We recently embarked on cruises with both Princess and Celebrity, departing from the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney. For context, we are neither Australian nor New Zealand citizens.

Boarding Celebrity was a breeze. A staff member scanned our boarding passes, and we were directed to proceed through customs and then board the ship.

In stark contrast, boarding Princess was chaotic. After our boarding passes were scanned, they checked our NZeTAs. We were then required to wait while a supervisor verified our NZeTAs. This process was so protracted that another agent had to search for someone to assist. I found this frustrating, especially since I observed other agents receiving prompt assistance while our request was ignored. Once someone finally arrived, they took another photo of our passports and NZeTAs, despite the fact we had already uploaded photos to the app. After that, we had to wait for our room key before finally proceeding to customs.

The entire process, which took a mere two minutes with Celebrity, lasted over 25 minutes with Princess.

It's worth noting that Australian and New Zealand passengers were processed much more quickly. However, it appeared their photos were retaken, either during check-in or upon boarding. If the photos from the app aren't being used, why bother requesting them?

Has anyone else encountered a similar experience in Sydney?

My husband and I want to take a cruise on one of the MSC Caribbean lines. We're really big into history and want to see historical places. I see there is one cruise in March 2026 available. We want a large room so I think a suite is what we are looking for.

When should I book our suite?

Gorgeous ship. We did a 7 day out of Fort Lauderdale with 3 days at sea, St. Kitts, Tortola (BVI), Puerto Plata and a final day at sea.

We stayed at the Hyatt Cruise Port (think we paid around $400 for one night), and it was extremely dated. Bed was comfy, and it was just one night, so whatever. Shuttle service to the terminal for $9pp was efficient and easy.

Check in was a breeze. Got to the terminal about a half hour ahead of our noon designated arrival time, planned to wait, but an employee told us we could go right in. Immediately got our keys and dropped off our bags. Had an infinite veranda room that was ready.

Room was very clean and nice. I know the infinite veranda is a hot topic, and, though I enjoyed the room, we would’ve preferred a traditional balcony. The room got very hot when it was open, and our neighbors had to get theirs serviced at one point and we had issues with ours on our last day. Bed and bathroom were very comfortable.

Food. We had purchased a 3 night dining package and, after 2 underwhelming MDR meals, upgraded the balance of our meals to specialty. Eden was EASILY the superstar, followed by Le Petite which was almost tied with Raw. Fine Cut was disappointing. My filet was good, but the sides looked like they had been sitting, and my table mates steaks were…lacking. Appetizers and salads were very good. The crab cake in Eden puts Fine Cut’s to shame, though. Other food options on the ship were good (buffet, Eden Cafe, Spa Cafe, Mast, etc.). Cafe Al Bacio was always a welcoming spot to stop any time of day.

The outdoor pool was PACKED. Finding a chair on sea days was almost comical. Circling upper decks hunting for a pair of unoccupied loungers was often an exercise in futility. Though staff came around a few times with cool, wet washcloths, which was wonderful. We scored poolside chairs one afternoon after returning from port early, but the pool was so crowded we opted to just use the poolside showers to cool off. Maybe we were doing it wrong, I don’t know. Lots of chair hogs.

Entertainment was solid the times we went! Not much to say here - there is so much to do, and we just couldn’t do it all, but we really enjoyed all we did.

Staff was fantastic. Start to finish, we were appreciative of everyone we encountered, and everyone was helpful and friendly even when other guests were giving them a hard time.

Not sure what else I’m forgetting, but we had a very nice time and are looking forward to a second Celebrity cruise we have coming this summer. Previously we’ve sailed Royal Caribbean and Disney. This felt decidedly different from those cruises in all around value and a more relaxed experience. Not typically a person to leave reviews, but if any of this helps anyone, great! Obviously, we didn’t do any special classes (Aqua, Concierge, etc.).

Oh, leaving. We decided to carry our luggage off due to having a flight that we were nervous about catching. Waited a bit to get off, but breezed through customs and easily got a van taxi to FLL for $18 for 3 people.

Hello Folks. Cruise newbie, actually never ever been on a watercraft larger than a ferry or longer for a couple hours either!

Thinking of taking an Alaska cruise, preferably roundtrip from Vancouver this year for two adults and a 4yo before the school starts as our toddler will join kindergarten by then.

Looking for tips on how to search for a 7 day cruise in the 4-5kCAD range that is kid friendly or atleast tolerates them (quick search for Disney cruises came out to be lot more expensive). Which cruiseline/ship is better equipped for us to deal with toddlers that get bored super fast? Dont want to ruin it for everyone else :D

Do we go thru a Travel / Cruise specific agent? Costco travel? Amex travel?

