Cruise Blues?

Parent Cafe
21

<p>Our first cruise was with my in-laws when our children were little. We went to celebrate my FIL’s 75th birthday. It would not have been my choice of vacation, was not inexpensive, and the four of us had to stay in the same room. It pretty much poured the entire cruise and the seas were very rough.</p>

<p>However, my FIL passed away the following year and I was so glad we got to spend that time with him. We still have the extended family photo from that cruise hanging in our den, as does my MIL and SIL. Wife’s brother decided not to go and stills feels very badly about that, more than ten years later. </p>

<p>If nothing else, go to be with your husband’s family and make the best of it!</p>

22

<p>You are going to be very surprised. You will love it. I never thought I would like cruises, but my son convinced me to go. Our family has been on two, and they were both mega-ships and both great. The second was an extended family-type thing and it was the PERFECT vacation for the three generations. We all had so much fun and there was plenty to do for everyone and we all got together for breakfast (sometimes) and the evening meal. D met her wonderful fiance on that cruise- he did gigs on Carnival to help put himself through medical school. He is a pianist. Our shore excursions were awesome- we did a non-ship arranged stingray trip on Grand Cayman, which worked really well. We did not gain weight and we got to workout every day. The relaxation and the sun were fabulous and most of us loved the nightly shows.
Keep an open mind and I promise you that you will find things that you love.</p>

23

<p>If it’s a Carnival or Royal Caribbean cruise, your sons are going to love it, especially if they are the least bit outgoing. They have a teen clubs with lots of activities. Even if your boys don’t like the activities, they will meet a lot of kids on the first day and hang out with them the rest of the cruise. All 3 of my teens love cruising. </p>

<p>To get yourself motivated, go to [Cruise</a> Critic - Cruises, Cruise Ship Reviews, Ratings, Cruise Deals, Cruise Forums](<a href=“http://www.cruisecritic.com%5DCruise”>http://www.cruisecritic.com). You will find info on every aspect of a cruise, plus roll calls for your particular sailing. There is a “destinations” section to help you plan what to do in each port. Even though it’s not my first choice in a vacation, it is an excellent choice for a multi-generational vacation.</p>

24

<p>We just took a Royal Caribbean cruise, and we were hesitant…it was the best thing we could find to do with our daughters for a vacation that needed to occur during a very specific timeframe. My husband was not too keen on the idea, but this vacation was really for the girls. I had more of an open mind about it.</p>

<p>We all ended up really enjoying it. There was something for everyone, and another poster was correct in saying there are many places you can get away from crowds - but cruises definitely do have a lot of people on them - elevators are crowded, some of the pool areas are crowded, etc. But there are small theatres, libraries, small bars for drinks - you can get away. </p>

<p>We hardly saw our 16 year old, we needed to do a lot of ‘check in’ times. Walkie talkies are a good idea - our text messaging did not work. We were impressed with the planned activities for the kids; they really took advantage of them - we did this 2 months ago and they are still in touch with the friends they made.</p>

<p>You do not have to do seated dining every night, but have everyone take a nice selection of clothing so that you have options. Some nights are actually labelled as formal, but not everyone was “formal”. We really did like the buffet on our ship - during non-peak times. No need to dress up for the buffet, either.</p>

<p>Your options in port are very flexible. Just plan ahead. No need for guided tours.</p>

<p>One thing I really liked was the fact that the ship had little portrait studio type areas set up around the dinner hours. Short lines, except for the most formal night - we got some great family photos.</p>

<p>Get a presciption for the motion sickness patch for everyone…I think they last 72 hours, put it on several hours before you get on. We had very calm seas, but my older daughter was feeling it regardless, and we were glad she had that patch!</p>

<p>Read all of the info about embarking and disembarking - its a little complex, that’s when you really feel like one of the herd. The other thing that was a little odd was the safety drill that EVERYONE does just as the ship leaves port. </p>

<p>Enjoy it - it is wonderful that you can experience it with extended family. We are looking forward to going next year with grandparents.</p>

25

<p>Remember what my son calls the “International Waters Rule”- i.e. what happens on a cruise stays on a cruise…</p>

26

<p>As Toledo mentioned: research your cruise on cruise critic dot com.</p>

<p>Each cruiseline is different. Some are party boats, some are very traditional - cruise critic will help you figure out what to expect. You will also find a wealth of information about booking excursions on your own (especially if you are cruising to Alaska).</p>

<p>Check them out!</p>

27

<p>Harriet- the more you think of reasons why you don’t want to go and what a lousy time you will have, the more you can enjoy the actual experience as it will exceed your expectations :smiley: Sounds silly but it worked for us on a one big happy family big red boat tour of the bahamas & a visit to DisneyWorld. Not only my DH & I and the kids, but step bro and his kids AND the “like a daughter” ex girlfriend of my DH and her family :eek: His parents virtual adoption of her when he was away at college and they broke up is why we avoided many family trips- she’s nice, but they broke up for a reason!!</p>

<p>Also, I get seasick. I have learned many ways to minimize it, but believe me, I do not voluntarily cruise, and the grandparents know this, but I was expected to adapt, so I did. It wasn’t exactly “fun” but is was better than expected. If any of the group is annoying or silly or anything else, your own little family unit could have years worth of jokes available!! :D</p>

