>>1109873
Norovirus
>puked and shat myself for 3 days

been on 3 cruises with senpai in my younger years

island hopping, all is paid for besides alcohol and souvenirs (can get a cheap soda card for unlimited soda). lots of events and stuff going on.

carnival/disney are good for families

royal caribbean/princess for couples ie no fucking kids

The single supplement is a deal breaker (one person still has to pay as if two people are cruising). But if you are a couple, it's a great deal.

Get the cheapest stateroom in the best ship you can afford. You are stuck on a boat with these people, you want them to be civilized.

Driving to a port of call is a great money saver. Might not be an option for most people.

Either go on a small luxury boat that visits upscale ports of call, or get a room in a mega ship where you don't even have to visit ports. All the major cruise lines visit the same ports of call anyway, so that gets old quickly.

Themed cruises are fun, some rock bands do sponsored cruises, like Paramore, and there's a heavy metal cruise, these come at a premium though.

There are plenty of forums with great information and advice, this board isn't one of them.

I got this one story it was late at night on the ship and me and my friend went down to the 1st floor (all residential floor) and we was just walking around then we see this one room open and hear loud people then we look into the room and see about 6-8 people in a room all drunk. After we keep walking a blonde woman comes out and asks us if we wanted to join the orgy. We didn't join in but it was super funny.

Wouldn't go on one longer than like 3 days personally, week absolutely max. Would be a good thing to tack onto a trip you're already taking but to go somewhere solely to cruise ain't for me.

>>1111407
With cruising, you are either one and done, or a lifer

Rick Steve's seminar series has a decent primer to cruises in Europe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHEadpiZVc0

here you go, it's an hour long, but it might save you from booking a vacation you don't want

>>1109873
Protips/assorted cruise facts.... I hope they help you OP!
1) Join the frequent club on your 1st trip, perks start on your second cruise, and include at least a booze party with the captain, and might include some priority disembarking, better table at dinner, something you don't think you'd want but makes a difference.
2) Something like 75% of cruise passengers are repeat customers. There's a reason for that. They're a fantastic economic deal, and not lugging a suitcase around is nice, as well as impromptu napping, quick clothing changes (vs carrying a jacket all day), pretty good entertainment.
3) Smaller ships/more expensive cruises give you more satisfaction overall, from food to just the class of clientele you are surrounded with...don't like loud cuban/culturally loud/unwatched screaming kids out of miami every single time you want to go to the pool for a quiet read and cocktail? There ya go, get out of the budget/family brand, stay away from weekend only or summer or holiday break cruising. Go up a brand, just reduce the cabin level.
4) Cruising is hard financially for heavy drinkers. But, you can bring 2 bottles of wine at boarding. Make it last. Be frugal. Enjoy it in ports. To break even on daily drinking deals, you need to make 5-6 drinks of expenses. Once you cruise 6 or more times, you pretty much get a free drink per day, or a nice voucher at boarding with shipboard credit.
5) In ports, consider a taxi and your own plans. Don't have to do their tours.
6) Use a travel agent and get (often) free or later-refunded if unused insurance. You absolutely need it. A helicopter airlift, emergency last minute travel plans from some remote island can and will add up esp their piece of crap hospital, no matter if your own medical insurance is good.
7) Cruises are almost always ONLY as fun as the person you bring with you. Also, are lonely for singles. You will see couples everywhere, families or groups of existing friends.

>>1109873
I enjoyed a couple of small-ship cruises, in the Galapagos and in SEA. Especially in the Galapagos, the vibe was very different and was a great way to see some things it is otherwise difficult to see.

I also enjoyed a cruise my extended family did in Alaska, it was enjoyable to just sit on the top deck and watch whales and glaciers and shit.

On the other hand, some of the Caribbean cruises he family has done did not impress me as much. The time just doing cruise ship stuff was most of the time, there was little time visiting in the countries/ports of call.

All that said, a classic big-boat cruise can be enjoyable if you throw yourself into the plastic festivity of it all, and if you have to travel with a big family group with divergent staminas and mobillities, it can work well.

>>1109921
>royal caribbean/princess for couples ie no fucking kids
Is there swinging on those?

>upscale cruise line
>cheapest stateroom on the ship
>off peak times

Best bang for the buck combination. This can be cheaper that an economy cruise line's peak season cruise with a balcony state room. Most of the clientele will be well off retirees and people who can make their own schedules, like doctors. Being that luxury cruise lines tend to cater to widows, many don't even have a singles supplement. And luxury boats are all inclusive.

