Cruise!

[Jamie]

I'm going on my second cruise in less than two months. It's to the same destination as last time - the Bahamas.

The first time we went for Beaker's 30th bday and my feelings about the trip were mixed for reasons I'm not going to put on the internet. I left the trip thinking that I'd had a good time but I don't think cruising is really for me - the food wasn't as great as everyone said and I'd rather have the freedom to explore on my own.

We're going this time because his cousin (best man) is getting married on one. It even leaves out of Port Canaveral, and I thanked them profusely for making it so convenient to us! The weird thing is I don't know what islands we're going to - I don't even know the cruise line. It's all being done through a travel agent. (I'm sure this information will come out eventually, but since we're going no matter what it's no big.) Now that we're just doing it, I'm not "choosing" this as a trip, I'm sort of excited to try cruising again.

Have you done it? Do you like it? Would you do it again? What did you like/not? What cruise line did you go on?

[Teena]

I have not been on a cruise, but my parents took one recently and hated it. They liked the stops, but shipboard life was too expensive and boring (they are not gamblers or dancers, and there's only so much food you can eat in a day) and they were really upset by the classism aboard ship (they got one of the cheapest rooms, and they said one of the first things anyone would ask when they met was where their quarters where, and there was a lot of snobbery). Of course, this was one of the HUGE ships, and my parents have taken a cruise on a much smaller ship that they enjoyed more. I have no idea what cruise line they took either trip, though.

[Jana]

I took a cruise in January for my 30th birthday trip and loved it. Nobody ever asked us where our room was, though, so I certainly didn't experience any classism like you describe, Teena- in fact, if not for the hundreds of people in the cheaper rooms, cruise ships couldn't sail. We had a balcony room and I absolutely loved it - since it was a little chilly during our trip, it was nice to be able to sit out there and read and still get the island views. I also liked that you could be as social or antisocial as you liked - we didn't have to interact with anyone to have fun, but we certainly did meet a lot of people and enjoyed their company.

The food is not 5-star restaurant good, but it is above average and I enjoyed it. We had several meals in our ship's specialty restaurants, though, so that is what I mean when I talk about the phenomenal food. Our meal at the French restaurant on board was one of the best I've ever had.

I had a blast, but I am also a student affairs professional and my people tend to be into planned activities, meals cooked for a large number of people a la residence hall cafeterias, and having lots of options. I certainly plan to take other kinds of vacations, but now that I've been on a cruise and know how fun and affordable it can be, I will include that in my research and I would love to go again. It is the perfect way to travel with friends because everything financial is separate. My onboard expenses were quite low, especially considering that I had 4 meals in specialty restaurants and had at least a couple of drinks per day.

People who cruise multiple times per year and do not live in Florida (or near another port) sort of amaze me. I am not that into cruising.

[Jana]

Also, I loved our port stops, but I have to say that I found them to be extremely expensive, especially compared to the cost of the cruise in general. Public beaches are free, sure, but don't have bathroom facilities or food for sale. So we were spending quite a bit of money each day to have access to safe spaces with amenities, along with any money we spent on meals off the ship. It's something I hadn't thought about when we were factoring everything in, and ended up costing another $150 or so on top of the rest of our trip. And we did a TON of internet research to figure out the most cost-effective ways to spend our time and dollars. I can't imagine what people spent who just wandered off the ship or only did ship-sponsored excursions. If I were to do the same Bahamas trip again, I would skip the first port day (Freeport, at Port Lucaya) and stay on board at the pool. Freeport was damaged really badly by hurricanes a few years ago and just isn't as nice as Nassau or other areas in the islands.

If I lived where you do, I'd probably do one or two cruises a year. I think they are awesome. But, all I want in a vacation is the sleep, eat, drink, and then some sort of entertainment that suits my fancy. Cruises fit the bill well because I didn't have to do any of the work behind planning where to sleep/eat/drink/be entertained.

