Who wouldn’t enjoy a cruise? I’ve never been on one. What didn’t you like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never been on a cruise and have always been disgusted by the idea of cruising for all of the reasons pointed out by everyone else already. HOWEVER, lately I have been seeing these ads for Viking river cruises in Europe and have become very intrigued. My husband and I are empty-nesters and the right age (maybe even on the young side), at 55 and 61 years old. I’ve done sort of a deep dive on their website to look at costs, accommodations, etc. The experience is a little pricey but looks kind of great, and I don’t think the previously described gross behaviors are likely to be seen here. (No kids, no pool, no water slides, no performers, etc.) Basically it looks like it caters to like a small-ish group of older, educated, well-behaved, rich-ish people, which I guess we are now.

Would love to hear if anyone has had any experience with one of these cruises.

My parents took their first cruise as a Viking cruise through Germany/Poland and loved it. Food wasn’t stellar but they loved the excursions/guides and getting to see so many places without having to arrange different hotels and travel between places. They didn’t see drunk people or boorish behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if I get seasick mainly but also I am somewhat introverted and the idea of dining with others at the same table makes me anxious a little. I do have some health complications including MS so emergency medical care does come up for me as something to look into.

What do you enjoy most or dislike?

I just took my first one, a short one, so I could decide whether or not I was a cruise person. I didn’t think it was right to sit back and disparage them without every experienced one. I suspect many who sneer at them do exactly that.

My experience was ok. It’s not something I would clamor to do again and it wouldn’t be my preferred way to vacation but I would be open to it again under the right circumstances (like an Alaskan cruise maybe).

The service was excellent. The convenience was nice. The food was hit or miss. The activities were fine. The shows were something you might find at a theme park. The shore excursions were ok but one thing was canceled due to high winds so I don’t know for sure. I didn’t really like feeling nickel-and-dimed. And I didn’t like the cattle call nature of it, especially on the first day. But the state room was nice (get an aft room!). At times I felt like I was in the movie Cocoon or walking around Wal-Mart, what with the olds and the obese.

One thing I learned is there are basically different levels of cruise lines. We were on Royal Carribean, which is evidently one step up from Carnival, which is the “slumming it” line. Norwegian and Viking, I am told, are more upscale. Holland is in the middle. Disney is better than RC but obviously caters more to kids.

Or so I was told by people I met who basically cruise all the time. It’s a lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

I didn't like

the scheduled dinners
someone going through my things
the smells
room was nasty
leaving my bags outside the room the night before leaving
getting up at the crack of dawn for various reasons
being hounded to buy things from the native ports
taking pictures and charging ridiculous prices
topless titty deck. saw so many fights over that
the drunken asses walking through the halls
but the trip and window suite were free
had three other opportunities to go again. thanks but no thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't like

the scheduled dinners
someone going through my things
the smells
room was nasty
leaving my bags outside the room the night before leaving
getting up at the crack of dawn for various reasons
being hounded to buy things from the native ports
taking pictures and charging ridiculous prices
topless titty deck. saw so many fights over that
the drunken asses walking through the halls
but the trip and window suite were free
had three other opportunities to go again. thanks but no thanks

Yikes. Sound like you took a cheap cruise. Ours was nothing like this at all.

[Anonymous]

What turned me off the cruise we went on (wasn’t luxury) was the low quality mass produced cisco type food. Bleh.

I also find the decor kind of tacky. Now that I have kids I’m intrigued and think they would love it so much but can’t bring myself to spend money on something I don’t think we would
enjoy, If we went on one we would do a Disney cruise which I’ve heard had better crowds.

[Anonymous]

Most of the negative experiences described in this thread are from people who clearly went on lower-end mass-market cruise lines, paying less and receiving a product which corresponded to the cost. That's like eating fast food and commenting that it didn't deserve a Michelin star, or staying at a Motel 6 and finding it less enjoyable than the Four Seasons.

Try Silversea, Hapag-Lloyd, Regent Seven Seas, Viking Ocean, Seabourn, Oceania, or similar lines and gain some perspective. It's ludicrous to characterize a very diverse travel category as providing a uniformly bad, or good, experience for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any experience with the American Cruise Line? I'm always drawn to their ads in Southern Living, etc. The fares are higher than Royal Caribbean and Carnival, and it looks like a different experience than what those lines offer, so I'm willing to pay if the ship and the trip are worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any experience with the American Cruise Line? I'm always drawn to their ads in Southern Living, etc. The fares are higher than Royal Caribbean and Carnival, and it looks like a different experience than what those lines offer, so I'm willing to pay if the ship and the trip are worth it.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/623-american-queen-voyages/

Is this what you're referring to? If so, the link might be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Most of the people posting how much they hate cruises are also stating they have never been on one so take their posts with a huge grain of salt!

[Anonymous]

I think it attracts a mostly trashy crowd so for that reason, I'm a no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think it attracts a mostly trashy crowd so for that reason, I'm a no.

And you think this because of your extensive experience with higher-end cruising, or because you look down on people you know who have actually been cruising, or because you can't afford it and consequently want to feel better about your inability to try it, or because what, exactly?

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thank you for all of the experiences. It seems you won’t really know the crowd or vibe until you get on ship.

[Anonymous]

What do they do to clean ships after use? I just can’t imagine all the humans that get run through at breakneck speed and all the mess they leave. (That is the business model isn’t it?). Can the dip the entire ship in a 100% alcohol bath between cruises?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thank you for all of the experiences. It seems you won’t really know the crowd or vibe until you get on ship.

Just work with a good travel agent.

[Anonymous]

I used to cruise until I got really sick on one and developed a long term chronic illness. It's hard to say if the cruise had anything to do with that or if I just happened to get sick on the cruise--but either way--they are kind of ruined for me.

What I liked about cruises was built in entertainment, specialty restaurants that were pretty good (much better than in the main dining halls). I'm talking about mainstream cruise lines. I never went on a luxury cruise mainly because I felt they didn't have as much entertainment. Now I might like them better because they are smaller.

Down sides can be that they can be really crowded, some of the food isn't good, the pools are always too small and kind of gross, and some of the entertainment is cheesy.

I used to really like ballroom dancing, and cruises actually have a lot of live bands. So, if you like that kind of dancing, they are pretty great for that.

I sort of compare them to floating Disney or Vegas in that they are built in entertainment. We would sometimes not even leave the ship.