*~ Cruising (travel by Waterways) megathread ~*

mazwell

We went on a cruise last year with royal carribean. Allure of the seas from fort Lauderdale taking in Jamaica Haiti and Mexico. Couldn't recommend it enough.
I would say get a balcony room, ocean view if possible, and if you like a few drinks on holiday the all inclusive drinks package is well worth it.

spurious

Big thread here on them. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056848146

I did 7 nights in the Eastern Mediterranean with Royal Caribbean a few years ago with my mother. Loved it. Certainly a lot of older people, but plenty of all ages.

waxmelts2000

Thank you both

Strumms

Best holidays ever for me have been cruises, I’ve done 3 all with MSC and could not recommend them or MSC enough. Back 2 weeks from latest one, looking forward to next one ��..from the food, entertainment and comfort it’s all five star, you do as little or as much as you like.

Lex Luthor

Norwegian Cruises worth a mention aswell

deisemum

I've been on 3 MSC cruises and loved them. The ships I was on were the MSC Splendida, Orchestra and Divina.

Ludo

Back a week now from a cruise on MSC Seaview myself. Brilliant I must say. The 2 ten year olds loved it also and we are booking again for next year I think.

waxmelts2000

When booking your cruise is it best to book through travel agent direct or do yiu book yourself online

Stone Deaf 4evr

Valyawl wrote: »

When booking your cruise is it best to book through travel agent direct or do yiu book yourself online

I booked next year's one via the website (royal Caribbean) , they had a combined offer of reduced fares for additional passengers but the main draw was getting flights to and from Barcelona for 1 euro per person.

Yellowledbetter

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

I booked next year's one via the website (royal Caribbean) , they had a combined offer of reduced fares for additional passengers but the main draw was getting flights to and from Barcelona for 1 euro per person.

I’ve only ever booked through a TA but I’m just curious on booking direct with RCI. Was it full payment up front or a deposit and then the ability to pay instalments up to 56 days before departure?

Stone Deaf 4evr

Yellowledbetter wrote: »

I’ve only ever booked through a TA but I’m just curious on booking direct with RCI. Was it full payment up front or a deposit and then the ability to pay instalments up to 56 days before departure?

for a group of 4 we paid 660 up front with the balance to be paid by the end of april (sailing mid june).

That flight offer expires at the end of this month IIRC.

Mike3549

Valyawl wrote: »

When booking your cruise is it best to book through travel agent direct or do yiu book yourself online

I booked an MSC cruise for sept 2019 through american TA, kids go free, deposit $100, balance april or may 2019.
It was less than half price compared to irish, UK or other european TAs.
Also booking directly through cruise co. is cheaper sometimes

Graham1978

Mike3549 wrote: »

I booked an MSC cruise for sept 2019 through american TA, kids go free, deposit $100, balance april or may 2019.
It was less than half price compared to irish, UK or other european TAs.
Also booking directly through cruise co. is cheaper sometimes

We sailed on Harmony of the seas in May, and love the look of MSC Seaside, can you tell me the American TA that you booked with ?

Graham1978

Can anyone recommend a American TA that they have used ?

We sailed on RCL Harmony of the Seas, travelled with 2 kids. The ship is absolutely amazing, didn’t get to do half the stuff with the kids. Food, entertainment was really outstanding.

Strumms

Valyawl wrote: »

When booking your cruise is it best to book through travel agent direct or do yiu book yourself online

Travel agent. In my experience they have access to slightly better deals and some cheap or free add ons / upgrades if you book regularly or get lucky. PM if you need advise on who we use.

Mike3549

Graham1978 wrote: »

We sailed on Harmony of the seas in May, and love the look of MSC Seaside, can you tell me the American TA that you booked with ?

American discount cruises and travel.
The $100 deposit is non refundable though.
Cruise.com and vacationstogo was the same price as ADC&T, but ADC&T offered onboard credit.

coylemj

Valyawl wrote: »

When booking your cruise is it best to book through travel agent direct or do yiu book yourself online

It depends but if you're thinking of booking through a travel agent, be sure to check their cancellation policy. I booked a cruise a few years ago direct with the cruise company because I got a decent price and their cancellation policy was pretty generous. I later discovered that if I had booked with the travel agent and cancelled about a month before, I would have forfeited the full cost of the cruise whereas the cruise company would have given me most of my money back.

I know the travel agent will probably take care of transfers and other incidentals but if you're confident about navigating airports and local transport options, it's often worth organising an independent package.

roosky

Hi all,

Myself and girlfriend have booked a royal Caribbean cruise for the end of September for the western Caribbean (Haiti, Jamaica and mexico).

Its our first time cruising so have any of you been before?

