Cruises offer the best vacation that money can buy. The value that cruises offer is unparalleled when you compare them to every other type of vacation that is available.
Not all cruises are created equal and here are the worst cruises that you can take.
Maiden Voyages
The launch of new cruise ships bring excitement with new features, dining options, entertainment, and more. They also bring some growing pains for the first few cruises. It often takes a few voyages to get all the kinks out and I have learned this first hand.
I have been on the maiden voyages of many new cruise ships on different cruise lines and they pretty much have one thing in common. It takes a few days for everything to start running smoothly.
On some of these cruises, the shows and entertainment weren’t ready. On others, the app didn’t work right for the first half of the cruise. On others, dining was much slower than usual due to the staff all working together for the first time.
On the bright side, things always ran much smoother by the end of the cruise. If you want to sail on a brand new cruise ship, wait a few weeks and then go on it for the best experience.
Royal Caribbean is doing one thing to fix this problem. They told me that they were going to wait a few weeks after they take delivery of the largest cruise ship ever built, Icon of the Seas, before bringing on paying passengers.
The cruise line said they want everything on the ship running at 100% before guests come on board.
Short Cruises During Spring Break
Short cruises to the Bahamas or Cozumel during spring break tend to be loud party cruises.
Now if this is what you’re looking for, then go for it. However, if you want a quieter cruise, these voyages will not offer an optimal experience.
Cheapest Cruise You Can Book
I get it, sometimes you just want to book the cheapest cruise possible to save money. This often leads to booking a cruise that isn’t right for you. There are cruises for every type of traveler, from those who want an immersive cultural experience in Europe to those who just want a beach getaway in the Caribbean.
I know someone who will never take a cruise again because they did this. Instead of researching or using a travel agent to find a cruise that fit what they were looking for, they booked a cheap party cruise and were miserable the entire sailing.
Cruises with Large Themed Groups
There are two types of group cruises, those who charter the entire ship and those that just have a large group on board standard cruises. This is about the second group.
Large themed groups often change the entire atmosphere of cruise ships. They usually have parts of the ship blocked off for them to use (lounges etc.) and it just creates an non-optimal cruise experience.
To see if there is a large themed group on your cruise, Google your cruise ship and the dates of your sailing. If there is a themed group cruise on your sailing, it will show up in search results from their website promoting it.
