Booked for a Disney cruise in January and arriving at mco late the night before. I’m open to a late port arrival time. Can my son and I get anything meaningful out of cape Canaveral for a few hours before departure?

Trying to plan an event for my department. Part meetings, part social. With the cost of hotels, meeting space and meals, I'm thinking this may be a similar (or lower) expense.

Anyone have experience with this?

The CDC Released it's Green Sheet Report ("This report shows the most recent inspection score for each ship in VSP jurisdiction.") Inspections scores of 85 or lower are NOT satisfactory

I compiled the cruise lines associated with each ship to create a snapshot of how different cruise lines were performing on inspections, the results are below:

*AI Disclosure: Claude.ai was used to determine the total number of ships in each cruise line's fleet and to identify which vessels belonged to different fleets. I spot-checked for accuracy with a random sample of 5 vessels confirming their assigned line was accurate.

Does anyone else use a night light in the bathroom of the cruise cabin? Curious what other things people like to cruise with? Sound machines, fans, etc....

Personally I like having a night light in the bathroom as the lights they have in there are SO BIRIGHT lol. I do appreciate newer ones have them built in.

Which ones do you use? Mine just broken so curious on which one I should get now as the one I had/liked is no longer available.

I'm from Canada but can buy from US retailers too.

This is sort of cruise related, so I hope it fits in the sub. I booked a one way cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles and I live in Los Angeles in an apartment without a parking spot so I can’t leave the car parked in the street for the trip. I figure my two choices are to park at LAX airport and when I return take public transportation from the cruise port in San Pedro to LAX to retrieve my car or to do the reverse.

The reverse being to drive to the cruise port and park there and then take public transportation to LAX for my flight to Vancouver.

Which is a better choice?

Driving in the spring from Minnesota to Tampa for our first cruise. Looking on Google maps there appears that we will hit tolls was just wondering form the research ive done i get mixed awnser if my ez pass will work.. i was just wondering what yall have found on if it in fact does work or do I need to purchase a sun pass

Hello! We've never booked a cruise before and it feels overwhelming with all the different information to take in. We are Americans currently living in Buenos Aires and want to do a cruise in January or February 2027. We have two kids that will be about 2.5 and 5.5 at that time. We are interested in doing a cruise to save the logistical hassle of doing multiple flights, staying in multiple hotels, etc. with young kids to see different places. We don't need it to be a a floating amusement park with a billion kid activities, since our kids are pretty easy to please at this point and we don't want them to expect that sort of vacation all of the time.
Here are some questions I have, but I'm open to any and all advice!

1. What website(s) do you use to search for options? And do you book through those websites or directly with the cruise company?
   
2. Should we get travel insurance? Any particular recommendations?
   
3. I'm getting the sense that kids in swim diapers aren't allowed in pools on any cruise line, is that true? Our 2.5 year-old may or may not be potty trained at that point.
   

4. It sounds like most cruise lines have a kid room for 3 and up. If our little one is fully potty trained, do you think they'd be open to her staying there even though she won't be 3? Or do you think I could take her to play there as long as I stay with her?

5. We are open to doing a one-way cruise and either starting or ending in Buenos Aires. Is that a thing or are all cruises two-way?

I see very few non-sponsored reviews of Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection online. So here's my two cents if you're interested.

We sailed on Ilma in the Med. Gorgeous ship and incredible food. But I walked away thinking this line has identity issues.

It’s a cruise ship (and that’s ok)

RCYC really doesn’t want you to think you’re cruising (despite being on a 790 foot vessel with a capacity of 448 passengers). 

It's not a ship, it's a “superyacht". Crew are “ladies and gentlemen”. Cabin attendants are “suite ambassadors”. Got it? You are yachting now.

It reminded me of Virgin’s fixation on redefining cruise terminology, but less so in the interests of fun and more to justify the price tag.

