First off if this needs to be in the Sandbox let me know...

OK so the wife and I celebrated our tenth ann. back in September. Our original plans where a trip someplace warm and sunny during this upcoming spring break. I contacted a travel agent (first mistake) and specified no children, adult only (second mistake). Now when the T/A sent over the first sets of email I checked everything out and was fine with untilI caught a section pretaining to escorts and how we could have our pic every 24 hours. Apparently the T/A thought I meant a "Lifestyles" vacation for my wife and I. Though I pondered it for a minute (long enough to hear the whistling sound of my wifes hand before it left a dent in the side of my head) perhaps we aren't ready to explore that aspect of our relationship.

Soo.... I've been instructed by the wife to find us a nice cruise to go on. Without Porn stars, escorts, or nudity.

Thoughts, advice, opinions?

Thanks!
Mike D.

Where do you want to depart/return from/to? (Assuming you're considering air travel)

Marcie & I took a 7 day Caribbean cruise last year, on Royal Caribbean lines & had a wonderful time. I'm not a big water person, but it was great. Flew into San Juan, Puerto Rico, boarded the ship, and hit 5 islands in 7 days.

My advice:
Always get a room with a balcony, it's well worth the extra money.
Stay out of the casino, it'll only take your money.
Go to every show you can, they're amazing (how these people can dance across a stage when the ship is rolling is beyond me).
Make friends with your room steward, and ask them where they suggest to go when in port. They can tell you some very cool (maybe not totally Cruise line sanctioned) places to go.
There's bound to be more, but that'll do for now.

i'm rollin

the alaska cruise is the most scenic. starts in seattle/bellingham or b.c\. it goes up the inland passage. others here have probbley done it. not a young party cruise if that makes a diff.

QUOTE (messix @ Dec 27 2005, 06:27 PM)

i'm rollin the alaska cruise is the most scenic. starts in seattle/bellingham or b.c\. it goes up the inland passage. others here have probbley done it. not a young party cruise if that makes a diff.

I'd like to do one of those, but Marcie likes to go to warm places.

I'd really like to go on the Hawaii cruise, when we do another one.

been to bahamas, and St.John St.Croix and Cosumel....

b

"I'd really like to go on the Hawaii cruise, when we do another one. "

old girlfriend worked on that. the stories of the ship turn around "parties".

QUOTE (markb @ Dec 27 2005, 10:23 PM)

Marcie & I took a 7 day Caribbean cruise last year, on Royal Caribbean lines & had a wonderful time.

I HIGHLY recommend Royal Caribbean.

The wife & I will be taking our 3rd cruise with them for our 30th Anniversary in May 2006, and it'll be the 7-day cruise leaving out of Port of Miami. Never had ANY issues with them, and their Navigator-class ships are HUGE!

QUOTE (Rouser @ Dec 27 2005, 06:37 PM)

QUOTE (markb @ Dec 27 2005, 10:23 PM) Marcie & I took a 7 day Caribbean cruise last year, on Royal Caribbean lines & had a wonderful time. I HIGHLY recommend Royal Caribbean. The wife & I will be taking our 3rd cruise with them for our 30th Anniversary in May 2006, and it'll be the 7-day cruise leaving out of Port of Miami. Never had ANY issues with them, and their Navigator-class ships are HUGE!

I had my birthday when on the cruise, and Marcie had asked them to put up decorations, cake, etc, before we got back from shore. They messed up & didn't have it done, so they comped the whole thing! Very cool of them.

QUOTE

the alaska cruise is the most scenic. starts in seattle/bellingham or b.c\. it goes up the inland passage. others here have probbley done it. not a young party cruise if that makes a diff.

Brrr. Don't do Alaska this time of year. There is only about 4 hours of daylight this time of year. Actually, they don't even cruise to Alsaska this time of year.

I have been to both Hawaii and the Caribbean. I prefer the Caribbean. We are out of tropical storm season so it is safe now. Plus, it's a lot easier from the East Coast than Hawaii. Eddy

QUOTE (Rouser @ Dec 27 2005, 06:37 PM)

I HIGHLY recommend Royal Caribbean.

Just stay out of the Mediteranian.

They seem to lose passengers there.

Med?! Nope I did enough of the Med while on the Saratoga... We're leaning towards the Caribbean and will probably depart out of Florida since we can fly down from Boston easy enough. I'd love to do a party cruise. More importantly I'd just like to spend some quality time alone with my wife. No kids no one elses kids no worries...


My best,
Mike D.

QUOTE (Sparky @ Dec 27 2005, 07:23 PM)

Nope I did enough of the Med while on the Saratoga...

That wasn't by any chance in '91 was it?

