Hello all,

We are planning an August 2007 cruise for my parents 50th Anniversary. There will be 11 of us, including 4 kids, ages 4-12. We were thinking of a 5 day cruise in August 2007, leaving from NY or NJ, cruising down to somewhere in the Carribbean and then back to NY/NJ. Does anyone have any suggestions? Do cruises even go down there in August due to hurricanes?

This will be my very first cruise, so any advice/help/tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

I doubt if you're going to find a cruise that goes from NY to the Caribbean and back to NY again in 5 days! Sounds more like a jet plane! If you want to leave from NY you may consider a 7 day cruise to Bermuda and back again. Bermuda is really nice and has a lot more charm IMO than many of the Caribbean islands. (the nicer, more isolated Caribbean islands are much further south than you're considering).

You can cruise out of NY or Bayonne to Bermuda/Bahamas, but I think it's a 7 day cruise. I don't know of a 5 day cruise out of NY - it takes a couple of days to go down the coastline.

There are 4 & 5 day cruises out of FL. Hurricane season is end of June until December.

There are 5-nights cruises to Bermuda from Bayonne in August 2007 by Explorer of The Seas, and this is your best bet. You won't find a better family ship.

You won't find that short of a cruise from NY/NJ to the Caribbean. Check out length of Bermuda cruises.

There might be really good deals on Caribbean cruises during hurricane season out of Florida that might make the added expense of flights worthwhile.

Cruising during hurricane season is luck of the draw. We have cruised several times with no impact, and last year missed a port due to Katrina. We would not hesitate to cruise again during hurricane season since we go with the attitude of who cares which port we go to or if we miss all of the ports. But since this is a first cruise for you, are you sure you want to take the chance? Especially since you are planning it for a special occasion?