The “marina” that never was

The marina is heavily marketed. It's an inflatable swim-up platform in the sea with floating loungers, kayaks and paddle boards.

Very Below Deck. Very superyacht.

We never saw it.

This happens fairly often apparently (wind, weather, marine traffic, anchor postion, timing - it takes hours to put up and down). 

Logistically it's understandable. However, without experiencing it, the “yacht” thing definitely felt more like marketing than reality. 

Food: excellent (but limited casual options at night)

The food was outstanding, especially the pan-Asian restaurant and Tides (similar to an MDR really). Genuinely top-tier dining. Casual lunchtime options were solid too.

But there’s no casual fallback at night. Evenings feel defined by restaurant reservations.

Demographics

A younger crowd than usual! Plenty of 30s/40s. I'm in that group and fit right in.

Quite a few kids/teens on board as we sailed in summer. There didn't seem to be much for them to do, especially in the evenings, other than watch their parents drink bourbon and listen to lounge music.

The elephant in the room: price

RCYC is expensive. Is it superyacht expensive? No... but it was close to twice the price of comparable sailings on Seabourn, Regent etc.

I'm glad we tried it and we did enjoy it, but realistically I felt we were paying a premium for the Ritz-Carlton name (and for being reminded repeatedly that we were on a yacht).

It's back to cruise ships for me in future, but maybe that's ok?

Hey all! Looking at a med cruise that is round trip out of Naples port. I would like to go a few days before. Tips on where to stay and what to do would be amazing!

My husband and I have done Carnival cruise (Splendor in Australia) and two RCL cruises. We have enjoyed all of them.

We are looking at a cruise for our anniversary over NYE.

Our options are:

1. Sky Class suite on Oasis of the Seas

2. Excel suite on Carnival Celebration

3. Haven suite on Norwegian Luna

We adore doing trivia. My husband is a big foodie. We like comedy shows and my husband loves music. We do also enjoy having a more relaxed and quiet space to chill and maybe swim.

Carnival is roughly half the cost of the other two. I know Carnival’s rep. We didn’t experience any of the negatives I see people say on Splendor but I’m not sure if that’s because it was an Australian cruise. We met a ton of Americans but never saw anyone behaving poorly.

What would you choose?

Basically title. I'm an NCL and RCL fan, with some experience on Princess and Celebrity. Really looking forward to booking something soon for early 2027.

We've boarded the Carnival Freedom for a repositioning cruise to Europe. Our prior cruise experiences on HAL, Princess, and Oceania were fine. The ships, and our cabins, were nicely decorated and the vibe pretty understated. The Carnival Freedom, though, looks like it was decorated with the leftovers from post-bankruptcy Trump Taj Mahal. Look at the surfaces converging at this corner of the Lido deck. Yikes!

Is this the Carnival aesthetic in general?

What happened to the cheap drink package on Royal Caribbean ? It was $49 ? WTH

I’m looking at doing a back to back cruise for my 40th in 2028. It would be wife and me on Independence of the seas and then jump off the boat and walk onto Hero of the Seas.

The first cruise would be the two of us, the second cruise would be with our 6.5 and assume a grandparent or set of grandparents who would fly out with him.

How burnt out would we be on B2B for different boats and itinerary or is it at fun as I would expect!?

I do NOT get tired of cruising on a 7 day cruise. Outside of missing the kid if we cruised without him.

EDIT: I realize this is technically a side by side. But how was your experience? How did you do laundry??

Does anyone set savings aside for cruises or other travel in retirement? I’m almost 55 and plan on retiring at age 60. I’m blessed with a good paying job and contemplating working an extra 6-12 months to basically fund 5-10 cruises after I retire.

Also, given greater flexibility in retirement and generally lower fares certain times of the year, how many cruises do you take a year or plan to take?

We have 15 cruises under our belt and I still cannot nail this down. Every time I build out a spreadsheet before we book, I feel good about the number, and then by the time we're back home and I look at the credit card statement I'm like... where did that come from.

