Hi All:

Wondering if anyone can help me with picking out a cruise for my parents who are in their late 50's. This will be their first cruise and I would like to book them on a decent one/not too much kids/vegas style gambling/caribbean port stopovers/balcony rooms/decent food. I would like for them to have a great experience. It can either be out of NY or Florida. I've read many threads and some of them are quite confusing.
Please help.....

PS- They will be traveling early December or late January.

Thanks all!

I am 55 and I would recommend Holland or Celebrity. Stay away from Carnival.

hi mauimaui,

which ship do you recommend? wanted to book something for eastern caribbean with a balcony and gambling.

much thanks!

Hi,
If you want them to leave out of NY you could check out he Norwegian dawn. It leaves out of NY all year round and the ship is less than a year old. You may also want to look at Celebrity and Royal caribbean they are both owned by the company Celebrity is a bit nicer.
Hope this helps!!

Happy Travels,
Jill

I am your parent's age- We have been cruising for 28 years..

We LOVE Celebrity==

The Century is a smaller ship in Celebrity's fleet but the service and food are terrific..however no balconies on this ship..

For a LARGER mega Celebrity Ship, I would go with the Summit..

Definitely give them 2nd seating dining- that way they do not have to rush back from port to get ready for an early dinner..1st seating is at 630pm
2n seating is at 815pm..SHOWS are accesible before or after dinner, so they won't miss anything...

Best port to go out of is FLORIDA= ie. Fort Lauderdale....and do an EASTERN CARIBBEAN cruise...St Thomas, St Martin,Bahamas...

Better still, is a Celebrity Ship out of SAN JUAN ( you fly there from NY direct) and do a SOUTHERN Caribbean cruise...Ports are FABULOUS but on the Southern Carib., the prices are higher due to AIRFARE to San Juan being higher..

Definitely get them a cabin MID SHIP ( ie. no sea sickness)

All the ships have gambling...

Celebrity is KNOWN for their NO ANNOUNCEMENT policy-so they won't be stuck at the pool listening to all sorts of announcements...and they are KNOWN for the BEST food and Service....


Another good line is Holland America--try one of the Newer SHIPS- the Oosterdam..but sometimes the age range is a little older- ie. hitting upwards of 50-70 and not a lot of kids at all...

If budget

Thank you all for your responses. I will look into Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. Do you know which one has vegas style gambling?

Sorry, I forgot all Celebrity and Royal Caribbean both has gambling. I was thinking of the eastern Caribbean route. they won't be snorkeling or scuba diving. any suggestions on what to do at the ports? they like botanical gardens. would they have time to do that?

much thanks!

Andy: just to correct you. The Century DOES have balconies. I've been on it 3 times. The Zenith and Horizon are the only ships in the Celebrity fleet that don't have balconies.

hc317: I would highly any ship on the Celebrity Fleet. I've sailed Celebrity 10 times, and have booked cruise #11 and 12 with them. I'm in my 50s.

Just a little advice from folks about your parents age.
1) Opt for early seating. If we ate dinner at 8 something every night, we would run the ship out ot antacids!!
2) We will never be seen 'rushing' back to the ship when in port. We are up with the seagulls and amongst the first off the ship. We go, we see, and then we are back on board for some R&R.

Seriously, though..you are doing a very good thing. They will have a blast and probably be hooked as we were a few years ago on our first cruise..which, by the way, was on Carnival! Since, we have cruised RCCL and NCL. Not having been on Celebrity or HA (hope to some day) I can't throw them in the mix and give you a knowledgable recommendation.
I think that if you choose a newer ship with a good itinerary, you can not go wrong no matter which cruise line.

Good luck!!

To hc317- Just to let you know- Conde Nast awarded Celebrity the TOP crise line award the other day....

to Mary223- Thanks for the heads up on the Century- ( guess I wasn't looking at Balconies the time I sailed with them)....LOVE the Century!!!

hc317- AFTRR you book the cruise, the excursions are bookable online-But, you can go into each cruises website and click on the date and ship and find out what excursions are even offered..

Until you select your itinerary, it's kinda hard to help with excursions...

What do your parents like to do -activity-wise so we can help lead you to excursions???

thank you all, you've all given me great advice. I searched on cruisecritic for reviews, and since I'm a first timer, I wasn't clear on which ships they were talking about.

As for activities, my parents like seeing shows, vegas style gambling, decent dining. the rooms should be a decent size and I would like to get a room with a balcony for them, as my mom is claustrophobic and the balcony as least will give them extra space.

As for docking at the ports, they like cultural places. they won't be scuba diving or snorkeling, but they like to walk along the beach, visit museums, take pictures at scenic points, they love botanical gardens. They like to get up early and turn in early. They're definitely not party animals, and they don't drink.

Any recommendation on which part of the caribbean to go to for those activities?

Much thanks again for all your help! You all are the best!

hc317, I went on Holland's 10 day Southern Caribbean on the Zaandam and I went on Celebrity's Constellation's 7 day Southern Caribbean. Had balcony cabins on both, both ships very nice and both ports were different and fabulous. It would be hard to pick, but I am considering a Med cruise on the Celebrity Galaxy. Holland doesn't go when or where I want to go. What do you mean by Vegas style gambling? I gamble on ships and in Vegas and don't know the difference.

hc317-

The Southern Caribbean has the BEST ports- Barbados has a rain forest and botanical gardens. St thomas also has a rain forest...
St Martin has Great beaches and half of the island is Dutch and the other half is French...Aruba is great for sailing...

If they do Eastern Caribbean, then St Thomas, St Martin and an out island owned by the cruise ship are the best options...

If cost is not a factor, do Southern Carib.--it is usually 10 days if you go out of Ft Lauderdale and 7 days if you leave out of San Juan...

Hi All:

what i meant by vegas style gambling (i've never been to vegas by the way), i guess its by what i see in ads, with lots of tables, slots, and the feeling you get like you're in vegas. something a bit more than 5 slots or 5 tables. not sure what they have on cruise ships, so i wanted to specify it.

The southern & eastern caribbean sound like something they would like. is it easy to get from the ports to the attractions? should they rent a car for the few hours they're there or should they just take a taxi?

Thanks for all your help!