Q: How expensive is it to take a cruise ?
A: Well, it depends on a lot of factors. Three important ones are length of the cruise, time of the year and quality of your room. The cruises are very expensive between Christmas and New Years. The prices are almost double the usual costs. We ended up taking a 3-day cruise to Bahamas. It started on the 25th and ended on the 28th, which is right at the peak season. We took the rooms with a balcony view which are the second most expensive rooms on the cruise. This cost us roughly 500$ a head, for the three days. The cheapest rooms would have cost us about 200$ a head and the most expensive ones are about 1000$ a head, for the three days.
Q: What are the different kinds of cruises ?
A: We took a freestyle cruise. Concisely put. this means that there are no rules on what to wear or how to behave :) Some cruises have more formal dinners where your seating is decided for you. The food is probably better and the service would be more formal. On our cruise, there was free seating, which meant you sat wherever you wished and wore whatever you chose. The entertainment on the cruise was also more informal. I would think this is one of the cheaper cruises. There are more formal cruises, that would also charge you more. Then there are specialty cruises, like the Disney cruises which are much more expensive, but surely have a better experience. If you are a first timer, and are not sure on which one to take, I recommend the Norwegian Cruise Line as it was good for the money. There are some Desi cruises, which are more tuned for people from the sub-continent. I think these are called masalacruises. You get lots of Indian food on these cruises and the entertainment shows are also by Indian performers. If you are planning to take parents with you, this is probably a much better option. Of course, these are more expensive and I dont know too many other details on them.
Q: What does your room cost include ?
A: That is a very good question, the answer to which I found out on the cruise. I think this answer varies from cruise to cruise. For the cruise that we took, the room cost included free food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) from some restaurants. It also included some free entertainment shows on the cruise. It of course included the room and its maintenance. The room had a TV and an attached bathroom. The cruise provided towels, bathroom accessories (soaps, shampoos etc), and sheets and beach towels, pretty much like a regular hotel in the US.
Q: What do you mean food from some restaurants is free ?
A: Well, there were some restaurants on this cruise that charged a cover of around 10$ to enter the restaurant. We had about 10 restaurants on the cruise. 3 of them had no such charge. You had free unlimited food on these three restaurants. One of these 3 restaurants was a buffet too. It was open from 6 in the morning till 12:00 in the night! The other two had more formal seating and ordering from the menu. However, the food was free once again. You can choose to leave a tip if you want. If you are cheap like me, go to the buffet. The food was better, and you did not have to leave a tip :)
Q: I am vegetarian/vegan/diabetic. Can I get something to eat other than salads ?
A: Again, this depends from cruise to cruise. If you can not live without Indian food, please do the masalacruises. Our cruise had at least one Indian dish at every meal. Even then, I cannot recommend this to anyone who survive only on Indian food. I saw a lot of Indian parents on this trip and my sympathies are with them. They would have certainly had something to eat, but they would not have enjoyed it as much. The buffet had quite a few vegetarian and vegan food items. There was the salad bar, which had fruits in addition to regular salad items. Then there was a vegetable stir fry, a veggie burger with condiments, different kinds of breads and cheeses, some form of fried potatoes, one rice based Indian dish, one Indian curry, some pastries and a lot of desserts. The desserts were mostly mousse based and if you are sweet-toothed like me you would not care for them. There was a crepe station and a chocolate fondue place too. So yeah, a lot of reliable food but nothing mind-blowing as such. The breakfast had omelets, pancakes, bagels, french toast, cut fruits, waffles pretty much the usual stuff. One thing I have to mention is that the service was awesome. I know its a buffet and a lot of cheap people like me show up. However, the crew greeted everyone nicely. There were at least 15-20 people hanging around the area, happy to answer questions. The people behind the buffet tables answered questions about the food very well, pointing out the vegetarian and vegan dishes. They also had sugar free desserts and vegan desserts.
Q: What are these free activities on the cruise ?
