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klingklang77
kraftwerk!
Member since 7/06 11489 total posts
Name:
Völlig losgelöst
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Tell me about cruises...
DH and I are playing with the idea of doing a Mediterranean cruise. We would do it in July. We aren't exactly sure of the countries yet. We are just playing with the idea not completely sure.
My questions:
What is included? Food, etc?
What is the difference between rooms?
Can anyone recommend one they enjoyed?
Thanks!
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Posted 1/24/10 6:31 AM  |
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Blazesyth
*yawn*
Member since 5/05 8129 total posts
Name:
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
The answers to your questions really depend on which line you go on. But generally...
Drinks: Alcoholic beverages are not covered unless on certain lines you can buy an alcohol and/or wine package. Soda usually isnt covered, they also have a package you can purchase. Usually water, juices, coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade are included.
Food: Plenty of food is included. Some, if not most ships now have specialty restaurants where you can get 'better' food and 'better' service and they'll slam you for another 20-30 dollars. We never go for it. 95% of the time we can find something to eat and be okay with it that I'm not going to spend more. There usually are some extra food shops (ice cream, coffee house, burger stand, etc) that might be pay only - but as I said we usually dont partake. On the cruise, ice cream is ice cream to me. If I can go and get a bowl of ice cream for free at the buffet, or spend 5 dollars at ben and jerrys, i just get the regular bowl. I'm not stuckup and would rather save my money for drinks/excursions.
Activities: The ship will have activities that are open to all - and then some activities that you need to pay to participate (such as Bingo, etc.) They will have dance lessons, crafts, casino, cooking demonstrations, trivia, games and cards, instructional classes, library for reading, contests, and parades around the ship. And then of course there is just laying by the pool and sleeping. The only activity we'll really pay for is Bingo if we feel like it. Activities off the ship are another matter and those are $$$.
Rooms: Again, it depends per line. You can have a small room with no window - to a huge room with a balcony, tub and piano. I've been in everything from inside room up to balcony. We decide per cruise itinerary what time of room we will get. When we cruised to Alaska in 06, we got a balcony room because we would be cruising near land and it was something we had not seen before and there is lots to look at. So we spent the extra money for the balcony. When we went to the Caribbean in November, we took an inside room. Most of the time we were at sea, so there is not much to see besides water, nothing that we couldnt see from another deck and if you dont see it, its not a big deal since its just water. And even around port area, it's just more of the same so I was happier saving 1K on my room and putting that towards excursions or  .
Check out cruisecritic.com - they review each line, each trip amd have a veryy comprehensive boards eith many opinions and reviews.
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| Posted 1/24/10 9:45 AM |
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klingklang77
kraftwerk!
Member since 7/06 11489 total posts
Name:
Völlig losgelöst
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
Thank you very much, I'll check out that site!
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| Posted 1/24/10 6:18 PM |
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queensgal
Smile
Member since 4/09 3287 total posts
Name:
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
Check out cruise.com for great deals on many cruise lines. I was able to get free gratuities which saved me a ton of money.
Alcohol is not included, the wine packages def save money. Some people complain about the price of alcohol on cruises, but I find the prices to be similar to a bar $4 for beer, maybe $6 for a mixed drink. You just aren't used to paying for 7 days at a bar all at once, so it does add up.
We did a European Cruise and it was great. You get to see a lot of places. We always get the cheap small rooms because you really are never in your room anyway. I save the money to have more $$ to spend in each location.
FM if you have specific questions, happy to help.
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| Posted 1/24/10 8:10 PM |
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baghag
:P
Member since 5/05 10278 total posts
Name:
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
I only went on a very short cruise out of Miami to the Bahamas.
I'm glad I went, but realized that the cruise experience isn't really for me. 2 main reasons-I get seasick very, VERY easily, and I didn't like having to return from the ship by a certain time.
At the time, the policy (for Royal Caribbean) was that if you are doing an excursion not run by the ship, and it is late, they will leave without you.
Tips are billed to your credit card, with suggestions for amounts.
My boss did a European cruise starting and ending in Spain and he loved it. He said it was a great way to see a lot of tourist attractions in a very short amount of time.
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| Posted 1/25/10 8:06 AM |
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LightUpOurLife
Totally in love
Member since 8/06 12785 total posts
Name:
Bonnie-Jean
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
Posted by Blazesyth
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All very good info!
My dh and I went on our first cruise from Florida to the Bahamas. It was great! I wanted to do small the first time to make sure we both liked it. We went with Royal Caribbean.
My parents did a 28 day cruise from Amsterdam to Austria. It was something like 100 people on board the boat. Everyone got to know each other. They loved it. My dad was tired of the churches at the end. They did a LOT of churches.  There were people that only did the last two weeks and were really disappointed because it went through a lot of war torn areas (ie. Croatia).
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| Posted 1/26/10 5:12 PM |
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Tine73
Member since 3/06 22093 total posts
Name:
*********
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
Blazesyth pretty much said it all.