From reading the wiki I was able to determine both of the below -

What should I look for from a cabin/deck pov? Balcony is not worth it so it is either a Oceanview or interior cabin as we likely wont be in the room beyond sleeping (very hard to keep our kid inside for longer than necessary :D ).

Wifi/Picture Packages? Dont need wifi, we can definitely unplug for a week or only have access to cellphone networks while at shore/ports. Pictures are something will have to think about, or carry the annoying selfie stick and take it out at times.

Alcohol/Drinks packages - we are not heavy drinkers but always prefer to enjoy a few beers/spirits at dinner while on vacation. So assuming $15/drink if we get a package that costs ~250-300$ per person for the week we will take it, else will just buy as we go. Does this make sense?

Anyone been on the ship m/s Paul Gauguin? We’re thinking of taking a cruise this year and wondering what the ship is like, and what there is to do onboard?

Thoughts?

7 Day Cruise and have to park my car for the week…what do you suggest? Thanks for your suggestions ….

Heya,

We're looking to book our first ever cruise and find it difficult to pick a line, even after thoroughly Googling, browsing this subreddit and checking YT vids.

Here's what we're looling for:

• Premium experience, but not ultra luxury

• Kids ages 4-8 will be joining, don't need tonnes of waterslides and crazy theme parks, but some kind of kid-friendly pool and entertainment needed.

• Food and drinks of high quality are important, with a good variety of options

• Fairly new, nice ships. It's fine if it's not the biggest ones in the Med, as long as the ship still can cater to the above. (Big enough to not get bored over 7 days)

• Good crowd that doesn't get blackout drunk and that knows how to behave towards other people

Ideally, we don't want to book something and then feel we need to upgrade and add lots of packages for the experience to be good. Don't mind being able to pick between "great/really nice" and "fantastic", but don't want to start at "average" and have to upgrade to "good" - if that makes sense.

Any suggestions?

If you’re going to go on a nude cruise, why wouldn’t you book the swingers cruise vs a nude cruise?

Wife and I just booked our first cruise this summer on MSC World Europa. We plan on getting to the departure city the day before departure. But, it says on the plan that the ship will arrive in the final port of destination at 08:00 AM leaving us plenty of time to catch a flight back home 5 hours later. But how dependable is that schedule?

The cruise I wanted has sold out on the RC website. Is there a reputable travel company that buys blocks of cruises that might have some cabins left?

It seems difficult to actually get a job on a cruise ship.

Looking to book a cruise to surprise my wife for our anniversary next February. It will be the first cruise for both of us. I'm currently looking at a 4-5 night cruise and I'm having a hard time deciding between the following destinations:

1. Cozumal, Mahogany Bay
2. Cozumal, Progreso Yucatan
3. Nassau, one of the cruise liners private island. (Haven't decided on what company yet either)

So I'm here looking for input on which destinations people like/ dislike.

About us: mid 30's couple. Like to explore, but not into super strenuous activities. We've flown to St. Croix and and spent the week, so we've been to caribbean Islands before. Thanks

Hi all - my wife is going on a cruise with her mother and family friends, and I am very hesitant to join her. I've never been on a cruise and I'm not sure if I'd enjoy it. I could see myself either having an incredible time or really not enjoying it. In particular, I'm worried I won't enjoy my time on the cruise ship, so I'm wondering if the ports will make up for it. Greece and Italy haven’t been near the top of my bucket list but I’ve heard they can be beautiful.

The ship is the NCL Epic. These are the ports: Rome (Civitavecchia), Santorini, Mykonos, Athens (Piraeus), Olympia (Katakolon), Valletta, Catania, Naples, Florence/Pisa (Livorno)

What do you think of these ports? Does this seem like a good itinerary for a first time cruise? I enjoy beautiful towns/scenery, good food and drink, and unique architecture.

EDIT: Thank you for the replies and advice! I will respond later today.

Right now it’s only open through May. Trying to book for July 2026. When does Disney expand their sailings to the rest of 2026?

I know I'll have to pay for 2 occupancy, which is ok, but if I can save a grand, I'll do that. I would like to get a balcony or a nicer room, not one of the cheaper ones with a tiny window.

I've heard of deals where if you can go last-minute without much notice, you can save a lot of money because the cruise wants 100% occupancy. How do I do this?

