What Makes for a GREAT Cruise for YOU?

[cruisequeen3311]

Length - we take long cruises, next is 31 days. Two weeks just doesn't cut it for us anymore although we did just do a 4 day because we couldn't refuse the offer from Princess

 

Destination - exotic is preferred. Next is Hawaii and on to the South Pacific. One after that is a circumnavigation of Australia.

 

The more sea days the better

 

31 days ! Wouldn't that be nice ! I couldn't eat all that food! I want to retire but many many more years ... Have fun !

 

 

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[Paulette3028]

There is always a lot of complaining being done, so I thought it would be nice to bump this thread up.

 

What I love most about cruising -- Just being away.

 

Life is full of things I can complain about, but cruising is my vacation and that is just great. Looking forward to our next one in June 2014.

[CruiseAddict1982]

There is always a lot of complaining being done, so I thought it would be nice to bump this thread up.

 

What I love most about cruising -- Just being away.

 

Life is full of things I can complain about, but cruising is my vacation and that is just great. Looking forward to our next one in June 2014.

 

 

Yea I've never complained about any of the 8 cruises we have been on. Always a great selection of food, lots to do and we love the atmosphere in the casino. We are going in May and I can't wait

 

 

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[Paulette3028]

Yea I've never complained about any of the 8 cruises we have been on. Always a great selection of food, lots to do and we love the atmosphere in the casino. We are going in May and I can't wait

 

 

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Enjoy your upcoming cruise.....as you point out there is always a great selection of food and FOOD can make for a great vacation, especially when I am not cooking it!

[shelbylook]

Cruising just makes me feel very special.

[olemissreb]

Being at sea. my soul feels so much more at peace when I'm on the ocean, no matter the weather.

 

When I cannot be watching the ocean I also enjoy people watching with my husband.

 

When I go on a non-cruise vacation I cannot unplug. I still get loured into checking email, making phone calls, doing chores, etc. i have to stick myself on a ship in the middle of the ocean to let go.

 

not having to cook and clean are big pluses too. and sleeping in. We get an inside cabin so we can sleep anytime.

 

 

Thank you for so beautifully putting into words exactly how I feel. My best cruises are the ones with just me and DH, but I've also thoroughly enjoyed the 2 cruises with my kids and my inlaws (on one cruise) and my mother on the other. It's all about relaxation for me and being able to unplug and reconnect with those I love without the outside influences of tv, email, nagging about school and grades etc.

 

My oldest will be going off to college this fall, so family vacations are going to get harder to plan and DH and I are going to have to figure out how to relate to each other again with no kids around. I'm thinking our cruise next March will help us start to do that! :o

[olemissreb]

I can understand the 'turn off the world' concept. If my DH still has his phone connection, his office will call him....on a cruise they can't his phone is OFF....he checks email, just to catch up with family....and be alerted to an emergency he may be walking into when he gets back to his office....but nothing more than that...since there isn't much he can do about it while 'cruising'.

 

This is the exact reason why we took our first cruise! Cell phones weren't big yet, but DH's boss would phone the house at all hours. DH was foolish and would give the boss all the pertinent info on where we were going and how to reach us on vacation and of course the boss would call with the stupidest things. Finally I put my foot down and said no more - find a vacation where we won't be disturbed and the company travel agent booked us on a Princess cruise in a balcony cabin. WONDERFUL!!! DH gave the boss the info on how to reach my inlaws with the stipulation that FIL would make the decision on whether or not the "emergency" was big enough to disturb us on vacation. Funniest thing is the boss called Dad and tried to get Dad to give him the info on how to reach us and Dad simply told him it would wait until we returned! I have the best FIL in the world!

[Sue Do-Over]

1) Looking at a menu withOUT looking at the prices. Yes, I will have the filet, and maybe the seafood. And I want two servings of salmon with my bagel.

 

2) Casino staff -- whether we're winning or losing, an engaging dealer can keep things fun. We tip all the dealers, more if they're fun. It's the cost of our evening's entertainment!

[Paulette3028]

This is the exact reason why we took our first cruise! Cell phones weren't big yet, but DH's boss would phone the house at all hours. DH was foolish and would give the boss all the pertinent info on where we were going and how to reach us on vacation and of course the boss would call with the stupidest things. Finally I put my foot down and said no more - find a vacation where we won't be disturbed and the company travel agent booked us on a Princess cruise in a balcony cabin. WONDERFUL!!! DH gave the boss the info on how to reach my inlaws with the stipulation that FIL would make the decision on whether or not the "emergency" was big enough to disturb us on vacation. Funniest thing is the boss called Dad and tried to get Dad to give him the info on how to reach us and Dad simply told him it would wait until we returned! I have the best FIL in the world!

 

That was a great system.....your FIL could start a business.

[xnavydoc2]

My Wife.

[RobinsonCruiseo]

Visiting lots of new places, doing nothing, eating everything... but the best feeling is switching on my out of office and updating my voicemail to "I am currently on annual leave until..."!

[Paulette3028]

A sad day on a cruise is the day it is over.....but if you have already booked your next cruise you can start looking forward to that.

 

Which is just what we did when we were on Allure back in July. We had a great time on her and booked a cruise for departing on Valentine's Day on Indy.

 

One great cruise just leads to another. When is your next GREAT cruise?

