Is the balcony for cigs or cigars?
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Perry,
On Royal Caribbean, I have never, ever had an issue smoking a stogie on the balcony.
That is my biggest pleasure on a cruise.

OK,
Maybe not the biggest.
Hotel sex comes first.

Maybe the second.
OK
Maybe not the second.
Eating and drinking comes in second.

OK, maybe third biggest pleasure on a cruise.:-)
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Depends on the ship.

Navigator of the Seas has a cigar room.
They have top shelf booze there to choose from and smokes to sell also or you can bring your own.
You can smoke on the upper decks outside.

As far as the balcony goes, I have done one cruise with an inside room (my very first cruise ever). I swore I would shoot myself before I would ever do that again.

I have done numerous with windows and numerous with balconies.
Never again will I go on a cruise without a balcony.
It is simply worth every penny.
I will never buy the old "you are never in the room anyway".
That is BS.
You have to go to the room to shower and sleep.
Make it a big room or as big as you can afford so as to not throw your partner overboard after a couple of days in a cramped room.
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Different lines list the policy in different places. This link is useful...

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=225
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:-)
When is our cruise?
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I live 1 hour from Port Canaveral, so a cruise is 1 hour away for me.

Last minute travel is usually anything booked under 90 days.

Royal Carribbean does a 3 day cruise for about $250 with an inside cabin and we leave on Friday, wake up in Nassau Saturday amd leave Nassau late and wake up outside their private island for the day and arrive back early Monday.

It's a great weekend getaway and I love the shows, the food is just ok, and I gamble while my wife shops and daugter plays in the many activities.

I don't know about much more than 4 days, although I would love to do an Alaska or Hawaii cruise.

When you figure in entertainment, meals,etc, it's a bargain no matter how many days you go.

The crew is always from all over the world and are top at service.
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The wife and I have been cruising for about 15 years and have gone pretty much everywhere. Our favorite was the Transatlantic Cruise ( 17 nights ) where we flew to Rome, Italy and then came back to New Orleans. We cruise Princess because they have some great ships plus when you stay with a cruise line you get benefits. We are not platinum class which gives us free Internet, free laundry plus other choice things that make a cruise even better. Here are a few things to consider when taking a long cruise and a short one.

Long Cruise
*Get a Balcony at least and sometimes you will be upgraded ( we get upgrades to suites because we are a platinum member. When you stay in a suite you can get your meals in your room just like in the dining room,,,same menu,,,in the other rooms you only get a small menu to choose from
*Bring plenty of cigars and choose a ship that has a cigar room
*Bring books
*Order as much as you want for dinner,,,if they have lobster tails,,,order 4 if you want,,,,I did and they don't care.

Short Cruises
* Balcony rooms are the best,,,ocean view is ok but you will use the balcony more than you think,,,,,go to the lunch dining room and get all kinds of cheeses, fruits, etc and have your wine on the balcony,,,we did that every day and got to watch the isands or out at sea,,,
* Pick S. Carribean as the beaches are much nicer,,,ex. St. Thomas, St. Marteen, Aruba, Grenada,,,plus the water is much warmer. Cozumel and Belize and those areas the water is cooler and not very good for snorkeling.
*Since this would be a first time cruise for you pick a room that is near to the middle of the ship as possible.
* Bring with you medicine for sea sickness,,,just in case and also bring antiseptic wipes so that you can make your room sick proof.
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I agree about the balcony, although it's more expensive.

Last few cruises I had an inside cabin and tossed and turned all night worrying I would oversleep my day at port as no light gets in.

NEVER book during Spring Break or you will be overrun with drunk college kids up all night running down the halls.

ALWAYS get up off the toilet before flushing. The suction will give you a hickey on your ass cheeks and you will be explaining it to your wife.:-)
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Lots of great info here, glad Seth asked :-) now I want to go on one
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:-):-):-)

Hickey?
You are lucky if that is all you get.
You may actually get sucked into a void somewhere, butt first.
That flush is a frightening experience the first time one does it.
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Here is a photo of what a balcony room view looks like.

Image
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Seth,
Study this photo well.
This is what YOU DON'T want to see on your cruise.

While docked in Cozumel, Carnival's oldest ship was docked next to us.
I could not help but capture this photo.
Note the mom watching the kids in the "kids" pool.
Note the kids getting ready to go in the water.

Now, for the best part.......................

NOTE THE WATER!!! It is piss green.:-):-):-)

Image
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God I love this theme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCwl0jhmyyY

I need to plan another one.
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On all the Royal Carribean and Carnival ships I was on there was a cigar bar and one outside deck they allowed cigar smoking. I always had my cigars in the cigar bar as the wife and I didn't want to spend extra money on a balcony. Really depends on what appeals to you.

We love cruising!!
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Another thing,,depending on who you choose to do your cruise thru,,,there are a lot of sites where you can get a really good price on your cruise. Travel agents are not necessarily your best friend,,,I used to use them but now do my own travel planning. I get some awesome deals on cruises:

17 night Transatlantic- Rome, Livorno,Canne,Cartegena Spain, Barcelona Spain, Gibraltar, Casablanca, Madeira Portugal, Ft. Lauderdale Suite w/airfare was $5200 for both of us

12 night Carribean on QM2 New York, Grenada, St. Thomas, St Marteen, Aruba, St. Kitts, Barbados, Puerto Rico Balcony for 2 was $2600

7 night Carribean on Princess St. Thomas, St. Marteen, Nassau, Private Island
Balcony for 2 was $1200

This is just an example as I have about 12 sites I use and we have sailed on just about every cruise line. It really does pay to use one exclusive cruise line so you can upgrade your amenities and your room. As a platinum member you get express checkin,,,which is great so u don't have to wait with the masses. You will get plenty of upgrades as far as wines, special invites, etc.

