Mary

My husband and I (age early 30's) what to go on a cruise in September 1998 but we don't know where and on what cruise line. If anyone has any suggestions we would appreciate hearing from you. We would like to go on a nice ship with a limited budget. We generally perfer vacations away from children and wild teenagers.

Just another thing, this question may seem stupid, but I will ask it anyway - What is the weather like in the Caribbean in September?

Alicia

Hi Mary! My husband and I just returned from a 1 week cruise aboard the Carnival Inspiration ship out of San Juan. It was great and I highly recommend it. We've been on about 12 cruises, so I speak from experience. September is a tricky month. While you'll find the prices much lower than other times of the year, you are running the risk of having bad weather. This is the height of the hurricane season in the Caribbean and Pacific. I live in Puerto Rico and all major hurricanes occur during the month of September. But I've taken cruises during this month and have been very fortunate to survive. They are totally unpredictable and so it's a crap shot. You won't find many children this time of year on cruise ships because school has started. It depends upon the line also. Carnival attracts a younger crowd, lots of honeymooners and young singles. Royal Caribbean also attracts a young crowd. Princess seems to attract the older traveler based on my experience. The older ships will attract the oldest passenger, while the younger, mega ships attract the young people. Hope this has been of help, let me know if you need more information. Happy planning!

Rachel

My husband and I cruise twice a year, always on Carnival or Royal Caribbean. The Caribbean is lovely in September, but as you were warned, it is hurricane season, so purchase cruise insurance and talk to your travel agent about the possibility of hurricanes. A good cruise agent will tell you that most cruises simply change their itinerary if the weather turns. So don't fall in love with the itinerary. Otherwise, you will get really good deals in Sept. As to which cruise lines, you will most certainly want to go with Royal Caribbean or Carnival, unless you want to travel with a much older crowd. We love Carnival. Even though it attracts many children, even when we were on a cruise that carried 1000 children, we did not really notice. They usually go to Camp Carnival during the day, are encouraged to take the early dinner seating (so you sign up for the late one), and are not allowed in the casino or the dance clubs. Royal Caribbean also caters to kids, but we have never been bothered by children on a RC cruise either. The fact is, that if you want to cruise with people your age, you are going to see some kids, because people your age have kids. But you don't neccesarily have to be around the kids. If you really like to dress up for dinner, eat really wonderful food, enjoy really good (but not exactly warm) service, and dance the night away, take Royal Caribbean. If you want a more relaxed atmosphere, enjoy warm but not as polished service, and a big casino with some chance to win money, go on Carnival. As for itineraries, some our favorite destinations have been St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Aruba, Curacao, and Royal Caribbean's private island, Labadee. A cruise is a great choice for your vacation. We have had quiet romantic cruises as a couple, and have also met some wonderful life-long friends on cruises. Please feel free to email me if you have further questions. I hope you have a great cruise.

Corey Rongers

Hello, I would like to make a suggestion for your desired cruise experience: might I suggest the Celebrity Century? I have only been on one cruise so far, and it was on her sister the Horizon and I can honestly say that Celebrity is an outstanding value for the money. It can be a bit pricier than Carnival and RCCL, but as someone else mentioned before, September is the Value Season in cruising. The Century is an immaculately maintained 70,000+ ton megaship. Celebrity, if you may not know, is also a more laid back cruise experience. This is not to say that its passengers are neglected, not in the least sense! The stewards and waiters, etc., always seem to know when you're done with your meal or you're out of your cabin so they can clean it up for you. I can guarantee that if you contact a cruise broker, or just keep browsing around the cruise websites, you will be astounded at some of the excellent deals the Century entails. My mother and I are going on the Century on June 13 to the Western Caribbean, and I can't even put my huge excitement into words! If you want a cruise where you won't be surrounded by kids, loud screaming teenagers, and loud neon glitz, I highly recommend Celebrity, as most of these individuals will obviously be in school anyway. Just ask a travel agency for a free brochure or call 1-800-CELEBRITY for one, and you can see for yourself just how relaxed and affordably luxurious a Celebrity cruise can be. But beware, the rates in the brochure will appear pricey, but nobody really pays those rates anyway! And the Century does alternating routes: one week, the Western Caribbean, the following week, the Eastern Caribbean.
Anyway, I hope that my reply has been of some help to you, and I also hope that you enjoy yourself, whatever cruise you should take. Happy Cruising!

Eleanor

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE dont cruise the carribean during Aug.-Oct.if you can at all avoid it. <BR>On our very first cruise we got caught between TWO hurricanes and spent 4 days circling the ocean because our Captain said it was too dangerous to put into port. Wasted money! (No you cant get your money back-check out the small print on the cruise contracts.) If it wasn't for the fact that we were on Royal Carribean and they went WAY WAY above and beyond to try to salvage a disaster of a vacation we never would have tried again. Nevertheless we did-in the end of November of last year and had such a fantastic time that we booked our next cruise (departing Nov. 29 of this year)while we were still on board! As far as destination goes-if you have no choice but to go in September then choose a cruise that will go to Aruba, Curacao, Mexico... someplace either in the southern or western carribean. Usually the hurricaines occur in the Eastern Carribean- particularly near Nassau & Freeport. And by the way...Carnival usually has a VERY young crowd (by that I mean from infants to people in their twenties, who by personal experience tend to get rowdy and obnoxious. As a result the staff gets exasperated and by the end of the cruise tend to give short shrift to the majority of the passengers because they are too busy cleaning up after kids who got too rambunctious. You wont find many people who have actually grown out of that phase planning return trips on a Carnival cruise.

Parrot Mom

Any ship except a Carnival....on our first cruise we did the Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica (worse port ever)-the other alternative is to do the Panama Canal which we loved... <BR> <BR>The other alternative is cruising to Bermuda--from New York, Boston or Florida-- Oh yes, we are going out of Boston the end of August--the 30th for the 4th time-on the Majesty--now owned by the Norweigan Line