anyone been on cruise??

[Susan3tripp Member Find all posts View Profile Close Susan3tripp]

Tips on what to watch for? Best cruise??


I hear Alaska is great, but expensive. Carribean (sp) is east, west, best? other?

How much money do you need beyond the cost of trip?

Everything seems to leave out of Florida, on east coast no less. anything out of New Orleans??

[vinolover Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vinolover]

Best information on the web for cruises...

cruisecritic.com

[billymach4 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close billymach4]

Tips on what to watch for? Best cruise??


I hear Alaska is great, but expensive. Carribean (sp) is east, west, best? other?

How much money do you need beyond the cost of trip?

Everything seems to leave out of Florida, on east coast no less. anything out of New Orleans??

I have been on Royal Caribbean, out of FL. There are departures out of NYC, Boston, Baltimore, and NOLA, Galveston.

There are tons of Cruise forums on the net. Your head will spin.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

I cruise alot because I live in Miami but have also been to Alaska. Alaska's cruises are not expensive but the optional excursions can run $250 each depending on what you want to do. I did a seaplane excursion and my friends did the helicopter glacier trip. They will set you back $150 to $250 each person. I also did boat trips on beautiful lakes for $30-50 each. But I'd say you have to separate $100-300 a day for excursion. Now the Caribbean on the other hand is much cheaper at least for me because you can hire a local guide and they will take you around the island for $50 to $100 for your whole party and they will treat you like a local. I did this in Jamaica and they took us to the mountains and Dunns River falls and then shopping and finally a local jerk shack for real rum punch and jerk chicken (woooo, super hot). So it all depends on what you want. I think Carnival and NCL are leaving from New Orleans now but only to Mexico, Key west but that is nice too. My boyfriend works for Royal Caribbean so we've been on lots of cruises. I love cruising. It's great value for your money but you have to skip alot of the optionals to keep in budget. Check out vacationstogo for their 90 day ticker specials similar to rci's last call inventory but with cruises. Have fun.

[Tom in GA Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom in GA]

Cruise....the hotel and restaurants go with you!

We will taking our 5th Royal Caribbean cruise in November. It is a 15 day repositioning cruise that starts in Baltimore and ends in Tampa (via Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and about 5 other stops). We find it relaxing to take 10-15 day cruises. We got back from a 7 day cruise to the US Virgin Islands, St. Marten, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. Nice, but we were always on the go. Alaska has been our favorite cruise so far. We took a few extra days for the land excursion to see Resurection Bay and Denali (we rode the domed train too). Just a wonderful state. If I had to pick one cruise...go to Alaska. With the economy the way it is, I would expect the cruise lines to continue their special offers through 2010. Get an inside cabin or one with an ocean view (window). We find that balcony cabins can be windy, cool or hot (and about $300-$400 more). A balcony cabin would probably be a good idea if you going to Greece, Italy, Spain, etc.

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

We did Princess Alaska Inside Passage a few years ago and it was fantastic. so much to see. If doing Alaska I would go east to west from Vancover as the sights keep building going that way and one of the last things you see is the glacier caving at Glacier Bay. Haven't done any others but would highly recommend this one.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

Alaska is dirt cheap this year!!! If you have a desire to see Alaska, GO THIS YEAR!!!

I did Southbound on Princess, Whittier to Vancouver. Open jaw air was very reasonable, tho we Amtrakked to Seattle, spent the night, and flew out of SEATAC, much cheaper than flying from Vancouver.

Loved Anytime Dining for many reasons, but leaving Juneau there were numerous whales breaching and I was so glad I didn't have to leave that awesome sight to go to the dining room.

Definitely check out CruiseCritic.com but be aware that there are some feisty posters over there.