Have you ever had . . .

[live2beontheseas]

an absolutely horrible cruise experience? I am relatively new to cruising (only one under my belt, but many more to come), so I don't have a lot to compare to. Has anyone been so fed up that they wish they could have been left at the last port of call? Although my first trip/cruising experience wasn't all that great (was stuck in Florida through hurrucane Jeane and got a shortened cruise with only a couple of ports), I still thought that the cruising experience was great and very relaxing. I was just interested in what people had to say. Experiences on any lines would be great as we may stray from RC (but we love the Mariner) in the future to see what others have to offer.

 

Thanks

 

 

Serenade of the Seas 10/06

 

Let's Try The Mariner again 10/05

 

Mariner of the Seas 9/04 (Hurricane cruise)

[hermang]

an absolutely horrible cruise experience? I am relatively new to cruising (only one under my belt, but many more to come), so I don't have a lot to compare to. Has anyone been so fed up that they wish they could have been left at the last port of call? Although my first trip/cruising experience wasn't all that great (was stuck in Florida through hurrucane Jeane and got a shortened cruise with only a couple of ports), I still thought that the cruising experience was great and very relaxing. I was just interested in what people had to say. Experiences on any lines would be great as we may stray from RC (but we love the Mariner) in the future to see what others have to offer.

 

Thanks

 

 

Serenade of the Seas 10/06

 

Let's Try The Mariner again 10/05

 

Mariner of the Seas 9/04 (Hurricane cruise)

 

First Cruise - We had to leave the ship!

My wife gets seasick from washing dishes - we waited years and avoided cruising. Finally we bowed to our TA's suggestion and took the Soverign in 1996. Wife took Drammamine which made her feel worse so she stopped.

By the end of the cruise I had to pry her out of the cabin. We are going on Cruise #11 on 8/15.

 

Only really iffy cruise was the 1998 cruise on the Horizon - if it were not for the fact we had 6 other couples with us - it might have been a really bad cruise. Lousy service, weather was great but the ship was very small and could not handle even small waves.

[PVDCruiser]

Never!

 

*Okay, so I've only had one cruise* :)

[wrp96]

It all depends on your point of view. I got hurt on my 2nd cruise and it was still absolutely wonderful. At this point, the only thing that would be called a terrible cruise to me is if I didn't get to go (which almost happened on my last cruise).

[Pablo's Cruise]

Our Honeymoon on the Amerikanis in 1989. The cruise, staff, ship, food was great--bad part was the first night leaving bermuda--huge waves & the ship (very old) had no stabilizers. it was like being on a non stop roller coaster. There were 2 pools next to each other, as crew were trying to drain it, the water from one pool went in midair, directly into the pool next to it, splashing everyone on the bridge that was directly above the pools. Needless to say, it was lobster nite--I had several but 1/2 of the dining room was empty:eek: . Oh yeah--the gift shop had lladros there--all but a few were broken to pieces!

 

We just finished our 4th cruise & despite the weather on that one, all have been great. there is no better vacation than a cruise!

[TahoeBob]

Never!

 

*Okay, so I've only had one cruise* :)

 

same here only one cruise Vision OTS 12-04

 

Going down the Truckee river in my rubber raft is a great cruise "beer, food , no chair hogs, sunshine)ya it does not get much better.

 

Bob

[Sheffie]

Only really iffy cruise was the 1998 cruise on the Horizon - if it were not for the fact we had 6 other couples with us - it might have been a really bad cruise. Lousy service, weather was great but the ship was very small and could not handle even small waves.

 

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience on the Horizon. We found her to be one of our favorite ships! Different crew can make quite a different experience.

 

I guess our worst experience was after a rough, and I mean ROUGH ride. I ended up throwing out my back! Our friends were in the cabin next to us and though we were having a lot of fun :eek: , but it was only me groaning from my back pain. I ended up having to be taken off the plane in a wheel chair! You better believe that I will NEVER wear heels on a ship again!

 

Otherwise all of our cruises have been fantastic!

[Travelgrrl]

I have had horrible MOMENTS on a cruise (some truly evil dining companions, an attack on my friend, some panicked minutes when a friend forgot our excursion tickets), but I have never had a truly bad cruise. Even the one where my friend was attacked was fun the first 4 days!

 

I have had many, many more blissful moments on cruises than bad or even mediocre ones. There have been several times I have burst out crying, because I was so happy!

[hollyjolly]

I was on a 7 day cruise on the Elation in 2003. Towards the middle of the cruise my daughter got sick, then I got sick, then my mom got sick. Of course it is no fault of RC because those things happen., especially with my daughter being in Camp Carnival. It just made me wait a few years until the next cruise (sailing on the Splendour in December). Now I can't wait until the next one!

