My fiancé and i want to go on a cruise for our honeymoon.

We go on a cruise every year and absolutely love them! We loved Jamaica and The Bahamas the most, we are going to Mexico for our honeymoon in September.

Carnival is "all inclusive" as far as food. But you would have to either get a cheers package or pay for your drinks as you get them.

When we booked ours in December, they were offering free cheers packages because of the business set back from Covid - which is all inclusive drinks. I would HIGHLY recommend doing that, even if they aren't offering it for free anymore!

I have been on a few different lines and prefer Royal Caribbean. The food is mainly all inclusive, although there are some restaurants or food places you have to pay extra for. Alcohol you can choose to do an alcohol package. There are different levels. I have always found that if you are going to have 4-5 drinks per day (or more) the package is worth it. Last cruise I did it do it. We were off the boy doing excursions and only had a drink by the pool and bought a bottle of wine at dinner and it saved us money.


I liked all of the destinations I have done so far. Just do your research and book excursions early.

I enjoyed the Carnival 7 day cruise I went on a few years back to Mexico. They are all inclusive, except for alcohol. You also pay for things yourself when you stop at the different locations. Service was great and I would definitely cruise with them again, but avoid hurricane season if you can!! We went as a hurricane was approaching the Caribbean and there was one day where everyone on the boat was sick because the water was so choppy. If it was any more than one day I would've been so over the trip

I will preface this by saying that cruising is not for everyone - it is kinda like liquorice, you either love it or loathe it. My fiance and I love cruising as does our whole family. Cruises are generally all inclusive save for; alcoholic beverages, specialty dining, and tours at each destination.

Destinations differ depending where you are located; for example where I am in Australia, 90% of our cruises go to New Zealand or the islands in the South Pacific (Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia) because we are too far from everything else. The ships which depart from Miami mostly go to the Carribbean and then there are also numerous European cruises which require flying to a European port first.

My personal favourite cruise line is Carnival - I've tried Royal Carribbean and Princess as well (so far) and Carnival for me was tops; great value and fantastic entertainment for adults.

We love cruises! We had one booked with 3 other couples in March 2020 and then the pandemic hit and stole the trip from us. I’ve been on 9 total and 3 of them with FH. A cruise was our original honeymoon plan, but when we postponed the wedding a full year to 2021, we pushed the cruise to 2022 (as a 1-yr anniversary trip instead). So we currently don’t have a honeymoon plan. Almost all of my cruises have been on Carnival and only one was on Royal Caribbean. But I’m much prefer Carnival.

I have only ever been on Norwegian but have enjoyed every cruise I've been on. I do think a lot of the advice below applies to most "mainstream" (i.e. not luxury) cruise lines. Luxury cruise lines are TRULY all-inclusive but they are also incredibly expensive.

I think your experience very much depends on the ship you choose. The larger megaships have more attractions (think go-carts, laser tag, ropes course) and more variety of dining options, but there can be long wait times or reservations may be necessary to get into the restaurants, shows, or activities you prefer. The smaller ships have less on them (though they basically all have pools, casinos, shopping, shows, restaurants and bars) but because there are fewer people on the ship, it gives you the opportunity to connect with crew members who remember your favorite drink or bring you special treats because they know it's your honeymoon. It really depends on the type of experience you'd like to have. I prefer the larger ships when there's a lot of sea days so that you have something to do - on a port-heavy itinerary, it's kind of a waste because you should be exploring off the ship!

