WeCruiseToo

We’ve met cruisers who seem to “collect ports.” Once they’ve been somewhere, they just don’t want to visit the same place again. They’re mostly concerned with going to as many new ports as they can each time.

We have all those room key/onboard account cards as well!

We collect wonderful memories. Does that count?

It’s always good to hear that a cruise line is making changes based on customer input. All of these improvements sound great!

We usually need to do some work while we’re cruising – it’s hard to really get away – and that means paying for internet service. We’re afraid that if service was cheaper/free, so many people would use it that it would be even slower than the current glacial speed. We’d sure be willing to pay a premium for fast service! Regarding the free internet service on river cruises, it’s a fantastic amenity but it seems even slower than the internet on the big ocean ships!

We do a family reunion cruise almost every year – usually about 20 people. We have friends who did a group of about 70 with ages ranging from infants to well into their 80’s!

We used to only get the insurance occasionally, now we get it every time. We were lucky to have it the one time we needed it (volcanic ash, cancelled flights, train tickets, hotel cancelations…) that we realized how much it would have cost us otherwise! Travel insurance is a very small investment for the value.

We always invite our friends and family to join us when we’re cruising. We have limited vacation days and we don’t want to “waste” them not on a cruise! Several friends and family members normally join us on our cruises and we’ve never had any issues.

We see the cruise ship casinos as a nice entertainment option. If you really love to gamble, a quick trip to Las Vegas is the best! (Too bad the cruise ships can’t visit Vegas!)

The “private island” experience is often our favorite port stop! We visited Great Stirrup Cay in November 2011 aboard Norwegian Pearl. We’d been there twice before, most recently in December 2009 aboard Norwegian Sky. The enhancements mentioned above are a fantastic improvement! The new marina especially changes the island – the old way guests got off the tenders right in the middle of the beach (meaning much of the beach was blocked for tender landing); now they get off on a dock at the “back” of the island but still just steps from the beach!

Ditto on those changes, Kevin! I also use more than one set of studs and cuff links. ~ Mike

Oceania Cruises really seems like it would be a good fit for us. We really need to cruise with them soon!

We’ve been to at least 80 different ports and I can’t think of any we’d never return to. We’ve been to Ocho Rios four times; we’ve done cruise line excursions, third party excursions, and just explored on our own. On our last visit we made friends with a wonderful local guide who we would definitely recommend – we’ll use her again for sure.

We haven’t sailed Disney Cruise Line yet, but we know several people who have taken Disney cruises without kids and they all came back with glowing reviews!

We’re looking forward to this ship, but most likely we’ll wait until 2014 and sail the Norwegian Getaway.

We did Norwegian’s Pride of America in June of 2011and found it was a good way to see 4 islands (5 ports) in a week and the overnight port stops were great. (We’ve done the flying between islands and staying at different resorts before – the cruise was far more relaxing.) But the ship is definitely not the destination – it’s all about the Hawaiian Islands! That being said, the pairing of a Disney cruise with an inter island Hawaii itinerary would be fantastic! Too bad those pesky old laws make it imposable for now…

Since the website and brochures all say you should expect only two formal nights for anything less than a 14-night cruise on Royal Caribbean, I can’t imagine that anyone will be packing a third formal outfit. I think you’ll be fine planning on two formal nights.

We sailed Carnival Destiny in January of 2011 and had a fantastic time but the décor did look a little bit like Vegas from the 80’s. Sounds like the remodel will be great!

Thank you all for the warm welcome! Traveling is our passion and we’ve found that cruising is the best way to see most destinations!

Our first was Carnival Jubilee in 1996. 47 cruises later – each one was fantastic and we still can’t wait for the next one!

No hesitation at all. The odds of another tragedy must be small.

We’ve found it varies by cruise line or itinerary. Alaska seems less formal. 3 or 4 night cruises are always less formal than longer cruises. Celebrity is more formal than Carnival, etc. Like others have said, as long as you respect the cruise line’s suggested attire you should dress how you like – it’s your vacation!

Many of the cruise lines now have a “no discounting” policy, so prices should be the same. With a travel agent there’s a chance they held space in advance and have pricing from before the rates went up. A travel agent may give you a small gift for booking (like a bottle of wine) and hopefully they’ll keep an eye out for the rates to go down. I don’t think the cruise line does any of those things.