*~ Cruising (travel by Waterways) megathread ~*

I am is cruise on my first ever cruise .. With two children and the wife. On royal Caribbean ...unfortunately I must say that my initial fears of cruising have come true.

I really find the whole experience tedious and in fulfilling. Usually we are independent travellers who set a base and explore but on this cruise I am tormented with what most people enjoy about cruising.

We are seeing loads of places but not actually seeing them if you know what I mean ..for instance Rome ... Dock, get the train be in Rome for about 11am and back on a train at 3:30 to get back to the boat, how can anyone 'visit'rome in 4 hours.

The entertainment onboard is cheesy and at best second rate for hotel bar in lanzerote .. Have tried a few shows etc and walked out after 10 mins..absolute tripe really.

The other passengers are varied but far to high a percentage who would trample over small children to get to the top of any queue or to the buffet ... I have already had a couple of run ins with people who just push past year kids to get to the front seat of a bus or on to a tender boat before you.

On board you are being shilled and hard sold everything and anything from the staff ...it's like you are on the streets of Rome with the constant up sells and fake sales on the onboard shops.

The food is hit and miss ... But a decent selection and available all the time.

One thing is the whole operation is very well run ... Everything is done with military precision and well tuned.

The kids are enjoying them selves but i know they have better holidays elsewhere

Next year it will be back to planning and organising everything myself.

whippet wrote: »

We are seeing loads of places but not actually seeing them if you know what I mean ..for instance Rome ... Dock, get the train be in Rome for about 11am and back on a train at 3:30 to get back to the boat, how can anyone 'visit'rome in 4 hours.

Rome is a particularly bad example, as the port is about 90km away from Rome to start with, plus, it's Rome. You'll never see a fraction of it in a day. But yes, I've had other friends dislike the idea of 4-8 hours per place as you can't explore most places thoroughly in that time.

I look on it differently - the time allotted is generally enough for me to get a taste of a place and decide whether I want to go back or not. There are some places I've visited on cruises and I'm glad I'm not spending more than 6 hours there. Others I've returned to for a longer period, or plan to.

Presumably the rude people weren't just pushing past children, but past you too? I think some people are just ignorant, no matter where you are.

But yes, cruising is not for everyone - good on you for experimenting and giving it a try anyway

Generally you can purchase drinks packages when you arrive / check in.

Thoie wrote: »

I look on it differently - the time allotted is generally enough for me to get a taste of a place and decide whether I want to go back or not. There are some places I've visited on cruises and I'm glad I'm not spending more than 6 hours there. Others I've returned to for a longer period, or plan to.

I'd have a similar view and see most excursions as a taster and I've only been on one cruise so far but loved it and plan on going again. I absolutely hated Rome and left it early to head back to the ship and I'm glad I didn't waste a weekend there but I know I'd love to visit Malta again as I really enjoyed my day there.

We weren't pestered by staff trying to sell merchandise or excursions.

What you have to remember with cruises that usually there are extras like drinks and tips to be added to your bill. On most cruise lines you can add various drinks packages before sailing or during the 1st day of sailing. There are non alcoholic, wine, all inclusive and all inclusive premium packages. We were on MSC cruises twice and paid for all inclusive package which was €26 per day per adult and €13 per child (4-18). I think Costa cruises prices are similar. You have to remember that some cruise lines will require you to buy the drinks package for every person in the cabin but others will allow you to buy it just for 1 person. On MSC it is for every person in the cabin. Then there is NCL where they often run a promotion: you book a window or higher grade cabin and can pick 1 or more bonuses, usually tips, drinks, restaurants and excursions. And then there are the likes of Azamara cruises where drinks and tips are included.

The Black Oil wrote: »

Have you read the megathread? Similar to above, there's some discussion in that about packages, alcoholic and then soft drink, juice, etc.

893bet wrote: »

Just seen it now! My first time in the forum! Will read it all now.

Want to book an all in cruise for next May for 5th wedding anniversary.

Just merged the two threads.

Thanks,
kerry4sam

Thoie wrote: »

The MSC alcohol packages are about €26 per person per day, and all adults in the cabin have to get it. The Royal alcohol packages are a lot more expensive (about double the price), but if one person doesn't drink, they don't have to get the package.

Of the alcohol packages Royal has Select (approx $30 a day) which is only beer and wine. Premium is $55 a day, includes most alcohol. Ultimate is $65, includes most alcohol and also speciality coffees and freshly squeezed OJ and things like that.

