We could just could not get into cruising

[kolson66]

Thanks All

 

I think we are moving on from cruising the ports etc fantastic its the time on the ship it was all show no substance and the inability to get and go to something else was frustrating . It suits alot of people but its just not our thing

 

 

The original post seemed to be meant as a warning/notice for people who have not cruised. To offer a different perspective, I never wanted to cruise at all. I thought I would be bored and feel confined and trapped. I have only taken a short cruise, but found I did not feel confined or trapped. I wasn't bored because I enjoyed working out, pool side fun and other types of activities. Our daughter who was about 14 at the time LOVED the teen club on Carnival and we were hard pressed to get her to spend time with us...made a gang of friends instantly. This will be our first week long trip. I chose the Southern Caribbean with lots of port time to avoid potential "boredom and confinement". I think it will be a blast.

I look at a land vacation as an entrée and the cruise as a buffet of destinations. Both very enjoyable depending on your appetite!

[gatorsfam]

Cruising isn't for everyone, that's for sure

[kolson66]

Cruising isn't for everyone, that's for sure

 

 

Agreed. I am actually spending a week at an island resort/hotel, followed by a week long cruise visiting 5 additional islands. This way, I am certain to enjoy myself even if there are aspects that are not for me.

[Tiggertastic]

I would say that Princess was not right for you

 

yes we have found the photographers pushy on 3 other lines

 

Although I never found any line that did anything for parents and teens together unless we made it so - we did fun quizzes together, had fun in the pool etc and made it up ourselves

 

some lies teen clubs are better than others and in my sons opinion, who is now 20 but cruised for 5 years as a teen upto 18, he says NCL followed by RCL were the best teen clubs and had the most people his age

[SPacificbound]

When we booked our first cruise it was primarily to get back home while avoiding another long flight. I hate looonnnng flights. :(

 

DH and I both had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Neither of us had ever had any interest in cruising, so an 18 night cruise with lots of sea days was a gamble. As it turned out I loved it :D and DH, though not quite as ecstatic as I was, enjoyed it.

 

Sailing out of Sydney I got the most beautiful deep blue sky Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge pictures.

 

A "small" ship was right for us, as was it not being during summer vacation time, and being a long cruise.

 

As someone who has only one cruise under her belt, even I think a lot of the things that were wrong was because it just wasn't a good fit for your family. But you tried, who knows, maybe some day you will try again. :)

 

We also love to travel and we really enjoyed our time in Tasmania. We have lots of wnderful pictures and memories of our travel in all of Australia and New Zealand.

[Antonintassie]

Thanks for all the feedback

 

We did comsider small ship/expedition cruising but we thought it would not suit a couple with an older teen

[suntan]

Thank you OP for your post as it will give others who are new to cruising some things to think about before they book. I love cruising mainly because I like being on the water - it's so relaxing. I'm embarking on a Princess cruise this Saturday and I hope that the photographers are not too intrusive. What I cannot tolerate is when the photographers come into the dining room on formal nights while you're eating to take your picture. You stated that you stayed in Venice for a day or two after your cruise. Would you mind sharing where you stayed as I'm booked on a Mediterranean cruise next year and plan to stay in Venice for a couple of days after the cruise. I know that you and your family will continue to enjoy whatever type of vacation you choose in the future. If I may recommend a cruise line that I think your teenager will enjoy - Royal Caribbean. A friend of mine went on her first cruise with her husband and teenage son on RCL and her son enjoyed their teen programs and the entire experience.

[reedl]

It depends on what type of vacation you are looking for, and where you are going. For example, I would never take a cruise in Hawaii personally even though I love to cruise. The reason is that I have been to Hawaii (three different islands) and there is much more to see there than what you see in port. Some other reasons are the food available at local restaurants, nighttime attractions (going to the top of Mauna Kae at sunset is absolutely stunning), and other things that are simply unavailable while on a cruise.

 

OTOH in the Caribbean where one port is a lot like the other (IMHO), I stay on the ship and the ship is my destination.

 

So it depends on where you are cruising to.

[OCruisers]

Cruising is not for everyone! You are not alone.

