My First Cruise!

[Teacher Terry]

Everything was bad like a Chevy chase lampoon vacation). The ship was leaking in the ceiling in the hallway through a light socket with a bucket under it, our friend’s room flooded and instead of moving them they put giant fans in the room, the tender we were in was leaking from the roof because it was raining, gradually more bathroom stalls were not working and by the end of the cruise probably half were non-functional, some of the staff was rude, in the buffet they would put hot food on top of old cold food instead of removing it and even the food in the formal dining room wasn’t very good.

It was so bad that I wrote the cruise line and even had the name of one of the rude staff and never heard back from the company. My 5 royal Caribbean trips were excellent and I never had one complaint about anything. You couldn’t pay me to take another princess cruise. We took them round trip from San Francisco to Alaska because then we didn’t need to fly.

 

[Flieger]

Everything was bad like a Chevy chase lampoon vacation). The ship was leaking in the ceiling in the hallway through a light socket with a bucket under it, our friend’s room flooded and instead of moving them they put giant fans in the room, the tender we were in was leaking from the roof because it was raining, gradually more bathroom stalls were not working and by the end of the cruise probably half were non-functional, some of the staff was rude, in the buffet they would put hot food on top of old cold food instead of removing it and even the food in the formal dining room wasn’t very good.

It was so bad that I wrote the cruise line and even had the name of one of the rude staff and never heard back from the company. My 5 royal Caribbean trips were excellent and I never had one complaint about anything. You couldn’t pay me to take another princess cruise. We took them round trip from San Francisco to Alaska because then we didn’t need to fly.

That's interesting, and complete opposite of my experience with Princess Cruise lines, and also with most online reviews. It sure sounds like you got the worst ship and service ever! Sorry to hear that.

Flieger

 

[Sue J]

Wonderful update from my sister. Her husband is recovering! And he seems to be all there mentally. He's breathing on his own and alert. I expect he'll be in the hospital for a while, but it's looking like he will recover from this.

 

[Calico]

That is excellent news!!

 

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

My late spouse and I were on a fair number of cruises, mostly with kids. I've been on one since getting widowed. Honestly, I can't stand the massive ships with cattle call crowds everywhere, boorish behavior of so many loud mouth drunkards, first time cruisers and obnoxious show-off narcissists. This can often be avoided by choosing a longer cruise, say >2 weeks in duration on a smaller ship. I've met some fascinating people on cruises - literally living, breathing history books! When you have a couple of weeks an a ship, you can develop lasting memories and friendships - not so with a cruise of a week or less.

 

[Buckeye]

Nice trip report! The sea days make for a relaxing vacation because there is really no schedule on those days. That, as opposed to a typical cruise where you dock somewhere in the AM and pull away in the evening, every day for X days. You can make one of those relaxing too... there's no rule that says you need to get off the ship. But it's just that feeling "I'm here and might never get the chance to see this place again, so I 'should' get off."

I love sea days!

 

[M Paquette]

It was so bad that I wrote the cruise line and even had the name of one of the rude staff and never heard back from the company. My 5 royal Caribbean trips were excellent and I never had one complaint about anything. You couldn’t pay me to take another princess cruise. We took them round trip from San Francisco to Alaska because then we didn’t need to fly.

I first sailed on a Princess cruise in 1997, on a Mediterranean cruise with the family. I sailed in 1999 on that Alaska cruise, round trip from San Francisco. Both were fantastic. Then Carnival acquired P&O Princess. Carnival PLC out of London operated Princess, and the Florida half of the corporation continued to run Carnival Cruises and other properties.

While maintaining separate sales, marketing and reservation offices, they have been folding more operations and internal policies together the past 20 years, and it really shows. With the COVID impact they’ve regrouped, and Princess cruise operations now currently resemble Carnival in areas of shipboard operation including food services and maintenance.

After our last cruise experience, and dealing with sales and marketing around using their cruise cancellation “guarantees” I doubt I will be sending them any more business.

 

[Maidensong]

In January, we're preparing to embark on our third (pinch me, I can still hardly believe it myself!) World Cruise. We'll be saying goodbye to our land life for 121 days.

Needless to say, we didn't start out with voyages lasting several months. Our first was a three day quickie from Ft Lauderdale to the Bahamas & back, but it was enough to hook us. All told, we've been on eight different lines and always found something to love in the experience.

There is an aesthetic of "lostness" that steals over me whenever I look out at the vastness of the ocean and realize how small a space I actually occupy in this world. Standing on the deck of a ship helps me see that.

Offering prayers for the OP's sister's husband. Again, a reminder that our lives can change in a heartbeat, so whatever you dream of doing, don't wait.

Or as one of our cruise director's once admonished us, "Cover the earth before it covers you!"

 

[ychuck46]

Due to a bad experience for my wife on a cruise in the 1980s, we avoided them completely until 2019, just before the multi-year cruise line shutdowns happened. We loved it and got right back into them when the shutdown was lifted, and are heading towards the highest customer level with Carnival, our preferred line. Always have a good time no matter the ship, but we do like the newest and biggest ones Carnival offers, like the Mardi Gras with ~6,500 passengers. We seldom get off the ships since seeing contrived tourist spots are not my idea of actually experiencing a country, and the wife would have difficulty with the heat in the Caribbean, where we primarily travel to. One place I do get off, though, is Nassau since you are right in the town and I can walk all over. Like your sister we have started to loosen up the purse strings. We always get the Wi-Fi package since the speeds have increased greatly in the past year or so, and rather than the soda and water package we get the full drink package. We very seldom have more than a couple of alcoholic drinks per day but we do have soda with our meals, and we have a few specialty coffees per day, getting us closer to the breakeven price on the package versus otherwise. Plus Carnival has some amazing alcoholic milkshakes at the coffee bars which ups our daily alcohol count, and we get to know the baristas well (and tip them well) so they will often do "special" milkshakes for us that never disappoint. We have a couple more cruises back to back at the end of this year and five more scheduled in 2025. The ones I am looking for in 2026 will be the longer ones that do the Panama Canal as an example, which usually are about 14 days. Would love the transatlantic ones as well but they do not round trip, which necessitates us flying back from Europe (my wife hates flying anymore) or staying there 2-3 weeks to link up with a ship going back to the US. First world problems, I know.