28

<p>We went on a cruise with the in-laws a few years ago. It’s a great place for the extended family. We all did our own thing during the day, all my in-laws asked was that we all eat dinner together. Not unreasonable at all, except that my f-i-l insisted we eat at the 8pm seating instead of at 6 pm, and we had 5 kids under the age of 10 with us who were exhausted by then. Plus my D was a dancer and wanted to see the shows (which were excellent) but we had to go to the late shows that started at 10pm and she fell asleep every time. But other than that, it was a great time. Sometimes during the day we did do things with the rest of the family - hung around the pool, and the scavenger hunt was hysterical. Cruises - especially mega-liners, are great for teens. Tons of activities and tons of other teens to meet and make friends. And I have read that ships with balconies tend to feel less crowded, because lots of people will sun and relax on their balcony instead of being in the public areas. Go ahead and explore on your own in some of the ports instead of taking the cattle-drive over-priced excursions. Or stay on the ship - when the ship is in port is the least crowded time onboard. I predict you will have a much better time than you expect, and the time with the extended family is worth it.</p>

29

<p>Harriet,
Great suggestions here. I’ve been on three cruises and enjoyed them all and I didn’t really consider myself a cruise person. The key to enjoying the ports of call was that I found local guides or something to do at each port independently. I researched places to go and guides on cruisecritic, down on the destination section, on tripadvisor and simply by googling, “guide - location name”. </p>

<p>We did our last cruise with my husbands extended family for his parents 50th anniversary celebration. One set of grand parents and four families with children. It was wonderfully fun to mix up the adults and cousins at the ports doing whatever suited us and then get together at dinner and compare adventures.</p>

<p>I remember Belize the best where four people went on a horseback ride through a rainforest and then on a beach, another group went caving, my husband went scuba diving, my older son and daughter went on ATV’s through the rainforest (afterwards my daughter said, “probably not the best way to explore a rainforest”) and the remainder of us took a boat to an aztec (mayan??) ruin in a rainforest and did a hike. All of us had a wonderful experience.</p>

<p>I research my trips and deciding what to do and then anticipating what I’ve planned is half the fun of the whole thing. Please enjoy your trip!</p>

30

<p>Harriet – I’ll chime in too. My family sounds much like yours in the way we enjoy traveling – independent, adventurous, very much opposed to being led in a horde of people. When we went on a cruise a few years ago with my parents we actually really enjoyed it. Aside from a relaxing cruise experience – you don’t realize how relaxing it is not to have to plan where you’re going to eat each meal (think about it!), we went on our own independent shore excursions. In other words, we didn’t sign up to participate in any of the group excursions. Instead, I researched the best things to do on the cruise critic website (very addicting – almost as bad as college confidential and fodors travel discussion boards), and planned our own excursions. For example, when we stopped in Grand Cayman we had arranged to rent a car and I researched the best beach to go to and we drove there and it was beautiful and we literally had the beach to OURSELVES!!! We then went to a restaurant I had planned in advance and then back to the ship. You really can have the best of both worlds. Have a great trip!</p>

31

<p>We do a lot of cruises because it is one of the few vacations that seems to keep everybody happy because people have lots of time to pursue individual interests–reading, high tea, classical music for me; ping pong, swimming, teen hang outs, unlimited ice cream and pizza for boys; weight room, shows, great breakfasts for H–and then we all go together on excursions, almost always individually booked rather than through the ship. We also are able to get fabulous family pictures; the photographers make it really quick and painless and do a good job. Since we all love the formal dinners and enjoy dressing up, we did not like the Hawaii casual approach (free style). I need lots of alone time and cruises on the mega ships offer tons of little hideaway places, not to mention the balcony in your room. You will enjoy it.</p>

32

<p>I am also a non-cruise person, and the cruise I went on did nothing to change my opinion of them. (I went with my parents and daughters.)</p>

<p>The worst of it was our cabin location. It was directly below the disco, which didn’t close until 1:30am.</p>

<p>The cruise was sold out, so there were people of every stripe everywhere.</p>

<p>The best part was the shore excursions. Of course they were organized tours, but the guides were local and we visited interesting places. We also had one stop that was a shop-and-go-to-the-beach kind of stop, and we found a little deserted beach within walking distance of the dock.</p>

<p>It sounds like you have reasonable expectations for the whole thing. Sort of think of it like going to the beach – ideally one has a beach in an exotic location to oneself, but a crowded local beach can be fun in an entirely different way, especially for people watching.</p>

33

<p>Definitely check out cruisecritic dot com. A lot of experience there for how to arrange your own trips, which excursions are worth it, etc. </p>

<p>Many excursions return to the ship with several hours to spare before the ship sets out. Use that time to find the local atmosphere. We try to find the local markets, grocery store, department stores in order to look at what residents buy, eat, and wear. A stop at a local tea shop chatting with the waiter/owner is a nice break. A nice walk through a residential area and we feel that we have had a small taste of the city.</p>

<p>I hope your cruise goes well. You’re going into with the family bonding mindset which should help with the heebeejeebees of mass tourism. </p>

<p>I’ll put in a plug for my favorite cruise line that occasionally runs nice specials: Windstar. The smaller of their boats hold only about 140 people and there is no Vegas style glitz. No elevators, so not much good folks with mobility issues. Good also for self sufficient teens.</p>

34

<p>Harriet - We’ve been on quite a number of cruises - loved it like crazy in the beginning and went almost every year and then got sick of it. We got sick of the crowds, the “herding” and I think we simply needed a break. After about a 5 year-hiatus, we took the plunge again, and we enjoyed it but I think it was because of the ports more than anything else. It was a megaship and we hired private tour guides in most ports and did some on our own. This made a huge difference to us. I would definitely give it a chance and I bet you will surprise yourself.</p>

<p>And yes, cruisecritic dot com was a lifesaver in our last trip.</p>

35

<p>harriet- we have been on two cruises in our lives, both were good but the second one when we booked on vacationstogo.com and were able to upgrade to a balcony room, was fantastic because we could sit on the balcony and feel like there was no one else around whenever we needed to. It was totally worth it!</p>