Cruising - How did you start doing it?

[Chuckanut]

I have long put off cruising but as the years roll by I am beginning to think that a cruise would be a nice way to blow some dough as I age.

Clark Howard recommends start-up cruisers should team up with experienced cruisers. But, like me, few of my friends cruise very much. And the ones who do cruise like Huge ships with tons of play things and lots of food and drink. I don’t think I would enjoy that. I want smaller boats (say several hundred people) and longer stops at ports and other places of interest.

The other suggestion was to use a travel agent who specializes in cruising for the first few cruises while I learn the ins and outs of cruising.

So, if you are a cruiser, How did you start cruising and become a wise consumer of the cruising business?

 

[pacergal]

We have only been on one, earlier with the kids. It was through a travel agent.
We hope to plan more in the coming years.
Interested in answers to this thread. Thanks for starting it!

 

[brett]

Our first cruise was a company reward trip on Crystal. Gratis. A week on the Med.

The second was very different. We were living in Vancouver, Canada. The TA that did my frequent business travel bookings (and whose children played with ours) called me at work on a Tuesday in July.

She said that she had just tentatively booked the four of us on a last minute 7 day Vancouver-Alaska return cruise. I was surprised! She said the price was too good to turn down so she tentatively booked it for us.

We had 24 hours to decide and pay. It was too good to pass up. Our children were small. All four of us in an outside cabin.

We had planned to be at a cottage the following week. We checked the Alaska weather forcast for the following week and then decided to go! Thank you Arlene.

We have done 20 or so cruises since then. Always a balcony cabin though. One thing we did learn through that early experinece was to shop last minute cruises. Most of our subseqent cruises have been purchased in that manner. It is why we our focus has always been on the ship and the itinerary vs the cruise line.

 

[pacergal]

I would always do a balcony cabin also.

 

[mystang52]

My tips for first time cruiser:
1) Absolutely use a cruise-specialist travel agent, at least for your first and second cruises. If you enjoy cruising, by then you'll probably know enough to do it on your own (there are benefits to continue using such a travel agent, but it then becomes a personal choice).
2) Book a balcony cabin. You may be happy to book an inside cabin on subsequent cruises, but to get a full taste of cruising get that balcony the first time.
3) You'll pay a bit more, but get shore excursions through the cruise line.
The peace of mind is worth that extra cost, for first time cruiser.
3a) Carefully read the shore excursion descriptions, to be sure you get what you expect.

 

[skyking1]

I have a different suggestion than most.
My wife was wanting to include my BIL who was aging along and in a wheelchair, and she asked if he wanted to go on a cruise?
This was at a big family gathering and before you knew it, 9 of us were booked on a June cruise out of Seattle to Skagway and back.
I know where you are, and that is what I would do for a first cruise.
We were inside cabin on that and it worked out OK. We were out of the cabin all the time and it worked. On the second and now all subsequent cruises we will get a balcony.
It is just a week and a great start with no airline portion.

 

[brett]

We very seldom bother with ship sponsored shore excursions. I can only remember doing one or two.

We have found independent tours to be much better. Less expensive, far fewer or no other guests, and custom made on occasion.

The other huge advantage is NO stopping at carpet, leather, or trash and trinket stores or for lunch at overcrowded and overpriced 'local' restaurants.

No waiting around to collect others on the tour who abuse the scheduled time at each stop.

 

[braumeister]

Never considered cruising, but got intrigued by an offer from an organization I belong to. Seemed like a nice idea to have lots of like-minded fellow passengers, and it was an Alaska cruise which sounded easy enough.

First timers like us know nothing about it, so it was a surprise to learn that even though we were on what is considered a "smaller" ship (around 800 pax), it was far too large for my liking. The long waits to get off the ship at each port were terrible, and the constant barrage of "you need to go to these shops in the next port for great deals" was extremely annoying and obvious.

Resolved to never again use such a big ship. But since then I've been on a number of "expedition" type cruises on little ships (biggest had less than 300 pax, smallest less than 50) and enjoyed them greatly. Also enjoyed (for the most part) some river cruises in Europe.

