Best for somone who doesnt like crowds!

I would think that NCL in The Haven or MSC in The Yacht Club would be ideal for your husband's situation. The Yacht Club on MSC is an all-inclusive experience and they have a new ship which is more similar to a RCCL ship called Seaside which will start sailing in December 2017. In the meantime there is the Divina which is sailing from Miami. Even check in for Yacht Club guests is away from the crowds and you are taken to a VIP check in area. Once onboard, all drinks are included (including specialty coffees and alcohol and soda pop as well as everything in your mini bar which is replenished up to twice a day) and there is a special restaurant for Yacht Club guests only (although you can venture out to the buffet or specialty restaurants if you want - we never saw any need.) The Yacht Club has a 24x7 snack buffet that is changed every 3 hours. You get butler service and the Yacht Club Lounge plus the Yacht Club Pool deck - all a world away from the rest of the ship. So if your husband feels like venturing out, he can and if he doesn't want to, he can relax in his suite or in the Yacht Club Lounge or by the uncrowded Yacht Club pool. Room service is included from your butler. AND...all of this costs about the same as a junior suite on RCCL.

With NCL, The Haven guests usually get 2 included alcohol packages and a specialty dining package for 2 (check on the NCL website to see the current packages). After that, the extra expenses are really up to you. They would be things like buying a spa pass, buying a soda package for your kids, taking your kids to specialty restaurants instead of the MDR or buffet or O'Sheehan's or the Chinese restaurant or noodle bar, playing in the Casino. But a lot of families the kids go in the kids clubs and eat in the buffet or one of the free venues and the adults eat later in a specialty restaurant while the kids are in evening activities in the kids clubs and the kids prefer it that way. On Epic, Getaway, Breakaway, or Escape The Haven includes a special restaurant for Haven guests only and families staying in The Haven often forego specialty restaurants and eat in there instead as it is a peaceful place for breakfast, lunch and dinner and at breakfast and lunch, food is also served by The Haven pool. Room service by your butler is included. The people who complain about nickel and diming on NCL are usually people who come from countries where tipping is not usual and who want to eat in the MDR only and have a more all-inclusive experience with free room service. They want everything onboard to be included, which is unrealistic for a mid-tier cruise line trying to attract cruisers of all ages and income levels. For us, NCL is much less expensive than other cruise lines for suites, but it is a great experience and then you also get all the benefits of being on a Mega ship, so we don't mind paying extra for specialty dining outside of whatever our package includes, if that is what we want to do. And the mega ships also have a show that costs extra and includes dinner and if we want to see, we don't mind paying extra for that. But remember this is all optional. You don't have to see the show that costs extra. You don't have to go into the ice bar nor gamble.

I took it to mean the class or type of passengers. All kinds of people sail from every port. I wouldn't avoid an embarkation port because of the perceived demographics of the port city.

 

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That is what it sounded like ... but why pick on Baltimore? If you are concerned with the "class or type of passenger", it makes much more sense to focus on the ship - where you will be rubbing elbows for a week or more, rather than the port, which you will be just passing trough.

DH and I really, really dislike crowds. We've been on all sizes of ships and usually don't have any problem finding a quiet spot away from crowds to hang out. However, our best method of avoiding crowds is to adjust our schedule so that we aren't doing what the crowds are doing.

We usually get up at 6am and walk on deck. After a quick shower, we have breakfast in the buffet. Afterward, we head to the adults-only pool area. Usually, there's only a handful of people - if anyone at all - at the pool at that time. After we enjoy an hour or two at the pool, we're usually ready for a nap in our cabin. We eat a late lunch in order avoid the lunch crowds. In the afternoons, we often find a shady, quiet spot on deck or in the library to read or people watch (from afar). If we can't find a quiet spot, we just go back to the cabin. We rarely do any of the organized daytime activities on board.

We choose anytime dining over assigned seating to avoid crowds and awkward situations with strangers. We arrive as soon as the dining venue opens (when it is generally less crowded), and we always request a table that only accommodates our party. On our last RCCL cruise, we decided to try the buffet at dinnertime rather than the main dining room. I don't think we'll ever go back to the dining room, to be honest. We ate dinner at different times throughout the week and never found the buffet to be crowded. Also, the ambiance was so much more calm and peaceful than the dining room - less people, the lights were dimmed, etc., and we had much more control over the length of the meal.

