Best cruise from Orlando for a couple in their mid 20s?

Question

My boyfriend and I are thinking about combining our visit to Orlando with a 7 night cruise of the Caribbean, and we are hoping for advice. I heard the best port to go to from there would be Canaveral? What cruise / cruise line would you recommend? I was looking at the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Line. We want to keep costs low if possible. First cruise so any advice would be really appreciated.

Answer 1

The closest port for major cruise lines to Orlando is Port Canaveral and there are three cruise lines that use it for regularly scheduled cruises; Disney, Carnival and Royal Caribbean.  The cruise port is about an hour and a half drive from Orlando and if you arev flying to Orlando there are rental car companies that will rent you a one way to the port.  

Unless you want to be on a ship full of kids I would rule out a Disney cruise.  

Carnival is the party cruise line that most young people who are looking for a party all the time go on.  Its a budget cruise line and one that many first time cruiser go on.  Carnival offers 3, 4, and 7 day cruises out of Port Canaveral.

Royal Caribbean is a better cruise line than Carnival; although many who go on Carnival say they like it better.  Royal Caribbean is more of a family oriented line with lots of on board activities.  We cruised out of there in December on the Mariner of the Seas and that's a great ship.  It has the RC trademark Rock Climbing wall, a mini-golf course, a full sized basketball/Tennis court, a roller blade track, an ice skating rink, and the other usual things that you find on cruise ships like an internet cafe,a library, a game room, disco, lounges with a variety of music, and a pool deck with multiple pools and hot tubs.  The food, service, staff, and entertainment is also excellent.

Below is a link to the port and it has a schedule of the cruises leaving from that port this year.  You can see on the schedule what ship leave from there, where they go, and when.

Answer 2

the Carnival Glory goes out of Port Canaveral the port closest to Orlando, I was on it in Sept and it is beautiful and the service is awesome. we had a great time on the western Caribbean that ship offers both a western and an eastern so you can pick whichever you like. It also has one of the funnest cruise directors there is Wee Jimmy is great.

I plan on going on this ship again some day.

this is just one of the ship in Port Canaveral too they have a lot to offer and are an easy port to get to and get through.

http://www.carnival.com/searchResults.as...

Answer 3

Hello!  I answered sort of a similar question to this, and got best answer.  Here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 4

Yes, Port Canaveral is the way to go.  The two less-expensive 7-day options from Port Canaveral are RCI's Mariner of the Seas and Carnival Glory.  (Disney is expensive and kid-focused.)

Personally I enjoy both lines, but find that Carnival is, well, a bit more fun.  Always seems to have better nightlife than RCI, and I think the service is better.  Glory in particular is a great ship: has very good food, and a great "vibe".  The ship has a good reputation within the Carnival fleet.

In terms of itinerary, Mariner of the Seas departs on Sundays, Carnival Glory departs on Saturdays.  Both ships alternate between eastern and Western Caribbean.  

Eastern is better for shopping, Western is a little more exotic and "unspoiled" (especially Carnival's, which goes to Belize -- RCI goes to Jamaica, where I found people pushy with tourists).

To keep costs low, the best time to go is February or November.  Basically, try to avoid school vacations (summer, spring break, the holidays) because that's when lots of families go and drive prices up.

Have a wonderful time!

Answer 5

Do you really know where Orlando is?  Not much of a port.

Answer 6

Port Canaveral is the closest port to you.

RCCL Sovereign of the Sea sails from there are it is the worst ship I have ever been on.

Carnival has a couple ships based there

The Glory great ship &

Elation smaller ship but wonderful

Disney is a rip off...

So Elation if you are going 4 or 5 days

Glory if you want the 7 day adventure..

One other thing ... GO for 7 days you wont regret it..

Your invited to join

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cruiseaddi...

Answer 7

I've been on RC & Carnival.  I loved RC - a little classier.  But, Carnival is wonderful also.  I liked the food on Carnival a little better.  If I was worried about budget, I'd go with Carnival.

Answer 8

My husband and I were both in our mid 20's on our first cruise.  We took the Carnival Glory Eastern Caribbean cruise out of Port Canaveral and LOVED it!  I would definitely recommend it.  We also got an awesome deal both times we went on the Carnival Glory.  If you call one of their personal vacation planners they can usually get you the best deal out there!