We went on a Med cruise in Sept of 06 and LOVED it. We used Royal Caribbean and had no complaints. It was great and we can't wait to do another.
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| Posted 1/26/10 9:09 PM |
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Cheeks24
Living a dream
Member since 1/08 8589 total posts
Name:
Cheeks
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
We've only done RC and will only continue to use them. They are the best so need to try anyone else 
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| Posted 1/26/10 10:34 PM |
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Egg
LIF Adolescent
Member since 5/09 627 total posts
Name:
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
we did costa mediterranean cruise and really enjoyed it. the food was great! not too many english speakers though; it's an italian cruise line.
there are several that go there, it really depends how long you want to go for. My coworker went for 14 days and did Celebrity; we only wanted to go for a week and only Costa and RC had that option at the time.
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| Posted 1/27/10 5:52 PM |
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klingklang77
kraftwerk!
Member since 7/06 11489 total posts
Name:
Völlig losgelöst
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
How many stops is too many to do on a 7 or 8 day cruise? I know that I won't get to truly explore a city in one stop, but I don't want to be too rushed, if that makes any sense.
Thanks!
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| Posted 1/28/10 7:47 PM |
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mbg1007
LIF Adult
Member since 3/09 1247 total posts
Name:
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
I love crusies! We've been on 4 cruises, the last one was a 10 day with Celebrity in December. We LOVED Celebrity, its our favorite cruise line! We went on their new ship, the Equinox, it blew way any other ship we had sailed on, it was really, really amazing. We had 5 stops and 4 days at sea. With a 7 day cruise I have done 4 stops and 3 days at sea which I thought was good.
We always get a balcony room, it may not be necessary but its so nice to wake up and look out at the water. We also really enjoy just relaxing out there before dinner, reading and eating breakfast (room service is free) without the noise that you find on other decks. To us, its worth it (and with the newer ships most of the outside rooms are balcony anyway, so there really arent a lot of "waterview" rooms without a balcony).
As far as the food goes, most of the time its pretty good. Sometimes its not that great though and we were actually told by staff on a Princess cruise that they are cutting back on things in order to make cruising more affordable for people.
We also like to try out the specialty restaurants. Again, is it necessary? No, its not, but I think its totally worth it! We ate at 4 spcialty restaurants on our last cruise and the food and the service were amazing!!!! Sooo much better than the dining room. it was like eating at a five star restaurant in the city. Even though you pay extra, you are still not spending close to what you would if you were eating at a nice place in the city so I still think its a great deal.
Cruise Critic is a great site, especially for looking up excursions outside of the ones that the ship offers. We found some great deals through them.
Message edited 1/29/2010 2:56:21 PM.
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| Posted 1/29/10 2:25 PM |
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Blazesyth
*yawn*
Member since 5/05 8129 total posts
Name:
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
Posted by klingklang77
How many stops is too many to do on a 7 or 8 day cruise? I know that I won't get to truly explore a city in one stop, but I don't want to be too rushed, if that makes any sense.
Thanks!
I haven't looked into the cruises abroad, so I'll speak more from the Caribbean experience but I think it would probably be the same.
Think of it this way. You are *usually* not going to do 2 stops in one day. The day you get on and the day you get off, those dont count. So on a 7 day cruise, you have 5 to 6 days where they could stop. I would be OK with 4 stops. It also depends on the type of activities you are doing at those stops. If you are going to just be walking around , you'll be OK doing that every day. But if you are going rock climbing or hiking (just an example) you may not want to do something that strenuous the next day. Unless of course, thats the type of vacation you like.
After a few days of high activity days we enjoy the day at sea to sleep late and relax.
An exception to this is the Celebrity Xpedition Galapagos cruise, which we are saving up for (about 5K each passenger plus roundtrip airfare to Ecuador). But most really don't consider it a 'cruise cruise' - it's more of an adventure outing. It's a luxury yacht with only 100 passengers, and passengers complete 2-3 excursions a day and they do change 'ports' throughout the day. Most excursions are nature based, such as snorkeling with sea turtles. 
ETA: You mentioned that you won't be in one place for too long; some people don't like this, (I think someone posted about that above) but I don't mind it because I enjoy seeing more, different places. This allows me to see if I would want to return for a longer stay. I would hate to commit myself to be somewhere for 7 days and then I dont like it - at least if i'm in port for 8 hours, I can get a feeling for a place, and then if I like it, I go back - if not, no loss.
Message edited 1/29/2010 4:58:29 PM.
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| Posted 1/29/10 4:55 PM |
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evrythng4areason
And then there were 4
Member since 1/10 5224 total posts
Name:
Kayla
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Re: Tell me about cruises...
we're going on one in july for our hm
the cruise leaves out of rome, and goes to 2 additional ports in italy, 2 in spain, and 1 in france..its an 8 day/7 night cruise on royal caribbean..
for us, it was the most economical way to see europe, since all of your meals are included on the ship
we have cruised with rc before, and have always had a great time
fm if you have any questions!
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| Posted 1/30/10 4:30 PM |
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