We do often go to the shows in the evening; however, we arrive early to get our preferred seats - the two closest to the aisle on the very last row of the balcony. We don't feel boxed in, and the crowd isn't as overwhelming.

Sometimes we sail in inside cabins; sometimes in balconies. We like them both, for different reasons. Insides are very dark, so daytime naps are fabulous. Of course, we love being outside and seeing and hearing the ocean on a balcony. We do spend more time reading in our cabin than on deck when we have a balcony, but having a balcony isn't a guarantee for peace and quiet. We've had some very loud, obnoxious balcony neighbors. I would say if your husband dislikes small windowless quarters, a balcony would be a better choice for him to have a place to hang out away from the crowds.

Do you suppose that the term "... the crowd there,,," meant not numbers of people but the class of people who live/board ships there?.

Navybankerteacher,

I'm somewhat appalled by this attitude towards BMore residents, and those of the surrounding communities. the Baltimore/Washington corridor has a huge demographic including every socioeconomic class. Certainly the many graduates of it world class universities and colleges, federal government employees, tech workers in No Va and MD, world class medical institutions like Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland (home of the first shock trauma program) don't consider themselves of a hazardous "class of people."

As one of the class of people who happily cruise from BMore I can only say Please stay away. You are not of a class of people we want to share our lovely shores.

signed,

NurseClinicalSpecialist/ClinicalInformatics/Educator

Just to clarify, Navybankerteacher wasn't the one making the statement. He/she was questioning (like I was) what was meant by the statement that Baltimore had a rough crowd embarking at the port.

Roz

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Loved boarding and sailing from Baltimore and Granduer is one of my favorite ships. We had no issues with the "crowd" there or on the Anthem in NY. I also dislike crowds and find the only place we encounter them is muster drill (can't be avoided but over quick) and after the show (we stay seated and let the crowd thin, then amble out). Also avoid the feeding frenzy of the shopping area on any size ship.

For your needs you want to balance the offerings for your kids which may be better on larger ships. We do spend our time away from crowds - on the upper deck away from the poolside, in the Solarium, or in one of the many quiet corners playing cards or a board game- may not sound like fun to every one but we are happy.

Maybe it's the DC and Philly crowd? Or just East Coast rudeness in general?

 

Roz

HA! Maybe?! But I am born and raised New Yorker so you would think I'd be ok with it...LOL! Although I left in 2009 for the Military so who knows ;)

Do you suppose that the term "... the crowd there,,," meant not numbers of people but the class of people who live/board ships there?

 

Certainly elitist - and hard to explain regardless of meaning. I do not think that Bayonne, NJ or Miami, FL are known as haunts of the upper classes - and certainly their population density would match that of Baltimore.

 

Better to ignore that piece of advice.

Well that just made me sound like snob...lol! Not saying that's what you meant but I think that is what she meant when she gave me the advice. She just said they were really rude and obnoxious. But I will add that she is pretty conservative so I am sure that may have had something to do with it.

Navybankerteacher,

I'm somewhat appalled by this attitude towards BMore residents, and those of the surrounding communities. the Baltimore/Washington corridor has a huge demographic including every socioeconomic class. Certainly the many graduates of it world class universities and colleges, federal government employees, tech workers in No Va and MD, world class medical institutions like Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland (home of the first shock trauma program) don't consider themselves of a hazardous "class of people."

 

As one of the class of people who happily cruise from BMore I can only say Please stay away. You are not of a class of people we want to share our lovely shores.

 

signed,

NurseClinicalSpecialist/ClinicalInformatics/Educator

Please let me clarify! I merely asked a question regarding a cruise and mentioned a statement that was given to me. At no time did I or anyone put down anyone from MD, VA or DC! And I believe that Navybankerteacher was clarifying what was meant by "class of people" and he is right to ask since it is no secret that Baltimore has areas that I wouldn't dare walk alone! As for my background. I am an Army Veteran and current federal employee with the Navy in MD! I am not uptight or elitist! And I wont apologize for not wanting to cruise with people who don't have manners and find it acceptable to be fowl and disrespectful! Regardless of where they are from! My husband is a combat veteran who doesn't like to be surrounded by idiots and I think I have every right to ask the question if I m paying good $$ for the cruise. And common sense tell me that there are idiots in every state!

