s/o - cruises. Have you taken one? Which to recommend?

[Anonymous]

And - which to avoid? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

People on here are largely really snobby about cruises because they view them as low class. We don't have a ridiculous vacation budget, prefer not to fly, and enjoy cruises out of Baltimore. We've done the Carnival Pride in May to the Bahamas. We really enjoyed it. My biggest tip is to definitely get a balcony room. Will the food be five star? No. But it's fine. If you don't have $5k to spend on a week long vacation, cruises are a great option.

Before we had kids, we did a Princess cruise out of Miami to the Eastern Carribean. That was nice too. We didn't do a balcony room (just had a window) and that was the one downer.

[Anonymous]

We enjoy cruises. In 20 years, I've been on 20+ (with parents, in-laws, DH ... it was a popular thing in my family when I was growing up).

I enjoy Regent, Celebrity, and Princess. Less impressed with Royal Caribbean and NCL. Holland America was fine, but I haven't been on their line since the 1990s. Would love to try Azamara, Paul Gauguin, and Oceania.

[Anonymous]

We've done 4 or 5 on Norwegian Cruise Lines. I really like cruises and I think the food is pretty good -- depending on which restaurants you choose on-board. We've had everything from an inside room to a balcony. The balcony is preferred, but, we didn't spend much time in the room regardless so if it isn't in your budget it's not a huge deal.

[Anonymous]

For kids, Disney and Royal Caribbean seem to be very highly rated.

[Anonymous]

We took the kids (age 11,10) on RC western carribbean 7 day. It was wonderful. But not cheap. We had a balcony and did excursions. Not cheap. +5000. I need a comfy and private room to enjoy myself. DCs and DH would probably have been OK with a less expensive room. But you will notice that the more expensive rooms sell out the quickest -- there must be a reason fro that.

[Anonymous]

I liked our Alaskan cruise, but I'm not sure I'd like a Caribbean cruise.

[Anonymous]

We enjoy cruising because it is easy. We get suites. We once got a suite on the bow with a 1000 square foot private balcony, and we took many of our meals there via the butler. I thought the food on Celebrity and NCL to be decent. On NCL we were upsold a lot on the food, though. But, in general cruises are cheap. We don't use the pools, usually spend most of our time eating and at the spa. We don't drink at all so we save a lot of money there! We usually skip the excursions and explore the ports in our own way off the beaten path.

We have always avoided carnival and royal Caribbean, but I am sure you could do those well, too. I have not felt the need to go on a cruise in a while. Maybe Disney with 4yo next.

[Anonymous]

Been on Norwegian, Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The RC ship was old and small and it was my least favorite for that reason. But a lot of people say it is a great line. Carnival was a lot of fun and so reasonably priced. So far, my favorite is Norwegian. I like the flexibility of the food options.

Cruises are awesome!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People on here are largely really snobby about cruises because they view them as low class. We don't have a ridiculous vacation budget, prefer not to fly, and enjoy cruises out of Baltimore. We've done the Carnival Pride in May to the Bahamas. We really enjoyed it. My biggest tip is to definitely get a balcony room. Will the food be five star? No. But it's fine. If you don't have $5k to spend on a week long vacation, cruises are a great option.

Before we had kids, we did a Princess cruise out of Miami to the Eastern Carribean. That was nice too. We didn't do a balcony room (just had a window) and that was the one downer.

OK, prove them wrong. Let's post Op's requested info + occupation/HHI.

[Anonymous]

Royal Caribbean-- go out of FL, the ship out of Baltimore is old and small-- fine for adults, but I'd want more activities with the kids. Choose a ship that is a voyager class or newer. Their newest ships (the oasis class) have rockwalls, a zipline, carousels, an ice skating rink and so forth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Royal Caribbean-- go out of FL, the ship out of Baltimore is old and small-- fine for adults, but I'd want more activities with the kids. Choose a ship that is a voyager class or newer. Their newest ships (the oasis class) have rockwalls, a zipline, carousels, an ice skating rink and so forth.

I agree. The newest ships freedom and oasis are much better. The people on the ship tend to reflect the port they left from. I think people in Florida are nicer.

[Anonymous]

We've gone on Carnival Pride and RC Enchantment of the Seas out of Baltimore. Both were fine ships, although RC has better food and was a nicer layout. I think the ports they go to are ok and pretty typical of cruise ships. I've also done Princess out of Florida. That was nice to, but to save flight time and money, Baltimore is just fine.

[Anonymous]

I love cruising. I've been on Carnival (2x), Royal Carribean, and I went on Disney in Dec of 2012. In my opinion, Royal Cariibean had better customer service and Carnival was more fun. Disney seems to be the best for kids though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Royal Caribbean-- go out of FL, the ship out of Baltimore is old and small-- fine for adults, but I'd want more activities with the kids. Choose a ship that is a voyager class or newer. Their newest ships (the oasis class) have rockwalls, a zipline, carousels, an ice skating rink and so forth.

I agree. The newest ships freedom and oasis are much better. The people on the ship tend to reflect the port they left from. I think people in Florida are nicer.

I agree with these two. Planning our first family cruise and I'm going with Freedom of the Seas out of FL. By far one of the best ships in their line and I wasn't impressed with the ship and/or the itinerary out of Baltimore. Such a shame too because it would be so convenient. Cruising is not cheap for us (family of 6); a summer cruise is over $7k! I can't justify paying that much, so we're going to cruise in December for half the cost and I'll now get to stress myself out to think of another summer vacation idea.

Cruising seems like it would be ideal for my family. The age range of my children varies (4 to 17), so the cruise is kind of a one stop shop, plus the kids will get to see some place new and my DH and I will get some time away while they're in the kids' program. We're excited to try it!