Cruise Lovers?

Are there any fellow cruise lovers out there? It's our very favorite vacation. We're going on one this December - the Carnival Freedom. So relaxing, so luxurious -- nothing but pampering. And price-wise, it's the best buy for your money. We find that people either love or hate a cruise, nothing in between. We have been on Princess many times and love it, but have found the newer Carnival ships are great and they offer very good deals. Anybody want to join us?

I would LOVE too!

I have never been on one but I plan on Craig and I taking one in about 10 yrs or so

Drop me a line if you ever dock at Ogden Point in Victoria BC; it's a deep-port facility about a block from our house and there are cruise ships there all the time.

When we first moved here we didn't realize about the cruise ships near by and one blew its horn (to call passengers, I believe) at almost midnight one night. HOLY MOLY those horns are LOUD!!! Woke us all up and scared the cr*p out of us! A co-worker from China heard the cruise ship horns when he moved here and he called the police! I guess they all got a good laugh that night at the police department.

We're so used to the horns now we don't even hear 'em. Seriously, let me know if you are nearby and we'll have lunch or something.

Would love to, but this cruise is just going to the Caribbean. Someday we hope to go to Alaska --- I think the cruise ships go thru your area on that route. Try a cruise - you'll love it.

I LOVE cruises! I've taken several caribbean cruises before.. mainly on Carnival. I love it when I wake up and I am in a different port!

I've ALWAYS wanted to go on a cruise!! I am too poor though lol. I have yet to see outside of the Maritime provinces. (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI). I lead such a boring life.

Oh I would LOVE to! DH and I haven't had a relaxing non-visiting-family type vacation in years!! I've been on 2 cruises and I do think they are the best vacation for your money. You get to visit different ports and your food and lodging are all included. We aren't big drinkers; usually I'll have one and DH will have a few sips of whatever I get. So that helps save $$ too. The last one we went on was in February and the waters were a bit rougher than I remember my first; which was an August cruise. That and having an outside cabin did give me some issues. But I think they were just compounded by the number flying does to my head sometimes. But I loved the outside cabin...watching the moon on the water and when we were in ports being able to see things right from our room!

i've never been on a cruise. i've always thought it would be fun, but it also scares me for some reason. lol

i think one day we may try a disney cruise of some sort, this way my husband and i can bring our son and maybe one of his friends!

We have I think #25 or so booked for February, NCL out of New Orleans. I used to do work for a cruise site. Our two favorites have been Alaska and Hawaii.

We say a cruise is the only true vacation a woman or a trucker can take.

I've only been in cruises that go to Stockholm, Sundsvall and Visby (Sweden) and Tallinn (Estonia). Those are basically party trips, very common over here.

I'd love to go on a proper luxury cruise though!
I love being on a cruise, specially in the winter when you can hear the ice crumbling around the ship and when you go to the port you can see the whole bow frosted in thick ice if it has been a bit windy. (Our ships are ice class 1A Super if that means anything to you). I like rough seas.

We're thinking very seriously about booking our 5th cruise for next February to cruise to and from Hawaii for DH's 65th birthday. I 've been out there looking at deals already.

Our last cruise we did the Panama Canal. Great time!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by mrblanche

We say a cruise is the only true vacation a woman or a trucker can take.

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Why is that?

Originally Posted by KittehTime

i've never been on a cruise. i've always thought it would be fun, but it also scares me for some reason. lol

i think one day we may try a disney cruise of some sort, this way my husband and i can bring our son and maybe one of his friends!

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They are out for us now unless my Mother is willing to babysit for however long we are gone. I do like the idea of doing a Disney crusie with the whole family when my kiddo is a little older. The first one I went on my friend's mother brought the whole family; including one early elementary age and one infant. They enjoyed it too; but that's not my idea of a relaxing vacation...

I love cruises! It's always a little disorienting to come back and have to pay for food. Especially less enchanting food.

I went on this ship last year around the Med, the DREAM

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/...hp?lid=1098249

And l just got back last Tuesday from being on this ship, the ISLAND ESCAPE

http://www.virginholidayscruises.co....island-escape/

The Dream was much more superior, but it was still nice

I would love to go on a cruise one day. But Id have to test myself out on a big boat first. LOL Ive never been on anything other than a canoe or itty bitty boat with a motor so I dont know if Id get sea sick or not. LOL

Originally Posted by MoochNNoodles

Why is that?

They are out for us now unless my Mother is willing to babysit for however long we are gone. I do like the idea of doing a Disney crusie with the whole family when my kiddo is a little older. The first one I went on my friend's mother brought the whole family; including one early elementary age and one infant. They enjoyed it too; but that's not my idea of a relaxing vacation...