 

[brett]

Since retiring most of our cruises have been last minute and have been part of an extended land trip. Prior to that they were all 10-14 day Caribbean winter getaway cruises from work.

When we are on land trips we will shop last minute cruises for nearby ports that are on offer. The last one was eight days Rome-Barcelona in late Oct early Nov. The first leg of a TA.

We were in Palarmo just ending an 18 day trip in Sicily. Saw the the cruise and booked it. The big bonus was that we were able to buy one way cruise air home at a very attractive fare. We got Vueling flight to Rome two days later for the princely sum of $37. Less expensive than the train.

 

[5Miler]

I have been on 36 cruises with number 37 happening in two weeks and number 38 to Alaska this September.

I had never been on a cruise until I met DGF who enjoyed cruising so here we are. She has about 45 cruises under her belt. DGF used to use a Travel Agency but after a few years, the owner of the agency told her to start booking her own for commission as she knew as much as the regular agents. DGF got her certifications for the cruise industry and we have been on several "Fam" trips and inaugural sailings at low to no cost because of it.

We used to travel on various cruise lines but have been mostly been traveling on just one that we have come to enjoy. We now usually meet up on our cruises with other people we have met on cruises over the years. DGF has never met a stranger.

Early on, we mostly used cruise line excursions as a means of reaching scuba diving sites in locations we wanted to try out. At 65 it became increasingly difficult to dive via these excursions so we now spend more time hanging out with our friends in port unless a particular excursion gets our attention. Usually take a lot of ship excursions when cruising in Europe or Alaska.

We always book a balcony cabin or suite. DGF gets 10% commission via the travel agency, I get a 10% per stateroom credit for military and a $100 per stateroom credit as a shareholder. DGF books all the cruise travel for our friends and family only and does not take outside work but it still results in having to file Schedule C income come tax time. She makes just enough to keep her ACA income uncertain until late in the year.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I have now done 25 cruises. I started in 2004 when I took a badly-needed 2 week vacation from work. Up to that point, I had only taken a week off at a time. But I needed an escape. I had read about cruises but didn't really have anyone personally suggest a cruise to me. I just looked at the calendar and said "what would be a good itinerary that fits into my time off." I think I booked it about 3 weeks before the cruise.

My first cruise was 13 nights in the Mediterranean from Barcelona to Athens and back. I booked the entire trip myself, but by that time, I was a pretty savvy traveler (with limited international experience, however).

I cruise multiple mainstream lines, so this would be different than what the OP is interested in. I like all sizes of ships. I like the variety they bring. More than half of my cruises have been solo cruises. I have friends who still work who cruise with me when they can.

For my first cruise, I purchased all my daily excursions from the ship. I took the easy route. Especially since I had minimal time to research things. After 2 or 3 cruises, I started to plan my own days in port where it makes sense. I also still purchase ship excursions in places where it makes sense. In the Caribbean, I've been to most islands, but still willingly go again. We no longer book excursions/tours. We just wander around the port for a couple hours and then head back to the ship for lunch and a relaxing day by the pool. I prefer a balcony cabin, but my travel buddy doesn't like to spend money, so when I'm with him, we get an inside. Either is fine for me. While I love the balcony cabins, I don't really spend much time out there. But it is nice to have the view when you wake up.

I have never used a travel agent, but I see the value in doing so sometimes. Sometimes they can offer you a financial (or other benefit) that you won't get if you book on your own. But when you use a travel agent, THEY own the reservation. Most cruise lines will not interact with you directly before the cruise. If there is a problem, they will ask you to have your travel agent work it out instead of working directly with you to figure it out. I like to have control of my own reservation from top to bottom.

I can be happy sitting on the ship and relaxing by the pool, snoozing in the shade, or running around onshore exploring for 10 hours. It's a lot of fun and I will continue to take at least one cruise per year as long as I can do it. I will also probably do more once my travel friends retire as well.

Go for it. You'll never know until you try it.

 

[Marc]

I have sailed on over 40 cruises all booked through travel agents. Started out on the one week caribbean and now prefer 30 - 90 night cruises. I only cruise luxury cruise lines with max of 750 passengers. Travel agents will get you kickbacks as high as 10% or in some cases more. Not using a travel agent you are just leaving that money on the table.

