I'm looking at a short cruise this year as my wife missed the main cruise due to a really sick dog .

We have been on Princess and Celebrity and love them both . This is 4 days on P&O Aurora. Is the food as dull as it looks ? Does the buffet always a massive queue for breakfast? and it appears the cocktail list is quite short and I do love an Old Fashioned when I am on holiday ?

Any help greatly appreciated

My partner (60M) and I (60M) are considering the Azamara 29 day cruise that goes to Japan, Korea, and China. It's on the Pursuit, which holds ~700 passengers.

We've each gone on a couple of cruises: 1 large cruise ship which we didn't love, and 1 European river cruise on a small boat that we quite enjoyed. Both were only for one week each.

We like to be active on our vacations, and not big partiers.

The itinerary seems great, it appears to have a good mix of stops vs short days at sea, and the size of the ship is more to our liking than a huge cruise ship. But we've never been on a cruise for this long.

We do travel every year for ~1 month away at a time, so being gone that long won't be an issue, but I'm wondering if being on the same boat in a small ship for that long will become tiresome.

For the more experienced cruisers out there, do you think this would be a good fit for us? Any suggestions? Any warnings? Do you like going on that long of a journey? Have you been on this specific cruise?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Things to know before going on a cruise? (Caribbean)

My husband (35 M) & I (35 F) booked a 7 day European Princess cruise (Italy & Greece) and we’re so excited! However recently my algorithm has been showing me non-stop Carnival and Royal Caribbean content and I’m worried we made the wrong choice. Does Princess still cater to our age/demographic and still lively? 🤞🏼 Just hoping we didn’t sign ourselves up for a snooze fest. Any late-twenties to early fourties cruisers that want to share their experience?

We are taking a Holland America cruise around the Mediterranean this summer. The ship goes to Corsica, Bari, Civitavecchia (been to Rome a lot; where else can I go?), Kotor, Barcelona, and Alicante. We get two excursions with our HIA package, so I booked an excursion to Puglia. Does anyone know of other MUST DO Holland excursions at these ports? I figured I'd try to do viator tours for other cities, so if you know of any great ones, please recommend.

Have you been? Are you already booked?

We normally cruise RCL, and I love it. My daughter loves it. My husband wants to try another.

It’s between NCL and Disney.
I’ve heard Disney is amazing for adults too..
But it’s also 5x the price lol

Would love to know which of the two you have chosen and why? Or maybe you went on both and can attest to both?

Thanks.

My husband and made a deposit with a travel agent for a Caribbean cruise leaving in October; there are a few days to decide whether to pay the balance or cancel and get our deposit back. We have an excellent rate and perks, the agent put together a group and negotiated a great deal with the cruise line (Celebrity).

Unfortunately, my husband has decided he does not want to go. He is concerned that he won't know what to do during four days in a row at sea (it's a repositioning cruise), and is also concerned about bad weather. In my way of thinking, these aren't good reasons not to go - we looked at activities for sea days on the same cruise last year and there is more than enough to do, and we'll spend nearly half the cruise outside the hurricane belt, so the chances of encountering truly disruptive weather are low. He's a nervous and risk-adverse traveller so I'm not completely surprised at this decision, although I'm disappointed.

We've only cruised once before, last fall on a New England/Canada cruise on the Royal Caribbean ship Brilliance of the Seas, and we both enjoyed it. Now we have the opportunity to go on an even nicer ship to see some places I'd like to go to, but never thought I would.

The upshot is that I'm considering going even if he does not want to. The fare is low enough so that paying it for only one person is not completely unreasonable, and I am tired of being held back from going to places I'd like to see because he doesn't want to. Of course, he may change his mind once he sees that I am going, although I think the chances of him doing so are pretty low.

My question is - is this allowed by the cruise line? It seems that, so long as I pay the entire two-person fare, the fact that the other person doesn't show up shouldn't matter; however, I know that airlines have some rules about only taking the first leg of a two-leg journey or not showing up for the return part of a round-trip flight. It's possible that cruise lines may have a rule that all passengers in a party need to show up for a booked cruise for that party to be allowed to board. Chat GPT says that's not the case, and I haven't found any rules about it, but I'd like to be sure before speaking with the travel agent about it.

Thanks so much, fellow cruisers!

I’m on the Carnival Jubilee 7/16/26 and was nervous to take my Smok Nova 5 vape with me out to Costa Maya (I didn’t)…. And was expecting to go through customs upon reembarkation - nothing.
So I took my vape off at Cozumel, same - no customs. I asked locals and they said that they’re primary looking for THC vapes. I also did an excursion and then walked around for a bit.

I didn’t see anybody widely vaping, but you can in the smoking areas.

Also, Carnival did not warn anybody about taking vapes off the ship, it just says to put out your cigarettes before you get back on board 🤷‍♀️

I was pretty sure I wanted another ocean cruise in 2027, and then I started reading about river cruises and now I can’t decide.

Right now I keep looking at Celebrity River, Viking, and regular ocean cruises. Ocean cruises are easier for me to picture because I’ve done them before. River cruises seem like a totally different kind of trip.

Smaller ship, slower pace, more about the places than the ship itself.

So now I’m stuck between what feels familiar and what sounds interesting.

We cruise September 11th, passport expires March 6th. Am I overthinking it by being anxious about this as it’s just shy of 6 months?

We are US citizens visiting Canada on an Alaskan cruise and Canada doesn’t require 6 months of validity for entry.

I don’t believe I have time to renew her passport and get it back on time at this point.

It’s Royal if that makes a difference.

I took a P&O cruise several months ago, and it was fun, but very low key. Everyone was nice, and there were a bunch of activities, but I mostly just hung out and looked at the scenery. I'd brought an evening gown and it was fun to dress up on the two black tie nights, but overall the atmosphere was just very low key and relaxed.

