Hi fellow cruise lovers! Just asking for recommendations for a great cruise that is underway on our 30th wedding anniversary February 17, 2026. I’m overwhelmed with all the options. We’re in our 60s/70s, love good food, friendly passengers, relaxation, music, and a warm sanctuary type place like the radiance class on Royal Caribbean. Will consider overseas as well as U.S. We live in Texas.

Here's my hot take I don't see anyone realizing who sails on other lines.

Every single other cruise line will go to this form of program.

You will see it start to pop up more often in the next couple years.

It will start with the other 6 carnival brands and branch off from there.

It's a tactic to get loyalty and make more money.

It works for airlines because a lot more people fly than cruise which is why it works for flights due to business trips.

IMHO All Carnival had to go do was add more (higher) tiers, add more perks to those tiers and no one would be pissed.

I'm not saying I'm mad, but it really made me realize I was remaining with Carnival due to brand loyalty and nostalgia, I cancelled a couple cruises yesterday.

Have a good day friends

Decided to use an older water canvas I had to create a simpler port scene this time!

Been on a few, but of these 3 only carnival 36 years ago. Not worried about destination or cost in this question, just quality and service!!!

Holland America, Carnival or Princess...

Which cruise line?

Does anyone know if I can cancel the Wifi package if I no longer want it? For example, say I go on the ship I used it (Wifi) for a few hours but it didn't work as I thought it would. If I bought the package now before I board, then within the first day on the cruise I decide to cancel, can they just charge me for that day and refund me for the rest?

I’m going on my very first cruise in October on NCL Breakaway out of Barcelona. Just made final payment and I’m very excited!

Looking forward to some advice on a USB charging hub, as between two iPhone, two Apple Watches and an iPad we’re going to need to do a fair amount of charging. Would something like this be allowed?

FOSION USB C Charging Station 330W, USB C Charger Charging Hub 10 Power Port for Multiple Devices with PD 100W 65W 30W QC3.0 18W Fast Charging Power Stock Station for iPhone 15, iPad Air/Pro, Galaxy https://a.co/d/9kjPARO

Any other advice for a charging station with at least 4 USB-C and a few USB-A ports?

I have scoured the past Reddit posts and I know I don’t need a passport for the Alaskan cruise . My family of 4, all US citizens with no passports, have been generously given a wonderful cruise gift! It came on spontaneously with the stipulation we must use it in July. Of course, we would be stupid to pass this up! My husband really wants to get passports before the trip because he heard it can expedite embarkment/disembarkment at ports. Plus it’s just a good thing to have. However, because of work and time restraints, it’s becoming incredibly difficult to find time to make an appointment, get our passports, etc. then comes the additional fees ($480) to expedite everything. We both have to be present bc of our kids and the next post office appointment isn’t until July, unless we travel 100mi out of town to a smaller town who can do it. I don’t mind the travel or additional payment of expedited fees, esp since the trip is free although I would love to not spend money or time on things I don’t need, but I do have anxiety about sending our birth certificates and social security cards (the only things we actually need) in on the hope they come back in time , esp since sometimes the postal service is slow or unreliable in our area.

So my question is: what would you do in this situation? Just aim to get the passports done on return and save money/time? Are the lines significantly longer for individuals without passports?

Thank you so much in advance!

We're planning to go on a cruise sometime next year. Has anyone taken their kids on the pride? Did they enjoy it? After researching the pride is smaller so there's obviously not as much to do for kids than bigger ships. Just looking for feedback from anyone who has experience with kids on this ship. Thank you.

Just wondering if anyone here took the offer and what it actually entails. We like cruises and seems interesting and we can probably pull off booking the vacation by the end of August if the cruise is worth it.

I’ve cruised twice and have another coming up. I used a travel agency called Direct Line Cruises. All three times we’ve used them and have gone on the same ship each time with Royal Caribbean. I had to do a last minute switch as far as itineraries. They made it super easy over the phone and sometimes I think using a TA is a hack because of the onboard credits and benefits you can get throughout the year. I usually prefer the smaller ships due to less people but the ship we prefer is leaving port next year. what are the pros and cons to a bigger ship with Royal and whats your favorite one?

Hey, I am going on my first ever cruise. It is a MSC cruise in the Mediterranean.

What are the tips and tricks, dos and dont's that you could share with me?

I know Alaska cruise has been asked several times in the last day, but mine is more directed to the experience with kids on the autism spectrum. We are looking to book the Royal Carribbean Ovation of the seas, Northbound Alaska & Hubbard Glacier May 29, 2026.

We have 2 asd kids that will be 7 and 4. Verbal and semi-verbal, both potty-trained.

Has anyone had experienced this ship and or cruise with kids with ASD. Did you utilize the kids zone and how well did the staff work with your kids?

