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Lillykat
going along for the ride...
Member since 5/05 16253 total posts
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
Posted by Goobster
I never wanted to go on a cruise, nor did DH. We decided to TRY one for our honeymoon. BIG mistake. It was just as awful as I thought it would be. The food was DISGUSTING, the people were not the kind I want to be trapped with for days, and to me, why do I need to be on a boat to have fun when I can have more fun on land? JMO. DH and I SWORE NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN. Biggest mistake ever. I was ready to jump ship.
Curious what line were you one. I had friends who had a similar experience but turned out they realized it was the wrong ship and cruiseline for them. I think picking the right line and right ship for your personal tastes and interests is very important. There are lines I wouldn't go on that I know I would have the experience you described and hate it. Some lines have bad food, lots of heavy drinking, constant announcements and staff pushing drinks, activities etc. While there are rude people everywhere as well as nice ones I find that some line can sometimes attract certain crowds depends on where you sail from and if that line offered discounts to the locals to fill empty cabins.
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Posted 9/18/12 11:08 PM  |
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Long Island Weddings
Long Island's Largest Bridal Resource |
Mouse Tales Travel
LIFamilies Business
Member since 7/08 417 total posts
Name:
Melissa Salinas
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Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
Typically, the shorter the cruise, the less desirable the crowd. Week or longer cruises tend to attract more people that most of us would want to deal with.
I don't enjoy Carnival personally but have some clients who love it and if it's a good fit for them, I book it. Your travel agent should be talking to you about a lot more than what ports you want to visit. Each ship has a very different feel - even sister ships like Oasis/Allure - and families want different things.
My sister sails Carnival almost every other month out of LA because it's cheap, her kids know all of the crew, and they just want a getaway. Would I put my clients on that cruise? Most likely not!
- Kimberly Hill
Mouse Tales® Travel
LIFamilies Vendor
Creating Magical Vacations for LIFamilies since 2008
Message edited 9/19/2012 8:38:10 AM.
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| Posted 9/19/12 8:37 AM |
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Goobster
:)
Member since 5/07 27557 total posts
Name:
:)
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
Posted by Lillykat
Posted by Goobster
I never wanted to go on a cruise, nor did DH. We decided to TRY one for our honeymoon. BIG mistake. It was just as awful as I thought it would be. The food was DISGUSTING, the people were not the kind I want to be trapped with for days, and to me, why do I need to be on a boat to have fun when I can have more fun on land? JMO. DH and I SWORE NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN. Biggest mistake ever. I was ready to jump ship.
Curious what line were you one. I had friends who had a similar experience but turned out they realized it was the wrong ship and cruiseline for them. I think picking the right line and right ship for your personal tastes and interests is very important. There are lines I wouldn't go on that I know I would have the experience you described and hate it. Some lines have bad food, lots of heavy drinking, constant announcements and staff pushing drinks, activities etc. While there are rude people everywhere as well as nice ones I find that some line can sometimes attract certain crowds depends on where you sail from and if that line offered discounts to the locals to fill empty cabins.
THis was 10 years ago and it was a Carnival cruise that an agent set up for us. We knew no better. It was a very DATED ship (dont recall the name, I have it all blocked in my memory it was THAT bad). The second DH and I walked on we we ready to walk off. We literally debated this as we stepped on. Ugh. Gross.
It left out of FLA. The whole thing was just awful in every sense. Cheesy shows, DISGUSTING food (we only ate pizza and ice cream since everything else was disgusting and cold and frozen like, etc). The whole thing skeeved me out. NEVER again. We felt that way before the experience, that who needs to do those things on a ship when you can do them on land? And we felt that way after too, even more so.
Just never ever again. So cheesy, such cheesy entertainment. Just gross gross gross.
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| Posted 9/19/12 9:22 AM |
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
Cruising is not for everyone and attitude factors a great deal in how you perceive your experience going into a cruise.
I have only done 2 cruises, just recently did a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas in July on Royal Caribbean, and last year sailed on RCCL's Navigator of the Seas to Mexico for 4 days as well to celebrate a friend's surprise birthday (so I was sort of pressured into going). I was very leery about going on a cruise at first because DH gets very sea-sick and I feared being bored. I was surprised that the rooms were bigger than I expected (inside staterooms) and the only time DH or I got sea-sick was the last day when we hit a rough patch of sea near Key West.
