Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire who's been on a cruise ?

obama is getting under MY skin already, and just the general hum drums of winter are wearing, so i thought i'd see who all's been on a cruise, and how did you like it, to brighten things up and take us back to happier, warmer times ?

what shore activities did you do ? swim with the dophins, zip line thru the jungle, fishing ... etc...


my lovely wife of almost 12 years and i are going on the carnival "conquest" on april 26th, 1 day after our 12 year anniversary, for a cruise to jamaica, cayman islands, and cozamel (sp?), for 7 days....

all i've heard is "had a great time", "go", "would do it again", but i am a landlubber, and big boats and big water, give me the eebey jeebies...

we plan on doing the above, with fishing, at our stop in mexico.

how much weight did you gain with the feed bag going 24/7 ?

tell me about your trips guys and gals....

I look at a cruise ship as a bus, and don't expect much from the ride.

My wife and her older sister went on a cruise up and down the coast of Thailand in one of the tall ships -- sails -- I believe it was call Star Clipper. This was in 2003. I couldn't go. She had a blast! (Maybe that's why she had a blast. ) She would love to take another one, and when we can get the time off together, I will take her on another one - perhaps on our 25th anniversary in 2 years. They also have one that goes around the Carribean.

My wife and I and a few other friends took that cruise a couple of years ago....
Here are some tips:
Take some of your own hand sanitizer and use it like you have OCD
Take transderm scopalamine patches (for motion sickness)
Take all manner of drugs for diarrhea so you don't have to go the the ship doctor, as they will quarantine you and your wife to your room if you get sick. Get Lomotil and antibiotics from your doctor.
The food is good, not great, but there are a couple of restaurants on board that you pay extra for. We liked them.
Jamaica was kinda scary, the caymans are very commercialized but you will love Cozumel especially if you like to dive. Did not fish but I bet the fishing is good.
We took a scuba class to become certified while on board, but try not to do too much so you will have plenty of time to sit around on deck with friends. There is always something going on like a "hairy man contest" and other funny stuff.
Stay out of the casino, nobody was winning anything.
and finally...when they take you out on deck at the very first of the cruise to try on your lifejacket and practice emergency procedures, dont blow that damn whistle on your jacket..no telling how many lips have already been on it!

I took a cruise to Cozumel. It was nice and luxurious and the food was great. Next time we will just fly down and spend the whole week. The time spent there was better than the cruise itself.

+100! that's the way to do it!

my wife and i have been on several. we always use royal carib lines. monarch of the seas is our favorite ship. have been to all the greater and lesser antilles islands, puerto rico, virgin islands, and several other ports. always have a wonderful time. very relaxing. never had an issue with sickness/doctors. the food in the main dining room has always been top shelf. service has always been good. i tip daily (which keeps service great as they remember you). just don't fall overboard. good luck.

Carnival is looked upon as the 'party' cruise line.. You'll have a ton of 20-35 yr olds on board drinking like fish.. Noisy as heck, but if you're near that age you'll have a ball.

I've been on 6 cruises; five of them with RCCL and those are wonderful.. Last one was on Explorer of the Seas. A rather large ship to be sure.. Food was excellent, entertainment was excellent and the ports had warm sand and beautiful sights.

We never go on the shore excursions.. Those suckers are SPENDY.. When I'm on a cruise all I want to do is get up early, relax in the sun with beverages nearby, walk around the streets of the various ports and never miss the evening meal.. LOL..

If you can go on little notice, there are some absolutely fabulous deals that can be had for 30 cents on the dollar.. I saw one coming up for a 7-night cruise w/inside stateroom for $499/person (cruise only).

If you've never been on a cruise before, try to get an inside stateroom about 1/3 back from the bow. They're quiet, steady, and keep in mind you sleep rarely anyway; who cares about a costlier outside room?

Oh, and btw, stay away from leaning over the rail.. It seems nearly every week there's a new report of some ship losing a passenger or two over the side.. It's just unreal..

Have you seen the new Oasis of the Seas? Nearly 1200 feet long, 154 feet of beam and 16 decks above the waterline.. HOLY VACATION, Batman...

I went on a cruise and it was OK. We went for 5 days. Left FL to the Bahamas. Ours was Royal Caribbean line. I'm not sure I would do it again. I just got bored after awhile.

