Cruises for a honeymoon

I went on a cruise and also hated it. There are people EVERYWHERE and you can't get away from the noise. The pools are tiny and really crowded. There's lines for everything and the food was nasty. ... That was my experience, lol.

Cruises are...okay. I wouldn't recommend them over going to an all-inclusive resort though. You have to pay for all of your alcohol, the rooms are TINY, excursions aren't cheap, and there are sometimes wicked hidden fees. They are good for people who don't care about room size and alcohol though. The food is generally pretty good and they have good shows most of the time.

Hey Ashlee, we are going on a cruise for our HM. Neither one of us has been on one before and like you its in our budget. I have heard good things so I'm excited. I will be watching this thread for tips.

I've been on 2 cruises...one for spring break which was super fun but pretty much describes what Jesse's girl said and then we went on one for our HM. The crowd on that cruise was much different. 95% of the people on the cruise were retired and over 65.

We had the best time on our cruise. I have nothing but good things to say about Princess cruise line. The food was great, the service was great, and the itinerary was great. The HM cruise we did was an 11 day cruise to the Panama Canal. TOTALLY WORTH IT!

If you get motion sickness easily just make sure you get a prescription for the patch from your doctor before you leave. I get motion sickness pretty badly and we had 2 really rough sea days. I had no issues with getting sick because I had the patch on.

I'm probably not the best person to ask since I've never been on a normal cruise..but I figured I'd chip in my two cents anyway. I've been on 2 New Kids on the Block cruises through Carnival (going on another one in June). We've always had a great time. The room size is really going to depend on how much you're wanting to spend. Our food has always been phenomenal and we've never had a problem escaping the noise..even with 1 boy band, 3,000 women and all-night deck parties.

Plus, I think cruises are a great chance to see multiple places in one vacation!

We LOVE cruising! We took a 12 day cruise to the Mediterranean 2 years ago on Royal Caribbean and it was a trip of a lifetime. It was very port intensive. Keep in mind there isn't a lot of relaxing on a cruise like that. The cabins are small. We always opt for a balcony so we can you can have some quiet time alone. There are a lot of people on the ships, however, we don't really notice them unless its a sea day. The venues tend to be a little more crowded during those times. The Caribbean has some great affordable cruises if you are beach and an outdoor couple.

Just a reminder to anyone considering doing a cruise in the Atlantic, June - November is considered hurricane season in the Atlantic; this is why FH and I are postponing our HM until January or February. We're doing a 3 day trial cruise from 1/9 to 1/12 on Carnival out of Port Canaveral to Nassau...I'll let you know how it goes :-) This is FH's first cruise and I haven't been since I was 16, so if we have a lousy time, we'll be rethinking our HM!! :-)

I've been on two and one of those with FH. We loved it and plan to go again but probably not for our honeymoon. The ease of planning a cruise is what I love and the things that are offered to do is what he loved. We can be alone or we can be surrounded by new people whenever we wanted. I will only go with Royal Carribean, Disney and maybe Norwegian. We really enjoyed it and can't wait to go on another one. I also want to do the Mediterranean cruise. Wish it was cheaper than the all inclusive to Cancun. Lol

We wanted to go to the wine regions of Chile, but DH is still being treated for cancer and has limited mobility, so we did a special wine, dine and music themed charter cruise last Nov. For us, a cruise ship is pretty handicap-friendly, he could rent a scooter on board, etc., and this particular voyage allowed me to drink a lot of great wine. :-) Seriously though, we had an *okay* time. We like to travel so "cruising" just isn't our style but this worked for us at the time and was better than the alternative (i.e. basically doing nothing...)

I think the only cruise we're open to doing in the future is perhaps to Alaska... We're not a fan of cruises...

I've been on one and I really enjoyed it! Carnival is the cruise line we used. It really wasn't hard to escape the noises and we really liked all the food.

My FH purposes on a cruise last year we had a blast. We're going on a eight day cruise for our honeymoon

I will add that we did that week-long cruise last November and a few years ago we did a long weekend cruise at the end of January. Both times we had crap weather (no hurricane, just bad weather) that effected our port stops.

While there is a "hurricane season", there aren't that many hurricanes--I wouldn't plan my trip around that. You should get travel insurance anyway...

We just went on one this past summer to Bermuda with NCL. We had a great time. I would definitely recommend getting a suite with a balcony. I would feel too claustrophobic in anything else.

What cruise lines depart from the US and port in Europe?

@MnDex - that's a great idea to take a trial cruise! We may have to look into that.

@Ashley - thank you for all your wonderful suggestions!! I will definitely look into Royal Caribbean! I know RC and Carnival are two popular ones but I've heard a lot of bad stuff about Carnival...lol

@Laudie - I will definitely look into Princess as well! And the Panama Canal...that sounds perfect.

@Jesse's Girl - that's what my parents said. Plus they had a maid walk in their room without knocking. Lovely. lol

We mainly want something/somewhere that we both haven't been. I haven't even been out of the US and he's only been to Mexico. One of the main reasons we would be interested in Europe. Thanks everyone for your great advice/input!

We're going on a cruise for our HM, departs from Vancouver and goes to Seattle, San Fran, and ends in LA. It's a 5 day NCL, we hope to spend a few days in LA after. It's a good way to see different locations, esp if you don't want to be at a resort for a whole week.

I loooovvve cruises. I love the no worries and so much to do.

@Amy L - I absolutely LOVE San Fran. I live about an hour and a half away and go there very often. I'm not sure how long you're there but if you need any fun ideas/things to do PM me and I will definitely give you a list!!

I've been on 2 cruises when I was younger and have LOVED it, as did my parents. Both times were on Holland America, to Alaska and the Western Caribbean. We actually are going on a cruise for our honeymoon this summer to Alaska, and booked on Holland America.

I think cruises are what you make of them. There's a lot to do on the boat, off the boat in ports. What line and your itinerary will greatly effect your experience. Not all cruise lines are created equal. Me and my husband aren't into that "party ship" kind of experience, so didn't really consider going on Carnival - who is known for their "fun ships" that are kind of like floating resorts. Holland America lines ships are smaller and attract a slightly older crowd. HAL feels more like that cruising on a ship experience than cruising on a floating resort. That's what we were looking for. Do a lot of research and think about what you really want out of the trip. They are a great time and I can't wait til ours.

I have been on two cruises and loved both. Went once through the eastern and once through the western Caribbean. One was with Celebrity and the other one with Royal Carribean. Both ships were gorgeous, food was good, and no problems at the pools.

We had initially looked at a cruise to Bermuda for the HM but FH preferred being at a resort for a week and being able to go to the beach. So, we are going to the Dom. Rep. instead.