can anybody give me info on Carribean cruises?

[airhead]

My friend wants to takes her hubby on a cruise and doesn't have a clue where to start. I volunteered to get her info on an all inclusive 7 nite cruise. I knew there HAD to be someone on the DIS who could give me the do's and don't's. Any info would be helpful!!

 

[DMickey28]

Check out Cruisecritic.com, they have a discussion board and you can join discussion groups based on type of cruise, cruise line, age.. most anything.

I have no idea how old your friends are, or where they are interested in cruising. There is always the Disney Cruise Lines, I have never been on it though. We went on Holland America, however the crowd there was much older. Air tanks at the poker and blackjack tables was very common. The highlight was Snowball Jackpot bingo... the cruise was geared towards the much older crowd. We are in our mid-late 20's and there was another couple our age on their honeymoon. A few 30 somethings with kids but then it just jumped to 60+. We are doing our wedding/honeymoon on Royal Carribbean. I have heard great things about them, very family oriented but the ships are so huge that even with the kids about it doesn't feel like they are all over the place. THat also depends greatly on the time of year you go. Hurricane season I believe starts in August, and I do know it goes through Novemeber. WE are doing our wedding in October and know many people that go at that time b/c of the steep discounts and haven't ever had a problem.

Princess is more of a pricey cruise and may be geared more towards the 35+ crowd without as much activies for the children. Norwegian I have heard is very similar to HOlland America, 60+ in general.

The other thing to consider is were they want to visit. Most cruises go out of Ft. Lauderdale, Miami and Tampa. However there are cruises out of New Orleans, Galveston and San Juan for the carribbean as well. To get the most of the Southern Carribbean I would go out of San Juan. We went out of Ft. Lauderdale last year and went to St. Kitts, Nassua and St. Thomas. St. Thomas is considered the Southern Carribbean and was the most tropical. In October, I wanted to do all S. Carribbean and we are going out of San Juan for seven days to St. Thomas (where we are getting married on the beach), Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Maarten and Barbados. To me that is the true carribbean.....

Check out that website to start your knowledge search. Lot so info!!!

Good Luck and no matter what they decide to do cruises are awesome and she won't be dissappointed!!!

 

[DMickey28]

Unless your friends want to relive college spring break and have screaming kids, I would say clear of Carnival. Very much a party ship all around and mostly older ships.

Celebrity is another line I haven't heard too much about. There are someothers as well but Holland America, Royal Carribbean, Carnival, Princess and Celebrity are the major one I can think of now.

Check out Royal Caribbean, they have different classes of ships that provide different atmostpheres and stuff. They gear their ships towards all ages groups... check out the Radiance family of ships. They seems to be geared away from the kids, rather than the Voyager class.

 

[Kteacher]

I would agree with checking out cruisecritic.com- there's a lot of great info on the site. They need to decide which islands they want to visit. as first time cruisers I would suggest they not pick an itinerary that is too port intensive, in other words, try to find an itinerary with at least 2 at sea days. we like the Southern Caribbean route. you are out of the hurricane loop, the waters are relatively calm, and you can find some interesting port stops. We've sailed on Royal Caribbean 8 times, and Celebrity once. we prefer Royal Caribbean-we like the look of their ships, the entertainment, and the itineraries they offer. Have fun planning!

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

I would agree with checking out cruisecritic.com. Another good website is cruisemates.com.

I have to disagree with DMickey 28 regarding Carnival Cruises. We just returned last week from a Carnival Cruise on the Pride to Mexico and it was wonderful. My 13 DS and 14 DD had a great time. Yes there were a lot of kids but that is what I wanted for our cruise. I never saw out of control kids or adults and the atmosphere by the pool was festive but absolutely no different than Royal Caribbean or Princess cruises I've been on. Also the ship we were on was 2 or 3 years old so not old at all.

I was worried about a Carnival Cruise given the negative reputation but it was wonderful. Just remember any day at sea is better than a day at home (unless it is a day at WDW )

Elise

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by DMickey28
Unless your friends want to relive college spring break and have screaming kids, I would say clear of Carnival. Very much a party ship all around and mostly older ships.

I think Carnival has some newer ships now...I went years back and it was like a drunken frat party. In May our Disney ship pulled in next to a carnival cruise and in the evening we watched them carrying (yes, one person on either side of the drunk and dragging them!) back onto the carnival ship!! My neighbors just got back yesterday from a carnival cruise and they said there were a LOT of drunks all over the place on it but they did have a good time anyway!
I would check out Royal Carribean, I heard good things about them!

