Daydreaming about a cruise-NOT TOM

[sweetrebel]

A friend went on a cruise last week, and she loved it. I have never been on one, and asked the hubby if he wanted to go on one. I got a resounding HELL NO on that. He wasn't getting on a boat...of course, I had to point out that he went fishing on a boat. His explanation was that he was within x miles of land.
I have been looking at some sites for about an hour, and I want to go more than ever now. I found one for 5 days to the Carribean that was $1700.00 for the both of us. Called and told him I had booked it, and we were leaving in April. He wasn't happy! He cheered up when I told him I was only joking. He said he would rent us a boat for the lake this summer...yeah, that is a great consolation there, lover

[pacific breeze]

Don't feel too badly, Sweetrebel. Cruises can vary wildly. I know a couple who went on a Caribbean cruise with another couple and they hated it. Said they were the youngest people on board except for some bratty grandkids (they're in their 40s) and that they had to line up for everything from food to activities. They also said everything you had to pay for was overpriced and that the staff was rude. Can't remember which one they picked, but they said it was supposed to be good. Plus, they were steered to expenisve places on shore and every time they tried to go off on their own, they were told not to. And they got sick when they came back!

My mother and her hubby went on a Christmas cruise and they said never again -- lots of out-of-control kids to the point that the ship made a special stop and several of the teens were arrested on drug, theft and assault charges. Living in Van we're on the route and we hear a lot of horror stories here, especially about sickness.
I'd like to go on an Alaskan cruise, tho, they are supposed to be good.

[Lobelia]

I've only been on one, but it sure wasn't like that! ^^^

I hardly saw (or noticed) any children or old people. Maybe because it was the Carnival line, and older people like other lines better, I think, plus Carnival does pretty good child care activities? Maybe they all do, I don't know. You're always going to have people who insist on having Junior and Princess right smack in the middle of everything.

Really, though, I've got nothing but good things to say about the cruise I took. I still remember some of the staff fondly, they were so sweet to us.

[cloud]

Hubby and I took a Caribbean cruise on Carnival for our honeymoon. It was horrible! The ship was entirely packed, everytime we left our room (except in the middle of the night) it was like being in the mall the day after Christmas!

Consequently we spent most of our time in the room - the saving grace of the trip was that we had a balcony. I love the morning coffee and smoke on the balcony! Granted, the balconies are all connected, with a skinny piece of frosted plastic offering a modicum of privacy.

The boat would have been wonderful if it had been an adult cruise (and not so packed), the kids were a fright! The ports were beautiful but we didn't get nearly enough time at them. We've decided that on our next Caribbean trip we'll just fly in.

[Lobelia]

Wow, y'all are making me feel very lucky about my experience!

[Laurent]

I've been on two before. Both times had at least two high school senior classes on their senior cruise. Nightmare!

Plus, I got food poisoning the first time and was practically delirious for 2 days. I thought I'd give it another try and got sick again. It wasn't food poisoning this time, I guess it was a mild case of sea sickness plus picking up some bug.

[NoDayButToday]

I'll be going on my 6th cruise in *checks date* 31 days. I've been on Disney once, Carnival 3 times, and this is our second on Princess. We have had almost all good experiences. We cruise the week before or week of Christmas every time b/c that is the vacation time my dad gets, and he is convinced it is the ONLY way to travel b/c everything is taken care of for you.

We will never sail with Carnival again though, their customer service is horrible. On our last cruise with them the room steward broke my glasses. I wore my contacts to dinner that night, had left my glasses in the case in the bathroom with my toiletries up on a shelf where she shouldn't have been playing anyway. Carnival is known for making towel animals. When she did the one for that night she found my glasses in the bathroom and thought it would be "cute" to put them on the animal. Unfortunately, they didn't quite fit the animal, so she decided to MAKE them fit. She broke them, they were almost in 2 pieces. We filed a complaint with Carnival and was told they would replace them when I went home. I go home, get a duplicate frame (didn't even go big and get fancy replacements, reordered the same ones) and Carnival says they will reimburse me. We get a check a few months later for half the cost of the glasses. When we called to inquire about it they determined it was MY fault b/c my glasses were not locked in the little tiny safe. That was when we cancelled the cruise we'd already scheduled with them and went to Princess. On the other end, Princess made a major mistake with our first booking. On a fully booked ship they accidentally booked 4 people into a 3 person room, so one of us didn't have a bed. They realized it when we got on the ship, spent a day running around trying to figure out what to do, and by the time we were sitting down to dinner they had provided my sister and I a room that no one had showed up for. It was at their cost, and they gave us a bunch of onboard credit for the inconvenience.

We've never had really horrible experiences on a ship, but the boards on cruisecritic.com are full of them. The favorite complaint is anytime someone ends up on a ship with "the bears". They're pretty infamous with cruisers, they change lines every year b/c they really aren't welcome back once they sail on any line b/c they make porn on the ship and are rude and horrible to everyone around them, they're even overtly sexual with little kids around.

[Lobelia]

Well, shit, if the girl had poured out all your shampoo & perfume onto the floor, and thrown your shoes off the balcony, and ripped the sleeves off your shirts, would that be your damned fault TOO for not locking them up? I swear, mumble mumble....

[NoDayButToday]

That was pretty much what we said to them, but they stood by their "her fault b/c they weren't locked up" line. Which was when we told them to cancel our booking because we were switching cruiselines. Screw them, Princess got a whole lot of our money on the cruise we would have taken with Carnival, we even bought a bunch of artwork in the art auctions on that one.

[pacific breeze]

Who are "the bears?" I'm not sure I want to know, shudder, but now I'm curious.

[NoDayButToday]

The Bears I'm referring to are from an internet sex site. They are a group of bigger, hairier gay men, and they use the cruise ship to make special edition videos every year. They take over pools and everything for their own purposes.

[pacific breeze]

Thanks. I knew I didn't really want to know that. Serves me right for asking!

[NoDayButToday]

I'm trying to see if I can hunt down their website, they advertise which ships they will be on in the future...

[LynnieD]

Never been on a Cruise, but my hubby gets terribly motion sickness and is scared to take one for that reason, even though they are fairly stable. I've heard good and bad things about cruises, mostly good. One of my best friends just got back from one as well from New Orleans to Mexico.....she liked it, but probably wouldn't do it again.....

[sweetrebel]

I tried to talk hubby into it again last night, but he is still saying no, which sucks, because I really want to go. I seriously doubt I will talk him into it, though. Guess I will just keep on daydreaming about it...