[Happy ks]

I've only had one bad cruise and it wasn't all that bad, I just did not like the ship. I hated our cabin, the service staff had bad attitudes, we had the only dinner mates we did not have fun with. It was a short, 4 day, Carnival cruise on one of the lines older ships, Ecstacy. The food was actually better than I thought it would be, the photographers were very good, the entertainment not bad. But by day 3, I could not wait to get off the ship, it was so ugly and absolutely reeked of cigarette smoke everywhere.

 

Since then, we have been on RCI Monarch for the same (sort of) itinerary and loved it, the ship is so much nicer. I like this itinerary because we can drive to the port in less than an hour. A lot of things are about the same on both lines, but Monarch is a little more upscale with their decor and the ship didn't smell bad.

 

From time to time, I will read a post written by someone who absolutely loves Ecstacy, so I guess there is something for everyone!

[stillababe]

We did a 3 night cruise to Nova Scotia from NY two summers ago. I think it was on Celebrity, but I don't really recall. I know for sure it wasn't RCI. The food tasted like everything was made with Campbell's condensed soup. The room was dirty (leftover body hair stuck on the shower...and I won't mention which part of the body...eeeww). And, it rained the entire time. So, no pool, no standing on the deck, and hardly any standing upright at all because the boat was rocking and rolling so badly. My oceanview room got me so seasick from watching the waves. The only good part was that we were with a bunch of family members that made it a bit more fun. The kids were miserable though, as there was nothing for teens to do. We ended up spending the entire time in the casino, which was fun to a point. The kids still remember it as one of the worst vacations ever. The whole family has decided they will only sail with RCI after that.

[Cruising89143]

I have only had one cruise that I really disliked and by the second day I wished that I were off of the ship. It was on the Fascination out of Miami for four nights. The ship was dirty and smelled. The whole experience sucked. I tried to chock it up to the fact that it was two months after 9/11 and the cruise lines were cutting back to make money. The crew just was not a happy bunch and it showed throughout the ship.

[mrg0433]

We sailed Legend of the Seas for ten long days in March from Honolulu to Ensenada, Mexico. The ship had buckets near the elevator for a leaky pipe--not very attractive. I would have taken Carnival's renovated Ectasy and Fascination over this RCI ship.

 

Last December we sailed the Norwegian Dawn for ten days and loved eating freestyle in all the different restaurants (Mexican, French, Italian, Japanese, Steak House, American, Venetian DR, etc). We went from our best cruise in December to our worst cruise in March. It started in the dining room on LOS the first night when our filet mignon was too salty to eat. The next night, we waited and waited and waited for our waiter to wait on us at our table for 2. Our waiter was too busy waiting on tables for 8 and kept forgetting to serve us. By the third evening of waiting for him to come back to order dessert, we gave up and went to the Buffet in the Windjammer and waited on ourselves. On night 4 we gave up on the dining room and went to the Buffet. My husband had a great meal, but the chef cut the butt end of the ham and served me the grizzle and fat attached. After the bad food and service in the dining room, I was very upset that the Windjammer Buffet was not any better. I wrapped the grizzle and fat it in a napkin and brought it to the purser's desk to show them why I was angry. Never got as much as a cookie as an apology. Carnival gave us a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries just for recommending they add cookies to the dessests in their buffet on a suggestion card. I've never had to complain on a cruise before, but it seemed like I was at the purser's desk every day with another problem on LOS.

 

After putting the food and service problems behind us, we headed to the hot tub about 7pm to relax and kick back. After just a few minutes, we were asked to leave because maintenance needed to close it. Another evening in the solarium, the same thing occurred about 7pm. We've never had that happenon a cruise before.

 

Finally, while heading to the mainland, we encountered 4 rough sea days on the way back from Hawaii. The first two weren't so bad, but the last two were cold and windy. You couldn't sit outdoors without worrying about being blown overboard.

 

We were so thrilled to get to the airport in San Diego and fly home. We encountered turbulents all the way home--par for the course for this vacation. We were never so happy to be home in our own bed that night. We still haven't developed the film from that cruise. I guess we could hope to forget all the problems on the cruiseand remember the good parts of the vacation--like Hawaii. Next time fly both ways and cruise another ship that stays in the islands--one that has freestyle dining or perhaps at least a couple alternative restaurants in addition to a dining room and buffet.

