? on different cruise lines

[2disneyboys]

I NEED YOUR HELP! Please recommend a cruise line or a forum for.cruisers. we are planning a huge family reunion cruise for Nov 2012 and I have no ideal where to.start. because of the mix in ages (10 yrs old - 90 yrs old) I have been given 2 guidelines...no disney cruise :'( and no carvinal cruise. Other than that, we are planning a eastern carraibean cruise (i think its eastern...whichever has st thomss, st martins etc) and we would like to leave out of mamia Florida. Thanks so much!

 

[katrina1122]

Royal Carribbean. We've been on 2 and love them. Lots to do for all ages, food is great, new ships and fun cruise directors.

 

[mel698]

Check out cruisecritic.com

 

[Shelly888]

I was going to suggest Royal Caribbean as well. We are going on a Carnival cruise in January 2012, but we really wanted to sail on RC. We have a 2 year old and what sold us on Carnival was the fact they accept children not toilet trained as young as 2 into their kid's camp. Mom and Dad need some alone time too. We sailed on and got engaged on Carnival 12 years ago, so we know what to expect. Cruisecritic dot com is a wonderful resource.

 

[mrudman]

My first choice would be Norwegian. We took a big family cruise (14 of us ranging from 3-66) last summer, and was an absolutely awesome time. Great food, very friendly staff everywhere, and the kids loved the Kid's Club.

ETA: Looks like the Norwegian Epic is the ship that sails to the Eastern Carribean in November, and they just finished that ship this past summer,

 

[minkydog]

Another vote for Royal Caribbean. My DD-then 17 absolutely loved their teen program! And there were plenty of things to keep adults occupied.

 

[SC Minnie]

Check out cruisecritic.com

Ditto.

We just got off a Royal Carribean ship Monday. We have sailed Disney and Princess in the past. I would suggest RCL too- one of the larger ships.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

Royal Caribbean. We personally cruise Carnival though to save money.

 

[CoP Luv]

Check cruises dot com to see which cruises go out of Miami in Nov. 2012. That way you can look at the choices based on the ships and cost too.

Enjoy the planning! I love to cruise!!!

 

[Darcy03231]

We're frequent cruisers and have cruised on Carnival, Royal Carribean, Norwegian, Celebrity, Princess and Holland America. Based on your post I would go with either Royal Carribean or Norwegian. FWIW our family has found that our top two lines are Carnival and Royal Carribean.

As for sites to check out - try www.cruisecritic.com and www.cruisemates.com

 

[RachelEllen]

You have your big six, mainstream cruiselines: Princess, Royal Carribean, Norwegan, Holland America, Celebrity, and Carnival. Personally, I think the similarities between them are far greater than the differences. For example, Holland America has a repuation of having an older average age than Carnival. But, both lines will have more kids during school breaks and many fewer at other times. There may be a detail or two that is critical to you and doesn't matter to someone else: the age of kids club, or strict meal times, or something like that. And, of course, some people will be very loyal to their favorite. But, honestly, you will get a very similar experience on all of them.

Cruisecritic is also a great resource, but I wouldn't get too hung up on which is the perfect line.

 

[mrsklamc]

Sorry to hijack but since their are frequent cruisers here- I thought that another line- perhaps Carnival or RCI - went to Holland America's private island Half Moon Cay. Anyone know?

 

[gilby]

We have been on several cruises, Carnival, Princess, RCCL, Celebrity and Norweign. I would suggest Carnival or RCCL. Celebrity and Princess are older crowds, we took our 14 year old daughter, not a lot of fun. Norweign didn't care for their food. Carnival to us has the best food, with second being RCCl.
You need to make the right choice for you and your family.

 

[mhsjax]

Sorry to hijack but since their are frequent cruisers here- I thought that another line- perhaps Carnival or RCI - went to Holland America's private island Half Moon Cay. Anyone know?

Carnival does, well some of it's cruises do. They are owned by the same company, and Half Moon Cay is FANTASTIC. Right up there with Castaway Cay.

 

[Shmily1]

With the guidelines you've been given, as a TA, I would have to say Royal Caribbean. Their Eastern Caribbean cruises are available on their two biggest ships, Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas. These ships have awesome amenities that would be great for all ages, like surfing, rock climbing, Dreamworks characters, ice-skating rink, water park, mini golf, zip line, 3D movies, a carousel, and much more. That is just what's on the ship! I book all cruise lines, but I would definitely pick RCCL second to DCL if I was booking for myself.

 

[Deffenm]

Carnival does, well some of it's cruises do. They are owned by the same company, and Half Moon Cay is FANTASTIC. Right up there with Castaway Cay.

We would cruise Carnival just to stop here. Half Moon Cay is wonderful. We rented a cabana and my kids asked if we had to get back on the ship or if we could just stay in the cabana.

Anyway, we have cruised Carnival and RCCL. We enjoy both. We basically pick a cruise based on itenieary and then cost. There is always something to do on a ship no matter how big the ship is. Plus if you are on a port intensive cruise you won't be on the ship much anyway. This year we did Southern Carib. and we had 6 stops on a 7 day cruise. We were only on the ship long enough to eat and sleep.

Cruise Critic is a great site. We had a meet and greet this year and met some great families at the beginning of the trip. We even booked private excurisions with some of them. It was a blast and now my kids are begging me to book another cruise.

 

[caribear]

I highly suggest Royal Caribbean and one of their new ships, Oasis or Allure. Plenty for all ages and an incredible ship! Pricing is at a premium...so book early. We sailed a year ago...and if we had the money we would go again in a heartbeat.

I also enjoyed Princess as did my DD when she was 3. Their larger ships are nice...and the atmosphere is a little more mature.

I also recommend CruiseCritic dot com. Lots and lots of cruising info!

 

[dawnn12]

I have been on three two royals and a celebrity I like rccl the best. Now my DDs(12 and 7 last cruise and 11 and 6 their first cruise) like rccl they did have a grat time on celebrity but they said they want to go back to royal. I would check out cruisecritic. now if im looking at a certain port around a certain day I look at vacas to go (spell out the first word and no spaces) you can look up what lines are going out of that port for the whole month or two month range and narrow it down from there oh cruising is just as addictive as disney is...just forwarning you

 

[2disneyboys]

Wow, thanks everyone for the responses... Some good info for me to review! I am excited about going on our first cruise. Thanks again!

 

[MissUndastood]

Based on your info I would go with either Royal Carribean or Norwegian. My backup would be celebrity