Cruises/Vacation ideas

[McMark]

3 day is too short. 7 day is too long. 5 day is just right.

 

[2nazt]

That price you could do a Sandals trip also. They usually offer deals depending on days. We loved our honeymoon in Ocho Rios.

 

[veedubtek]

Just put together a flight + 4 nights in Montego Bay for $1150. That's the frontrunner right now! Hate to be cheap and short, but with hopeful trips to Shelbyville, Bimini, OBX, Keys, and maybe moving next year, I'm really just looking for a quick getaway for a christmas present. Still googling away though!

 

[2nazt]

Private place or a resort? @veedubtek

 

[Mainah]

Just put together a flight + 4 nights in Montego Bay for $1150. That's the frontrunner right now! Hate to be cheap and short, but with hopeful trips to Shelbyville, Bimini, OBX, Keys, and maybe moving next year, I'm really just looking for a quick getaway for a christmas present. Still googling away though!

Where? That is a sweet deal.

 

[veedubtek]

Small waterfront apartment on airbnb. Flight on spirit out of myrtle beach

 

[007]

We've been on 5 cruises. Mostly Royal Caribbean, one Carnival. I never thought I'd like to cruise, but I enjoy it. @OperationROL and @OperationROL's Wife are mostly responsible for getting us hooked. Great way to get a little taste of a couple of places and have fun on the way. Plus I like boats (duh!) so I geek out on the actual passage and boat operations while everyone else is focused on the pool and buffet. We like to dive. There is not a much more affordable way to dive in multiple locations I can think of (but diving in one really cool location would beat a cruise hands down).

Unless you are leaving from Texas, New Orleans, Florida or San Juan, I don't see you getting much ROI out of a 3 day cruise. I like 6-8 day. Takes me 2 days just to forget about work!

One thing nobody covered is shore excursions. They can be $$$. Some of the ports are really just glorified cruise line owned compounds. So, if you don't do an excursion or strike out on your own with some local tour, you don't always see much. Fun if you want to sit and drink, but you don't see much. Speaking of drinking, there are strategies to minimize the alcohol costs. Sometimes you can bring 1-2 bottles of wine per person (I know Carnival and sometimes Royal allows this). Drink of the day, $1 memosa's, buying a bucket of beer instead of fru-fru drinks...you just gotta watch what stuff costs and make a smart play. Because of the diving, we never do a drink package. You pretty much have to pound the drinks daily to make that math work.

I concur Cozumel is a pushy dirty place, but for diving and snorkeling its pretty awesome. Love Grand Cayman, St. Thomas, St. Martin ($2 beers everywhere, just sayin'), San Jaun. Away from port love Belieze and Roatan too, but in port towns are pretty poor. Jamaica, St. Kitts, and Haiti are very poor.

Sounds like you are steering away from a cruise, but you might revisit in the future. Choosing the right ports makes a big difference, as well as catching a sale.

 

[bobbie]

@007 Is there nothing you won't put a soundtrack to??

 

[VONCE]

My wife and I went on a cruise last year for our honeymoon. Our cruise was Mon-Fri and went to the Bahamas. We stopped in Nassau and a private island. We tried to do our own thing in Nassau and walk to the public beach - it was a dump. I recommend paying for transportation and getting away from the port. Other people we talked to did that, and they had a much more enjoyable experience during the Nassau stop. The private island was great. All of your food and drinks are covered (as if you were on the ship) and the beaches were beautiful. We had one day where we didn't stop anywhere and just cruised. There's all kinds of stuff to do (and eat!) on the ship, it's impossible to get bored. Shows, concerts, bars, pools, casinos, food, drinks, everything. If you drink, you definitely want to purchase a drink package. Since our cruise was Mon-Fri, we didn't want to waste the two weekends surrounding the cruise since we were off work, so we drove to Hilton Head Friday evening (which was also beautiful - check out VRBO rentals!), stayed there until Monday morning, then drove the rest of the way to Port Canaveral, FL. The cruise was Mon-Fri, then we headed home on Friday evening. We were originally going to stop somewhere else on the way home for the final weekend, but decided against it.

Long story short, I definitely recommend a cruise! The price may seem high at first, but take into consideration that's pretty much all you're paying the entire trip (along with drinks and excursions and non-private island stops).

