Cruise recommendations **UPDATE PAGE 2**

[kdibattista]

DH and I are thinking about taking a cruise next year for our anniversary. My sister did a Carnival cruise and said it was horrible. Can anyone recommend any cruise lines that they have been on and enjoyed?

Thanks!!

 

[MerryPoppins]

The Disney Magic was . . . well, it was magical. You'd have a great time!

 

[katerkat]

Love Royal Caribbean (good food, good service, and the new big ships are very cool)
Like Disney (too many kids, though, for me!)
Eh for Carnival (too much of a party atmosphere)
Bah for the Big Red Boat (do they even exist anymore?)

 

[Denine]

Princess and, of course, Disney.

 

[kimber79]

For our 1st and only cruise, we sailed on the Disney Wonder leaving on Halloween Day 2002, and I think it would be hard to cruise any other line!! My next venture will be the Disney Magic hopefully within the next year to year and a half!! The staterooms on the Disney cruise lines are big ~ I had an inside stateroom for myself and 2 kids and we had plenty of room. You can go over to the cruise line forum boards and ask Barb & Tony anything and everything about Disney cruise lines ~ they have been on like 30 some cruises not all Disney!

Have fun with whichever line you decide to sail with!!

 

[FOJMO]

Can you tell I'm partial to Disney??? Truly, it was a "magical" experience. We have been on two Disney Magic cruises and will be taking our 3rd (Western Caribbean) in about 5 weeks.

Not having any other cruiseline to compare it to, though -- just know a good thing when we see it!

No complaints whatsoever about the ship, just some of the ports of call we would not do again (Nassau, for instance -- we would either not take a crusie that went there or, if we did, we'd stay on the ship).

Disney treats you right! And we did not find there to be too many kids on board for us. Of course, if you kind of stay away from the areas where the kids would naturally be (Mickey or Goofy Pools, for instance), you don't have to worry. There is an Adult Only pool on the ship as well as an Adult Only beach area on Castaway Cay.

Give it a try -- you will LOVE it!

 

[RUDisney]

We sailed on Norwegian Cruise Line in October 2000 on the Sky. It was the Eastern Caribbean out of Miami. I love this line! Nowhere near as expensive as the Disney cruises, but elegant and fun. They have a kids' club to keep the little ones occupied. The best part is that you aren't "married" to a mealtime. If you're hungry at 5:22 p.m., you go to the dining room or restaurant of your choice. If you're not hungry until 7:00, you go then. You are not set on any rotation, nor do you have a specific waiter that rotates with you. The only restaurant you need reservations for is the Bistro at the top of the ship. It is also $10 more per person, and worth it.

You would not be sorry if you sailed with NCL.

 

[AspiringCindy]

Hated Carnival, but enjoyed 4 Royal Caribbean Cruises. But without a doubt, if your traveling with children, Disney Cruises are the best!

 

[Kteacher]

I've sailed with Royal Caribbean 6 times (after next week it will be 7 times ), and Celebrity once. The Voyager class ships are just incredible. We'll be sailing one of these ships next July for our 20th anniversary. Check out cruisecritic.com to get some more tips and reviews on different cruise lines and individual ships.

 

[Margie J]

After 8 cruises:

Royal Caribbean - good age mix, nice food and service, great entertainment, nice sports/health program. Enough fun without being too over the top.

Carnival - non-stop action, ok food and service, tends to be a younger crowd. The ships are very "glitzy", like a floating Vegas strip.

NCL - I technically sailed on one of their ships when it was part of another cruise line (the Norwegian Majesty). Elegant ship on the smaller side (has now been stretched), excellent food and service.

 

[mickeyfan1]

Carnival - great if you are young or young at heart and love to party. Really good food.

Holland America - great if you are older (for Alaska), beautiful ships, so so food.

Royal Carribean - great for the 40s to whatever crowd. Gorgeous ships, lots of good activities, food is ok.

Big Red Boat is no longer sailing but they had the best food on any cruise line I have been on

American Hawaii also not sailing, but cruising is a great way to see thoses islands, NCL does it, as does Princess, I believe.

Disney Wonder - beatuiful ship, lousy food (does cafeteria/ institutional food mean anything to you?), service was the worst in the DR. Lots of kids, but well supervised and not running all over. Best private island in all of cruise lines. Shows were good, but the one I like the most is no longer (Herdules) I think. I am sure that it was just a bad set of DR attendants, but it really turned me off to DCL, sorry.

Even with in each line the ships are different, go to a cruise specialist, let them know what you like, and they can match you up with a good fit line, ship and itinerary.

 

[kathymc]

sailed twice on carnival and had a great time on both - food good but not spectacular, lots of fun and mix of ages.

just back recently from celebrity constellation - nice trip, but too low key, not much night life at all and boat just tries to be a bit too stuffy. great food and service though.

just my opinion....

 

[FOJMO]

Originally posted by mickeyfan1
Shows were good, but the one I like the most is no longer (Herdules) I think.

Say it isn't so! They took the show "Hercules" off the roster??? That was by far, our FAVORITE!!!

Oh, man...

 

[kdibattista]

Thanks everyone!!!! I was thinking about the Disney cruise (we are HUGE Disney fans) but we wanted to do something without a lot of kids (we don't have any yet). Thanks again!!

 

[luvindisneyworld]

We have been on 2 Carnival cruises and Loved it.we will be cruising again next May and will either be Carnival Glory or RCCL Mariner of the Seas.both of these are new ships leaving out of Port Canaveral

 

[disfanatiks]

DH and I cruised on Holland America for our honeymoon last year. We loved it....I am 39 today (hehehe) and DH is 37. We were by far one of the youngest couples on the ship, but we loved it. The pool was not crowded, everyone dressed beautifully/handsomely for dinners and service was incredible. Pool was always available, which was wonderful!!! I enjoyed the food very much.

Disney Wonder was fun. Food was a disappointment. I am sure that we will cruise Disney again, however, only in a CAT 3 and with DD (age 12).

Good Luck!!!

 

[kdibattista]

Thanks again everyone!!! I just picked up a ton of books on all the different cruise lines so I will be perusing (sp?) them this weekend.

 

[Chattyaholic]

Enjoy looking at all the cruise books you just got, to me that's half the fun of planning a cruise!!

DH and I are both 45 and we've done the Disney Magic twice (Eastern first, then Western) and loved it both times (had a verandah room each time) and we did a short Carnival Fantasy cruise in January too and enjoyed that as well. Had heard many pros and cons about Carnival, so we just decided to find out for ourselves. We are not big party people, but still had a great time and enjoyed the ship. Even though it was an older ship it was still clean and well maintained. We enjoyed the food on both ships, and the entertainment on both were great too. We'll be on the Wonder in January, then I think we may start planning an Alaskan cruise so I'll be getting a bunch of new cruise books too!!

One other thing, I don't particularly "enjoy" other people's children, and even though there were a lot of them on the Disney cruise (900 the first time and probably around the same the second time) Disney does a wonderful job of separating kids from adults so we weren't bothered by them at all. I don't recall being bothered by them much on Carnival either.

 

[kdibattista]

Well... I think we picked. Has anyone been on the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas? We are going to do a 7 night Eastern Caribbean departing from Miami next April/May. Is that a good time of year?

Thanks again!!!

 

[Kteacher]

As long as it is not during April vacation, that is a perfect time to go I was on one of RCI's other voyager class ships last July- you will love it!!!!! The solarium was one of my favorite spots on the entire ship-enjoy