Overall, I would research, research, research and do a short cruise first to see if you'd like it. I spent hours poring over the message boards at CruiseCritic.com and realized I would prefer lines like RCCL, Princess and Celebrity over Carnivall. You can see pictures of all the cabines for each ship as well which was helpful because the best rooms to minimize motion sickness is on lower decks near the center of the ship.
Either way, I find cruises are a great way to see a lot of ports in only 5-10 days for a very good price. I am already looking forward to going on my next one!
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| Posted 9/19/12 10:33 AM |
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Lillykat
going along for the ride...
Member since 5/05 16253 total posts
Name:
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
Posted by Goobster
Posted by Lillykat
Posted by Goobster
I never wanted to go on a cruise, nor did DH. We decided to TRY one for our honeymoon. BIG mistake. It was just as awful as I thought it would be. The food was DISGUSTING, the people were not the kind I want to be trapped with for days, and to me, why do I need to be on a boat to have fun when I can have more fun on land? JMO. DH and I SWORE NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN. Biggest mistake ever. I was ready to jump ship.
Curious what line were you one. I had friends who had a similar experience but turned out they realized it was the wrong ship and cruiseline for them. I think picking the right line and right ship for your personal tastes and interests is very important. There are lines I wouldn't go on that I know I would have the experience you described and hate it. Some lines have bad food, lots of heavy drinking, constant announcements and staff pushing drinks, activities etc. While there are rude people everywhere as well as nice ones I find that some line can sometimes attract certain crowds depends on where you sail from and if that line offered discounts to the locals to fill empty cabins.
THis was 10 years ago and it was a Carnival cruise that an agent set up for us. We knew no better. It was a very DATED ship (dont recall the name, I have it all blocked in my memory it was THAT bad). The second DH and I walked on we we ready to walk off. We literally debated this as we stepped on. Ugh. Gross.
It left out of FLA. The whole thing was just awful in every sense. Cheesy shows, DISGUSTING food (we only ate pizza and ice cream since everything else was disgusting and cold and frozen like, etc). The whole thing skeeved me out. NEVER again. We felt that way before the experience, that who needs to do those things on a ship when you can do them on land? And we felt that way after too, even more so.
Just never ever again. So cheesy, such cheesy entertainment. Just gross gross gross.
This!! I could tell you about 2-3 friends had this SAME experience on Carnival. I won't step foot on them for the reason you described - too many people I know had bad experiences (although I see people here seem to like them). In fact one friend told me that people were trying to start fights with them in line. Totally not their style. They also weren't big drinkers - so they were uncomfortable with the tons of drunk people all over.
My first cruise was many years ago (late 80's) we went on NCL. Food was okay not great, very push sales tactics, constant announcements for bingo, sales of things etc. We had an okay time but not great. We went on Celebrity the next time. The crowd was much more to our liking. The service was completely different. The food was much better. It was like night and day.
I can tell you that the friends who had a similar experience to you tried other lines (as I said it is important to pick one that suits you - you have to have a good TA who knows you well to place you on one that is more you) and they have had good and positive experiences.
I"m sure you will never get on another cruise but if you decide to give it another try someday just make sure you pick one that suits your personal tastes much better. Based on what you said you might enjoy Celebrity - one of their new ships. But I will tell you - I personally can't stand pool games, the things like bingo etc. We like to do the nice dinners at places like Normandie, like to sit quietly by the pool and relax. But I also like to do cruises that have fewer sea days and more port days so I'm not just sitting on the ship.
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| Posted 9/19/12 5:04 PM |
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Goobster
:)
Member since 5/07 27557 total posts
Name:
:)
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
Posted by Lillykat
This!! I could tell you about 2-3 friends had this SAME experience on Carnival. I won't step foot on them for the reason you described - too many people I know had bad experiences (although I see people here seem to like them). In fact one friend told me that people were trying to start fights with them in line. Totally not their style. They also weren't big drinkers - so they were uncomfortable with the tons of drunk people all over.
