Cruises for people who hate cruises

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With three other families (good friends - total of 11 kids), we chartered an 8-bedroom "gulet" along the Turkish coast and the price wasn't that different from a regular (giant) cruise but we had the boat all to ourselves (they have smaller ones, too). They do them in Greece as well. We had a captain, a chef and a first mate on board. They fed us amazingly well all week. It was a wonderful, active vacation. We hiked along the Lycian trail, swam, snorkeled, did water sports, caught our own dinner, visited cute villages, etc. We're not cruise people either but this was fabulous.

NP. This sounds awesome! Can you share the name of your charter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alaska. I hate cruises but I would agree to this one.

+1

[Anonymous]

My parents paid for an Alaskan cruise for us--that one is a good one to pay for since it is a more expensive one! We did Princess because that is one of the few that goes into Glacier Bay which is amazing. We flew to Vancouver for a few nights before the cruise, then flew Anchorage to Seattle for a few nights after. This way we could avoid the red eyes from Alaska back to the east coast.

Loved it--very relaxing, amazing scenery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With three other families (good friends - total of 11 kids), we chartered an 8-bedroom "gulet" along the Turkish coast and the price wasn't that different from a regular (giant) cruise but we had the boat all to ourselves (they have smaller ones, too). They do them in Greece as well. We had a captain, a chef and a first mate on board. They fed us amazingly well all week. It was a wonderful, active vacation. We hiked along the Lycian trail, swam, snorkeled, did water sports, caught our own dinner, visited cute villages, etc. We're not cruise people either but this was fabulous.

Omg I did this too. It was seriously the greatest thing ever.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thanks! I think Alaska sounds like the way to go although the gulet awesome, it would be too big for our group of 5.

Disney cruises with shows sound exactly what we don’t like although I suppose the kids might. But my kids have never seen frozen and barely know who Mickey Mouse is so I am guessing it would be lost on them. Truth be told it is both of us that don’t like cruise shows, joint meals, overrun Caribbean islands and “fun” activities (we prefer art museums or camping as solo introvert types) but I am more willing to flex because I want to make my mom happy.

All inclusive resorts also have the same problem of no new sites and too many people. Crowded beaches also sound unfun and no sightseeing really there either. Alaska sounds more quiet and adventurous so perhaps that would be good for all of us. Any other destinations like that (Although one is probably enough)

And thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thanks! I think Alaska sounds like the way to go although the gulet awesome, it would be too big for our group of 5.

Disney cruises with shows sound exactly what we don’t like although I suppose the kids might. But my kids have never seen frozen and barely know who Mickey Mouse is so I am guessing it would be lost on them. Truth be told it is both of us that don’t like cruise shows, joint meals, overrun Caribbean islands and “fun” activities (we prefer art museums or camping as solo introvert types) but I am more willing to flex because I want to make my mom happy.

All inclusive resorts also have the same problem of no new sites and too many people. Crowded beaches also sound unfun and no sightseeing really there either. Alaska sounds more quiet and adventurous so perhaps that would be good for all of us. Any other destinations like that (Although one is probably enough)

And thanks again.

DH and I sound exactly like you. But our Disney cruise was so much fun.

Our kids weren't Disney kids. In fact, I felt a little embarrassed when my 4 four old shouted, "Look Mom! It's a duck!" He didn't even know who Donald Duck was. But that didn't stop them from enjoying the evening shows---which are Broadway style shows.

We are a family of six. We had our own table for meals. On Disney you switch dining rooms each night (they have themes), but your two servers rotate with you. They go above and beyond to meet your needs.

If you go on a smaller Disney ship, then their private island feels empty (since it's built to accommodate more than twice the number of passengers for the larger ships). I wish I could show you pictures of the empty beach where we had so much fun.

We did excursions on the other islands and most certainly did not end up on cheesy crowded beaches. You can arrange your own excursions or book through Disney...your choice.

Personally, I would rather cut off my arm than schlep small children to Vancouver for an Alaskan cruise. You can't fly directly to Vancouver from the DC area, so you are looking at an entire day of traveling when you factor in airport arrival, layover, two flights, then traveling to your hotel. Then you are in Alaska...where it's not warm. It will be cool on deck and on land. And everything on land involves a lot of schlepping around. In fact, many excursions have age requirements. I would much rather take a Caribbean or Mediterranean cruise. If you don't enjoy the beach, then opt for Mediterranean.

The thing about Disney cruises is they are ridiculously expensive, which essentially results in less riff-raff.

Again: we aren't Disney people, and our Disney cruises were amazingly fun and relaxing. The cabins are the largest in the industry, and the service is over the top. I lurk on multiple cruising sites, and even diehard cruisers who were priced out of Disney and now cruise exclusively on other lines still admit that Disney is the best. Cleanest, best service, best shows, etc...but also ridiculously expensive.