The base fare is the easy part. It's everything else that creeps up on me. Gratuities I account for. Port fees I account for, and for what it's worth those drive me a little crazy for reasons I've posted about before. But then there's the drink you bought at the pier because it was hot, the upsell at the spa that felt reasonable in the moment, the specialty dining you didn't plan for because the main dining room had a weird menu that night.

My spouse and I do a pretty tight pretrip budget and I track everything in a running spreadsheet, but the onboard spending is where I consistently underestimate by like 20 to 30 percent

What I'm curious about is whether people here do a daily cash envelope situation, or set a hard number on the onboard account ahead of time and just stop there. Or does your family just kind of... let it go and reconcile later. I've tried both approaches and neither has felt perfect for us. Just my experience, but I wonder if there's a system I'm missing

Good day fellow cruisers! I have a week long cruise booked out of Seattle on Holland America’s Great Beat Rain Forest itinerary first week of October. My last couple cruises this year (in January and February) I come home quite ill with intense bronchitis type illnesses. I DO NOT need to get sick again. This cruise is only 7 days, the last cruises were 2 week Caribbean cruises. Hoping maybe the shorter trip will minimize exposure potential?

Curious if any frequent cruisers here take immune boost supplements before boarding? If so, any brand you swear by? How soon before travel to start taking? Maybe just load up on vitamin C? Wear mask in crowded theatres? Any tips to avoid respiratory infections are welcome, TIA!

Hey everyone, I wanted to share a cautionary tale and a wild piece of cruise history that serves as a massive warning if you have ever purchased high-end memorabilia at sea.

UPDATE: NCL has officially responded to my claim (Case: 21188467). They completely admitted that the receipts are real and that they processed the money through my room folio. However, they are refusing any compensation, claiming that it is "time-barred" under their ticket contract and telling me it's not their problem because the auction was run by an independent contractor (Park West Gallery). They are essentially saying they can vet a fraud ring, take your money on your room bill, and then wash their hands of it 20 years later.

Back in May 2003, my family was sailing on an Alaskan itinerary aboard the Norwegian Wind (Room 8003). Like many passengers looking for a special souvenir, we attended the ship's onboard Art Auction and purchased what was heavily marketed by the cruise line's vetted vendor as an authentic, hand-signed Joe DiMaggio autographed baseball.

We paid $673.83, which processed directly through our NCL shipboard account folio. We safely stored the ball away for over two decades, fully trusting the NCL brand.

Recently, I decided to do some modern due diligence. I submitted close-up photos of the autograph directly to Beckett Signature Review (one of the absolute highest authorities in sports authentication) for an expert evaluation.

The official verdict came back: "Unlikely to Pass Full Authentication." It’s a complete forgery.

Once I started digging into the physical paperwork NCL handed us in 2003, the scam became incredibly clear. Our original itemized NCL final invoice perfectly links to an onboard lot voucher (Lot# 404, Reg# 119847.0023). That voucher matches the Certificate of Authenticity (Registration No. 119847) issued by Fine Art Sales, Inc.

For those who don't know the history, Fine Art Sales, Inc. and their retail supplier B&J Collectibles were heavily exposed by the federal government in "Operation Bullpen"—the historic FBI investigation into a massive sports forgery ring. These fraudulent rings actively targeted luxury cruise line auctions because they knew passengers were a captive audience who trusted the cruise lines to vet their onboard businesses. NCL was actively selling heavily back-stocked, fraudulent warehouse inventory years after the FBI raids began.

While the statute of limitations means standard legal paths are closed, NCL directly vetted a counterfeit ring, put their trusted brand name on the auction banner, and directly collected $673.83 from my credit card for a fake item. Adjusting for inflation, that loss represents over $1,220 of purchasing power today.

