My husband & I are looking at going on a Caribbean cruise but really would appreciate any suggestions for which one we should look at. We are both early 50's, love to scuba dive & snorkel, want to relax, have fun, eat great food, and soak up the sun. We have both worked and raised kids for years and now its time for just us! We are not interested in the stuffy & formally dressed crowd nor the cruise with a million kids running around. We have never been to the Caribbean and would like a 10 to 14 day cruise. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!! Thanks!

I would suggest HAL or Celebrity for that length of cruise but both are more formal in the evenings.

Some of the luxury lines are country club casual and attract few kids but rarely are in the Caribbean. Oceania does have a few itineraries like this as does the new Celebrity Journey and Quest, smaller ships with upgraded food and service.

Hi,

Consider traveling when most children are in school and parents are working, such as early January to early March, mid-April to late May, early September to Thanksgiving week, and early December. There are some excellent values for those dates, as well.

Holland America is an excellent choice and Princess is also good (choose the smaller Princess ships). I suggest Windstar, which sails to smaller ports in the Caribbean, such as the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica - all great for scuba diving, snorkeling. Windstar's whole ambiance is casual elegance, i.e. open seating, casual dress, eat with whomever you prefer.

Princess does an outstanding cruise to Tahiti and the Cook Islands. It is 10 day itinerary, round-trip from Papeete, with stops in Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine. They have a more casual atmosphere and many passengers take snorkeling gear off the ship every day.

Other choices are Silversea, Crystal, and Regent, which are upscale/luxury lines with country club casual during the day and business casual to formal at night. There are always other options besides dressing for dinner if you'd prefer.

Best Regards,
Julia

You may consider what we did and it was the best of all our cruises. We did back to back cruises to make it a full 2 weeks. We were on Regent and found it to be our best cruise experience yet. We were able to get a special discounted fare. Everything was included during the 2 weeks except the spa services we used. Not only was it our best cruise experience, it was the least expensive one we've had after all was said and done. The staff, service, entertainment and food was top notch from start to finish and there were very few children onboard which surprised us because of the pricing. They didn't have a children's program onboard so parents probably opted for ships with more children's activities.

pjammin123
Least expensive? Compared to what? You must mean other luxury cruise lines such as Oceania, Silversea etc??
Am I correct?
If I had a choice between HA, Celebrity or Regent and Regent was cheaper I sure would go for the Regent cruise!By the way, the free alcohol is not a deciding factor for us.
Are we comparing apples to apples here?

No, you are not.

I consider HAL and Celebrity to be the best of mass market lines.

Oceania is one step up.

Regent and Crystal are at the top with prices to prove it. That being said, their value priced sailings are a great way to try them out.

For my money, after many years of cruising, I would prefer one Regent cruise every three years to one mass market every year.

Both Celebrity and HAL are more formal so you have two choices based on your initial post. Either pay for a high end cruise with no formal nights, or dress up a couple of nights on HAL. Alternatively, you can dine in our cabin or in the casual eatery on both.

sallylouise,
In our case Regent was a wonderful value as it was a 2 for 1 pricing plus we had an onboard booking discount. We do enjoy a cocktail and wine with dinner so the all inclusive price was wonderful FOR US but may not be right for others. Also the cabin was a suite with balcony, walk in closet, very very nice. Comparing what we would have had to pay to upgrade to a cabin such as this on a different ship this was such a value. Also the fare included all the tips so nothing there. We had received a $300 American Express credit too. Our total bill at the end of a 2 week cruise was $32. I've been on other cruises where the bill at the end was approaching the fare we paid for the cruise in the first place. I stand by my guns that this 2 week cruise was less expensive than if we had chosen another ship with similar accommodations. There was no nickel and diming whatsoever, very casual with nice, friendly, adult passengers.

I've never been on Crystal and maybe they have other good value sailings. I like the idea of open dining where you can eat whenever you want at whatever table or restaurant you choose rather than eat at the same time and with the same people each night.

Everyone has different preferences, I was just sharing my own experience.

You would love Carnival Cruise Lines. Choose one of the larger ships, they have more pools so you can usually find one with no kids in it. Even dressy nights aren't over the top dressy. You can even skip those dinners as we often do since we dont like to fuss on vacation. The Western Caribbean is great for snorkeling! September is a nice month to go. The weather is great and all the kids are in school. Have fun!

Carnival is a budget line with food and service to match. Same goes for NCL and Costa.

While food is subjective, Carnival is not known for cuisine or gracious service. They are a value line and do a good job at providing just that.

IME, the ships are loud (decor, volume, other passengers, announcements, dancing on tables at dinner. If this appeals, as well as a general casual atmosphere, you may well enjoy it.

I have heard that the Spirit class is better than Conquest class and that longer cruises attract a different clientele but that was not my experience in 3 cruises with them over 12 years.

To each his own and one size does not fit all. Strongly suggest you spend time on cruisecritic and read the many reviews and postings.

"Dancing on the tables"? Is that part of the entertainment, or are the guests just happy?

The waiters sing and dance on tables in the dining room. There are also announcements at dinner about contests and such.

Some guests do indeed join in and appear to be having a great time!

I am a traditionalist and prefer my dinner to be quiet and elegant so it was very off putting to me.