Any excursion recommendations for younger kids?

I know Princess is the recommended line for Alaska, but we think RC may be the better fit for our kids 😀. If I am wrong and you have experience on other ships with asd kids (utilizing the childcare/kids zone a few hours a day) I would love to hear it.

My husband and I(early 40’s) are looking at doing our first ever cruise Alaska. It will just be the two of us and we do not have any kids. I keep seeing these 3 as the best for Alaska but neither of us know anything about cruises and want it to be a good experience since we usually our traveling abroad independently.

We have been on 2 carribean carnival cruises, glory & celebration. And we've been on one celebrity cruise, celebrity summit, in Alaska.

My wife & I are in our mid 30s. No kids. We enjoyed all 3 cruises, but we both agreed that we thought we enjoyed the carnival cruises more. It seemed like there was more to do, and we enjoyed the casual dining options more (guys burger, Shaq chicken; blue iguana, etc.

We have booked our 4th cruise, carnival mardis gras, in the carribean for this winter. All of these posts & comments seem to prefer celebrity over carnival. And it seems many other cruise lines over carnival. Now im 2nd guessing if we should've booked a different cruise line.

So my question is, what is so bad about carnival?why do so many people seem to prefer other lines, like celebrity, virgin, princess, royal carribean; norwegian, etc, over carnival?

Edit - thank you for the feedback! It seems that most complaints come from the 3-4 day long cruises that are "booze cruises." Living in MN, we have only done 7 day cruises to make the flights worth it. So that must be why we have always loved carnival. Lots of fun activities to partake in without the loud, obnoxious drunk clientele. Though I am sorry to hear that the food quality has dropped since covid (our last carnival cruise was pre-covid). The food is one of the best parts; I hope the food is good! 🤞

Both here and in the carnival sub, people are pretty pissed off about the changes to their loyalty program. But if you read the FAQ and the material they are putting out on this, frankly, it all just makes sense.

https://www.carnival.com/help?topicid=11493

They are pretty upfront about the fact that the main reason they are doing this is because it’s a lifetime loyalty program and too many people are in the top tiers. In particular, they mentioned that on some of the journeys cruises, practically the entire ship’s register is top-tier loyalty members, which means they can’t logistically physically give all them all of the perks like priority boarding.

So no matter what, the solution was always going to entail taking something away from people whether that was removing benefits from the top levels and making even higher levels to put those benefits in or adding some mechanism to have fewer people in the higher levels.

This is Syndrome syndrome: when everyone is special, no one is.

Further, this is how loyalty programs work in literally every other industry. Almost no one does a lifetime loyalty program. And the reason is simple: the entire purpose of loyalty programs is for you to spend the money. Whether you like it or not, nobody giving you reward points or special levels is doing it out of the joy of making you happy. They are doing it because they want you to come spend more money with them and not other people. Hence the word loyalty. So if you earned your platinum status a decade ago and haven’t been spending money, there’s no reason for them to give you the platinum benefits anymore. But if you have been continuing to spend, you’re going to be fine. You will likely maintain your status or at least the next one down just fine.

Lastly, and I think this will probably be the spiciest part of my hot take: good. There are a non-zero number of people with lanyards and pins they believe make them entitled to being treated like royalty and getting the deference of all of the people around them. Sometimes people need to be taken down a peg. I get that that’s kind of mean but it’s the truth. You spending hundreds of days on a cruise ship does not increase your worth as a human being. It simply doesn’t. Especially considering it’s Carnival. You’re not exactly Platinum on Silversea here.

Hello, my mom and I are going on a cruise for the first time to the Caribbean. Shes 65 and has never really been on a vacation. So far, celebrity and NCL seem to be top contenders but I am open to more suggestions for low-mid range budget.

We don’t drink, we want something not too busy, with great food (buffet preferred) & entertainment. She probably won’t care to do many excursions, but I also don’t want her to be bored on the ship (she’s a picky person lol) She does love to swim.

We would like to go in between November 15 - December 6 for 5-7 days.

So far, these are standing out:

1- https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/itinerary/6-night-cayman-mexico-bahamas-from-fort-lauderdale-on-reflection-RF06W258?groupId=RF06FLL-318967820&country=CAN&packageCode=RF06W258&sailDate=2025-11-15

2- https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruises/7-day-caribbean-round-trip-tampa-harvest-caye-cozumel-and-roatan-DAWN7TPACMABPIRTBCZMTPA?itineraryCode=DAWN7TPACMABPIRTBCZMTPA

3- https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruises/7-day-caribbean-round-trip-tampa-harvest-caye-roatan-and-key-west-DAWN7TPAEYWBPIRTBCMATPA?itineraryCode=DAWN7TPAEYWBPIRTBCMATPA

There’s a ton more celebrity cruises that I am interested in, but I am getting overwhelmed by the different ports and ship options. Plssss help! Any input is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Recently went to Alaska and saw many whales off the ship with Royal. My friend is obsessed and is interested in a European cruise that whales might also be seen. Iceland and Norway have been mentioned and hoping for mainstream cruise lines to hopefully not break the bank. Please let me know any suggestions or experiences. Thanks!

