Cruise vacations

[Swank]

Just got back from my 2nd cruise ever. Wife is a pro from cruising since age 7 and got me hooked, unfortunately my 1st cruise was right before the 'Rona took over the world, and by right before I mean we were probably a week away from being denied coming back into port. What a tease, I was ready to book for the next year already. Now insert inflation, yearly cruises are no longer feasible, but all the more reason to go with a higher end cruise line. First was Royal Caribbean, but most recent was Celebrity. Not a night and day difference but the fact the the Celebrity Beyond was only ~2 years old jacked up the swank factor hard. 17 storeys/levels above deck, 22 in all if I remember correctly. Stores, restaurants, massive buffet, casino, art gallery, theatre with a 17million pixel back drop screen, bars-a-plenty (we ruined them by getting the drink package haha). Anyhow, it's no wonder I have to offset the cost of this by switching to Public Mobile, zero regerts.

[shakalaka]

Fucking love cruises. Been to 4 now and I can't wait to go for another. The right ship and right ports make all the difference. Next target is a Mediterranean cruise that'll go Spain, Italy, Greece etc. Not the same as actually visiting those places and spending a few days each but you get enough of a taste on how they will be so you can plan a future proper trip to that place accordingly.

[Swank]

Wife chose this most recent one for the ports and itinerary. Unfortunately Grand Cayman still doesn't accommodate large ships at port, so you have to tender in. Not an option with the choppy weather that day so we had to move on. We got a sudo-refund (onboard credit) for our 'swimming with the dolphins' tour as we booked it thought Celebrity. Had we booked something on our own it would have been up to us to chase down a refund.

It is a sampler platter indeed to either find where you'd like to go for a one stop vacation or if you want to try another sampler.

[Masked Bandit]

What ports were on the cruise? For the dollar, would you book Celebrity again or go back to RC?

I know what you mean about 'Rona fucking things up, we were supposed to be on the water the 3rd week of March 2020 so we got blocked out by a week and it was a nightmare to get our money back.

[ganesh]

I am planning a family Alaskan Cruise.
Who has done the Alaskan cruise and Which cruise liners to look ?

thanks

[ExtraSlow]

In regards to the ES shout-out, no.

[ganesh]

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In regards to the ES shout-out, no.

We need a like button....

[Swank]

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What ports were on the cruise? For the dollar, would you book Celebrity again or go back to RC?

I know what you mean about 'Rona fucking things up, we were supposed to be on the water the 3rd week of March 2020 so we got blocked out by a week and it was a nightmare to get our money back.

As mentioned in the other thread by another, it might be tough to stray from Celebrity given how polished it is but it def hinges on ports/tours/PRICE over all - no firm answer to your question. The stateroom with the king bed and balcony that is also a part of the room was a very nice touch. Celebrity delivered huge.

We did Grand Cayman, Cartagena Colombia, Aruba, Curacao, Jamaica. Did a tour in each, lots of people unhappy with the Jamaican tour (us included) as it was a 7 hour tour but 5 of it was in an 8 person mini-bus AKA van and that tidbit was not mentioned in the tour description. Aruba was gorgeous but Curacao topped it by like 10%

[The_Penguin]

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We need a like button....

Liked

[gpomp]

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Fucking love cruises. Been to 4 now and I can't wait to go for another. The right ship and right ports make all the difference. Next target is a Mediterranean cruise that'll go Spain, Italy, Greece etc. Not the same as actually visiting those places and spending a few days each but you get enough of a taste on how they will be so you can plan a future proper trip to that place accordingly.

I've done western and eastern. Bring very comfortable shoes because you'll be walking all day

[shakalaka]

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What ports were on the cruise? For the dollar, would you book Celebrity again or go back to RC?

I know what you mean about 'Rona fucking things up, we were supposed to be on the water the 3rd week of March 2020 so we got blocked out by a week and it was a nightmare to get our money back.

Ironically the last cruise we went to was also right before rona. We came back March 4 and I think the world went to shit a week or two later.

