Been on a cruise?

[Jiu Jitsu Jon]

Uncle Sam owes me some money. Going to take the wife on a cruise, probably down into Mexico and the Bahamas. Anybody been on a cruise before?

[ChiefRocka]

would cruising with a 1 yr old be worth it?

[J Diddy]

What a coincidence. I got an adventurous notion the other day and started checking the prices for a 5 day cruise for my son and me. Pretty inexpensive imo. Seems the deciding factor will be the airfare to and from the port (because they don't sail out of Kansas)

[CoMoChief]

If I lived in Miami/Ft Lauderdale area I'd go on these cruises once a month if I could.

A lot of times these cruiseliner companeis want to fill up the entire ship so the rooms left over that aren't taken are sold for very VERY cheap at the last minute.

Can't take advantage of that up here in KC because last minute roundtrip airfare basically would make up for the costs you'd save on the actual cruise :/

[KCUnited]

A floating prison, fitting.

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

If I lived in Miami/Ft Lauderdale area I'd go on these cruises once a month if I could.

A lot of times these cruiseliner companeis want to fill up the entire ship so the rooms left over that aren't taken are sold for very VERY cheap at the last minute.

Can't take advantage of that up here in KC because last minute roundtrip airfare basically would make up for the costs you'd save on the actual cruise :/

I was looking last night and a 5 day cruise in early august to the Bahamas would run about $300 a person after tax. Roundtrip airfare to Orlando out of Springfield would be about $300 for my son and I.

[Hailchief]

Id check out all inclusive to Mexico. Fly into Cancun stay 7 nights in Playa Del Carmen Riviera Maya and spend around 1,200 per person with flights included. Been on several cruises and all inclusive vacations blow a cruise away. Both price and fun wise. Remember all-inclusive.

CHIEF

[CoMoChief]

Originally Posted by J Diddy

I was looking last night and a 5 day cruise in early august to the Bahamas would run about $300 a person after tax. Roundtrip airfare to Orlando out of Springfield would be about $300 for my son and I.

You'd be going during hurricane season just fyi

[Chief Gump]

Lots of other charges involved. Don't go in thinking you will only spend the money it costs for the cruise. You will be very disapoint.

Did a 4 day to the Bahamas, it was fun but I think I would have rather just flown to wherever I wanted to go and spent the extra time there.

[Guru]

I'm actually looking into Sandals resorts not that I found out Airtran flies to a couple of them. Not ruling out a cruise just yet though as the cruise is cheaper but not all inclusive.

[Guru]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

You'd be going during hurricane season just fyi

August is still a little bit better than September when the big stuff starts flying in.

[Old Dog]

Just got off of one last Saturday morning. I prefer to do cruises in the winter. Kids are in school so there are fewer rugrats on board and it's also a nice change from the weather.

Depending on where you're going from in Missouri, why not just drive to Galveston or New Orleans?

[luv]

Went on my first cruise last fall. Drove down to New Orleans. Five day cruise to Yucatan and Cozumel. It's not that much, really. It's not too difficult to go five days without soda. You can have water, juice, coffee, etc. I typically just bought one of whatever the drink of the day was. Any alcohol you purchase gets sent to your room the night before you get off the boat. I made sure to buy a couple pints at one of the ports. That last morning before getting off the boat was killer...lol. Yeah, save some money for ports and extras. I ended up getting some pictures done, and that's what cost me. The gratuity is automatically added, but you can go to customer service and have it taken off. I took off some of mine, but left some extra cash for the people in charge of our room.

[KCSPORTSNUT]

Yes and leaving Saturday the 26th on our next one.Always go Holland America,this trip is San Juan PR,St Thomas VI,Grand Turks and Half Moon Cay.And you can put 1/2 gallon booze bottles in your luggage we always do.Its a blast and the service is excellent.

[Bearcat]

I went on a 7 night cruise and I think I spent like $50 on the ship... you'll spend more if you want to drink, and of course they give you ample opportunities to spend your money, but it's not like they hold a gun to your head. They'll gouge you on the excursions, but we mostly went out on our own. They were charging $150 for one excursion, and we basically followed the excursion's plan, took public transportation, and did it for about $30.

I know some people could just stay on the ship the whole time, but I personally got far more out of the ports, and probably wouldn't spend that kind of money to just relax on the ship. Granted, there was a lot to do, and the endless supply of food was nice, I got kind of restless during the days at sea. Probably just me though... doing nothing on a balcony of a ship is great for 15 minutes or reading for an hour is nice, then I wish I had an internet connection or ps3.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Originally Posted by KCSPORTSNUT

Yes and leaving Saturday the 26th on our next one.Always go Holland America,this trip is San Juan PR,St Thomas VI,Grand Turks and Half Moon Cay.And you can put 1/2 gallon booze bottles in your luggage we always do.Its a blast and the service is excellent.

So with Holland you can bring your own? Just has to be the big bottles? Limit on that, or can you bring as many as you want?