Bob

Message: Hi,<BR><BR>We will be cruising early next year and want to do a western caribbean trip. We are trying to decide which cruise ship would best meet our expectations. We are in our mid 30s and want a beautiful ship with good food, nitelife and pools as well as a nice room with a balcony. Activities like rock climbing and ice rinks are not important. We also dont want a ship overrun with kids (we are leaving ours at home!!) Any advice would be greatly appreicated.<BR><BR>Thanks<BR><BR>

Theresa

Have sailed Grand and Explorer (sister of Navigator). Have also sailed Millennium which is larger then Mercury.<BR><BR>You will lots of kids on Navigator. Princess limits the amount of kids and Celebrity is known to not have as many kids.<BR><BR>If you want to be near people in your age group - I recommend Grand Princess. Celebrity attracts an older age group then Princess.<BR><BR>Grand Princess will have more pools - their pools are fresh water (verses Celebrity's salt/sea water) and their pools are open 24 hours a day. Celebrity closes their pools early.<BR><BR>I think Mercury will be "classier" and Grand will feel more "comfortable". <BR><BR>I don't think you could go wrong with either ship.

Paul Therault

Hi Bob,<BR><BR>I agree with Theresa to choose either Princess or Celebrity. You will find more families on Princess therefore more children. Most passengers rave about the food on Celebrity. Both ships are beautiful. The Mercury balcony staterooms will cost more than the Princess balcony staterooms so this may be your deciding factor.<BR><BR>Paul

John

Just returned from 11 day western and southern carribean on celebrity summit. The summit is brand new and beautiful. The public spaces and stateroom are the best I have seen.The ships officers are greek and quite rude. Activities are geared for the 65 and older croud.The entertainment is poor. My biggest suprise however was how bad the food was.They advertise gourmet cuisine but this by far is the worst food of any of my previous 6 cruises. In many cases I just sent the food back. Soup is little more than hot water with a few beans, salads were always soggy and main dishes, especially the veal was un edible. Pool side burgers and pizza are worse than any fast food chain you can remember. Drinks are expensive at $5.25 for house brands with a short pour. I strongly suggest you look at Princess as we have previously sailed the western carribean on Princess, as well as from just returning from a 12 day Europe cruise this past august on Princess. Food and service are superior to Celebrity. <BR>

Theresa

John - <BR><BR>You summed up my experience on Millennium. Ship was beautiful but our food was horrible compared to Princess. I keep hearing it is "gourmet" and thinking that maybe those of "better tastes" may enjoy it but I have eaten at some very classy places and will still take Princess food over Celebrity in a heart beat.<BR><BR>BTW - on our cruise, we were all frustrated with the food. The Matride suggested we order from the kids menu - he said that the food from the kids menu was "made to order and fresher". We did have more luck with their menu. Go figure.<BR><BR>Sailing Princess in less then a week.

checkitout

You will find other opinions worth listening to at cruisecritic.com and cruisemates.com.