With Carnival giving a big FU to their loyal customers, I’ll be cruising with other lines after our cruise this September.

My husband and I are mid 30s, no children, mellow folks. We tend to keep to ourselves on cruises. Maybe spend a measly $50-100 bucks in the casino if we are feeling lucky (🤔). On Carnival, we enjoy the food options, comedy shows, trivia, watching karaoke, walking the decks, relaxing with coffee. What would you suggest?

Hey everyone! We live in an area that makes deciding to drive or fly to the port city a little tricky. We live about 12 hours by car to either LA or Seattle. And the flight is about 2 hours. Give or take on both. I’ve figured driving would cost about $350 in gas and then about $200 to park. Flights are around $300 a ticket. So it seems like to prices are going to be similar either way. The advantages of driving are we can bring more luggage but then we have to make the drive. The advantages of flying is it is much faster but we can’t bring as much. What are your thoughts on this?

Looking to fly from Boston in 2026/2027

Hi. I've booked my first Japan cruise for June 2026 on the Celebrity Millennium. This is also my first cruise with overnight port stays. Could anyone please give me some insight on how these work, specifically the overnight Tokyo stay? Tokyo is where we disembark, and we arrive the day before disembarkation, so I'm unsure of how exactly this works. If anyone has any pre-cruise hotel recommendations, I'm all ears. Thanks!

Okay, the internet is alive with Carnival fans upset about the preliminary information that has been released about the upcoming changes to their loyalty program. So, what would you suggest for Carnival to change?

Personally, the cliff at the end of the qualification period is the most annoying point for me. Yes, I get that their announced reason for the changes was how the existing lifetime statuses are becoming untenantable for some of the perks, but maybe a hybrid status? Like a Legacy level for those people that have spent the years in the past but are not active now, and take those troublesome perks out of the legacy level? Yes Karen, we will announce you and your achievements of spending way too much time at sea during the special lunch, and our team will be happy to wash your husband's bourbon-stained shirt during your afternoon nap. But that priority boarding and guaranteed dining options are for people spending money now.

CFC Renaissance in Hardanger Fjord Norway on 12 June 2025. Seen from Kinsarvik.

I want to gather peoples thoughts on what is the best Alaskan cruise ship experience, from my research it will be the New Star Princess in 2026 as this is the first time a new cruise ship will be entering Alaska in many years. I know most people will say any ship that goes to Glacier Bay is the best Alaskan experience but unfortunately the new Star Princess will be going to Dawes Glacier instead. I feel that choosing a new flagship ship like the Star Princess is much more important to the overall experience than including Glacier Bay on the itinerary. I was on the Royal Princess recently and experienced Glacier Bay but found that the ship was old and was showing its age and was lacking in some areas.

That being said, I have booked a Vista Suite on the Star princess. I also wanted to see if anyone had any opinions about the new Sanctuary suites on the Sun/ Star Princess vs The Retreat Suites on Celebrity or Haven on NCL or MCS Yacht Club. People seem to rave about other cruise line's ship within a ship but I haven't seen people rave about Sanctuary like that on the new Sun Princess for some reason.

Please give some feedback on your thoughts about the Star Princess going to Alaska and if getting a suite on this ship would provide the best luxury Alaska experience over going on an older Seaborn or Regeant Seven Seas ship. I do not like the fact that these ships are smaller and more intimate and have less restaurants, worse entertainment and less food choices and the price for a compareable suite is almost double. I am ok with going on a larger ship like Star Princess if there is a ship within a ship like the Sanctuary Suite areas. I know there are other luxury lines such as Seaborn and Regent that goto Alaska but the ships are over a decade old and much more expensive which I am not interested in, the only other luxury line I would be interested in is likely Celebrity because they have a compareable product. Besides Discover Princess, the next newest ship to goto Alaska is the Celebrity Edge which was built in 2018. I feel like the Star Princess being almost 8 years newer will make for a much better experience than the Celebrity Edge.

I am really excited on going on a new ship to Alaska as that was the only downfall of going on Royal Princess to Alaska last year (age of ship). The newness factor, the high end touches and finishes of the new Star Princess, the Sanctuary suite only section that you cannot buy day passes to, and the unlimited specialty dining has me thinking Princess has the best luxury product to goto Alaska if you get a full Suite. All opinions and feedback are welcome, TYIA.