decodelighted|1422764420|3825334 said:I absolutely hated the idea of cruising on large ships until I went on my first Celebrity cruise and have since done another. Luxury, boutique ships are for the very rich (think 10K per person & up). If you shop through CruCon or TravelZoo deals - you can find very nice, very clean & fun cruises on (mid-high mid) brands like Celebrity. Those ships aren't full of young partiers like Carnival or Royal C. ... or families like Disney ... If anything, they veer toward retirees and middle-aged folks. Cruise Critic has forums like here that can be a great resource for planning and advice from people who have taken the exact cruises you're considering. With inside knowledge of the excursions and what excursions to buy from the cruise line or schedule independently or book in person once you get to port. LOTS of scoop. BTW ... neither my husband nor I got stomach sick at all on two 12+ day cruises - but during one cruise I threw my back out, and the medical help on board was very responsive and helpful. There are hand sanitizer stations EVERYWHERE. If you stick to better brand boats I doubt you'll have a problem. (And it doesn't have to be "boutique!"
Had wonderful all-inclusive experiences at St. James Club in Antiqua & Le Sport in St. Lucia. St. Lucia being a bit more lush/tropical/rainforest/volcano kind of place ... Antiqua more flat & typical beachy.
DID NOT LIKE my two trips to Mexican Riviera and have sworn to never visit Mexico again. I thought the people were incredibly rude and shiestery. And BOTH times my credit card # was skimmed at some point. Also, if you rent a car, the local cops pull you over and try to shake you down for cash. AVOID!!!!!!!
I'm certainly not knocking Celebrity cruises, but they've had their fair-share of norovirus outbreaks over the past 5 years or so. This site allows you to look up gastrointestinal outbreaks by year and by cruise line: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/gilist.htm
Glad to hear that you've never gotten sick, but it still happens sometimes.