cruise again or stay on land?

[deavers]

I'm looking for other's views of different cruise ships / lines etc.

We just came back from our first ever cruise, and it was on the Carnival Sensation. We have always heard how great the food was on a cruise, but we were very disappointed in the food. We are NOT food snobs, we are your everyday food kind of people, nothing fancy. Even the pizza was terrible, and that says alot considering we like frozen cheap pizzas, LOL :). The staff was great, but waiting in lines to eat breakfast and lunch and then to try to find a table was insane, especially when we first got on the ship and then the day we were at sea. ALSO while we were at sea for a day, there weren't any lounge chairs on the entire ship, they were all taken already. The pool wasn't big enough to accomodate the amount of people on the cruise nor was the pool heated....freezing! Again, I"ve always heard how great cruising is and I'm thinking it was just the ship we were on. We have children ages 7, 8 & 13. We aren't drinkers so the lounges don't interest us. Please tell us your experience and recommendations please. Or do we just need to stick to land vacations :)

[rdevine10]

Well, we have only been on one cruise so far, and it was the Disney Dream. We had the TIME of our lives! I think the ship you chose might of been part of the issue.

 

While I enjoy the Bahamas (private islands more than Nassau & Freeport), in Feb its still not my ideal vacation destination (its too cold for me to do what I like there!).

 

I think if you research all of the cruise lines you will find some really great things out there.

 

We are trying the Carnival Legend next, out of Tampa. Its rated really well. I know it isnt a new ship and I cannot compare it to Disney. But that said, I CANT wait to go.

 

Here are some cruises I would love to take for a starting point for research:

 

NCL Epic

Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas

Royal Carribean Oasis/Allure (though I think these may be to big for my taste)

Carnival Dream, Breeze or Magic

Disney Dream or Fantasy

 

Each of these ships has varying costs, none of which is nearly as reasonable as the price you likely for the Sensation.

 

That being said, there are some great ships out there for every budget. And sometimes certain lines have great sales (like kids sail free, etc) so you can get a good deal!

 

HTH!

[MrsK2008]

This would have to be a decision you and your family would have to make. Maybe it was the ship you were on, maybe cruising isn't for your family. DH and I love to cruise and we are taking our 2 yo DD on her first in May. If you are thinking of doing an all inclusive resort instead of a cruise for the next vacation, just remember that the food can be just as bad and you will be dealing with people eating at the same time (ie not finding a table) and crowded pool areas.

[TheCalicoCat]

They do say, "Cruising isn't for everyone."

I've been satisfied on 3 mass market brand ships (P&O, RCCL, & Carnival) & we have a cruise to Alaska planned on HAL this summer... On my past cruises, I never had a hard time finding a loungernor did I have any negative comments about the food - it was not all to my taste, but...

 

So your experience could have been the ship, the destination, the time of year...

 

As for my family, we'd be at each others throats on a land based trip - who drives, when do you stop, where do you stay, where do you eat, entertainment, etc.

 

So I'll take the negatives associated with cruising - someone else is driving, sleeping accomodations are covered as are the eating choices & there is entertainment if I am so inclined.

[bus man]

The pool wasn't big enough to accomodate the amount of people on the cruise

 

 

RCI's Enchantment of the Seas is one of their smaller ships, but it has 3 pools (2 for families, 1 for adults) plus a splash fountain for toddlers. So you might have better luck on that ship, pool-wise.

 

As for your larger point, I guess you might want to look back and think about the things on your cruise that you DID like. This might help you determine whether the problems you encountered were specific to your ship, or if the problem is cruising, in general. For example, food quality (subjective though it is) does vary from one ship to another. However, if, say, you just didn't enjoy the sensation (no pun intended) of being out at sea . . . well then, all the cruises do that.

 

If you generally enjoyed the cruising experience, but had issues with the food and the pool crowds, I would recommend trying a different ship, and probably a different line. (Each line has their loyalists, which tells me that different lines appeal to different people. Maybe Carnival just isn't for you.) You may decide that cruising isn't your cup of tea, or you may decide that your first time was a dud, but your second time was better.

[6rugrats]

We have always heard how great the food was on a cruise, but we were very disappointed in the food.

Think about how many people the kitchen staff is cooking for. Most cruise line food isn't that great. If you like "frozen cheap pizzas" and you didn't like the food on your cruise, it must have been awful.

 

I don't like waiting in line either or huge crowds, so when we cruise, it is on a very small ship (Windstar), but we don't take our children on these trips. We did take them on HAL, which had very good food, and they loved it; their favorite vacation ever.

