Best cruise you have been on?

[foxdongle]

I have just posted on a cruise thread and now I'm after advice myself :) .
We have been on 3 cruises and 4th is booked for May so looking for inspiration for next year- we like to book early.

Just wondering what was the best cruise you have been on- best ship ship, best destinations and why please?

We have done a variety of cruises, including the big Royal Caribbean boats, but my favourite was on wind star, around the med. We boarded in Monaco harbour which was just fab, and then want to lots of little, glamorous ports. The food was the best we have had, but the ship itself is fairly basic and entertainment very low key with no formal nights. We have also been on the Azamara Quest- it is nice too and more luxurious.

Where you going in May? We have our first cruise in May on oceana. Interested to see others responses to this as we are already considering future cruises!

hi
that sounds fab scarlett
sirzy we are going on Oceana to Guernsey, La Rochelle, La Coruna and Bilbao at half term. Wonder if it's the same cruise?

That's the one we are on

My favourite was a Disney cruise around the Med and second favourite was NCL from L.A down to Pacific side of Mexico. It just felt so far away and the captain made announcements when we were close to Whales and we did whale watching from the ship. I've also cruised to Norway on Independence of the Seas which was really good. Although it's one of the biggest cruise ships in the world there were no queues, it's very cleverly designed. We enjoyed the ice skating and rock climbing and visiting the beautiful fjords. My favourite ports have been Naples, which has amazing scenery, and close enough to lots of great days out and Malta, I was pleasantly surprise how nice it was. My favourite excursions have been to Rome and a place in Mexico called Yelepa which is a little jungle, beach village and to St Petersburg.

I've looked at cruising before but have always been put off by the cabins, do you all just sleep in the one room? How does that work with young dc etc?

I wish they did family cabins with a separate sleeping bit for the kids

They do suites with separate sleeping areas for DC or booking 2 interconnecting cabins is a good option.

I'm sure others will agree you are hardly in your cabin apart from to sleep there is just so much to do and see.

Whispers...surely the point of holidays is lots of sex though?

or at least some

We liked Alaska. Great whale spots, glaciers and lovely towns. Bears too. So much wilderness it took out breath away. We went on Princess but I would look for a smaller ship next time. Off to Norway with my Mum for her 90th birthday in May! Could be interesting.

Children love cruises. Ours made loads of friends.

Creamy I have looked at the Disney cruises- would you recommend them for older dcs? your other cruises sound amazing too -esp the whale watching.
Milly would love to do an Alaska cruise for all of the wildlife that you described,
lots of inspiration from all thanks :)

Oh another thing, we watched the Paul Merton programme about Royal Carribean and it put us off a bit. Please tell me about the real side of it (or was that it?)

fish- that's what the kids clubs are for!

Ahh day time sex.. Wow! How sad that never even crossed my mind

So, not wanting to derail at all but are all cruises generally all inclusive and are the activities free / kids clubs included? Think my dc would pass out at the thoughts of a disney cruise

I went on the Disney Cruise when my DC were 11 and 12 and they were a really good age for it. I would actually go one one with just my DH because it was so good. The design of the ship catered for everyone. We loved the adult only pool with the think padded loungers and unlimited towels.I just let them have the run of the ship. The ship had a lovely art deco cinema and they enjoyed watching films there. They ate with us in the evening but missed pudding and went of to their clubs. We ate breakfast together but if we were on board at lunch time we just let them do their own thing. It was quite nice seeing them ordering themselves lunch and quite a few sneaky snacks. The cabin sizes were the same as junior suites on other ships I've been on which we really liked. Another good thing was you are allowed to take alcohol aboard and soft drinks are included throughout the day and during meal times which worked well.

Hi
Creamy the Disney cruise ship sounds great for us - esp as dcs will be 13 and 15 and would like the run of the ship (prob do that this year too. also like the sound of the large cabins. we went on ocean village twice then Thomson and noticed quite a difference in the size and storage in the cabins. Thomson was a fair bit smaller.

anyone been with MSC? think kids go free and they seem to do loads of different destinations.

Fish on the cruises we have been on the kids clubs run well into the evening too. more than one night they had pj party with dvds and snacks and it looked really cosy and staff seemed really nice, some of the dcs where v. young. other nights disco, games, cinema, took them for tea etc. our dcs loved it and always couldn't wait to go. and we got lots of us time. win win.:)

What are cruises like with younger dc then? Mine are currently 6,4 and 16 months.. I was thinking next summer would I be better off waiting until they are older?

Hi Fish
our dcs were 6 and 8 years on the first cruise and there were lots of dcs that age. They had a fab time and made lots of friends. so imo definitely the older two.
Don't recall seeing many toddlers tbh but someone else will be able to advise you better than me on that. I do remember having a nosey at the paddling pool for little ones and there were a couple of toddlers in there.

Thanks fox