 

[crz4mm2]

I went on a Norwegian Carribean cruise and it was wonderful. I disagree with NCL being mostly >age 60. There were lots of young people and middle age folks on our cruise. It was a blast.
Food was good and we were spoiled rotten.
I highly recommend NCL and would use them again. I also took a NCL cruise to Bermuda.

 

[MouseClubMom]

You mean there are other cruises besides DISNEY?

 

[airhead]

I KNEW I'd get great advice here!! My friend and her hubby are 50 yrs old. And they're interested in S.Carribean cruises. She has no idea where to start on planning this so I'm going to help her.

 

[Kteacher]

I'm going to pm you

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Depending on when they are going, I highly reccomend the Carnival Paradise. Unless they smoke, it's currently non-smoking. Beautiful ship and not a party boat at all. Infact I was a little sad that the club wasn't full any of the times I walked in. Awesome staff and very clean... it's the only non-smoking ship in service and I don't know if I would want to cruise any other way. Although it's a few years old most people think it's brand new. Nice size rooms and since it's not always booked it's easier to get upgraded, they tend to offer more specials on this ship than others.
The reason they are moving the ship shortly to smoking is that is isn't making enough money is liqour sales or casino sales. Give them a try if they are still running cruises when your travel time comes up....

 

[TennVolTony]

They usually are on a big boat...in lots of water...headed kinda south...... That's about all I know.

 

[ahutton]

We did one for our honeymoon, on Carnival, and had a very nice time. We visited Grand Cayman and have been talking about going back ever since, we just haven't been ready to skip a year at WDW! We boarded in Tampa, went to Grand Cayman, Cozumel and then New Orleans. It was a great trip, and each place had something interesting and different to see and do.

 

[edcrbnsoul]

Another Vote for NCL we had fun seemed to be a good mix of people not just over 60. I was in my early 30's when I went saw everything from 3 yr olds to 70 yr olds.

 

[hydster]

Unless your friends want to relive college spring break and have screaming kids, I would say clear of Carnival. Very much a party ship all around and mostly older ships

Sorry but I TOTALLY disagree with that blanket statement! We've cruised almost every single cruise line there is out there with the exception of P&O and Windjammer and Carnival was no worse than any other line! They also have one of the newer fleets of ships so the statement that they have older ships is wrong as well. We have more than 15 cruises under our belts and they all had good and bad points about them no matter how cheap or expensive the trip was nor what line it was on. Obvisously some people have a personal bias against Carnival but I could really bash Norwegian and Disney for that fact....it's all about personal choice and opinion!

I'd definitely go to cruisecritic and ask around there about different lines. Since your friends are older I'd say they'd probably really enjoy Princess or Celebrity! Carnival and RCCL tend to attract more families and younger adults than Princess or Celebrity. Holland America is a nice line but VERY stuffy in our opinion.

Heidi

 

[pstepka]

A good site to check out prices is www.vacationstogo.com Booking direct with a cruiseline will almost always result in higher prices than could have been had by booking online.

 

[Jeafl]

I have to agree with hydster. We've cruised on many different lines including NCL, Royal Caribbean, Premier Big Red Boat (now defunct), Princess and Carnival several times. We were most recently on the Carnival Inspiration over Thanksgiving, and never saw a single drunk. The passengers were made up of about 1/3 families, 1/3 older couples and 1/3 singles/young couples. The Inspiration was built in 1997, so it was one of their older ships but it was in great condition. They have LOTS of newer ships, but even the older ones are pretty nice. We never saw any drunks on NCL, RCCL or Princess either. I have heard that the 3-day Carnival cruises do tend to get a younger, more "partier" crowd though, probably because they are cheaper. On a 7-day, they should be fine.

I wholeheartedly agree with checking cruisecritic.com and going to the board specific to the line you want to cruise. There are a lot of fun people on the Carnival boards who are very helpful. The best tip I ever learned is to book your excursions on your own. We've done this the last few times and saved a ton of money, plus the excursions were nowhere near as crowded as the ship-sponsored ones.

I've been to just about every Caribbean island at some point except for Aruba and Roatan, so if I can answer any questions at all, please let me know. I can say that my least favorites are Jamaica, Nassau (unless you go to Paradise Island) and Belize. My favorites are St. John, St. Croix, Bermuda, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, all for very different reasons.

Please let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help.

 

[geffric]

we have seen many people on the Disney cruise without kids.. and they think it is wonderful too.. Please check out the Cruise board here at the DIS...