Tell us the cruises you have been on (the good, bad, and the ugly)

I have been on 47 cruises over a long period. I have been on ocean cruises, river cruises, and a barge cruise. My worst cruise was our first one, on the old Sun Princess. This ship was to make one more cruise then it was sold. The cabin was tiny and the food was terrible. Since the ship was being sold, the staff could care less.
Things only got better since then. Our final cruise was to Alaska round trip from LA (NO airports) in a 533 sq ft suite complete with wet bar and special dining arrangements.
Our longest cruise was 31 days from Buenos Aires around the tip of South America all the way to Los Angeles.
 

We've cruised a lot, mostly Caribbean, but we did Alaska once too. The Mrs. likes it because "you get on the hotel and it takes you places". We mostly use Royal Caribbean because it feels like just the right mix for us. Did some Carnival in the beginning and didn't like the "party boat" vibe, at least that's what it was at the time. We did Holland America to Alaska and one Caribbean (long ago). I would describe HA as more sedate and refined than Royal or Carnival. There were kids, but it didn't seem like as many as other lines. We did a Princess once because she found a great deal.

Early on we did the typical things, tried to fit as much into a day as possible with port excursions, shopping etc. Now that we've pretty much been to all the Caribbean ports, we are much more relaxed. Last cruise we didn't get of the ship in any of the ports except for the cruise line's "private island". We enjoy not having to worry about any kind of cooking or cleaning. We enjoy going to the shows and the various music venues, strolling along the decks in the sunshine. She likes the many trivia games. I like to chill with a drink and listen to any of the musical groups that are playing almost all the time. There's nothing like sitting on our balcony or a quiet spot on deck somewhere and listening to an audiobook while gazing out over the ocean flowing by. And then there's people watching! Plenty of fashion dos and don'ts.
Very balanced review of cruising. The best cruise line is the one that fulfills your needs and those needs change with age. Tips for seniors wanting to cruise:
1. Don't cruise at Christmas or March break.
2. Go on longer cruises (10 days or more) if you want a more subdued crowd. Younger people with kids usually go on the 7-8 day cruises.
3. Avoid the short 3 or 4 day cruises. They're just booze cruises.
4. Smaller ships tend to be less crowded and can gain access to ports where larger ships can't go so those ports are also less crowded plus passengers are not there to party.

The pool areas aren't always as crowded as many would think. My last cruise, Apr. '22, pics taken early afternoon:
IMG_2151.jpgIMG_2146.jpg
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I have only been on one cruise (i did most of my traveling on this continent and Europe and Asia by motorcycle) I always loved sailed ships and that's precisely why I chose this particular cruise line - I belive it was "Windjammer Cruise Lines". It was a small ship that cruised the Caribbean. I loved it. The ship's pilot even let me pilot the ship for a period of time. It was over 20 years ago, so I've unfortunately forgotten some of the details. The rooms were somewhat small - not unexpectedly due to the small size of the ship. didn't spend much time there anyway. During the day we stopped at numerous islands to explore and at night there were shows, etc. I had a great time. The weather was great and the scenery was gorgeous!
 

There was an entertainer who held funny meetings where he'd have us do strange things. At the Bahamas stop, everyone had to buy something that cost less than $2 and he judged what the worst thing was and you got a prize. Another time, he handed out ship's postcards and told us to address the cards to someone but not to write anything in the message part. Then he collected them, handed them out to other people and told them to write messages. He collected them and had them mailed. Heaven knows what people wrote.
He sounds like so much fun.
 
Good advice on choosing your cruise line, @MrPants

We didn’t suffer from unbearable crowds on HAL. It wasn’t as busy as walking down the street in any metropolitan city.

I’d never go on a Disney cruise.
 
Good advice on choosing your cruise line, @MrPants

We didn’t suffer from unbearable crowds on HAL. It wasn’t as busy as walking down the street in any metropolitan city.

I’d never go on a Disney cruise.
Yes, Holland America ships tend to attract a much more mature crowd. I like HOL too. Tried a Carnival cruise earlier this year just to see if those ships were still overly crowded and active, loud and full of kids and yup ... they sure are o_O Not my cuppa!!
 
