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.

I have been fortunate to have received a number of free cruises when employed in the big corporate world & also purchased three, two of which included my daughters. The cruise ships have stabilizers & I only get a bit queasy if rough seas & the cross currents while going through the straights off Cuba. The Carnival is great but not as good as the Scandinavian lines. The smaller boats are always better. Food is excellent on all cruises but better on the Scandinavian ships. I found most shore tours to not be as good as staying on the ship. This is not true if in Porto Rico where you can visit the Rain Forest or in Mexico with a visit to the Manya Ruins. Some of the islands like The Virgin Islands & The Bahamas offer great shopping for the wife. No one I know was ever sick except when to much alcohol was consumed. I have fished for Bonefish in the Bahamas & Caman Islands. This was set up in advance. I have also shot skeet from the ship. Watching the babes around the pool is a great way to pass a few hours or days with a cool drink when the wife is otherwise occupied. When I took my daughters along there was always a teen program. We always had at least a portal room & several with balconies. The room with a balcony is the way to go if you can afford. I always brought several bottles of booze for sundowners on the balcony. Even peeded off one, but that was a few wives past & many years ago. You will have a great time.

sounds great guys..
now, how do we set up the fishing trips, my wife and i both fish, as we met fishing the san juan river here in northern nm. ??

also, what's the drinks cost ?
we're trying to figure how much we need to bring, or have rat holed, so we can pay for drinks and extra's as well as fishing trips and shore activities..

They usually have fishing trips that you can arrange on the ship before you get to the port. The cruise I was on only had one trip listed, but you can do the same thing my group did. get off the boat and go straight to where the cabs are and ask about fishing.
Most of the cabbies know where everything is on the island and can take you straight to a guide. Might not be brave enough to do that on my own, but there were 5 of us.

I didnt end up using much cash because when you register and get your key, you reserve it with a credit/debit card and use that while on board.

I live in south florida so cruise boats is something I know about! The best cruises are when your with friends. more the merry! yes, lots of food..you will gain weight if you like food. Carnival= party boat. carnival ships arent as nice and elegant as royal carribean, but the people are cool and plenty of women to wear your eyeballs out. You will enjoy it, and it will make the wife happy.

I'm a big fan of Royal Caribbean cruise line. I have sailed out of Miami, Port Canaveral and Puerto Rico. If you can swing $$$ wise, upgrade to a junior suite from a D1 (normal room) it gives you a little more breathing room (walk in closet, bigger deck, bigger bathroom). It's not a MUST, but it makes getting dressed and hanging out in the room a little nicer. You can save some $$ getting a inside or Promenade (shopping mall) room, but you'll have no idea what is day/night and with a outside (Ocean view) room, you'll have a balcony with a ever changing landscape.

I went deep Sea fishing on a charter out of St. Mar-teen, but we only hooked up (trolling ballyhoo) catching Barracuda. St. Mar-teen also has the Lotrie Farm Zip lining excursion that's a blast, but all that go must be in decent physical shape. There is also a zip line tour in Jamaica.

Before you even board (or just when boarding) you can get a list of excursions offered by the ship (ATV, snorkeling, SCUBA...training rquired, sea kayaking, MUCH MUCH more). The advantage of doing excursions from the ship is that 9unless noted) they are all inclusive. They will make sure you get to your excursion and back to the ship on time and safe. The disadvantage is that they can be pricey. If memory serves around $65 to $250 per person, depending on the excursion. Sign up early, as they do fill up. You can go off on your own at any Port, but you have to arrange travel to your destination and back to the ship on your own. Some locals will take advantage $$$ wise. Make sure your back at the time the captain say or the ship WILL leave without you.

St. Lucia, St. Thomas and it's sister Island St. John are my personal favorites, but my Mrs. is a big fan of barbados. Curacao (off Venezuala), aruba, Labadee (a private beach on Hispanola (Dominican Republic & Haiti) are also fun Islands.

Avoid Hurricane season, although the ships are super hi-tech and i've been on cruises where the captain COMPLETELY circumnavigated the bad weather. They may change Ports because of this.

We started going on Explorer series ships (Mariner, Explorer, Adventure) then we cruised the larger Freedom class (Freedom, Liberty of the seas) the larger ships have a few more amenities. A favorite of the young and not too old is the Flowrider at the rear of the ship. Basically a constant surfable "wave". Next year 2010, we are going on the Oasis of the Seas (Genesis series)..... BIGGER STILL.

As others have said, food is included and there's NO SHORTAGE of that. Dining room, Windjammer (24 hour buffet). There are restauraunts that you pay for on the ship like Chops Grill and Portofino, but the prices are less then they would be on land. Where you CAN spend a lot of money is on BOOZE. The video arcade and shopping were equally damaging with my wife & kids in tow. :-) You can see how much your spending on the TV set in your Stateroom.

GO ON A CRUISE!!!!! You'll have a BLAST. Good Luck. -Tom

Does a pontoon boat on the Missouri River count? Seriously have fun....go fishing...do whatever you want...but from what I have been told do a few of the sidetrips!

We did that cruise a couple of years ago. I wasn't sure about going on a cruise but the Mrs. really wanted to. There were huge numbers of people and I figured it would be akin to being trapped in a hotel with 4000 other people but after the first day there were only a few people who's daily schedule was the same as ours so it seemed like a lot fewer people than it was.