One thing we always do,,,,,,always befriend your room steward,,always,,,he holds the keys to everything. Since these poor people do not eat the same stuff you and I do we always approached our room steward when he was alone and asked him what he'd like for dinner. They always act surprised because they are not allowed to eat off the menu,,,but its not breaking rules if WE order a lunch or dinner and invite them to our room and have a nice meal. Trust me, these guys will break their necks for you. Our steward offerred to use his account to buy anything we wanted on the ship,,,they get anywhere from 20-40% off anything and we had him buy us some things we wanted on the boat,,,we got some great things with 40% off.

We would usually take second seating for dinner because we wanted to do more things on the islands. If you take first seating you have to always be in a rush to get back.
Another thing, on the first evening dining slip your dinner steward an extra $20 and he will act like you are the only guy at the table,,,he will get you special dinner items as I always asked my guy that I wanted lobster two nights instead of the one night they had it. The same went for the filet mignon,,I wanted it on two seperate occasions and he made sure I had it because I let him know early. When everyone else was asking why I got mine the steward told everyone that I had placed special orders,,,,lol

I love cruising,,it is one of the most economical ways to travel. When you go to the islands,,forget the tours,,,they rip you off. Rent either a scooter or one of those small 2 person cars they have and tour the island yourself. When you find out what islands you will be going to do some study and get a map and do it yourself. The tours only take you to tourist places,,,who gives a crap about that? You paid all this money to see other places,,,so go see them. This only applies to most islands except Jamaica,,,be very careful about doing it on your own there,,,very careful and be back before nightfall.

If you do elect to tour don't use the ships tour. You can usually negotiate with the cab drivers to do a tour,,,trust me, it will be cheaper than the $100-150 they charge you for the cruise line bus tour. In Acapulco we got about 2 other couples to go with us on a tour in a big Suburban,,,the guy first wanted to charge my wife and I $200 for a 4 hour tour. I asked him, how many people will fit into his vehicle? He says inlcuding himself, 6 other very comfortablly. Sooooo, I said how about I bring 4 of my friends and we all give you $300 ( $60 a piece ) and he thought, sure, why not? He gets another $100 for the same thing and we got the best tour of Acapulco,,,places where the tour busses never go and we stopped wherever we wanted to so we could take pictures or whatever. Always negotiate and go in a small group,,,2-3 couples and you will save a lot.
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I went on a one week Alaskan cruise (Norwegian) two years ago for my honeymoon and loved it. Granted it was in May and was still quite cold but I really enjoyed the whole experience. Last year we went on a 4 day adjustment cruise with a different cruise line and enjoyed that too even though the ship we were on did not have a cigar lounge. (a must in the future) As mentioned, do your research, you don't want to get stuck on a boat with a bunch of drunken college kids or on a Disney special.
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Cigary
love cruising,,it is one of the most economical ways to travel. When you go to the islands,,forget the tours,,,they rip you off. Rent either a scooter or one of those small 2 person cars they have and tour the island yourself. When you find out what islands you will be going to do some study and get a map and do it yourself. The tours only take you to tourist places,,,who gives a crap about that? You paid all this money to see other places,,,so go see them. This only applies to most islands except Jamaica,,,be very careful about doing it on your own there,,,very careful and be back before nightfall.




Great advice here. the tours were expensive and not too amazing... And wathc out for Jamaica, one of the beach party hostess was murdered the night before we got there.. alot of crime on Jamaica.

I learned some stuff here too about tipping! great advice!
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Most of the cruises I go on stop at Nassau, which is not such a nice place and is overrun with touts shoving crap in your face hoping you'll buy some. The streets are lined with bad fakes as far as cigars go.

I learned to walk off the ship and head a half mile to the Colonial Hilton and pay 15 bucks to use their beach, chairs and towels all day as well as kayaks and water toys for my daughter. Conch fritters are great across the street and Graycliff is a 10 minute walk.

Last time I was there, Larry Birkhead was staying at the Hilton for the Anna Nicole Smith trial and there was a lot of media around, but we still had a great time.

My biggest complaint about cruises is the set dining time as I spend my life on schedules and deadlines, so if I was planning your cruise, I would suggest the flex dining plans where you can eat whenever and wherever you want.

Royal Carribean has the Crown Viking lounge for cigar smoking and normally has a cigar get together each night.

Again, more money, like a balcony. I try to not focus on the price, and instead, look at the overall experience.
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I just got back from a cruise. I've been on about 5 so far. You definitely get more bang for your buck with cruises.

My bit of advice would be to take a newer ship. And check beforehand that they have a cigar bar or allow cigar smoking inside. The Carnival Holiday did not allow cigar smoking inside, only outside on the decks. And it was somewhat of an annoyance.
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Are there any good "Cigar" destinations on any of the cruise lines. For example does any of the lines stop anywhere that would be nice destination to visit a factory or anything cigar related?
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