Tried a Carnival cruise earlier this year just to see if those ships were still overly crowded and active, loud and full of kids and yup ... they sure are o_O Not my cuppa!!
We did a Carnival one too … once.

I like getting onto the ship, unpacking my clothes and knowing that I’m good for the whole trip. IMO, the worst crowds are when you’re waiting to board. Too many people, just like us, arrive early.
 
One of my favorite cruises: Somewhere about 1990, my daughter (then about 20) and I went on a cruise out of Port Canaveral on a now-defunct cruise line (it might have been Premier Lines). It was one of the "smaller" ships and was nothing fancy, but we had a wonderful time.

We were seated with a couple who were the life of the party (we started out with six people at the table but the other couple appeared to be horrified by the "exuberance" of us other four and disappeared after one meal). We had the best waiter in the world; he did magic tricks, told jokes, and altogether made mealtime a blast.

When we went to the first magic show, the magician picked my daughter to be his assistant and proceeded to cut her head off a couple of times over the next couple of days. To this day, she won't tell me what he did.....she says she made a solemn promise to keep quiet. The acts were televised on the ship and everywhere we'd go, someone would yell "________, how's your head?"

We had a stop scheduled, at Port Lucaya, but the seas were so high (and I'm talking HIGH) the ship could neither dock nor moor. It just steamed around in a big circle all day and if you were brave enough (it was not recommended, but allowed...), you could take the shuttle boat to port. Of course, we did. The shuttle boat would pull up to the lee side of the ship and a gangplank would be extended. When the shuttle boat got as even as possible to the hatch in the side of the ship, a crew member would literally fling you onto the gangplank and you'd scurry onto the shuttle as fast as possible before it got too high or too low.

We successfully got on the shuttle and opted to sit in the open area atop. Big mistake. The shuttle bobbed around like a cork in a shaken bottle and we were holding on for dear life. We were afraid to let go and try to get below. The trip into shore was scary. Of course, after a few hours ashore we had no choice but to make the trip in reverse. It's not like we could walk back to the ship. So back we went, inside this time, and did the reverse scuttle up the gangway.

I was due to have gallbladder surgery the week after we got back, so I was really watching my diet (reluctantly, as the food was very good) but I had a lapse in good judgement and indulged in the midnight chocolate buffet that night. That brought on an attack and all I could do was walk around the ship for hours. The ship was pitching like a drunken sailor and so was I. The pool hadn't been drained and it was sloshing huge quantities of water every time the ship heeled. The best part of going down the main staircase when the ship was sinking (not sinking as in "sinking", just going down with the waves. I felt like I was floating down the stairs. It was such a great feeling that I had to do it several times.

There was an entertainer who held funny meetings where he'd have us do strange things. At the Bahamas stop, everyone had to buy something that cost less than $2 and he judged what the worst thing was and you got a prize. Another time, he handed out ship's postcards and told us to address the cards to someone but not to write anything in the message part. Then he collected them, handed them out to other people and told them to write messages. He collected them and had them mailed. Heaven knows what people wrote.

Another comedian picked out a few guys from the audience and sent them off with teams of women who were instructed to dress them up. It was hilarious the rigs they came back in.

It was a fun cruise.
That does sound like fun! The entertainer story was the best!
 
We did a Carnival one too … once.

I like getting onto the ship, unpacking my clothes and knowing that I’m good for the whole trip. IMO, the worst crowds are when you’re waiting to board. Too many people, just like us, arrive early.
Ya, crowds make it so much worse, the younger they are the worse they are!
Oceania is a nice upscale cruise line. Only 600 max on most ships.
 
Wow! Thats some rough seas!
1966......going up the east coast of Australia towards Hong Kong (in an old Greek ship of 16,259 GT, as opposed to 91,740 GT for the one we were on when the pic was taken......and I doubt the stabilizers, if any, were comparable), we hit the tail end of a monsoon......I went up on deck, (different times, they wouldn't allow anyone outside on this one), I watched a couple Australian Navy minesweepers disappear into troughs and then moments later pop back like corks.

Dining room was pretty much empty when I went down for dinner though. ;)

Oh...and this trip they cancelled a couple further north ports and rerouted to safer ones........pity, I was starting to enjoy it.......(crashing and banging notwithstanding).
http://ssmaritime.com/patris.htm
 

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