My wife has been a travel agent for 15 (?) years now, so I've been all over the world.
#1- Your agent should be very clear on what you want. Adults only should not mean swingers.

#2- Your agent should be able to put you on a cruise line that suits your age. Some lines draw an older crowd, some a younger crowd. Experience is a big factor here.

#3- Do you want glitz, shows, and 5 star food, or a small ship/educational/ecotourism type trip.

We tend toward the small ship sort of thing, and I would say my personal favorites have been central america to see the myan ruins. Belize, Honduras, Cancun, etc.
Also the Sea of Cortez is pretty amazing during the whale season.

IMO the Hawaii cruise is pricey, only Norweigien does it, and there is too much to see to see it on a cruise. A good agent can get you a land package, 2 islands, 3 islands, 7 days, 10 days.........you name it. My wife tends toward Pleasant Holidays, but there are several good wholesalers out there that specialize in tour packages. Maybe you need a better agent, or be a bit more specific with the one you have.

The western carribean itinerary is nice. If memory serves, it hits Jamaica, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and.....I forget.

Almost forgot. I don't know if it's still nice, but we spent one anniversary at Sandals in Jamaica. Very nice place when we were there. Souples only. All inclusive pricing is pretty painless too.

That's my $.02
BTW If you have triple A (you must, you own a 914) use thier agents. I think they tend to be pretty good.

Nope '85 and '86. I was on "permanent" leave after blowing out both of my knee's in '91 after spending the last quarter of '89 and a portion of '90 attached to the hospital in Portsmouth. Back then it tool awhile to rehab both knee's at the same time.

QUOTE (motorhead @ Dec 27 2005, 10:35 PM)

My wife has been a travel agent for 15 (?) years now, so I've been all over the world. #1- Your agent should be very clear on what you want. Adults only should not mean swingers. #2- Your agent should be able to put you on a cruise line that suits your age. Some lines draw an older crowd, some a younger crowd. Experience is a big factor here. #3- Do you want glitz, shows, and 5 star food, or a small ship/educational/ecotourism type trip. We tend toward the small ship sort of thing, and I would say my personal favorites have been central america to see the myan ruins. Belize, Honduras, Cancun, etc. Also the Sea of Cortez is pretty amazing during the whale season. IMO the Hawaii cruise is pricey, only Norweigien does it, and there is too much to see to see it on a cruise. A good agent can get you a land package, 2 islands, 3 islands, 7 days, 10 days.........you name it. My wife tends toward Pleasant Holidays, but there are several good wholesalers out there that specialize in tour packages. Maybe you need a better agent, or be a bit more specific with the one you have. The western carribean itinerary is nice. If memory serves, it hits Jamaica, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and.....I forget. Almost forgot. I don't know if it's still nice, but we spent one anniversary at Sandals in Jamaica. Very nice place when we were there. Souples only. All inclusive pricing is pretty painless too. That's my $.02 BTW If you have triple A (you must, you own a 914) use thier agents. I think they tend to be pretty good.

The agent was an agent a friend has used in the past. Now I undersand why his trips are always on the hush hush. I'm going to call AAA in the morning and see that they have to offer. I like the all inclusive idea also lets see what they've got.

My best,
Mike

I recently went on a cruise to Alaska (July 2005). It was absolutely, by far, the BEST vacation I have ever had. One week of being catered to, waited on hand and foot. We saw some nice shows, had a chance to gamble, take a few excursions, take dance/language classes, lay out by the pool... it as an absolutely wonderful time.

We did take a "freestyle" cruise through Norwegian. I would recommend it as it is less structured and relaxed. The idea of "seating times" didn't appeal to me. Our ship was the Spirt... it should be going from L.A. to the MExican riviera right now.

We had all ages... but we never saw the "kids" except around dinner time, if we chose to go to one of the dining rooms. Or if we got lost and somehow ended up in the "children's domain" area. The ship was big enough to get lost.

I will say it again. This was BY FAR the best vacation I have ever had.

check them out!

QUOTE (Carlitos Way @ Dec 27 2005, 11:51 PM)

We had all ages... but we never saw the "kids" except around dinner time, if we chose to go to one of the dining rooms.

Yep, best thing to do to avoid EEK's (Everybody Else's Kids) is to book your reservation with "2nd Seating" dining, and/or make reservations in any of the various kid-uninterested restaurants peppered about the ship.

Maybe I'm the lone dissenter here, but I took a royal carribean cruise and didn't like it:

1. you are stuck on a boat and there is not much to do but lay around, drink, and gamble. Well, ok, it is a vacation, but you dont need a boat for these things.

2. the rooms are tiny.

3. you constantly feel the vibration of the ship engine which is kind of annoying during the day and makes it difficult to sleep.

4. the view of being out in the ocean is interesting for about 5 minutes.

