Cruising regrets - what are yours?

[Honolulu Blue]

I've thought about this some in recent days.  I have done quite a few cruises over the past decade.  I like to think I've chosen my experiences with care.  The regrets I have are few.  Let's take a brief look at mine:

 

• That one time I let the ship sail without me.  I once gambled on a flight that got in late to the cruise port on embarkation day and lost. ☹️  The cruise line actually gave me FCC for my no-show, which minimized my losses.  This experience saw me tweak my future flight experiences.
• I wish I could have taken more cruises between the restart and mid-2023.  I especially would like to have done more of the Princess 80s themed cruises they had during that time period.  They offered 9 or 10 and I could only take two.  
• The first music themed cruise I booked I thought I had to cancel because I wasn't sure the chartering company would cancel soon enough.  They canceled a week later.  I had CFAR insurance, which refunded me about as much as I paid in.  I ended up getting back on this cruise (delayed by a year) in a similar cabin and having the time of my life.

 

Those are my boring, convoluted tales about my cruising regrets.  I'm sure yours are more interesting.  Please share them!  Maybe I can learn something from them.  Thank you very much!!

[AKJonesy]

I wish we had taken more cruises right after covid.  

[CanobieFan]

Add me to the.... I wish I had done a few more post covid restart. Even if it was just one extra 5 day... It would have moved me way further up in the RC program, I'd have been Diamon Plus for my B2B next year where as now I'll be hitting D+ mid-sailing and wont get the benefits, that would have been helpful on a 14 day cruise (like free laundry... and the extra day of free wifi)

 

I also wish maybe on my first couple I had done a third party excursion and not have been super worried about being left behind in port.

 

And maybe, maybe, I regret not using the free room service for food back when it was still free. Looking back on when I only used it 2 o 3 times and now I wish I could order some cookies or a snack to the room without it being $8 for some reason,

[ldubs]

I regret the momentary lapse when I ordered the baked chicken breast in the MDR.  😃

[Zach1213]

Honestly, my expectations on food. The first time I ever cruised, about 11ish years ago, I kept reading how great the food was. My wife and I are not foodies, but we do eat quite well and appreciate good/great food. Our first dinner on the ship was an eye opener about getting our hopes up. Following that, we went in with much lower expectations and have found more enjoyment. 

[K32682]

I regret cruising in the Caribbean. 

[Mary229]

I regret taking so long to figure out you could pick your own room.  In the 80s and 90s I had all guarantees.  I regret not taking more shore excursions, private or ship sponsored.  My first 15 or 20 cruises we did very very few excursions.  I enjoy now not having to plan the logistics and taking a “flyer” and doing an activity I would have never considered like zip lining or glass bottom boat tours 

Edited September 4 by Mary229

[GeezerCouple]

I'll post for Mr. GeezerCouple:

His regret?  Not starting cruising *much* sooner!

 

My first cruises were back in the mid-1970's.

Once Mr. GC and I were a couple, much later, I begged and *begged* him to "just give it a try".

But... nooooo. 😡

 

He finally agreed to take one relatively short cruise (1 week) "so we could bond" with kids and a grandkid.  [Ha!  I just *knew* once he tried it, he'd be hooked! 😉 ]

 

Sure enough, we barely got home before we booked a nicer cruise about 3 months in the future.

And to this date, he still jokes, "why didn't we do this sooner!?!" 😁

 

GC

[clo]

3 hours ago, K32682 said:

I regret cruising in the Caribbean. 

That was our first cruise. The Southern Caribbean. There were pluses and minuses. And I have no interest in ever returning.

[Markanddonna]

9 hours ago, clo said:

That was our first cruise. The Southern Caribbean. There were pluses and minuses. And I have no interest in ever returning.

We cruise to the Caribbean to get away from northern winters, that's it. It is generally less expensive than getting a condo or hotel. Nice if you have a place to stay down in FL, but we do not.

[leaveitallbehind]

22 hours ago, CanobieFan said:

....Even if it was just one extra 5 day... It would have moved me way further up in the RC program, I'd have been Diamon Plus for my B2B next year where as now I'll be hitting D+ mid-sailing and wont get the benefits, that would have been helpful on a 14 day cruise (like free laundry... and the extra day of free wifi)

 

Off topic I realize, but if by mid-sailing you mean you will reach D+ by the end of the first cruise, if you notify the Loyalty Ambassador of this on board during the first cruise, they usually are able to arrange to have your D+ benefits available on the second cruise. While it is a B2B to you, to RCI it is two separate cruises that happen to be consecutive.  In this manner the LA should be able to have the points accrued for the first cruise and applied to the second. 

 

But they can only do this if the total points required for D+ will be realized with the completion of the first cruise.  Based on your mention of a 5-day to achieve D+, it sounds like you would qualify.  

Edited September 4 by leaveitallbehind

[George C]

Approximately 80 cruises and as Sinatra said in My Way “ too few to mention “

[leaveitallbehind]

I regret the introduction of WIFI that made it possible to be connected.  In our early days of cruising we always enjoyed and looked forward to that component of cruising that kept us disconnected - hence my screen name!.

