Big Family Cruise....Who is best and budget friendly?

[Kurry]

We are antcipating a Big Family Vacation for the end of November or beginning of December. There should be 25-30 family members. We are looking for a nice but not overly expensive cruise ship/line. I have been on the Wonder but I'm sure that not everyone can afford to spend that much, especially during the holiday season. I'm the planner(of course) so I was hoping to get your opinions on other cruise ship/lines. Anything could and will be helpful in my planning.

Thanks.

Ps. We are looking for anywhere from 3-6 days on the ship and spending no more than 1000 per person total.

 

[Gillian]

Royal Caribbean is less expensive, has great food & good service. But their shorter cruises are on their older ships. If you could swing it, a 7 day on one of their newer Voyager class ships (voyager, explorer, 2 others) would be really nice! I don't think under $1000 per person will be a problem.

I know cruisecritic.com has discussion forums. They might help out.

 

[Melrosgirl]

I would go for Princess or RCCL. Great food on both. Great ships too.

 

[Kurry]

Thanks to both of you. I am checking out cruisecritic as of right now.

 

[buzz&woody'smom]

Also many cruise lines offer a complimentary cabin should you book a certain # of staterooms etc. My DS told me that she and a group of friends are cruising on the Carnival Pride in June and since they have 10 cabins hers ended up being free.

 

[Kurry]

Thanks for the link. I am learning so much.

I wouldn't mind a complimentary room. Thanks for the tip buzz&woody'smom.

 

["Ginger"]

The last time I checked into group cruising it was 8 or more cabins booked. It was with Disney. The person in charge of the bookings for the group got only their fare for free not a stateroom.

 

[Kurry]

Thanks for the correction Ginger.

 

[mkauffman]

Originally posted by "Ginger"
The last time I checked into group cruising it was 8 or more cabins booked. It was with Disney. The person in charge of the bookings for the group got only their fare for free not a stateroom.

That's correct...it's only one fare that's "free", not the whole cabin. We have 11 cabins booked for our November cruise and I received my fare free. We still have to pay for DH and my two DSs. Also, the free fare is based on what category the majority of cabins booked was. Most of our cabins were category 11, which means that my free fare was at the category 11 rate (which is fine....free is free!).

 

[mkauffman]

Originally posted by Kurry
Ps. We are looking for anywhere from 3-6 days on the ship and spending no more than 1000 per person total.

We got our category 11 cabin on the Nov 15 Eastern (7 day) for about $3200 and there are 4 of us, so that's well under $1000 each. Did you mean $1000 each including airfare (our airfare wasn't included in that)? Oh, and that $3200 was before my free fare.

 

[Kurry]

Yes, I'm sorry, I did mean including airfare and hopefully transportation to and from the port.