1st time cruise for our honeymoon??

[johnandshann2012]

Hey Cruisers!!

 

My fiance and I are interested in trying a cruise for our honeymoon. Neither one of use has ever sailed or cruised before. We have found one that has ports-of-call that interest us. It is with Princess and is called the Egypt & Aegean Cruise on the Crown Princess, departing 5/12/12.

 

Does anyone have any feedback about this cruise, or Princess in general?

 

What suggestions do you have about booking by myself (I am an experienced traveler....just not cruiser) or using a travel agent?

 

What does "inclusive" really include?

 

Should we be worried about sea-sickness? This is a concern as I get motion sick in cars and I don't want to be miserable!

 

Thanks for any advice!!

Shannon

[uppitycats]

Hey Cruisers!!

 

My fiance and I are interested in trying a cruise for our honeymoon. Neither one of use has ever sailed or cruised before. We have found one that has ports-of-call that interest us. It is with Princess and is called the Egypt & Aegean Cruise on the Crown Princess, departing 5/12/12.

 

Does anyone have any feedback about this cruise, or Princess in general?

 

What suggestions do you have about booking by myself (I am an experienced traveler....just not cruiser) or using a travel agent?

 

What does "inclusive" really include?

 

Should we be worried about sea-sickness? This is a concern as I get motion sick in cars and I don't want to be miserable!

 

Thanks for any advice!!

Shannon

 

I can't help with all your questions, but here are some thoughts:

 

"Inclusive" and "cruise" don't belong together, unless you're talking about the really high-end lines, and even then, there are extra costs.

 

On all of the main-stream lines, Princess included, you'll pay extra for:

 

alcoholic beverages (beer, wine and hard liquor)

soft drinks

some specialty coffees

some juices if ordered other than at breakfast

some specialty restaurants on board

excursions

spa services

 

and of course casino gambling, purchases on board, and any costs when you're off the ship on excursions (meals, drinks, souveniers, etc.)

 

===

Whether you book with a travel agent or directly with the cruise line is a matter of personal choice. I prefer going through an agent, particularly when we travel out of the country for any extended period of time. I feel that she has our back -- can assist if we run into any sort of trouble while away. For example, we were in Norway when the Icelandic volcano erupted, stranding us there. We could continue our vacation while she scrambled to find extended accommodations and airflights home. Without her I would have had to be spending a LOT of $$ and time juggling that from afar.

 

We also never book airfare through the cruise line. We are often able to find it cheaper on our own (or through our agent), and at more convenient and workable times for us.

 

And sometimes the agent has access to cruise and airline fares that aren't available to the general public so you'll find his prices cheaper, and sometimes with credits or benefits sent your way, things like wine in your cabin, upgrades in cabin categories, etc.

 

Since you've never cruised, you may not know about the many many variables that go into booking cabins. It's not like a hotel where there are only maybe a few differences. With ship cabins, cabins that can be right next to each other can cost significantly more or less, depending on things like "obstructed views", or configuration of cabin, or even what's next to it on the other side. An agent can help figure out all that and get you a good price on what you might want.

 

Seasickness: This isn't quite as big an issue on the larger ships..but on your itinerary where you'll be in a lot of inland waters, it may or may not be an issue. There are plenty of meds, some over-the-counter, some that your doctor can prescribe, that can help with that if need be.

 

Have a great cruise!

[paul929207]

We travel with Princess often and have found that if you look around, you can find online Travel Agents who will discount the fare.

 

You have about 9 months until the cruise, so you have plenty of time to research the ports you will be visiting. Princess shore excursions are not cheap. You may find that there are some that you can either do on your own or by a private tour. Also, check the Roll Call for your cruise, you may find some fellow passengers planning private tours and looking for others to join them.

[trish1c]

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. A cruise can be a great honeymoon but if there's any possibility you may get seasick, that could be a problem. Is there a way you can do a short cruise before you book just to make sure? I'd hate to see you stuck for 12 days being miserable.