I think sweet spot for new cruisers is around 17-25 nights; enough time to feel you get to enjoy the experience (both ports and onboard) and relax.

YMMV

Marc

 

[FIYes]

Eleven years ago some friends talked us into taking cruise that they were going on. I was very apprehensive but ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Since then I have been on 11 cruises and have a cruise planned for this year. Our first cruises were in inside cabins….the least expensive we could book. We were budget travelers and finding cruise deals was an incentive for me to cruise. These days we are in a blow the dough mode and more willing to spring for a balcony cabin.

I have only cruised on mainstream lines. I think that we would enjoy some of the smaller lines. Price on the smaller lines has been a deterrent, but like I said we are in a blow the dough mode of travel now that we see time is running out faster than money.

I would recommend a 7 day cruise for a beginner. If you don’t like it then it is not so long. If you are looking at the mainstream lines then I wouldn’t recommend a shorter cruise….too many reports that they are booze cruise type cruises. Now saying that I admit I have only been on 7 day and longer cruises.

 

[donheff]

I am not big on cruising, but we have cruised on small ships for adventure travel. In 2006 we cruised the Galapagos Islands on a luxury 22 passenger yacht, the Integrity. Great boat, great trip. In 2020, a month before the shutdown, we cruised the Sea of Cortez with Uncruises. It was a nice, functional boat but nothing fancy. We loved it. The food was good, the activities were excellent (snorkeling, kayaking, riding, hiking). Last February we cruised the Antarctic Peninsula with Aurora on a brand-new boat, the Sylvia Earle. It was a beautiful boat, excellent cabins, excellent food, lectures and activities.

In April we are going on a bike and barge trip to the Netherlands for the tulip season. I'm not sure you would call a barge a cruise ship, but they are loads of fun. This will be our third bike and barge trip, all with VBT.

In September we are going on a Viking River cruise in the south of France. We had no plans to try Viking yet (we prefer more active trips) but a bunch of friends are going so we signed on.

Edit: I forgot to add that we started cruising about 30 years ago because it sounded like they would work for travel with our then seven-year-old daughter. We did two on huge floating hotels. Tons of food, nice cabins. All in all, somewhat fun, but we hated the crowded shore excursions in cookie cutter cruise destination towns. We have considered doing a cross Atlantic cruise because it is nice to relax onboard.

 

[Car-Guy]

I get free Caribbean cruise offers every year (Casino perk) but never take them.

 

[braumeister]

I have a friend who lives in Florida and he and his wife have taken at least ten cruises every year, mostly in the Caribbean. Last time we talked about it was around five or six years ago, and his rule of thumb at that time was that it couldn't cost more than $100/day. That's probably higher now, but since it covered the "hotel", all food, and port visits, it was certainly a bargain for them.

 

[Sunset]

We've been on a bunch of cruise lines, each has it's good points.

We started by picking a cruise that was easy to get to the port. After all, maybe we would have hated it and it would be worse if we had flown across the pond to take the cruise.

We have found a large ship really doesn't have too much in the way of lines as the ship is larger. The exception is debarkation day, so we plan to stay on ship and leave late after everyone has already gone.

The idea a smaller ship ~900 passengers has benefit of not swamping a port is only true when no other ships show up, which is rare.

If you are on a 60 passenger ship, then it can dock where regular cruise ships don't go, but of course if you are wanting to see the Colosseum in Rome, that is where the crowds are anyhow.

Post Covid, we pick balconies because if we get sick we will want to sit outside and not be stuck in a windowless box. Pre-covid an interior room was good sometimes as is cheap, dark, forces us to get out and take part in the ship offerings and views.

 

[brett]

I have a friend who lives in Florida and he and his wife have taken at least ten cruises every year, mostly in the Caribbean. Last time we talked about it was around five or six years ago, and his rule of thumb at that time was that it couldn't cost more than $100/day. That's probably higher now, but since it covered the "hotel", all food, and port visits, it was certainly a bargain for them.

We retired 12/13 years ago and traveled for 7 months. At that time, while in Europe, our target price for a late booking Med cruise was $100 pp pp for a balcony cabin. We had several Celebrity cruise line Med cruises and one Adriatic cruise at that price. We would watch for the 'Tuesday Specials' that Celebrity and RCI would publish each week for their late booking specials.

