Cruise questions!

[Jfire]

I know a bunch here have been on plenty of cruises in the past. The wife and I are considering driving to her grandparents staying there a few days in FL. Then take a weeks cruise this spring. (either this or taking a week to Sandals or Atlantis). Any opinions on what to look for, best prices, and great ships would be appreciated! (We've never cruised and I'm excited just to get her to think about it.)
Thanks in advance gents,
Justin

 

[cornhusker85]

I've only been on Carnival and its a blast alot to do. I guess its kind of more of a party boat but an awesome time. Atlantis sucks in my opinion to touristy. Carnival even has a cigar bar my parents say norwegian is fun too

 

[cornhusker85]

my avatar was actually taken in my cozumel on my last cruise it was bachelor party way to much memory loss on that one lol

 

[mthhurley]

I've only done one and really enjoyed it...It was Royal Caribbean in Western Europe, so up and down Italy's coast. Kind of hard for Italy to not suck.

I'd say there's two extremes and it depends on what you are looking for. There's the super-mega ships that you can basically never leave the boat and always have something to do. Or smaller ships, more focused on getting you off the ship onto shore for excursions.

If you intend to lay in a lounge chair and dip you toe in the pool all day and drink umbrella drinks, might as well go with a smaller boat. If you're really active, want to do stuff, get the boat with the ice rink, rock climbing wall and wave pool.

For me, I'm a beach guy...I'd do Sandals again in a minute. Give me sand, palm tree, endless supply of beer and a box of smokes and I ain't moving all day.

 

[Jfire]

Mike brenda says you guys must of been married before......

 

[openendstraight]

We have gone on many cruises, and really think about what you want out of the cruise experience.

I love the Med and Asia, but the Caribean is nice all year around. My wife and I try to pick cruises without many sea days. We do alot of the excursions and tours unless we have both been there before.

 

[Big Mulac]

Justin
we've been on a number of them and the Royal Caribbean line is fantastic. You should check them out. It always seemed the right mix of people, not all 26, or 62. Voyager of the Seas was the one name I remember. But honestly, my wife did all the planning, I just showd up and paid.

 

[Big Mulac]

All the ships we were on had great cigar lounges too.

 

[jwintosh]

+1 for Sandals!!

 

[Benzopyrene]

Pay extra and at least get a room with a window.

 

[Jfire]

Luke you havnt met Brenda she's already pricing out ocean view balconies.lol.

 

[darkman]

Get a balcony, youll be happy you did. I have been on 5. I love them. As far as ships go get on a new one.

 

[theribdoctor]

been on a bunch of cruises, balconies are worth the extra coin.

 

[cornhusker85]

i agree with darkman get a new ship mine where and the balcony is awesome gives u somewhere to smoke

 

[Benzopyrene]

balconies are great, but I was just saying if you are doing it on the cheap just make sure you have a window. Makes a big difference. But balcony is prefered, although a lot of cruises have a no smoking policy on the balconies, that they dont really enforce.

 

[CWS]

Been on Holland America and NCL. HA was a little formal, almost stuffy. Smaller ship. Good food but not great. We had a suite with balcony and the balcony was well worth it.

NCL. Loved all of it. Much more informal. Happy friendly staff that seemed to love what they were doing. Food was excellent. Did the upgrade rest once and then the regular the rest of the time because the service and food we awesome. We skipped the suite and just got a balcony. More than enough room. SO much to do. Very nice cigar lounge with a regular lounge outside that the wife liked.

Booking HA vacationstogo.com. Last minute deals and saved a bundle. NCL-cruise.com. Very good deal and an upgrade. Booked 30 days before the cruise and paid half price. I was leary about an online booking but did some research on both sites and they had good ratings. Also checked ratings on the boats. They are all rated based on a number of items.

Cruising is a blast. For the money, I am now an NCL guy.

 

[Jfire]

Thanks for the info so far guys! Chuck was hoping you would chime in I remember your last one still!

 

[Cigary43]

My wife and I have been on at least 20 cruises from QM2 all the way down the list. Not sure we have missed any of them. First time cruising is something that can be overwheming because if you've never done it you don't know what to expect. First, understand that not every cruise line is the same as some are better than others.

Prioritizing is something you need to do first and find out what is most important to you and then seek that cruiseline that fits your priority.

1. Food ( this is HUGE for me as some cruiselines food is no better than cafeteria stuff)
2. Cabin ( midship is best if you have sea sickness issues )
3. Cost ( there are some great onlines sources out there that have great deals)
4. Ports ( this is important as some ports really suck )
5. Amenities ( like Cigar areas,,,)
6. New Ship is better than older ones (trust me)
7. Bring a lot of purell and cleaning towelettes for your room ( noro virus is very relevant )

PM me for more info if you need it.

 

[Cyrann]

I have been on 3 different lines and have to say that Royal Caribbean is and has been the best all around.

I would say check out their new ship: Oasis of the Seas

I also would suggest checking with a travel agent first, sometimes prices are better because they book in one quick transaction (flight/hotel/cruise/etc), but last time I did it myself and saved... just gotta check both. If you book FAR in advance and in an off season, i.e. OCT, you save a crap ton. Also, I would suggest just booking an internal room (that is if you are value shopping) because YOU spend very little time in your room.

 

[Kurtdesign1]

Something to consider. I had a Carnival cruise booked for last May. I chose some ship that had a 100 seat cigar bar because cigar smoking was outlawed most places on the ship. That cigar bar was used 90% of each day for some other purpose than as originally intended.

Balconies are not an option for a cigar smoker, they're a necessity. Smoking is often discouraged on them but our housekeeping brought new ashtrays each day and, by the end of it, also had a bucket stocked with ice & two glasses out on the table, ready for my smoking experience. There's no question, get the balc...