Glad you gave it a try to see for yourselves.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Antonintassie]

Hi

 

We stayed at the Becher Hotel in Venice for 5 nights it was very central we love Venice it was our third trip to this area

 

Kind Regards

 

Tony

[suntan]

Hi

 

We stayed at the Becher Hotel in Venice for 5 nights it was very central we love Venice it was our third trip to this area

 

Kind Regards

 

Tony

 

Thanks Tony for the name of the hotel.

Sue

[Antonintassie]

Hi

 

Venice really needs at least 4 to 5 days if possible ,Burano and Murano ,Lido etc are a 1/2 day each if you hustle.We love Venice particularly after 5pm when the mainland tour groups leave .

We stayed at the Hotel Becher which was very central and friendly .

 

The photographers on Royal Princess where very pushy we had actually asked our head waiter to keep them away at meal times and they ignored his request and hence had to deal with me ( big mistake).

 

We had RC suggested to us previously it is not really about Princess or any other line we just did not get into cruising we live on an island so the sea is not a novelty for us .

 

The downtime on the ship was the deal breaker for us we felt stuck and missed the flexability you get with land travel ie "lets go to town and have a meal with the locals etc"

 

It would be really nice if more cruises offered overnight stays in some ports

 

All The Best

 

Tony

 

 

 

Thank you OP for your post as it will give others who are new to cruising some things to think about before they book. I love cruising mainly because I like being on the water - it's so relaxing. I'm embarking on a Princess cruise this Saturday and I hope that the photographers are not too intrusive. What I cannot tolerate is when the photographers come into the dining room on formal nights while you're eating to take your picture. You stated that you stayed in Venice for a day or two after your cruise. Would you mind sharing where you stayed as I'm booked on a Mediterranean cruise next year and plan to stay in Venice for a couple of days after the cruise. I know that you and your family will continue to enjoy whatever type of vacation you choose in the future. If I may recommend a cruise line that I think your teenager will enjoy - Royal Caribbean. A friend of mine went on her first cruise with her husband and teenage son on RCL and her son enjoyed their teen programs and the entire experience.

[SeaTeach]

True... cruising is not for everyone. Convinced SIL and BIL to do a B2B with us. They hated it. They're the kind of people that like to spend time in a city until ready to move on, and utilizing a guide book, renting a car, checking out the sights is an ideal vacation. Not so for me.... Put me on a ship!!

[OCruisers]

You are not alone. Some people really don't like to cruise. Just not for them. Nothing wrong with that.

 

At least you gave it a try and will know to book a different sort of vacation next time.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[luddite]

I like beer and licorice. Not simultaneously.

 

My neighbor likes sweet white wine and starlight mints.

 

We get along fine.

[FinallyCruisinIn2014]

As someone who has not yet cruised, I appreciate your insight. Your reasons for not liking it are definitely concerns of ours, too. Because of this, we chose a short cruise (4 nights). I've heard people say, "you won't be on it long enough to know if you like it". Well, but if I hate it, I won't be stuck for a week or more either!

 

I'm really hoping we like it but we won't know until we sail.

 

I do hope, OP, that at the very least you can say you're glad you tried it. For us, that is worst case scenario... tried it/don't like it/won't do it again. But all in all, I am excited for the new experience.

[Hlitner]

As someone who has not yet cruised, I appreciate your insight. Your reasons for not liking it are definitely concerns of ours, too. Because of this, we chose a short cruise (4 nights). I've heard people say, "you won't be on it long enough to know if you like it". Well, but if I hate it, I won't be stuck for a week or more either!

 

I'm really hoping we like it but we won't know until we sail.

 

I do hope, OP, that at the very least you can say you're glad you tried it. For us, that is worst case scenario... tried it/don't like it/won't do it again. But all in all, I am excited for the new experience.

 

I think you have made a smart move :). While its absolutely true that a 4 day cruise is not anything like a 2 week cruise....one can also say that a 2 week cruiser is nothing like a 2 months cruise, etc.

 

We ourselves took our first cruise as a 4 day voyage on a 14,000 ton ship (tiny by today's standards). Now, about forty years later....and after having spent far more then 3 years on cruise ships, we still fondly remember that 4 day Sunward II voyage. Of course tastes do change and at this point in our life we consider any cruise less then 2 weeks as being too short :).

 

Hank

[RSLeesburg]

As someone who has not yet cruised, I appreciate your insight. Your reasons for not liking it are definitely concerns of ours, too. Because of this, we chose a short cruise (4 nights). I've heard people say, "you won't be on it long enough to know if you like it". Well, but if I hate it, I won't be stuck for a week or more either!

