My wife and I are going on our first cruise, it’s a Virgin cruise ship out of Puerto Rico that hits Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia, Saint Kitts, and Saint Maarten. Is there an advantage to booking through the cruise line? If we book through private, do they charge an American dollars at all locations? Has anybody paid privately runned tours using a Wise card so that they are paying only once on the exchange from CAD to US?

Thanks in advance!!!

In the past, I would lay down on the beach or pool loungers and be on the alert so I don’t fall asleep, which tends to happen when the sun is strong.

But on our recent cruise , it hit me: I thought screw it, that is part of the plan! To fall asleep in the sun and just enjoy the whole experience. It is not like I am tied to a schedule and that napping unexpectedly will make you miss some meeting or something l! lol.

As I came to this realization, I would go out of my way to just lay there and hope I drift away into a beautiful nap under the sun.

Do you do the same thing and nap on the pool or beach?

Curious—what’s everyone’s favorite cruise line and why? Also, which one do you think has the best spa?

I hear about all these cruise lines that have fallen over the years but what one has improved most

I'm from the north of England and have been cruising for a number of years now. Our first ever cruise was on Explorer of the Seas, which was our introduction to Royal Caribbean and we loved it. Since then we've also cruised with Celebrity, first on Celebrity Silhouette, and then on Celebrity Apex, which we particularly loved.

Our circumstances have also changed quite considerably since that first cruise. My husband is now a wheelchair user following a major stroke, so the ability to cruise from the UK without flying has become much more important to us. Driving to a port, unloading the wheelchair and luggage and getting directly onto the ship is infinitely easier than negotiating airports and wheelchair assistance.

But we live in the north of England, and Southampton is a LONG drive.

That got me thinking about Royal Caribbean Group's UK deployment generally.

Why is so much of the UK no-fly market concentrated on Southampton?

Liverpool now has a proper turnaround cruise facility, and I wonder whether Royal Caribbean Group is underestimating the potential market across northern England, North Wales and parts of the Midlands.

So, purely as an armchair fleet planner 😆, here's what I'd like to see eventually:

Royal Caribbean: a larger/newer ship such as Odyssey of the Seas from Southampton, alongside Explorer of the Seas from Liverpool.

Celebrity: Celebrity Beyond from Southampton, alongside Celebrity Silhouette from Liverpool.

My reasoning is that Southampton remains the major UK cruise hub and gets the newer/larger premium offering, while Liverpool offers a second regional gateway with slightly smaller ships that are still very attractive products.

Royal Caribbean from Liverpool-

Explorer seems to me like a good ship with which to test the market. She's large enough to offer the proper Royal Caribbean experience with the Royal Promenade, ice rink, FlowRider, etc. without immediately trying to fill an Oasis/Icon-sized ship from a new UK homeport.

I'd mix the Liverpool programme up considerably:

* 4/5-night short breaks to Ireland/Scotland

* 7-night Norway

* 7/8-night Scotland and Ireland

* 9/10-night Iceland

* longer Arctic Circle cruises

* 12–14-night Spain/Portugal/Canaries itineraries

If Liverpool consistently filled Explorer, then perhaps look at moving up to Freedom class.

It would also create a really attractive short-break market. I could quite happily take the train to Liverpool and do five nights on Royal Caribbean without it becoming our main annual holiday.

Celebrity from Liverpool-

(This is actually where my original thought started).

Celebrity is putting more Edge-class capacity into the UK market, and I'd love to see them complement Southampton with a seasonal Liverpool programme aboard Silhouette.

Silhouette is a ship we know and like, she's an established Solstice-class ship rather than Celebrity risking one of its newest ships on a new homeport, and I think she could work brilliantly doing:

* short Ireland/Scotland cruises

* Norwegian fjords

* Iceland

* longer Norway/Arctic itineraries

* Spain and Portugal

* occasional Canaries/Mediterranean itineraries

Meanwhile something like Beyond could be the flagship Southampton product.

That gives Royal Caribbean Group four distinct UK propositions rather than simply duplicating the same thing twice.

