What is your favorite cruise line?

suerun11

My husband and I are planning our vacation for next year...it will involve a bikini! So now I have even more reason to kill it here. For those who have taken a Caribbean Cruise, what is your favorite cruise line and time of year to go? We are going for seven days. What are your favorite ports of call and excursions to not miss?

longhaul64

That would be some great info. My wife and I are going when I hit my goal weight.

INSANITY43

bump....

reactor25

My husband and I are planning our vacation for next year...it will involve a bikini! So now I have even more reason to kill it here. For those who have taken a Caribbean Cruise, what is your favorite cruise line and time of year to go? We are going for seven days. What are your favorite ports of call and excursions to not miss?

I have only been on one cruise, Disney, and we went to the east Caribbean, St Marteen and St Thomas, and it was awesome. I would go again.

lukeout007

"Show me the money"

asongforholly

I just booked a carribean cruise for November of this year for Hubby and I! Did lots of research, and if you have kids Disney and Carnival. Teens/tweens Royal carribean. No kids: Princess and Celebrity. Older couple Norwegian..

We're going on Royal Carribean on the Allure of the Seas as it's a newer ship and has more adult-orientated areas on board than a normal Royal Carribean ship.

Edit: We're going East Carribean from Ft. Lauderdale.

1maxie

My husband and I both loved Carnival and Norwegion.. Carnival was Puerto Rico ,St Thomas , and Tortola.. beautiful and Norwegion was St Thomas (I love it there) Tortola and Bermuda... ST Thomas and Tortola was my favorite...
Hope you have a great time..
susan

ohpiper

I would recommend Royal Caribbean. Princess is similar. Carnival ships were older and not quite as well maintained. I'm sure, though, you will have a nice time.

futuremalestripper

I have only went on Norwegian, but it was a crappy experience. My girlfriend kept telling me the entire time "this is not how all cruises are!" The people I went with have been on every major cruise line and they all say that Royal Carribean is the best. Supposedly Carnival has a bit larger cabins, but the service, food, and experience are best on Royal Carribean. My next cruise is on RC!

chicobike

I have only been on Princess Cruise lines... I really like them. I think they tend to attract a little "older" audience. I have cruised with and without kids... if I do it again with kids- it will probably be a Carnival or Disney. With just the wife- only Princess.

If you haven't yet booked- google Cruise Critic. They have a great message board there for you to ask questions- or just read.... tons of information. From how to book your cabin on the cheap, to what ships and rooms to avoid... Once you decide on your cruise, there boards for you to ask questions about excursions and whatnot.

lauralizzy829

I'm 25 and just took a 2 week Mediterranean Cruise with Princess this past fall. I honestly chose the cruise bc of the ports of call (Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Pisa/Florence, Rome, Naples, Athens, Mykonos, Ephesus, Istanbul, and Venice). The crowd was a bit older, but I still had a blast. The night clubs/bars were fun and the food was great! A pool is a pool and a beer is a beer no matter who is around you haha.
Everything was very clean and our steward and waiter for the cruise were awesome. Great wine tastings to do during the days at sea. I happened to win a massage and got to experience the spa which again, was amazing. I was very impressed and would choose again.

hpynh2o

Every other year we plan a huge family and friends vacation on a cruise ship. Our group started at 65 people about 6 years ago but for 2013 we'll have about 150! We've been on several cruise lines (Celebrity, Disney, RC and Carnival). For our big groups we have always had the most fun on Carnival. On a Carnival ship, no matter where you go there is music playing and it just feels more festive, plus there is always a ton of stuff to do for everyone. Our group is rather ecclectic... young, old, drinkers, etc... everyone always has a great time. The ports are what you make of them. I look for diversity in the ports. Some places are built up tourist traps and others are third world countries. My favorites: Bonaire, Dominica and the cruise lines private beaches.
Have fun!

