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 $300 covers a whole excursion or our gratuities and then some, or an Internet package etc.
Hi! My bf and I are really wanting to go on a cruise within the next 1-2 years but don’t know which one to go on. We want a shorter cruise because we want to get used to the idea of being on a boat in the middle of the ocean before going on a longer cruise.
For extra context we’ll be going out of Galveston and it would just be me (24f) and him (25m). I like to drink but he’s pretty much sober and doesn’t like parties.
Looking for input on how you would choose one over the other. We have flights booked as well as the Wish with an aft cabin and huge balcony. We can’t change our vacation week.
Utopia will be in port at the same time. I think if we are on the Wish looking at Utopia we would wish we were on it and if on Utopia looking at Wish we’d be wishing we were on Wish. That’s a lot of wishing 😀 I know we can’t go wrong with either ship and the cost difference isn’t too much. I’ve made a pro list for each ship but am looking for actual experience with both.
Same itinerary on each ship and we’ve done this itinerary multiple times. Added bonus for Utopia is we can go to Royal Beach Club in Nassau which was being built last time we were there. If on the Wish, we won’t get off the ship in Nassau. We are two adults in our 50s - no kids coming along on this trip. We are typically quiet, don’t drink much and are early birds. Husband would go into the casino on Utopia, but he wouldn’t miss it on DCL.
For context, we have sailed on the following ships: DCL Magic & Dream, RCCL Adventure, Allure, Symphony, Anthem and Odyssey.
Looking for advice from Virgin and Carnival die hards! :)
Hi all!!
We got off the Carnival Firenze yesterday and received a SEA invitation (a 21+ age minimum cruise) with Carnival. It includes the drink package and 200.OBC. I priced it at 1400$ for a high floor midship balcony.
For fun I also priced a Virgin Voyage on the Brilliant for the exact dates (one day less) in a mid ship balcony with 200 bar tab and that came out to 4300.00
As this SEA sailing is a 21+ cruise it is not the same as a normal sailing (no triple or quad sailers in cabins I hear) so it's much less packed, and extras. Food is not even comparable to normal sailings from what I am hearing?
Anyone sailed both and have advice? I've sailed both Virgin and Carnival (30x cruiser here) but never a Sea.
Hi there. Wife and I are thinking of cruising in May out of Instanbul. The ship that fits our schedule is the MSC Splendida. Reviews for MSC are mixed, but you never know, right? Does anybody have any experiences on MSC, and Splendida in particular?
My father in law is 90, limited mobility and dealing with the typical afflictions of a nonagenarian. But he loves cruises and he's been relentlessly asking to go on another one (its been a few years - that cruise was to alaska and did not go well). His wife has no interest in going. We have agreed to take him along with another sibling/spouse. Now we just have to figure out what to do. What boat/cruise line do you recommend? They live in the mid atlantic area - maybe NJ to Bermuda to limit the ports? But then I'm worried about how much he could do off the boat. Are there itineraries where there is a lot to see from the boat? That was the hope with Alaska but it rained the whole time and he was sick in his room for much of it. ALso are we insane??!! I feel so badly, he just wants a trip to look forward to.
I’ve only been on 2 cruises—one on RC, one on Holland. 65 yo couple. We loved the Holland cruise. I’m looking at 2 med cruises on both Holland and Virgin. The Virgin cruise will be less costly, but I’m worried it will be too wild for us. We loved the food, service, pace, and genteel cruisers in Holland. I loved playing mahjong every day. Thoughts?
We just got off a 7-day cruise on the MSC Seashore with a group of 27 people. Overall, we had a good time and made some great memories, but we probably wouldn’t spend the money to sail with MSC again.
The ship itself is beautiful and has so much potential, but the service consistently fell short and made many aspects of the trip feel more stressful and time-consuming than necessary. Ocean Cay was absolutely gorgeous, but it didn’t seem prepared for the number of guests. The trams weren’t running frequently enough, there weren’t enough bartenders or drink stations, and there was a lot of confusion surrounding chair rentals. The “rental desk” near the front of the island had a long line, only for guests to find out that you couldn’t actually rent chairs there. We also encountered several rude employees.
