As a last wish, our mother asked that we all go on a cruise together. In her memory we are planning what will be, for all of us, our very first cruise. Our group of 15 is diverse, including kids(3,6,8,11 and 17) and one gay couple. Some of us have traveled all over the world, others have never been outside the US/Caribbean. Some are very active marathon runners, others are true couch potatoes. So as you can see, we have very different tastes and goals when traveling.

I've done some reading of these forums but I would welcome your personal suggestions on what line you would think would work best for us. If I've read correctly, my research points to Holland, Celebrity, Seabourn and Crystal cruises are for more mature folks.

Q1:What cruise lines would be more fitting for our motley group and yet not be a Disney cruise designed primarily for the kids?

Q2:And what destination would address the active travelers' drive to see ports on foot and also give the less adventurous of us a good vacation too?

Good questions.

For a group that diverse, I would suggest that either Carnival or Royal Caribbean would be your best options, and that the general destination you would want would be the Caribbean.

Before you get to best itineraries I would suggest that you start by identifying the port or ports you are willing to depart from, the possible dates, and the cruise length (if you don't go for at least 7 days your options are very limited).

I would then look at price. This should narrow your choices down signicantly. From there, I would take a look at the individual port and see what appeals to you.

Good luck!

I would choose either between Royal Carribean or Celebrity. Carnival would not be a line I would consider. If you go during school vacation, you will find that all of the cruise lines have excellent programs for kids and teens. We have been very happy with both of those cruise lines.

First, my deepest sympathy on the loss of your mother. I lost my dad almost a year ago and am taking my mom on a cruise to get her away in April.

The family will have a blast. I have traveled with my own "motley crew" before and think that Celebrity or Holland America are good choices.

Carnival is too crowded and loud. You get nickeled and dimed to death and don't really get to enjoy the cruise.

I took family and friends on Holland and while most people think of them as an "Older" person line, they had awesome kids activities and plenty for the adults to do. I traveled on HAL with some gay friends as well and they were completely comfortable.

Celebrity is awesome, but a little more upscale. Well worth the money, but you may be better off with HAL. Good luck and have a great time!

Angie

We've taken our kids on several cruises and I think a good mix between kid and adult oriented is the Princess. They had a great teen program and also great programs for younger kids. My 16 year old (son) is kind of picky but he did like the Princess teen club. The Carnival Mexican Riveria cruise was great and since they had a good kids program too, we weren't really bugged by a bunch of little kids running around!