Retired Coastie

[Trust me, I]

Spent 21 years in the Coast Guard; husband is sure he would hate cruising after all those years on ships. Not ever having been in their sleeping quarters on the 378's, when he was a MK chief, have no idea what I am up against. Any retirees that have cruised that can give me some input?

[lebreos]

I'm ex Royal Navy, so have a bit of an idea..... sleeping quarters on a cruise ship are basically a small hotel room with normal bed and units upto large rooms(if a suite). so if hes prepared to spend 2 weeks in a small hotel room - mainly sleeping or changing that shouldn't be an issue. The rest will be what sort of holiday does he enjoy, and what sort of facilities and entertainment will he like or does he like to do on holiday. The ships are spacious and you get to get off every few days at a different port... the food is better and he wont have to stand duty watches.... It certainly isnt anything like the ship life I had in the service more like a moving hotel...

Hope this helps...

[Trust me, I]

Thank you! Nice to hear from some one that understands what my husband’s experience. Thank you for your input; gives me an idea what I can tell my husband....

[AF-1]

Tell your husband that he will be pampered. Does not have to make his bed; can eat whenever he wants with lots of choices. You can go see a show and just relax. You can sit in one of the bars onboard and just relax. You can sit at the pool and just relax, you can sit in a deck chair and watch the world go by.

[lebreos]

No Problem if there are any more specific queries then just ask... The main dining rooms are like dining in nice restaurants and the buffet will be better than his galley on-board. Depending on the ship will depend on the facilities - gyms, spa's, pubs/bars, small pools and theatre's cinema's.. Plenty of room to walk around the ship above or below deck in nice carpeted corridors.... with all the services hidden. I was lucky I was in a 6 man room on my last deployment still it was only 12ft long with 6 bunks and lockers with 3ft between the 2 sets of 3... the cabins on a cruise ship are a lot more comfortable..... :-) and the steward makes your bed every morning while you have breakfast.... whats not to like...

[cheeseclan]

Spent 21 years in the Coast Guard; husband is sure he would hate cruising after all those years on ships. Not ever having been in their sleeping quarters on the 378's, when he was a MK chief, have no idea what I am up against. Any retirees that have cruised that can give me some input?

 

 

Our DS is a cadet at the USCGA and has been cruising with us since he was born. He loves it. In fact we are taking him on one over his summer leave to the British Isles on the Pacific Princess.

Our DS was on the Barque Eagle last summer and said it was a tight squeeze and a lot of work but he would do it again. He is going on a cutter this summer and can't wait.

 

Our DS loves cruising as much as we do. He can do as little or as much as he would like to do. He enjoys meeting all the crew of the ship and the navigating as well. All around cruising is great. Let me know if you have any questions

[Pierlesscruisers]

Since it appears that this will be the first cruise for your husband, here is something that you will want to know before you decide on which cruise line tuil on. There are only 2 cruise lines, Princess and Cunard, that offer onboard credit (OBC) to all honorably discharged military veterans (US or Canadian) with 2 year's service (or 6 months in a combat zone) and not just active duty or retired. I'll attach more info for the Princess program below. I believe the Cunard program is the same

 

Tom

Princess Veterans OBC Info.txt

Princess Military Personnel Benefit Form.pdf

[cheeseclan]

On 3/8/2018 at 12:18 PM, Trust me, I said:

Spent 21 years in the Coast Guard; husband is sure he would hate cruising after all those years on ships. Not ever having been in their sleeping quarters on the 378's, when he was a MK chief, have no idea what I am up against. Any retirees that have cruised that can give me some input?

Did you ever end up taking a cruise?

[lebreos]

would be interested to know.... personally off on another one in march....

 

[Trust me, I]

Have not yet, still planning. I plan big vacations for a long time . Also waiting for my 2 kids to get settled enough in employement post college to help pay part of their own way.

[scaler]

My husband loves cruising. He was also a Coastie MK.  Just tell him to give it a chance and relax and enjoy.  We are leaving tomorrow and then on NCL Jade Monday. Can’t wait!

[seetoostein]

On 2/13/2019 at 11:25 PM, Trust me, I said:

Have not yet, still planning. I plan big vacations for a long time . Also waiting for my 2 kids to get settled enough in employement post college to help pay part of their own way.

 

Smart lady, lol. As to your original post, my husband has spent the last 20 years in the USCG Reserve, has served multiple year-long deployments, and absolutely LOVES cruising. He's a small boat guy so, admittedly, he's never been underway for weeks at a time, but we just got back from a 5-Day Western Caribbean for Spring Break (with our 2 kids) and are early stages planning one for when he returns from his next deployment, sometime in late 2020 or early 2021. A lot of people ask him how he doesn't get sick of being on the water, but when it comes to cruising, we're fairly sure he never will. He highly recommends it to anyone who will listen!

 

Hope that helps, and good luck with the planning! 

[taxgal]

My USMC husband says-no mid watch-veteran of years of sea duty!

[lebreos]

No watch keeping at all Taxgal - in my case as junior rate - no fire party - no smoke containment - no hourly rounds and definately more than 2 cans per man per day maybe... (advantage of a wet Royal Navy 😉 ) As a senior rate - no defence watches - no being kicked out of bed at 2am because my kit has broken and definately better accommodation than both of above but having to pay to goto sea....