Sailing on a cruise ship

efreysson

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I've long dreamed of going on a trip on a cruise ship, and it looks like I'll be able to afford one next year.

It really does seems like my ideal vacation: Warm weather, one interesting place after another, interesting environment and no need to cook my own food or manage my own transportation. And since I don't personally know anyone who has done this, I turn to the internetz.

Has anyone here gone on a cruise ship trip? Is there a downside to this kind of thing that may not have occurred to me?
And I heard something about the windowless cabins being hot enough to justify splurging on a cabin with a balcony. Is that true?

My two major options are an Easter trip in the Caribbean on the Allure of the Seas (world's biggest cruise ship!) or a September trip around the Mediterranean on the Celebrity Equinox. If anyone has experience with either of those, I'd love to hear some stories.:)
 

stormie

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I've been on three cruises, and let me tell you--they've come a long way even since ten years ago. Our latest cruise was last April on the Royal Carribean Voyager of the Seas on a five-day cruise to Bermuda. Even our younger son, who is highly sensitive to sounds, smells, etc, and hates crowds, liked it both times we took him. Our older son was in his element. :)

Because of cost, we booked inside cabins (whereas the other two cruises we were in outside cabins). I liked it better because we weren't in the cabins that much, not as much rocking when we hit some slightly turbulant weather, and it just seemed quieter. I really like Royal Carribean's ships. No complaints at all and spacious where you don't feel like you're with thousands of others out at sea.

ETA: Also, the food. Yes, there's plenty, but on Royal Carribean you don't get large portions of one thing, but you can order (at no cost) anything or as much as you want. And it's all delicious and presented so nicely. I had three appetizers one evening and three desserts. And you can sit with just your party or with others.
 
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Zelenka

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I went a few times on Ocean Village, which isn't running in the Med any more unfortunately because I loved that ship! I was very wary as we have a few 'reality' docudrama things here about cruise ships that basically showed them in a pretty bad light, all boozing and nonsense and people being generally loud and over the top, but it was so not like that. We got outside cabins first time then on the last one we shelled out for the balcony cabins and it was just the best. I'm too claustrophobic to go on the inside ones, even if they are cheaper or smoother (I don't get seasick so the latter wasn't an issue). I will always remember saying to my mum 'are we in Venice yet?' and she flung open the curtain to look, and there outside the balcony is St Mark's, drifting by! But then it was also one of the last things my mum and I did together before she passed, so it will always have a special place in my heart for that reason too.

That one also had 24 hour buffet included in the price. Unfortunately. Put on rather a lot of weight...

Entertainment was actually quite good as well, they had nightly shows and also things like a kind of Cirque du Soleil style performance as well. I imagine most of the cruises will have something similar. I've heard a lot of people saying what stormie said, that the cruises have come an awful long way and have really cleaned up their act, and it is a great way to get a taster for different places without being stuck there for a fortnight or something and finding out you hate it.
 

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Oh, fun! I've only been on one, and I spend all my free time in the casino. That was kinda awesome :D

The only part I didn't like was that there's so little time in port compared to how I usually like to travel. So plan for that and be familiar with what you want to see and where it is, etc. There's not a lot of time to meander.

Oh, and my table-mates found us in the city one day, and we felt kind of duty-bound to have a few drinks with them. Never again. It was an enormous and silly waste of time. Practice saying No before you get there :D The social aspects of having assigned dinner companions got a little weird overall, frankly. I never did like assigned seating.

Just some things to keep in mind. Had we known, we would have mentally prepared for pushy folks, etc, ahead of time. Usually we just go with the flow, but I recommend not doing that, necessarily, on a cruise.
 

Caitlin Black

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See, I want to go on a cruise too. But not because of visiting interesting places, per se...

Mostly, I just want a week or two to live in luxury. Cruise ships can be quite luxurious (I'd definitely splurge on a balcony) and it's sort of like spending a day in the city, only the strangers you meet are people you'll probably see again later. Similar numbers of people, I suppose (then again, I do live in the suburbs of a very small city...) but more chances of meeting people you gel with, I guess.

On-board swimming pools, comedians and music, my own room, luxury... I'm so there. Where the ship goes, I don't really care so much. I'm not big on the whole "scenery" deal. Like, if I ever saw Mount Everest in person, I'd probably look at it and think, "So? Does anyone know where I can grab a coffee?"

