First time cruiser doubts ....

[vampiress50]

I was going to chime in, but I see you've already gotten a TON of good advice and have a cruise booked. Congrats - I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time!

 

And the countdown clock does actually count down...I know it seems like a LONG time out, but it'll be here before you know it.

 

My wife and I took what we assumed would be our first and only cruise back in 2009, figuring that with the economy in the tank that we could get a good deal. And we did. And we loved our first cruise. So much, in fact, that we booked our second while on board. And we've cruised every chance we could since then. And we have three more booked as we speak...

 

Yeah, it's an addiction. :D

 

Thanks I'm sure we'll have a great time .... Florida has been our addition for the past 20 years , maybe cruising will take over lol !

Enjoy your upcoming cruises :)

[vampiress50]

My wife and I have done ten of our past thirteen cruises (with another CC cruise in March) in fact, our very first was in 2008 on the Carnival Holiday. And, as the old saying goes, 'We've never looked back' :) While I've heard of some drunks becoming total jerks, best thing to do is IGNORE them. I was a uniform police officer for ten years so I got a lot of experience at ignoring adults who, after consuming too much alcohol, become drunken 1o year olds. Shame is, most people think, the more drunk they become the funnier they are.While quite the opposite is true. I haven't had a drink in 5-6 years and due to medical reasons probably won't ever again, but I still won't let drunken behavior of others stop me from enjoying cruising. The same attitude I lump terrorist in. Don't let the actions of others ruin your first cruise. Sometimes the cruise line doesn't help by selling alcohol drink packages and a lot of people think, 'Hey !! I've got to drink X amount of drinks per hour to get my money's worth.' And at that rate, well you can see what the outcome's going to be. :( I guess these cruise lines think some of these so-called adults are going to use common sense, " Oh gee, I guess I'd better limit my alcohol to 2 drinks, per hour" Yeaaaaah, RIGHT! I guess I've rattled on long enough, but just GO and have a FANTASTIC cruise !

 

Mac

 

Thanks for the welcome Mac. My husband was a uniform police officer too and can't stand drunks and their behaviour now but we certainly won't stop anything like that spoiling our cruise. Saying that we do have the UBP but aren't big drinkers , honest !

[vampiress50]

We've sailed on several disney cruises and found the family cruise line to be less "party" but also more "busy". HOWEVER the adults only areas on the disney boats are TRULY airs only and we spent most of our time in those areas on our last cruise in June. Its peaceful and serene. Loved it!

If you can handle the gobs of little humans laughing and having the time of their life.... You may consider it. Its Disneyland on the ocean.

 

Those little gobs just might stop us booking Disney in the future , time will tell !

[vampiress50]

My experience is cruise ships are really big things. Even on a short, three day weekend cruise out of Miami we really didn't have any boozy issues. We were on Royal's Majesty of the Seas, which is a small cruise ship. We didn't have any noise problems in our cabin, things were pretty chill in the main dining room, and even the buffet in the Windjammer was pretty sedate.

 

We were up on the pool deck during the sail away from one of our shore leave stops. They were having some sort of contest with an MC with a microphone. We sat down on the far side from all that and thought it was at a level that was easy to ignore from that distance. After maybe an hour it was all over and the pool area cleared out as people left. Either they wanted to get ready for dinner and other activities, or they had enough status for free drinks in the lounge. Within 45 minutes of our arrival, we practically had the pool to ourselves.

 

Our other cruises have been on bigger ships for longer cruises. Our experience is you will always run into a few people with a premium drink package hell bent on getting their money's worth, but they're typically pretty quiet because the cruise line won't hesitate to cut you off if you cause a stir. Probably because of the expense they aren't that common.

 

Don't feel badly about the hubby thing. My spouse was very much not a travel person when we met. He was full of little concerns our first cruise. Right now he's busy trying to figure out how we can take at least four short cruises per year. Don't be surprised if your spouse is the same. Have fun and good luck!

 

Sorry to miss your post out ..... think my hubby has his head round the whole cruise thing now and is quite excited and sad he has to wait more than a year now . Love reading all the trip reports and will know the ship inside out by next November !

[wassup4565]

As you've mentioned you're on a careful budget, here are a few suggestions for enjoying your cruise without spending a lot. First, remember that once you've paid for your cruise and any mandatory charges (like gratuities, for example) any additional spending is up to your discretion. All your meals, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks are covered. While some people do spend extra on special restaurants, the food served on the ship is usually excellent, and with a lot of variety. Some people do spend extra on soft drink packages, but there are always drinks like lemonade and iced tea available at no extra cost, and the water on board is perfectly safe and good to drink. If you're not big drinkers, you won't spend much on alcohol.

 

Most ships offer many contests, shows, musical performances, and so on at no extra cost. If a performance is taking place in a bar, you don't have to order drinks to watch it - just say no thanks. Avoid the casino, because it eats your money. Don't bother with spa treatments, as they are overpriced. Room service does not cost extra, and it's one of my great pleasures to order breakfast and eat it on the balcony, if I've paid for a balcony. Or you may wish to order afternoon tea and biscuits for your balcony. There is no extra cost.

