Dave, Barb & Tony - some ?'s for you!

[ZooMommy]

Dave, Barb & Tony, I love your DCL sites - y'all and this board offer wonderful tips and pictures! Thanks for all your hard work!!! I'm curious, can y'all offer any hints/links as to a nice, adult cruise (besides Carnival...)? After our DCL cruise this past July, DH and I are hooked, but we're clueless as to what else is out there and we'd like to research some on our own without overwhelming our TA with dozens of questions, just yet. We'll overwhelm you guys first! Is there another cruise line that is also good for kids (ours are 6 and 11)? Our kids may be young, but they really didn't care for the Magic's clubs; they were more interested in the pools and seeing what Mom and Dad get to do! LOL Thank you in advance!

 

[mcnuss]

Well, I am neither Dave, nor Barb, nor Tony, but I will reply...

For an adults cruise, Radisson has my vote. We went on the Diamond in 1998, and it is by far the most luxurious, relaxing, unbelievable experience. It's pricey, but they have a no-tipping policy, wine & beer were included with meals, you got a bar set up in your cabin (gratis) and the extras were too numerous to count. Not to mention, all rooms have either a large sitting area with a sliding glass door, or a large balcony. There are no inside rooms. The Radisson ships are small - about 350 people. The crew to passenger ratio is something like 1:1. Oh! And you can dine any time you like at a table the size you like. They take reservations like a restaurant or you show up. No ressie dash as there are so few people on board. Can you tell we loved this cruise???

 

[ZooMommy]

WOW, mcnuss! That does sound like a very relaxing cruise! Thank you for offering that tip to me, I'm definitely going to check it out! Do they offer trips to the Eastern Caribbean? Also, do you have a link for them? Thank you!!!

 

[disneyholic family]

mcnuss...
i've spent this weekend reading about radisson seven seas and crystal...
one thing i keep wondering about....
since the ships are much smaller, are they as stable as the big ones?

 

[prymsu]

Radisson is VERY expensive. I could cruise several more times for what it would cost to do one Radisson cruise. Yes it is luxury cruising, but I don't think I would ever pay those prices. Just my opinion...

 

[snelsonbrown]

I do not have all the particulars but we are having a new cruise line coming to the port in November - it is call the Royal Olympic Cruise registered in Greece - from what I understand it is to be the most luxerious ship at the port - if you go to their link (wish I had it - its at the shop) you can see a picture of it and read all the particulars on it - it goes to places the others don't - do not know anything else on it -------it is suppose to be a family oriented cruise ship
Always
Shirley

 

[TnRobin]

When I was investigating a pacific cruise, Princess and Celebrity can highly recommended as very nice cruises for adults.

 

[inkkognito]

A great resource to check out opinions of other cruise lines is www.cruisecritic.com
They have message boards like these for virtually every cruise line. I found out lots of info. about RCCL there before we did our cruises with them. Also check out www.epinions.com
You can't ask questions at Epinions, but there are a lot of trip reports that should be helpful.
Good luck!
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[ZooMommy]

Whew - Radisson IS very expensive! I think I'll stay away from there (or just to be mean, I might tell DH I already booked a cruise with them.... he's on my blacklist today!)

Barb, thanks for the links; I'm going to check out cruisecritic for sure... I just hope I can find a cruise that DH and I will both agree on. I might have to resort to "be reasonable and do it my way" if he doesn't quit tearing up the kitchen after I FINALLY got it clean (that's why he's on my blacklist today....)

 

[mcnuss]

I know Radisson looks very expensive, but first of all, they do (unlike DCL) offer many discounts, esp. last minute. Try cruise.com or seasavers to see what you can get. Our DCL cruise will only be a little less than the Radisson cruise was once I factor in beverages, tips, etc.... You must absolutely not forget that on Radisson you are not charged for much beyond the price of the cruise. I think we maybe spent an extra $200-300 on excursions & photos. Wine was included with dinner, there was a full bar set-up in our cabin, and there was no tipping allowed. If you add it all up, it might not be as big a difference as you'd think.

one thing i keep wondering about....since the ships are much smaller, are they as stable as the big ones

I've not yet been on a big ship, but I can attest that the Diamond was very stable. She's a double hulled vessel (looks a little like a catamaran in that respect) and it was totally smooth sailing.

 

[disneyholic family]

oh right...
i read about the diamond....it sounds amazing...
back in my youthful sailing days i only sailed catamarans for that reason (increased stability)...

and speaking of sailing, in my weekend reading i read about the windstar ships...those sound pretty amazing as well...

hmm...so many to choose from...

but i really am worried about the small ship/stability question....
i was thinking about taking us on a mediterannean cruise since that's so close to home...... (although we'd still probably have to get on a plane to get to the port......
but if we do take a cruise around here i want to be sure the ship's as stable as the Wonder is...

 

[pouncingpluto]

Are any of these cruises you are talking about in the Mediterranean? My future fiance and I have been talking about doing a 12-14 day Mediterranean cruise (or two shorter cruises) for our honeymoon. We are definitely not rich, but we'd rather have a little wedding and amazing honeymoon.

At any rate, we would love an adults-only ship for that trip, or at least one geared toward adults. Any recommendations?

 

[disneyholic family]

from what i've seen in my research, it seems that most of the cruiselines have mediterranean cruises (during certain seasons of the year)....
go to the websites of the various cruiselines and to www.critic.com...
by definition they will be adult oriented since they're destination oriented rather than ship activity oriented (and they're also during the school year, so there won't be many kids...)..
specifically look at Royal Caribean (they have a ship or two in the mediteranean during certain times of the year), Celebrity Cruise lines (they also have a ship or two in the mediteranean part of the year), Orient Lines, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland Ameica (they might only sail to europe, i'm not sure), and many others...