 

We usually take land trips with the children, renting a house or condo we find on VRBO.com, and take a lot of our own food. No crowds, no lines, etc. But of course, you usually have to cook and clean. It's a reasonable trade off for us, and has actually been cheaper.

 

Everyone likes different things. Maybe you just need to try a different ship/cruiseline. Good luck!

[katyjeka]

We are a cruise family. We've been on several cruises(we love NCL) and have enjoyed every cruise. This past December we spent almost 2 weeks in Puerto Rico. The island was beautiful, people friendly, and the rainforest was awesome. That being said, we probably will never do a land based vacation again. We soooooo missed being on a ship, and on the ocean. Cruising does not work for every family, but for us its the only way we want to travel. You could try a different cruise line. My only advice, I find you encounter shorter lines on smaller ships. If that doesnt work, stick with land based. Good luck

[agabbymama]

You might want to try Disney, although I've been told, it is quite expensive.

 

I've cruised 7 times, and never had a problem finding something to eat. If I didn't like what was in the MDR, I'd go to the Lido buffet or up to the grill by the pool for a hamburger or hot dog.

 

Our last cruise was on NCL and the MDR food was terrible. Pork chops you couldn't cut with a knife, steaks were hit/miss, fancy names of something you aren't sure of.

 

None of the pools are going to be very large, or be heated, you are on a ship. I know HAL and Celebrity do have heated pools, but I believe they are adult therapy pools.

 

Good luck on finding something that fits your family!

[mjkacmom]

We love NCL. We've also done Disney, but I really don't like to be given a dinner time. On NCL, you eat when you want, where you want (lots of free and surcharge options - just one surcharge option on DCL). We're not big buffet fans, so we like the option of eating breakfast and lunch in one of the MDR's, or the diner-like sit down restaurant. We have a large family, so everyone gets to do what he/she wants to do, and decide where to dine.

[katyjeka]

We too LOVE NCL. We've never come home hungry and have been lucky enough when booking our cruises to get onboard credit. It's usually around $300. We take this money and eat at a few pay restaurants. If your in a suite, you get breakfast and lunch at Cagney's, another great perk for NCL. Blue Lagoon is also a favorite. We've only cruised 1 time with Disney. We are huge Disney nuts(with 4 dd's you have to be) and love Disneyworld, but the cruise was our least favorite. Yes, we had a great time, but we enjoyed our other cruises better, for a lot less money.

[kassimer1]

we did 2 carnival cruises one had very good food (valor) and horrible medical help, the other (Truimph)the food was so bad that i lost 4 lbs and the guys were begging the tour guide to stop at mcdonalds in san juan cause they were starving. We have also done royal's Oasis of the seas and had a blast. The food was good, the entertainment better than carnivals, and my son loved the teen area so much we hardly ever saw him. the last carnval he was bored with the teen area (valor) and the one before (triumph) he liked it, though not as much as the royal one. I have never had trouble finding a lounger , Just wait 30 mins and remove someones towel that is hogging the chair. Works well for me :)

[staceyeileen]

As for the buffet, we definitely prefer eating in the MDR over the buffets for breakfast. Why wait in line when you can be served? Especially with young children! We do buffet for unch only because of the larger variety of food.

[nothriver]

I really dislike crowds and manage my frustration by trying to avoid them. Arriving early for embarcation might not help if embarcation is delayed. But ideally, if you can arrive early, board early, and eat early - you avoid a LOT of frustration. Likewise with any meals - I try to avoid "peak" times when everyone else on the ship is trying to eat. I know it is a vacation, but early to rise, early to bed serves us well when we travel. I prefer this over waiting in lines! We get up, get ready, eat. We try to beat the crowd off the ship so we are ahead of the crowds in port, especially if there are lots of other ships on port and especially if we have to wait for a tender! We eat lunch early when the food is fresh and tables are available. My teenager doesn't eat breakfast, and is more than happy to go for an early lunch. Or sometimes we eat late breakfast and then late lunch; food might not be the "freshest" but at least you avoid the crowds.

 

Whether you decide to cruise or travel on land - choose wisely. My oldest is heading off to college our family vacations are numbered! They grow up so fast - looking back, I kind of regret spending SO MANY of our vacations at DisneyWorld - we love Disney but there is so much of the real world I want to show my kids, too!

[Friend100]

We have done 4 cruises so far, in 3 different lines - Royal Caribbean, Disney and Holland America. We liked some more than the other one, but we enjoyed all of them. The more we cruise, the more we found out what we value more, what we don't really care much, etc., which helps me deciding what/when/where we want to cruise next, whenever that can happen.

