The Worst Cruise

Food became one of the most memorable parts of this cruise, unfortunately not for a good reason. Hellen became extremely sick during the trip, and we suspected something she'd eaten onboard was responsible. We can't know for certain what caused it, but the experience was bad enough that it helped create one of our family's lasting cruise rules: Be very selective at the buffet. We've eaten at plenty of cruise buffets since then, but that experience permanently changed how we approach them. We don't eat raw or uncooked vegetables from the buffet, and that includes pre-cut fruit. We stick with cooked vegetables, and if we want fresh fruit, we prefer something we can wash ourselves or peel, such as a banana or orange. Is that more cautious than everyone needs to be? Probably. But after spending part of a vacation extremely sick once, it's a simple rule we're happy to follow—and one we've carried with us on every cruise since.

Ironically, one of my strongest positive memories from one of our least-favorite cruises was the service. We've taken many cruises since this trip, with countless room stewards along the way, and I can still remember our room steward from this ship. That says a lot. Whatever problems we had with the ship itself, the person taking care of our cabin made a lasting impression and remains one of the bright spots we remember from the trip.

We really didn't take advantage of much of the entertainment on this cruise, so it wouldn't be fair for us to judge it. At this stage of our cruising lives, especially while traveling with an 11-month-old, shows and nighttime entertainment simply weren't a major part of our vacation.

Our cabin was very, very small—and we didn't exactly help matters. There were three adults plus 11-month-old Ollie sharing the room. Add everyone's luggage and everything required when traveling with a baby, and there wasn't much space left. We've certainly learned a lot since then about choosing cabins for family cruises.

This was easily one of the highlights. Ollie absolutely loved the splash pad. At only 11 months old, he didn't need elaborate activities or a packed schedule. He wanted to play in the water—and once he discovered the splash pad, he would have happily stayed there all day. Considering how negatively we remember much of this cruise, watching Ollie have such a great time there is one of the memories that still makes us smile.

The condition of the ship was probably our biggest complaint. The carpet in our hallway seemed to be constantly wet, and there was an unpleasant smell that we jokingly compared to a gas-station bathroom. It wasn't an occasional issue—it became one of the things we most strongly associated with walking back to our cabin. We've sailed on plenty of ships since then, including older ones, and this experience still stands out for all the wrong reasons.

It's difficult to give this cruise a meaningful value rating today. The ship is no longer operating, the cruise industry has changed significantly, and this experience happened long enough ago that today's prices wouldn't be comparable anyway. What mattered more was what happened afterward: we didn't feel like we'd gotten an experience we wanted to repeat, and we stopped cruising for years. Thankfully, that wasn't the end of our family's cruising story.

This was the worst cruise we've ever taken—and for a while, we thought it might be our last. What makes this cruise difficult to look back on is that it should have been incredibly special. It was Ollie's first cruise, and he was only 11 months old. There were still some great memories, especially watching him enjoy the splash pad, and our room steward was one of the bright spots of the entire trip. Unfortunately, those moments were overshadowed by everything else. The ship was showing its age. We remember wet carpet in the hallways and an unpleasant smell, our cabin felt incredibly small with three adults, a baby, luggage, and all the extra gear that comes with traveling with an 11-month-old. Then Hellen became extremely sick near the end of the cruise. We suspected something she ate onboard may have caused it, possibly something from the buffet, but we'll never know for certain. What we do know is that the experience was bad enough to create one of our longest-standing family cruise rules: be careful with raw vegetables and pre-cut fruit at the buffet. It was such a disappointing experience that when we got off the ship, we didn't immediately start thinking about our next cruise. We stopped cruising for seven years. Looking back now, after many more cruises, we understand that this experience wasn't representative of cruising as a whole. We've sailed older ships that we've enjoyed. We've eaten at countless cruise buffets without getting sick. And we've had overwhelmingly excellent service across different cruise lines. But we didn't have that perspective at the time. Our first cruise had made us fall in love with cruising. This cruise almost made us give it up completely. The ship is no longer in service, so we don't think there's much value in judging it as a ship someone should or shouldn't sail today. Its importance to our story is something different. It became the cruise that taught us what we didn't want from a vacation—and eventually made the cruise that brought us back seven years later that much more meaningful. It was our worst cruise, but it's still an important chapter in our family's travel story.