rvpearson

I have only been on Royal Caribbean. I have done 3 cruises; Mexico, Alaska, and Caribbean. If you are going to Grand Cayman, definately do the tour to "Sting Ray City", it was probably the best part of our cruise....amazing! In this tour we also went to the turtle farm, rum cake factory, and "Hell" (a town). In Jamaica we did the Dunns River Falls, a lot of fun! In Cozemel we did the clear kayaking/snorkling.....wouldn't suggest this, not nearly as good as the pictures have you believe it is! In Haiti we just spent the day on the beach. We had a lot of time at each place to do a tour and then shopping as well as time at the beach. We love cruising!! Hope you have a wonderful vacation!

sandiburn

we love carnival. but we also live in tx, so we just drive down to the coast and hop on a boat . Its such a cheap vaca and we LOVE it.

_HeyMommy_

My parents go on a few cruises a year... all with Princess. They love all of the ships in the line, but prefer the
Golden and the Coral because they have the same basic layout. We have gone on one, on the Golden, to Alaska.
Was amazing.

ladyluch99

Leaving Saturday for a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. This will be our first time on RC but we took a cruise in 2009 on Carnival and loved it. I've always heard RC is better than Carnival so I will see for myself soon.

ktrn0312

We are frequent cruisers. Royal Carribbean by far has the best adult ambiance. Next is the Norwegian Cruise line- I prefer formal dining. I did not care too much for freestyle dining. Carnival is the pits-too much of a young set ( we went on three different Carnival ships and it was the same being overrun by young people- too loud and the entertainment was very lacking).

danger_kitteh

Royal Carribean, we were on the Liberty of the Seas. We stopped in Labadee Haiti, Ocho Rios Jamaica, Georgetown Grand Caymans and Cozumel Mexico. In Haiti, we stayed with the beach, Jamaica we took a cab ride tour (organized off ship through the tourist commission, very important to use these guys), Grand Caymans we swam with dolphins and visited the turtle farm and in Mexico we went Snuba diving.

klynn08

Royal Caribbean, any of their ships and any ports are beautiful! Don't miss out on the Jetski's, Snorkeling, Dolphin swims, Sting ray encounters, and Parasailing!

suerun11

My husband and I are planning our vacation for next year...it will involve a bikini! So now I have even more reason to kill it here. For those who have taken a Caribbean Cruise, what is your favorite cruise line and time of year to go? We are going for seven days. What are your favorite ports of call and excursions to not miss?

I have only been on one cruise, Disney, and we went to the east Caribbean, St Marteen and St Thomas, and it was awesome. I would go again.

WE WANT TO DO THE KID FRIENDLY ONE NEXT TIME, THOUGH MOST SAY THAT DISNEY IS FOR ADULTS BECAUSE THE KIDS ARE SO BUSY! THANK YOU!

suerun11

I just booked a carribean cruise for November of this year for Hubby and I! Did lots of research, and if you have kids Disney and Carnival. Teens/tweens Royal carribean. No kids: Princess and Celebrity. Older couple Norwegian..

We're going on Royal Carribean on the Allure of the Seas as it's a newer ship and has more adult-orientated areas on board than a normal Royal Carribean ship.

Edit: We're going East Carribean from Ft. Lauderdale.
[/quote

Thank you, did the Princess Alaska Cruise with our grandparents, loved it but we were the youngest on the boat by about 30 years:) Carnival seemed like a spring break in Mexico...So please let me know how Royal Caribbean is! Also Celebrity looks fun!

suerun11

Thanks everyone, keep the thoughts coming. So far it looks like Royal Caribbean is the way to go:) Anyone know anything about the cruise line Celebrity?