Prices have certainly gone up since then but Celebrity remains our favorite 'to to ' cruise line when the prices are competitve.

 

[Souschef]

I have been on 47 cruises, the last 2 were to Hawaii and Alaska. We avoid the mega ships because there are just too many people.
Our longest cruise was 31 days, and while we enjoyed it, we felt it was too long.
I have attached a couple of stories to give you a feeling for the activities at the destinations.
We are happy to answer any questions

 

[Lewis Clark]

My wife and I enjoy cruising. One excellent resource we have discovered is a website called Cruise Critic (www.cruisecritic.com).

Cruise Critic provides an enormous amount of information about everything related to the cruising industry. This includes the different cruise lines, most of the individual ships, the most common itineraries, the common ports of call. There was also a section about tips for new cruisers that even veteran cruisers can benefit from.

There is also a "roll call" section which allows cruisers to connect with other individuals who will be on their particular sailing. Somebody will often organize a number of socials on board the ship for other Cruise Critic users.

Most of the people posting on the Cruise Critic website are veteran cruisers. Of course, we should always be cautious about blindly accepting information from any source as being truthful, but our experience has been that whenever there is a general consensus of opinion on a topic on the website, the general consensus is pretty accurate almost all the time.

If you are not familiar with the Cruise Critic website, give them a look!

 

[HGTVFanatic]

Sounds like you should start with river cruises first.

 

[jollystomper]

This is an interesting thread for me, as we have yet to take a cruise but have discussed it since I retired almost 6 years ago. 2020 we started seriously looking at it but then covid and all the bad news about cruises put us off.

We have been invited to cruises with friends, but these are "veterans" who want to do 2 week cruises, many days at sea, etc. Something we do not want to try the first time out.

At the moment we are considering river cruises (like on the Mississippi) a short 5 day cruise out of Baltimore (we can drive to the port and no added airfare), or a 3-6 day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale (add it onto the next time we visit family there). I am monitoring the offerings from vacationstogo.com (recommended by multiple friends who have found it a good site) to see if something with the right length and timing pops up.

 

[OldShooter]

We've been on four cruises IIRC. Viking from Moscow to St. Petersburg, about 90 PAX. Pandaw in Vietnam and a boat in the Galapagos, about 16 PAX and Blount in the Caribbean, maybe 60. The first three were interesting because they were all about destinations, not about the boat. Blount has shut down due to COVID, but that trip was more about boat travel than about the destinations. Boring, boring, boring.

One thing we did on the Viking trip was to hire private guides in both cities. That got us out on our own and able to decide what to see and do. With the internet now, it is easy to select and hire guides pre-departure. And never once did we sit on the bus waiting for people who couldn't ever be on time or who planned a bathroom stop about 1 minute before the bus was to depart.

So the conclusion is that we are not cruise people. @Chuckanut, this is probably heresy in this thread but I'd suggest that you start with a river cruise or two, then decide whether "several hundred people" is a good next step for you.

 

[Souschef]

My wife and I enjoy cruising. One excellent resource we have discovered is a website called Cruise Critic (www.cruisecritic.com).

There is also a "roll call" section which allows cruisers to connect with other individuals who will be on their particular sailing. Somebody will often organize a number of socials on board the ship for other Cruise Critic users.

Most of the people posting on the Cruise Critic website are veteran cruisers. Of course, we should always be cautious about blindly accepting information from any source as being truthful, but our experience has been that whenever there is a general consensus of opinion on a topic on the website, the general consensus is pretty accurate almost all the time.

If you are not familiar with the Cruise Critic website, give them a look!

We used the "Roll Call" to find out about people booking private excursions. We hosted a culinary tour of Lima for 8 of us.
We also went on a private tour for 8 of us out of Lisbon that included Cascais and Estoril. We had a wonderful lunch that we could not have had on a ship's tour

 

[Ronstar]

I don’t like big cruise ships because they are too crowded. And I don’t want to have to eat dinner at a specified time.

I would recommend starting off on a small cruise ship with minimal passengers.