Your Greatest Cruising Mistake

Mike M · #1 (**permalink**) June 29th, 2010, 07:48 AM

Has anyone ever made a mistake planning, booking or during the cruise that you still look back on and shake your head?

I did. On my very first cruise (1999), before I discovered Cruisemates and other resources, I booked a Royal Suite on Celebrity Mercury. I booked with a large online agency and made my deposit. I began to monitor prices and a month before final payment I saw that the price, on the Celebrity website, had dropped over $500/pp.. I called the agent and asked if I could get that price. She said: "No, that's for new bookings only and your fare is non-refundable." I was disappointed but thought that was the way it was. Little did I know, at that time, that she was flat out lying to me.

As I now know I could have told her to 1. "Go to he**" 2. Cancel the cruise, get a new agent and re-book at the new price.

Though I had a fantastic time on the cruise and it made me fall in love with cruising it left a bad taste in my mouth. I had paid $1,000 more than I should have and that I was duped and lied to by a bad agent.

What mistake have you made?

Take care,
Mike

AF1 · #2 (**permalink**) July 2nd, 2010, 11:43 AM

Can't think of any mistakes. I have to say; getting on the various cruise chat boards helps with not having to make mistakes. I applaud the members of cruisemates for filling me in on the small stuff; stuff you may not have thought about, or just didn't know. Lots of experienced travelers are here to help and for that I am grateful.

johnthed0g · #3 (**permalink**) July 2nd, 2010, 12:15 PM

Going on four cruises with P&O (out of loyalty) for our special year last year & finding out that each ship has exactly the same menu & exactly the same entertainment/shows. Before this I had thought the shows to be wonderful, but when I realised that I saw three different groups of performers do the same shows in the same way down to the off the cuff "ad lib's" we just couldn't face it!

Shelby · #4 (**permalink**) July 2nd, 2010, 02:19 PM

I can't really think of any mistakes, just a few things I'd do differently, but they've all been great cruises.

PumpkinPatches · #5 (**permalink**) July 7th, 2010, 07:47 PM

Not really... I guess my biggest mistake, (although not a huge one!) would just be that I texted so much to my boyfriend back at home!

I think I spent $60 on texting alone!

Kamloops Cruiser · #6 (**permalink**) July 7th, 2010, 08:30 PM

I use mistakes as learning experiences fro our future cruise plans.

katlady · #7 (**permalink**) July 8th, 2010, 03:19 AM

Mexican Rivera cruise in February 2003 we booked an expensive sport fishing shore excursion in Mazatlan. We didn't check to see if that was a good time of year to sport fish. It wasn't

we spent a lot of time on a loud diesel boat with not a single fish taking a bite. This was our fault for not doing each research. That hasn't happened again.

Now I research like a crazy person.

homeatlast · #8 (**permalink**) July 8th, 2010, 08:47 AM

OVERPACKING.....my first cruise I went out and bought all new clothes and formal wear and brought enough on my one week cruise to last a month. Not only was it a bother to bring the large suitcases I brought (have not used them since by the way) but I didn't need over half the stuff. To show you how far I have come, next year on a three week trip to Europe (with a 12 day cruise in the middle) my husband and I are going with only a carryone roller bag each and one backpack. Live and learn.

skymaster · #9 (**permalink**) July 8th, 2010, 02:40 PM

We've done 120 or so cruises over a 40 year period of time, and I honestly had a GREAT time aboard each and every one. True, some were much better than others, but overall, I'd do each and every one over again. (Even the ONE where the drain in our shower backed up, and we got 100% of our money refunded!)

"SKY"

J2Tyco · #10 (**permalink**) July 8th, 2010, 03:20 PM

as someone who has yet to cruise I hope to not have many regrets...but I do already have one...

booking a cruise without first reading message boards like Cruismates

So much I would do differently that at this point in time would be such a pain in the butt to change that we will prob just use this cruise as we intended it to be used as "our PRACTICE cruise"

I am gonna vent about anything that can possibly go wrong WAY in advance and then leave those worries and cares at the airport before we board our plane for San Diego

PumpkinPatches · #11 (**permalink**) July 8th, 2010, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J2Tyco

as someone who has yet to cruise I hope to not have many regrets...but I do already have one...

booking a cruise without first reading message boards like Cruismates

So much I would do differently that at this point in time would be such a pain in the butt to change that we will prob just use this cruise as we intended it to be used as "our PRACTICE cruise"

I am gonna vent about anything that can possibly go wrong WAY in advance and then leave those worries and cares at the airport before we board our plane for San Diego

What would you have done differently?!

IslandLover · #12 (**permalink**) July 9th, 2010, 02:37 PM

The only regret I have is not starting cruising sooner!

J2Tyco · #13 (**permalink**) July 9th, 2010, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PumpkinPatches

What would you have done differently?!

