The hardest part of planning a cruise. . .

[bingomamma19]

What is your hardest part? For me it is the hotels pre and post cruise.

 

I like to get in about 2 days before cruise for a couple of reasons--we live in Wisconsin and cruise in Jan--weather can be quite challenging, and we like to kind of "pre vacation" before the cruise and check out the port city. We stay a day after cruise just to unwind and relax a bit before heading back.

 

Now, with all that being said. . .our January Breeze cruise out of Miami is proving to be my hardest challenge in hotel finds. We are cruising Jan 13 and want to come in on the 11th. Would love a beach hotel with a balcony, near malls, marketplace and/or nightlife (my sons are 21 and 23) and room for 4 adults in one room. All of this for under $200 a night.

 

First of all, Miami seems to be the most expensive hotel area we have been to so far, second, everytime I find something I may like, I read the reviews and get a bit scared off. I dont know Miami at all.

 

I read the florida departure boards, tripadvisor, betterbidding, etc.

 

I am not giving up yet--just wanted to vent-feel frustrated so far :eek:

[askimdog]

I'd say the time spent looking for a decent priced flight. Long and frustrating. Hotels are a non-issue. We only cruise from places we have friends in (NY/LongBeach/Galveston or Tampa all work). We cruise in January to avoid nasty weather as well. So we play in port town a day or 2 before and a day or 2 after and just stay with friends.

[ferfoodle]

I will so second that the hardest part of planning a cruise or any vacation for that matter, is finding flights that neither causes one to sell a kidney to afford nor with layovers of less than 1 hour or greater than 5 hours before the connecting flight. Airlines just deflate the thrill of planning.:mad:

[Bigleafsfanwife]

We loved Embassy Suites in Miami.. especially for 4 people (they also have a Happy Hour with free drinks..) and a not so bad breakfast. I agree.. the flights for us are the most challenging.. flying out of Toronto they are expensive.. and driving to Buffalo NY is also a pain. What starts off at a good price for a vacation quickly adds up..

[skphotography99]

What is your hardest part? For me it is the hotels pre and post cruise.

 

I like to get in about 2 days before cruise for a couple of reasons--we live in Wisconsin and cruise in Jan--weather can be quite challenging, and we like to kind of "pre vacation" before the cruise and check out the port city. We stay a day after cruise just to unwind and relax a bit before heading back.

 

Now, with all that being said. . .our January Breeze cruise out of Miami is proving to be my hardest challenge in hotel finds. We are cruising Jan 13 and want to come in on the 11th. Would love a beach hotel with a balcony, near malls, marketplace and/or nightlife (my sons are 21 and 23) and room for 4 adults in one room. All of this for under $200 a night.

 

First of all, Miami seems to be the most expensive hotel area we have been to so far, second, everytime I find something I may like, I read the reviews and get a bit scared off. I dont know Miami at all.

 

I read the florida departure boards, tripadvisor, betterbidding, etc.

 

I am not giving up yet--just wanted to vent-feel frustrated so far :eek:

 

I too was having a lot of trouble finding a decent hotel room in Miami that had a lot of the points we wanted in a hotel. I think the best word for booking a hotel in Miami would be compromise, unless of course you have an exorbitant amount of money and can afford some of those crazy prices.

 

I have to say I felt a little naive when reading through the Florida departure part of the boards. When I booked the cruise I was fairly confident I could find a great room that was on the beach for around $200 and had a decent star rating.

 

It turns out that before I could do some real digging, we had to unfortunately cancel our January cruise and take a different one in April out of San Juan. So I'm hoping finding a decent hotel in San Juan won't be as challenging than Miami was!

[cruisecrazy82]

I actually love the challenge of finding a great place to stay! We have had some great luck with Priceline, especially in the Miami area. You should check out the South Beach area, you can really get some awesome deals on really nice properties :) We had a great time in Miami on our last visit. We chose to Priceline a room in the Coral Gables area and it turned out to be such a great decision! I bid $75 a night ($92.88 with tax) for a 4 star hotel in that area and we got the Westin Colonnade. The hotel was really amazing and we could not have asked for a better area to stay in for 2 days. So many places to walk to for shopping and dining, and it was just a really really nice place! I know it's not beach front but if you are open to it you can find some really good deals outside of the actual downtown Miami area. :)

[Jasonmom]

Am planning 1st European cruise and by far the hardest thing I've ever done on any cruise is trying to figure out what to do at each port on this cruise.:eek: It's sooooooo expensive, but don't want to miss anything, but don't want to cheap my way out of seeing things, but don't want to break the bank, but..............:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

 

It is going to be so much fun:D

[bruisin4cruisin]

Figuring out which itinerary we would like to do next is our biggest challenge. We are not picky people, so most everything is easy after we get that narrowed down.

[celticd1]

What is your hardest part? For me it is the hotels pre and post cruise.

