More Cruise reviews please : )

Discussions and Trip Reports related to Desire Cruises

More Cruise reviews please : )

Postby gingersnap88 » Sun Sep 22, 2019 3:24 pm

Hello all! We are considering Rome to Athens 2021....
We have been to RM about 5 times and Pearl once. We prefer RM for the closer quarters. And our experience has been it is more of a party than DP. We like that people are still up at 4 am giggling like children at a playground. With that said, we'd like a little more info on the current situation with their cruises? what is the party like? Are people up all hours? Has the pool been heated? Has the playroom been well maintained and upgraded from mattresses in a makeshift room? And is there anyone using it?(at Pearl it was empty aside from us) Is it truly all inclusive? We don't drink so that doesn't matter, but are some restaurants an additional fee? Is play now allowed around the pool(when at sea)? Is the ship ever in port until late night so we can go find "trouble" in any of the cities we visit(smiling devil emoji)? We are 38 and 48. Love to make new friends, and also love to play with new people. Age generally not even considered unless there is pace makers in the mix(this has actually happened lol).
Is the crowd snooty or about the same as the resorts? We are just regular folk who prefer to be naked, but shorts and T-shirts preferred over slacks and skirts....
Any insight or updates to what the cruises have been like most recently are much appreciated. Y'all have taught us a new way to vacation...MUCH LOVE!!!

~Jamie & Chris
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Re: More Cruise reviews please : )

Postby Aussiepowerhouse » Wed Oct 09, 2019 11:18 am

So may not be the best to reply as we have only done the one cruise (Mediterranean 2019) and have never been to the resorts. Monogamous couple but enjoy the sexy vibe and scenery. Preamble done, take it for what it is worth.

Loved our cruise, great intro to clothing optional/LS vacation. Met so many nice people, never felt uncomfortable

To start with the playroom, this was a highlight for us. It was large, clean and appropriately lit. We went most nights and thoroughly enjoyed. Multiple couples and some groups were enjoying the scene. Was plenty of room so you could be as close as you wanted to the action. We enjoyed being close to other couples, watching and being watched. In addition, there was essentially a viewing area which seemed like a nice way for people to get in the mood.

The pool area was fully or partially nude for most. No sexual play that we saw, pool and hot tubs were on the smaller side.

In terms of food, we upgraded to the premium package. Worth it for us to have better champagne and the specialty dinners. TBH buffets are not really our thing. The food at the specialty dinners was excellent.

Not sure how late people were partying. We typically crashed by 1-1:30. Playroom hours closed at 3. Plenty of people out while we were up.

Lastly, on our cruise we docked overnight in Ibiza. We had to leave the cruise early (damned jobs) but others were out late, were getting on the boat at 5am after a big night out.

Hope this helps
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Re: More Cruise reviews please : )

Postby texascouple1208 » Thu Oct 10, 2019 4:43 pm

The Swinger Diaries podcast did an episode talking about their experience on a Desire cruise if I recall correctly. You might check that out. No personal experience, but we have met Paige and Penn (the hosts of Swinger Diaries) and they are genuine, straightforward, and friendly people and I would expect their accounting of their experience is accurate, as such.
SDC and Kasidie: twofrisky
Next up: RM July 7-11
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Re: More Cruise reviews please : )

Postby WellInever » Mon Oct 14, 2019 2:03 pm

We were also on The med Cruise 2019 referred to by Aussiepowerhouse (sorry we didn't meet - I don't think!). That was our second lifestyle cruise with the same line - sister ship this year to the one we did in 2015 (Venice - Croatian Coast) but identical layout and facilities.

We are from the UK but have been to Desire a few times. We also holiday in Cap D'Agde the naturist / swinger capital of Europe each summer.

Accommodation - we had a Club Verandah Stateroom 175 square feet with a balcony of 40 square feet. Not huge but ample size and the storage is cleverly arranged. You can stow cases under the bed and we found ample space for all our gear, even MrsWiN's dress and shoe collection! Beds changed daily and rooms turned down in the evening. The stewards are superb and never miss a beat.

Food - there are a few dining options:

Buffet - large range of dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner with complimentary wines ate lunch and dinner.
Discoveries Restaurant - Seated at table service - excellent choice of food with daily specials.
Speciality dining - two restaurants; a steak themed and Italian. We ate at both. We were slightly disappointed with the steak restaurant but the Italian was very good. These are extra - we booked a five night option which was $190. There is a good wine list available at Discoveries and the speciality restaurants; some very good wines if a little young.
Service first class.. everywhere!
There is also a deck cafe for lunch.

Drinks - there are various liquor packages to suit your taste. We signed up for the premium Package which was $307.85. Since we liked to have a nicer bottle of wine with dinner and some fizz on occasion during the day (not in the package) we concluded to our cost, this was not worthwhile for us. However, it doesn't take much to cover the cost of the package if you take 4 or 5 drinks each a day. The range is good but you would need to check to be sure they included your preferred brand.

Pool - the pool was nude or part nude every day. On the 2015 cruise we moored in port and were overlooked on occasion so nude was not allowed, frustratingly. On this cruise, we seamed to be able to get naked most of the time. We saw a little light 'playing' in the 2 hot tubs by the pool but nothing serious. The Desire crew ramped things up a bit (or tried) in the afternoons - that very much depended on whether we were at sea (much easier) or docked when the smaller crowd by the pool tended to make it a little harder for the team who were really very good.

Spa - there is an excellent spa with a range of treatments. You can also pay a fee ($160) to use the spa facilities, which include a steam room in both changing rooms, hot tub on the bow deck with sun loungers. We enjoy this and although there are separate changing rooms, the steam room in the male changing rooms was often mixed sex.. ;-) We had treatments - very good but we thought pricey with a 17.5% gratuity, so 2 x 120 minute massages was $500!!!

Gym - is attached to the spa - not bad with free workout area - used for yoga, free weights and machines. There are also spin cycles but these are for supervised use - in theory.

Shore time - great itinerary and in answer to your question, plenty of opportunity on this trip to get ashore and sample the local culture!! Much however depends on the trip. We did not do any organised trips but those that did seemed to enjoy them.

Nightlife - dinner started for some quite early - we preferred to dine late which meant we often missed the entertainment. Dress for dinner varied for 'normal' dress to quite risque - sheer etc. Many changed for the theme night - not our thing but was always good fun and we never felt left out.

Crowd - our previous trip was with SDC. This trip we felt had more N Americans, fewer Europeans but very nice crowd all the same. Friendly, non-pushy and respectful. Think Desire RM and you have it.. more or less. Desire did a meet and greet in Nice the night before we sailed which was a very good night and nice opportunity to meet others.

We have booked for 2020 and 2021.

:UK
Relax and get naked.. you're on holiday..
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