I am taking one with my wife and kids out of Galveston coming up in September to Cozumel. It is on one of the refurbished Holiday ships. Have any of you taken this cruise or have been on one of these “Holiday” ships?
Oh and any other advice about cruises or what you thought would come in handy too. Thanks. Inotherwords are they worth the money?
Microbug and I took one about six years ago. It was a lot of fun, and the food was pretty darn good. Being on a ship is a very different experience for this landlubber.
Every night at dinner (you’ll probably have assigned dinner seating, like we did), the wives all talked about all the things they’d done during the day- while all the husbands talked about how many naps they’d gotten in while our wives had all the fun.
There’s literally so much to do that it’s exhausting. I was SO glad for it to be over, even though I had a great time.
I’ve been advising all of my single male friends to take a cruise- there were so many attractive, wealthy, single women on that ship. 
One of our ports was Cozumel. It just plain rocks. Really cheap, very friendly, and great swimming. We did a snorkeling excursion there, and loved it. We ended up going back for a week to one of the resorts there, and did a lot of diving. It ended up being a lot cheaper than the cruise, and we had more fun.
Cruises are nice once, but I don’t want to take another one. Still, it’s an experience.
Thanks lightnin’,
So you think it was worth it huh? I paid like $1,600 for me, my wife and my to kids for 4 days/nights?
Did you have enough time in Cozumel to dive and see some of the sights? I think we get there at 10am and split at 5pm.
I took one once, to Cozumel (and a couple of other places).
Bring a book.
There’s a lot of down time on a ship, so if that’s what you’re into, then great. But if you prefer action, there’s very little going on by day on the ship. Except for the casino, that is. At night, things really get hopping.
Sign up for any and all little extra excursions they offer; they’ll most definitely offer a diving excursion at Cozumel. I don’t know what the rules are for bringing your own gear and diving on your own; check with your travel agent.
Yes, it’s worth it.
Bring a book.
Cruise ships seem to be very popular. My cousin and her husband have taken Carnival cruises and loved every second. For me, however, a cruise ship would be the Ninth Circle of Hell. I take trips abroad to practice speaking a different language, eat different food, meet different people, and explore a different culture. Being stuck on a ship at sea with a bunch of boring Americans and their offspring, having nothing to do but lie by the pool, watch derivative lounge acts, and gorge myself on standard buffet food would be torture. What’s the point of spending a small fortune and only getting to see Mexico through the prism of overpriced gift shops and organized land tours? I want to get out there, bargain for for onyx donkey bookends in Spanish, find a restaurant where I’m the only gringo, and walk around Mayan ruins by myself, imagining being one of the crowd of subjects watching the king pierce his tongue with a cactus spine to offer blood to the Sun.
I second the book idea. I took two, but I read too damn fast.
Yeah, it was worth it. ONCE. I’ll probably never do another one. I would, however, go back to Cozumel. That’s a way cool island. Hell, I’d move there if I could.
Cozumel is a small island, but things don’t move fast there. You can rent a Volkswagen for really cheap, and it’s a good way to cruise the loop around half of the island. You can rent Mopeds, too, but I promised Microbug that I would never discuss THAT incident again.
We did a snorkeling trip on the reef, and then did some shopping. If you’re not going to the ruins, you’ll have plenty of time- the island’s just not that big. If you do go to the ruins, don’t forget the bug spray. We did. I’ve never seen so many mosquitos- and I grew up in Houston.
If I took a Carnival cruise, it would be for the sole purpose of throwing Kathie Lee Gifford over the side, never to be seen again.
Robin
No I haven’t but you might want to read David Foster Wallace’s essay about taking one in his book “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll never Do Again”. Umm…ok, the title should tell you something right there. But you want to hear all sides right?
Plus it’s funny. You could make it the book you take on the cruise.