 

I'm really hoping we like it but we won't know until we sail.

 

I do hope, OP, that at the very least you can say you're glad you tried it. For us, that is worst case scenario... tried it/don't like it/won't do it again. But all in all, I am excited for the new experience.

 

Hehe... We did the same. We booked the shortest cruise we could out of Baltimore, as I did not want to pay for flights on top of the cruise. We sailed on Grandeur (which used to be the sister ship of Enchantment) for 6 night to Bermuda. We ended up loving it, and booked an 8-night on Grandeur for next year. It was funny, neither of us ever considered cruising and we only went because we wanted something easy to do with our 4 y/o son. And we all ended up having a great time.

[wwcruisers]

As someone who has not yet cruised, I appreciate your insight. Your reasons for not liking it are definitely concerns of ours, too. Because of this, we chose a short cruise (4 nights). I've heard people say, "you won't be on it long enough to know if you like it". Well, but if I hate it, I won't be stuck for a week or more either!

 

I'm really hoping we like it but we won't know until we sail.

 

I do hope, OP, that at the very least you can say you're glad you tried it. For us, that is worst case scenario... tried it/don't like it/won't do it again. But all in all, I am excited for the new experience.

 

There's nothing at all wrong with your approach. :)

We started with a couple of 3/4 night-ers --back in the '80's, that was all we had the time and money for. We loved the experience, but it was still more than a decade before we could get back to cruising. Now, we're making up for lost time -- and enjoying every minute of it! :p

Sincerely hoping that you enjoy your first cruise! :cool:

[KirkNC]

Cruising is not for everyone. We love sea days, we mainly entertain ourselves out side to team trivia.

[Antonintassie]

Hi All

 

We have recently received some feedback on some smaller more exotic location cruises available in 2015 with virtully no sea days so we might give this a try if we run out of land based travel ideas.

 

We spend a lot of time in Dubai so some Arabian Gulf private charters maybe an option Oman looks interesting but we will see how we feel in another year or so.

 

Kind Regards

 

Tony

[RSLeesburg]

Hi All

 

We have recently received some feedback on some smaller more exotic location cruises available in 2015 with virtully no sea days so we might give this a try if we run out of land based travel ideas.

 

We spend a lot of time in Dubai so some Arabian Gulf private charters maybe an option Oman looks interesting but we will see how we feel in another year or so.

 

Kind Regards

 

Tony

 

Happy vacations!

[Karysa]

Hi All

 

We have recently received some feedback on some smaller more exotic location cruises available in 2015 with virtully no sea days so we might give this a try if we run out of land based travel ideas.

 

We spend a lot of time in Dubai so some Arabian Gulf private charters maybe an option Oman looks interesting but we will see how we feel in another year or so.

 

Kind Regards

 

Tony

 

I would be very interested in a cost analysis between a two week land vacation and a two week cruise that takes you to the same places.

 

Arabian Gulf private charter? Oh please give me an estimate of the cost for that for a week.

[Antonintassie]

Hi we are not really a cost sensitive travel group ,our first cruise was in a suite $16,000 plus our airfares to Europe which which equated over $12,000

In addition we had a pre stay in Barcelona and a post stay in Venice so cruising was certaining not the cheapest option for 12 days in Europe we have driven and railed to most of the location we went on the cruise and it was significantly cheaper .

[Karysa]

Hi we are not really a cost sensitive travel group ,our first cruise was in a suite $16,000 plus our airfares to Europe which which equated over $12,000

In addition we had a pre stay in Barcelona and a post stay in Venice so cruising was certaining not the cheapest option for 12 days in Europe we have driven and railed to most of the location we went on the cruise and it was significantly cheaper .

 

A private charter will cost a lot more than that. The largest yachts that visit the Caribbean were going for $250k for one week and the bargain price of $450k for two weeks. That was a few years ago now. Food, gas, alcohol and 10% tips were on top of that. Not sure what size yacht you are looking into but I am still interested in the price.

 

Perhaps you had high expectations because of the high price you paid. You have to remember that even though you paid a high price to cruise you were on an average quality ship eating average food with average entertainment. How were the cruise reviews for your sailing? Did others feel the same as you or did they rate the cruise much higher?