Take a cruise?
By zeloguy
@zeloguy (4911)
United States
January 3, 2008 12:49am CST
My wife and I love to take cruises to exotic locations. We have cruised around Hawaii, Bahamas, Mexico, Jamaica, USVI, Puerto Rico, Spain, Italy... just to name a few.
How many of you out there have cruised and for those who have what cruise line and how did you enjoy it? Would you do it again?
2 people like this
6 responses
@maximax8 (31046)
• United Kingdom
3 Jan 08
I read an brochure about cruises around the Caribbean Islands, Central and South America. It looked wildly expensive even for an inside cabin. It cost extra to do excursions at each port docked at. I saw the timetable and although lovely places were visited not very much time was spent at each one. It was perhaps long enough for an organized excursion but not independent exploration. I think that the facilities on board were excellent, swimming pool, jacuzzi and so on. The meals looked very formal and elaborate.
When I was 17 I went on a large ship for one night over to the Netherlands. It had a swimming pool on board. I have also traveled on other boats used by local people rather than tourists. I liked seeing scenery like passing islands, sunsets and seeing animals like dolphins.
1 person likes this
@zeloguy (4911)
• United States
3 Jan 08
If you can wait until the cruise almost sets sail and look on the right dates (September and December [excluding Christmas] and January) you will find that cruises that normally run $2000/pp can be found for ~$400pp.
You just have to shop around and keep an open schedule.
My wife and I did a 15 day crusise... both of us for less than $1000 ($499 each!).
There are Hawaiian cruises that (the last time I checked) were as low as $379. The problem with that is the airfare will cost more than the cruise itself.
Expensive crusies can be found if you are going to exotic places (like Hawai'i is not exotic enough!) like Alaska, Antartica and the Mediterranian.
MEGA ships now have sometime up to 4 pools 12 restaurants rock walls... we were even on a ship with 4 bowling alleys! There are three shipyards making these ships and all three of them are backed up for the next 6 years (and the ships are getting larger and larger everytime they come out).
@Lecaro (1100)
• Romania
5 Jan 08
yes, i just came back from a cruise in Egypt... i cruised from Aswan to Luxor. It was wonderful...
Before taking this cruise i was scared of them... but now i love them and i am considering strongly that in the summer to go on a cruise on Danube...:D
@zeloguy (4911)
• United States
5 Jan 08
They say on any one ship there are 75% of the people who have cruised before... it is like riding a bike... once you do it you just can't stop.
I am very jealous... I have been to Morocco (BEAUTIFUL) but never to Egypt. I am sure that was totally awesome!
1 person likes this
@shobejen (644)
• Philippines
3 Jan 08
i have been to a cruise only once back in 2006... it was only a 3 days 2 nights cruise from singpore to malaysia and back to singapore on board star virgo... i love the experience of exploring the ship, it was fun running up and down, left to right... many places to go - theater, restaurants, library, arcade, swimming pools, card room, shopping, casino and more... i would definitely want to go cruising again and i want to explore a different ship or cruise line...
@Perspectives (7131)
• Canada
24 Jan 08
David and I have talked about going on a cruise..but we are not sure that our nomadic way of traveling would function well being on a huge floating machine in the middle of the ocean without being able to stop whenever and where ever WE wanted to.
I know some people who have been thrilled with their cruise experiences...and others not so much. One couple were on a Florida ship that crashed and everyone had to be transported in to another ship in not too great weather. Others got sick...so in our circles the cruise experiences has received mixed reviews. I think for now we will do as we usually do...pack up the vehicle...hit the open road with a loose destination and let our free spirits connect with nature in all its glory.
Raia
@zeloguy (4911)
• United States
24 Jan 08
The ships being built today are so big that they can hold 3,000 passengers and are over 1/4 mile long. The sanitation rules have been stepped up to the max and I will guarantee you will have never washed your hands as much as when on a ship.
Additionally, pick a cruise where you want to go. Once off the ship you can go wherever you want to go... rent a car, take a tour, etc.... There were 11 restaurants and 10 bars and two BOWLING ALLEYS on the last cruise we took just to start with all the things you can do.
Believe me there is no getting bored (or hungry) on a cruise ship.
• United States
3 Jan 08
I've been on two cruises, one to the bahamas and one out of puerto rico. They were a lot of fun and I enjoyed going to the different islands. On one island, can't remember which, we swam with dolphins, that was amazing, they're such cool animals. The cruise line was royal caribbean the second time, may have been that for the first time too, can't remember the name at the moment.
1 person likes this
@zeloguy (4911)
• United States
3 Jan 08
Depending on where you went out depends on what cruiseline you took (to a certain point).
To the Bahamas you have Royal Carribean (Sovereign of the Seas) and Carnival as well as Disney out of Port Canaveral (Orlando).
Out of Miami or Fort Lauderdale you have all the cruise lines that go out of there (Costa, Celebrity, etc...).
Swimming with the dolphins sounds like the Bahamas. Been to both Bahamas (many times) and Puerto Rico and loved them both.
Great that you enjoyed yourself!