 

I like to get in about 2 days before cruise for a couple of reasons--we live in Wisconsin and cruise in Jan--weather can be quite challenging, and we like to kind of "pre vacation" before the cruise and check out the port city. We stay a day after cruise just to unwind and relax a bit before heading back.

 

Now, with all that being said. . .our January Breeze cruise out of Miami is proving to be my hardest challenge in hotel finds. We are cruising Jan 13 and want to come in on the 11th. Would love a beach hotel with a balcony, near malls, marketplace and/or nightlife (my sons are 21 and 23) and room for 4 adults in one room. All of this for under $200 a night.

 

First of all, Miami seems to be the most expensive hotel area we have been to so far, second, everytime I find something I may like, I read the reviews and get a bit scared off. I dont know Miami at all.

 

I read the florida departure boards, tripadvisor, betterbidding, etc.

 

I am not giving up yet--just wanted to vent-feel frustrated so far :eek:

 

Check out the Crest Hotel on SoBe. Doesn't have everything you listed but close. Good luck!

[mrsd912]

The waiting!

The plan part is fun for me, I love the challenge! But we have to plan so far ahead so we can budget accordingly that the wait is a killer!

We're already planning or next cruise, but we're not going until the spring of 2014!

[Keith1010]

Most challenging part is usually the flights to and from the ship.

 

Keith

[LHT28]

Getting DH to agree to go ;)

[TracieABD]

Flights and budgeting...:)

[Nebr.cruiser]

The hardest part for me is just finding and organizing the logistics of the trip. We decide on the cruise together, but I do most of the planning. Especially on involved trips, like our April Med cruise, getting all the flights, hotels, transfers, etc. worked out is tough, and, trying to do it all at a reasonable (cheap!) cost.

 

For instance, just to get to Citivecchia I had to find a flight with FF miles, get us the 2.5 hours to Omaha the night before, find a hotel (early flight), transfer from Newark to JFK, overnight flight, transfer from the airport near Rome to the port, finally to the ship! Coming back was even worse as we had to spend the night somewhere near La Guardia.

 

And then of course organizing all the tours (we do independent, usually) or DIY days. The possibility of goofing up big time is always on my mind! Like, getting us on a flight on the wrong day or something.

[dorisis]

Getting visas can be a nuisance. Or maybe flying. Flying has come to mean torture with the way airlines treat passengers.

 

~Doris~

[5326jan]

I love all the planning! The hardest part for me is deciding where to go next. We have so many places that we want to go, choosing which is first is the biggest challenge. I could put up a dartboard and see what destination wins, but I try to decide more logically. :rolleyes: Special offers, time of year, how much time DH can take, etc all go into the mix. One of these days he'll be retired and we'll have more time to fit them all in. :D

 

Edited to say that CC has helped immensely! We are able to read reviews and "live" threads and those help us. We're probably going to try a river cruise in October '13. That will be an interesting change.

[Sinppu]

Deciding which cruise is next.

After that the worst part is waiting. :)

[Havin'fun]

The waiting is the hardest part for us also. I want to go now! :D

[Erik101]

I actually love the challenge of finding a great place to stay! We have had some great luck with Priceline, especially in the Miami area. You should check out the South Beach area, you can really get some awesome deals on really nice properties :)

 

Me too! I like looking at photos of various properties to see if it's to my liking and constantly look for the best deals. In Fort Lauderdale, we found one at the W Hotel and I fell in love with this hotel.

 

For me, the hardest part about planning a cruise is choosing a ship with a great itinerary. Both ship and schedule are required for me.

[Warm Breezes]

What is your hardest part? For me it is the hotels pre and post cruise.

 

I like to get in about 2 days before cruise for a couple of reasons--we live in Wisconsin and cruise in Jan--weather can be quite challenging, and we like to kind of "pre vacation" before the cruise and check out the port city. We stay a day after cruise just to unwind and relax a bit before heading back.

 

Now, with all that being said. . .our January Breeze cruise out of Miami is proving to be my hardest challenge in hotel finds. We are cruising Jan 13 and want to come in on the 11th. Would love a beach hotel with a balcony, near malls, marketplace and/or nightlife (my sons are 21 and 23) and room for 4 adults in one room. All of this for under $200 a night.

 

First of all, Miami seems to be the most expensive hotel area we have been to so far, second, everytime I find something I may like, I read the reviews and get a bit scared off. I dont know Miami at all.

 

I read the florida departure boards, tripadvisor, betterbidding, etc.

 

I am not giving up yet--just wanted to vent-feel frustrated so far :eek:

 

Our hardest part is finding a time to cruise that fits into everyones work, dance, high school and college schedules. I'm really struggling to find a time that will work for everyone...ended up giving up for this year and now am trying to figure something out for next year.

[calliopecruiser]

Definitely finding and booking the flights before and after the cruise - trying to find a decent price with the right timing (especially if there are connections). Booking the hotels before and after is easy, because I can change my mind a half dozen times - unlike air tickets, there is no cost to cancel a hotel reservation with a few days notice. So I can shop and change my mind about hotels without penalty, which is kind of fun.

