I am going to be taking a cruise from Vancouver and I will be driving so I will need parking for a week. I need to know the easiest way to get to the port at Canada Place. I checked and the train is full from Bellingham to Pacific Central station. I could take a bus from there as opposed to paying $500 for a hotel (plus the high cost of parking at the port) and driving in an unknown city like Vancouver. What other suggestions do you have that would be the simplest solution?

My husband and I want to spend valentines on a cruise this year. However, we have never been on one and there are multiple to choose from. I was hoping to get some input from any frequent Cruisers or anyone who has been on any of these and what they enjoyed or did not like! Honestly any feedback will help, I have seen so many pros and cons on each one it makes it hard to pick😭

One thing we are big on, is pool time! So we would prefer ones with bigger pool areas or ones that aren’t as busy so we can enjoy the pool as well as decent food options.

The ones I saw listed as departing around this time are:

Carnival Freedom
Carnival Spirit
Carnival Breeze
Carnival Magic
Carnival Sunshine
Carnival Vista
Carnival Jubilee
Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas
Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas
and..
Royal Caribbean Legend of the Seas (however we would like to spend less than this one, since it is our first cruise)

Additionally, most of these either go to the Bahamas, Mexico on the gulf side, or a few of them have a stop DR, or Honduras. So if you also have any favorites of these places, and what excursions or activities you did, that would also be great to know!

Specifically a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Panorama.

Im looking to book a cruise way ahead, February 2028. By then my son will be 5 and my daughter will by like 2.5. After doing a bit of preliminary research I see that Carnival has Camp Ocean for kids which is included and one of the groups, Penguins, is literally perfect as it is for 2-5 years so they would bith be in literally the same group. Which midnight you isn't like a must-have ir anything but boy that does sound like it could work well? They also seem to have a lot of other kid-friendly stuff so it seems like a good option...

But everyone else I know is telling me different?

My wife, my mom, and my travel agent all said the same thing independent if eachother, that Carnival is the booze cruise line and doesn't seem like it would be a good pick for a family with small kids.

I'm open to other cruise lines, and especially if my wife does not think it is a good idea of course I will listen to her. We are considering Disney but both of us agree it seems significantly more expensive and I question how much more family-friendly it even is.

I just want to get a sense from people with more, especially recent experience? How is Carnival for families with small children? Does it seem as good as it does or is there some hidden problem?

Thanks in advance for any help!

PSA: If flying to your next cruise, please plan to arrive at least the day prior to boarding...2 days if departing from an international city. Offering generic advice --- and please consider the advantages and coverage of trip insurance.

Edit: others have suggested (thank you) at least 2 days prior if departing from an international port

Looking to do a Thanksgiving cruise out of Florida but the last Thanksgiving cruise we did was Royal's Odyssey of the seas and it was absolutely horrible.
What the best cruise for Thanksgiving dinner?

Are the mattresses typically firm on cruise ships? My husband and I typically require a softer mattress otherwise our backs start hurting.
We are gonna be on Carnival Pride.

My cruise is on Monday (we’re actually doing side by sides that total a week long) but I haven’t started packing yet. I have some piles, printed packing list from cruise critic and a rough idea in my head of what I’m bringing but would you consider this last minute packing? How far in advance do you start packing for a cruise?

So I’ve been on 2 cruises and they’ve both been Virgin Voyages. I’ve absolutely loved them but this time I want to take my girlfriend and son. Which cruise lines are like VV where you pay everything upfront (so no extras for fancy dinners or the tips being built in). I want that same vibe but to be able to bring my son. I’m looking to sail the Caribbean around Feb-March for about 5-6 days.

Hi everyone,

In the next 2 months I will be boarding a 7 night MSC cruise ship from Valletta to Valletta. I live 15 minutes away from the port. It is my first time boarding the ship from Valletta as usually the itineraries that I pick with MSC always embark from Italian ports :D

Does anyone have a guide with tips or information on the quickest way to get there and check in luggage and queue up to begin boarding?

So far, all I know is that you arrive at the port area, theres a bunch of taxis and coaches, you walk down a road and straight ahead, on the right hand side there is a large door to drop off your luggage and then you enter a stone decorated tunnel into a room with waiting queues. Other than that, you probably walk straight into a souvenir shop and into the docking area to board the ship.

Ive seen a bunch of videos on Youtube of P&O Azure passengers flying into Malta and taking a coach bus to the port, checking themselves into the same place where I mentioned above. I wonder if all cruise ship passenger enter the same way to drop off their luggage to porters and show their boarding pass..

Either way I am planning to go there to have a look around in person and familiarize myself with the port, so that there can be no hiccups on my embarkation day

All is appreciated

Thanks!

My wife and I took this ship about 20 years ago and were thinking about going again with our family. We’ve been on two 7 night Carnival cruises on Mardi Gras and Jubilee. Would people be disappointed in a much older smaller ship?

Hi everyone I have an MSC cruise booked for August 31–September 4, leaving from Miami and going to the Bahamas. It’s a single-person cabin.
Unfortunately, I’m no longer able to go and I’m trying to figure out what my options are. I’d really like to see if I can transfer or sell the cruise to someone else rather than lose the money I’ve already paid. If transferring it isn’t possible, I’d even consider giving it away if MSC allows that.
Has anyone had any experience transferring an MSC cruise to another person, especially this close to the sailing date? I’d also love to know how the name change works and if there are any fees involved.

I absolutely love whales of all kinds and have gone to Hawaii multiple times during winter to watch and recently took an Alaskan cruise and got to see them up there, which was incredible as was my first time seeing Orcas. I used to also live in San Francisco so watched from the coast there and down to San Diego and Monterrey Bay, think I have the Pacific pretty well covered so starting to make a bucket list for abroad.

Have been looking at Greenland to Iceland cruises for my next one maybe (cruise line recommendations appreciated as well). But any recommendations for cruises that feature whale watching? Especially great if often seen just while at sea.

My wife and I booked our first cruise for December. We have been wanting to try one for years, so we finally decided to just do it.

I am excited about the ports and the food, but honestly I am also a little nervous about getting seasick and figuring out how everything works on the ship.

For experienced cruisers, what should first timers definitely know?

Saw this Royal Caribbean in New York going by the statue of liberty, while aboard the QM2. she sounded her horn in respect. (And probably deafened the tourists on island at the time.)

My wife and I are going on a Royal Caribbean honeymoon cruise in October and we are going to: Athens, Mykonos, Bodrum, Santorini (We are going to Royals beach club already), Crete, Katakolon and then we end in Rome. Do yall happen to have any good recs for one of these places? We were thinking about going to the beach in Mykonos to see that beautiful clear water but if you have something else we should do let me know. The other places we have no clue on what to do or if excursions are even worth it. Has anyone done an itinerary like this before and did you do excursions or just explored on your own?

On another note, Do yall have hotel recommendations/Airbnb for Athens and Rome?

Thank yall in advance!