[Soxfan05]

Our first cruise was a last minute add on to our honeymoon. We decided to book a 4 day cruise with NCL to "unwind" after our honeymoon. The ship was going into drydock to be lengthened and overhauled after our cruise. Obviously, the crew knew this so cleaning wasn't a major consideration. We also found out quite early that our ship was the site of an incentive trip for several hundred Mexican pharmaceutical sales reps. :eek: They spent the entire 4 days, walking around with glass Coca Cola bottles filled with homemade Tequila (that piece of info came from a bartender on the ship) and propositioning any woman in their path. It didn't help that the first week of our honeymoon was in a concierge suite at the Disney Yacht Club and we were treated like royalty. There was no way the cruise could have compared and after we were able to acknowledge that fact, we just laughed about our twin beds that we couldn't move together and the obnoxious salesmen and enjoyed ourselves. We also vowed to always ask about possible conventions when we book another cruise. LOL

[hstrybuf]

I've never had a truly bad experience on a cruise. Sure there were some things that weren't to my liking (weather, people, food) but I just didn't sweat that stuff.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Are you kidding :D .....no, even if we did have a bad cruise it would be better than no cruise at all.....I'd rather cruise than stay home! :D

 

We make the best of it no matter what!!!! :D

 

***

[justaknucklehead]

The worst was actually my first cruise and I can't understand why I ever cruised again, but I did, nine more times after that. It was an old RCCL ship that at the moment leaves my memory. We had 20 foot seas all the way to Bermuda and back. There were barf bags all over the ship. Our cabin was the size of an outhouse, and that's no exaggeration. If you left the bathroom, you fell onto the bed because of the waves. I prayed many nights while the waves pounded right over our bed, I thought the ship would surely split in two. It was a nightmare.

[familycruzer]

My worst cruise was my first time out on the Crown Dynasty. Nice little ship but she needed some serious repairs and management.

I still had a great time since it was our 10 anniversary.

[ella99]

We sailed on the Big Red Boat a few years ago. It was almost a couple of weeks after our trip that the cruiseline went bankrupt. What a disaster that ship was!! Horrible food, very poor air conditioning, sewer backups, mechanical problems (we barely made it to Canada!) But I must say we made the best of it and had fun despite the condition of the ship. We pretty much laughed at the situation the whole time!! We learned our lesson, the ship was way to old to sail.

[abridalmaven]

We sailed Legend of the Seas for ten long days in March from Honolulu to Ensenada, Mexico. The ship had buckets near the elevator for a leaky pipe--not very attractive. I would have taken Carnival's renovated Ectasy and Fascination over this RCI ship.

 

Last December we sailed the Norwegian Dawn for ten days and loved eating freestyle in all the different restaurants (Mexican, French, Italian, Japanese, Steak House, American, Venetian DR, etc). We went from our best cruise in December to our worst cruise in March. It started in the dining room on LOS the first night when our filet mignon was too salty to eat. The next night, we waited and waited and waited for our waiter to wait on us at our table for 2. Our waiter was too busy waiting on tables for 8 and kept forgetting to serve us. By the third evening of waiting for him to come back to order dessert, we gave up and went to the Buffet in the Windjammer and waited on ourselves. On night 4 we gave up on the dining room and went to the Buffet. My husband had a great meal, but the chef cut the butt end of the ham and served me the grizzle and fat attached. After the bad food and service in the dining room, I was very upset that the Windjammer Buffet was not any better. I wrapped the grizzle and fat it in a napkin and brought it to the purser's desk to show them why I was angry. Never got as much as a cookie as an apology. Carnival gave us a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries just for recommending they add cookies to the dessests in their buffet on a suggestion card. I've never had to complain on a cruise before, but it seemed like I was at the purser's desk every day with another problem on LOS.

 

After putting the food and service problems behind us, we headed to the hot tub about 7pm to relax and kick back. After just a few minutes, we were asked to leave because maintenance needed to close it. Another evening in the solarium, the same thing occurred about 7pm. We've never had that happenon a cruise before.

 

Finally, while heading to the mainland, we encountered 4 rough sea days on the way back from Hawaii. The first two weren't so bad, but the last two were cold and windy. You couldn't sit outdoors without worrying about being blown overboard.

 

We were so thrilled to get to the airport in San Diego and fly home. We encountered turbulents all the way home--par for the course for this vacation. We were never so happy to be home in our own bed that night. We still haven't developed the film from that cruise. I guess we could hope to forget all the problems on the cruiseand remember the good parts of the vacation--like Hawaii. Next time fly both ways and cruise another ship that stays in the islands--one that has freestyle dining or perhaps at least a couple alternative restaurants in addition to a dining room and buffet.

 

Wow How opposite can you get, one of our best was on LOS Hawaii to Ensenda, and the worse so far was on the NCL Dawn, Freesyle s**ked in my opinion service was downright awful and lazy unless you were in the paying restaurants. The ship is layout out awful, no flow. The shows were ok the ones that we made ( because of the slow dinner service). Now a freind with us had his son die day 2, so it was a pretty bad experience. There were some good moments here and there so I would not say it was horrible.

[Folgy]

Never had a horrible cruise experience. I have had some horrific air travel to my cruise experience though (if that counts)?

[Libracruzer]

On #27 and counting, two more for the remainder of the year. Some were more enjoyable than others, but not one was "bad" in any way. I consider myself fortunate.

Happy cruising to all.