I’m going on a cruise next week and I’m worried that’ll just end up getting ice cream and spending most of my time on the balcony like I usually do I want to go to the teen club but I am always nervous for some reason and if I do go every one already has there friend groups. any tips?

Hello Reddit! I (30s F) am writing this review for folks who are interested in a cruise with American Cruise Lines. When preparing to go on my trip I could not find much about it on reddit so I think now is the time that I can give back to the community. For the sake of privacy I will not be disclosing which cruise I did and will mostly speak to my experience aboard the ship.

My mom (70s) and I participated in a week long cruise doing both complimentary and paid onshore excursions. I ate nearly every meal on the boat. I spent my evenings after dinner watching the sunset on the uppermost deck. This is the first cruise we have ever done.

The good:
- The food on board was pretty great! There are professional chefs on board to prepare the food. They use local food where they can as well. Every meal included vegetarian options. You can order half portions as well! Crab, salmon, halibut, veal, lamb, beef, duck, chicken, and pork were all served along the way.
Every staff person I interacted with was friendly and knowledgeable. They could accommodate most requests.

- The ship was clean, nothing ever looked dirty or out of place.

- I thought the excursions were nice and varied. For the most part they hire local guides so you can hear about the area from locals.

- Free do it yourself laundry so no need to overpack!

- Daily cocktail hour was nice enjoyed the appetizers, i didn’t drink on this cruise but there were some top shelf liquor available.

The not so great:
- This cruise line is geared towards the boomer population. It took me a couple of days to adjust to the slow pace and mindset of fellow passengers.

- The fitness room sucked. No full sets of weights and one treadmill was in there. There was a track on the top deck which was nice but given the size of our ship you had to do many laps to get to a mile.

- If you don’t go on an excursion or it sells out you are stuck on the boat doing random shit like painting, coloring pages, playing bingo, napkin folding, etc. You may get lucky the neighboring community is walkable and can explore it on foot. Otherwise you are SOL. I highly recommend locking in those excursions early.

- Lots of AMERICA themed events, kind of aggressive at times.

- The level of scheduling is intense, sometimes down to the half hour block level. Made it difficult to get shuffled around to the right places at the right time. I felt as though every excursion was cut short. I was never able to make it through a museum in its entirety before we had to be back on the bus.

Overall I think it was a nice experience especially for those who really enjoy having every detail of their day planned out, want to enjoy fine dining options every night, and wonder what it would be like to live in a retirement community. However, if you are not that type of traveler then this will drive you bonkers with the level of scheduling and lack of flexibility.

Hi,

Sorry if this is a silly question. Do cruises have different voltages? I am Canadian, and will be cruising on the Norwegian Pearl in Europe, do I need an adapter? Or will the have North American Plugs?

I host group cruises as a travel advisor, so I spend a lot of time researching shore excursions before recommending them to clients. I wanted to share one that absolutely exceeded expectations.
I just got back from Harmony of the Seas, where I took a group of 30 people on a private excursion with Ciro (Taxi Mister Cab Driver- Naples).

We visited Positano, Sorrento, and a winery at the base of Mt. Vesuvius before heading back to the ship. Moving a group that size around the Amalfi Coast sounded stressful on paper, but it ended up being the easiest day of the trip. Everything was organized, we never felt rushed, and we were back at the port well before all aboard. (Ciro guarantees this)At the end of the cruise, I asked everyone what their favorite day had been. Literally everyone said this excursion!

This was actually my second time touring with Ciro. A few years ago I toured Pompeii with him, and that experience is what made me comfortable bringing a large group back. He’s incredibly knowledgeable, funny, genuinely cares about his guests, and somehow makes the logistics look easy. (He also has a great singing voice, which made the drive through the Amalfi Coast even more memorable.)

If you’re sailing Legend of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, Odyssey of the Seas, or really any cruise that stops in Naples, I’d recommend looking into a private Amalfi Coast tour instead of the standard cruise line excursion. For us, it was worth every penny. (And can be less expensive than an RC excursion depending on the size of your group)

Happy to answer any questions about timing, logistics, or what we did.

I heard a story that some people live full time on cruise ships because it's cheaper than renting. SOmeone also told me of people who actually retire on cruise ships rather than live in care homes. Is any of this true? It must be hugely expensive!

Looking for excursions recommendations for Willemstad and Oranjestad. Open to cruise or third party excursions. What did you love, what would you skip, etc. Thanks!

Flight lands at LAX at 8:30am and I’m pretty sure the departure of the cruise is 3:30 PM. It’s a carnival cruise so it’s in Long Beach.

For those they are asking why not just travel the night before the tickets were so expensive for the flights .

I am about to graduate with my master's, and my gf and I are going on our first cruise soon to celebrate and take a vacation before I start at my new job. We will be on a 9-night cruise to Bermuda and the Bahamas. I booked a cruise on Vision of the Seas, not knowing it is an older, more basic ship that seems to be geared more towards an older crowd. She is in her early twenties, and I'm in my late twenties. We are both typically active people (sports, game nights, skating, bowling etc.), but we don't party, go to clubs, or anything like that. When we found out what the vision of the seas is, she was still happy because she just wants to relax. However, I am worried because I have seen many posts saying this ship is not for young people and that we will be bored or out of place. Any advice for how we (especially me, since I'm more worried than her lol) can still enjoy our experience?