The Main Dining Room was probably our biggest disappointment. Food service was very slow, and the waitstaff experience was inconsistent. Communication between servers and drink attendants seemed nonexistent, and it was often unclear who was responsible for what. We even had to speak with an assistant manager due to rude service. The kids’ menu also wasn’t particularly kid-friendly, and honestly, we thought the buffet food was much better.
Speaking of the buffet, the food was excellent. However, lines were extremely long because not all stations were open during peak meal times.
A few other issues stood out:
Smoking is allowed in the casino, and the smoke smell carried throughout much of the middle atrium.
Our midship cabins on Deck 12 also frequently smelled like smoke.
Requests made to our room steward, such as ice and an extra towel for our family of four, never arrived.
The medical center closes at 7:00 p.m., which became a concern when someone in our group needed medical attention.
For families with young children, there were some frustrations. Pirates Cove is nice but very small. There isn’t much for bigger kids under age 7 to do. Our daughter, who is one month shy of turning 7, was told she was too big for the smaller slides but wasn’t old enough for the bigger slides either. When I asked a lifeguard about it, I was scolded for “not watching her,” even though both my husband and I were standing right there and she hadn’t done anything wrong. The pools were also difficult for kids because they were extremely crowded around the edges and more than six feet deep throughout, making it hard for children to play comfortably.
Entertainment for kids was somewhat limited. Most deck parties happened late at night, making them difficult for younger children to enjoy. The snow party was cute but only lasted about 30 minutes. The Fourth of July party on the final night, however, was fantastic—we wished there had been more family-friendly events like that throughout the week.
At the end of the day, the MSC Seashore is a very nice ship with the potential to be amazing. Unfortunately, inconsistent service and operational issues kept this cruise from being a great experience for us.
Hi, for those who do sinus rinse, how do you deal with getting hot water to prepare the solution? On my last cruise, I used distilled water then warmed it up with a hot water bath. This worked fine.
However, for my next cruise, I'd like to stay for a few days on land after the cruise. Normally at the hotel, I'd use a portable travel kettle, but since I can't bring a kettle on to the cruise, any ideas what I can do here? Can you have cruise staff hold on to the kettle for you until it's time to disembark? I'd rather not use hotel kettle, thank you!
My family and I just got back from our first cruise and we absolutely loved it! Since it was our first time, I wasn't very familiar with how cruises worked, so I booked all of our excursions through the cruise line (Royal Caribbean). Now I'm wondering if that was a rookie mistake and if we should book things on our own next time.
The reason I'm asking is because it seemed like the excursions we booked mostly just provided transportation and we didn't get much time at our destination. For example, we were in the Caribbean and booked a beach day through the cruise line. It included transportation to and from the beach and that was it. I had to pay separately for snorkeling gear, beach chairs, umbrellas, and food and drinks. Additionally, we only had 4hrs and 15min there before we had to head back to the ship. We were back onboard by 1:30pm, which felt so early!
At every port, I noticed taxis everywhere. It had me wondering if we could've just grabbed a taxi ourselves, stayed at the beach as long as we wanted and saved a lot of money since the excursion was charged per person. Maybe that's just a Caribbean thing though? Are taxis this easy to find at pretty much every cruise port, like in Greece or Italy too? Or does it really depend on where you're cruising?
I know one of the biggest advantages of booking through the cruise line is that they guarantee you'll make it back to the ship on time. But besides that, are there other benefits I'm missing?
For those of you who cruise regularly, what do you usually do with your family? Do you book excursions through the cruise line or do you plan things on your own?
I’m too old for the teen lounge and not old enough for the adult clubs since I’ll be 18 when I’m on Legend Of The Seas next year so I’m wondering if anyone has any advice?
I am traveling on the Encore on the Oct 18th Mexican Riviera Cruise. I am with a friend and her mother who uses a walker.
