We just Returned from a 9-day Cruise and were somewhat disappointed.

[ShokWaveRider]

Backstory: In 2003 when we retired (The first Time) a went on a 2-year Caribbean cruise on a 45' Catamaran with a friend. He was an experienced captain, and we had a great time, I Learn'd how to correctly sail out of the deal which was great. We visited many if not all Islands in the Eastern Caribbean. We loved some Islands and were not so fussed on others.

Fast forward to today: The cruise we selected was a 9 Day Eastern Caribbean on NCL on one of the smallest ships they had (2,400) and it left from a local port, so we did not have to fly to get to it. It was not cheap as we did not cut corners on the cost. We chose 9 days as opposed to 7 days as our Travel Agent suggested that there would be less children on cruises that were over 7 days, she was right as there were very few small children. This was good for us as we really do not like tripping over children when we are away from home. In addition, the cruise visited 2 of the islands we really liked and a couple in the Greater Antilles that we did not get to.

The Good: We were impressed overall with NCL. The attention to cleanliness was impeccable, the accommodations were spacious and very comfortable. The food was average to good generally. Their All-Inclusive option worked well for us s there were no surprises on our bill when we disembarked. The Outside decks were never crowded, and we managed to get ~10,000 steps in a day walking around the observation desk in the mornings before or after breakfast. We met a few nice folks on board but 90% of the guests were not the type we would want to socialize with, even on a casual basis. It was basically a No Smoking ship with the exception of the Casino that we never went in and a closed negative pressure Cigar Room. There was no getting dressed up for dinner, this is a priority for me. I will not take a cruise where one has to dress up for anything.

The Not so Good:
The one we noticed the most was that at least 60% of the "Guests" were Obese or Grossly Obese. We are nowhere near being slender, sculptured or athletic, but definitely not obese.

There were way too many Folks on mobility scooters continually blocking the gangways and elevators (we think they should have a special cruise). Personally, I do not see how a cruise like this would be any fun at all for them.

The excursions were crowded and tedious dealing the aforementioned folks. In fact, I would consider them a waste of money for folks like us, and we will do our own in the future.

The line ups for everything were unbearable considering this ship was small, I would hate to see what a 4,500-person ship is like. Making reservations at a sensible time was impossible even at the specialty restaurants.

None and I mean none of the activities remotely appealed to us, nothing intellectual or motivational. OK if you liked Wheel of Fortune and Bingo.

The time spent in ports was way too little for any reasonable person, forcing one to take one of their mediocre excursions for fear of getting stuck somewhere and missing the all-abord times.

Basically, all there was to do on board on a sea day was eat and drink which probably appealed to the aforementioned crowd. If you liked sitting on your balcony reading or watching the world go by it would be OK.

We got a mild case of Covid 2 days before we disembarked. Hard to believe as the ship was very clean all the time. Good job we got it at the end of the cruise. Of course, we did not know till we arrived home and took the test. But it has been just like a cold. Good job we have all our vaccinations. We thought it was just a cold till we tested when we got home.

Conclusion: This is not our first cruise, but the ones we took previously were 25 years ago and we were a lot younger, we probably drank a lot more then too. If one wants to cram in as many places to visit as possible and one likes crowds and continuous food and drink, then it is for you.

We definitely prefer the All-Inclusive Resort approach, yes one only visits one locale, but there is plenty of time to explore it thoroughly. We do not spend much time in the actual resort, but like the All-Inclusive experience as opposed to a regular hotel.

We will probably go on other cruises as I would like to see the Panama Canal and visit some of the ports of call in the Western Caribbean and South America. Cruising is a good option for these objectives. Then the negatives of a cruise are necessary evils, at least now we are more prepared.

Please share your cruise experiences.

 

[WhenIsItTime]

We prefer to rent a house/condo. No desire to wait in line, crowds, overhearing conversations by the pool/ocean, etc.

Agree some places are better travelled by boat.

 

[Souschef]

You might want to look at a more upscale cruise line. Without being snobbish, NCL and Carnival are at the low end on the cruise spectrum.
We have mainly cruised on Princess, but have sailed on Oceania and Regent,
and have been very happy with them.