A: There is a ton of free stuff to do on the cruise. You can identify what is free by asking the crew members, who are ubiquitous! The top most floor on the cruise is an open deck. It had a basketball/volleyball court, two pools, two big hot tubs, bunch of ping pong tables, some golf cages, a lot of beach chairs to just sit and relax and a dance floor. The other floors have a gym, a jogging track, a place to play Wii, an art gallery, a play room for the kids and a two-storeyed theater that showed some free shows. I know it does not sound like much, but between all of these there was not a single minute that we got bored. The other activities where you can pay if you like are the casino, a video arcade, a gift shop,a spa, and some paid shows.
Q: Will I get sea-sick on the cruise ?
A: The short answer is no, you won't. This is a huge ship. It is about 11 floors tall and more wider than that. It rocks a bit in the sea but it is largely stable. You can notice the motion of the ship, but it is not enough to make you sick. If you are in doubt, try a 3-day cruise like us. If you want to minimize the motion of the ship, stick to the center of the ship. If your room is closer to the middle of the ship, you dont feel much of the motion. Again, the motion you feel is much lesser compared to what you feel in an airplane or a train. However, it is rhythmic and I can see that causing some uneasiness to people.
Q: Does the atmosphere feel stale in the cruise ? I mean you are at sea, and the room probably gets moist.
A: Actually, the cruise did a wonderful job of maintaining the humidity levels. The rooms had air-conditioning and I bet they had a dehumidifier too. The weather was humid but nothing that was too severe, at least this time of the year. The rooms felt fresh and clean and I could not smell anything stale, during my stay. This was one thing I was not sure about, but I can say with good confidence that you would not feel uncomfortable with the humidity.
Q: You went in December ? Wasn't it cold at sea ? Could you even go outdoors ?
A: Ladies and Gentlemen, when you are at sea, you have the best weather! At 1200 in the night, you might feel a slight chill that warrants a full sleeve clothing. But other times, you can walk around in shorts and flip-flops and not feel a thing! The weather was perfect. It was more than perfect. It was neither hot nor too cold. I can completely see why this is considered the peak season. We were on the top most deck of the ship, in open weather for most of the time, and did not get cold at all.
Q: Do you have to get a visa to go to the Bahamas, or any other island ? Does the cruise take care of this ?
A: Yes, you do need a visa to go to the Bahamas, or to any other island outside US. The cruise does not automatically take care of this. You are expected to apply for your visa and be ready before you board the ship. Each destination has its own procedures for the visa. The Bahamas visa requirements are pretty low. It cost us 55$ a head. We got our visa within4 weeks of applying. You need to have your cruise booked before you can apply for the visa which is a bit strange. However, the odds of getting rejected for the visa are low.
Q: What do you do when you get to the island ? Do the cruise people guide you on where to go and what to do ? Can I do my own thing and not stick with the cruise people ?
A: You can do whatever you want when you get to the island. The cruise offers some packages for activities on the islands, but you are under no obligation to take those. The only advantage of taking packages through the cruise is that you are guaranteed to finish your activity and return to your cruise on time. If you take an activity on your own on the island, make sure you finish it on time to return to your cruise before it leaves for the next destination in the evening. You can also choose to not leave the cruise ship. I cant see why you would like to do that, but you can choose to stay on the ship and laze around in your room, just watching TV, or go to the buffet, or play at the casino. If you get down to the island, you can choose to just walk around there and explore the city on your own. You can also just sit at the beach and play in the water. Again, nothing set in stone.
Q: What does it cost for these activities at the island ? What are my options ?
A: Again, speaking for this trip to Bahamas, there are a lot of water-related activities. You can do parasailing, snorkeling, underwater adventures, swimming with sharks, swimming with dolphins, boat tours, cab rides of the city, and other touristy things. They can cost anywhere from 30$ to 200$ depending on the kind of activity. We did parasailing for 80$ and an underwater sub-adventure for 130$. I strongly recommend the under-water sub adventure. If you are like me, you will remember this experience for a long long time!
Q: I have kids/parents with me. Should I take them with me, on the cruise ? Isn't the cruise mostly adult themed ?
A: I saw lots of desi parents and desi kids on the cruise. There are some activities on the cruise that are adult themed. But, you are warned in advance about these, and there are too few of them, for you to worry. You can have a lot of fun, with the family-themed entertainment as well. I think desi parents had a lot of fun, just taking in the atmosphere.
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