Here's my thoughts.

Did like:
- Being at sea on the upper deck (sun deck?), relaxing with my wife (with buckets of beer) and reading books for pleasure was GREAT!
- Sting Ray city on Grand Cayman was well worth it.
- The locals in Grand Cayman, I think I could live there
- Tulum (Cozumel to Playa del Carmen) and a bus ride to the Mayan ruins; mystical and beautiful BUT don't go down and get in the salt water UNLESS you have fresh water to wash off because the walk back to the bus left a bunch of people very chafed...but not me
- dressing up for dinner on the boat; I'm a really casual guy and wear shorts a lot of the time so dressing up was a nice change and my wife liked it too
- standing on the back of the boat, smoking a Monte Cristo and sipping on Talisker
- watching sunrise on the open ocean
- sailing into Montego Bay early in the morning

Didn't like:
- The confrontational beggar attitude in Jamaica; it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and the attitude of the locals (all that I was around anyway) was miserable "That's not enuf tip for big daddy! Come man you gotta pay more than that!"
- Ocho Rios (Jamaica) WAY over-rated
- The nickel and dime "carnival?" attitude on the boat, constantly trying to take my picture, get me to buy their sweet swill drinks, etc...got old fast

Overall, I'll go on another cruise because I ended up enjoying it more than I thought.

cheers,
stoma

Might be a little different....

We went on a cruise that took us to Key West (yuck), Cozumel (a little better), Grand Cayman (ok) and Jamacia. You can smell Jamacia long before you get there and quite a while after you leave. Actually, non of the cruise was not a lot different than Ft. Lauderdale. People all looked the same, beaches looked the same but the food on the ship might have been a little better, but not at all great. But I did enjoy the trip. Spent a lot of time sitting on our deck watching the ocean. Everybody should make the trip one time.

Here is my dear wife, Hilda, grandson Zachary and yours truly. This was April of 07. I was just a kid, only 72 yrs. young and only one other guy on the ship wore boots. Real men are hard to find.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Radiance of the Seas.
962' long
beam 105'
2501 passengers and 859 crew.

I have taken too many cruses to count. Don't see why anyone would pay money to go on one. It was hard work, 4 hours on and eight hours off and you get to work the eight hours during the day even if you are supposed to be off. end up dead on your feet and the food is... well it ain't great. Sometimes other people shoot at you. I don't think they liked us.

Just my opinion but I don't think I want to go again.

USN 68 to 75

USNR 82 to 03


Oh, you are talking about a fun cruse, the kind where no one is shooting at you and you don't have to work yourself into the ground... I get it now.

I jsut went on my second with carnival and i had a good time on both. I have done the eastern and western caribean. I went fishing in cosomel and would NOT do it again! If you want to do the fishing thing do a little research and hire a guide to pick you up in port and take you out, but don't do the excursion through carnival. Carnival said it was a 25' boat, yeah right may 20' and about a foot and half wide! my bass boat is bigger! And small boats plus big (for a wisconsin river boy) waves don't make for a good combo! I got too sick to drink the free beer. Then carnival said there would be some authentic mexican shore lunch (read cold cheese burger and fries) that was terrible! Otherwise once your in port try to get off the beaten tourist path and there are some great things to see. On Carnival the only things you pay for on the boat are your drinks (except at the Captains cocktail hour then) which run about 3.75 for the cheapest beer right up to 20.00 for some of the drinks of the day, but you get to keep the stupid wooden monkey you drink it out of. Like i said I've been on two in the last two years and had fun both times but I think im done with them. If you or your wife like the sun hit the Liddo deck by about 630am to get a chair!

bringing this back to the top.....

i leave on friday in 2 weeks.(04/24/09) the wife and i want to go fishing in cozumel,mx., on our shore stop.

anyone have any info on a good fishing trip for sailfish,dorado, barracuda, etc.. ??

Took that exact cruise on Holland America Lines Nieu Amsterdam in the mid eighties.We went with several couples we knew,and had a ball,but once was probably enough for me.I prefer to be more in charge of how I spend my time than you can on a cruise.
Had been to Jamaica in the late sixties and it was a Paradise.It's a damn shame what happened to that country when it's economy collapsed.....might be prophetic for us these days.
Visiting the Mayan ruins out of Cozumel was a highlight.

If a certain event such as the fishing trip is important to you then ask everyone as you are doing including the lines staff on the phone now.

I would go on a cruise on a good boat just about anywhere. We also live aboard many summers on our own boat.

Here is a picture taken on our Alaskan cruise. It shows the neighbor in the next cabin from our balcony. I would always want a balcony to see the views and whats going on.

Regarding the fishing-- In a few weeks the sailfish bite will really be good and there will be white marlin available as well. Pretty good time to be fishing in the cozumel area. If you're a fly guy there are a good number of bonefish around Coz. They don't get big like in the keys or Bahamas but there are a good number of them.
Good luck,

dan

we took the Conquest on that cruise out of New Orleans a couple of years ago....well, it was pre-K so it must have been 2004. It was well run, food was OK, took a submarine cruise in Jamaica, swam with the rays in Cayman, Cozumel was Cozumel...

Jamaica is such a hole, we didn't get far from the ship, just did activites on the water there. YMMV.

I'd do it again.

Which one has Skeet shooting off the Fantail, thats what I want in a cruise!