 

[CaffeineMe]

Doesn't sound like you are "cruise people".
2400 people doesn't sound like a small cruise to me. Our one and only cruise was done on a ship accommodating 190 people max. Total guests for our trip was more around 140. Knowing that neither myself or my husband would tolerate a typical cruise, we went for an "expedition lite" trip to Alaska. It was just right for activity and lack of crowds. Times in port were reasonable, and activities on board were nature and regional related.
The demographic did skew older (retirees), but active older. Don't know if there is something similar available in the Carribean, but maybe looking at a smaller cruise next time might get you what you were hoping for. As ship size goes down, price does go up, though.
Edited to add: I did get COVID on my cruise, but only had symptoms the last couple of days. Tested positive when I returned home.

 

[Aerides]

My preference is for small/very small. 500 or less, and I pay attention to the space/guest and staff/guest ratio (if they aren't published, you don't want to know). I like a boat that's going to anchor offshore and go places that aren't lined up next to 3 other big ships - because even if your boat is small and nice, the places you get off are going to be catering to and crawling with the 5k size ship passengers.

On my last cruise, we had an overnight in Bermuda. On our way in, a larger (not huge, normal) boat was sailing out. I cannot imagine tiny quaint Hamilton being overrun with that many tourists. My boat had 225 ppl on it, mostly GenX and younger boomers, and I barely saw any of them when we were walking around the island.

BTD: Like the OP I want everything included. I just don't like being nickle'd and dimed. I want the inclusions to be good too. Not bottom shelf. I want to sit in a dining room like a restaurant - table for two please. If I want to meet other people it's easy enough, but I usually want a quiet romantic dinner for just DH and I.

While I loved a cruise I took from FL also, it does limit where you can go. When you live in the tropics and near the beach, if you cruise from there, that's what you're going to see. Not a huge amount of variety. I do absolutely love driving to the port and getting off the boat and being home within the hour vs. flying, but I want variety next time.

I don't want an onboard casino or rockwall, or a big slide into the pool. I want something that implicitly says this is a grown up cruise and not for kids. Avoid spring break and summer break scheduling as well for this.

 

[Koolau]

We did one cruise in the early 80s. It was kinda fun and interesting, but we decided we are not cruise people. If someone offered us a free cruise on a nice line, I suppose we'd take it, but otherwise, we've been there, done that and got the T-shirt. YMMV

 

[sengsational]

SWR, I think your observations are exactly what I'd expect for a Caribbean cruise out of Florida on a major cruise line on any but possibly the tiniest of ships (which I have no experience out of Florida). It would be wise for anyone without cruising experience and with plans for a Florida-based cruise to read your observations and get comfortable with that vibe before they go.

Except I'd say the food is probably worse than you say, LOL! But it's not consistent by cruise line; it varies by ship and itinerary. You can watch the caterers stock the ships, and the big players all get deliveries from the same companies. The difference is the cruise lines that have a more profitable voyage balance sheet can afford better stuff.

Your private cat experience sounds fantastic, but nothing at all in common with the cruise industry.

For your future cruises, I'd search for really small ships and small odd ports of call...ports that don't cater to the big ships. I went on a ship where, for every stop, we had to get into Zodiak boats to go ashore. No scooters on that ship! And the captain shot a goat and we had it for dinner that night. Much bigger than your cat...something like 50 cabins. The people you meet on a ship like that are a completely different set than the 'cheap Florida cruise' types.

 

[TheWizard]

I'm on our first Viking river cruise right now. Smallish ship, constrained by lock size and bridge clearance, so 190 pax max. No under 18 allowed. Not too many fat ppl. Decently good food.
No casino or similar foolishness

Viking does ocean cruises also; haven't yet done one but very well might. Similar rules/amenities as their river cruises, so something for the OP to consider...

 

[GalaxyBoy]

My one and only cruise was the NCL cruise around Hawaii, which I've been told is not typical. We treated it as our mobile hotel room to explore the islands.

