Cruises

I went on an Alaskan cruise on a Princess ship some years back (3 maybe?) and I have to say my experience was just so-so. The ship was fine and the food was generally good to great. The views of the glaciers and the whales from the ship was really good, but, our port visits left something to be desired. We only had enough time to get off the ship, run to a couple tourist sites, grab a few souvenirs, and then run back to the ship. I remember our stop in Juneau, we barely had time to do anything or see anything. I told myself then and there, that if I really want to see Alaska again, I'd be coming back and actually staying in each town at least overnight. I really liked Ketchikan and Skagway, but, we just didn't have enough time to do everything we wanted. I remember a trip we took to the Cayman Islands, each day a cruise ship would stop and unload their thousands of passengers, and it was the same frantic run from tourist spot to tourist spot. I think you truly miss out on a lot of things a place has to offer if you don't have the time to fully explore it. Sure on a cruise you can say "oh, we went to 15 different ports of call" but did you really get a chance to visit there? I say no.

 

We have done two Princess cruises, both on newer boats, and they were outstanding. Great for the adult children, as they can dance the night away in the nightclubs. We did the dining choice option, where we could book in one of the 4 restaurants, and the food was good. With multiple pools, you can get away from the loud music and pool games at the quieter pools. The side trips were the highlights, swimming with sting-rays, climbing waterfalls, and tons of other options.
I was a huge cruise skeptic until I took one, now I'm hooked. The kids ( 17-29) are ready to go again too. We did Alaska out of Seattle, and the Caribbean out of Ft. Lauderdale, and would recommend both.

 

I totally agree... Not to mention when they port, the mad dash off the ship for the "shopping"/sightseeing...then make it back.
I prefer to visit an island, experience all there is. IF I choose to go somewhere else, fly there. I have been to the ABC islands and flown to Curaco for the day when after spending time in Aruba. Kinda like a ship, but it's at my choosing.

 

We always try to get Burke's Berth or an Admiral or Commodore Suite which are the largest and nicest cabins on a Windjammer. While you have no casino aboard, you do have the peace and quite only a tall sailing ship can give you...and, some of the ports of call are small islands that have no large ports so big cruise ships can't get in...so the 100 or so folks on board with you may be the only tourist on the island at the time...if you want rest and relaxation, try a Windjammer one time...you will be back...

 

In the summer of 2002, my then girlfriend and I took a holland america boat down from near anchorage to vancouver, b.c.. We felt the exact same as you and three weeks later were back to ketchikan for a weeks stay. a charming house, right on the bay, that i would highly recommend if you go back. http://www.akhiddencove.com/ it wasn't overly expensive, just 15 or 20 minutes by car from the city.

and that city comes alive the second the boats undock. i'll never forget the 3 hours i spent on the all you could eat crab. I never could have pulled that off during the rush of cruise ship travel.

i can't wait to get back. i've traveled a bit and that week in ketchikan was really special.

cheers

 

LOL!! How true, how true.

 

Why would you want to go visit another area, island or country yet not experience that places culture? On a floating hotel cruise ship, just like the big glass high rise resorts/hotels, you just bring your own culture with you. Like the tourists that go to the Caribbean on holiday yet seek out McDonald's, Burger King and other Americano while there...IMHO its much more fun for my family to learn and experience the culture of where we're visiting by renting a house or villa, chartering a boat or taking a tall ship cruise like Windjammer...

 

We took a seven night Southern Caribbean cruise on the Star Princess. We had the penthouse suite just below the bridge. It was a two room suite with a four person terrace with sliding glass doors. The suite was 1100 sq. ft. so it had plenty of room for the two of us with a nice sitting/living room and a nice sized bedroom. We were treated very nicely all the time by every member of the crew. The cruise originated in San Juan at midnight on Saturday and was at sea all day Sunday and Sunday night, arriving at 7AM Monday morning in Barbados. We had 11 hours on land and had to be back aboard by 6PM. This was normal for every port we stopped at. The least was 6 hours in Martinique and we had already gone back to the ship for "afternoon tea" well before the deadline for returning.

The cruise hit the ports of San Juan, Barbados, Mayreau(Princess owned private island), Martinique (bad stop), St. Marteen/St. Martin, St. Thomas and back to San Juan. We enjoyed everything about the cruise except Martinique (which has been dropped from the itenerary).

I remember that on Sunday night we had made one of the shows and spent a little time in the casino and went back to the cabin. My wife decided she would like a croissant and a glass of wine so I called our room attendant and asked if he could bring down a couple of croissants and a bottle of wine. When he arrived he had a silver tray of croissants, bagels, sweet rolls, strawberries, melon slices, powdered sugar and two bottles of wine. He said that he hoped we did not mind his adding a few extras but he thought we might like a little more variety than a single croissant. Of course, except for the wine, no additional charge. This was about 1AM.

The suite would normally have been $5650 per person. Fortunately I did not have to pay for it as I had won it while working with BMW.

Would we do it again? Absolutely. However, I would certainly consider doing a Windjammer cruise as it is much more intimate, less crowded and would let us see some much more of the real Caribbean islands than the larger cruise ships allow.

 

Cruises are my favorite vacations... My favorite so far was Barcelona to Venice on the Princess line in 2002.

