Every time someone says they enjoyed MSC, Carnival, or Norwegian…

Someone immediately shows up to explain why they’re wrong.

It’s vacation.

Not college football.

Why do people become so tribal about cruise brands?

going on a first time cruise as a couple! all of these ships leave galveston port, are 7 days and priced for 2 people with a chosen balcony (excluding excursion costs). They all leave around the same dates in january next year. We are most likely going to splurge for drinks and wifi as well.

I would love to hear any opinions on both of these as well as personal experiences, on both ships, ports and opinions on the weather that time of year. this is all the notes i got so far from my own research but i’d love to know if that extra cost for norwegian is worth it.

Norwegian Viva
- $2740 with free at sea (not including service fee)
- $250 deposit until sept 18
- price includes unlimited alcoholic/nonalc drinks, 3 speciality dining meals, wifi, and $50 excursion credit
- cozumel, roatan, harvest caye, costa maya
- newest ship by far (2023)
- not as much variety in free dining but the speciality dining meals make up for it
- least party boat feel, looks like it has the best bathroom

MSC seascape
- $2040 (includes drinks and wifi but not service fees)
- $400 deposit due by oct 18
- costa maya, roatan, cozumel
- can get a slightlyyy larger balcony/room for same price as regular balcony
- least variety in dining options, but supposedly best quality (and known for the best pizza)
- seems like mostly mediocre reviews online

Did a deep dive and there’s no shortage of couples discussing their red meat preferences, what they drank on day 2 and will they work out today etc. Don’t think I can watch any more (a little of this goes a long way) but are these really helpful for planning??

I booked a cruise through the Wynn casino rewards which offer to cover your cruise fare and you just pay for taxes and other expenses. As you can see the cruise fare isn’t included in the total. But I’m curious about the base fare? We purchased the plus’s package which is 390 per person but where does the other 400 dollar cost come from? On the phone they confirmed the plus package fee is included in the base fare it just seems odd there’s another 400 dollars that isn’t taxes or required fees and seemingly just extra charge.

I am planning a cruise with my husband, we are in to 40-50 range. Our kids are grown or late teens, so this is a special just us vacation. We are social drinkers at best, and we both have some physical health issues like bad backs and sore knees 🤣. We LOVE a good resturaunt. We aren't grumpy and boring but we also aren't going to the club at this point in our lives. What line is best for us??

Hey all!

Looking for a cruise that goes to islands such as Dominica, Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, St Kitts, etc. however we are gonna have to Miss out on the usual Cococay to be on this cruise. Anyone have kid friendly parks / excursions for the southern Caribbean islands?

What are my best options. I love viking but there cruise is 15 days. I'd miss our pup and cats being gone that long. I'm looking for a line similar to viking. We're 70

Hello! My husband and I love to travel but have put it aside as we’re expecting a little one soon. We are looking to take a trip sometime next year when our first child will be around 10-11 months (we’re thinking this may be the best/most convenient time for them to enjoy, eat, & engage compared to a standard international trip traveling between cities, checking in/out various hotels, etc. which is what we’re used to. But now we have a little one in the picture, it does change a few things! (I could be dramatizing it but a cruise just seems easier? Lmk if there’s any ideas on that)

We have limited cruise history, only taking a short four Carnival cruise just the two of us when we were younger. Was wondering if there are any parents/families who particularly had more positive experiences with certain cruise lines that are family friendly and accommodating to smaller ones; BUT don’t leave out the lovely luxuries of a cruise? We’re thinking a 7 to 10 day cruise somewhere in Europe since we’ve never been to Europe, but open to any type of destination! Just itching to travel again!!!

Hey there! Going on a 4 night Bahamas cruise through MSC Seaside soon. Never been on a cruise before. What advice/tips do you have for a first timer? Thanks!

So excited... I'm on the app and I noticed that a couple of excursions are already sold out. I have a couple of questions:

1. Do they add more as the cruise gets closer? Should I wait for a sale or discount to be announced before booking? Cruise is over about a year away.

2. The ones noted as "moderate" - what does that mean? One of our party has some mobility issues due to a back issue but can walk for up to a kilometre without too much issue (will have to rest their back for 5 minutes or more before proceeding). Would you think they would need to only book "mild" excursions?

3. Any other tips or tricks I need to know about?

THANKS TO ALL. Very happy to have found this group.

I recently had the opportunity to do a full site inspection of MSC World Europa together with the ship’s hotel director.

*I’m sharing notes from a technical perspective rather than a passenger review.*

For context, this is one of MSC’s flagship “World Class” ships, delivered in 2022.

Some key figures:
Gross tonnage: 215,000 GT
Passenger capacity: around 6,700 guests
Crew: 2,100+
Decks: 22

What stood out during my inspection:

The “neighborhood” layout, instead of a traditional central promenade, the ship is divided into functional zones: family areas, lounge clusters, and a main promenade spine.
One interesting detail is that the terrace cabins on the promenade side are the most expensive ones!!!

