nina

Hi: Am planning to take my honeymoon cruise to the Eastern Caribben and would like to know if anyone has gone recently. IT is between taking the Desiny Carnival or the Holland American Maaden on May 20. Which ship do you recommend?

xxx

ve taken a Carnival cruise before and they are definitely the "fun" ships. They cater to a younger crowd however there are a lot of kids and young families (too many if you go in the summer). Have not taken Holland America but hear that they cater to an older crowd. Most are in 40's and up with a lot of retirees. It is supposed to be a much less active cruise. Again, I haven't cruised with them though. My husband and I are 30 and 28 with no children we like active fun and prefer Carnival (when school is in session) and royal Carribean. Did you know there is an entire forum on this board dedicated to cruises? Check there rather than under caribbean for more respones.

Ashley

Here's what I was told Carnival is like the Holiday Inns level; Royal Caribbean the Mariott; Princess the Hiltons; and Celebrity the Ritz Carlton. I looked at Holland myself and it looks nicer than Carnival. Carnival seems like the cheesy cruiseline to me, and a travel agent confirmed this. Check out Celebrity- it's not much more than Carnival.

pam

Carnival always gets a bad wrap, but in our 6 cruises over the last 10yrs, we have really loved the'fun ships'. We've cruised Holland, RC, and Disney also, we're now mid 40's and on Holland everyone called us the 'kids'. Was kinda fun, but not many younger than 50's there. Destiny should be beautiful and as in all cruises, you can join in activities or veg out. It can't be beat.

Laurie

I have cruised on Carnival, the Destiny ,4yrs. ago when the ship was new. I loved the Fat Tuesday's slushies they have, the 24 hour pizza, and the slide by the pool. If you are comparing Carnival to Celebrity cruise lines there is no doubt Celebrity is far better. But the crowd on Carnival is all ages as Celebrity was an older crowd.I have cruised on 4 different lines and my thought is I will definitly do a Celebrity cruise or Princess again.

Linda

My husband and I have been on 6 cruises, 4 were Carnival and 2 were Princess. Although the Princess cruises were probably slightly more elegant, we are looking for fun not stuffy. The Princess cruise was very defintely and older crowd, as in lots of well over 60's, we were in our 40's and felt like the "kids". The dealers and bartenders that is the "normal age" of Princess cruises. All 4 of the Carnival cruises were lots of fun. Play or relax, but they make even bingo entertaining. We never found a Carnival cruise to feel cheesey or cheap. Service was friendly and quick. Our cabins were comparable to Princess, always clean, room service with the dial of a phone in 15 minutes. Haven't tried the other lines yet, but between these 2 it is Carnival hands down for us.

Cheri

My sister and her husband took a Holland cruise for their honeymoon. They are in their 40's and felt very young as it was mostly 60's and over. They said it was really nice but the crowd was too old for them.

Abigail

Hi Nina, <BR>Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.My husband and I are going to be on the Destiny the week before your trip. This will be our second trip on the Destiny.I have read so many things about Carnival that were negative. I can only tell you that we have been cruising with them for 11 years and although you may have a particular moment in which someone acts like an ass,you should understand that it is their vacation too. Meaning, Carnival is not cheap,cheesy,or undesirable.To say that it is would be saying those things about myself.They cater to everyone but their main age group seems to lie between 20 and 70.My father is 67 and has cruised with Carnival for 21 years.He can't say enough in favor of Carnival.Their cabins are clean and spacious,their service is incredible,their food is wonderful and the staff is knowledgable.My suggestion to you is to go with what fits your needs.I don't think you want your first impression of cruising to be one not worth bragging about.