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I've done western and eastern. Bring very comfortable shoes because you'll be walking all day

Yea, I can imagine. Which one would recommend between the two? What are some of the ports/stops on either of those? Can't wait for our son to be a little bit older and less annoying to deal with as so far the only possible we see with him and still don't have the courage to do is an all inclusive on a beach.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I have been on several Celebrity and a couple other cruise lines over the years too. I find being at sea so interesting, don’t get sick in rough seas at all and love the complete contrast to everyday life at home. Really enjoy watching storms from the boat or seeing shooting starts etc. The taste of each port is nice, get to see lots of different places for a day or so. I’ve done Western and Eastern Med, Baja California/Mexico, Western and Central Carribean so far, my parents have also done LA-Hawaii-LA and Alaska on Celebrity as well.

My dream is to cruise to Antarctica one day, seems to be the easiest and cheapest way to visit Antarctica as long as your careful to make sure you actually go on land at a recognizable point down there.

[max_boost]

I wanna go cruise now

[RX_EVOLV]

Cruises are awesome. Definitly one of our favorite vacations. I think I've been on ~16 so far? Most recently this past May with RC on Allure to Western Caribbean.

So far my favorite route been Eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Turkey, etc..) and Asia (Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam). The Western Mediterranean side (Rome, Barcelona, etc..) also been nice. More relaxing. The Caribbean ports are very hit and miss.

Now with young kids (<5yo) our favorite cruise line is RCL because of the amenities on the bigger ships and their Adventure Ocean Program (child minding services). Their Status match with MGM also helped us save some money on our Vegas trips. We are contemplating Wonder of the Seas for this year but flying down to Orlando is such a pain and $$.

Other ons we will probably do when the kids get older are the Japan route during cherry blossom season, and the Northern Europe (Netherland, Germany, Scandinavian) route.

[davidI]

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My dream is to cruise to Antarctica one day, seems to be the easiest and cheapest way to visit Antarctica as long as your careful to make sure you actually go on land at a recognizable point down there.

If you don't go on a huge ship you'll probably be able to land a lot - depends on the weather the most, though.

I loved the company I went with, which was based out of Squamish and used old Russian spy ships but sadly it ran into issues with the Russian Government / ship leases and went bankrupt (OneOcean).

[rage2]

Also love cruises. We’re going on the one with a skating rink this summer. Bringing our skates. Think I’m doing it wrong haha.

[Masked Bandit]

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Cruises are awesome. Definitly one of our favorite vacations. I think I've been on ~16 so far? Most recently this past May with RC on Allure to Western Caribbean.

So far my favorite route been Eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Turkey, etc..) and Asia (Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam). The Western Mediterranean side (Rome, Barcelona, etc..) also been nice. More relaxing. The Caribbean ports are very hit and miss.

Now with young kids (<5yo) our favorite cruise line is RCL because of the amenities on the bigger ships and their Adventure Ocean Program (child minding services). Their Status match with MGM also helped us save some money on our Vegas trips. We are contemplating Wonder of the Seas for this year but flying down to Orlando is such a pain and $$.

Other ons we will probably do when the kids get older are the Japan route during cherry blossom season, and the Northern Europe (Netherland, Germany, Scandinavian) route.

Kids on cruise = Disney above all others. If you can swallow the price tag, Disney will set a standard of service for the family that no other company will live up to. At least that was our experience, to the point where the wife and I would consider sailing with them even without the kids.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

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If you don't go on a huge ship you'll probably be able to land a lot - depends on the weather the most, though.

I loved the company I went with, which was based out of Squamish and used old Russian spy ships but sadly it ran into issues with the Russian Government / ship leases and went bankrupt (OneOcean).

Yeah seems like the smaller more expensive ones are better for Antarctica. I forgot my parents also did a Galapagos cruise which was much smaller and more expensive as well.

[Swank]

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Also love cruises. We’re going on the one with a skating rink this summer. Bringing our skates. Think I’m doing it wrong haha.

Sailing away from Canada to ice skate, yeah something seems a bit off

[gpomp]

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Ironically the last cruise we went to was also right before rona. We came back March 4 and I think the world went to shit a week or two later.



Yea, I can imagine. Which one would recommend between the two? What are some of the ports/stops on either of those? Can't wait for our son to be a little bit older and less annoying to deal with as so far the only possible we see with him and still don't have the courage to do is an all inclusive on a beach.

Both are great. Depends on which ports you want to visit as per RX_EVOLV