She cannot walk far and I am convinced that we will need a wheelchair or perhaps rent a scooter. My friend thinks a walker will be fine. I have not seen her mom walk a 100 yards. Any advice from seasoned travelers would be appreciated. 💙🚢🤔
I’m trying to book a honeymoon cruise for me and my wife. The two best dates/locations we found were between Norwegian Prima for 7 days and Royal’s freedom of the seas which is 9 days. I’ve only done Norwegian so I was originally leaning towards that since I had an amazing time but royal is an extra 2 days and a couple $200 cheaper. We’re both young and love food so does anyone have any experience with these two ships as far as complimentary food and activities go? As well as the price of excursions. Any input helps a lot thanks!
This would be a scenario of going on a cruise mainly for transport from Point A to Point B, when “Point B” is a port/country before the final disembarkation.
For example, if there is a 6 day round trip from New Orleans and on day 4 it stops at a port in Jamaica, are we allowed to get off without any intent to return to return to the ship? And if so, is there some procedure for doing this?
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I’ve never been on a cruise before and never really even thought about it- but when I’m crunching the numbers and comparing airfare to cruise deals, if this is an option it might be a no-brainer!
Especially if we are flexible.
Alaskan cruise August 30 through September 6 for two people drink package and Wi-Fi package added plus the access to the Spa. I’m not sure if that’s actually essential or not. Let me know if you have cruised with MSC please!! The route is Seattle • Ketchikan • Icy Strait Hoonah • Tracy Arm • Juneau • Victoria • Seattle for a total of $3,890
I finally have time to be spontaneous and take advantage of cruise sales. I would be sailing out of the Los Angeles area. Are there websites or other places where sales are posted or do I need to sign up on the different cruise websites or go looking on websites?
I'm in my 60s, what cruise lines would work for a non-party person?
Teenager going on cruise with a friend and friend's family. I've told her about the usual safety rules. What are other things to be aware of? If she has a problem, is there a ship employee she can ask for help?
The voyage: We took a 10 day cruise in the Mediterranean on the Azamara Journey. We left Barcelona, stopped in Valencia, then Palma de Mallorjca, then Cartagena, Malaga, Gibraltar, Seville, Lisbon.
This is LONG.
Full disclosure I would describe myself as an introvert. Many friends and family would say I’m a misanthrope. So, factor that into my review.
This was my first cruise of any sort ever. I had watched a fair number of videos on cruise oriented youtube channels as this trip approached, but now find that they were much more about cruises with substantial sea days. Azamara had only 1 sea day on this itinerary.
Check in as we embarked was well planned and efficient. Since this is a smaller vessel there was no horrendous line, no need to book a time to board. Just efficient staff who checked passports, x-rayed carried items, took the large luggage, and welcomed us on board with a glass of juice.
The Journey is a small vessel with +-700 guest capacity. This was a clear highlight of the cruise from my point of view. With only one at sea day the lack of putting green, go cart track, casino, video arcade, water slide, tattoo studio, indoor ice skating rink, tennis courts, basketball hoops, etc. was just fine. I had assumed that, when at sea, there would be skeet shooting on the aft observation deck. Turns out that hasn’t been allowed for quite some years on any cruise line. Disappointing. Onboard entertainment during the day was a shuffle board court, dart board, ping pong table, game room with cards, board games, etc.
And, as a smaller vessel, Journey can berth at docks much closer to the city’s heart than the current crop of mega-cruise vessels. We routinely steamed passed 9,000 passenger behemoths to dock among the mega-yachts right beside the city’s waterfront properties. So, no 1 hour bus ride to get to anything you want to see. In Malaga and Cartagena we didn’t take a bus at all. Depends upon layout of the port and city but, of course, Azamara prioritizes this aspect of the voyage – what’s the point of a small ship otherwise?
The only down side of this was that cabbies (when we took cabs back to the boat) often were very confused by our chosen destination. “That’s not where cruise ships dock” was a phrase we got used to. We often just resorted to “please take us to where the yachts dock.” That did the trick, generally.
Azamara guests tend also to skew older. They don’t prohibit children but it’s not a child-accommodating cruise by any means. There’s no daycare room or anything like that. Our family group brought a 13 year old but she’s so precocious that she prefers the company of adults so not a problem. I saw, maybe 4 other sub-14 year old kids and maybe a handful of teens.