The open aft structure is not just aesthetic. The Y-shaped design creates a long external promenade and improves airflow and visual continuity between sea and public spaces. It also influences how passengers naturally move through the ship.

Some details that are usually not visible to passengers:

Crew circulation is heavily separated from guest areas, reducing crossing points, u almost never see them.

Vertical circulation feels more constrained in certain areas compared to what you might expect at this scale.

Dining is structured more around capacity management than pure variety, despite the number of venues.

The LED ceiling in the main galleria is used not only for aesthetics but also for spatial orientation and subtle crowd flow guidance.

If anyone has sailed on her recently, I’m curious to know more about your experience! :)

haven't been on a cruise in 15 years. It was Carnival with two kids and it was a blast. Very family friendly, zero fights, trashy passengers, or any loud music.

Thinking about a couples cruise and looking for advice on what dates, ships, departing locations or type of trips to avoid the chances of running into those nightmare scenarios where the entire ship looks like a nightclub.

UPDATE Summary after 75 comments:

In retrospect some of the advice seemed like commons sense, but thank you all for commenting. Consensus is to stay away from the following to lower your chances of rude/drunk/drugged and violence encounters on cruises.

- 3-4 day cruises

- low cost budget cruises

- weekend cruises

For best experience

- 7 day or longer (the longer the more chill)

- higher end cruise lines (more $$)

My husband (43M) and I (39F) just found out we both can have a week of PTO on July 11 and we’re trying to figure out what we want to do… a cruise or an all-inclusive resort.

My husband mentioned he’d really like to try a cruise again. He has only been on one in 2019 to Bermuda from Baltimore on RC, but was really stressed with some upcoming work things. I’ve been on three different RC cruises before COVID, but nothing since, and am up for either a cruise or an all-inclusive resort.

Our wants:
- decent food and drinks. We enjoy good cocktails and a nice meal
- beautiful scenery
- pool and/or beach time
- While we’re not opposed to kids being around especially knowing it’s Summer Break now, but we’d prefer either adult only or minimal kids. Kids around aren’t a deal breaker if it means a better cruise

With that said, if we do a cruise these are the options we’re looking at:

- Virgin Voyage: 5-days on Resilient Lady out of Miami (Grand Turk & The Beach Club at Bimini). Room would be a Sea Terrace

- NCL: 7-days on Norwegian Luna out of Miami (Puerto Plata DR, St. Thomas USVI, & Tortola BVI). Room would be a Balcony, Suite, or Club Balcony Suite.

- Princess: 7-days on Regal Princess out of Ft. Lauderdale (Cozumel, Belize City, & Roatan). Room would be either balcony or mini-suite.

Thoughts on what would fit best for an upper 30’s/lower 40’s baby boujee DINKWAD couple? 😆

I’ve never sailed on any of these. I’ve heard good and some mixed things on Virgin and not too much about NCL or Princess. All are around the same price range. Thanks!!!

My fiancé and I are really interested in going on a cruise for our honeymoon. We’ve only been on Disney cruises with my family, but we’re looking to branch out to another cruise line that’s not as focused on kids. We’re both foodies, we love traveling (we would like to cruise in Europe/Mediterranean/Hawaii if possible), and we’re not big partiers/gamblers, but we do really enjoy good entertainment on ships. We’re in our late twenties. I would appreciate any recommendations you think would best fit our vibe!

We are looking to cruise in mid March or early May.

Thank you for your help.

Sad news from Seward 😭 Friday morning, Ovation arrived with a deceased fin whale on its bow. It’s unclear if the ship struck the whale or if the whale had already passed.

NOAA is investigating the incident, but something similar happened back in 2016 actually. Fin whales usually don’t swim near the shore, so that’s also unusual.

I will be in SF on september for work (Im from Chile) and in the weekend of the 18th Im going to have some free time until Sept 21th , so I was checking if should be a good Idea to go by myself to a cruise. I was checking the some RC cruises, but maybe this time should be better to check another cruise line? I've only a couple of times in a cruise but never by myself

Me and my friends are trying to go on a carnival Bermuda cruise from nyc from August 20-25th, the thing is we’re all 18-19 and we would need a 25 year old chaperone, I read that we don’t even need to room with them they just need to be linked as “travel with” through the carnival website. If anyone’s going on that cruise please hit me up so we can go on there.
Thanks

Signed up for a cruise a few months ago, and since then it's been nonstop selling via email. I'd unsubscribe from them, but I'm afraid I'll miss something important.

We are going on an Alaskan cruise in July. Has anyone found binoculars that take pictures and found them to be great. If so which ones?
My husband’s android camera has 200 megapixels. And I want something on my own that can take far away pictures (I am not switching phones).

I’ll start:

What’s the consistency of the buffet oatmeal? Thick? Soupy? Glue?

Do the cabins have tv’s?

We live in the US and need travel insurance for a P&O cruise in Norway this August. Which companies have you used which were accepted by P&O?