Cruisin'

[msmemory_archive]

We're thinking that maybe it's time to try a cruise instead of a resort for vacation at the end of May. Any experiences to relate, good or bad, with specific cruise lines or packagers? Especially, comments on the food and the noise/chaos level. :) Other cruising advice? (I've already read Ian's message from this spring.)

ETA: when I say "noise/chaos" I'm thinking of all types, from young exuberant children, to packs of mall-rat teens, to geezers who think that 6 a.m. is "sleeping in." It's not (just) about young kids. :)

Comments

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

This is going to sound a little silly, but the Disney Cruise line is amazing. And they have both packages that include days at the parks, and packages that are cruise-only, if you don't feel like wandering through MouseLand.

The ships are *really* nice, the staff are amazingly kind and helpful, and the level of Disney is actually fairly low - it's there if you want to seek it out, but it's not oppressive. And they do an amazing job of controlling kids and chaos; we only saw children once in the entire four days there, walking the opposite way down a hall. They have separate later-evening dinner seatings for adult-only groups, separate pools for children and adults (on separate decks, I believe), and on the shore excursions, entire separate beaches for children and families versus adults-only.

The food is absolutely to die for, and runs the gamut from pizza and hot dogs at the pool if you want a snack to a five-star restaurant (also adults only) with a level of service that's almost embarassing. The staterooms are nice, the shows are fun, and I can't think of a single bad thing to say about the experience.

Arnis and I did a four-day cruise/three-day park trip for our honeymoon, and we're saving up (slowly, because it's damn expensive) for their seven-day European cruise...

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

Thanks!