I have never come across any alcohol excluded from the Premium or Ultimate packages, but maybe some kind of $200 a shot whiskeys or something may not be included

From my googling the Msc unlimited seems to be around 60 dollars per day per adult?

I have read most of this thread and I have been on a couple of cruises myself, but I'm still no clearer on what's the general consensus on "best way" to book.

1. Cruise line direct ?

2. Travel Agent (if so, which one) ?

3. Website like seascanner etc.

On MSC they have 2 all inclusive packages Allegrissimo (€23 per day adult/ €12 child) and Allegrissimo Premium (€42 adult/ €21 child), we had regular Allegrissimo on our both cruises and to be honest, unless you are really into the top shelf, we didnt see any advantage in Premium. Both of the packages are 24h a day and include loads of drinks: cocktails, spirits, soft, juice and etc. One thing to remember, if you want to avoid 15% service charge book any of the packages 21 days before departure.

Zimmerframe wrote: »

I have read most of this thread and I have been on a couple of cruises myself, but I'm still no clearer on what's the general consensus on "best way" to book.

1. Cruise line direct ?

2. Travel Agent (if so, which one) ?

3. Website like seascanner etc.

There's no real "best" way - each of them have different prices/offers/deals at different times, so I'd always recommend checking all of them when you start looking to see what offers/prices are (and also if the offers are any good for you - no point paying extra, getting a "free" alcoholic drinks package if you're a pioneer).

Cruise line direct - benefit is that you have complete control over your booking, so if you want to change cabins or do anything, you can ring them directly yourself. If you go through a travel agent/website (which are the same thing), you need to talk to the travel agent instead of RCI. This usually isn't a big deal one way or the other. You may find that your agent is easier to contact than the cruiseline, or vice versa.
A disadvantage to booking with the cruise line direct is that the best prices/offers often seem to be elsewhere. From Ireland you can only book through the Irish sites, which in my own experience often end up a lot more expensive than the US. Having said that, there are sometimes deals to be had on the Irish site.

Travel Agent/Website
I have one upcoming cruise booked with Seascanner. They're basically a big German travel agent, so once you've done your booking you're dealing with a TA via email (in English - they all have great English). Seascanner is a really well designed site that can help you find the ships/routes you're interested in. They have a special offers section that you can keep an eye on, and sometimes have great deals.

Don't get me wrong, I respect Irish Travel Agents, and have nothing against them, but they are hampered by the same rules when it comes to booking cruises. Most of the time they're just booking the flight/hotel/cruise through a slightly different portal than you'd see, but the same restrictions (and crazy high prices) are in play.

The advantage US travel agents have over the Irish is that they're playing by a different set of rules (dictated by the cruise lines). They can get access to prices that simply aren't available to us. Due to the larger market, the US TAs are able to offer enticements -such as OBC, further discounts, and (most interesting to me) price drops.

The price drops essentially means you're getting your cruise at whatever the cheapest rate is between the date you book and final payment date (about 2 months before sailing)

dingding wrote:

Just back from a cruise with celebrity, I have been with them many times in the past. This time drinks were very expensive, and from checking on the internet they seem to have increased the charges significantly earlier this year. Also they have made changes to the prie and structure of the beverage packages. As an example a couple of cans of soft drink were 8 usd, while the last time we cruised it was less than 5 usd, about 4.40 usd from memory. These changes seem to have happened around March and apply to royal Caribbean also.

I misread that as you were just back from a cruise WITH a celebrity. Derp!

dingding wrote:

Not all lines have made these changes so you will need to factor the cost of beverages into your holiday.

Yea NCL have introduced a raft of changes such as the fee for room service and the service charge going up TWICE in as many months.
And MSC have completely changed their loyalty scheme, not to the betterment of customers.
There seems to be a lot of, what some would call 'nickle and diming ' changes going on in the cruise world of late.



Anyway. I had to reschedule my December MSC Med cruise. I had it booked thinking I'd do my exams then sail into the sunset! Well they released the schedule and my archaeology exam is the day AFTER I would have come back. So no go there. Rescheduled to April on a different ship - Armonia - and a slightly different route.

Of course that meant I also had to reschedule my July NCL cruise due to the close proximity and what not. I am now going on the Spirit for a 12 day grand Med from Barca to Venice for Halloween.

I'm starting to plan going on another cruise next year during the Easter Holidays. I really enjoyed our first cruise with MSC this year. There's so much choice and I don't even know where I'd like to go, decisions decisions.