futuremalestripper

Btw, i went on a 7 day and hit places like St Thomas(US Virgin Islands), Bahamas private island, Tortolla (British VI), and Samana in the Dominican. St Thomas sucked for the most part. The entire place was jewelry stores and crap. I went on a great sea lion excursion there that was fantastic, but the island itself sucked. It's like being in a poor area of America with a bunch of stores selling American products that you can buy here. Tortolla was nice, had more art, and again the excursions make the island so it's up to you what you do. I went snorkelling and had a blast. Samana is a very poor place. I never actually touched land there because I was on a kayaking excursion into mangrove forests that was AMAZING (best excursion ever), but everyone I talked to that went to Samana said people were begging all over and it was very unpleasant. Beware of "private islands" in the Bahamas. Basically, there is an empty island with one restaurant, 1-2 bars, and beach. So don't take a cruise with more than one day on a private island unless you honestly just want to sit on the beach all day. You can still do an excursion like parasailing, but that is only a small fraction of your day. When I was on NCL, I spent over 1 hour in a never-ending line to get on the island, and then the same to get off of it. Other than the excursion, I wished I had stayed on the ship.
If I were to go again, the places I would look for are: Tortolla, Samana(i say this because their mangrove kayaking is so amazing), and Jamaica. If there is a Bahamas stop, try to find a cruise that hits a large port as opposed to a private island. I can't speak for the best part of the year, but when I went in December it was so beautiful. It was warm and beautiful but not too hot during the day, but it was brisk in the early morning (which I personally like).

Contrarian

Aren't cruises for elderly people?

MellowGa

I've been on Carnival and Royal Carb I would say they are all basically teh same, except Disney which is far more expensive, but you get a ton of things with Disney.

Now you get what you pay for, the "new ships" are bigger and better and it shows, the smaller ships you get more bang for your buck.

So this is my take, If you want to go on a cruise for cheap, and just really "chill" drink and unwind, not do a whole lot in terms of things on the ship, like simply sit poolside and drink or read....go smaller.

If you like to do things while on the ship and very active, so you are not a fan of just laying in a lounge chair reading and having a cocktail for a day or two, you need activiities to keep you occupied, then go "larger" and all cruise lines have bigger newer ships, do the research.

there is a website called Cruisecritic, join that, it's free, good info there and you canget to know people who are going on your cruise before you depart if you guys are social.

Enjoy, you really can't go wrong on any cruise ship.

Elizabeth_C34

Regent. No comparison.

They are expensive, but you pay once, and you're done. No need to worry about tips, drinks, whatever. Most airfare and shore excursions are included also. We went to Alaska with them for our Honeymoon, and it was like a floating 5-star hotel. We weren't even in the top class of room, and we had a living room, king size bedroom, huge walk-in closet, beautiful marble bathroom with separate shower and tub with double sinks, and a private balcony. This was their STANDARD balcony room. It was amazing. The food was unbelievably good, and we loved how nice it was not to worry about making reservations or feeling nickel and dimed. We had no assigned dinner time either. We just went when we wanted and got private tables. The ships are smaller, and there's a lot more staff per customer so you get a really personal experience.

I've done the Disney cruise, and it was good, but not great. Royal Caribbean and Carnival kinda stunk. Too much nickel and diming going on. We had to carry a lot of cash for tips and had to buy a soda cup to carry around for refills. I didn't like this since we had already spent so much on the cruise itself.

If you're going to spend money on a cruise, it better be relaxing and fun, not stressful. That's why my husband and I aren't going on any more cruiselines besides Regent in the future. We're sold.

asongforholly

Thank you, did the Princess Alaska Cruise with our grandparents, loved it but we were the youngest on the boat by about 30 years:) Carnival seemed like a spring break in Mexico...So please let me know how Royal Caribbean is! Also Celebrity looks fun!

Will do! We were looking at Celebrity but the cruise I wanted wasn't round-trip. So we'd leave from NY and wind up somewhere with no way home. I was sad.

I'm really excited!

mrmanmeat

One that doesn't sink the ship.

the_journeyman

One that doesn't sink the ship.

He speaks wisdom!

I've had nothing but GREAT experience with Royal Caribbean. Not too expensive either. It is a good idea to stay away from the Sovereign Class (Majesty of The Sea, Monarch of the Sea) as these ships are quite old, and despite numerous refits, they are showing their age. The Voyager class are awesome ships, and their new Oasis Class looks to be awesome!

JM

greeneyes191

Aren't cruises for elderly people?

greeneyes191

Cruises are for everyone. It's just a matter of picking the right ship and destinations for your age group and interests.
Best vacations ever.