VisionaryJax

This sounds reasonable to me: a different culture between cruise lines. I agree that all you can do about rude people is work around them as best you can. But I am still wondering about the culture between cruise lines. And while there may be no difference between cruisers -- people are people -- I feel like the differences between what the cruise lines offer will attract different people. As I said previously, I don't have a ton of cruising experience like many folks on here! But I know when we were younger and cruising as a family, the cruises that had things like rock wall climbing and FlowRider surfing were more crowded, had more lines, and a "shot of the day," and were just noisier and with a more party-hardy atmosphere. The activities were great for the kids, and I don't recall any specific incidences of rudeness/obnoxiousness except in lines when people were shirty about not losing place. It was a totally different vibe on our Oceania/Marina cruise. No rock wall, no FlowRider -- there were some shows, but the most enjoyable entertainment for me was the lecturers who prepped us for the places we would visit ... Some of the best-attended events were lectures with the marine biologist who told us about the sea life of the South Pacific (and more). And I learned a ton from the lecturer who told us about the Pitcairn Islands and Easter Island. I have to think the different offerings of the cruise lines attract different clientele. All this to say ... now that we're old folks, and after experiencing Oceania with fellow old folks ... we wouldn't really want to go back to Carnival or Royal Caribbean? This DOES make sense! Are you saying that if I witnessed a stumbling drunk on a luxury cruise, I would think: "Well, he paid $XXXX to be here, so he must be a worthwhile person," whereas if I witnessed a stumbling drunk on Carnival I would say, "Must be Wal-Mart week here"? Because that may be it! You know I said I didn't remember any angry incidents on the lower-priced cruises except when people were jockeying for position in lines, but on Oceania one of the guys we met and were enjoying spending time with got completely wasted one afternoon, and although he didn't do anything obnoxious besides falling asleep in his soup and not making sense (now I am afraid he was having an episode! But no, he had been drinking all afternoon), my opinion of him didn't immediately change to "Wal-Mart Week." We continued to have fun together the rest of the time. Ha ha ha! I think I partly derailed it by asking if people thought the nature of travelers had changed from before the pandemic, and then we started discussing cruise line culture, and then ... we started calling each other elitists! I love this forum.

This thread has been quite interesting! My partner and I have done several cruises -- not dozens like some of you! When the kids were smaller, we were on Carnival and Royal Caribbean with the little ones and Granny, and we cruised through the Panama Canal on Princess. We had fun, but then the kids became teens and wanted to do other kinds of vacations, and we didn't cruise for a long while and then in 2019 for our 20th anniversary we booked Oceania Marina in the South Pacific, and we loved it so much! It was our trip of a lifetime, and the older and more sedate clientele were just what we wanted as old sedate folks ourselves! We had an amazingly spacious cabin and loved always being able to find a place by the pool and a seat at the bar and not always having to chase after a kid ... We loved it so much, we decided to book another trip of a lifetime as soon as we could, and we definitely wanted it to be on Marina. Then of course the pandemic ... and all our plans were put on hold ... and so now we're booked on sister ship Riviera for our 25th anniversary next year. What worries me, based on this thread is ... are Oceania cruisers different after the pandemic than they were before? I know people's nerves and behavior got frayed and upset during and after pandemic from so much stress and fear ... we read about folks having breakdowns on airplanes all the time now! So what do you think ... Did we just get lucky on our 2019 cruise to have a lot of jovial and easy-going fellow passengers? There were only 800 aboard a ship that I think can hold 1200, so maybe there just weren't crowds and the need to compete making people act up? Or are travelers essentially different now than they were pre-pandemic with more of a license to be obnoxious and strike back if told to behave? I want to believe we will luck into another polite, friendly, and not chaotic group on our Riviera cruise next year -- but based on the experiences reported here ... I am wondering!

Thanks for the photos and description!

Thank you for this!

Thank you for this info on the HI Express. We stay in a bunch of IHG Hotels so this is a nice option, we might be able to get free nights. Did you decide what you will do on your days in Dubai? Also how was the Burj Kalifa? Is it crowded? Did you get to the very top? Is it worth going? You will be on your way in days! Have fun!

