It’s my first cruise and I’ve already paid for gratuities upfront but will obvs leave something for our dedicated cabin steward.

When should we give it to them: I see a lot of people saying they give it towards the end of the trip, second to last day (day 6 on a 7 day cruise), but surely it’s best to give it at the beginning of the cruise?

Edit: do you have the same steward for the length of the cruise?

My husband has always wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise, so I’m going to surprise him with one for his 40th birthday. It will be just he and I. Looking for excellent views, good food, great drinks and fun couples entertainment. Planning to hit Glacier Bay for sure. Any recommendations beyond that? Best cruise lines? Best ships? Best time to go? I don’t have a specific budget. Maybe $15,000? Definitely want to make it a once in a lifetime trip. He deserves it.

I cannot find any info on this pool! Has anyone used it? Anyone have any info on this pool? Seems like a fun little spot with lounge chairs and bars/restaurants all around it...

Hello all! Though we're still a few years out, im in the early stages of planning a cruise for my wife and I's 10 year anniversary, which will be our FIRST time cruising. We'll be 33 at the time of the cruise. We are much more traditional in how we are and the things we enjoy, but we are definitely still sociable. We are not drinkers but we are definitely foodies! I'm between Celebrity Cruises on either a Solstice or Edge class ship, and Virgin. I know the vibes are different on both, im just looking for any thoughts or opinions about them so I know which way to go! T.I.A!

hi all! I am going to be purchasing cruise tickets for my mother and I to the Bahamas, first time cruise trip for us both, what are some essentials I should bring? and I would love ideas for a gift basket to make her with some necessities and fun things while traveling

I went on a cruise recently. I did not really want to go, just not really the cruise type of guy, but my gf won it through work, and we went on a 4 day cruise from Miami, Key West, and Bimini. This was a virgin voyages cruise on the resilient lady.

One of the reasons I didn’t want to go is I am very sensitive to motion sickness. I get car sick if I’m not driving, and boats are pretty much torture unless I have a patch and zofran.

Before leaving, I made a post either here or somewhere else on Reddit, and asked everyone I knew personally who has been on a cruise if the boat moves a lot, and whether they thought I would be in for a bad trip.

Literally every single person I talked to and comment I saw said that you CANNOT FEEL THE BOAT MOVE. This is a blatant lie. You can feel it nearly constantly. I was sea sick the entire second day. I took the zofran and put on the patch, and it was tolerable, but I was pretty surprised because it’s the opposite of what everyone said. It may have been a little windy, but it didn’t rain and the weather didn’t seem to be bad.

It’s impressive how little the boat moves considering its floating on water and its massive, but the stabilizer, while impressive, simply does not mean the boat doesn’t rock.

I am 2 1/2 days removed and today is the worst day of nausea I have maybe ever had in my life. I still feel like I’m on a boat. I feel worse now than I did on the worst day on the boat. Nobody said anything about this shit lol.

I am writing this in case there is another person who unfortunately got the bad luck gene of motion sickness, and has also been reading about the miraculous lack of rocking on cruises.

The boat moves. It moves a lot. If you are sensitive, you will feel sick. I am on land right now still motion sick somehow. It blows. The end.

I want to order a bottle of Veuve Clicquot yellow label to have on our anniversary during the Viking Rhone river cruise. Any suggestions on how I do this will be appreciated.

Hotel recommendation - Ft. Lauderdale/Port Everglades

Can someone recommend an affordable (i.e. cheap but clean and safe) hotel in proximity of the Port Everglades, as we will be departing from this port for a cruise. Do any hotels offer shuttle buses to the port and/or from FLL airport? That would be a bonus. TIA

If you know these cruise lines, how would you sort them? I know there are soooo many variables but, I'm looking for the basics: customer service, cleanliness, food quality, room/suite condition. I know there are many other things likes ports of call, pricing, deals, etc.

Thanks...

Explora

Regent - Seven Seas Cruises

Viking

Windstar

Hello everyone Solo male here 54 looking to do a quick 3day 4 day adult fun weekend any recommendations, i have done NCL but is there specific ships or companies that would host these? I also would enjoy meet new people.

We haven't an extraordinary budget, wanted to give a cruise a go and wondered if there was a general consensus on if there was any particular ones best for beginners.

Also, is it particularly hard to get used to sleeping inside, i.e not sea view with no windows etc?

Looking to book a simple cruise for my fiancés 30th birthday! It would be 4 adults in total. I’m completely new to planning/booking anything. Any suggestions or tips would be helpful! Thank you.

I'm on a solo cruise and was seated with another solo party for dinner last night. He introduced himself and then we went about doing our own thing on our phones as we ate our appetizers.

I finally asked him if he was cruising solo like me or just dining solo and he said he was an entertainer who had just boarded a few hours earlier at our most recent port of call. Not just an entertainer, but he IS the entertainment.

We ended up having a really nice conversation and I got to learn about his life bouncing between gigs. I had previously thought that all entertainers spent months at a time on one ship, but he generally flies in, does a couple of shows, debarks at the next port of call and flies off to his next ship or other gig. I'll refrain from sharing his name out of respect for him, but it was an interesting experience and a totally unexpected surprise. You never know what will happen or who you might meet out here.

Photo from our floatplane excursion in Ketchikan last month

Hi all,
My wife and I just got back from a HAL Alaska cruise last month and we LOVED it! This was my first cruise and I can’t wait to go back. My wife grew up going on Carnival and Disney cruises as a kid. I think I want to try some of the other cruise lines like Princess, Virgin, Celebrity, etc to see if there’s anything that we like more. My wife thinks we found a good thing and should stick with it.

We’re millennials and we were on the younger end of the spectrum in Alaska but that was ok, we really enjoyed the slower relaxed pace and not feeling crowded and we finished the trip feeling very refreshed. Our only real complaint was we wished there was a little more in the evenings ie slightly bigger shows, more trivia, etc.

We are ok with kids, but don’t necessarily love having screaming children overrun the lido pool and buffet.

Our budget is pretty open - we’re willing to pay for a good time, but we don’t make enough yet to swing the more premium bookings like Silversea, Windstar, Viking, etc.

I was hoping for input on how the other lines compare to Holland America.

Thanks in advance!

Hello, I wanted to ask if anyone else had recently submitted an offer to MSC and was told that the offer was a “complementary interior for two” “taxes included” but then when it got down to it had to pay a $400 casino supplemental cruise fee that is also not refundable or transferred to casino credit?
Every time I looked it up everyone said and even their own website says it will be refundable to casino credit
I’m pretty upset about this since the offer itself is not good at all compared to other lines. Total I am saving $190 when not too long ago I signed up with Wynn Casino and sent it to MSc and got 30% off any sailing so I would save the same amount. I don’t understand how the offer is worse for a full “comped” cruise and how it’s also not comped at all. Has anyone else had this experience and what did you do about it?

We are visiting Mazatlan for our upcoming cruise. Previously on a cruise that visited Costa Maya, we secured our own transportation to a hotel. We bought a day pass, ate delicious food, had drinks and all got beach massages. It was such a great day. Does anyone have a recommendation for a resort day pass in Mazatlan that also offers beach massages?