The only vacations I take outside of luxury cruises now, is sex tourism.

>>1112150
Aren't passage cruises the cheapest? Like the Alaska cruises go back and forth from the Caribbean once a season. You can get 20 day Seattle-Miami cruise for 2k.

>>1112151
These are re-positioning cruises. Let's say a ship is in Europe for the Summer and the Caribbean for the winter. At a point in the fall, usually a very slow period, the ship does a wholesale change in home port. This is when the crews change as well. In some cases, new staff are being trained. Entertainment is usually limited as well. On a cost per person per day basis, these are the cheapest cruises available. These re-positioning cruises can take weeks to finish, that's why they are so hard to fill up and also why they are so cheap. Many days are at sea with ports of call being almost a week apart. Especially ships that are truly world spanning.

>>1112151
>>1112165
Repositioning cruises aren't all lengthy either. My parents and other family take a 4 day that happens yearly on RC Sovereign or Norwegian Sky out of Miami. I want to say it drops like $50/day from over $100/day normally. I'm talking balcony cabins too. But, like you said, a kind of slimmed down maintenance cruise. The entertainment is lighter, just standup comedians and bellyflop and techno music parties out at the pool, no full dance team for evening shows. It skips a port for one extra sea day when they could easily stop in Key West but don't, and only stops at their private islands and nassau. On the times I have done it too, they are painting a bit more than usual, and it's the last cruise before they drop the crew and take it into dry dock for upgrades, or change ports. I'd also say its the time the crew meals spill over into the passenger choices too. The Sovereign has/had an Indian head chef, and it was always a bonus option to get indian courses as well if you asked. Most amazing biryani that I've ever tasted. On NCL, the buffet often has better options than dining during these cruises too, like the staff is doing carving stations upstairs and keeping the formal dining down a notch.

>>1112188
Re-positioning cruises are a great way to enjoy the ship itself, and great if it one of the newer monster ships. Because the main point of the trip is to switch home ports, there are more days at sea. And the clientele are almost all repeat cruisers, the real hardcore lifers. If you want first hand opinions of different cruise lines and itineraries, talk to people on these cruises.

People get really into cruising, once you go on one you'll know if you want to go on another one.

>>1109918

why is this so fucking common on cruises? do they headhunt their food employees to find the most disgusting fucking people on the planet? So many times I hear about like entire fucking populations on a cruise all getting sick, you just know someone is literally taking shits on your food.

>>1112393
>you just know someone is literally taking shits on your food.
Novovirus is highly contagious, you'll catch it from people in the same room or handling door knobs etc. A flushed toilet will spread it to surfaces in the same room such as the person's clothes. They can then rub against another person in the corridor etc.

If one person in a room throws up, everyone in the room can catch it from breathing the air that that one person expelled while sick.

>>1112433
Combine this with travelers of all ages, going into warm and humid climates, shore excursions where the water is not pristine, going into pools and hot tubs, and eating in buffets, sleeping odd hours and drinking more than usual, it's a perfect incubator for getting sick. The CDC even has ratings on cruise ships (Vessel Sanitation Program). Disney has always been the gold standard when it comes to outbreaks, but even they were hit recently, and their ships are as obsessively cleaned as their parks.

People who get sick usually ask for a deep discount on their next cruise.

>>1109921
>royal carribbean
>no kids

are you stupid or high mate?

I've been on a shit tone. My grandpa was a major share holder in most

Disney is great if you have a family
For partying Royal Caribbean
Cheap carnival
Old person - Princess cruise
Weird cheap And weird- Norwegian

Celebrity -GARBAGE

>>1112538
what's wrong with celebrity?

if you like keeping to yourself or spending time with your friends/family without a bunch of forced mingling it is the best

>>1112444
>a perfect incubator for getting sick
And speaking of which...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36245284

I've used Norwegian three times and enjoyed it each time. My advice is to choose one that stays in a port for a couple days. My first two island hopped around the Caribbean and while it was nice, I didn't like having to get back on the ship by a certain time. My last one was to Bermuda and it stayed in port for three days and you could get on and off whenever.

Travel days were a bit annoying because of the spring break college bro's but I usually hung around the pool until they woke up around noon, then either went to the bar or casino.

You're gonna get a mix of different people, but the staff is always nice, plenty of excursions, and hot women.