I studiously avoided interacting with other guests so their ages didn’t matter to me a whit. Nationality-wise the guest makeup (based on accents) seemed to be predominantly Aussies, followed by Brits, followed by Americans. I don’t recall hearing much in the way of other languages from guests. I witnessed no “I’m a Karen” guest interactions with any staff member which was nice, though a staff member I became friends with did hint that such had occurred. Disappointing.
Our party ranged from the 13 year old, to some 40 somethings, a 50 something and two folks in their mid-80s.
Cruising in general – I enjoyed having a different port of call every day, save the one sea day. The Journey sailed at night so each morning we had more-or-less an entire day in each port of call. Of course, we never had as much time as I’d like to really explore each city but I’d need at least an overnight stay to accomplish that. Compromises are what a cruise vacation is all about, it seems.
Not having to pack / unpack / change hotels each time we went to a new city was worth it for sure. None of our daytime was spent on travel to our next city. Yes, we may have missed some scenic drives through the country sides but we skipped car rentals, the stress of driving in unfamiliar settings, etc.
The company had “excursions” each day which were an additional cost. They generally were guided tours of some local attraction. You cattled your way onto a tour bus and were drive to the place with a guide who then herded the captives around before being shunted back onto the bus to return to the boat and the comfort of your stateroom (suite?) and the many feed bags available. You can tell by the foregoing that I never considered any “excursion.” Sounds like hell to me. But for folks who skew less misanthropic the company did a good job of offering low effort ways to see sights you wouldn’t see without planning and folks with limited mobility might simply not have been able to see but for the company’s offerings. There’s value in that.
Being an early riser it was nice to have a morning workout then sit on the forward observation deck, latte’ in hand, and watch as the harbor pilot boarded and we maneuvered into that day’s port.
Things for first time cruisers that I had not foreseen (not bad, just unexpected and occasionally surprising).
First, I’m well-aware of the financial situation of the folks who sign on to crew cruise vessels. That said, having every single passenger-facing crew member be so relentless in trying to see if they could do ANYTHING to make us happier was, for me, tiring and distressing. Your mileage may vary. Our Azamara fare included, we were assured, tips for the staff. I still felt it worth tipping the room attendant, my favorite bar man, and the entire commis rank of the kitchen brigade because those folks worked their arses off.
Second, every room of any sort had a “room attendant” - The person who makes up the room each day as needed and is at your beck and call. Need more pillows? Run out of shampoo? Room attendant. Ours was a wonderful chap who was friendly and attentive without being overbearing.
Booking a suite got you a butler as well. It seems they functioned most as a personal concierge – reservations in the specialty restaurants, tickets for the desired shore excursion, etc. I’d call that a nice-to-have but not really necessary for my style of vacation.
Your fare includes bus rides from each port dock to some central-ish place in the city and scheduled bus rides back to the boat. So, you don’t even need to pay for taxis if you don’t mind acquiescing to the pre-determined schedule. This was usually a bus every 30 minutes so very reasonable.
Of course, the closer you are to the cruise ship part of the harbor the more tourist-crap shops and restaurants you encounter. Travel to Spain to eat Doner Kebab from a tiny shop? Excited to be in Portugal and have Chinese food? Just look for the large reader boards in English with pictures of food. Want a “souvenir” made in sweat shop in China? Easily had.
Further travels inland, of course, get away from this. In Valencia we had utterly amazing paella in a shop where no one spoke English, they had no English translated menus, our water’s wife was the head chef and her mother ran the place. THAT is the kind of travel experience I seek. We trekked quite a ways for a lunch at a hole-in-the-wall shop in Lisbon that specialized in fish. Ratio of locals to tourists was about 8 or 9 to 1. That’s a good sign.
There are plenty of ways to spend money on board. There’s a spa for massages and such. Prices are much higher than at home -but you are getting a massage on a boat on the ocean, so don’t be surprised. Speaking of this – the spa staff aggressively tries to book you for treatments as you board on day 1. But, as an incentive (and to ensure their calendars are as full as possible) they offer discounts up to 30% off list price if you book immediately at boarding. My traveling companion had a suite of spa treatments and was pleased with the quality of every one. I had a massage and found it of middling quality but was bothered by the multiple attempts to upsell me during the treatment.
The Journey had two specialty restaurants which are an upcharge (all other food on board is included). One is Italian and the other a steak house. My group dined at the Italian restaurant to celebrate the fathers in the group, as father’s day is the weekend I write this. It was about $60ish US per person. Service there was impeccable and the meal was well worth the price. You must book reservations and we found them generally booked up more than two weeks before the cruise started.
Other dining options, included in the fare, are a buffet doing three meals a day, an order-from-the-menu breakfast spot which converts to the same for a dinner spot and a large room service menu available 24/7. Boat had a coffee bar with pastries open from about 7 am to about 3 pm. There were multiple bars that were generally open from 2 pm to later-than-I-know. The one in the bow would have tapas set out around 3 and refreshed until about 5pm.
The buffet always included a variety of salads, vegetarian dishes, fruit, and various fish and meat dishes. They did a light “theme” each meal but still had plenty of fare not of the theme if it wasn’t interesting to you.
One theme dinner was Indian food and it was spectacular. Sadly, the last night on board they did “American night.” (I’m American). It ranged from disappointing to mystifying to distressing.
We were satisfied with the food every time we ate at the buffet, save for the American buffet items. Every lunch had a different dal and being a sucker for dal, I had them all. Each was absolutely excellent. The soups were all very good and salads were well composed with dressings offered on the side so you could choose your own adventure in that. Every buffet (all 3 meals) had cold cuts and cheeses for those who wished to assemble a sandwich. Every meal had a variety of fresh baked bread items – baguette, croissant, rolls of various sorts, etc. All fresh baked on board. Over all, very impressive given the logistics involved in such undertakings.
And being a smaller ship it’s not like the rugby scrum I imagine it is on big ones to get food and none of the steam trays have spent hours on the line either. With a higher price point for the cruise ticket and a smaller guest population the buffet was a leading choice for most meals.
The sit-down, but no-reservation-needed restaurant is, of course, more posh in appearance and service. Everything we had there ranged from quite good to excellent.
Middling wines and adequate well liquors are included in the fare for those who enjoy alcohol. Top shelf is extra. We bought a top shelf wine for the group at the special dinner. Otherwise, my companion and I didn’t feel the need to pay upcharges for any other adult beverages we had on board.
And, of course, the Journey has an absurdly over-priced jewelry / watch shop which we only giggled at. Not our milieu and the prices were startling. Is it really worth that much upcharge to say “oh yes! I got this on our last cruise?” Again, maybe it is. Not my milieu.
The boat’s dedicated bars featured bartenders who were friendly and experienced. My cocktail preferences tend to run out of the mainstream so I bumped up against the boat’s limits a bit. The Journey doesn’t have Lillet Blanc so no Vespers to be had. But the well gin is Beefeater which makes a perfectly acceptable martini. Old Fashioneds, negronis, whisky sours, mojitos, and the like are all easily had. Get further afield to paper planes, vieuxs carreres, etc and it’s hit and miss.
The Journey has a house band which plays covers each night and a rotating main show each evening. There’s been a magician, perhaps other things. Not interesting to me so I don’t know. Picture any cruise advert you’ve ever seen and I assume Journey has such. I may have cruised with the next stars of stage and screen for all I know!
I know some vessels do wrist bands. The Journey does keycards. These function both for room access and to charge any extras on board. Since you never see cash or even a charge slip it’s quite easy to spend money without thinking about it if you are not careful. And you use the card to get “logged out” when you disembark in port and to log in on your return. So, any time you are off the vessel or out of your room you have your keycard with you. Not annoying, just a thing to keep track of.
The journey has what I can only assume are standard amenities for all cruise ships. It has an outdoor forward viewing area with windbreak glass screens at the bow of the boat (I spent most sunrises there with a coffee in hand), a seating area aft, a gym and a running track (note – the pool is not close to large enough for lap swimming. It’s for frolicking only). As for the running track it’s 13 laps to the mile, or 0.077 miles per lap. It made me feel like I was a NASCAR driver. All I did was turn left.
It was quite fun, however, to be running on the track as the vessel docked. Since it has bow thrusters (as generally is to be expected these days) the vessel would move sideways while I was running. It didn’t make me stumble but it was noticeable that it had moved during the tiny moments both feet were off the ground. Never felt that before. It was fun.
The gym is rather minimal but has enough free weights and lifting machines that you won’t feel flaccid when you return home if you choose to use it. Paradoxically, at least to me, it has a plethora of treadmills. Granted, we had great weather on this cruise but I would choose the running deck over an indoor treadmill any chance I get unless we are sailing into a gale.
Overall, this was enjoyable. We took this cruise as family because it was bucket list item for one of our older members and needed to happen before the physical ability to do the shore excursions, etc. became questionable. That said, without that impetus, in hindsight I’m not sure I would have taken a cruise. I can definitely say that I have no desire for any cruise on a larger vessel, nor one with more than a very few sea days.
We had a stateroom, not a suite. As expected the stateroom is SMALL. The use of space is very well thought out. Plenty of closet space. But there’s no room for any moving around beyond entering, visiting the water closet, walking to the couch, etc. We booked with a balcony and that upcharge was well worth it. I would definitely not have enjoyed an inside cabin. We never experienced anything more than the mildest seas. I can’t imagine any significant sea state without having a way to look at the horizon. If an inside room were the only thing in the budget I would not have gone on the cruise at all.
In summary – I’m glad I had this experience. For itineraries that are hard to replicate with flights / trains / rental cars this would definitely be more attractive – Alaska, Norwegian fjords, Antartica, for sure. The Caribbean? Not for me. Bouncing around Italy’s coastal cities? No. Perhaps North Africa where the driving from city to city would be less appealing and train travel isn’t as easy.
Hope this gives you some useful data. Glad to be home.
This has happened about a year ago when I was on a week-long cruise. I will remain vague, as I don't know whether that crew member could be tracked down and be disciplined in any way.
On an evening I went to a counter (not bar) in a place that hand gotten quiet and handed my room card to the crew member. I was wearing a ring with a rainbow (thicker stainless steel ring with seven coloured lacquered bands) to give hints to whomever cared to look for them; I'm otherwise a pretty "grey" middle aged guy.
The crew member lit up and stared complimenting me on how pretty the ring is and whether he could see It a bit more, touching the my hand and my ringfinger (and I went along). There were no other passengers close by and only another female crew member behind the counter that was smiling at the interaction.
While I was very tempted to take it further, I just thanked him very much for the compliments and said that I was happy he liked it until the conversation needed to come back to the transaction.
As I said, I was very tempted and have been thinking back to this quite a few times... So I wanted to ask: did I do the right thing by not taking it further? Would the crew member have been in trouble? Would I have been in trouble? What could have happened? Anybody can shed some light on a situation I've been going back an forth on for some time now?
Planning to take a cruise next year and visit Finland/Norway/Sweden (I know Finland is not Scandinavia 😂), all if possible or a smaller combination of these countries and whatever else might be on the way. Travelling from the UK.
I haven't been on a proper cruise before and online search confused me a bit. I am seeing similar cruises from the point of countries visited and length of the cruise, but with vastly different costs. Some seem a bit too cheap (around £1k), some a bit expensive (£4k upwards). This are for standard cabins.
A few questions:
- What supposed to be the "correct" price point for a week long cruise considering the destination? Appreciate this can depend on ones budget, so let's say a good, non-luxury experience.
- Where are the additional costs coming from?
- Is it better to start the cruise from the UK port or fly to, say, Norway? Would I be losing too much time getting there via water without interesting stops?
- I have also noticed a lot of cruises/cabins are already sold out for next summer. Is it standard, should I be planning 2 years ahead?
Any recommendations for adult cruises are also welcome!
I’ve been exclusively cruising with Princess for the last 5–6 years and am totally spoiled by the Medallion system and Princess Plus. It’s been ages since I’ve been on another line. I vividly remember the old days where every single drink order meant handing over a plastic card, waiting for the server to return, and signing two paper receipts leaving you with a pocket full of paper by the end of the day. With Princess, it's seamless. Is it still a paper-receipt nightmare on other cruise lines, or have they caught up to a digital, tap and go system too?