Thank you so much! This is great information! I appreciate your taking the time to comment here. Do you live in Dubai? What are the "don't miss" things for a few days before our trip? Thanks! Also you are right about the Queen mary in Long Beach; I have been on that ship and forgot the name! LOL

Thank you! I just put this on my Amazon wish list for our cruise next year!

I am following this because I want to take my iPhone snorkeling. The last time I did was in 2019, and I bought a cheap sleeve like a Zip Loc from Amazon, and it did not work at all! It did stay zipped and keep the phone dry, but underwater there was no way to manipulate the touch screen. On the surface you could easily shoot, but once it was in the water, it didn't work at all -- so disappointing! So if you are checking in here, in addition to @newlaxfan's Samsung S22 , please also give recommendations for an iPhone! I like to do some breath-hold diving maybe to 30 feet, if you have a suggestions for a sleeve that will go deeper. Thanks everyone!

Thank you! This is such great information. That Palm! I didn't even think of that. This whole region is new to me.

Thank you ! I appreciate it so much! I will probably be back with more questions as I do more research. I will look into the other airlines you mentions. Appreciate it!

Thank you, this is good information! We will assess how he is doing with mobility closer to our trip and decide ... We will probably never get to Jordan again, and I would love to see it! If it's just money, we have been saving like mad and would probably opt to pay for a carriage -- or a motorised buggy! This would be great. I would hate to put a horse to the trouble of hauling my broke ass up a steep incline! Thanks for the information!

Ooooh! Have fun! And thanks for the hotel information. Queen Mary sounds great! Also a place near the Burj Kalifa sounds great. If you think of it, please drop back in here and post how was the hotel and the hop-on/hop-off. I saw that as an option and wondered if it would a good plan -- we're older and don't hop on or off anything much, I would be curious how it is.

Thank you for this! I did know we had to fly out of Tel Aviv; the cruise line is calling our final port Jerusalem, so I did, too. and thank you for the information/suggestions! Further down it was suggested Emirates business class and first class are quite different. Any thoughts? We've only every now and then upgraded on United, but we've seen such glowing reports about Emirates! Thank you! I was trying to figure that out about FlyDubai; it looked like it was bookable on Emirates site, and I thought the flight number looked like Emirates. And I agree, it would be a long day home after a long (for us) cruise. I wish I could set it up AFTER we fly on Emirates on the way there to see if it would be worth it! Yeah, we definitely want to fly Houston to Dubai on Emirates as it appears to be a direct flight, and we've been curious to try them. We may just do United home from Tel Aviv as that would be more direct. I was wondering if the vaunted Emirates Business Class is worth the backtracking. Thank you! I am not at all familiar with the set-ups of the various cabins. As I was looking at Emirates online, the differences between Business Class and First Class didn't seem huge, but you are right, they wouldn't showcase older cabins with fewer amenities! I will definitely research more before I book. Thank you everyone for responding! We haven't cruised in ages, but last time we did, I came here beforehand and found such helpful information and folks. I appreciate it!

Howdy! Anyone who flies to the USA from Israel, or from Jerusalem to Houston, specifically, I have a question. We will be cruising Dubai-Jerusalem, and we want to fly Houston to Dubai on Emirates because we have heard such great things about the airline, and this is our special 25th anniversary trip and we want everything luxurious so we will go business class. It looks as if we can fly home on Emirates as well, but we fly from Jerusalem back to Dubai to connect. If the service and everything is as great as we've heard on Emirates, I don't mind that (except it seems a waste of time going backward), but if anyone has flown Jerusalem to Houston (or somewhere in the continental USA) on a different airline, I would be curious to hear of your experience and if it would be a better ending to our trip of a lifetime to take a more direct route home. Thanks in advance for any information/opinions.

Following this because we will embark from Dubai in 2024. @Busy Mum, if you think of it, lease post what you decide to do and how it works out! Thank you!