 

If you have a good travel agent, talk to them about your Carnival experience. Tell them you like and dislike, and if the TA is good (meaning they listen and they KNOW cruises), they should be able to give you some advice of what line or ship maybe a better fit for you.

[sarahc78]

We have been on RCL & Celebrity. We prefer Celebrity. The food and service are top notch. The ship never felt crowded. They also have a GREAT program for kids. Our kids loved it we had to literally drag them out of the Fun Factory. Now there wont be a ton of kids like Carnival or RCL, but I thought that was a good thing.

[MamaParrotHead]

I don't like crowds either. I actually prefer the bigger Carnival ships just because even though there are more people, there's more room to spread out. I honestly haven't found crowds/lines an issue and always have chairs when/where I want them. It's all about being strategic and avoiding peak times and knowing that you can't sleep in and still get chairs in primo spots. We get up fairly early on vacation (definately on port days, and even on sea days we're up and eating breakfast before 8). We don't eat lunch at noon on the dot...11 or 1/1:30. My kids actually haven't ever even been in a pool on either of their 2 cruises at this point...too busy having fun and doing things with Camp Carnival and together as a family, so I don't have anything to add on that front. I'm not a huge fan of the pizza, although none of us have ever gone hungry on a cruise. Lido offerings are plentiful and fresh (that's another thing with the bigger ships...more Lido food offerings...fish & chips, burrito bar, mogolian wok, deli, grill, etc.). It works well for us.

 

Where as land vacations, for me, tend to be more stressful. Transportation for everyone (normally we travel in a larger group and a minivan is a tight squeeze, especially with luggage), finding a condo/rental/hotel and hoping it's decent (even doing your homework it's a crap shoot), picking up after everyone all week long, splitting up cooking duties, making grocery runs, scouting out places to go out to eat, hoping there's enough to do in the place you're staying to keep everyone happy. Especially with younger kids, it was a HASSLE.

[Onessa]

Our family cruises for the ports. We can fall asleep somewhere in Greece and then wake up in Turkey. We spend days on land, evenings on board. DD generally finds a crew of kids her age. DH and I find a quiet spot - people watch, talk, read, relax.

 

We did a weeklong land trip (traveling between two graduation ceremonies) and we all concluded, "never again!" -- living out of a suitcase, spending hours in the car, and the food was very uneven (never knew what you'd find where).

 

For us this year, it is another Med cruise!

[lrowe70]

We've been on 3 cruises and our last was on Carnival. Our experience was similar to what you describe.

I'd suggest a different cruise line.

[kimmimom]

Where as land vacations, for me, tend to be more stressful. Transportation for everyone (normally we travel in a larger group and a minivan is a tight squeeze, especially with luggage), finding a condo/rental/hotel and hoping it's decent (even doing your homework it's a crap shoot), picking up after everyone all week long, splitting up cooking duties, making grocery runs, scouting out places to go out to eat, hoping there's enough to do in the place you're staying to keep everyone happy. Especially with younger kids, it was a HASSLE.

[cruisingwith4]

We take both land vacations and cruises with our children (5 & 3) and have done both for the past three years.

 

Our vacations tend to be large family vacations with my In Laws and my husband's sister's family. We usually cruise on Princess - which when you are mid 30's with two young children is not necessarily a match.

 

We are lucky our children are at the age where they are excited over the fact that it's a ship! Our oldest likes the kids program. We literally have to drag her out of there daily. Our youngest enjoys the size of a ship and what he sees as "freedom".

 

For DH and I, we usually get the opportunity to go out each night when the kids go to bed. It's not very exciting. We haven't had a lot of luck on our Princess cruises. The nightclubs are never busy. Even the bars with music don't do a brisk business after 9PM. The only place we've found consistently busy after 9PM is the casino and we're not big gamblers.

 

The kids love the pool area and MUTS (if appropriate). And the excitement of being on a large ship. They also have fun in port. We ensure we find excursions that will interest them and aren't too long.

 

The food is subjective. One year the food was phenomenal on one ship. The next year it was inedible on another ship.

 

DH and I are dying to go on a Disney Cruise. I've only heard wonderful things about their ships and people's experiences.

 

Traveling with the kids on land can be a bit less relaxing. Instead of someone else coming up with your itinerary, you are in responsible - this includes places to go/see, food, where you stay, how you get there, etc.

 

When we do land based travel, the kids are just as excited, but unless we go to one place for a week, it's really hard on them. They need some sort of usual routine.

 

But then again, I guess we're just more of a cruising family.