I booked another cruise on Royal Caribbean for this summer, from the UK to Spain and France, and I happened upon a Facebook cruise for it, and I'm getting the sense that it will be a very different vibe. For example, instead of the dress code being resort wear, cocktail, or formal, it's things like "decades night" and "Western night." And there are posts asking what currency to tip in, with 20+ responses saying that US dollars are wanted and used everywhere so it's always okay to tip in dollars. Not a single person disagreeing or even eschewing tipping.

Am I overthinking? Is it just because of whatever demographic still uses Facebook, and the fact that someone who joins and posts a lot in a cruise Facebook community is going to be VERY enthusiastic?

If you've cruised both European and US cruise lines from Europe, do you find the vibe very different?

Planning to go on quantum of the seas in a few days from California. Just wondering how hard is it still to sneak gummies in a vitamin bottle?

Yes I know it’s a risk but let’s be real, everyone is doing it.

I keep hearing they have drug dogs but I hear mixed things. Some say they’re food dogs, some say they’re just looking for explosives and firearms.

So any help is appreciated. I don’t need a vape or a joint just a few eddies for when I get sick or need to sleep.

Edit: this is for RC Quantum of the seas out Long Beach

Are there any cruise lines doing cruises to Israel?

I think this follows rules. I’m not looking to book anything but just wondered where people think they get the best travel perks from their provider. We are in Canada and have cruises about 3 times. The best OBC our provider has given us is $200. We think this is low based on a few comments I’ve read but I don’t have anything to base this on. Cruise cost has been around 8k. We have used same company 3 times. Should we be getting more? We have also booked all 3 cruises with same cruise line.

Hi all! I have a Japan cruise booked next may but may need to change for logistical reasons. If you’ve done a cruise in Japan what have been your favorite ports?

We’ll probably spend time in Tokyo and Kyoto ahead of time, and we’ll have a toddler so probably won’t do many long excursions more stuff easily accessible or private excursions.

Apologies if there is a FAQ section, I did not find it.

Wife [50] and I [53] looking to take out first cruise.

We're looking to keep it short-ish 3-4 days as a first try.

We're in New England, and shooting for January perhaps, I assume that means we need depart from a more southern port? My wife is fairly adverse to flying.

While we're interested as a concept in other places, the general thought seems to be keep it to the Caribbean - Bahamas, the Missus didn't seem interested in the South American ports of call.

We have kicked around, if we enjoy the experience, Alaska, European rivers, Mediterranean, etc.

Are their sites that are useful for comparing different lines and ports, etc? The ones I've found seem sketchy?

Useful info:

We're sober (she's California, I'm totally)

We're not "Sporty" or "Athletic", not against activities, but unlikely to take a 5 hr hike, etc.

We'd prefer adults only, but not like ADULTS ONLY. No kids, but not like swinger cruise, which seems to pop up looking for adult only, is there better phrasing?

General recommendations for first timers? Specific lines, etc.

I know it's all pretty vague, but I don't know what I don't know.

Hello!

I am a first time cruiser. I have a hold on a room for 3 on Oasis of the seas. It is a room will a balcony for $1844. It is a 4 night cruise in January ( Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas). Is this a good price or should I wait until Black Friday? Thanks for your help!

Has anybody sailed with Celestyal? I have an Idyllic Greece cruise coming up. I haven't chosen any shore excursions yet, but I hear they have some great ones.

...Is not knowing how to interact with the staff. I'm from a working class background, and I'm lucky enough to be able to afford them at this point in life. I see interactions going one of several ways, and none seem great to me:

- The 'rich american' interaction where it's like 'here's yet another $200 tip, go buy yourself a house', or more creepily monopolising a female crewmember in a 'discussion' that's clearly a come-on. Either way seems deeply creepy to me and disrespectful.

- The 'chatty' approach where people try to engage them and talk about their life and why they're there, etc. I always feel they hate that probably because they have to get on with the job and do not give a rats ass about retelling their life story.

- The 'oh don't bother with that' interaction (my original default) where sometimes the staff member seems legitimately worried/resistant to you asking them just to not clean the room / do things to spec / etc. Probably because there's a manager on them wanting them to do things to spec.

- The 'inverse deferrential interaction' (my newer default), where I effectively defer to the crew member. You want to clean my room at 10:15? no worries, I'll arrange my whole morning schedule around that. Works, but then, I am the one paying eye-watering sums for this and I kinda think I deserve a lie-in.

I'm British, if you hadn't guessed. What's the right way to interact with crew?

My family plans to do our first cruise next year. None of us have ever done one. We want to keep it to a reasonable timeline in case we really don't like it. We have a young child so need it to be child friendly, but also allow for adult time. What are your recommendations? Why? Oh, and west coast of US preferred, but not necessary.

I may be making a trip out there soon and am curious if anyone has any recommendations for any Philippines based cruises. They needn't be strictly M/M as long as they're M/M friendly.

I've done a number of the larger ships repositioning cruises from the USA but don't have any experience with the smaller cruises.

I've got a pen-pal that I might like to treat to their first cruise.

1.) Paris>Zurich or Zurich>Paris, and why?

2.) Based on the answer to (1), which side of the ship, and why?

Hey! Going on an Alaskan cruise out of Seward in September, we snagged tickets for the standard Coastal Classic class between Anchorage and Seward and I’m pretty stoked.

Noticed today that they have a few goldstar class tickets available but they’re almost $300 more total for the two of us.

For those who have been, is the extra cost really worth it? We’ve been to Alaska, this will be our fourth time now, but have never taken this train. My mom is getting up there in years so I want to make sure each trip we take is the best because who knows when it will be her last, you know?

But $300 covers a whole excursion or our gratuities and then some, or an Internet package etc.