Not booked on Carnival since it seems like its a floating smokers paradise as far as where smoking is permitted and my son has easily triggered asthma--also our room is not fully aft but it is further back on the ship I would have at least tried to be more to the front of the ship to minimize the risk of smoke invading out cabin (still seeing if we can change this at least)

BUT I am trying to just prepare myself and my family--vent this frustration of not being thorough enough before hand to investigate the smoking policy now and then leave these complaints at the airport before we take off for San Diego

so far everything else has been noteworthy and I will hopefully be able to implement a lot of the tips

PumpkinPatches · #14 (**permalink**) July 9th, 2010, 03:43 PM

ohh i see.. i've never sailed with carnival.. just holland america.

i really like that line, i might try princess or celebrity at some point but for now i am quite happy with HAL. it's a good cruiseline if youre not too into patrying or have younger children with you.. its a very mature line and i could see partyers or kids getting very bored on it

green_rd · #15 (**permalink**) July 9th, 2010, 04:57 PM

J2 - I think you may find the Carny is not a "floating smokers paradise". I find it pretty easy to avoid the smokers. Good luck with your cabin swap.

BettyBooper · #16 (**permalink**) July 9th, 2010, 05:27 PM

I've sailed Carnival five times and have never had a problem with smoking. I have asthma and smoke can trigger an attack.

The only times I have noticed it is when I've been in the casino and sitting near some smokers, who were in the smoking section, on the upper deck.

I've never had a problem with smoke on my balcony. Maybe once I got a whiff of it for a second. If that's too much then you do need to look for another cruise line. Then again, there aren't any non-smoking ships that I can think of. Celebrity, Azamara and Oceania are the most restrictive but still have a couple of smoking sections on their ships.

katlady · #17 (**permalink**) July 10th, 2010, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J2Tyco

as someone who has yet to cruise I hope to not have many regrets...but I do already have one...

booking a cruise without first reading message boards like Cruismates

So much I would do differently that at this point in time would be such a pain in the butt to change that we will prob just use this cruise as we intended it to be used as "our PRACTICE cruise"

I am gonna vent about anything that can possibly go wrong WAY in advance and then leave those worries and cares at the airport before we board our plane for San Diego

San Diego was one of my easiest embarkation. The airport is right near the terminal and San Diego is nice. Does your cruise include a stop in La Paz Mexico? That is one of my favorite ports. When you get to port it doesn't look like anything. However, if you take the bus to the beach you will love it. You are on the Sea of Cortez not the Pacific Ocean. The Sea of Cortez is clearer and smoother then the Pacific Ocean.:-D I don't think the smoking is going to be as bad as you think. California has a lot of non smokers and Carnival isn't that much of a smoker's paradise. It's not anything like Europe were there is a lot of smoking. If your children are younger then 30 years old then Celebrity would not be a good choice. It is an older group. I did a Celebrity cruise once way to laid back (boring) for me. Carnival ships have the water slide, the kids club, and a bunch activites in the funtimes. My nephew (9 years old at the time) loved his cruise on the Carnival Freedom.

misguidedangel · #18 (**permalink**) July 11th, 2010, 01:43 PM

I went on two cruises with my mother and one time my niece came with us. I would NOT go on a cruise with my mother EVER!!!!! Considering I barely slept at all cuz when she would fall asleep she would snore right away and ALL F-CKNG NIGHT!!! Sleep was ellusive, as well as if I didn't go to bed at the same time she got *****y and crabby about not being able to sleep f I wasn't there (I was 37 and she 67)...so ya, never got to enjoy the late night deck party or midnight buffet. Also, I was the tour guide, the cheif hand to hold in any port cuz she was so freaked out with each port (something was going to go wrong, mark her words...it never did). I didn't get to enjoy the MDR cuz she didn't like the MDR, in her eyes the buffet food was much better....NOT!!!!!! Heaven forbid I do what I want to do at night...oh no....someone has to hold her hand and guide her around the ship.....c'mon we're on a floating resort and eventually you'll find the bow or stern of the ship, it isn't like a land vacation.....

No, the two cruises were relaxing and fun, for what I could do, but the cruise inbetween when I went myself, man I lived it up--bedtime around midnight (even if I needed to be up at 530am to be off the ship at 7am), MDR everynight, and I was able to go anywhere and everywhere without someone checking where I was!!!!!

blueliner · #19 (**permalink**) July 11th, 2010, 02:38 PM

I haven't really made a cruising mistake, other than waiting so long to get started as a cruiser. I do wish I had done a little more research for our Alaska cruise a few years ago. That was a cruise I personally wasn't looking too much forward to, being a lover of the sun and sand in the Caribbean. However, it turned out to be a great cruise, and probably would have been better had I paid a little more attention in the planning stages. We plan on Cruising to Alaska again some day!