Well that just made me sound like snob...lol! Not saying that's what you meant but I think that is what she meant when she gave me the advice. She just said they were really rude and obnoxious. But I will add that she is pretty conservative so I am sure that may have had something to do with it.

Of course, some of the most "conservative" people are redneck bigots - who, unfortunately can be found everywhere. Possibly the rudest people - to strangers passing through - are the cultivated Parisians, many of whom openly deplore "out-of-towners" - especially Americans.

At the end of the day, every city, town, village, seaport, you-name-it - has its own "crowd" to be avoided.

DH and I really, really dislike crowds. We've been on all sizes of ships and usually don't have any problem finding a quiet spot away from crowds to hang out. However, our best method of avoiding crowds is to adjust our schedule so that we aren't doing what the crowds are doing.

 

We usually get up at 6am and walk on deck. After a quick shower, we have breakfast in the buffet. Afterward, we head to the adults-only pool area. Usually, there's only a handful of people - if anyone at all - at the pool at that time. After we enjoy an hour or two at the pool, we're usually ready for a nap in our cabin. We eat a late lunch in order avoid the lunch crowds. In the afternoons, we often find a shady, quiet spot on deck or in the library to read or people watch (from afar). If we can't find a quiet spot, we just go back to the cabin. We rarely do any of the organized daytime activities on board.

 

We choose anytime dining over assigned seating to avoid crowds and awkward situations with strangers. We arrive as soon as the dining venue opens (when it is generally less crowded), and we always request a table that only accommodates our party. On our last RCCL cruise, we decided to try the buffet at dinnertime rather than the main dining room. I don't think we'll ever go back to the dining room, to be honest. We ate dinner at different times throughout the week and never found the buffet to be crowded. Also, the ambiance was so much more calm and peaceful than the dining room - less people, the lights were dimmed, etc., and we had much more control over the length of the meal.

 

We do often go to the shows in the evening; however, we arrive early to get our preferred seats - the two closest to the aisle on the very last row of the balcony. We don't feel boxed in, and the crowd isn't as overwhelming.

 

Sometimes we sail in inside cabins; sometimes in balconies. We like them both, for different reasons. Insides are very dark, so daytime naps are fabulous. Of course, we love being outside and seeing and hearing the ocean on a balcony. We do spend more time reading in our cabin than on deck when we have a balcony, but having a balcony isn't a guarantee for peace and quiet. We've had some very loud, obnoxious balcony neighbors. I would say if your husband dislikes small windowless quarters, a balcony would be a better choice for him to have a place to hang out away from the crowds.

Thank you for such a thorough reply! We decided to go with the Carnival Glory, western Caribbean in June 2018. We are not traveling with the kids and got an Aft extended balcony to avoid crowds if we need to. Thank again :)

Of course, some of the most "conservative" people are redneck bigots - who, unfortunately can be found everywhere. Possibly the rudest people - to strangers passing through - are the cultivated Parisians, many of whom openly deplore "out-of-towners" - especially Americans.

 

At the end of the day, every city, town, village, seaport, you-name-it - has its own "crowd" to be avoided.

I totally agree with you! Every place has their less than desirables!!!

Definitely go balcony

Don't forget that many of the night spots are pretty quiet during the day. All those bars and lounges can be nice escapes.

I've cruised Disney, RCL, NCL, and Carnival and have always been able to find quiet places on all of those cruise lines. There are usually seats and lounge chairs on the outside lower decks where it is very quiet. That's a great area to get away from the crowds and enjoy the ocean views. It is very relaxing and calming in these areas.

For shows, you guys may be more comfortable sitting in a row close to the door so that you can exit quickly at the end of the show or at any time if he starts to feel uncomfortable.

I think a balcony is a great choice because that is very private. There is also the option of room service or bringing plates from the buffet back to the room if some quiet meal time is needed. There are many options to get away from the masses.

When getting off of the ship at ports, if you wait until the mad rush in the morning exits, you can just walk off of the ship with barely a line.