vampiress50

I tend to pack relatively light with my only extra luxury items being my George Foreman grill and my waffle maker that I put on the balcony.

:'):'):')

Quite a few years ago we were staying at the Fort George Hotel and went for a walk to the swing bridge and up to Brodies , passed by a local who asked if we were looking for marijuana :eek:. He didn't seem bothered when we said no and walked quickly by !

Thanks for the tip re Celebrity but we have booked already .... will keep that in mind for the next cruise though [emoji6]

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If you want to feel better about the food the next time you cruise, go to an all inclusive in Jamaica first.

Lol we went to an AI in Cancun many years ago where the desserts looked delicious but tasted of nothing !

Thanks Op for the review , we don't go for a year but enjoy reading all we can about The Getaway :)

Hi bazbov , that is good to know and in fact have come across quite a few folks recently who have cruised and never come across drunken behaviour/louts .... counting down the days !:)

Hi wassup, a lot of good advice there thanks. We have the UBP which lucky for us from U.K. already includes the gratuities so money saved there, but will bring small bills with us too.

I love to take notes on holiday so will be sure to do a review !

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My experience is cruise ships are really big things. Even on a short, three day weekend cruise out of Miami we really didn't have any boozy issues. We were on Royal's Majesty of the Seas, which is a small cruise ship. We didn't have any noise problems in our cabin, things were pretty chill in the main dining room, and even the buffet in the Windjammer was pretty sedate.

 

We were up on the pool deck during the sail away from one of our shore leave stops. They were having some sort of contest with an MC with a microphone. We sat down on the far side from all that and thought it was at a level that was easy to ignore from that distance. After maybe an hour it was all over and the pool area cleared out as people left. Either they wanted to get ready for dinner and other activities, or they had enough status for free drinks in the lounge. Within 45 minutes of our arrival, we practically had the pool to ourselves.

 

Our other cruises have been on bigger ships for longer cruises. Our experience is you will always run into a few people with a premium drink package hell bent on getting their money's worth, but they're typically pretty quiet because the cruise line won't hesitate to cut you off if you cause a stir. Probably because of the expense they aren't that common.

 

Don't feel badly about the hubby thing. My spouse was very much not a travel person when we met. He was full of little concerns our first cruise. Right now he's busy trying to figure out how we can take at least four short cruises per year. Don't be surprised if your spouse is the same. Have fun and good luck!

Sorry to miss your post out ..... think my hubby has his head round the whole cruise thing now and is quite excited and sad he has to wait more than a year now . Love reading all the trip reports and will know the ship inside out by next November !

We've sailed on several disney cruises and found the family cruise line to be less "party" but also more "busy". HOWEVER the adults only areas on the disney boats are TRULY airs only and we spent most of our time in those areas on our last cruise in June. Its peaceful and serene. Loved it!

If you can handle the gobs of little humans laughing and having the time of their life.... You may consider it. Its Disneyland on the ocean.

Those little gobs just might stop us booking Disney in the future , time will tell !

My wife and I have done ten of our past thirteen cruises (with another CC cruise in March) in fact, our very first was in 2008 on the Carnival Holiday. And, as the old saying goes, 'We've never looked back' :) While I've heard of some drunks becoming total jerks, best thing to do is IGNORE them. I was a uniform police officer for ten years so I got a lot of experience at ignoring adults who, after consuming too much alcohol, become drunken 1o year olds. Shame is, most people think, the more drunk they become the funnier they are.While quite the opposite is true. I haven't had a drink in 5-6 years and due to medical reasons probably won't ever again, but I still won't let drunken behavior of others stop me from enjoying cruising. The same attitude I lump terrorist in. Don't let the actions of others ruin your first cruise. Sometimes the cruise line doesn't help by selling alcohol drink packages and a lot of people think, 'Hey !! I've got to drink X amount of drinks per hour to get my money's worth.' And at that rate, well you can see what the outcome's going to be. :( I guess these cruise lines think some of these so-called adults are going to use common sense, " Oh gee, I guess I'd better limit my alcohol to 2 drinks, per hour" Yeaaaaah, RIGHT! I guess I've rattled on long enough, but just GO and have a FANTASTIC cruise !