Don't worry about the big boat on big water. Until you dock, you can't hardly feel the ship moving.

I will add...Redneck is right. The day trips are spendy as hell, and most of the time not worth it. We did take a booze cruise day trip to some private island...that was fun. Drinks, hooters everwhere, beach volleyball, hooters everwhere, did I mention drunk-scantily clad women.

Just relaxing in the sun if fun for me for about a day.

The food is excellent and if you get hungry, it is your own fault.

Wife and I took a cruise on "The Big Red Boat" with a group in our neighborhood. It went to Nassau.

First off, the "Big Red Boat" turned out to be about the size of a lifeboat for one of the other cruise lines. It shared a dock with the Disney boat and the thing was dwarfed.

Then, we had an inside stateroom that turned out to be below the galley and right next to the "dumbwaiter" elevator for the galley...so, in the morning we were awakened by the rolling of the dish racks and hustle-bustle of the kitchen crew making breakfast...and it went on until late because of the constant food being brepared. Then, there was the smell as they transported the garbage down the dumbwaiter to the hold.

We got off at Nassau and walked around and couldn't get back to the ship fast enough. Everything that was supposedly so cheap and "duty free" was still overpriced. And the locals accosted everyone coming off the ship like flies to a dungpile. Mrs. Aqualung and I both said to ourselves that if we wanted to be accosted by that type of people, we could just go into West Philly and have riff-raff coming at us...at leat in Philly, i can carry my gun. The whole city of Nassau just gave me the creepy-crawly feeling in my gut...I wished so badly that I was armed.

The reef-dive I went on was great, however, when I signed up for it, I didn't know that there wasn't a ferry back to the ship until the evening. Mrs. Aqualung doesn't snorkel, but I do, so she stayed on the ship. I figured that I'd do the dive and return to the ship to spend time with her. The dive boat left the ship at 0600 and the dive ran until about 1000 and then the boat took me to "Paradise Island" or something like that and there were no ferries back to the ship until 1700...so I sat around on that island without my wife for a good part of the day And I'm not a beach person. However, there was a big day-long cookout going on, so I got to stuff myself with burgers and dogs.

The food was merely so-so on the ship and it wasn't as plentiful as other cruises make out (and from others' experiences).

All in all, it didn't turn us off to the thought of taking another cruise...but we sure as hell aren't going on "The Little Red Dinghy" and we're not going to the Carribean. Maybe the Alaska cruise someday.

Here's a tip: If you don't like your stateroom, bitch about it. They'll bend over backwards to change it...[possibly even upgrade]. There was a group with us that are the type to bitch about any little thing and they're obnoxious about it. They raised holy hell about some stupid thing and got a nice room upgrade. The Mrs. and I are not complainers and we paid for it on where we were berthed...however, it was just a 3-day/2-night cruise, and we didn't realize the issue until after the fist night...we figured we could put up with it for Night 2.

Aqualung

we did that exact cruise on the Conquest out of New Orleans about four years ago at the end of school with our kids. it was fun, nice ship....Jamaica is kind of a [bleep] but the Caymans and Cozumel were nice. Swim with the rays in Cayman....that was pretty cool, in a creepy sort of way.

Food and service were good.

Did the Carnival Cruise one year ago: Tampa-Grand Caymen-Cozumel-Tampa. We skipped Jamaica. There were an equal number of young and old on the boat and lots to do for everyone. We did the sit-down dinners instead of ala carte and got to know the wait staff well. They would always bring us an extra lobster or flaming desert when no one else was "gettin' any".

Yes you need to stay out of the Casino ... they have the slots cranked down to about 70% payback. Las Vegas casinos are set 88-90%. Get outside during the sunshine and soak it up and enjoy the bars and entertainment at night. The seas during our cruise were about normal and you couldn't feel any movement on the boat.

Take a S**tload of those little liquor bottles and hide 'em well in the luggage. We took Bailey's to dinner and spiked everyones coffee. They usually bought our drinks all night long.

We didn't do the shore activities. We just got a taxi and asked the driver to take us to a nice beach bar. I'm really surprised I remember anything about that cruise.

Best thing about cruises, IMHO, is that everything is right there. All you have to do is walk to it. Pools, sunbathing, bars up the yingyang, mucho food, the entertainment is usually quite good (at least on the higher-end lines like RCCL) and there's excercise rooms, theatres, yada yada yada..