Another thing: Disney secures better perks in terms of excursions. We were docked next to a few other ships in the Bahamas, and only our Disney group was picked up at port and ferried over to a private island excursion. We arrived earlier than folks from the other ships, and we learned that they had to take cabs to a separate ferry point to catch a lift.

Another option if grandma is loaded: Adventures by Disney. No mouse ears, just high end travel tours on land. Go online and watch their promo videos.

[Anonymous]

A PP here who loves cruises and does lots of cruises with my preschool aged child. We did Alaska last summer with our daughter (who was 3 at the time), and other cruise suggestions for you that we have done and loved include: Canada/New England in the fall, Bermuda in the summer, and Coastal California (lots of options for different itineraries).

[Anonymous]

I really wouldn't enjoy a cruise to the Caribbean, but even my DH (who was extremely skeptical) loved the Disney Mediterranean cruise that we took. The flight to Barcelona isn't much worse than to Alaska.

Agree with those that say you can do as much or little as you want. We went to one movie, but we didn't go to a single show, and skipped most of "Pirate night" (DC didn't care much for that stuff, either).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really wouldn't enjoy a cruise to the Caribbean, but even my DH (who was extremely skeptical) loved the Disney Mediterranean cruise that we took. The flight to Barcelona isn't much worse than to Alaska.

Agree with those that say you can do as much or little as you want. We went to one movie, but we didn't go to a single show, and skipped most of "Pirate night" (DC didn't care much for that stuff, either).

Pirate night is a deck party on the Disney cruise. There's a show on the stage near the pool, special drinks, glow sticks, etc. and a big fireworks show. Disney is the only line that does fireworks at sea. Our kids loved it.

[Anonymous]

I might be the lone dissenter but I had mixed feelings about my Alaska cruise. First of all, we went in June and it was really cold--so cold that being on deck was unpleasant, so you could n't really spend any time outside. Certainly no sitting by the pool, but even walking the decks in a raincoat was unpleasant. Seas were choppy and several of us had ongoing seasickness for much of the trip.

The time on land was amazing and we enjoyed a heli trip to a glacier, but could young kids go on that? It seemed that there was more than usual time spent in the boat doing "cruise-type" activities.

[Anonymous]

I've done an Alaska cruise and thought it was amazing, but I can't really picture taking my kids on one. If I did take kids to Alaska, I'd definitely go on Disney. We've done Caribbean Disney cruises with kids and they've been amazing... very relaxing for the adults, and a blast for the kids.

[Anonymous]

OP, Bermuda is lovely, and you dock for several nights. Your mother will love it, try there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alaska cruises are great. You can fly to Seattle and do a week roundtrip from there (or fly to Seattle, train to Vancouver and start there).

No reason for "prescribed structure and activities"-- do what you want.

You could also cruise to Bermuda from Baltimore but that would be a bit more "at sea" time so maybe your husband would like it less.

I am not a cruise person either. I went on an Alaskan cruise with my mom maybe 15 years ago. I loved Alaska and hated the cruise part of it. I really did feel trapped on the ship - the outings ("excursions") were awesome, like amazing amazing fun, but there wasn't much time. So even a hike was only a couple of hours; there wasn't time to go for a hike AND explore the town, etc.

I will be watching this thread because my parents and my husband and his family all love cruises, and it would be nice to find some that we'll all enjoy. As is I always feel like the jerk who can't relax (which, fair enough).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alaska cruises are great. You can fly to Seattle and do a week roundtrip from there (or fly to Seattle, train to Vancouver and start there).

No reason for "prescribed structure and activities"-- do what you want.

You could also cruise to Bermuda from Baltimore but that would be a bit more "at sea" time so maybe your husband would like it less.

I am not a cruise person either. I went on an Alaskan cruise with my mom maybe 15 years ago. I loved Alaska and hated the cruise part of it. I really did feel trapped on the ship - the outings ("excursions") were awesome, like amazing amazing fun, but there wasn't much time. So even a hike was only a couple of hours; there wasn't time to go for a hike AND explore the town, etc.

I will be watching this thread because my parents and my husband and his family all love cruises, and it would be nice to find some that we'll all enjoy. As is I always feel like the jerk who can't relax (which, fair enough).

I'm the one who posted above about my Alaska cruise, and I felt exactly the same. Alaska was great but we spent such a small fraction of our time there--the rest was churning through the water off Alaska and learning origami in the cruise lounge. I would absolutely take my kids back to Alaska but not on a cruise.

[Anonymous]

You could look into Tauck-- I think they do multgenerational trips and cruises. Supposed to be great (a little pricey but truly all inclusive)