 

Mac

Thanks for the welcome Mac. My husband was a uniform police officer too and can't stand drunks and their behaviour now but we certainly won't stop anything like that spoiling our cruise. Saying that we do have the UBP but aren't big drinkers , honest !

I was going to chime in, but I see you've already gotten a TON of good advice and have a cruise booked. Congrats - I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time!

 

And the countdown clock does actually count down...I know it seems like a LONG time out, but it'll be here before you know it.

 

My wife and I took what we assumed would be our first and only cruise back in 2009, figuring that with the economy in the tank that we could get a good deal. And we did. And we loved our first cruise. So much, in fact, that we booked our second while on board. And we've cruised every chance we could since then. And we have three more booked as we speak...

 

Yeah, it's an addiction. :D

Thanks I'm sure we'll have a great time .... Florida has been our addition for the past 20 years , maybe cruising will take over lol !

Enjoy your upcoming cruises :)

Hi Ramekin40 , great to know you really enjoyed your 1st cruise ... and you've booked another one, cool! Will be good to hear your opinion of NCL next May.

The carnival Conquest is not a nice ship sailed it 3 times and it gets worse each time. I like carnival but that's definitely not the ship you want to be on I would recommend liberty or newer on carnival

 

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We did look at a cruise on the new ship Vista but got swayed by the Free at Sea deal ! :D

The same happened to me when I booked online, given no choice and given UBP and internet. I emailed and asked to change the Internet to the UDP. This was done and changed on our online account the next day.

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Seeing you are from Scotland. We.cruised thru Ireland and Scotland and your land is magical!

Warning**** you may become hooked with cruising! I do not think you will be disappointed:D

Lol I see you are from California, we enjoyed a great holiday there this May ...... Scotland can be lovely , especially when it doesn't rain ;)

Wishing our countdown was shorter !

And I see you have already put up your cruise countdown clock. May it heighten the anticipation of adventure and enjoyment as the numbers tell you "Fun is coming!" and give you ample notice to complete the more mundane preparations, paperwork, and packing.

I've skipped mostly to the end of the thread but a golden chestnut of advice here has always been: After you have decided what to bring, take out and leave behind half the clothes, and put in twice the fun money. And possibly, do it again.:D

Go forth, matey, and seek ye adventure on the High Seas!;)

Thanks , we can hardly believe we have finally booked and the coming year will be full of anticipation . Sadly with the pound to dollar as it is, I shall have to pack plenty fun money! [emoji51]

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Wow that is a lot of good information , thank you scapel ! I shall copy and paste it and email it to myself so DH will read it. Just wish we didn't have so long to wait to experience it all ! Oh and the free drink too ;)

Thanks all , we have finally booked ... and got the free drinks package too ! :):)

Thanks scapel all links worked and all very interesting . Will be sure to let DH have a look at them too.

We did have a look at Celebrity but they are a bit more than we want to pay. We hope to stay in Florida for about 2 weeks as well so need to budget carefully.

I have read all the answers and all seem to be correct. See my cruise experience below. I have never seen any excessive drinking on any of the cruises including the Carnival ones.

Thanks that's nice to know .... you sure have been a lot of cruises :)

