I often hate people so cruises would be hell on earth for me. I book VRBO or similar in Central American countries where our dollar goes a bit further and you get quite a bit of house for the $$. I just got back from Panama staying in a 1 bdr cabin inside an extinct volcano crater in a national park with 2h of my own private trails to wander on and no neighbours and toucans flying around every day. Full electric, full amenities but I did bring a water filter. $100 US a night. Bought food at local markets for pennies. Eating out was pricey though and the SUV rental I got wasn't the best deal in the world with the $$. Went to the local thermal baths for $3, beer was 60c in grocery stores, rum was $7 a bottle. Full local meal could be had for $5. Costa Rica is a bit pricey now and so the list of counties to head to is getting a little smaller with this dollar exchange issue. I might try Nicaragua or Guatemala next time.
How low will the Canadian $ go?
- Thread starter Clem
- Start date
SweetOnion
Well-known member
Sounds pretty interesting but I unfortunately don't have the balls to try it, at least with family in tow. I hate people too ... however I can manage it by **** talking them either to their face or behind their backs usually.
If anybody ever wants to start to try and go for a 10 cabin booking and save some cash... we should all talk / start a cruisers thread.
I used to head to all-inclusives all the time until I nearly had a fight with a German at breakfast over a ****ing piece of toast and then another over towel/chair reservations at the pool and then I realised I could do with less hassle on holiday. I also realised I didn't drink all that much or eat all that much in these all-inclusives and when you get decent deals doing everything separate costs about the same and you have more freedom. AirBnB and VRBO make things very attractive these days if you choose carefully and even with a family you'll get a property with a pool, kitchen and privacy for less than the hotel costs. Throw in a car rental and you'll also spend a fraction doing your own tours. In Costa Rica I spent about $20 on entrance fees for various things for 2 doing my own thing for a tour that usually would cost us $200+ and I didn't have to follow a herd on a tour bus.
One holiday a few years ago my wife and I were feeling a little bored in one place so we upped sticks and drove to the other end of the country and booked some super cheap rooms near a beach for a change of scenery. The freedom is what it's all about and I'll probably never book a package tour again. Even the transport is a bit of an adventure if you don't have a car. We paid $5 for two of us for a 1.5h air-conditioned journey recently where everyone was friendly and there were 3-4 buses trying to get our business. It was a hoot.
SweetOnion
Well-known member
That sounds very similar to my experience with being able to grow a pair and leave on your own from the Cruise ships, instead of following the bus/herds to the same places you want to go anyway at around 3-4x the actual cost of going. It seems like just about anywhere you can get a taxi or rent something if you want to, and get entrance to parks/attractions that the cruise lines charge $80-100 a day over and it turns out you can get in for like $15-20 and leave when you please instead of waiting for a bus.
I have been looking at a lot of VRBO properties in the southern States, though... that will be my first step towards doing something similar in a less than familiar type of environment I guess.
Celebrity has been our first choice lately or Holland America, I did Royal Carib last march and it was a really nice boat. Yes there was a climbing wall, zip line and wave pool. By family fun , I mean Carnival which is usually value priced so attracts large groups of family tours all wearing matching T shirts, usually loud americans from the south, that don't get the sign 'adult pool area' is for the adults. People that think the formal dining room is ok for shorts a t shirts because why dress a kid up for dinner?
Am I a snob? maybe. I have kids and I like kids and my kids have been on cruise ships. I love seeing families having a great time, but if there wasn't a need to cater to adults with adult only areas and some guidelines for etiquette they wouldn't have wasted the money posting signs.
I've been renting houses in the Caribbean for years now.. can't have it any other way. Rent a house, rent a car, forge your own path from there. Resorts are ****.
As for towing a family, why not?? You live with them at home, you can live with them in someone elses home on an island too
SweetOnion
Well-known member
Yeah, I totally get what you're saying... I had already guessed you must cruise Celebrity.
I suppose that those same types of things bother me, but at the same time those are the people that make me feel better about myself lol. If there weren't a few d-bags to point and laugh at, then maybe you're one of them... like that old Poker advice, that if you can't spot the worst player at the table then it's you.
We are pretty young, too... Started cruising when I was about 27 or 28 and we go every year. I can see wanting to cruise on other lines, but I don't know if I am willing to pay that much for it... started looking at RC today. Everybody is high priced right now, so I don't know what to think as I don't have a historical list of prices in my mind to compare it to. Is Celebrity still offering the free booze?? They were actually pretty economically priced for a while there.
The only reason we went with NCL this time was due to the 2 year old being free and also the booze... I didn't even drink that much, but I think of it more as an insurance policy against a mega bill, just in case they have a drink I really take a liking to.