As title says me and my girlfriend are looking to book a cruise out of Baltimore md both young 23 years old. Was really wondering if there was a good way to save any money. We will not be drinking alcohol on the cruise i think in turn will definitely help. Any tips are appreciated thanks…. Dates we are currently thinking would be mar April may june

Going on a cruise that embarks in {{date %B}}? Feel free to share and find other Redditors going on the same cruise.

For more information about roll calls, feel free to take a look at the roll call wiki.

My wife’s birthday will occur while we’re on a Celebrity cruise in a couple of weeks. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions based on past experiences that made a cruising birthday pleasantly memorable?

We are considering a British Isles cruise. If you have done one, who do you recommend?

Just got back from an Aruba cruise on Celebrity Reflection. I went to a couple of the trivia events on different bars on the ship, and it was just really sad. Have none of these cruise events team members been to a real American bar trivia night? They could learn so much. One question that stuck out to me, in a "food" category:

Q: The Pentagon accidentally ordered 82 year supply of what? A: Freeze dried tuna salad

This "fact" is just way too obscure. When did the Pentagon do this? Anytime in the past century? I can't find any news about it, so it's probably not even true! It's completely unpredictable unless you know the category is "food". A good cruise trivia question would be, how many pounds of food is consumed on the ship, or how many people are in the kitchen staff, something like that.

Another bad question:

Q: What class of ship is the Celebrity Apex? A: Edge class

Oh, so not even the ship we are on, or a ship in the same class. The questioner must have just copied the slides from some other ship.

As a bar trivia connoisseur, I know that bar trivia is a time-honored American tradition. I hope these cruise lines shape up in the future <3

We're planning our honeymoon for the end of the year. We've both never been to italy/croatia/greece and would really like a taste of a lot of places. So far I've found a couple. Since I don't have the experience there yet, which looks best? The viva is the newer ship, so I keep going back to that one.

10 day on NCL Breakaway in October

• **Venice (Trieste),**Italy
• **Split,**Croatia
• **Dubrovnik,**Croatia
• **Corfu,**Greece
• **Messina (Sicily),**Italy
• **Naples,**Italy
• **Rome (Civitavecchia),**Italy
• **Florence/Pisa (Livorno),**Italy
• **Cannes,**France
• **Palma (Majorca),**Spain
• **Barcelona,**Spain

11 day on NCL Viva in November

• **Venice (Trieste),**Italy
• **Zadar,**Croatia
• **Venice (Ravenna),**Italy
• **Dubrovnik,**Croatia
• **Kotor,**Montenegro
• **Corfu,**Greece
• **Valletta,**Malta
• **Messina (Sicily),**Italy
• **Naples,**Italy
• **Florence/Pisa (Livorno),**Italy
• **Cannes,**France
• **Rome (Civitavecchia),**Italy

Hi,

my partner and I want to visit the US for a few months starting may and as for the experience we want to cross by ship. Money is almost the main priority (not really as flights would be cheaper) but as the times are gone that we can just get a passage on a container ship peeling potatoes I assume a cruise is the best/easy option.

I found a rather cheap offer for around 1700$ (price for 2) via icruise/cruisecheap. All these websites pretty much insist on getting on a call with an agent that pretty much just asks me all the info I could enter myself via online booking and aks for my credit card details in the end.

There comes the "german" part: For me this is pretty much a no go and feels like a scam while it seems to be rather common to do bookings and giving credit card details via phone in the US?

I traveled all around Europe plus a bit of middle east and North Afrika and never got in this situation.

Wouldn't the person be able to do whatever they want with my cc details, even months/years later?

In the end it seem a too good deal anyway as the price via the cuise opterator is between 2000$ (booking via uk webiste) and 2500$ (booking via german website).

Any advice for a german cruise virgin?

I'm a huge foodie and I'm interested in which cruise lines have the best food on board. I'm sure destination probably plays a part, but honestly I'm open to traveling anywhere in the world. I just know that I'll definitely want really great food on board!

Starting April 10, 2025 Brazil will require US travelers to have a visa regardless of purpose.

Hello, I'm sure this has been asked before but are excursions a must in Alaska? Is it easy getting to Mendenhall without them? What is transportation like? Is the whale watching excursions worth it in Juneau?

Hi all, I’ll be sailing in an inside cabin next week. Anyone have any tips to keep me from sleeping in every day aside from an alarm?

Hello,

crossposting from Virgin Voyages Sub.

Does anyone have tips or recommendations for 1 day in Casablanca in June? The VV Shore Things look interesting, but quite expensive.

Are there any local tour guides or excursions, that you can recommend?

Thanks very much.