Advice/comments on a cruise?

Question

As a special treat I have been saving to take my partner on a carabian cruise.

I have to get it right as I can not afford to do it again !

I can not make ny mind up on what line to go with, P&O, who a lot of people have recomended saying they are expensive but really great, Royal Carabian who I have heard are also good.

What do you think, anyone used either of these or can anyone recommend any other line.

All comments greatfully received, I don't want to sound flash but I would rather pay extra if its worth it rather than save a few quid for rubbish as I really want her to have a great time.

Thanks

Answer 1

I go on a cruise every year and I have been on several different cruise lines. Personally I believe Carnival is the best American cruise line available. They have the best overall service and activities available. However if you are looking to have a little bit of a experience and you dont mind some European flavor, I would suggest Costa cruise lines. Costa also has excellent service and activities and it is even a little bit cheaper than Carnival.

Answer 2

always travelled with p&o and i cant praise them enough,they are fantastic...if youre really interested e-mail me,and i will give you our experiences on board these superliners.as ive wrote pages before,and had no feed back what so ever,not even a thank you.

Answer 3

DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY MATE GO ON YOUR OWN OR TREAT YOUR MATES . THIS OLD BIRD OF YOURS WILL FLEECE YA. TREAT YOUR CLOSES MATES. I CAN SEE IT IN THE STARS

Answer 4

e-mail me, and I will talk you through the pros and cons.

Answer 5

Wheres the Carabian when its at home?

I wouldnt bother going, Ive never heard good reports on cruises you have the same old people in your face every day, I couldnt think of anything worse to be honest.  Pay for a nice business class trip to somewhere else instead staying in a top dog hotel!

Answer 6

I went on a Carnival cruise last April and I had a blast!! I have also previously gone on Royal Caribbean and I had a lot of fun. I don't think that you can go wrong with any cruise. Look at the descriptions of a couple of ships within your date and price ranges and compare pictures and activities and where they cruise to. Have fun :)

Answer 7

i like the disney wonder lol

Answer 8

p&o have a very good reputation - my partner used to be a navigation officer on one of their liners, nothing is too much trouble for passenegers 5* treatment all round - however most cruise ships are of a very high standard these days so it will be difficult for you to choose. - i would check out some internet sites and then chose some locations - there is nothing worse than arriving at a beautiful location only to find 15 other cruise liners there at the same time !!! totally spoils it and you feel like you are on a cattle run!! check things out carefully before you spend your hard earned cash

Answer 9

You can visit the cruise line websites to get information on the cruise ships.  That should be helpful when deciding a cruise line.  Carnival Cruises are the best in my opinion.  Try going to www.prosperoustravel.net to find great deals on cruise vacations.

Answer 10

May I suggest you not go during spring break (March and April).  Also, if possible avoid going in summer (alot of kids, although that's not necessarily a problem, depending on the parents.)  There are many drunk passengers during the spring break season. (More than usual!)

I have cruised the first week of March (before spring break) and May, and these cruises were great.  I also cruised in November, but the waters were slightly choppier - but I still had a great time.

I have been on both Carnival and Royal Carribbean.  I thought both were very nice.  You will find some die hard Carnival fans who loathe RC, and RC fans who trash Carnival.    If you are going on an older RC cruise ship though (a 3 or 4 day cruise) the inside staterooms do tend to be very small.  However, the newer RC ships have larger staterooms, I believe.

I would suggest a 5 or 7 day cruise.  Longer than 7 day cruises tend to focus more on the older crowd, and sometimes less than 5 days are overrun by the party crowd.

Don't take this the wrong way, none if this is necessarily bad.  These are just things I have heard about from other cruisers.

People generally say that carnival has a "younger" crowd, but you can find people of all ages on these ships.  I took my 66 year old father on a 7 day carnival cruise last year (his first ever) and he had a blast.  There were people of all ages on the cruise.

Princess and Disney are also supposed to be very nice.  I am not very familiar with P&O.  Disney can be a little expensive, and does not have a casino.  But I have heard that even adults without children really enjoy the Disney cruises.   (And if you are worried about too many kids, Disney is one of the few Cruiselines that actually enforces the "adults only" rule for certain parts of the ships".

Try checking out Cruisecritic.com for more answers and advice on cruising.  There is a ton of information there.

Answer 11

You can check out all cruise lines by their sites which will give you all the info on cabins, price, food, activities & ports of call. I have been on 20 cruises and most with Norwegian and afew with Princess. Not a bad word for either. Always met great people from all over and had a great time. You have the location just find what line will give you the most for your dollar.

Enjoy.

Answer 12

My wife and I (52 and 54 resp) have enjoyed 2 cruises with Royal Caribbean, in the Caribbean and Alaska.

I really cannot say anything to fault them  The ships are 5* floating hotels with every possible aspect of your stay on board taken care of.  The staterooms (cabins to you and me) are well furnished and kept spotless by the staff.

The restaurants and bars are varied and serve great food.

The opportunities to visit a number of ports of call a great and the excursions (which can get a bit expensive...) cater for all tastes.  As an alternative to an organised excursion, you can often hire a taxi for the day and ask the driver to show you anything worth seeing.  It will probably be cheaper.

Downsides?  I'll say this very quietly.....americans.  Sorry to sound prejudiced but I have found their attitude on board can be very arrogant.

Also, if you are of generous build, you may find the showers a tad on the tight side :-)

If you want a recommendation, go for one of the mid to upper range of cruise lines (I place R&C in the mid range) and have a great time.  You will not regret it.

Answer 13

There are several great travel and cruise web sites that can help you research and decide.  But you'll need to do your homework first and decide where you want to go, when do you want to go, and how much do you wan to spend.

I started by going to several general web sites.  Then I went to several cruise line web sites.  With this information, I went to interview several travel agents to see what each agency, and more importantly, what a specific travel agent to give me in terms of deals and information.  I ultimately found I could narrow my choices for planning a cruise 12-14 months in the future or a last minute deal.

A good site that has reviews and boards on specific cruise lines and each ship is www.cruisecritic.com.

Do the research...it'll help you ultimately narrow your selections.  good Luck.