Oh, and another poster brings up a good point.. Pay attention to the ports of call. I avoid the 'western Caribbean' like the plague. Southern or eastern Caribbean's good. San Juan is now a thorough toilet.. I don't even get off the ship there.. St. Martin's beautiful. Bermuda, St. Thomas at al are great. You don't have to shop there, but bargains can be obtained.. The main thing is just the beauty of these places after a few months of snow in TAX HELL WISCONSIN..

Main things to me are sun, relaxation, good food/drink and entertainment on board.. I'd go again in a New York Second if I get the chance..

The one time I was not on RCCL was a Disney cruise that was part of a large family trip paid for by the inlaw matriarch.. It was just marginally ok, AFAIC.. But the kids had a ball. If you have no kids, stay the heck off Disney...

Just my .02...

Last one I was on they had to bring me five lobster dinners.. The waiter said his personal record was a guy who downed 21...

Yeeeehaaaaa...

splattermatic,

We have been on a number of cruise ships. A primary reason is to get out of frozen New England in the winter and get warm. Since your in NM it can't be that cold there.

We also have had other vacations chartering a sailboat in the Carribean and air to land vacations there as well. A cruise is easy, comfortable and you get to see more than one place.

I noticed one post about taking a room inside the ship that does not have a view. I could not disagree more! Half the fun for us is watching whats going on from our room and in fact we try to get one with an outside balcony. Of course they cost more than some inside room.

We also have experiance living onboard our boat in New England waters. A cruise is a great idea.

I highly suggest you or your wife get on this message board that is all about cruises: www.cruisecritic.com
Sign up for a user name just like on here and ask away. You will find out all the pro's and con's from people that have been on cruises recently. It is a valuable resource in planning excursions at the ports of call. We always booked through a private company and we did the exact same thing as the other passengers did through the cruise line but ours was always a considerable amount less. I hope you guys have a great time.

Oh, plan to gain 10lbs while you are away!

My wife and I have been on 4 cruises......none with Carnival. As has been said, that particular cruise line is for the older, partying type or the the younger set. Depends on what you're lookin' for. We used the Majestic line and we were both very happy and comfortable during all of of our cruises.

I read a review a few years back on cruises and it did state that the average "cruiser" will gain 5lbs. by the time the cruise is over. I believe that is true, at a minimum.........

We've snorkeled, swam with dolphins and sting rays, zip-lined through jungle areas (cool.....really), spent time swimming in cenotes, jet skied from fresh to salt, horse rides on and off beach.......lots of choices, but dependent on the individual cruise line/program.

We're probably done with cruises......BTDT enough now. It was kinda nice to have a great dinner and entertainment, retire to your room for the evening and wake up the next mornin' in another port. Seemed like a nice way to travel without feelin' that you actually were.

Enjoy your trip.....I'm sure that you will. BTW - use your cabins security safe...........always a good idea.

I went on a cruise a little over a year ago on RCCL on the Adventure of the Seas. This ship was gigantic. I hadn't been on a vacation in at least 20 years so it took a couple days just to relax and start enjoying it.

I thought I would gain some weight because of all the stories, but it took about an hour to eat dinner because they space out the rolls, dinner, and desert about 15 minutes apart. Surprisingly, even though the portions are small, it takes so long to eat, you don't eat as much.

We left from San Juan, went to Aruba, Curacao, St Maarten, and then to St Thomas. By the time we got to the last port I was tired of getting off the boat and going "shopping".

We did manage to go deep sea fishing and caught a couple barracuda before one of the guys got totally sick. I had no problem being on the ship. It doesn't really move around at all. When we were on the fishing boat you could see the "roll" of the ocean as the islands would disappear behind the waves.

I had a lot of fun and would definitely do it again.

I have been on several cruises on 4 different lines. I prefer Royal Carribean and Norwegian.

Good food several times a day into midnight, great music and shows, beautiful views, people waiting on you hand and foot, breathtaking islands, beautiful people, and on and on. What's not to like?

I always thought I would hate a cruise, that the whole idea of one day here and one day there on different islands was screwy. Well, I loved every minute of all of it, though some cruise lines were much better than others. Some people I took along did not love cruising, but I always did and my kids loved them, too. Yeah, the rooms are tiny but why would you be in the room except to sleep a few hours.