Princess is the Love Boat. They offer a very nice cruise product w/o a lot of yelling & screaming. This is not a party hearty cruise or a family activity cruise (no water slides, wave pools, rock walls etc). Your destination makes it even more likely that this will be an adult oriented trip --- all the better for a HM.

If you have traveled before you can easily comparison shop on the internet to get a good deal. A TA is not required but can help.

Given your itinerary, which is aboard the Pacific Princess, you will need to arrive in Greece on Friday May 11. You do not want to fly in the day of your cruise; too much can go wrong. Does that still fit your wedding plans? If you are getting married Friday night, it won't.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

What a wonderful way to spend your honeymoon.

 

You really should fly in 2 days early and plan on staying 1 day at the end of the cruise.

 

So many things can go wrong -- and I certaily have read horrid stories about people's flights being cancelled and missing the ship, etc.

[sail7seas]

Seeing you are inexperienced at cruising, I would suggest you drop into a local brick and mortar TA and chat about the particular cruises that interest you. It will give you the opportunity to have direct questions answered and if you like the person wtih whom you speak, have them do your booking. The Downside to using a TA is only they will be able to communicate directly with the cruiseline about your booking. The up side is that cruising has unique facets that are unlike other methods of travel and becoming familiar with cruising from someone who supposedly has good information could help you avoid traps.

 

BUT remember, these forums have very experienced cruisers here and we can answer so many of your questions or verify things for you that might not sound just right to you.

 

To start off trying to wrestle the absolute bottom line dollar price might cost you in the end. That's fine for folks who have done this before and don't need much help. Though you say you are experienced traveler, you are not an experienced cruiser. For your honeymoon, I'm sure you wish to have things go as smoothly as possible.

 

 

[/b]

[cruiseaholic777]

I am a platinum member with Princess. They are one of the best lines. The Crown is a very nice ship, i have sailed on her twice. You will not be disappointed wth your choice. Make sure you check out the international cafe in the lobby, they have great salads and sandwiches. Remember you never lose when you cruise. ;)

[Beopthtuh]

you could,nt have picked a nicer area to cruise ,the big grand class ships dont move to much so the sea sickness may not affect u ,u can get plenty of remedies like copper wrist bands to help.

the crown p is a very nice ship.

sometimes is easier to use a t.a gives u a little ease of mind if in the odd circumstance things may go wrong.

[bearhug75]

Hey Cruisers!!

 

My fiance and I are interested in trying a cruise for our honeymoon. Neither one of use has ever sailed or cruised before. We have found one that has ports-of-call that interest us. It is with Princess and is called the Egypt & Aegean Cruise on the Crown Princess, departing 5/12/12.

 

Does anyone have any feedback about this cruise, or Princess in general?

 

What suggestions do you have about booking by myself (I am an experienced traveler....just not cruiser) or using a travel agent?

 

What does "inclusive" really include?

 

Should we be worried about sea-sickness? This is a concern as I get motion sick in cars and I don't want to be miserable!

 

Thanks for any advice!!

Shannon

 

Never have cruised with Princess...sorry, no help there.

 

We booked our first cruise with the help of our AAA agent. Made it so simple, but we asked questions about everything and have since booked our other 4 cruises by ourselves.

 

Inclusive...in regards to cruises, means food and beverage, minus alcohol and soda. Those are at an extra cost.

 

Sea-sickness...take dramamine with you, or wear a patch before you board the ship as a precaution, we never noticed a thing...you're pretty much floating around in a shopping mall!!!

 

Good luck!

[SuiteTraveler]

Shannon,

I've sailed Princess several times. The ships are nice, the food is good, the beds are hard compared to other cruiselines which have adopted pillow-top mattresses. The itinerary you have chosen is a very nice one. You should have no qualms about booking a Princess Cruise. But the one thing that might be lacking on Princess for a young couple is nightlife. There is not a lot to do in the late evening compared to lines such as Carnival and RCCL. Princess does have a nightclub, but even that shuts down at 2am. I don't know if you care about nightlife or not, but since it's your honeymoon, I thought I should inform you about that. The line I consider most equal to Princess is Celebrity if you want to compare the two.