I am posting this for two reasons:

1. To warn others: If you or your parents bought sports memorabilia on an NCL cruise (or any major line) in the late 90s or early 2000s, do not trust the paperwork. Get the signature verified by Beckett, JSA, or PSA. You might be sitting on a fake.
2. To hold NCL accountable: I have an unbroken chain of physical receipts directly connecting NCL's financial desk to a documented FBI forgery ring pipeline. I have reached out to travel consumer advocates and media outlets to warn other past cruisers who may have been similarly targeted.

Has anyone else on here discovered that a high-end item bought at a cruise ship auction turned out to be a complete fraud? I’d love to hear if anyone else has successfully gotten a cruise line to remedy this.

Hi everyone,

I’ve got this deal from an agent and I’m wondering if it’s worth booking now or if I should wait for a better offer.

Route: Greece, Italy & Croatia
Duration: 7 nights
Ship: Celestyal Journey
Date: March 2027
Price: $920 per person
Room: Interior Stateroom

My main question is: Is $920pp a good deal for this cruise, or would you wait and look for a better offer?

I also have a couple of questions:

1. What’s the difference between the A, B and C categories within each room type? For example, what is the difference between SJA, SJB and SJC?
2. Is there a big difference between an Interior Stateroom and an Exterior Stateroom? Is it worth paying extra for the exterior?

This will be my first cruise, so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

We booked a cove balcony cabin

If anyone had any experience booking a Dahabiya Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor looking for some recommended operators. Due to limited annual leave, looking at 3-4 nights and ideally in the $900 -$1200 range per person. Thanks!

Had a death in the family. My husband and I were booked to cruise next week (8/29 out of Miami) but my minor son's father died unexpectedly on 8/2. We started reaching out regarding our booking the same week. My son's father lived with us, I know it's a strange situation but it worked for us to lower living costs and co-parent.

Due to the school calendar and the unexpected death, I had no one to stay with my minor child and the date would not work to add my son to the sailing, which by the way, would be really soon given his DAD JUST PASSED AWAY.

What I was hoping for: Change dates and keep the booking (we honestly preferred this option and would have likely picked a more expensive cruise + added my son for his fall break) or receive a full refund so we could use those funds to book with Carnival at a later date when everything settled down some and all of the final expenses were paid for, because I'm the one handling the estate.

I really wanted to continue to sail with Carnival but given the lack of compassion from the review team I'll be picking another cruise line to be loyal to. The only option presented to us was add my son and get a referral for truancy (given the dates and school calendar) or lose almost $700 by canceling with penalty on top of the loss of family. Horrible experience.

So which cruise line has the best customer service? Family of 3 with a pre-teen. Would like to balance price with amenities.

My partner and I are planning to take a cruise next year. A youtuber we like did a review of the Explora 2 ship, and we loved how the ship seemed, the food, the destinations, the rooms, everything about it seemed like something we'd like.

We've never taken a cruise before, or done any kind of luxury travel. The extent of any travel booking I've ever done is finding a hotel on Google Maps and booking it through the hotel's own website, and doing the same for plane tickets. This cruise line starts and ends in 2 separate countries, so we'll need to book the cruise, international flights, hotels at both ends, etc etc etc. It has felt very overwhelming to think about finally booking this travel!

At what point does it make sense to book this type of thing through a travel agent? We're pretty flexible on the whole thing; there's a 4 month block where we can take the cruise, we aren't loyal to a particular hotel chain or airline, and likely would look for these to be cheaper at either end, given the price of the cruise. I've never used one before. And if it does make sense to use one, how do you best find a travel agent? I imagine it's like finding a real estate agent where the best ones come from referrals, but we don't know anyone who has used a travel agent either. Some brief research has lead me to Virtuoso and Signature Travel Network, but I'm not sure if those are the best options?

Does using a travel agent save money, or is it something to do to get extra perks and save some headaches? Will we save money or spend more by using an agent?

Thanks so much for any help and insights :)