My first cruise was many years ago (late 80's) we went on NCL. Food was okay not great, very push sales tactics, constant announcements for bingo, sales of things etc. We had an okay time but not great. We went on Celebrity the next time. The crowd was much more to our liking. The service was completely different. The food was much better. It was like night and day.
I can tell you that the friends who had a similar experience to you tried other lines (as I said it is important to pick one that suits you - you have to have a good TA who knows you well to place you on one that is more you) and they have had good and positive experiences.
I"m sure you will never get on another cruise but if you decide to give it another try someday just make sure you pick one that suits your personal tastes much better. Based on what you said you might enjoy Celebrity - one of their new ships. But I will tell you - I personally can't stand pool games, the things like bingo etc. We like to do the nice dinners at places like Normandie, like to sit quietly by the pool and relax. But I also like to do cruises that have fewer sea days and more port days so I'm not just sitting on the ship.
I am sure you are right. We didn't know any better. We kept telling the agent we wanted to have fun. Don't know what his idea of fun was but it was literally disgusting experience. Oh and the pools were tiny and the only SMALL adult ONLY pool had kids in it ALL the time. I never once went in the pool. Oh, the nightmares this trip STILL gives me and DH felt the same too. We wound up going to WDW after the cruise was over and we were never so happy to be on land again, esp in WDW. Basically the majority of our cruise experience was focused on watching this one country dude in country attire with cowboy boots...we have videos of him, etc. That was the extent of what we found amusing. The crowd was just awful awful awful as was everything else.
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| Posted 9/19/12 9:17 PM |
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Lillykat
going along for the ride...
Member since 5/05 16253 total posts
Name:
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
Posted by Goobster
Posted by Lillykat
This!! I could tell you about 2-3 friends had this SAME experience on Carnival. I won't step foot on them for the reason you described - too many people I know had bad experiences (although I see people here seem to like them). In fact one friend told me that people were trying to start fights with them in line. Totally not their style. They also weren't big drinkers - so they were uncomfortable with the tons of drunk people all over.
My first cruise was many years ago (late 80's) we went on NCL. Food was okay not great, very push sales tactics, constant announcements for bingo, sales of things etc. We had an okay time but not great. We went on Celebrity the next time. The crowd was much more to our liking. The service was completely different. The food was much better. It was like night and day.
I can tell you that the friends who had a similar experience to you tried other lines (as I said it is important to pick one that suits you - you have to have a good TA who knows you well to place you on one that is more you) and they have had good and positive experiences.
I"m sure you will never get on another cruise but if you decide to give it another try someday just make sure you pick one that suits your personal tastes much better. Based on what you said you might enjoy Celebrity - one of their new ships. But I will tell you - I personally can't stand pool games, the things like bingo etc. We like to do the nice dinners at places like Normandie, like to sit quietly by the pool and relax. But I also like to do cruises that have fewer sea days and more port days so I'm not just sitting on the ship.
I am sure you are right. We didn't know any better. We kept telling the agent we wanted to have fun. Don't know what his idea of fun was but it was literally disgusting experience. Oh and the pools were tiny and the only SMALL adult ONLY pool had kids in it ALL the time. I never once went in the pool. Oh, the nightmares this trip STILL gives me and DH felt the same too. We wound up going to WDW after the cruise was over and we were never so happy to be on land again, esp in WDW. Basically the majority of our cruise experience was focused on watching this one country dude in country attire with cowboy boots...we have videos of him, etc. That was the extent of what we found amusing. The crowd was just awful awful awful as was everything else.
 It does sound horrible! Almost comically so. Almost like one of those comedy movies where everything goes wrong. I probably wouldn't want to cruise again either after that. Timing is also important. You never want to cruise on a family line during school breaks if you don't want kid central. We had a few kids on our last trip whose parents where MIA enjoying their trip and not parenting. Letting their kids run and scream in the halls at 1 am, throw food onto our balcony, putting chairs into the elevators, etc. I think though you will always find a few bad eggs no matter where you go there are just more on some lines than others. At least WDW is a great fun place. Sorry you had such a horrible experience.
