NT im booking my first cruise i need help.

[youngdoc]

Originally Posted by VietStar

Went on the Carnival Magic last summer for an Italy/Mediterranean trip. It was a lot of fun, but there too many children/ younger teens for my liking. Guess because it's a family cruise, so there aren't as many womenz as I'd like.

A lot of people say Royal Caribbean or Norwegian Cruise Line is better/more fun, so I'ma have to try one of these either this summer or next.

Royal Carib is nicer but has a lot of families as well. I think the standard Carnival ones are supposed to have the most twenty and thirty year olds but I may be mistaken

 

[BranchLifestyle]

Originally Posted by presequel

make sure you go off the boat every day....you'll be on the boat partying the rest of the night so take advantage of the fact that you're visiting different islands every day

ALSO

do not pay for excursions through the cruise line. just get off the boat and there will be plenty of tour guides that you can negotiate with after u exit the ship, u cant miss them. they'll take you all around the island, recommend beaches, restaruants, etc.

i went on a 7 day cruise through the carribean last year, it was great. we went with celebrity cruise line. there are plenty of older people but im sure there are some cruise lines where they gear more towards younger crowd. but regardless, any cruise will have younger people on it too. be open and meet new people cuz you'll see alot of the same people every day even if theres a few thousand.

upgrade your cabin to get a balcony, its worth it. try to be in the middle floors of the ship, facing outward toward the sea. you dont want a room facing inwards with no view...you may feel too boxed in.

Good to know, booked my Bahamas cruise for July 

 

[alrjordan]

I have been on three cruises in the past 6 years. When my grandparents were getting older they decided that they wanted to use their time and money to take our family on vacation. We had a group of nearly 30, and our first was a cruise to Alaska on Princess cruise line. Let me tell you something first, going in a big group is AWESOME. Not that you can't have fun with just your immediate family (mom pops bro sis etc), but having all my fam, aunts uncles cousins and what not meant there were always people doing something. Now as for the cruise ships/experience:


Princess Cruise Line - Alaska: I really enjoyed this cruise line and destination. Granted, this was my first cruise so that probably made it more special, but even now looking back and being a cruise "vet" I still hold that first one in very high regards. The ship was nice, not humongous but still more than you know what to do with. It was very elegant and clean. They had the shows and entertainment as well and I really enjoyed the overall feel of the boat. Now the thing that really set this experience apart from the rest was the food! Now, your going to have your fill one way or another, but some are better. The princess cruise had the standard breakfast/lunch/dinner buffet and Captain's dinners with the fancy sit down menu dinners. Then, beyond that they had all off the after hours food. Well this food was amazing, just as good if not better then the sit down dinner food (a lot of the time they would have what ever didn't get eaten). As well as a little pizza shop that they made to order and cook in front of you.

Carnival Cruise line - Mexico: I really did NOT enjoy this cruise. The boat was not nearly as clean, elegant, or just overall quality was pretty poor. The food was "turrible" and I compared it to school cafeteria type dining. They had a lot of the same activities and entertainment as Princess did but your destination will be the determining factor in your cruise experience. They try to tie all of that together. I had been to mexico before, and so I knew what it was like. A lot of my other family (all 30 of them) had not been before. Well it rained in pretty much every port that we stopped at. SO that put a damper on our trip. But even then, this was probably my least favorite cruise.

Holland American Cruise Line - Alaska: This was my latest trip that I took last summer. It was overall a really good trip. Better than carnival but still not quite as good as Princess. Food was pretty good. I ended up making friends with a couple of the performers from there dance/song shows they put on. I had met them at the bar one night when I was toasted and chatted it up. Ended up hanging out with them and the other crew a lot of the trip, which was actually kinda cool because you do get some added perks with the crew (free drinks!!). This cruise I was only with my immediate family plus my good friend/college roomate/cousin and our grandpa and aunt. It was still really fun but we definitely were on our own (me my bro and cousin) hitting the casino, bars, and whatever else. It was weird when we all had been used to being on a cruise with 30+ ppl.


OVerall I would have to say that Princess Line was my favorite out of the three. It is really important to realize that your destination plays a big part of that. And some cruise lines are a lot better for certain destinations than others. But i think the main thing is that regardless of what line or where your going, it will be a blast! Even my worst cruise trip is still one of my favorite vacations I have ever had.

Tips:
- Don't get a room with a balcony/window unless you ball like that. You honestly spend 5% of your time in your room.
- If going with a group, plan your excursions and port activities BEFORE getting on the ship. Doing stuff in Port is super fun, but you have to pick your spots. Don't ever trust your local scammer to take you on his "world famous tour" or whatever else they are pitching. Plan it all beforehand for safety, affordability, and most importantly for not having to waste your time. The last thing you want is to walk around port for two hours trying to figure out what to do and then can't because you gotta get back to the ship.
- Weigh yourself before you leave!!!!!!! We all did our first cruise and its kind of a funny way to track yourself. When you get back you might be amazed (although I wasn't... i worked out nearly every day on the boat)
- EAT EAT EAT... all of the food and drinks (bar certain restaurants and alcohol and on most boats soda) are prepaid as part of your ticket. If you sign up for the Captains sit down style dinner, (which i suggest you do a couple times if not every night) then DONT BE SHY when ordering. I remember it took us a couple days to kind of get comfortable with how everything works and our international server/waiters. If you see something on the menu that you want to try, get it. I remember when it finally clicked that we could order ANYTHING we wanted people started going HAM. like 3 sets of crab legs, a filet mignon, and a large cobb salad to start type stuff.
- Participate and check out all of the shows and activities. The ships put on a great deal of stuff for the passengers, and not just entertainment stuff like musicals and plays. Cooking classes, massage class, poker tournament and mini golf competitions. Depending on what boat your on will have a whole bunch of stuff going on, take advantage and do anything your interested in!!!


This is just a sum up of my experiences as a cruise ship passenger. Overall I think cruises are one of the best vacations you can have. Everything is included and provided for, and idk there is just something about it. Feel free to ask me any questions if you got em.

 

[tee eye ehm]

I need to get on that Holy Ship! I'm not normally into that EDC-type music, but a cruise, the bahamas, bunnys, and a stash of Miss Ringwald's....sounds like a concoction of epic to me.