And then I made the mistake of thinking about Silversea. - (might as well 😆)

I actually like the idea of Silversea operating from Southampton, but some of the British Isles itineraries don't particularly appeal to me as a UK customer. I'm sure they're fantastic for overseas visitors wanting to explore Britain and Ireland, but personally I'm not spending Silversea money principally to visit places I can relatively easily reach from home.(Btw, never tried Silversea as not in my budget but those that have would love your thoughts).

So, I'd rather see Southampton used as the beginning of a proper round-trip Northern Europe journey.

For example:

Scottish Highlands + Norway

Southampton → Scotland/Invergordon → Orkney → Norwegian fjords → Bergen/Stavanger → Southampton

or

Ireland + Iceland

Southampton → Cobh/Belfast/western Ireland → Hebrides/Orkney → Iceland → Southampton

I'd also like round-trip Southampton itineraries combining the Faroes/Iceland, Norway/Arctic Circle, or Spain/Portugal.

And round trip is important. One of the attractions of UK cruising is being able to drive to Southampton, park, cruise and return to your car. A Southampton-to-Reykjavik or Southampton-to-Copenhagen itinerary might look fantastic, but suddenly the no-fly advantage disappears at the other end — particularly for passengers travelling with mobility equipment.

Obviously I'm spending Royal Caribbean Group's money very freely here. 😂 I'm also aware that fleet deployment involves rather more than drawing lines on a map: port capacity, demand, yields, repositioning, fuel, provisioning and all the rest of it.

But I'd be genuinely interested in what other cruisers think.

Is the UK market big enough to support Southampton AND Liverpool homeports for Royal Caribbean/Celebrity?

Would you book Royal Caribbean or Celebrity from Liverpool?

If you're in Scotland, northern England, Wales or the Midlands, would Liverpool make you more likely to take a no-fly cruise — or would you still travel to Southampton?

And what ships would YOU deploy?

(Sorry for the long post - thanks for reading 🚢🌊)

Has anyone done standby? What was the pricing like?
Would be solo traveling and wondering if the price of standby is worth it, even if they charge 200% occupancy. I would also add the “have it all” package.

Are there any additional fees? I have never done a cruise.
-gratuity
-bar
-dinner

Update: 10/4

I had a blast!
7 days: $993
Flights: $705
Wifi, quench drink package, whale excursion, linear jack show, taramind dinnerx1, beer tasting, bingo: $714
Misc(Ubers, gifts, snacks): $123
TOTAL: $2535
This is a WIN!!! Considering the original pricing I was offered on the webs site was $2738, I’m still below the cost!! Flights were expensive as delta was the only direct and I basically bought them the night before. Would only pay this price if cruise was cheap (and verandah).

Whale watching was $214, but well worth it considering it didn’t rain and I saw multiple whales breach!!

Speciality dinner was delicious and worth the price ($43)

Did not mind paying the quench DP, as I love my Red Bull and sodas. Didn’t feel like I was missing out on alcoholic drinks as I didn’t want to do that alone and wouldn’t have been able to justify the package cost. I did the beer tasting for $18 the experience, and I got to meet two cool people!

Bingo for a single game (paper) as $29 and NOT worth it.

Overall there were many funny activities to do, or do nothing at all. Food was pretty good! Alaskan brunch was by far favorite (hot/spicy salmon crab cakes w/ a salad and a lemon blueberry pancake stack).

I felt safe at every port and within the ship itself, considering I was solo. Definitely missed seeing more people my age :// and older folks tend to be slower and coughing everywhere lol
But very person/couple I met was incredibly nice and kind.

Overall I would cruise again (and maybe solo) if it was to a location where cruising was the best option.

What is it like as a solo cruiser? My last 2 have been with my wife, she divorced me a week ago and i dont see a reason to waste the deposit on the one we had booked. It feels a little empty without her, but im still looking forward to the trip!

Also, if anyone here happens to have any experience on the celebrity beyond, feel free to share your experience!