[Heather]

I went on one cruise and I really loved it. I went with 7 girlfriends in college over Spring Break. We went on a super cheap, small boat, I don't even remember the name of the cruise line. It was so off-brand and ghetto, but we had a fabulous time! We had the smallest, crappiest room in the entire planet. Four girls in a room, with bunk beds that come out of the wall, one tiny little wardrobe, no closet and the smallest bathroom I have ever seen. The toilet was like right next to the shower, there was no curtain or anything, it was just open and one tiny little sink all in the same room. The entire room was probably about the size of a decent walk-in closet. Getting ready everyday with 3 other very high maintenance girls was interesting to say the least.

We still totally had a blast though! Most of the days we just spent laying out on one of the decks or in the pool, which when you're on Spring Break when it's freezing back home is pretty much awesome and all we wanted to do. The food was really good, especially considering how crappy the boat itself was. And you can drink on the ship over 18 when you are out in the water, so pretty much the most ideal trip for a 19 year-old college student. We went to Key West and the Bahamas and did some fun things - snorkling, parasailing, walked around the beach, bought cheap crap at the Bahamas, had a good time walking around Key West even though we couldn't all go to the bars. I would absolutely go again in a heartbeat, but I would go on a real boat that has a nice, big fancy ship and get a decent sized room this time. I don't think I would want to go to the Bahamas again, just because it wasn't really anything special, and there are so many other awesome places I would want to go!

[Jana]

That is one thing I forgot to mention - our room was TINY and I can't imagine being in it for a 7-day cruise. Ours was 5 days 4 nights and I was so claustrophobic by the time we left because there was just no room for our stuff. We got creative with where we stored things, but luckily we had done internet research and knew that our room had one outlet (as in, a space with one plug) so we brought a power strip. We also brought our own Diet Coke on board and had our steward empty the minifridge in our room.

Most frequent cruisers are kind of nuts and obsessive, so you can likely see YouTube videos of rooms on your ship or at least see enough Flickr photos to get a good idea of what you're getting into. We saw a YouTube tour and tons of reviews and photo sets, so I knew exactly what our room would look like in advance. And I still was not prepared for how freaking small it was. Thank god for the balcony.

[Jamie]

I don't think I would want to go to the Bahamas again, just because it wasn't really anything special, and there are so many other awesome places I would want to go!

This is exactly how I feel, and it'll be my THIRD time there, but since it's not up to me, I'm just trying to relax into it.

With Beaker, we got a decent room with a porthole because he loves boats and really wanted to be able to look outside.

This time, it's going to be a tiny closet hole, with the idea that we won't be hanging out there much.

It's so cold that I'm really just looking forward to several days reading by the pool. I hope it's not too stupid crowded. And Matt likes to gamble, so I'm sure we'll do a little of that.

[Jamie]

Has anyone indulged in any spa stuff on a cruise? I'd like to, the ship has a spa, but I'm afraid the pricing is going to be ridiculous.

[Jana]

I didn't - the prices were so ridiculous that I couldn't even begin to justify it. Massages were $125 for 60 minutes. Sure, they discounted things a little on port days, but still. Even in the downtown Chicago ritzy spas, massages are no more than $100 for 60 minutes, and you know you will be getting a great experience.

[Kayeita]

Now, this is insanely dated, as the first and only cruise I have been on was out of Florida to the Bahamas as part of our disneyworld family vacation back when I was ohhh... 15? or so. But when we went on it, my mom and I did a lot of the spa things, and it was all crazy crazy expensive. Perhaps with this economy and it being a decade and a half later and all, it might not be that way anymore.

[Jamie]

I was afraid of that. One of Matt's aunts gave him $50 credit for his birthday and we were thinking we'd put it toward a little indulgence but we don't want to turn it into an excuse to spend a bunch of money we weren't going to spend anyway, you know?

[Jamie]

Damn. That's our boat. I hope this doesn't mean crazy security bullshit.

[Jana]

I would spend the credit on a nice meal or on booze, personally. Or in the casino, if your ship will let you use OBC for gambling. Norwegian doesn't, but I'm not sure if that is the law or just what they do to make you spend more.

[Jamie]

We used it toward our total bill.