Edited September 4 by leaveitallbehind

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, Markanddonna said:

We cruise to the Caribbean to get away from northern winters, that's it. It is generally less expensive than getting a condo or hotel. Nice if you have a place to stay down in FL, but we do not.

Ownership there is not looking so pretty with the insurance rates and HOA fees.  $10000 a year can buy a lot of weeks at sea in the Caribbean.

[K32682]

2 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

We cruise to the Caribbean to get away from northern winters, that's it. It is generally less expensive than getting a condo or hotel. Nice if you have a place to stay down in FL, but we do not.

 

We go south for the same reason but found cruising a far less enjoyable experience than a comparably priced resort. 

[ldubs]

19 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

Honestly, my expectations on food. The first time I ever cruised, about 11ish years ago, I kept reading how great the food was. My wife and I are not foodies, but we do eat quite well and appreciate good/great food. Our first dinner on the ship was an eye opener about getting our hopes up. Following that, we went in with much lower expectations and have found more enjoyment. 

 

Yes, very good point.  I think you have to go back 20 years (or more) to have experienced that really good food.  

[leaveitallbehind]

40 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Yes, very good point.  I think you have to go back 20 years (or more) to have experienced that really good food.  

Agree completely.  Back in the day when the MDR was the only choice, the food options were quite good.  Not so much now and if you want that same and better experience the choices are with the specialty restaurants. Not trying to spark a debate, just offering my opinion regarding another thing that has regrettably changed.

Edited September 4 by leaveitallbehind

[lifes-a-beach]

I regret not going to Cuba before the government screwed it up for everybody.

 

I regret not doing Antarctica years ago when it wasn't so crowded and expensive.

 

I regret not going out of Florida more back when airfare wasn't so crazy.  It's so hard to justify an additional $800 plus a night in an overpriced hotel just to go to different ports. 

[GeezerCouple]

2 minutes ago, lifes-a-beach said:

I regret not doing Antarctica years ago when it wasn't so crowded and expensive.

 

Ah, right...!

 

We both really regret not going to Antarctica, even a sail by (I'm not able to get to shore there anyway, but DH could)... while we were still healthy enough!

 

We're still doing pretty well, but we each have had the occasional need for an ER, and, well, there's not really even any medivac from down there...

 

Chances are excellent we wouldn't have a medical emergency "just then", but... the stakes are just too high.

 

We'd be willing to splurge for that trip, but it's not to be.

 

At least we got almost all of the other "wish list" trips done, with a few yet to go, but nothing too exotic.

 

GC

[Cruzaholic41]

11 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

I regret the introduction of WIFI that made it possible to be connected.  In our early days of cruising we always enjoyed and looked forward to that component of cruising that kept us disconnected - hence my screen name!.

Oh, you nailed that one right on the head. The necessity for everyone to keep their phones on them now, along with all the selfish and rude behavior associated with it has really changed cruising for the worse, IMO. 

[ontheweb]

I regret we never made it to Stonehenge on any of our pre-cruise days in London. 😒 We actually had an excursion to Heathrow from Southampton which included Stonehenge booked, but alas it was in the summer of 2020 and of course the cruise never happened. 😢

[sparks1093]

23 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

We cruise to the Caribbean to get away from northern winters, that's it. It is generally less expensive than getting a condo or hotel. Nice if you have a place to stay down in FL, but we do not.

Us as well. From the northeast it's really the only option that doesn't involve coast to coast travel or flying across the Atlantic. We are contemplating moving to Jamaica for the winters when we retire and coming home to our camp for the summers (much more affordable than Fla). We'll see how it goes.

[ldubs]

12 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

Oh, you nailed that one right on the head. The necessity for everyone to keep their phones on them now, along with all the selfish and rude behavior associated with it has really changed cruising for the worse, IMO. 

 

Huh, I can't think of a time when someone's cell phone caused me any anguish during a cruise, much less changed cruising.  

[Cruzaholic41]

9 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Huh, I can't think of a time when someone's cell phone caused me any anguish during a cruise, much less changed cruising.  

Well, you’re lucky that you haven’t encountered people video recording shows with the bright screens, or those who insist on talking loudly on their phones during dinner, shows, etc, or the constant dings of text messages because people are too dumb to silence their phones. 

[9tee2Sea]

I have been cruising for about 30 years or so.  I started off doing cruises on the really cheap.  Because I was working a lot, I could only get away for 10 days max.  Now that I am retired, have the time, and the funds, I still do cruise on the cheap and now I go upto 18 night cruises.  I now cruise only in balcony, but still only at a good price.  I regret that i cannot get out of the "Being Thrifty" mindset, and just splurge on the one cruise I do a year.  I regret that my Partner dosent like to be on longer cruises ( I would love to do an around the world cruise), but thats ok, at least he enjoys cruises with me.  I regret that because of overcrowding in ports ,there may be some of my favorites that I will no longer be able to go to unless I do a land vacation.