If you've never been on a cruise before, maybe try a short one, 3 days or so, to see if you like it

I went on a cruise on 2000. I used Royal Carribean, and went on a 7 day cruise down the Mexican Riviara (Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puorta Viarta).

I was on the Rhaspody of the Sea's.

It was the best vacation I've had.

My recommendations, are take the later dinner. We dined at the 8:00 meal. Lots less kids than the 5:00 meal.

My day was get up at 10:00 shower, go hit the deck, where I read my book for a couple hours, About 1:00- 2:00 get some lunch, Go back to the cabin, and by this time the Cabin guy had been there and swapped out the towels and sheet, Get in my trunks, hit the hot tub, and pool, about 5ish, hit the room, shower, hit the lounge, ussualy watched some sports, swapped lies with the crowd I ran with, drank some tequila, 8:00 dinner was semi formal so I'd be dressed up, have some excellent dining, 10, I'd hit the late show of what ever was entertainment the ship had, (ussualy a second rate commedian although I did see some suprising acts) about 11:, hit the room, srpuce up, and go hit the shipps night club, and dance till I was to drunk, or some female had enough beer goggles on, and called it a night.

On the suprising act, Charro. She is like this older woman in her 50's maybe, who was some kind of sex icon of the 60's? Came out and put on a lame ass show for 30 minutes. Then she went back, changed into a conservative outfit, and played some amazing spanish guitar for 1/2 hour. Amazing.

I'm taking my GF on a Cruise later in 06. I can't wait.

I'm with you, I couldn't stand being on a ship that long. I like to explore an island and the people over atleast 5 day period. The ABC islands are nice and you can find hotel that are reasonable and I only sleep at the hotel as the rest of the time I am OUT in the city, beach or exploring.
Curacao is really nice, Aruba has more hotels, haven't been to Bonaire, trying to go to more islands as money allows.

I went on a Mexico cruise on Carnival about ten years ago...... ship, booze, and food.... nothing overly "scenic" except parasailing and waverunners.

QUOTE (Rouser @ Dec 27 2005, 10:37 PM)

QUOTE (markb @ Dec 27 2005, 10:23 PM) Marcie & I took a 7 day Caribbean cruise last year, on Royal Caribbean lines & had a wonderful time. I HIGHLY recommend Royal Caribbean. The wife & I will be taking our 3rd cruise with them for our 30th Anniversary in May 2006, and it'll be the 7-day cruise leaving out of Port of Miami. Never had ANY issues with them, and their Navigator-class ships are HUGE!

I agree completely with Roy. Robin and I have sailed on Royal Caribbean 10 times, now we're platinum members. We have either sailed from San Juan or Miami always on the 7 day cruises. Along with the other recommendations, get on the newest ship you can afford. If you go with a more expensive cruise line, you're less likely to have the kids running around. Also, don't book a cruine in the caribbean during hurrican season, June 1 - Dec 1....

To keep from getting bored, see all of the shows before/after dinner and book an off-shore excersion for each port. We always took the 'blue hair' bus tours of the islands (A/C buses).... Most of the 7 day caribbbean cruises only have 1 full day of sailing, the rest are in port. Remember, relax and enjoy the sunshine (not too much the first day or two) and learn something new about the islands....

-- Rob

We are planning a cruise to St. Petersburg this spring. It will be my first. My wife did Alaska two years ago and loved it. I prefer a windsurfer to a cruise ship, so it should be interesting. 12 yo daughter included on both cruises.

I took a cruise several years ago. Royal was the line. They were great. The trip was 4 days. I would do it again. My travel agent told us to pack booze. The cost of booze on the boat was high. We took several bottles of wine with us in a throw away suit case. We would always open a bottle of wine while we got dressed for dinner. Take the late seating for dinner. Sit at a big table. We met great people at dinner. See all the shows late the tend to be more adult. Get off the boat when ever you can. Enjoy the ports of call. Try the food, enjoy the people in these new places.

Cruises are great. Plan ahead... once you are on the boat RELAX.

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QUOTE (messix @ Dec 27 2005, 06:27 PM)

i'm rollin  :lol:  :lol:  :lol: the alaska cruise is the most scenic. starts in seattle/bellingham or b.c\. it goes up the inland passage. others here have probbley done it. not a young party cruise if that makes a diff.

Shelley and I took the Alaskan cruise as our first cruise. It spoiled us. First time we were on a cruise and first time to the Northwest. We took the Norwegian Sky (first year for that ship). We have taken one since and are planning our third for the Feb/Mar time frame (not to Alaska). We are going to look into a different cruise line because we want a bit more excitement in the cruise. If you want to relax, have execellent food and service by all means go Norwegian. The food was fanstatic. I had fish, caviar, and escargot (first time I tried that). I love caviar and their's was very good. The service was second to none. We even won some $$ on the second cruise (I forgot to say we cruised to southern Mexico). Because of the weather the second cruise was not real enjoyable - wife and daughter were sea sick and the ship couldn't dock because of the waves until later on in the day. All the land tours were cancelled.

