seasoned travel, cruise virgin - help!
 

Although I've traveled extensively I've never cruised. Hubby and I (and another couple) are looking for a 7 nt cruise in January and I"m overwhelmed with trying to narrow down the choices. I don't want to break the bank but I would like the following: a cabin w/balcony, possibly a smaller ship but with a fair number of activities. Also, I want to stay away from Carnival. We're in the DC area so we'd like to depart east coast (or PR if necessary). I know I have more questions but wanted to start here. Any help would be appreciated!

If you are talking about Jan. 2006 there may not be alot of choices left. Most cruises seem to book far out. You probably need to talk to a Travel Agent who specializes in cruises. While I am not an advocate of TA's and do all our travel arrangements myself there is something to be said for TA's when it comes to cruises. In your case, if you are really interested in Jan. 2006, you need to get info fast.

There are last minute cruise websites too but if you are inexperienced I'd stick to a "real person" :-)

I suggest posting on www.cruisecritic.com. People over there are experienced cruisers and a wealth of info.

We cruised on the Sun Princess this past Spring and loved the size of the ship (about 1900 passengers vs. 3000 on some of the others). It was never crowded and we really enjoyed it. The Sun does 10 day cruises tho, not 7 like you are interested in.

IN January- right after Xmas/New Years , most ships have specials as people are tapped out from the holidays.

Try Windsurf--it sails in and out of ST Thomas, is upscale country-club casual, open seating dining, 5 masted sailing yacht-SMALL ship-330 passengers- back of ship let's down and becomes water sport area with free windsurfing,etc..Rooms are small--there is NO large entertainment area-just a small lounge with a 3 piece band nightly...and a very small casino...

The nice thing about this ship is it gets into neater smaller islands that the larger ships don't go to...

If you want more of a nitelife ( ie.with shows and larger casino) , I would recommend CELEBRITY SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN as the ports are great...in and out of FLL but it is 10 days...
For the same Southern route but a 7 day cruise, you would have to go in/out San Juan. For that, Look at HAL or Princess. But definitely do a SOUTHERN CARRIBBEAN itinerary as the islands are great..

We did the Southern Itin. on Celebrity's Summit ( LARGE ship) and it was wonderful..and we have also been on Windsurf in the Med --but they are too entirely differnt ships.

Windsurf is owned by WINDSTAR cruise lijes ( a division of HAL)...

Whatever you do, do NOT do CARNIVAL for your first cruise...Think PARTY ALL the time...sort of a college atmosphere for adults.

In any event, have a great time with whatever you choose.

Lori and Andy, Thanks to you both for your replies. Hey, it's not that we don't want to do a 10 day cruise but with the grandparents watching the kids(one of whom is diabetic), I think anything over a week would be pushing it. I love the idea of S. Caribb. though...and the 1,900 pax ship sounds like the right size. I too was thinking that we might be able to get good deals just after the holidays...

Is there, in a nutshell, a way to differentiate between HAL, Princess, Celebrity and RCCL? I"m still somewhat overwhelmed...

Carnival gets a bad reputation for the party cruises mostly in the spring and summer.

We love HAL but RCCL might be more middle of the road agewise for you.

We like Carnival only in Nov.,Dec., Jan & Feb. (no weeks with a holiday) in fact we are going on the Legend in 2 days. This is our 2nd Carn. this year after a break of 10 years when we went in May - ugh! Carn. has good balcony prices but watch the time of the year !

Have fun and don't worry - there's good & bad in every vacation - but only your opinion counts to you.

Let us know what you decide. With your name are you in Virginia? - there are cruises from Norfolk, Baltimore, etc. See a Travel agent to see all your choices of ports.

You're wise to avoid Carnival. I went in April and it still was a loud, tacky, raucous, mess. Never again, and I love to cruise. The corporation isn't bad but the crowd was, well, different.

Celebrity, Princess or HAL would probably be could mid-range priced options.

Look at Royal Carribean or Carnival's Legend. After 6 Carnival cruises on older Carnival ships, my husband said he would never go on Carnival again. Then, in April '04, he found a price of $379 for 8 days on Carnival's Legend. Well, could not pass that up, so we went. What a difference! We enjoyed it so much, we booked the New Years Cruise on the Legend. And, Bob Dickerson and his faminly (about 20) were aboard for New Years also. He is the CEO & President of Carnival Cruise Line! Were we surprised at how much we enjoyed the ship!
Just got back from Carnival Glory. A nice ship but we prefer the Legend! But, RCCL is still our favorite line! I'll be happy to answer any quetions you might have, been on quite a few ships and to most ports we LOVE to cruise!.........Smile...Bonnie..

I think Carnival gets a bad rap at times. The idea about it appealing to rowdies is stereotypical IMHO. We have not had that experience at all. If you go to cruise critic and read the many passenger reviews you will see the lions share of reviews as positive. When CCL first came into being this rap had some merit but that was some time ago. Reputation outlasts reality. I think you will be fine if you choose CCl. JM2C. Bon Voyage. :-)

I would suggest RCI's Serenade out of San Juan or the COnstellation, a Celebrity ship. BOth are beautiful and the edge goes to Celebrity for food and service and to RCI for entertainment and activities.

I also would avoid Carnival.

January is perfect for the southern Caribbean because it is warmer - water, too - the further south you go.

I am not a Princess fan as I prefer traditional dining and like my ships a bit smaller.

I have cruised 105 times and would make Serenade my first choice and the Connie my second.

FWIW we had a wonderful time last August on the Sapphire Princess. Though it is large (952 ft. and 2670 passengers) it really didn't feel crowded. There are many lounges, activities, etc. to keep passengers interests piqued. They also have the option of personal choice dining or the traditional 1st and 2nd seating which we prefer. The lions share of comments about personal choice were positive, i.e. little or no waiting. Hope this helps, Larry

Thanks for all the replies. We ended up booking the Grand Princess for the W. Caribb mid-January. Got what I think is a steal on a mini-suite (we were looking for outside w/balcony but couldn't pass this up). We'll fly into HOU and depart from Galveston. SHould be interesting for sure!

Very good. I think you will enjoy Princess. Bon Voyage. :-)

Vasoccermom,
If you fly Southwest to HOU rather than IAH, it is very smart as Hobby is a lot closer to Galveston than IAH. I cruised Grand and can answer any questions.

Spur,
We are flying into Hobby and using Princess transportation for transfers to/from the port. Any advice regarding must see excursions would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Karen

Karen,
I'd rather take taxi instead of Princess transfers (especially that there is 4 of you). Not only it is cheaper, but a lot faster since most likely you'll have to wait who knows how
long for your bus to fill up. Very good place in Cozymel is Chankanaab park - at least it was in August before the hurricanes. It is some 10 min. drive and taxi is $10 or $12, but you need to pay for admission $12 p.p. It is worth the price. In Cayman, we just go to 7 Mile Beach and do some shopping. Liquor prices are the best. You can also purchase swim with sing rays trip. Did not find much to do in Belize and Majahual, unless you want to go on cave tubing. Never did it but heard other people raving about it. It is quite a drive and walk.

Sorry, it is sting rays, not sing (or may be they will sing for extra $$?)