But that's just me.

I have been on one cruise before, when I was 12 or 13, and I had a blast, though I can't remember a whole lot of it... Just kicking butt at Street Fighter Turbo in the games room (and with no staff around, getting free games by unplugging the machine then plugging it back in :tongue) and watching Stargate (the movie that launched the franchise) in the ship's cinema. I distinctly remember two 16-year-old (approximately) kids in front of me turning around before the movie started and saying, "You shouldn't be in here. You're too young for a scary movie."

Yeah, real scary. I think I was so scared I could hardly enjoy myself... /sarcasm

But still - it was a fun trip. :)
 

Caitlin Black

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Oh, and I got to play bingo with about 300 people.

Seriously, you need 5 numbers to win, right? I played about 6 games. The most numbers ever called in a single game was about 6 or 7... I never even came close to winning anything.
 

efreysson

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I liked it better because we weren't in the cabins that much, not as much rocking when we hit some slightly turbulant weather, and it just seemed quieter.

I'm too claustrophobic to go on the inside ones, even if they are cheaper or smoother (I don't get seasick so the latter wasn't an issue).

I hadn't really thought about seasickness. I don't have much experience at sea, but I did get seasick once on a ferry in very bad sea. I've been fine on larger vessels in calm seas. Aren't these big cruisers quite stable?
 

lastlittlebird

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My mother gets seasick at the drop of a hat and she only had one day in which she felt a bit ill out of our 14 day trip. It was during stormy weather.
Otherwise we could barely tell we were on a boat in our inside cabin.
 

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I only noticed when going to sleep, but I always like feeling the ocean for sleep. I've never been seasick, though, in any conditions, so I must not be sensitive to that.
 

Zelenka

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We had one rough night going from Spain to Tunisia, where stuff was falling off tables etc, but again that was in an outside cabin. Otherwise it was pretty smooth. I love the feel of the sea though, especially when I'm going to sleep. I never get such a good sleep as I get at sea.
 

Caitlin Black

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"It's not the size of the boat, but the motion of the ocean."

"Whatever floats your boat."

Cruise ships, therefore, will probably have loads of potential mates on board. QED.

;):tongue
 

Perks

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Interestingly, it took a cruise to find that my slight claustrophobia had a second dimension - a tiny hopping panic (flea-sized, really) at having my options curtailed.

Now I don't mind elevators, and the small sleeping cabin on the ship wasn't confining enough to spark the tummy-drop feeling of, say, an MRI machine, but as the strip of ocean grew between us and the land, until the land finally disappeared, I couldn't muzzle my inner pain-in-the-ass who kept whispering in my ear, "You know, you can't leave if you want to."

I never knew that was one of my criteria for comfort. It never occurred to me that the idea of bolting was swaddling my delicate little psyche at all times. I've never yet run out of a room, but I guess that's because I always, on some level, knew I could.

All this makes me sound like a basketcase, which I'm not. My claustrophobia is very low-level and only becomes a problem (that I grit my teeth through) when I have to get an MRI or have a dentist elbow-deep in my face for any length of time.

As it is though, I'd only ever go on a cruise again if it were free. Because free booze would probably tip the balance of fight-or-flight back the other way. I guess then just don't piss me off.

As such, I'm probably not well-suited to space travel.
 
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Perks

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And then the other thing is the conflict of itinerary on a cruise ship. At every turn, you're being told, "Relax, relax. Luxuriate. Rest. Eat yourself into a coma. Get a massage. Recline on the deck and contemplate the frighteningly endless horizon. AND LOOK AT ALL THIS FUN STUFF WE HAVE GOING ON EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY HOUR OF THE DAY - DON'T MISS OUT!"

I get very confused.
 

aadams73

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I saw Titanic. And The Poseidon Adventure--both versions.
 

lastlittlebird

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"It's not the size of the boat, but the motion of the ocean."

"Whatever floats your boat."

Cruise ships, therefore, will probably have loads of potential mates on board. QED.

;):tongue

Yeah, not so much. Lotsa couples, families and older people unless you go on a special for-singles cruise.

The lovely food and the chance to spot marine life (my favorite part!) makes up for it.