I've only been on 1 cruise. My advice is this, don't worry as much about destinations as the cruise lines and ship itself. You will spend 80% of your vacation on the ship, make sure you like it. When you come to port, they will dump you off at the biggest tourist trap the destination. Basically all the destinations are very similar.

Some cruise lines will drop you off at there "own" islands, just something to be aware of .

I have been on a number of cruises over the years and from the above posts, they have covered all the tips and pointers or advise I could offer. The reason I am writing is you have got my curiosity regarding the type of boat the travel agent first set you up with. Lifestyle cruise you say? What, when, where…..my women and I have wondered about such, but if I had all the info I could perhaps get her drunk & on the boat before she sobered up and I could have the time of my life.

I took the family on a 7 day Carribean cruse over Thanksgiving.

Carnival - sailed from Miami and stopped in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.

Had fun but maybe too scheduled for my type of ideal vacation.

Food was good, lots of drinks, shows were great, kids (8 and 6) loved it.

Definately get a room with a balcony...it makes a huge difference.

I think going as a couple would be lots of fun.

T

I spent part of my honeymoon on a cruise in the "Med". Stops in Greek islands, overnight in Cairo, Istanbul pretty cool, probably not so much if you had served there. Extra odd was the fact that we arrived in the region on September 9th, 2001. It was real quiet on the boat only half of the guests were there as a result of the airtraffic shutdown.

For me, the next cruise I would like to take (not BTDT sorry) would be in the Galapagos Islands or out of Argentina to Antarctica. Much smaller boats, not quite as "comfortable", but man I think those trips would be cool.

To me a cruise is the ONLY way I can relax on a trip... Last time I went I was pissed that they had installed an internet cafe on board because I wanted so bad to be out of touch...

I have been on both Royal carribbean and Carnival... Carnival sucks- period. Crappy food, almost like Cafeteria food or Marine Corp chow lines...

Royal carribbean ruled!

As far as the one poster stating that you could feel the ships vibrations and it was difficult to sleep.. well, try the "other" cruises a few of us here have been on and you'll think you are in Heaven on that cruise ship! Try sleeping in a berting area with 300 smelly guys working 12 hour shifts while a AV-8B Harrier lands on the flight deck one level above your head..... Or when you hit rough seas and the toilets explode and flood the whole area- do that for 6 months straight.

I love to cruise- the next one I want to do is Alaska, but I simply haven't the time and neither does Beth.. But this year we are going to the Classic Le man to be there when the "Mighty Spyder" is unveiled for the first time, and then we are going on to England to visit Raby Castle and the sights abound..... Kind of a mini buiness rip, vacation/honeymoon all wrapped into one...... Its the best we can do when both of us can't leave for more than two days without everything falling apart at work..

I'll never go on a cruise...not that I have a problem, just the wife pukes just thinking about it. We took a 1/2hr ferry ride and the water was like glass, 10min in she was spewing everywhere and she took gravol.

She is the only person I know that turns green if she sees an ocean scene on TV...no joke!

QUOTE (Jake Raby @ Dec 28 2005, 03:57 PM)

As far as the one poster stating that you could feel the ships vibrations and it was difficult to sleep.. well, try the "other" cruises a few of us here have been on and you'll think you are in Heaven on that cruise ship! Try sleeping in a berting area with 300 smelly guys working 12 hour shifts while a AV-8B Harrier lands on the flight deck one level above your head..... Or when you hit rough seas and the toilets explode and flood the whole area- do that for 6 months straight.

Jake... been there done that, but sounds like you were on an LHA. My berthing area was right under the #1 cat on the Saratoga. I worked nights directing on the flight deck, and every other morning in the flight deck ER. At sea I worked 12 on 12 off 18 on 12 off. It was cool being dual rated... Kinda. After awhile you dont feel right and can't sleep unless you can feel the vibrations of the ship.

The first set of vacation plans the agent sent over were for a place called Viking Village.

Waiting to hear back from AAA....

My best,
Mike D.

hmmm,

the mexican riviera cruises are great if you like to get off every once in a while and the partying scene is top notch.
can see the corona brewery, chi-chi's, senor frogs.... and the duty free store.....

my best boat trips were the ferries going amongst the greek islands. they're small and friendly, and you get to stay on land, for cheap, and have virtually anything you want because the drakma is/was so low compared to the dollar. or are they euro's now???