[lady_cruiser]

For us it is picking out excursions. When you go to the same ports over and over it is "been there, done that" type of thing.

[SMerritt]

What is your hardest part? For me it is the hotels pre and post cruise.

 

I like to get in about 2 days before cruise for a couple of reasons--we live in Wisconsin and cruise in Jan--weather can be quite challenging, and we like to kind of "pre vacation" before the cruise and check out the port city. We stay a day after cruise just to unwind and relax a bit before heading back.

 

Now, with all that being said. . .our January Breeze cruise out of Miami is proving to be my hardest challenge in hotel finds. We are cruising Jan 13 and want to come in on the 11th. Would love a beach hotel with a balcony, near malls, marketplace and/or nightlife (my sons are 21 and 23) and room for 4 adults in one room. All of this for under $200 a night.

 

First of all, Miami seems to be the most expensive hotel area we have been to so far, second, everytime I find something I may like, I read the reviews and get a bit scared off. I dont know Miami at all.

 

I read the florida departure boards, tripadvisor, betterbidding, etc.

 

I am not giving up yet--just wanted to vent-feel frustrated so far :eek:

 

Wow have I been there (above), reading trip advisor on Miami is very disturbing....I wanted beach and or a little "life" also, since it was only one day settled on the Hyatt Regency where we usually breakfast and lounge every cruise - nice but not inspiring.

 

As above, find some hotels you desire, then priceline them.....

[Cruisin' Chick]

What is your hardest part? For me it is the hotels pre and post cruise.

 

I like to get in about 2 days before cruise for a couple of reasons--we live in Wisconsin and cruise in Jan--weather can be quite challenging, and we like to kind of "pre vacation" before the cruise and check out the port city. We stay a day after cruise just to unwind and relax a bit before heading back.

 

Now, with all that being said. . .our January Breeze cruise out of Miami is proving to be my hardest challenge in hotel finds. We are cruising Jan 13 and want to come in on the 11th. Would love a beach hotel with a balcony, near malls, marketplace and/or nightlife (my sons are 21 and 23) and room for 4 adults in one room. All of this for under $200 a night.

 

First of all, Miami seems to be the most expensive hotel area we have been to so far, second, everytime I find something I may like, I read the reviews and get a bit scared off. I dont know Miami at all.

 

I read the florida departure boards, tripadvisor, betterbidding, etc.

 

I am not giving up yet--just wanted to vent-feel frustrated so far

 

As someone else suggested, you may have to compromise. Give up the balcony or the location. It's been eleven years since we've sailed out of Miami, but I selected a hotel not too far from the port, but not too far from places such as Bayside. I think that was the Holiday Inn (as I said, it's been some years). Not by the beach, but it was for one day. We took a taxi to the Bayside Mall, walked around, and had a late dinner there.

 

After the cruise, we did stay a few days at a hotel by the beach. Not a high end one. We had rented a car (that actually was the hardest part of my planning -- the agency kept changing its rates within a few hours) and then went to Key Largo for a day, then Key West for a couple of days. We stayed the night before our flight at the Ramada Inn by the airport, but they messed up our reservations, not giving us a non-smoking room. We strongly requested a ns room, and after an hour, we got one on the ns floor, but that one stank of cigars (my father was a cigar smoker so I knew that smell:mad:).

 

Am planning 1st European cruise and by far the hardest thing I've ever done on any cruise is trying to figure out what to do at each port on this cruise. It's sooooooo expensive' date=' but don't want to miss anything, but don't want to cheap my way out of seeing things, but don't want to break the bank, but..............:confused:

 

 

It is going to be so much fun[/quote']

 

Personally, I wouldn't want to squeeze in so many activities in one day. It's hard to feel otherwise if you think this may be the only time there (I've never been to Europe at all), but if you're trying to hurry here and there, are you really going to enjoy yourself? Why not come up with a prioritzed list and decide what you can't do without and what it would cost to do those. Then decide what other places you can see if there's time (and money) and play that part by ear.

 

Our last cruise we basically winged it -- we had done it before and taken a couple of tours, but my hubby decided he wanted to relax for the most part. So I sent for some brochures from those ports, gave them to our teen with post it notes, then the three of us sat down and came up with a list of possibilities. A few places I had to cross off our list because they would be closed on the day we would be there. While in each port, we actually ended up varying our plans and did a few things in addition to our list. Everyone in our family got to do things or went to places of interest to them.

[jocap]

Our difficulty is with the itinerary- OH wants to swim and snorkel; I want scenery, history and not too much heat! He loved the Caribbean- I'm not a fan- I prefer something which goes round Norway or Northern Spain.

Our best choice for both was a winter cruise round the Red Sea....he could swim each day, and I could see Egypt and Jordan.

Now, where next to satisfy both? It will be his turn to choose.....:confused: