Any Cruisers here?

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I have thought about going on one but as usual hard time doing things by myself.

 

[seenred]

We went on our first cruise in January - took our 7 y.o. grandson and his parents on a Disney cruise to the Bahamas. Cruising was never on my bucket list, buy Mrs. Red has always wanted to do it. I enjoyed it more than I thought I might. And since it was our grandson's first cruise, it was really fun to watch him have that experience.

We've decided we'd be in for another...but want to find a more older-adult-oriented cruise next time. Wife loves the beach, so it's likely to be another Caribbean cruise when we go.

Red

 

[Inscrutable]

We went on our first cruise in January - took our 7 y.o. grandson and his parents on a Disney cruise to the Bahamas. Cruising was never on my bucket list, buy Mrs. Red has always wanted to do it. I enjoyed it more than I thought I might. And since it was our grandson's first cruise, it was really fun to watch him have that experience.

We've decided we'd be in for another...but want to find a more older-adult-oriented cruise next time. Wife loves the beach, so it's likely to be another Caribbean cruise when we go.

Red

We are thinking of that next year … granddaughters will be 6 and 15. While we hear lots of positives, we do hear some complaints that the lines for character ‘opportunities” are very long and wear on the littles.
we’ve had some suggest Carnival instead, but we hear too many negatives about them.

What were your experiences on that cruise?

 

[seenred]

We are thinking of that next year … granddaughters will be 6 and 15. While we hear lots of positives, we do hear some complaints that the lines for character ‘opportunities” are very long and wear on the littles.
we’ve had some suggest Carnival instead, but we hear too many negatives about them.

What were your experiences on that cruise?

It's true that there were often long lines to see the Disney characters. Seems to matter which character and what time of day. Our grandson LOVED it, which was really fun for us. We liked it very much, but the hordes of children can become a bit taxing after a few days.

The ocean scenery and the port stops (3 Bahamas islands, including Nassau and Atlantis) were great. This is why we'd like to do it again - only on a cruise that is adults-only...or at least one that caters more towards adults.

One thing that was a little underwhelming to me. I'd always been told how amazing the dining is on cruises. I didn't find that to be the case. The food wasn't bad...but not what I'd call amazing. I was a bit disappointed. Maybe on a cruise that didn't cater more to kids, the food would be better?

Red

 

[Inscrutable]

It's true that there were often long lines to see the Disney characters. Seems to matter which character and what time of day. Our grandson LOVED it, which was really fun for us. We liked it very much, but the hordes of children can become a bit taxing after a few days.

The ocean scenery and the port stops (3 Bahamas islands, including Nassau and Atlantis) were great. This is why we'd like to do it again - only on a cruise that is adults-only...or at least one that caters more towards adults.

One thing that was a little underwhelming to me. I'd always been told how amazing the dining is on cruises. I didn't find that to be the case. The food wasn't bad...but not what I'd call amazing. I was a bit disappointed. Maybe on a cruise that didn't cater more to kids, the food would be better?

Red

The overwhelming majority think that the food quality has gone down across the board since the pandemic. Same with entertainment, especially the large production shows. Cost cutting to recover their losses.

That said, IME, the specialty restaurants are still very good. The complimentary dining rooms vary and have limited menus, but usually good+. I thought those on Margaritaville were better than NCL, but the buffet was worse, and a zoo at lunch on sea days as the dining rooms were closed. We aren’t big buffet/zoo fans anyway.

Virgin is adults-only but we haven’t tried yet.
Norwegian has some areas and programs for kids, but by and large an older crowd, and we never saw kids out of control. Some adult-only areas. And their biggest ships have great lounges both in and out. Cant say, but betting most other lines are also an older crowd with less kid features.

 

[stewiejp]

This time last year I was on my first ever cruise down the Rhone river in southern France. Loved it. Emerald Cruises is who we went with - a part of the Scenic Group from memory. Every single staff member was amazing, food and wine top notch and the day trips were all interesting with day trips for all levels of mobility. They called the easiest trip the "Gentle Walkers" which I thought was nice. They also had cycling tours for those so inclined.
Could not fault the tour - though I have nothing to compare it too. At 50, I was the 3rd youngest guest on the ship (my sister was the 2nd youngest!) Most were 60+
My mother and step father have been on several (Emerald cruises as well as another company - Canada/Alaska) and it is their preferred cruise line.
Not sure if kids were allowed but there would not be a lot for them to do in any case. Perfect!

 

[mcokevin]

I used to work on ships a long time ago. From 2006-2015 I was involved in about a dozen Newbuild ship projects and another dozen or so refits.

I went on my first cruise as a passenger over new years this last holiday season. Had a great time. Finally been away from the industry long enough that I can enjoy and relax on a cruise.