[tbmrt]

Totally agree....Fortunately we've never experienced more than a half day of totally rainy weather on our Caribbean cruises.

 

Love sitting on the balcony, watching ocean, especially at breakfast!

[dancinman66]

Being on the water is enough for me but to make it special is good friends which includes my crew friends

 

 

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[Paulette3028]

We had a sad event on our most recent cruise....we did not book another cruise....but alas we do have two on our calendar already.

 

Since that was the worst thing that happened, I can surely say we had another great cruise. Wait staff was truly pressed to their limits with 3800 passengers on board Navigator over Thanksgiving, but it did not impact our particular table, I just felt that the staff that had a lot of children (many unruly in the MDR) were truly overworked.

 

Great entertainment, although we did not go to all the shows -- One show headliner we had seen before and knew we did not need to see again....those who never saw him, probably did enjoy it, however.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Paulette3028

[LHT28]

not getting sick

 

no kids

 

no whingers

[Paulette3028]

not getting sick

 

no kids

 

no whingers

 

I guess you meant 'no whiners' -- I definitely met a couple of whiners on my last cruise. What they were whining about Royal had no control over at all....but they whined anyway -- the water was a bit rough and the ferry to the mainland on Cozumel was very very bumpy.

[SPacificbound]

We have only been cruising since 2013, so we are fairly new to this. Not new travelers, but new cruisers.

 

Our cruises are always attached to other travel before and after the cruise. Sometimes it has been a week, other times a month or two. Invariably the cruise is one of my favorite parts of the trip.

 

I love that once we are on the ship we don't have to do anything but enjoy.

 

No packing/unpacking or getting ourselves from one location or another.

No checking in and out of hotels. No looking for a place to eat.

Also the ship's laundry is less expensive than sending laundry out at any hotel.

 

We can just relax and enjoy, watch the beauty of the sea, and the Captain and crew take care of the rest.

 

Only 157 more days. :)

[Warm Breezes]

I know this is a bit soppy but to be honest it's enjoying a shared love of cruising with my husband and having quality time together!

 

This was my first thought too when I read question. But honestly that is what makes a great vacation for me whether it is on a ship or on land....a cruise adds the ocean which relaxes me too.

[legaljen1969]

Visiting lots of new places, doing nothing, eating everything... but the best feeling is switching on my out of office and updating my voicemail to "I am currently on annual leave until..."!

 

My job is very paperwork intensive. I don't get a lot of voicemails or a lot of calls. Upon seeing this post, it occurred to me that I may not have ever changed my message since I got back from our cruise in early May 2015.

Sure enough, I just updated my message all of these months later. Glad I found this thread and this post. :)

[SuiteTraveler]

going to an amazing spa (such as what is on the NCL Epic, Getaway, Breakaway and Escape)

not having to clean or make my bed

not having to cook and being able to eat in different types of restaurants every night

meeting nice people onboard

seeing a fun show or two - especially comedy and acrobatics shows

great casino slot experience

getting cruise cocktails - umbrella drinks

having an amazing suite and a butler and concierge - so convenient

looking outside my window and seeing the ocean or looking at the ocean from my balcony

[marco]

Not obsessing over "Is cabin "X" better than cabin "Y"? Does cabin in category 4 have a bigger veranda than one in category 5? Is it better to arrive at the port early or later? Is an aft balcony cabin better than a side of the ship one? Is a port side cabin better than starboard or vice versa? It's a vacation for a week, 10 days, or maybe a little longer. It's not like this is our retirement condo where we will be living for the rest of our life! Lighten up, don't obsess with issues that in a long run are of little or no consequence and just chill...... so we just go with the flow and enjoy our vacation!!

Edited December 5, 2015 by marco

[papcx]

Not obsessing over "Is cabin "X" better than cabin "Y"? Does cabin in category 4 have a bigger veranda than one in category 5? Is it better to arrive at the port early or later? Is an aft balcony cabin better than a side of the ship one? Is a port side cabin better than starboard or vice versa? It's a vacation for a week, 10 days, or maybe a little longer. It's not like this is our retirement condo where we will be living for the rest of our life! Lighten up, don't obsess with issues that in a long run are of little or no consequence and just chill...... so we just go with the flow and enjoy our vacation!!

 

 

So true.

 

When I book my DW always asks if we're in a good cabin. And I always tell her, yes, it's on the ship.

[Paulette3028]

So true.

 

When I book my DW always asks if we're in a good cabin. And I always tell her, yes, it's on the ship.

 

Great answer. I will say as we look into finding a sailing on Empress, I am more particular about the cabin. It is an older ship that they are bringing back to the fleet and doing a refurb on, but most of the cabins are incredibly smaller than what we have had in the past. So if we do a cruise on this ship, I have told my DH that I only want to choose from one of 6 cabins -- they seem to be more spacious, even though without a balcony and only a window, which is OK.

[Minoushka]

Nice itinerary

Great cabin ...quiet with perfect balcony

Beautiful weather ,.....warm ...sunny ...calm seas

Great food ..good drinks

Fun on board ...good casino

Great shows

Great service

Friendly funpeople

Great days ashore

Lovely evenings

Great snorkeling

 

Enjoying every minute

Been there done that ...cannot wait to do again ...I love cruising