*Edit - On our last cruise we overheard a guest saying that Holland America is like Assisted Living on Water. Thoughts?
Also, Age "for demographic assessment purposes" ??
SweetOnion
Well-known member
I've been renting houses in the Caribbean for years now.. can't have it any other way. Rent a house, rent a car, forge your own path from there. Resorts are ****.
As for towing a family, why not?? You live with them at home, you can live with them in someone elses home on an island too
Sorry, missed this part.
Towing a family, I am mainly just concerned with language barrier potentials (of my own) and issues with being able to buy food, etc... then there is the issue of not having to actually cook said food yourself on a resort being a main selling point for the wife... happily accepting advice though haha
Yeah the food thing is about the only valid concern. BUT! If you're in the Caribbean, you're shopping for groceries on a sandy, sunny island with friendly locals... so its like a vacation in itself. And you're cooking food in a nice kitchen hopefully overlooking turquoise waters... so thats like a vacation too
We tend to eat out and cook 50/50.. simple meals, simple grocery shopping. Pastas, salads, and bbq. When you rent a place with a sweet deck overlooking the ocean, BBQing is no longer a chore.
We tend to eat out and cook 50/50.. simple meals, simple grocery shopping. Pastas, salads, and bbq. When you rent a place with a sweet deck overlooking the ocean, BBQing is no longer a chore.
I speak Spanish very badly...practically without verbs most of the time. We get by easily. A phrasebook is all you need and also the language part becomes part of the fun of the holiday. Depending on where you go it can also be a non issue as many people around you will speak English. Our last holiday no one spoke English and it seriously was a non issue. The phrasebook/dictionary came out at times though. Cooking...I can see how that can be a deal breaker but you'd be amazed how much fresh ingredients can make a difference to how much fun it is. Fresh fruit and veg take less cooking and prep mostly and the prices are soooo cheap. I've been to places where we picked our own oranges and even pineapples and that also becomes part of the vacation. You haven't lived until you've had a fresh (I mean really fresh) pineapple. I've been to fish markets and haggled over shrimp prices...it's a lot of fun.
SweetOnion
Well-known member
Oh yeah, that sounds pretty good actually regarding both posts. Luckily I have been on vacation at least once, but it was to Hawaii, where I ate fresh Pineapple.... and yes, I do agree!!
Where (country/city) are you guys talking about renting/staying? I know a guy that went with his family at the end of Highschool and rented a place in St. Thomas. I love that place, but only been there for 8 hours at a time... I am getting to know the island though and am pretty confident in its safety. Zero language issue there, obviously. A little wild on the driving front, but nothing a guy with an R6 shouldn't be able to figure out how to survive on.
Where (country/city) are you guys talking about renting/staying? I know a guy that went with his family at the end of Highschool and rented a place in St. Thomas. I love that place, but only been there for 8 hours at a time... I am getting to know the island though and am pretty confident in its safety. Zero language issue there, obviously. A little wild on the driving front, but nothing a guy with an R6 shouldn't be able to figure out how to survive on.
Kri$han
Well-known member
OMG this sounds like heaven - pls pm me details!!!
I went on a cruise before, and it was okay, but I really hate travelling around in "touristy" groups. Everytime you port on a cruise, you get a waft of the smell from the ship as it empties its bowels (which is half the reason why they port), and you're surrounded by fat-old-heavy-breathing people with fanny packs, and loud annoying children no matter what activity you're lining up for at the port.
This summer the wife and I toured three large european cities, and while we did some of the "tourist" attractions in each city just to say we did it, by far the best times we had were roaming off the beaten paths.
that's solid advice. st. john is very nice, go to the beach in the state park
If i'm remembering right the closest to the 'ferry' terminal was honeymoon beach, we stopped there for a few hrs then headed next door to hawksnest? Trunk is around the corner and yes I think every photo of USVI is that beach.
We've stopped in at St Thomas a couple times and always include st john if time allows.
For a while we had a sailboat based in the Caribbean , we've seen most of the islands from every angle. Last May was the south pacific, I'll sail there any day over the Caribbean. Tahiti /Moorea and the Teanamu atoll makes the Caribbean pretty sad.
We've stopped in at St Thomas a couple times and always include st john if time allows.
For a while we had a sailboat based in the Caribbean , we've seen most of the islands from every angle. Last May was the south pacific, I'll sail there any day over the Caribbean. Tahiti /Moorea and the Teanamu atoll makes the Caribbean pretty sad.
I sort of underestimated the sheer size of the south pacific, stupid as that sounds. The trip from Galapagos to Tahiti was 3000nm and 3 wks. you can cross the atlantic in less time, in the pacific you only got to the next island. The return flt was 14hrs. '70's 40ft sailboat = not fast.
