JENNIFER

WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE CRUISE I WAS IN BETWEEN CUNARD AND RENAISSANCE. I WANT SOME THING NICE AND FUN IT IS FOR MY HOLE FAMILY. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP

jennifer

please help <BR>

Rod Hoots

My wife and I tried the Crystal Symphony "Mosques and Minarets" cruise in 1996 and thought it was the best of our 28 cruises. Great ship and great itinerary. We just finished the Symphony Baltic Cruise which was also excellent and are booked on their Lisbon-Rome cruise next year. Crystal's pre and post cruise hotel options are superior. Go to www.cruiseopinion.com for my detailed comments, and many others, on these and other cruises. Don't want to knock Renaissance but for a family I think you might be disappointed because there isn't much activity on their cruises. Our experience with Cunard is mediocre. Crystal costs a little more but you get what you pay for.

CJ

Jen- May I suggest the Visions of the Seas. Brand new ship with Royal Car. We just got back about a month ago. It was a great family ship, had plenty to do for adults and children. We sailed out of Barcelona and hit 5 ports in 7 days. Good luck <BR>

Lanny

I did a Cunard Vistafjord 16 day cruise from Genoa to Hamburg a couple of years ago with my mother, who is now going on 81. Since the operative word here is family cruise may I recommend you not choose Cunard. They are not geared to children AT ALL. The ship is excellent, service wonderful, food quality superb etc. but migosh the travellers on this line are old and verging on ancient. My mother and I found the cruise itself virtually spiritless in the sense of good, honest fun -- too many failed opera singers who take their fading careers too seriously as the evening entertainment, too little of anything that could be taken less seriously. A hot night for us was opting for a movie already out on rental in North America for the past six months, in lieu of the woeful live entertainment. But unfortunately you could only do that one night out of two as every second night the film was in German! <BR> <BR>My mother's comment on disembarking in Hamburg says what we felt about this cruise: she said she would consider Cunard again when she turns 90 -- she felt she was far too young at heart for the ship and its fellow passengers, and I can assure you, being more than 30 years younger than my mother, I felt the same!

jennifer

<BR>thanks to everyone for your help. the reason why i was thinkink of cunard vistajford is because threre <BR>is a 2 for 1 promotion. but now i am not to sure if i should take it or do the mediterenean with noregian dream cruise ship. thanks again

doc

Hello: <BR> My wife and I just returned from a cruise of the Med. We chose the Grand Princess because of the itinerary. We embarked in Istanbul Turkey (very mysterious and mystical) then went to Kusadasi and Ephesus (unbelievably interesting), to Athens, Greece to Naples and the Amalfi coast, to Florence and Pisa, to Venice, and to Monaco. We disembarked at this point and took the train to Paris. The ship went on to Barcelona, France. <BR> The ship is new and very beautiful. The staff is genuninely interesting in making sure you and your family have a great experience. I understand the ship is sold out for the next year, but many travel agencies have purchased berths, so if you look, chances are you may book your family this year. Good Luck!

Marcie

Looks like you're getting a variety of recommendations. I'll throw one more in. We did the mediterranean cruise in Sept. on the Marco Polo (Orient Cruiseline) It was wonderful! The price included pre and post hotel stays for a few days so this was an especially good value. I'd highly recommend this cruise ship.