Choice of cruise line depends on a number of factors. Even if you do not drink alcohol if you enjoyed night life and don't want to go to bed at 10 o'clock then you definitely want to choose a cruise line with lots of evening entertainment. Both Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Lines also have a comedy club. Carnival Cruise on average is less expensive than the other Cruise Lines but not always so you should shop around. There are usually more children on the Carnival Cruises. If you have mobility issues a very large cruise ship can be difficult to navigate. I am 56 years old and have sailed on several cruise lines. We sailed on the Navigator of the Seas in Europe and while it is not even the largest of Royal Caribbean ships the Promenade was so large it was difficult for us to traverse it easily and always seemed to be very crowded. Also many of the venues were so crowded that we could not find a place to sit and listen to the music and I am unable to stand for long periods of time . The shows in the Main Theatre and the ice show at the ice skating rink were very entertaining. Princess had very nice shows but not too much else going on. So after the show it was pretty much time for bed unless you are young and able to disco. My disco going days are over so that left me with nothing to do after the main show ended at 10 o'clock. Carnival as previously mentioned is likely less expensive but their shows are lower in quality with no live instrumental music. They do have a nice Comedy Club. The service on Carnival Cruise Line has deteriorated in various areas over the past year. Norwegian, for me lately, has the best mix because it's still very nice with excellent shows, Comedy Club, live music venues with plenty of seating, and lots of specialty dining options. If you choose the dining promo the specialty dining is complimentary for several nights. It's probably also nicer for a romantic Cruise because there's plenty of tables for two people in all of the dining rooms where is on some of the other Cruise Lines you have extended waiting times in order to get a table for two. Drawbacks are that the drinks are astronomically expensive so if you do enjoy an occasional glass of wine or cocktail you probably should choose the dining and drinks package as your promos. If you have no desire for the drinks package and live in an area where you are at liberty to book close to the cruise date then Norwegian can be a great Buy. They typically drop prices a month before the cruise for Guarantee category rooms so this can be a great way to purchase a balcony at very low prices. Cruise Lines seem to change things all the time and in many ways are very similar to each other so it's always good to comparison shop because what might be your favorite cruise line today may not be tomorrow.

My disco days are over too but still like a bit of entertainment. Also like the fact NCL have tables for two which would be preferable for us .... thanks for taking the time to post ! :)

OP

All of those cruises you listed are great!! First, you're cruising in November and if it isn't around Nov 24th you won't have a lot of kids on board due to school.

 

Also it isn't time for spring break and all the rowdy college kids, no worries about booze cruises. Those are usually the 3 day or 4 day weekend cruises.

 

So figure out how much you want to spend, where you want to go and then just pick the ship that fits those criteria. You really don't need to worry at all! Such simple advice but exactly what we need to do, lol !

I hope you have a wonderful time and enjoy your anniversary.

Ah what good information especially re kids , had meant to google that ! I'm sure whatever we pick we'll have a lovely anniversary , thank you :)

I would like to relax on the cruise and enjoy the sea days but will make sure to take comfy shoes as I'm sure we will do some walking.

The flight from Scotland takes about 9 hours and we have done that for about the last 20 years. We are hoping to take the cruise near the beginning of November then have about 10 days in a condo/hotel somewhere.

Still searching ........... thanks again !

To avoid "booze cruises", take the longest cruise you can afford. That is not to say there will be no unruly behavior, or that ALL 3 night cruises are rambunctious... just stating what I have observed over the years, and what I know to be true from reading these forums.

 

Personally, I think the 5 night is too short - you are just starting to unpack and relax and they start with the disembarkation notices. ;) We love a longer cruise but realize not everyone does. 7 nights is just fine for many people, and probably a perfect length for first-timers.

 

Have fun and Happy Anniversary. :)

.

Yes that is my worry about the 5 day cruise so might have to reconsider that one. Thanks for Anniversary wishes ! :)

Hello and thanks all for the welcome ... and all your helpful replies too , much to think over !

Zookiebird thanks for the corrections , I was posting from work and didn't have my list in front of me.

Holland America and Celebrity are costing a bit more than we want to pay, hence the short list above ( although most of it wrong, lol ) We have also seen an NCL Escape 7 night eastern and the new Carnival Vista doing a six day western ...... :eek:

We are both late 50's ( how did that happen ! ) not into the party scene although fond of the odd cocktail or two and would like a balcony for our first adult cruise, so that is driving the cost of the cruise. I do like the look of the 5 day Crown Princess but not sure if that is maybe just a wee bit too short.

Off to do more CC reading ...... thanks again !:)

My husband and I are celebrating a special anniversary next year and we were considering a Caribbean cruise for part of our holiday November 17. My husband is starting to have doubts after reading about some of the cruises being booze cruises and also worried about the ship being overcrowded.

I have read that a longer cruise is better to escape the drinking crowd but how to allay husband's fears? At the moment we are considering a 5 day cruise on Crown Princess, 7 day on Carnival Conquest and a 6 day on Freedom of the Seas .... all eastern Caribbean in November. We intend to get our own flights into Florida so can leave from any port there.

So is cruising for us , any help/suggestions appreciated.

Thanks!