Cruise Suggestions?

[cellardoorv]

So, a bunch of my girl friends and I are thinking of doing a cruise. I have never been on one, and don't really know the pro's and con's to it. Has anyone been on one and if so, what did you like about it? What did you hate about it?

Keep in mind that we are all in our early to mid twenties, so we are trying to steer clear of children running around everywhere, and old folks leaving their Depends in the pool.

PS; I don't care about the Carnival "disaster". It happened once in God knows how many years, and better for me because their prices will probably be cheaper due to negative publicity.

[Dire91]

http://www.singlestravelcompany.com/sin ... ruise.html
You're welcome

[Jesda]

http://www.singlestravelcompany.com/sin ... ruise.html
You're welcome

[float_6969]

LMFAO @ Dire!

[alms24sebring]

^LOL. well I hear good and bad. Highly populated cruises I can imagine sucking. I don't think you can escape bratty kids and old people and their Depends. I guess it depends how long too, 3 days vs 10 days whatever. Also I believe alot if cruises are 1 way trips so you are ganna need a ride back home from someone. I guess if you find what you are looking for it can be fun, you just have to plan ahead.

[Razi]

old folks leaving their Depends in the pool.

[PEZi]

go to hawaii

[S13_love]

Keep in mind that we are all in our early to mid twenties, so we are trying to steer clear of children running around everywhere, and old folks leaving their Depends in the pool.

Good luck with that...

Has anyone been on one and if so, what did you like about it? What did you hate about it?

I went on one back in August...went from Miami to the Keys and then to Cozumel (spelling?). For the most part, I enjoyed it. The little kids and older people didn't bother me that much (there weren't that many on there luckily!)...............but they were still annoying nonetheless.

Drinks on a cruise are expensive. Bring extra money.

Don't get an inside cabin room.

Hanging out at the bars/lounges was always fun...nuff said.

Also, the food is pretty good. You won't be dissapointed (hopefully).

Unfortunantely...I really can't say much other than that. I was an idiot and fell asleep in one of those recliners on top of the cruise ship in the afternoon (yes, with my shirt off) on the second day and got the worst sunburn of my life. Would have been MUCH more enjoyable if I hadn't done that.

[frapjap]

I've been on 3 cruises to various destinations of varying lengths of time. Tips I have for you:

1. Don't show up as soon as the registration at the terminal opens on the day you leave port. The lines are long, parking is harder than hell with everyone and their family there, its hot, and you'll be annoyed as all f***. Stroll into registration an hour before the ship leaves port. You'll breeeeeeze right through every desk and the employees won't even be the slightest bit concerned about whats in your "carry on bag." Which brings me to tip #2.

2. Your "carry on bag." This bag is the one you don't "check" when you show up at the terminal. You'll carry it with you through registration. It can be a backpack, duffle bag, purse, etc. However, because the employees don't look at this bag worth a damn, so load it up with liquor. Trust me, they won't bother you what-so-ever. I've always had a wide assortment of alcohol in my bags on each and every cruise. Never an issue. Booze is pricey on a cruise ship. Your best bet is to purchase the soda card, go to your room, and mix your drinks.

2.5 Bring a giant mug. Remember those "super big gulp" cups/mugs/whatever the gas station sells? Buy as many as there are people in your party and coupled with your soda card and stowaway liquor cabinet, you'll have bottomless drinks on the cheap.

3. Do whatever you want and dont be afraid to ask the employees for anything. Not vibing with your formal dinner party table? Screw 'em! Ask the matir'd for a new table where you can swear and not offend old people or a family with kids.

4. Wait until (almost) the last minute to book excusions. They rarely sell out- even though you'll hear otherwise from everyone on board. Also, the prices will likely go down as they try to fill more slots.

5. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS keep track of your passport and cruise ID card when you're off the boat. Stick this thing in your underwear!!! I alsmot didn't make it back on the ship in Cozumel because I lost my ID card swimming and I forgot my passport in the cabin.

6. Speaking of the cabin, do yourself a favor and book a cabin with a window. You'll lose all track of time and sleep for hours in a cave of a room with no windows. Its worth the extra 100-300 bucks, I promise.

7. When you're back in port to leave the cruise for good, just chill, have breakfast, go for a swim, and screw around (unless you have a crazy tight plane to catch). Its a horde and isn't worth the extra stress to disembark with the other 3,000 people.

8. Length of time. Go for as long as you feel comfortable. I reccommend 5-7 days. 3 is to short, 5 is alright, but 7 allows you to meet all kinds of people, groups, and enjoy the activities. Friends are very easy to make, everyone is there to have a good time.

9. Food. Lots of it, but remember to have your fruits and veggies for hydration since you'll likely spend your days at sea boozing it.

10. The "secret activities." Dance lessons with the preforming crew, tours of the working parts of the ship (kitchens engine rooms, dorms, etc), karaoke auditions are all awesome, not heavily attended fun events to enjoy during the cruise. This also lets your rub sholders with the employees who are given drink vouchers for their days off (or even bar tenders!) so that they can show the guest a good experience on the ship. Kinda like a sales person taking clients out to dinner and cocktails. Its very often that you'll be next to a preformer in the evening shows while youre tanning on deck, but you'd never know it!