 

[Britboater]

Seems like a few here have done the same cruise as we did a few years back, 4 day from Miami, stopping at Nassau and coco cay. My advise from my experience is avoid at all costs, Nassau is just horrid but if you do go Atlantis can be a safe bet. The ship RC use is their oldest and it shows, you also mention travelling in Jan/Feb. We also cruised in Feb, very very busy, loads of school trips from South America, I think it may be their summer holiday vacation time.

 

[Scott E]

Just got back from a 7 day Celebrity cruise on the Silhouette. Left from Port Everglades, went to Puerto Rico, St Thomas and St Maarten. Cruise was great, the staff was friendly and upbeat. The pool bartenders were a bit slow, but that may be on purpose... The Celebrity cruise was an older crowd, but my 9 year old daughter had a great time. They have a kids program with activities, and a area setup with games and Xbox. There were only 14 kids 9-11 on the boat, and she didn't want to leave.

 

[Joshua Miller]

All--my wife is a travel consultant and has been on several different cruise lines and destinations. She collects payment from the booking agencies so her products are free to you. Check out her fb page at https://www.facebook.com/TravelwithGinny/?pnref=story for more information.

 

[BigN8]

Well, my wife talked me into going on one of these. The trade off was the Dallas Margarita Ball. I told her we could do the cruise if we skipped the Ball this year. Just got back. Sailed out of Galveston on the Carnival pig they call the Valor. Seemed old to me. Not very kept up, windows dirty. We did a 5 day ports of call were Cozumel and Progresso. I've been to Cozumel a bunch so I just rented a car at the cruise terminal and we drove to Punta Sur and hung out and grabbed lunch at a favorite roadside bar. Progresso we never got off the pig, just chilled by the pool. Other observations, the food was not that great. The Guys Burger bar was probably the best food. People are inconsiderate and rude as hell. The average BMI of the people on that cruise had to be in the 40's so the buffet aka hog trough line was quite an adventure. They were doing some kind of removal and replacement of the teak deck right in the middle of the main pool area, so we had the pleasure of listening to a low pressure air sand blaster and a sander the entire cruise.

The real bonus was the pucking and diarrhea I got the last night, followed by stomach cramps, lack of appetite, and dehydration the next day. Going through debarkation with those conditions was unbearable. Then the drive home to DFW while barely being able to keep my eyes open was really awesome. Got home, curled up on the couch and was shivvering like crazy. Wife took temperature and I had a 99.8F temp, still had not eaten anything the whole day, and barely had some water and a little ginger ale. Based on wife's Google skills and quick WebMD diagnosis I had contracted the Norovirus. Feel a little better today, but not much.

All in all, I think it will be some time before this swabby gets back on another cruise. If I do it will be 5 days or less and I will pay extra money for a nicer ship and I will also pay whatever the fee is to disembark early.

 

[PEARCE]

Well damn Nate, hope you feel better soon! It seems to me that the newer ships are out of Florida for the most part so your cost difference will be the airfare. We haven't been on a cruise in 13 years and we had the same itinerary on a Carnival ship out of Galveston. It was ok. We did a taxi tour in Progreso. In no hurry to go back to Mexico or go on a cruise ship period at this point in time. I don't care for big crowds and a cruise ship is a big floating crowd of people. The next time she can talk you into a cruise, consider Celebrity Cruise Lines. It was 5star all the way!

 

[Steve Risley]

We have done several cruises, all leaving out of Miami. Flights are very cheap to Miami or FLL. I'm not a big fan of the days at sea, but choose cruises based on the ports of call for the best scuba diving locations. As others have mentioned, cruises are a great way to see many different islands. If you have not done one, I would suggest doing one for the experience to determine if it's something you like or not, but you'll never know unless you try it. I've leaned that that most sites have the same price for each cruise, there might be a few different incentives, but for the most part, the prices will be close. Good luck with what ever you decide.