 

If you want to cruise, and the Windjammer is a little to rough for you, try this one: http://www.starclippers.com/index_en.html
I've been on the Star Clipper and the Star Flyer. One of my favorite memories was on the 2nd cruise, both tallships were racing each other. Nothing like 35k s/f of sails being hoisted. The ships are larger and more luxurious than the Windjammers, but are still small enough to get into the more remote islands. Most days we had to take the tenders to the shore, as there was no dock large enough. Great stuff.

 

Just finished a cruise on Norweigan to the Bahamas. This was my second time cruising. My first was a 3 day cruise to Mexico with Carnival a few years ago.

In general, they were fun, but I agree with some of the others about crowds. I don't really gamble, so we didn't do much of that on the ship. Not into shopping, or clubbing. Did go to the shows at night. Mostly relaxed by the pool when on ship. But there were always lots of people around.

On Norweigan, our last shore excursion was at their "private island" in the bahamas, and it was actually really nice. Did alot of snorkeling, but they only stopped there for 1/2 a day. Not enough time on the island.

The other shore excursions were basically just tourist traps, and they do seem to nickle and dime you to death. I can't belive they charge extra for soda. Or, you could buy a soda card for $54 and get free soda. Since soda is $2 on ship, you'd have to drink quite a bit to make it worthwhile getting the card.

The main restaurants are free (but alcohol costs extra- Note: I did club med ~10 years ago, and beer and wine was included with lunch and dinner), but they have several other restaurants that charge a cover charge ($10-$20/person). Food was generally available anytime you wanted. Quality was OK.

I think I'm pretty much done with cruising. If I'm going to relax, I'd rather just go to a resort for 7 days and hang out. I just don't see the advantage of taking a cruise.

Dom

 

I have only been on one cruise but wanted to do it all out.
My wife and I went Silverseas with my parents from Athens to Cairo.
Absolutly amazing. Found it at www.vacationstogo.com at an incredible 75% off !
I think the discount was because it stopped in Lebanon ,Syria, and Egypt where the Live aboard residents couldnt hack the risk. Their loss as all destinations were very memorable for different reasons.
Small ship where we got to know many passengers and crew. Almost family like. 24 Hour 5 star service. My wifes favorite vacation.
I dont think I would like a Megaship experiance.

 

Also, one more thing I want to add: On our Alaska cruise, we had to fly out of Vancouver B.C. (for some reason) to Anchorage, then we drove on a bus to Seward and boarded the cruise ship there. We ended up back in Vancouver and then had to drive home to Seattle. Never again will I do something like that. Now many, if not most, ships depart out of Seattle and return to Seattle.

 

the trick is to take the train from anchorage to seward. i'll try to police up some pictures tonight ; that train ride had better landscapes than the cruise.

 

You do not want to get too close to the glacier:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2235343.ece

 

i've been on a few cruises, and to be honest, i swear by them. i've been on a carnival cruise (i recommend for young kids) and a couple of celebrity cruises, which were perfect. the food is great, and there is a lot of it. gotta love those midnight buffets. the service has always been excellent, and they always have things for you to do, both on and off ship. honestly, i think this is the way to go, especially if you're traveling to the Caribbean.

 

Right now watching a Discovery Channel HD show called Risk Takers. About photographer Jim Oltersd. He was in a small boat that went very close to a glacier to take pictures.

And got real close to brown bears. Which seemed odd to me, since he's using a camera with a lens almost as long as his arm. Harassing the wildlife. Oh well.

 

Here's the trick to saving money and getting a much better experiance

Paradise- launched 1998 70,367-tons, the mid-sized Fantasy-class ships
Liberty - launched 2005 110,000 tons-- the line's fourth Conquest-class vessel

Its a world-of-difference when you get on Carnivals Biggest and Newest ships....they staff them with their first class staff, and the ships look so much better, and have soooo much more to offer. So much more food and entertainment....compaired to the older smaller Carnival ships. (8 resturants on the new ships, vs. 2 on the small ship. 7 night clubs vs. 2 on the smaller ship)

Usually they use the older smaller ships for the short duration trips. Big disapointment after being on the Liberty class ship and then going to any smaller ship in the line.

The Liberty and other ships in the Conquest-class make people understand why Carnival is so popular. We went on a 8 day trip with a balcony and a Jr Suite....best money I ever spent. (still $1,000 cheaper than Royal Carib.)

To compair- I then went on a short 4 day Carnival Curise to Cozmel on a smaller ship.... and all-though we had a great time....you could tell it was staffed with their second string employees ....wow what a difference...Not nearly as much to do on the ship (shopping, dance clubs, resturants) I woud have never returned to Carnival if that had been my first curise with them.

Longer trips on the newest biggest ship are best, because we went to 5 islands in 8 days.
Much more fun then 1 stop on a 4 day trip, on the old small boats.

I didn't think I'd like Cruise Ships... I"ve been a hard-core Scuba diver, traveling to remote places for long dive trips. Wife made me go on Cruise for 1st year wedding annaversery and I was surprised.... I really loved it.

 

Windjammers are not rough at all...you get great food, comfortable cabins with A/C(some even have a TV with DVD/VCR), a wonderful crew to take care of your needs, an on-board dive master with dive boat and much more...a real adventure of a vacation. Star Clippers are more modern, but not really any nicer...just steal and plastic rather than traditional wood , but they lack the character of a Windjammer sailing ship...Windjammer fans call the Star Clippers foo foo ships...

 

Recruited, straight out of the midnight buffet line.......

 

And believe it or not, some people prefer 'foo foo'.