Has anyone tried using a luggage shipping service like Luggage Forward? We are going on a four week cruise next year and am considering doing this. Any pros and cons?

Booking a weekend getaway in December for either MSC Seaside or NCL Joy. Which is better for a weekend getaway? I noticed with MSC the only way it will let me pick my room for this particular weekend is if I get a balcony room. I get vertigo on the higher decks which I manage with medications but if I book the guaranteed ocean view or interior (because it's literally the only options) can I call and explain that I need a lower deck due to sea sickness? Or should I just go with NCL. The packages really aren't much different in price for the all inclusive options on both boats so it really comes down to activities/entertainment and convenience. Also the itinerary is practically the same with both going to Nassau and their respective private islands Ocean Cay and Great Stirrup Cay.

What is the best way to book cruises. What gets you lowest price and deals. Booking thru agent or directly or using third party websites?

The answer really depends on what kind of day you want, but if you’re trying to explore downtown without spending hundreds on an excursion, I’d think in terms of $50 or $100 per person.

Because honestly, $25 disappears very quickly.

That might get you lunch at Junkanoo Beach and maybe a bracelet, keychain or magnet from the Straw Market.

Or lunch and the $5 entrance fee to the Pompey Museum.

That’s about it.

$50 per person

Now you can actually build a decent little day.

You could have lunch, visit the Pirates of Nassau Museum for around $14 and still have enough left for a small souvenir or snack.

You can also walk through Parliament Square, see Government House, climb the Queen’s Staircase, visit Fort Fincastle and explore downtown without paying admission just to exist there.

So $50 is enough for a good few hours in Nassau if you’re mostly interested in history, walking around, food and seeing the city.

$100 per person

This is where Nassau gets interesting because $100 can stretch surprisingly far if you’re not spending most of it on taxis and resort passes.

You could have lunch.

Visit a museum.

Take a tip-based walking tour.

Pick up some locally made chocolates.

Buy a bottle of Bahamian wine for around $10.

And if that’s more your speed, even a jar of local moonshine can be around $20.

You could still wander through the Straw Market, walk through the historic district, visit the Queen’s Staircase and make your way toward Junkanoo Beach.

That’s a pretty full Nassau day for $100.

The thing I think cruise visitors sometimes miss is that Nassau doesn’t have to be an expensive port.

It can be. Very easily.

Atlantis, resort passes, organized excursions, taxis and watersports can send the price up quickly.

But downtown Nassau is right outside the cruise port.

If what you want is some history, local food, a museum, a little shopping, a drink and time to actually wander around the city, you really don’t need to spend several hundred dollars per person.

We’re going on a 3 night cruise (we’d like to go longer as usual but it’s not feasible) for my mom’s retirement. I’m 32 she’s 67. We’ve only been on Royal and Princess in the past for 7 night cruises but we love trivia, comedy, and magic shows as well as game shows.

We have it narrowed down to: NCL getaway to great stirrup cay and Nassau

or

Celebrity reflection to key west and grand Bahama island.

Anyone have feedback on either cruise line, ship, or ports?

I’m trying to find a good cruise to go on for my 24th birthday but I can’t seem to choose one that’ll be good for a 3-5 day cruise. It’s my first one so does anyone have any suggestions? I’m going alone as well!

I’m leaving out of Florida as well !

Hello!
I just got off my first cruise and I loved it (Margaritaville at sea islander, going to Key West and the western Caribbean). My mom’s always dreamed of going on an Alaskan cruise, so now that I know I like cruises, I want to take my mom on her dream Alaskan cruise. I was looking at Princess, Holland America, NCL, MSC, and Virgin Voyages. My mom would prefer a smaller ship, or at least quieter. I am a celiac, and would need something with good gluten free options. I’ve been told that most cruise lines are pretty good about it, so I’m not super concerned! What cruise line would you say is a good mix of not overwhelming, but has good food options (one thing I am concerned about is lunch options, I do not feel safe eating buffets due to cross contamination risks). We would like a good mix of port and glacier viewing, so I think Princess and Holland might have the edge there?