 

[sengsational]

Would love the transatlantic ones as well but they do not round trip, which necessitates us flying back from Europe (my wife hates flying anymore) or staying there 2-3 weeks to link up with a ship going back to the US. First world problems, I know.

Or staying 6 months! Cunard has a regular trans Atlantic, but if you eliminate that one, 90% of the trans Atlantics to/from north America are in the fall (October/November) or spring (April). Regent, Seabourn and Windstar have the odd summer TA, but not really much to choose from unless you're going in the spring or fall. The solution is to blow the dough on business class.

 

[Flyfish1]

In January, we're preparing to embark on our third (pinch me, I can still hardly believe it myself!) World Cruise. We'll be saying goodbye to our land life for 121 days.

Wow! Very impressive. I love the ocean and being on the water ( own a boat) but my wife would never go for that - plus we have two dogs that would have to be taken care of. We routinely spend several days away in the boat every few weeks in the summer - dogs come with us.

We have done and only cruise so far , Nat Geo to Antartica and that was pre Covid. We booked and cancelled two Viking cruises , one Ocean and one River as other travel plans seemed more interesting, land based trips with Tauck. Would consider a cruise though if it's a small ship.

But, I see those Viking commercials on Masterpiece, and wonder how can I see those great views from a ship? Most must be taken from at least 500+ feet altitude. And will I really have time to walk through a vineyard alone, only me and the caretaker? And can I be the one in the kitchen baking a delicious loaf of bread with the plump baker lady?

Exactly! That's what I think as well - drone footage. Plus I don't like having to pay so far in advance for Viking.

 

[Flyfish1]

In January, we're preparing to embark on our third (pinch me, I can still hardly believe it myself!) World Cruise. We'll be saying goodbye to our land life for 121 days.

BTW: Maidensong - what cruise line? My wife just shrugged and said maybe....

 

[sengsational]

Exactly! That's what I think as well - drone footage. Plus I don't like having to pay so far in advance for Viking.

Before I went on my one (and probably only) river cruise, I was cognizant of the optimal experience they show on the commercial. You can't blame them, they're not going to show a guy trying to eat dinner while seated at a table with a slimy cement lock wall a foot outside the window. But I was able to almost recreate the optimal experience, which includes outdoor dining in perfect weather laughing with friends while cruising through a beautiful section of an old city. They only served food on the front deck, which can only hold maybe 1/8 or fewer of the passengers. The upper deck could hold all passengers, but was closed due to low bridges much of the time, and no dining up there. One day with good weather we did manage to get lunch on the front deck with some people we met on board. We were passing through some infrastructure, but a lot of what you see when in a city, and what we saw that day, is kind of like what you see from a rail car...practical stuff from days gone by.

I loved the floor to ceiling windows in the cabin and watching the bucolic scenery pass by, and the 1 minute walk to anywhere on the ship, but not the bus tour nature of the off-ship experience. Because every time you get off, you and at least 50 of your fellow passengers are bussed and/or hearded around in a group is why I'll probably not go on another river cruise.

 

[jayanu]

^^^^^^^^^^^

I took my first (and last) cruise around 1981. I enjoyed it, but now I've been there, done that and got the T-shirt. No interest in another cruise at this point in my life. YMMV.

We love cruising. My wife does not care for jewelry, fancy clothes, restaurants etc. trappings. But she loves cruising (and trains). After I retired, and she was over with her first Cancer surgery in 2014 (she has had 2 more and terrible chemo since then), we just started enjoying cruising. We use www.vacationstogo.com with 1,000 staff. We have been doing 2-3 per years including two transatlantic, 4 Alaska, several Caribbeans, 42 days tour and this year we took one to the Bahamas, Next week we are going, with the family, to Mexico, Honduras, Belize etc. Later in the year we are taking 3 weeks cruise to AUS followed by 3 week cruise to NZ. We are Platinum on the Cunard. We have taken various size ships, including the huge 5,600 capacity MSC Mervaglia. We have not had any bad experience so far.

We always take inside cabin. We are more time on the deck and go to the for sleeping only anyway. We took Balcony once but wind and cold it was no fun anyway.

The prices for the inside cabin are also low. 24 days AUS trip for two us cost us $3,700 and the 21 day NZ tour cost us $3,360 (plus tips and Excursions) - about $80/day/person with Broadway type Entertainments, great food, (we do not drink), University grade educational classes etc. Cheaper than a hotel cost! We use Chase Reserve Visa to plan for any medical evacuation need. The card costs $550, but we get $300 travel credit, Priority Pass for airport lounges at the airport - concierge service etc.

We are now 79 and 78 and as long as we are healthy we enjoy the second life being retired!

We do not have LTCi. We are in the top Type- A CCRC (Continued Care Retirement Community) Willow Valley Communities in Lancaster, PA.

Love