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| Posted 9/20/12 6:05 AM |
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Rachie
LIF Infant
Member since 2/09 280 total posts
Name:
Rachel
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
We are taking RCCL end of October to Bermuda with a 19 month old - ill report after that LOL
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| Posted 9/20/12 10:32 AM |
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ElizaRags35
My 2 Girls
Member since 2/09 20494 total posts
Name:
Me
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
I don't get why people don't like Carnival! While I don't have any experience on other lines, I've never had anything BUT a positive experience on 6 cruises that ranged from 4 days (typical "party" cruises) to 9 days. The food, entertainment, the people, staff (who are some of the friendliest, efficient, people I've ever met!), ports, etc. have never disappointed. Carnival gets a bad rap from the way they apparently were years ago. But that's ok... more cabins available for me!  
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| Posted 9/20/12 11:35 AM |
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sultana
LIF Adult
Member since 5/09 1455 total posts
Name:
Bridget
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
I went on royal Carribean over the Summer for a 2 week Norweigian Fjord cruise- STUNNING!!!
most of the crowd are cruise fanatics and seemed to rave about Celebrity and thought Carnival was the worst.
have you looked thu cruisecritic site??? you will see reviews about the ships, itinerary, etc
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| Posted 9/22/12 2:57 PM |
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GinaR
LIF Adult
Member since 9/08 1976 total posts
Name:
Gina
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
I think people love them or hate them. I have been on two cruises. Its just not for me. But I know people who do multiple cruises a year and can't get enough of them. I wanted to love it and after 2 tries gave up. lol. I think it is a personal choice and really depends on ones vacation style.
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| Posted 9/24/12 12:31 PM |
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maybebaby
LIF Adult
Member since 11/05 6870 total posts
Name:
Maureen
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
I went on one cruise and have no desire to go on another. It was a Royal Caribbean..back in 2004. Food was eh, room was eh..entertainment was bad...
I don't know. I just don't like being on a ship for that long. I had fun with DH because we were dating then and it was fun to be away, but I would never choose a cruise as a vacation again...unless its a disney cruise. I MIGHT try that for the kids and give cruises another shot. Not likely though. I like being in a hotel or a house and on land.
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| Posted 9/25/12 9:42 PM |
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
You either like them or you don't, I really don't' think there is middle ground.
My DH doesn't like cruising mainly because you are on a schedule once you get to the islands you are visiting. They boats don't usually wait for you. I like them, it wouldn't be my first choice, but I wouldn't pass it up either.
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| Posted 9/28/12 6:33 PM |
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justbeachy
So close....
Member since 7/07 2900 total posts
Name:
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
There are so many ways to look at it.
The first two I went on were when I was 21 and 22. I had a very different perspective of what I wanted out of a vacation and cruising fit the bill - partying, gluttony...etc. I even missed ports because of my partying. Oops.
When I first met DH we went on a cruise that was similar to the previously mentioned cruises (partying, gluttony, etc.), and we hated it!!
We were going to give up on cruising, but then I started looking for cruises that fit our needs/wants- relaxing, higher clientele (Celebrity cruise, higher end RCCL, and Princess), balcony room, great ports, awesome spa, adult only areas, etc. The TYPE of cruise changed and the resulting experience was fantastic.
We LOVE cruising now. But we're also hermits. We can spend an entire afternoon sitting on our balcony, ordering in room service, visiting the spa, and taking it easy. We don't bother with the shows, don't go into the casino, and avoid the insanely crowded pool deck. We try and pick cruises with spa pools, adult only pools, or visit the pool on the off-hours. Sometimes we skip ports! We do our best to feel relaxed and not rushed.
It's really about picking a cruise that fits your desires, and tuning out the other 'noise.' Yes, you will still find the 25+ groups with matching t-shirts who LOVE the buffet and are loud and obnoxious...but you can tune them out and find other ways to occupy your time!
Message edited 9/28/2012 11:40:03 PM.