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yeah i can't see how having an infant with you would make it a vacation. lol. i'd think once your child/children are closer to age 10, this way they are old enough to be able to be at one of the childrens functions (like the disney cruise) and i wouldn't worry about them not being able to be away from me or if they get lost they are mature enough to know what to do/who to go to for help. some people might say 10 is def old enough but maybe i'm overprotective...lol.

Originally Posted by 3CatsN1Dog

I would love to go on a cruise one day. But Id have to test myself out on a big boat first. LOL Ive never been on anything other than a canoe or itty bitty boat with a motor so I dont know if Id get sea sick or not. LOL

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i've always heard bigger the ship, less the sickness? not sure how accurate this is.

Love to cruise! I go on Carnival as well. My next time I will be platinum!

In regards to seasickness it is true that being on a bigger ship helps. I also recommend getting a cabin mid ship and on a lower floor. I take Bonine, its a chewable 24hr motion sickness pill. I take it at breakfast so I don't forget and its never failed me. Helps also for those crazy bus rides when you go on exursions...the island drivers can be crazy!

I'm hoping to get on the 4night imagination out of miami in January. I am so excited becuase Carnival is now cruising out of my home port of Boston! What a convienance to not have to fly!! I am a 15 minute drive to the port!

We also get a mid-ship cabin on main deck (2nd deck from bottom) The last few cruises it worked out perfectly. Don't feel any motion. I also take Bonine with me (just in case). Have experienced sea-sickness a couple of times in the past when we hit some turbulent weather. We don't go during hurricane season anymore. December seems to work out beautifully. Seas are calm, ships are decorated for the holidays. ok - now I'm really getting anxious. The excitement seems to hit me when we are approaching the port and see those magnificent ships docked! That's when it all becomes real.

We have a lot of cruise experience, and, as I said, I worked for a cruise site for a number of years. If you do a google search on my name (Mike Blanche), you'll probably find some old cruise reviews and articles floating around.

If you shop wisely, you can do a cruise for less than you'd spend at a reasonable hotel and eating at mass-market restaurants. I've done a few that we did cheaper than staying at Super 8 and eating at McDonalds. Of course, it helps if you can drive to the port, since airfare will raise your costs significantly. We are in driving distance to Houston, Galveston, and New Orleans.

I say it's the only true vacation for a woman, because it's the only vacation where she won't have to be unpacking and packing every day, cooking, cleaning, planning activities, etc. And for a trucker, because it's the rare vacation where you don't have to do a lot of driving.

The cruise lines are coming up with more ways to dig in your pockets, so you have to be aware of that. Drinks are not usually free. Even soft drinks cost extra, although on a lot of ships, you can get a week-long soft-drink ticket for something like $25. Tips are not usually included, and more and more ships are automatically adding it to the room charges; you can ask to have it taken off, if you want to. Many ships have at least one, and some have several extra-cost restaurants. If you eat in the standard dining room, that won't apply. These are usually a French room, an Italian room, a steak house, maybe a sushi bar.

Careful shopping can really pay off. When I booked our cruise, I checked the prices for a number of weeks before and after the date I thought we wanted. We got the lowest week; it's after all the Christmas and New Years people are done, and before the Spring Break madness gets going.

We've had some great bargains. We booked the lowest outside cabin on the SS Norway, and it was cheap; around $400 each. We booked very early. We got a call a few weeks before sailing, offering us a suite for just $200 more, total, and we took it!

For those who worry about safety, you are safer on a cruise ship than at home in your own bed. There have been next to no passenger deaths on cruise ships that call at U.S. ports due to sinking, collision, fire, etc. It was big news when the Princess ship had a fire some years ago, and one passenger died of a heart attack. Now, people die all the time on cruise ships, but it's almost entirely elderly people who would have died at home, too.

Most ships have a children's program, and I've never seen a kid on a cruise ship that didn't have fun. Carnival is very family-oriented, so if you have kids, that's a good bet. If you want to get away from kids, look at Holland America.

And, if you think you want to go on a cruise, don't put it off. We've seen so many older ladies saying, "Ah, my husband and I always wanted to go on a cruise like this together, but he died before he retired and so I travel alone."

Ah very true Mike! My in-laws have a timeshare and while that is nice; my MIL is always making cold salads and packing foods to cook so they don't have to eat out the whole time they are gone.

When DH and I took the last one I had been looking at spending a few days in Key West as an option for a trip and the cost was crazy!! Looking at one of the travel sites got me thinking cruise and we did get an amazing bang for our buck!!