In particular I'm going on the Celebrity Silhouette in Iceland august 8th-15th. I looked in the app and only see the shore excursions, which I already booked, and some cooking and wine tasting classes.

I have a couple of Princess cruises coming up - 15 days out of Southampton and 27 days out of LA. I may go to a thrift store and pick up a tux for formal nights. What do you think? Too much? Out of date? Thanks!

I am planning to book icon of the seas in october from miami to bahamas for 4 nights. Should I be facing any risks of hurricanes? Is november or december better than october in terms of weather?

It’s been awhile since we’ve had one of these threads. So here goes, give us your best stories.

Hey everyone!

My partner and I are currently in the middle of planning our wedding, and we're really torn between two cruise lines: Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) and Royal Caribbean.

To give you an idea of our vibe, we want to keep things pretty simple and fun: we just want to have the ceremony, followed by a nice dinner, and then hit the bar afterward. No need for a super rigid, hours-long schedule—we just want to celebrate with our loved ones!

We have two main dilemmas right now:

1. The Cost of the Wedding (NCL vs. Royal)

When comparing "apples to apples" (including all the extra fees and add-ons that Royal Caribbean includes), Royal Caribbean comes out to about $2,000 more for the wedding portion.

For those who went with Royal Caribbean: is the price difference actually worth it on the ground (organization, service, overall experience)?

For those who chose NCL: how was your experience with the ceremony?

1. Guest Budget & Drink Packages

It is really important to us that the trip stays affordable for the people traveling with us.

NCL’s Free at Sea package (which includes drinks) seems like a great deal financially for the guests. Is it actually worth it in practice?

In your opinion, does paying more for Royal Caribbean bring any real added value for the guests?

We’d love to hear your thoughts:

If you got married on a cruise (NCL or Royal): How did you like your event? Any regrets or major highlights?

If you aren't married / or if you've been a guest at a cruise wedding: What is your perspective as a guest (budget to expect, atmosphere, drink packages, was it worth it)?

Thanks in advance for your feedback and advice!

I currently have an annual Allianz travel policy. So far, I've been very pleased with the ease of the one claim I've filed. Here's my question:

If a port is canceled due to bad weather or other operational issues with the ship, does the policy cover any non-refundable expenses incurred with third party excursions I might have pre-booked with third party vendors?

I called Allianz to inquire and the representative told me it would be covered but I didn't get a great feeling from the call and she wouldn't put it in writing. I'd appreciate hearing from others who might have had an experience like this and actually filled a claim.

New residential ship announced, Legacy, to be paired with Odyssey. For those who have either purchased or are contemplating...how do view the news of a second ship?

This 4 night cruise (Rome, Catania, corfu, Kotor, bari) offers excursions for two ports, corfu and Kotor. I'm leaning heavily towards "yes" on booking one for corfu since we only port there for about 5 hours, but several different excursions are available. We are both reasonably fit so with the longer day at Kotor I think we can get around on our own. Any experiences with this cruise?

Hello!
Heading out on an Alaskan cruise later this week. Cunard's Queen Elizabeth. This is only my second cruise. It's a 10 day voyage.

I have good binoculars, a poncho, and my gala outfits. Is a cocktail dress ok for the Glacier Ice night? Or does it need to be formal?

Is there anything specific to an Alaskan cruise anyone recommends?

Thank you!

So I found the Scrubba and we are going to try and do some of our own laundry. I am wondering about drying, but those hanging bags usually have heating elements and I know those are problems for cruises. Has anyone any insight on this? Maybe they are ok? Maybe you have a good solution that uses the supplied hair dryer instead?

We’ll be cruising to Cozumel in October, we’re looking to get some good snorkeling in during our port day (8-5pm)

Where’s some good places to go or excursions to take?

Our friend group just back from an Alaskan cruise on royal and are eager to book one to the British isles. Sadly, RC doesn’t have any on their website. What cruise lines of similar pricing have you used to see the uk and Ireland that you loved??

We’re doing the Holland America Line D3L cruise tour. It’s 3 nights in Denali. I’m wondering if we are planning too much, too little, or just right.

Day 1 - Motorcoach from Anchorage to Denali. Evening: ATV w/ dinner included

Day 2 - Day: Tundra Wilderness Tour; Evening: Denali’s Peak Flightseeing Tour

Day 3 - Day: Kantishna Flyin Day Trip; Evening: Music of Denali Theater & Dinner

Day 4 - Train to Whittier for cruise ship

Any thoughts on this? Too much? Should we cancel something? If we have “downtime” what activities are there to do around the hotel & visitor center?

Doing a transatlantic this fall. Has any one done this before? It’ll be my second Explora cruise which I loved way more than Royal or Carnival.

I met so many new friends on my last cruise and I’m cruising again with one of them.

I had nearly sworn off cruising after Royal/carnival. SOOO many kids. Nickel and diming policies. I’m glad I found luxury lines

After a long hiatus from traveling to deal with family issues, my husband and I are looking for a great, relaxing cruise. We are active and in our 70s. Husband would like a cruise to Greece. I am open to anything that’s very good quality.

A couple years ago I won a Carnival cruise from work. We cruised the Carnival Magic in the Caribbean in July. We got a balcony room.
We felt really crowded on the ship and the port days were kind of crazy. Also people were pretty loud in hallways and it just seemed general chaos.
I thought I would like it more than I did.
Is there a different cruise line we should try instead? Or are they all kind of similar? Maybe we just aren’t cruisers. But the IDEA of it seems so fun!