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| Posted 9/28/12 11:37 PM |
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joey1974
LIF Infant
Member since 8/12 176 total posts
Name:
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
Posted by ElizaRags35
I don't get why people don't like Carnival! While I don't have any experience on other lines, I've never had anything BUT a positive experience on 6 cruises that ranged from 4 days (typical "party" cruises) to 9 days. The food, entertainment, the people, staff (who are some of the friendliest, efficient, people I've ever met!), ports, etc. have never disappointed. Carnival gets a bad rap from the way they apparently were years ago. But that's ok... more cabins available for me!
I dont get it either! We have been on almost every line and the Carnival Miracle is our favorite ship!!!
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| Posted 9/30/12 7:14 PM |
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NJGirl
LIF Adult
Member since 4/11 3241 total posts
Name:
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Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
I just got back from a cruise on the NCL Epic leaving from Rome with stops in Italy France and a stop in Barcelona. It was fabulous. The cruise is what you make of it. We ate light breakfasts delivered to our room and dined off the boat for lunch and had most of dinners in the main free dining room which was good. We did 2 upgraded meals which were not really expensive. We stayed away from the Buffets and we each lost 2 lbs so you don't have to over eat on a cruise.
We made some great new friends and had a ton of laughs. We saw Blue Man group offered Free on the ship, a spanish ballet and another musical show. We had plenty to do and were not in our rooms much except to sleep.
You are already booked so start looking for ways to make the trip the best possible and don't go into it thinking you will hate it.
Look at Cruisecritic.com it has a ton of info on each cruise line and boat.
Message edited 10/6/2012 8:17:07 PM.
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| Posted 10/6/12 8:15 PM |
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Jax430
Hi!
Member since 5/05 18919 total posts
Name:
Jackie
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
I love cruising! I have been on Carnival and RCL, at different times in my life. CCL with my parents at age 19, and with DH in 2009. RCL with DH's family in 2002. I honestly had a better time on both Carnival cruises, which were Caribbean cruises. RCL was Bermuda, and it was much rockier cruising in the Atlantic.
The quality of the food on Carnival definitely declined between my two cruises, but it was not anything as bad as described above. Some of it was excellent, much of it was mediocre. Nothing was terrible. There were tons of options for food on both cruise lines, and you can eat as much or as little as you want. I love assigned dining in the dining room. I love how you know where you're sitting each night, what time, and how your waitstaff gets to know you and your preferences.
I love cruises because there is so much to do if you want, or you can just relax and do nothing. I enjoy the shows, and did not find them cheesy at all. I like the piano bar, and love participating in Trivia.
I know that Carnival gets a bad rap, but I really enjoyed both of my cruises. I had absolutely no problems with the quality of people on the ship at all. There are all kinds of people, and as in real life, you're going to like some and not others. I never saw the stereotype of a ship full of loud, drunken people. Even my parents enjoyed Carnival, and they were completely not party people! Granted, they liked Celebrity even better when they went a couple of years later.
To me, cruising is really one of the best kind of vacations. It has something for everyone (unless you get seasick, which made my MIL and SIL miserable when we were on RCL). We're actually discussing going on a family cruise in the next couple of years, and I'm so excited.
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| Posted 10/6/12 10:05 PM |
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Goobster
:)
Member since 5/07 27557 total posts
Name:
:)
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Re: Cruises: are they really awesome or do they really suck?
Posted by Jax430
The quality of the food on Carnival definitely declined between my two cruises, but it was not anything as bad as described above. Some of it was excellent, much of it was mediocre. Nothing was terrible. There were tons of options for food on both cruise lines, and you can eat as much or as little as you want. I love assigned dining in the dining room. I love how you know where you're sitting each night, what time, and how your waitstaff gets to know you and your preferences.
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The cruise we went on (Carnival) the food was so bad, you know how people gain weight on a cruise from eating too much? WE LOST WEIGHT, that's how disgusting and gross the food was.
One time at lunch at the "restaurant" I ordered a hamburger. I swear to you it was like a McDonalds hamburger (not Quarter pounder) and it was COLD. It was literally worse than dog food. I could not believe my eyes. Absolutely disgusting. We could not imagine how anyone could love the food on a ship (or this ship that is).
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| Posted 10/7/12 10:07 AM |
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