Cruise ships recommendations?

Question

My family and I are planning to go on a cruise next year. This will be our first cruising experience, and we want to be memorable. I would love to hear recommendations and experiences in any of the cruises I will mention. We plan to depart from San Juan and personally, I would like on a cruise that also visits Aruba and Curazao.

These are the ships we are considering:

Adventure of the Seas

Grandeur of the Seas

Crown Princess

Carnival Destiny

Galaxy

Answer 1

We went on a P & O line ship "Oriana" a couple of years ago; our choice was partly decided by doing some "homework" with a Berlitz book called "Ocean Cruising & Cruise Ships 2005" by Douglas Ward ("the World's foremost authority on cruising")

Every cruise liner afloat is described and rated with a score.

Each Company is evaluated

For each ship the suitability for type of passenger is given, e.g. a family ship, best suited for age 30-45 with children, or "child free, quiet"

Carnival Destiny has a 4-star rating. Described as a "stunning ship, built to impress at every turn, with the most balanced profile of all the ships in the Carnival fleet...." it goes on for 2 pages.

Adventure of the Sea - 4-star,largest cruise liner, after the QN2 "a stunning, large, floating leisure resort" then 3 pages of description and facilities.

Same sort of things for the others.  If you can get hold of a copy of this book, current edition or a publishers remainder, before you make your decision, you may find it very helpful.

Answer 2

We cruise with Royal Caribbean and we looked into the Adventure of the Seas that goes to Aruba as well. I love Aruba. We are booked on another for next year but in the future do plan on doing that one.

Go to www.cruisecritic.com and there you can read reviews from others who have taken the Adventure and the same route in which you speak. I use cruise critic quite often before cruising. It is extremely helpful to 1st time cruisers.

Good luck and have fun!

Answer 3

Adventure of the Seas is owned by Royal Caribbean.  Adventure of the Seas is a huge ship.  As a result, it has lots of options:

1)  A rock climbing wall

2)  Ice skating

3)  Inline skating

4)  Miniature golf

5)  Full sized basketball court

6)  Three outdoor pools (one is adult only)

7)  A central shopping mall known as the Royal Promenade (which is great for people watching)

The Grandeur of the Seas is also a Royal Caribbean ship, though older and about 1/2 the size of the Adventure of the Seas.  As a result, it does not have all the options that the Adventure of the Seas offers.  Royal Caribbean is a family friendly line that attracts a younger active group of passengers.

Crown Princess is one of the newer Princess ships, and is the newest of the five ships you listed.  It is also the second biggest ship you list.  Princess is family friendly, but tends to attract a more mature, less active group of passengers.  Rating wise, Princess is between Celebrity and the other two lines.

Carnival Destiny was the first cruise ship to exceed 100,000 GRT.  It was built in 1996.  Carnival is similar to Royal Caribbean in that it is family friendly and attracts a younger active group of passengers.

The Galaxy is a Celebrity ship.  Celebrity is a premium line (a step above Carnival and Royal Caribbean in service and food).  While still family friendly, Celebrity caters to a more mature and less active group of passengers.  Passengers on Celebrity are more concerned with quality than passengers on Carnival or Royal Caribbean and tend to be older and a lot less active than passengers on Carnival or Royal Caribbean.

Answer 4

We took the Adventure of the Seas with our kids.  It was the best vacation we ever had!  The kids had ice skating, rock climbing, mini golf, etc. Everything was just great and we hope we can go again!

Answer 5

We went on the Royal Caribbean ship Adventure of the Seas from Puerto Rico this past May.  It was a great cruise.  The ship, food service and staff were great.  The Adventure is a very good ship and has a mall area down its center with shops and eating places.  The ship has great cabins with very nice features. The RC ship has the usual RC sports features like the Rock climbing wall, the roller blade track, mini-golf, and a basketball/volleyball court.  The ship has a gym that you can use daily, a walking track on one of the top decks, and an adults only area called the Solarium with a pool and hot tubs (its  a covered area).  Then there are additional pools and hot tubs outside on the same deck.

One thing that I like about the dinner menus on RC ships is they always have an alternative menu every day in case you do not like their specials for the day.  So every day you have the option of ordering either baked Salmon, a steak or grilled chicken breast.  But the regular specials will be tasty things like Prime Rib, Fillet Mignon, Lobster Tail, Lamb chops, etc, plus a variety of hot and cold appetizers and salads.  

We did not do a tour from the ship in Aruba since we had been there before and pretty much seen the islands, but we we enjoyed it.  In Curazao we did a city tour which gave us a chance to see the island and visit a historical museum.  Then we walked through the city on our own.

I have been on almost 20 cruises and many have been on Royal Caribbean and it is my favorite cruise line.  I have also been on NCL, Celebrity and Princess.  I would rate all of them ahead of Carnival.

Answer 6

Lots of good info here, I would also suggest you go to crusiecritic.com and review your choices.  Keep in mind some people like to complain, all ships do their best to make your trip fantastic.

Answer 7

Check out MSC Cruises. An Italian cruise line I was on last spring. Absolutely beautiful ship, the MSC Lirica. It is spotless, there is no cleaner ship. Cabins are very nice, the food is great and the ship is decorated very tasteful. Not your typical bling bling like other cruise lines.

The ship will be sailing Caribbean itineraries again starting December 2007. It is currently in Europe.

Answer 8

I say the adventure of the seas. I am going on this cruise next may and the itinerary is wonderful. There are only two islands on the itinerary I haven't been to, but the rest are beautiful and have a variety of things to do. Also royal caribbean ships are really nice and have a variety of activities. I have been on the carnival destiny and while the ports are great the ship is not. In my experience carnival doesn't offer a lot of onboard activities, and the crew attitudes weren't that great.

Answer 9

I like princess, and the galaxy also sounds interesting

go to cruiseclues.com

cruisecritic.com

to get some more details.

carribean or mediterranean would be the place i would want to go.

Answer 10

Royal Caribbean ...hands down.  Princess is good but all other lines beside Royal and Celebrity are owned by carnival so you will get a similiar flavor on anything but Royal.  The adventure is new, huge and Aruba and Curacao are great - I highly recommend the scuba diving at the acquarium in Curacao, one of the truly great experiences of my life.