travel_freak

Hi,
Am planning to take a cruise vacation, but since this will be my first time, am not sure which cruise should i go for. Am thinking of heading somewhere in the Caribbeans. Can you please suggest me some good sites where i can collect information on cruise.
Thanks.

bonniejns

On cruisecritic.com they have TONS of info on cruising. It's free to join, they DO NOT sell your address and almost any question can be answered here. (Go to their 'boards' then chose one or all the catagories to look at.)They also have their reviews and passenger's reviews of just about all the ships cruising.
I'd also go to any travel agency and get catalogues of ALL the ships sailing the Caribean. They are free and you're not obligated to buy a cruise with them.(They are very often higher than other sources.)
The catalogs give ports, what to do in ports and layout/info on each ship.
Celebrity is more a 'counrty club' cruise line, more men in a tux on formal nights, Holland America is trying to get away from its reputation of cruising for seniors. Look seriously at Princess, Royal Caribean, Costa and the new class Carnival ships. We don't like the freestyle dining on Norwegian (NCL) but you may so check them out also.
You can also go to the cruise line .com and get info on all there ships, etc.
Good luck hunting and once you cruise, you'll be hooked!

gail

Good advice from bonnie. It can be quite overwhelming in the beginning. First, you have to start your research somewhere - usually by process of elimination.

So what do you have that is certain - it might be dates, departure port, length of cruise, a certain port you always wanted to see.

You can then go to any number of website - Expedia and Travelocity will work - and do a search for cruises using these criterion.

That will at least start to narrow it down.

jacketwatch

My suggestion is to try the southern Caribbean route. Its awesome. If you go to say travelocity you can search for so. Carib. routes. We recently took this route for the 2nd time and used RCI's Adventure of the Seas which is a Voyager class ship. This class is really nice. Have fun and ask more if needed. Larry

bozama

One of most important factors in choosing a ship or line is to find a good match for your personality.

Many complaints by einexpereicned cruisers seem to be mismatched crusier and cruise line.

Are you young and sporty, older and want peace an quiet. Like kids, hate kids. Want luxury and class, black tie formals, or casual fun time ships,,
figure out what you want, everyone is different.
Also check out cruisecritics as suggested, and also look at cruisemates.com very helpful to go on cruise only forums.

kfusto

I agree with Larry that the Southern route is very nice. Great beaches, ports not as overrun with cruise ships/passengers and I enjoy a new port each day.

If you want a big ship with lots of activities, Adventure is a good choice. As for RCI, I personally prefer Serenade of the Seas, a smaller ship with a glass centrum area that brings the sea in. RCI does attract a lot of kids and families so I don't cruise with them anymore but I think they offer a good value for an active cruise.

Caribbean Princess is now sailing the southern route and Celebrity has ships in that area as well and offers a more elegant and traditional experience, light on the kid factor most of the time.

You can read lots of reviews on cruisecritic, as previously suggested.

jacketwatch

Hi K. Nice to see you posting more. BTW I did make that limoncello. Overall it tasted quite well. I don't think I'll be buying any more but I'll use less sugar next time to make it more tart. Cheers, Larry

kfusto

Hi Larry. We are on our way to Italy in 12 days to check out the real thing...glad that yours turned out well.

jacketwatch

Very nice. Enjoy and have some gelato too.

jacketwatch

Also one quick question. A port stop (Huatulco) for our upcoming Panama canal cruise in Feb. has been dropped for "operational" reasons whatever that means. Do you have any ideas? Larry