In terms of all-inclusive, generally the buffet and main dining rooms are always free, pools are free, chairs on the pool decks are free, and there's probably other stuff that I am overlooking. Stuff that will cost you extra money: things to do in port, alcohol or any drinks that don't come out of a fast-food beverage dispenser, specialty dining (those are the themed restaurants - French, Italian, Hibachi, etc), the spa, the beauty salon, and a bunch of other activities depending on the ship. I know Norwegian is constantly offering sales "Take All Offers Free", which isn't truly "free" but is a bundled price where your booking includes a drink package, some specialty dining meals, Wifi, you can bring a 3rd and 4th guest free (great for traveling with kids, not so much for honeymoon) and some credits towards the cruise line-sponsored tours in port. It's totally possible to go a la carte for these things, but as another poster said if you're drinking more than 4 or 5 drinks a day it's usually worth it to get the package. That sounds like a lot until you're on the ship! We usually take the offers because once the cruise is paid off, we don't really have to worry much about spending additional money which contributes to a more relaxed vacation. Also, if you let friends and family know what cruise line you're going on, they can purchase onboard credits to put towards your ship account that you can use towards a romantic dinner, couples massage, fun tours, or whatever else your hearts desire!

Another quick note - the cabin you pick will greatly influence the pricing. Usually the least expensive is an inside cabin, which doesn't have any windows and is basically just a small room with a bed, some storage, and a bathroom. To be honest, if you are going somewhere like Europe where you wake up in a different city every day, an inside cabin is perfectly fine because you're going to be off the ship so much, you're basically just using your room as a place to get dressed and sleep. If I am going to spending days in a row at sea, I usually spring for a balcony because I love to sit out on my balcony, read a book, and listen to the sounds of the sea. Obviously the bigger and more features you have in a room, the more expensive they get. There are even specialty cabins that come with their own exclusive areas, a private butler, and fancy rooms but I don't recommend those to first-timers unless it's something they can easily afford.

Cabin placement - if you think or know you and your future spouse may get easily sea-sick, try to get a cabin on the lowest deck you can towards the middle of the ship as these areas feel the least motion. The higher you are, the more you will feel, and the same goes for the very front and very back of the ship. Also make sure to look at the deck plans above and below the cabin you're looking at - sometimes rooms are below the comedy club and they hear chairs scraping on the ceiling while trying to sleep, or sometimes you're on the same deck as the pool so when you're out on your balcony you can hear the pulsing bass of the pool DJ. My advice is to pick a cabin on a deck where there aren't any public areas - it's okay to walk a little farther to get to things, you'll probably need it to balance out all the free food!

Me and my fiancé wanted to go on a cruise too, so we picked Carnival! He has been on once but I never had so it’ll be a nice experience after marriage. You have to book 3 months in advance now, I learned this recently which surprised us! We are going for our honeymoon this June so we will have to have to pay for it in March (coming up). So letting you know that they changed on that rule but other than that, have fun! We were recommended to get the balcony room because you can be out there and see the stars & ocean. Heard it’s very romantic & peaceful haha!

Also there’s a discount to return guests! And cruise credit😁

My sister goes on cruises a lot and took me on a Royal Caribbean. I was a novice but things I noticed - def sign up to have the ship charges put in your credit/debit charge so you aren’t in a long line to pay the last day for incidental charges.
If you drink, get the drink package. We didn’t - it was a reconnect sister cruise for use and we didn’t want to get crazy with too much drinking because we had a lot to talk about (and it was wonderful, we are so much closer now.) We were allowed to bring two bottles of wine, and enjoyed a fancy drink once a day.
Bring cash for tips. 9 am is a great time to get a really good spot by the pool.It was a lot of fun. I would’t do it with my FH because our ideal honeymoon is a quiet B&B with a kindle full if books and walks to look at fall foliage LOL

Norwegian Cruise Line!!! They are the best!! I’ve never been on any other cruise line but I don’t really want to because NCL has been the best! I’m sure they have great deals going on right now! We had our honeymoon booked with them for this February then switched to August but then decided to cancel cause we didn’t think it would be safe enough by then but hopefully soon they will be up and running you will have a blast!!! Best way to vacation in my opinion!

I really like Carnival, but I highly recommend looking into a travel agent in your area! When you book online there are costs/payments that would go to a travel agent built in that the company then just gets to keep.

The agents in my area don't have a fee, so I don't know if the same is true in other areas. However, they can get some good deals on your excursions and things. So, highly recommend doing a casual google search of local agents in your area.