 

[Peelz]

Well, my wife talked me into going on one of these. The trade off was the Dallas Margarita Ball. I told her we could do the cruise if we skipped the Ball this year. Just got back. Sailed out of Galveston on the Carnival pig they call the Valor. Seemed old to me. Not very kept up, windows dirty. We did a 5 day ports of call were Cozumel and Progresso. I've been to Cozumel a bunch so I just rented a car at the cruise terminal and we drove to Punta Sur and hung out and grabbed lunch at a favorite roadside bar. Progresso we never got off the pig, just chilled by the pool. Other observations, the food was not that great. The Guys Burger bar was probably the best food. People are inconsiderate and rude as hell. The average BMI of the people on that cruise had to be in the 40's so the buffet aka hog trough line was quite an adventure. They were doing some kind of removal and replacement of the teak deck right in the middle of the main pool area, so we had the pleasure of listening to a low pressure air sand blaster and a sander the entire cruise.

The real bonus was the pucking and diarrhea I got the last night, followed by stomach cramps, lack of appetite, and dehydration the next day. Going through debarkation with those conditions was unbearable. Then the drive home to DFW while barely being able to keep my eyes open was really awesome. Got home, curled up on the couch and was shivvering like crazy. Wife took temperature and I had a 99.8F temp, still had not eaten anything the whole day, and barely had some water and a little ginger ale. Based on wife's Google skills and quick WebMD diagnosis I had contracted the Norovirus. Feel a little better today, but not much.

All in all, I think it will be some time before this swabby gets back on another cruise. If I do it will be 5 days or less and I will pay extra money for a nicer ship and I will also pay whatever the fee is to disembark early.

did this cruise, from New Orleans. For YEARS i was adamantly against it. Im more of a get in the car and go kinda guy, like to have control...

Wife finally convinced me... within 5 minutes of being on board, I understood. beer in hand, and i didnt have to move lol I agree with your points on condition.... but i stopped worrying about it...

We took our whole fam -mom, sister, her husband and kids too. 5 days is right.... 7 id get stir crazy.

we did two cruises this way, ended up having the most fun on days we didnt plan anything. Cozumel was great, did catamaran to snorkel... which was cool... but Progreso mexico, bought an excursion to a bar. Unlimited margaritas for 2 hrs lol. played in the ocean. great time just in a disgusting place.... haha cheap as hell. we knew it was gonna be a party when we rolled through the gates in our "janky bus" and armed guards with m16's and K9's were waiting.

second was half moon, and Nassau. Half moon got canceled due to wind, we were so sad.. sat on the boat and drank ourselves silly while the kids were in the waterpark.... at 10 am. LOL but next stop was nassau... just jumped off went walking. found a free beach. Not many there, it was early morning... with a burger shack. Son and I played soccer volleyball with what turned out to be some ship engineers on break. LOL best day ever really. ZEE-RO stress.

well do another one i think. just no hurry.

 

[Neutron]

I never did Carnival, but 3 cruises on Royal Caribbean and every time was great. Even when weather sucked it was a blast. Food was always amazing and all were very clean ships.
Had a waiter on one ship, Desmond thought he was the best on my first cruise, saw him on my 3rd cruise a few years later, on a different ship and he remembered me. He remembered my whole family and all the families we were with were always wearing Healies( those sneakers with the wheel in the heel to skate around on) even most of the adults in our gang wore them. Couldn't believe he remembered. Lol gave him great side tips for always taking care of me.
Cant wait for my next one

 

[4x15mph]

@veedubtek , if you aren't going the cruise route and it is just you and your wife, I would recommend options that include Costa Rica or Columbia. I just got back from a trip from Costa Rica as a solo trip for a last hurrah before my new job Monday and think it is a place everyone will want to experience. I know a lot of people have already been there but if you haven't, consider it. There are lot's of tourist activities like ATV rides, horseback riding, zip lines, bicycle riding, and surfing (***). The food is great especially if you like seafood and latin. Weather is getting perfect now that the rain season is ending (October) and it is an easy flight from Miami

We went to Colombia in April and that was equally as fun. Our favorite part was a personal tour of Medellin and if you like the show Narcos, it is a bonus!

Here's a pic of Costa Rica, Jaco Beach. Los Suenos is the area you could explore as far as hotel but since I was solo I could get away with less luxury options in Jaco Beach. You will hear about Jaco and prostitution but it is mostly centralized to the casino there. The area is very safe and the culture is incredible!

 

[KC-AR240]

Thanksgiving will be our 23rd and April will be 24th . I'd be happy to tell you all I know but I'd rattle on for days. Ask away