Anyone been on a cruise??

It might not be the typical vacation choice for a med student and a poorly paid scientist but DH and I (and my BIL) are going on a cruise over Christmas. We did not really know what to do this year as DH is over in the States doing interviews. I had been planning to fly out and meet him but we didnt really know what to do as we are both a long way from either of our families. So we looked into it and got a really good deal from Miami, it is going to be less expensive than paying a hotel for a week.
And, hopefully really fun and relaxing! I'm pretty excited, hoping for some decent weather, especially after being in muddy fields all week for work....
Wondering if anyone else has done this and how it was? We're getting lots of jokes about being far too young, etc.

We've been on three cruises together and are planning our fourth. A lot of people are surprised when they hear that we've been on several cruises--they think it would be boring or it's just for older folks--but that is not the case at all. We absolutely love cruises--they're super romantic and super relaxing. We love to lay around on the deck, eat, and do romantic things. Cruises are good for people who like relaxing vacations, and for people who like a lot of unstructured time on their vacations. Cruises are no longer seen as a senior citizen vacation--except maybe on the super high-end lines like Crystal or Celebrity. Usually, there is a wide range of ages--lots of kids, teens, honeymooners, middle-age people, etc.

If you'd like to discuss more, PM me.

Cool. Yes the Disney ones look fun, especially with kids. Someone else had mentioned the slow disembarkation to me, I guess we'll just be prepared for that and expect delays. DH, the BIL and I always attract questions when we go across borders together as we all have the same name yet out passports are from 3 different countries
We want to go snorkelling somewhere but other than that I am not too bothered about shore excursions. We just want to relax and spend some time together. It will be so different as all our vacations before have been either road trips or backpacking. Cant wait!!
I'll PM you veggiefriend and see if you have been with the same company.

[Vishenka69]

I've been on two cruises with HAL, one with my mom in the Carribean and one with DH to Alaska. I was kind of bored when I went with my mom back in college because the average age on HAL cruises is around 50. But when DH and I went last year, we really liked it. We also heard good things about Royal Carribean but it's more expensive than other lines in the same class. We never considered Norwegian, Princess or Carnaval because we like the dressed up dinners and prefer high tea to the basketball court.

I don't remember disembarking taking too long. We filled out forms noting our flight back and they scheduled everyone based on that. I guess if we didn't have to be in the airport until 4pm, it would seem like a long day. But we docked around 6am and made our 10am flight back.

We never considered Norwegian, Princess or Carnaval because we like the dressed up dinners and prefer high tea to the basketball court.

I'm so looking forward to the dressed up dinners! I am such a jeans and t-shirt girl but I think it'll be fun, and I have 2 dresses that I have only worn once for weddings. We are going with RC actually but it was a good deal, it was a cruise that wasn't in their brochure so they were probably having a hard time filling it.

Thanks Vishenka

[migirl]

We've been on two cruises, both with Royal Caribbean. We really enjoyed them both, it's a fun way to spend some relaxing time and get to see different things too.

[Stella]

I've been on two - Carnival (Bahamas) and Princess (Mexico and Carribean). Very different, both very fun. I'm dying to take SO on one. Have fun!