 

I do suggest that you should bring money in small denominations to tip the staff who serve you. While this is not done as much in Britain, and not required on the ship, remember the staff are paid very low wages, and your tips help support their families. So if you order room service, tip the server who delivers it. Tip your cabin steward and dining room waiters. On some cruises, aside from buying an occasional cocktail, tipping is all the extra money I spent. A couple of dollars is a decent tip for room service and $10 or $20 for the wait staff and cabin attendant are fine.

 

You do not need to spend money on activities when your ship stop in ports, especially since you've never visited these places before. Especially if the ship docks right at a city or town, you can have an interesting time just walking off and having a look around, soaking up the local scene. I love visiting local markets and grocery stores when I can find them. Gives me an idea of how people live in that country. I've also enjoyed buying a couple of postcards, and then finding the Post Office to mail them. If you do decide to do a tour, instead of booking pricey excursions, consider hiring a local taxi for an hour or so, and ask the driver to show you the highlights. The taxis are usually easy to find near the dock and in most places in the Caribbean, you can find a taxi guy who will take you around for about $25 an hour for the two of you. That's a lot less than a couple of hundred dollars for two for an excursion. The "Ports" section of CC has tons of information about every port, including ideas for doing things ashore that cost nothing or very little.

 

People who tell you to bring twice as much money as you thought are not giving bad advice necessarily. Of course you can have a grand time spending more if that's what you enjoy. But remember, you have already paid for your cruise, and all by itself, it's a fantastic, luxurious experience compared to the way most of us live day to day.

 

You will have a wonderful anniversary experience! Please write a review on CC when you return.

[vampiress50]

Hi wassup, a lot of good advice there thanks. We have the UBP which lucky for us from U.K. already includes the gratuities so money saved there, but will bring small bills with us too.

 

I love to take notes on holiday so will be sure to do a review !

 

 

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[bazbov]

My husband and I are celebrating a special anniversary next year and we were considering a Caribbean cruise for part of our holiday November 17. My husband is starting to have doubts after reading about some of the cruises being booze cruises and also worried about the ship being overcrowded.

 

I have read that a longer cruise is better to escape the drinking crowd but how to allay husband's fears? At the moment we are considering a 5 day cruise on Crown Princess, 7 day on Carnival Conquest and a 6 day on Freedom of the Seas .... all eastern Caribbean in November. We intend to get our own flights into Florida so can leave from any port there.

 

So is cruising for us , any help/suggestions appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Hello Vampiress. We've been cruising for a number of years now,with different cruise lines. We have also heard the stories of drunken behaviour on board, but let me assure you that i very highly doubt you will come across this. In all the time we have spent cruising we have NEVER seen anybody totally inebriated. Go and enjoy yourselves. Happy cruising. :)

[vampiress50]

Hi bazbov , that is good to know and in fact have come across quite a few folks recently who have cruised and never come across drunken behaviour/louts .... counting down the days !:)

[scapel]

Hi bazbov , that is good to know and in fact have come across quite a few folks recently who have cruised and never come across drunken behaviour/louts .... counting down the days !:)

 

I can't recall ever seeing anyone drunk.

[Pstreet12]

Hello and thanks all for the welcome ... and all your helpful replies too , much to think over !

 

 

 

Holland America and Celebrity are costing a bit more than we want to pay, hence the short list above ( although most of it wrong, lol )

 

We are both late 50's ( how did that happen ! ) not into the party scene although fond of the odd cocktail or two and would like a balcony for our first adult cruise, so that is driving the cost of the cruise. I do like the look of the 5 day Crown Princess but not sure if that is maybe just a wee bit too short.

 

Off to do more CC reading ...... thanks again !:)

 

Every Tue and Wed Celebrity offers specials--and they are often big reductions in price. I'd check if I were you. (They vanish on Thursday, and a new list will appear the next Tuesday.)

[vampiress50]

Thanks for the tip re Celebrity but we have booked already .... will keep that in mind for the next cruise though [emoji6]

 

 

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[Pstreet12]

Considering the distance you are coming to experience the cruise--and the time of year--have you considered a transAtlantic? Several leave from the UK, and for the ones that leave from other spots, the airfare to Rome or Malaga or Barcelona would certainly be a lot less than to the U.S. TransAtlantics usually cost significantly less than other sailings because families generally can't afford the time away from school and those who are working generally can't afford that much time away from work.

 

We love them because of the time we have at sea, the time to explore the ship, the time to get to know our tablemates at dinner.....I guess, for the time. :)

[GUT2407]

For me I'd say Princess or Celebrity.

Edited November 18, 2016 by GUT2407

[Liz54]

Now that you are booked, go to the Roll Calls section of these boards, then the Cruise Line, Then the Ship, then the date. You can then meet up virtually with others on your cruise. Often there is a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet when you get aboard.

 

Here is the link

Does not look as if anyone has started one yet. Perhaps you should!

http://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/?cruise_line_id=24&ship_id=651&page=5

Edited November 24, 2016 by Liz54
added link