We are fairly clueless about the whole lot so any advise would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Thoie

The Cruise Critic forums are good for some general advice, but there can be a lot of negative Nellie's on there too

Hard to know where to begin with advice for your first time - some of the fun is experiencing it all for yourself

A few things:

1. When you arrive at the port you'll leave your luggage on the quay side, and it will be delivered to your cabin later. This can be a lot later, so bring a carry on bag with swimsuits/change of clothes/things you'll want in the first few hours on board. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR PASSPORT IN THE SUITCASE. Every trip, someone gets turned away because they've forgotten ID, or put it in their luggage and now it can't be found. There could be 6,000+ suitcases being loaded, the chances of finding yours on time is low.
2. Your cabin key card is also your "money" on board for the duration of the trip. Everything you buy on board will go on your card. If you have a drink package, your card will be swiped each time.
3. The walls of the cabins are metal. If you're the kind of person who buys magnets on holidays, this can come in handy for keeping tickets/Daily Compass stuck to the wall in a convenient location.
4. You'll get a "Daily Compass" on your bed every day listing all the activities, opening hours and lots of other information.
5. Port shopping lectures aren't really worth it, but try one, once, to see what you think. Don't skip anything else fun for it though!
6. Things are expensive on the ship. Try not to forget toothpaste, etc, or else try buy them on shore if you have to.
7. The ship's excursions are generally more expensive than you can get elsewhere, but they do give you a safety net, in that if you miss the ship they'll look after you. If you go off on your own and miss the ship, it's up to you to catch up with them.
8. Get hold of some $1 notes for tipping.
9. Wear sunscreen

roosky

thanks a million for all that.

would you advise to do an excursion for each day we are stopped, they are expensive but we will only be there the once !

coylemj

roosky wrote: »

would you advise to do an excursion for each day we are stopped, they are expensive but we will only be there the once !

You mention Haiti, Jamaica and Mexico in which case I would caution against going ashore independently of the excursions on offer.

On a European cruise I'd definitely recommend doing some research on local transport (bus/train) options from the port to the town and strolling about on your own but for the destinations mentioned above, I would not.

I'd even consider not going ashore at all in Jamaica, it's a sh1thole for gun crime.

endacl

If you smoke, bring lighters. They’re not sold on board.

Thoie

roosky wrote: »

thanks a million for all that.

would you advise to do an excursion for each day we are stopped, they are expensive but we will only be there the once !

As coylemj said, for those locations, I'd probably go with a ship's excursion. If you're going to Labadee (Royal's private "island"), I would not recommend their "Cultural Experience". I found it really uncomfortable. We went by boat to a village, where the locals tried to sell us anything and everything. There was a traditional dance (which had some interesting history to it), performed in "traditional polyester costumes". While the information and history were really interesting, I'd say about 30-40% of the tour was interesting information, and the rest was "opportunities to buy things from the locals". I happened to be in a very small group, which probably made it more uncomfortable.

It's hard to know what to suggest for the tours. Personally I find that too many excursions a number of days in a row can be quite tiring (particularly after a week of stress of finishing up work, handing stuff over, packing, fitting in beautician, long flight to the Caribbean). They're very inclined to start a lot of the tours at 8 or 8:30am, which means being up quite early if you want to grab a coffee/brekkie before you go. But I'm not much of a morning person!

Think about how energetic you are. I like to have a day to lounge and recover when I get on board, and know that I'll get in a few more days of "doing nothing" before having to return to work. Some people hate "doing nothing" though! In terms of cost, if you're interested, I'd do it, as you said, you might only be there the once.

coylemj

Assume that all of the sockets onboard are for 110V US (two flat pin) plugs so bring travel adapters and check that your chargers and other gadgets with mains leads are multivoltage (100-240V). Some of the boats in the Caribbean also do Europe so for example MSC boats have US and Euro sockets but for Royal Caribbean, it would be safer to assume that they will be all US sockets.

I'd echo Thoie's advice about your main bag and the first night. We left our bags within the secure compound on the quayside and boarded but the bags went missing within the ship and weren't delivered to outside our cabins until 3 a.m. So have the essentials for bedtime (PJs and toothbrush) in a carry-on bag and assume your main bag doesn't show up until the next morning.

roosky

thanks a million for all suggestions ..........there are so many little things and hard to think of it them all

TheShow

Don’t fall off the back of the ship!

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45240390

riemann

One thing I would have liked to have known beforehand is the dining etiquette.

We were put at a table of 8 with 3 other couples for the week. Was nice to get to know a few people and hear stories from around the world.

On the last night we were supposed to bring an envelope with cash as a tip for the waiter serving our table.

He didn't appreciate this and I did begrudgingly leave him 100quid in the cabin. This would have been a small amount, several hundred would be the norm or so I was told.

There is one night where everyone gets dressed up to the 9s, possibly the last night. Again I didn't know this and would have brought one nice outfit if I had.

gozunda

Don't wish to be a wet squib but keep in mind hurricane season in the Caribbean occurs from June 1 to November 30, peaking from late August through September...

Fann Linn

riemann wrote: »

One thing I would have liked to have known beforehand is the dining etiquette.

We were put at a table of 8 with 3 other couples for the week. Was nice to get to know a few people and hear stories from around the world.

On the last night we were supposed to bring an envelope with cash as a tip for the waiter serving our table.

He didn't appreciate this and I did begrudgingly leave him 100quid in the cabin. This would have been a small amount, several hundred would be the norm or so I was told.

There is one night where everyone gets dressed up to the 9s, possibly the last night. Again I didn't know this and would have brought one nice outfit if I had.

What would happen if ye left nothing?

Mitch Connor

I did the same cruise on the alure. You don't have to be tied to a table, you can do your own thing dining. Different places, tables etc.

If you can get a cabana for Haiti.... Do it. Worth every penny. That place is HOT.