If I had to do another cruise I'd be sure to opt for an all-inclusive. By the time we disembarked I joked to DW that I expected a surcharge for the air we breathed while on board.

We hated the ship's excursions. At one point we found ourselves at the crater on the Big Island and were enjoying the scenery at the rim when we were shepherded back on the minibus where we sat in the hot and humid bus with the windows steaming up while the guide rambled on and on with some hokey story. When we finally made it down the mountain we then made a long stop at some gift shop, ugh.

Actually, I think we found we're usually not tour _group_ people. We were on our own in London a few years ago in St. Paul's, admiring the interior of the cathedral when we had to chuckle at the succession of tour groups being whisked through for about ten minutes each, single file.

 

[sgood]

I find it disgusting when people need to dis fat people. My daughter is chubby and she's also a marvelous kind person contributing to society. Please, you do you and let other do the same.

 

[pacergal]

I agree commentary on weight is not necessary to talk about cruises.

We cruised Alaska on NCL with our kids many years ago. It was a fun family cruise, lots of kids and noise.
Have a cruise coming in November with Holland America. HA is geared more towards older clientele and not families, I believe.

 

[Chuckanut]

The closest thing I have done to a cruise is take the Alaska Marine Highway from Bellingham WA up the coast to Skagway Alaska. It’s a working ferry boat which makes it an interesting way to travel.

I may cruise later on in life when some ailment causes me to need many of the amenities on a cruise ship. If I do it will be a smaller ship, well under 1000 people and probably on a river. Basically, I guess I am not a cruise person.

Currently, I am bombarded by internet ads for $500 per person one week Alaska cruises. I do wonder what’s included in that $500, other than room.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I don't want an onboard casino or rockwall, or a big slide into the pool. I want something that implicitly says this is a grown up cruise and not for kids. Avoid spring break and summer break scheduling as well for this.

I agree, you can add Zip Lines and Go-kart racing to that list, a clean pool is ample. I am sure those amenities are designed for the kids. Our ship was small by NCL standards and other than the Casino there was none of that. If the on-board activities were more instructional and intellectual rather than mindless, it would have been better. I mean really, Deal or No Deal, Charades, Bingo, Wheel of Fortune, I really suppose it sums up the targeted clientele. I wondered how some of the folks we saw could even afford the prices, at least what we paid.

Saying that, we met some wonderful newlyweds on their honeymoon and a couple that got married on the ship. The likeminded folks we met on board, agreed for the most part with us and said they put up with it to see the ports of call, " That is just the facts of cruising these days", and simply paid more for better accommodations hoping for the best. This was true for the most part on our deck as folks seem normal (whatever that is) in our corridors. But I would still say that the majority of folks on the ship we would never meet in our daily life, other than on a trip to Walmart perhaps. I wonder if there is a website for "Cruise People", we may even be on it. LOL

 

[Teacher Terry]

I’ve been on 6 cruises and the only one that was terrible was on Princess. The other 5 were on Royal Caribbean. We participated in some of the activities such as solving a murder mystery which was fun. My husband joined the choir and they put on a performance the last night.

We always go when the kids are in school. The smallest ship had 500 passengers and the biggest 4K. All the ships had a gym plus a dedicated walking and running track. We enjoyed the people in the formal dining room for dinner hearing about what everyone did during the day such as the excursions they took.

I also enjoyed the pool, hot tubs and reading outside looking at the ocean. The big show after dinner was great and most evenings there was an awesome performer in the piano bar singing and playing the piano. The one exception was when the cruise left from Galveston and was all country music. Ugh!!

 

[Chuckanut]

When we finally made it down the mountain we then made a long stop at some gift shop, ugh.

I had a similar experience in Hawaii once on a bus tour. We had about 15 minutes to run out and see the rim of the volcano, but then we managed about 45 minutes of ‘special’ time to visit a gift shop down the mountain.

I swore off tours for years until I found out tour companies like Rick Steves actually discourage shopping during the guided part of the tours. They give you enough personal time for shopping or anything else.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

It would be nice if they had special shopping tours one could choose/avoid instead of casually walking you through tacky trinket shops on regular site seeing tours. I believe some even do. They may get more takers that way.