Oh and SUNBLOCK, SUNBLOCK, SUNBLOCK, SUNBLOCK!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT FORGET SUNBLOCK!!!!!!!

If you want to know anything else specific- cruise lines, deals, when to go, etc PM me or ask away here.

[frapjap]

Sorry, I realize that you asked for pros/cons as well.
Pros:
- Done right (BYO booze, have the cash to spend and enjoy vacation to the fullest w/out stressing) the cruise can be awesome.
- With a group of friends, a big ship rocks. Carnival is my favorite company, they have a very good group who wants you to have a good time.
- Food. Always plentiful, not matter what time of the night. Drunken room service at 3:30am is an awesome experience. Especially since its included.
- Outgoing personalities- everyone is there to have a good time. As long as you have that attitude, you'll also have an amazing time.
- Excursions. White water rafting, REAL mountain biking, zip lining, etc are all experiences you can have without worrying whos driving, hotel reserving, etc.
- Stress free. Make your own schedule. Feel like getting wasted at sea on day 3 and dont want to have the formal dinner. Call your hung over a** up some roomservice or get some pizza o nthe deck as the sun sets.
- You can dress up, dress down, barely wear anything at all or hell you can wear halloween costumes and enjoy yourself and be comfortable in your own skin.
- Duty free (on the mainland). Cohibas, booze, etc. Cheap, cheap, cheap! Buy a HUGE water bottle, fill it with clear booze that you just bought and then walk that biatch right through the port checks after each excusrsion.

Cons
- You ARE on a boat. For a long time. Once you get used to that, you can enjoy it though.
- Fat people. Lots of them. Gorging themselves to become even fatter.
- Food. Some good, some bad. Mostly good.
- Motion sickness. Some people have it, some don't. Get the patches that go behind your ear. They work well.


Meh, thats all I can come up with. I enjoy cruising. Its not an every vacation kind of thing, but it is a blast. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy yourselves!

[AppleBonker]

Agree with most of the above. But I wouldn't recommend a room with a window or balcony. It's like Vegas; your goal should be to spend as little time in the room as possible. Set an alarm so you don't sleep forever. Since you mentioned it, Disney is probably the most kid friendly cruise (go figure) followed by Carnival. After that, I think most ships are all about even. There will be kids on any cruise, and even on Carnival the chillins aren't too annoying (last cruise I was on was a Carnival boat and the kids didn't annoy me - and ALL kids annoy me).

If you're going to be splitting a room with a bunch of chicks, just make sure you trust them all financially first. As in, everything on board is charged to the room, so you'll have to figure out a method for splitting the cost at the end. I don't believe you drink too terribly much, and if your friends do the charges wont be close to even (yeah, booze on board is that expensive - I second the recommendation to smuggle your own on board).

Another tip, book on a boat that has a topless tanning deck. It's usually empty up there. Kids aren't allowed up there (and most husbands aren't either). You don't even have to be topless. Hands down the best location on the boat for tanning/relaxing.

I've only done Caribbean cruises, but they've all been a blast. I think you will enjoy yourself a ton. Let us know if you have any more specific questions we might be able to help with!

[mmkeller]

I've been on 2, both Carnival. I enjoyed every minute. You can feel the ship rock but it didn't bother me. The Bahamas was awesome, although my parents went on one that took them to St. Thomas, which I heard was the best. There is always something to do while you're on the ship, casino, dance clubs, bars, piano bar was fun. You can buy a preferred card that includes drinks(@ $300?).
My wife and I went on an excursion to an island where you could swim with dolphins, but that island had the best snorkeling ever.

[Encryptshun]

I suggest this Cruise:



And not this Cruise:



But either way he's gonna be:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6moDLjGnYro[/youtube]

[cellardoorv]

Thanks Ray and Adam and Keller!

A friend of mine actually looked into the single's cruise thing, but for people in their 20-30's. We quickly realized that it would be an actual SINGLE's cruise. Meaning you go by yourself. So you either have to book your own room, or you get paired with a random stranger. Not exactly what I'm looking for. Plus we figured it would be filled with horny 40 year old men looking for a group like mine. Sweet.

I don't drink that much, if at all, and a group of girls can easily find their own way to squeeze drinks out of a gullible guy, so I'm not too concerned about the price of alcohol. I am, however, curious on what excursions go for. Part of the reason a cruise was on our list was because we wanted: pretty white beaches, blue water, lots of activities, and people our age to hang out with. I'm open to other ideas, such as other destinations, but I guess I wanted to hear about a cruise because a lot of other people suggested it.

I've also been told to use Carnival, because it is generally the one that the most younger adults travel on.

[driverdriver]

Go to:

www.cruisecritic.com

Its an amazing web resource to research cruises, cruise companies, tourist experiences, ports of call, etc.

