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Cruises

MoeCizlak

MoeCizlak

Built for comfort
Joined
Sep 21, 2007
Messages
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I'm looking at doing a March 2013 cruise and was looking for advice. The wife (c) and I did a cruise for our honeymoon on Carnival which left Miami then hit Cozumel, Jamaica and Grand Cayman but that was 15yrs ago. We'll have our kids with us this time and they'll be 13 and 10 at the time we're looking to do the cruise so I'm wondering if anyone does cruises regularly and what all, if anything, has changed. I want to do a Caribbean cruise again but would like to see one of the Virgin Islands. I've looked at Carnival again and am not sure 4 people can fit in those rooms. Disney seems nice but I'm not sure if the kids would be too old? They also seem a little pricier. Celebrity Cruises seem cheaper but I'm fearful of 'you get what you pay for'. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
The wife and I went on a Carnival Cruise from N.O. to Progresso and Cozumel in Oct. of 2010. Thoroughly enjoyed it, I'd been a long time ago, it was her first time. We don't have any kids, but there were several programs available on the ship for kids of all ages during both the day and in the evening. My travel agent helped quite a bit and was able to set up anything we needed beforehand. You may see if you could get adjoining rooms to expand the space on Carnival. The price doesn't change since it is per person. The food was alot better this time than I remember from '93 and the alcohol was more expensive, or my choices in alcohol have gotten more expensive. Just give me a shout if I can help. I could even get you in touch with my agent, she does everything on-line and could help with some of your questions to.
 
I'll have to throw in my recommendation for Royal Caribbean. After a fantastic 2008 cruise on the Liberty of the Seas, wife and I did a 7 day cruise on the Allure of the Seas out of Ft. Lauderdale in November. Ports were Bahamas (Nassau), St. Thomas (Charlotte-Amalie) and St. Maarten (St. Phillipsburg).

Granted, the AOTS is a huge ship, but she is BEAUTIFUL and you'll never be at a loss for as much or as little as you want to do. Their Adventure Ocean programs for kids in up through their teens are very well known and highly complimented.

A fantastic website that I use a lot todos cruise related information and opinion is www.cruisecritic.com

Good luck finding the right vacation for you!


S300 :cool:
 
Have not cruised the Caribbean but have cruised down Baja Ca a couple of times and 4 years ago we did Tahiti but those were with Princess. I think your children are a little old to have fun on the Disney cruises and they are overpriced IMHO.
 
We have gone on a couple of Caribbean cruises with NCL and have thoroughly enjoyed them both. They have programs for your children on board as well. If you take a Southern or Eastern Caribbean cruise you have your choice of Virgin islands to visit.
NCL offers rooms for four people.
They have several restaurants which are included in the ticket price as well as "upgrade" restaurants for an additional fee, usually $20 per person.

We are planning our next cruise with NCL and hope to go sometime in the spring (I usually book mine at the last minute to get a deal and upgrades)

Good Luck and enjoy.

Dave
 
MilesMingusMonk said:
So swinger and wife swap cruises are not an option this time?
Click to expand...

I don't recall saying that.

Thanks for the info guys, I appreciate it. I think the kids would be happy just playing in the pool and discovering the boat so I'm not overly worried that they'll be bored. I guess my main focus would be off-shore excursions/destinations and key parties accommodations. Do you guys usually go through a travel agent or book yourself through the cruise line's website? Matt, I may give you a call as I don't have a travel agent.
 
We sailed on the Carnival Miracle about 5 years ago. That was my first cruise and had a blast. We are planning on going to Bermuda in June this year with Royal Carribbean.
 
We're hitting the Disney cruise in October, we'll have 12/6/5/2 year olds with us...........you might as well just bring in your ship date to October 2012 and enjoy it with us :laugh:
 
In 2010 we went to Mexico on Royal Carribean and 2011 we went to the Bahamas on NCL. They are very similar, and if it were me I would just choose the better deal. I think RC was a bit more upscale then NCL. The food was better on RC, but NCL doesn't have set dining times so even in the main dining room you can eat whenever you want. That's a huge plus in my mind. One thing about NCL, you can only smoke cigars in the designated cigar bar. The outside smoking areas are designated for cigarettes only. No one ever gave me a problem about my pipe, but I did see one guy asked to leave the casino because he was smoking a cigar. RC let us smoke cigars anywhere that wasn't specifically designated no smoking.

Whichever you take, you'll get a kick out of all the guys proudly smoking their new glass top box Cohibas on the way home.
 
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MoeCizlak said:
Do you guys usually go through a travel agent or book yourself through the cruise line's website? Matt, I may give you a call as I don't have a travel agent.
Click to expand...
We're getting ready to sail on the Carnival Valor in February. When we booked we booked through their website, but Carnival still has a representative that is assigned to us. They call the Personal Vacation Planners (PVPs). They work for Carnival and act as your point of contact for anything you need or anything that comes up, kind of like a travel agent. If I were to book another cruise I don't think I'd change a thing.
 
Let me know how that goes, if you would please. The Valor was one of the boats we were looking at.

I never voted for the guy Burtch, I voted for Isaac.
 
This company seems to be offering discounts.....I can give you their info if you are interested:

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I've done two cruises over the past 8 years. Both with extended family...Kids ranged in age from 9 to 18. We booked both directly through the cruise lines. We did the eastern Cribbean on Royal Cribbean and Western Cribbean on Princess. Both lines were great. Four of us were in a small room the first time and I will never do that again. Second one we amde sure we got two rooms right next to each other. By far, the best day trip we went on was Swimming with the Stingrays off the Cayman Islands.It was fabulos! We also realy enjoyed the snorkeling off Cozumel and Burmuda. Theres tons of stuff on board for the kids. The cruise lines want the kids happy because we alll know if the kids aren't happy no one is happy.
Enjoy.
Tom
 
Thanks Tom. I found a 7-day Western Caribbean on Carnival for $669/person for a Suite. Which is about 1/2 what suites go for on the other cruises I've seen. Cruise leaves Jan 6th, which looks like it will give us mid-70s weather where the cruise goes. Mid-March is the other possibility but rates go up, but so does the temp into the mid-80s. Decisions....

Also, Matt mentioned getting adjoining rooms. You don't pay more for that? It's a per-person charge?
 
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