 

[Texas Proud]

If you want to have tacky shopping tours go to China...

Let's see... jade, tea, silk and shopping mall were various places we visited... every tour ended where you could buy stuff or stopped along the way where you could...

 

[Surewhitey]

Our only experience is in 2015 on Norwegian and the eastern Mediterranean, 10 days. I don't remember any issues & the food upgrade was the bomb.

We did our own excursions and did plenty. 5 ports, 2 days in Istanbul. We will likely take the GKs on some cheesey ones out of Galveston to Cozumel or so eventually, but we really aren't cruisers. They seem to be a great value for the buck.

The only other we may take on is an Alaskan or repositioning cruise, say from Europe to the Caribbean or California to Australia. I'd be up for either...

 

[Dtail]

I have gone on perhaps 8 cruises lifetime. All on Royal Carribean. I would say there was a mix of older and younger plus a mix of active and non active.
We don't lay by the pool now, as we have one plus being retired. There are enough sports type activities for me to keep interested. The food is usually reasonably good.
Sometimes we go on excursions and sometimes explore by ourselves.
Overall a good experience.

 

[audreyh1]

Was it really a 2-year cruise?

FWIW 250 passengers is our limit, 100 or less even better.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Was it really a 2-year cruise?

FWIW 250 passengers is our limit, 100 or less even better.

Pretty much, remember it was our own boat. We left the boat in Tortola during the brutal hurricane months but other than that, we were on the boat. There were 3 of us on board all the time, we did have regular visitors too, we called them "Charter folks" for grins. All were friends and all visited for a minimum of 2 to 3 weeks at a time. It was a great experience. I was 50 at the time DW was 45. Would not be doing it now, too much like hard w$#k.

 

[athena53]

I agree commentary on weight is not necessary to talk about cruises.

Same here but it's certainly relevant to discuss the impact of a large % of passengers having limited mobility on the traffic in the gangways and elevators.

All my cruises have been on tiny (by comparison ships) with under 100 passengers. I've loved UnCruise but have done most of their itineraries and their Single Supplement got crazy-high. I used Overseas Adventure Travel in the Galapagos and will take them in the Baltic in September. Both companies are clear about physical requirements; ships that small typically don't have elevators and you have to be able to get in and out of a skiff.

Not all cruises are alike but I'll probably never use the major companies.

 

[jollystomper]

Having never taken a cruise, but now considering one, this is good input for our consideration.

We like to dress up for evening activities (at least a collared shirt, jacket and slacks for me, nice dress/skirt/leggings outfit for DW), so that would be a requirement for us .

 

[Gumby]

We have only ever been on two cruises. The first was 25 years ago in the Alaska Inside Passage, because there was really no other way to get around. Our boat had 120 passengers, a library, and lectures in the evenings from naturalists, etc. No casino or floor shows. The boat was so small that at one time the captain turned around to follow a pod of Orcas for a while so we could all get a good look. I'm sure the Royal Princess Whatever would not do that. We also took a four night trip in 2022 on a luxury dahabiyah going up the Nile River. There were ten of us on board, plus the crew. It was really spectacular.

Based on reports of others, we might try a Viking river cruise in Europe next year. Maybe on the Rhine and Danube. But I don't think we'll ever go on one of the gigantic cruise ships we see when we fly down to Florida. First, I don't like to be around that many people and, second, I did pretty much all the going to sea I could stand when I was a sailor long ago.

 

[audreyh1]

Pretty much, remember it was our own boat. We left the boat in Tortola during the brutal hurricane months but other than that, we were on the boat. There were 3 of us on board all the time, we did have regular visitors too, we called them "Charter folks" for grins. All were friends and all visited for a minimum of 2 to 3 weeks at a time. It was a great experience. I was 50 at the time DW was 45. Would not be doing it now, too much like hard w$#k.

Oh, OK. Thanks.

Yes that’s clearly nothing like cruises. Do you think about chartering?