[S13_love]

2. Your "carry on bag." This bag is the one you don't "check" when you show up at the terminal. You'll carry it with you through registration. It can be a backpack, duffle bag, purse, etc. However, because the employees don't look at this bag worth a damn, so load it up with liquor. Trust me, they won't bother you what-so-ever.

You sure about this?

Im just curious because when I went on the cruise...my carry on bag had to go through one of those x-ray things (just like at any airport). While I was standing in line, I noticed that quite a few people (including a buddy of mine) had their liquor,etc., removed.

Although they did give it back...during last night of the cruise.

[frapjap]

Thanks Ray and Adam and Keller!

A friend of mine actually looked into the single's cruise thing, but for people in their 20-30's. We quickly realized that it would be an actual SINGLE's cruise. Meaning you go by yourself. So you either have to book your own room, or you get paired with a random stranger. Not exactly what I'm looking for. Plus we figured it would be filled with horny 40 year old men looking for a group like mine. Sweet.

I don't drink that much, if at all, and a group of girls can easily find their own way to squeeze drinks out of a gullible guy, so I'm not too concerned about the price of alcohol. I am, however, curious on what excursions go for. Part of the reason a cruise was on our list was because we wanted: pretty white beaches, blue water, lots of activities, and people our age to hang out with. I'm open to other ideas, such as other destinations, but I guess I wanted to hear about a cruise because a lot of other people suggested it.

I've also been told to use Carnival, because it is generally the one that the most younger adults travel on.

If you're not dead set on a cruise, check out Club Med. Very activity heavy vacations with many choices abound. Similar to excursions on a cruise ship, but without the ship. Attendees will be more your age group, too.
http://www.clubmed.us/cm/home.do?PAYS=115&LANG=US
When you're on the cruise, there won't be all that much time spent on a beach. Port calls are (relatively) short, maybe 8 hours on a good day and your excursions can take up all of that time at any given stop. If you want the awesome water, sandy beaches and really fun time, check out staying in Destin, FL. It has everything you're describing.

Also, you have a PM.

2. Your "carry on bag." This bag is the one you don't "check" when you show up at the terminal. You'll carry it with you through registration. It can be a backpack, duffle bag, purse, etc. However, because the employees don't look at this bag worth a damn, so load it up with liquor. Trust me, they won't bother you what-so-ever.

You sure about this?

Im just curious because when I went on the cruise...my carry on bag had to go through one of those x-ray things (just like at any airport). While I was standing in line, I noticed that quite a few people (including a buddy of mine) had their liquor,etc., removed.

Although they did give it back...during last night of the cruise.

Its just my experience, but maybe I've been lucky enough to not have anyone even so much as ask to see whats in my gym bag. What cruise line did you all travel on?

[Bubba1]

So, a bunch of my girl friends and I are thinking of doing a cruise. I have never been on one, and don't really know the pro's and con's to it. Has anyone been on one and if so, what did you like about it? What did you hate about it?

Keep in mind that we are all in our early to mid twenties, so we are trying to steer clear of children running around everywhere, and old folks leaving their Depends in the pool.

PS; I don't care about the Carnival "disaster". It happened once in God knows how many years, and better for me because their prices will probably be cheaper due to negative publicity.

Cruising is a great vacation. You get spoiled. I've been on a few. IF you want to stay away from kids, don't go via Disney. Carnival is going to have kids but it won't be bad as they have many kiddie activities to keep them occupied and away from the adults. My last cruise was on Carnival and it was awesome.
A few tips,


i recommend an outside stateroom. Inside staterooms are least expensive, but are small and not for the claustrophic. Also get a room as close to the middle of the ship as possible (minimal movement, less likely to get seasick). The last Carnival cruise I went on, we ended up in the owners suite which was simply amazing (family friend is a buddy of with the recently retired Carnival CEO. Basically, the nicer the room, the more attentive the service gets, so the bigger the tips.


Tipping occurs at the end of the cruise. Make sure you set aside enough money. There is an etiquette for how much to tip each person (waiter, bartender, housekeeper, etc, the ship will give you envelopes and there are many websites that will give you a guideline).

Carefully figure out the excursions you want to go on. They can cost a lot of money but you'll want to do at least a couple. the cruise line website will list the different excusions with prices. Sometimes you can sign up for them before you arrive at the ship as some get filled up. Also if you choose a smaller ship, if you want something like a massage/facial, you need to book early to get the most convenient time.

All inclusive resorts are certainly an option, and all have their own flavor. Unlike a cruise, you stay in one place the entire time. Club Med is very very french (which ican be good or annoying depending on your view of the french). I've been to a couple of Club Meds (Guadeloupe and Cancun). their accomodations are simple and nice but far from luxurious, they tend toward the active guest. Singles tend to do Martinique or Cancun, (Guadeloupe is more for couples).

As info I'm typing this while sitting at a table overlooking the Pacific ocean in Costa Rica,,enjoying some sort of Mango drink. Ola.