river cruises

Many of these don't even allow kids.

What? I took my kids on an Italy/Greek Isles cruise at ages 8 & 10 (Norwegian). We did Alaska at ages 11 & 13 (Princess). Kids are definitely allowed on a lot of the Greek Isles and Alaska cruises.

Viking, Virgin, and some small ship lines you’ve probably never heard of don’t allow kids.

You can obviously cruise with kids to Alaska, the Med, etc.

There’s even a River cruise line that caters to families: Arosa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:David Foster Wallace once wrote an essay called "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" about a week long cruise. Tina Fey has a chapter in her book of essays with the same title about a similar experience. A lot of people dislike cruises, even without small kids!

I think cruises are a vacation designed for older people who want to relax, see some sights, but not have to plan too much or do too much walking. It's a way to do a multi-city or even multi-country vacation without much effort. Also I think the Caribbean cruises are generally considered not great and most people would do better just staying at a beach resort somewhere in the Caribbean or Mexico. Especially if you have young kids because the resort contains them well and most family resorts have kids clubs for older kids and babysitting services for younger kids.

The cruises I've heard of being "worth it" (all by older couples who don't have young kids:

1) Alaska
2) Panama Canal
3) Greek Isles
4) European river cruises

Many of these don't even allow kids.

What? I took my kids on an Italy/Greek Isles cruise at ages 8 & 10 (Norwegian). We did Alaska at ages 11 & 13 (Princess). Kids are definitely allowed on a lot of the Greek Isles and Alaska cruises.

Viking, Virgin, and some small ship lines you’ve probably never heard of don’t allow kids.

You can obviously cruise with kids to Alaska, the Med, etc.

There’s even a River cruise line that caters to families: Arosa.

Disney adventures runs river cruises — they lease the boats from Azora — and the itineraries look awesome. They aren’t the cheapest way to see Europe but it looks so easy. We’d do it except the weeks are limited and it never really works with our timing. Most of them are recommended for 8+ and have a lot of things like biking excursions, cooking classes, etc.

[Anonymous]

By the end Disney won me over with their gorgeous ship (polished mahogany everywhere) and general upbeatedness. I loved the Disney island. Tons of lifeguards, ribs and watermelon under a huge awning, and an option to do splash park. Compared to Atlantis, which we thought felt run down and dirty and unsafe for small kids. Service at Disney was better than the Ritz to me for personality.