 

More premium than Princess and Celebrity are lines such as Crystal, Cunard, Seabourn and Silversea - as well as some others listed here on Cruise Critic as Luxury Cruises (see the link on the homepage of cruisecritic.com.) These are more inclusive but at different levels, but also much, much more expensive than Princess and Celebrity. One thing Celebrity currently has that Princess does not yet have are several almost all-inclusive beverage packages which you can purchase in advance. Celebrity only started having these packages recently and they are, IMO, a great deal.

 

So, back to your question about seasickness - yes, that is a possibility. There are many medications you can get for this however that should prevent this problem. Some are sold over the counter such as Bonine, others are prescribed by your doctor such as Transderm Scop. The best thing to do is ask your doctor which medication is right for you. Then starting early on the morning of your cruise, before you even get on the ship, begin taking the medicine. I, too get carsick, and I take my anti-seasickness medicine starting the morning we are to go on a cruise and so far, over 10 cruises and I have not been sick yet - although I admit I began to feel a bit bad when we went through the Bay of Biscaye last May on our Celebrity Eclipse cruise - very wild ride and our cabin was at the very front of the ship which made for a rather unpleasant experience - we had to walk with knees bent in order to not get pitched into the furniture or walls and showering that morning was quite a challenge. Some woman on our ship took a dance class that day and collided with a column and knocked herself out cold. Knowing how rough it was, we decided to spend the day relaxing, so, we took our seasickness medicine and we headed down to midship with our iPad's where we stayed in the Cafe al Bacio for the day and were fine. (The ship was rocking so much, they closed the outside decks.) Cafe al Bacio was mid-ship, so it was much more comfortable to hang out there, have specialty tea and coffee and relax. Fortunately, the rough seas only lasted that one day and the rest of the cruise was smooth. We did go to see the commedian that night and it was a really funny show because he couldn't hold still on the stage due to all the movement of the ship and he made a lot of off the cuff remarks about what we'd all been through that day. The second thing to know about seasickness is that you are best off getting a cabin midship - especially since you are new to using seasickness medicine and cruising on a ship and thirdly, it really helps to lie down if you start to feel bad. Now the good news is, like I said, I've never managed to actually really get seasick. I've had a couple of situations where I was afraid I would, but I either went to lie down or went midship and was fine. Finally, should you feel like you are going to vomit, take a cold can of soda out of your cabin's refrigerator and put it on your neck and lie down on the bed - this will stop that feeling and then lying down should make you feel much better.

 

As to booking, look at as many cruise travel websites as possible. What you are looking for is:

1. Great price

2. Onboard credit

3. Free insurance

 

Sometimes you can get other freebies such as free wine or free hotel nights. I don't think that you need a local travel agent for this. Just look in detail at what each online site offers. There is one strategy point you may want to consider: If you book the lowest category of cabin that would be acceptable to you, should the price go down on a higher category of cabin, then you can always upgrade. A lot of times, I'm really looking for an amazing deal on a suite, but I'll book a nice midship balcony - which is the lowest category of cabin I would find acceptable. Then, I keep checking the website where I booked every day as well as the cruiseline's website. Many, many times, I've been able to upgrade to a suite for a nominal amount of money. But it takes a lot of checking and re-checking the websites to find these deals. In one case, I would check roughly every 3 hours, but I was able to upgrade from a balcony to a 500 sq ft. 2 bedroom suite for my 2 week cruise for very little money so it was worth the effort. A travel agent is not likely to go to this level of effort for you.

[taylorray]

My fiance are getting married October 15th and will be sailing on the Carnival Valor October 16th for our honeymoon. We are first time cruisers and are so excited