I want to book a cruise, and would like to be with more of a "mature crowd" IE: 30's + Suggestions?

Question

My husband and I are in our mid twenties and would like to book a cruise ship for our 5 year anniversary. I am so excited!! We havent really done anything extroadinary in these past few years, so I was thinking somewhere along the lines of spending $3-5 thousand for something like... 3, 5, or 7 night cruise this year in October. I dont know much about cruises, but I would like to aim for somewhat more of a mature crowd.

Is it somewhat like...the more you spend, the less likely you are to be around 'the college-ish' scene? We have pretty much already 'been there done that' and have happily moved on.

We dont have any children so that is another added bonus to ensure more privacy & quite time during our stay.

Also for a trip like I am suggesting, how far would $3-5K stretch? What could I get for this price?

I live in Central California. Thanks for your help, we may not get to do this for another 5 more years! Thanks for all the responses, much love !!

Answer 1

My husband and I flew to Hawaii and took a Norwegian Cruise Lines cruise around the Islands for our honeymoon. It was beautiful. Not a party boat full of the young and wild, but also not full of old people. I've cruised with NCL twice, the second time was from NYC to the Bahamas. The evening shows are great and the food is wonderful.

It would cost you about $6000 with airfare to Hawaii, more than you want to spend, but definitely worth checking out.

www.ncl.com

Answer 2

Sounds like you' like Princess or Celebrity or Holland America.  The last two don't start cruising the Caribbean until late October or early November.  There are also cruises to the Mexican Riveria, but those are usually Carnival or Royal Caribbean.  You might be able to get a repositioning cruise from Seattle or Vancouver, which would end in the Caribbean.  [That would probably be longer than 7 days, however.]  Check VacationsToGo.com to see what's available.  That site is easy to navigate; you don't have to book with them.

You could do those cruises on your budget.  October isn't prime time [most kids are in school] and it's also hurricane season [not to worry - the cruises well know how to avoid them].  I haven't sailed Princess [yet!] but they do have a higher activity level than the other two lines, without being "party-'til-you-drop".  Celebrity is classy, as is Holland, but they are more subdued - especially Holland.

I'd suggest you get a book on cruising from your library or bookstore.  Or you could go to CruiseCritic.com, click on "Reviews" and read comments from pros and from "Member Reviews".  You might also want to click on "Boards" and go to the various topics there.

Once you've gotten an idea of the choices you'll need to make and what you might want, a good travel agent - especially one who knows cruises well - would be very helpful to you.

Don't wait too long.  It's getting "late" to book a cruise for October.

I hope you find just what you're looking for.

Answer 3

we  went on a seven day cruise to mexico and really liked it. you don't need an expensive room as while on ship everyone gets the same service no matter what you pay for a room. i would probally go any month but june as alot of high school grads get cruises for a present. cruses are probally cheaper during winter anyway. the cost of cruise covers everything but souviners and drinks. for the term of the cruise you have the same room attendants and the same waiters at all your meals. tip your people at the end of cruise. cocktail servers tip as you go. its been quite awhile since we went but you shoule be ok with that budget.

Answer 4

If you leave the beaten track (aka carebean) then the chance are greater that youll see older more cruise seasoned crowd. Also choice the times where kids are at school.

For a once in a life time travel I would recomend at least a seven night cruise and maybe longer. Browse the web and seek out your options. I knew there are severel cruises from la to hawaii that could be nice for you. Or maybe a transatlantic crossing. Or if you can afford the flight a mediteranean cruise. Or even the famous "Hurtigrutten" cruise in Norway.

I have made a splendid cruise with royal carrebian and there it was defenitely a more older crowd. But that was a four night break cruise to and from stockholm. Johan

Answer 5

I have been on about 20 cruises on 4 different cruise lines and so I can give you some advice based on my experiences.  I have cruised on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and Norwegian cruise lines.  All of those are good cruise lines but there are some differences as I will explain below.

If you want a more mature crowd you want to stay away from Disney (many, many kids) and Carnival (the party boat). Carnival has more first time cruiser and young people who want to party, party, party. If that is what you are looking for then Carnival is the cruise line for you.

- Princess, Celebrity and Holland America have great ships are more classy and reserved.  Their passengers are typically in the 35 to 65 age group, rather than the 20-ish to 35 on Carnival.   Holland America has mostly senior citizens cruising on its ships.  All of these cruise lines do have some kids on board but they all also have kids programs to keep them busy and special areas on the ships for them to hang out.

-Norwegian cruise line is good, has passengers mostly in the 35 to 65 age range and I have good cruises.  Its the line that you want to go on if you want to be informal for pretty much your whole cruise. They have formal nights like other cruise lines but they do not stress dressing up; the call it "dress up if you want to" night.  They advertise "freestyle" cruises which essentially means that you go to dinner when you want rather than at a set time of 6:00 PM or 8:30 PM.  Their cruises are otherwise no different than the other lines.

-Royal Caribbean caters most to families and has the most and best on-board activities. Many Royal Caribbean ships have things like ice skating, roller blade track, rock climbing wall, surfing on ship on the "Flowrider", mini-golf course, pool tables. full sized basketball courts, and adults only pool and hot tub area called 'Solarium".

You need to know that all cruise cabins are sold based on double occupancy and the prices listed will be per person and based on at least two people going on the cruise. With your budget you will be able to easily select a cruise on most any cruise.

The price you pay will depend mostly on the type cabin accommodations that you choose. There are 4 basic types of cabins on ships;

- inside (no window),

- outside (a window or porthole),

- balcony/veranda, and

- suites and penthouses.

Royal Caribbean has some inside cabins on its Freedom and Voyager Class of ships that have a window overlooking an inside promenade mall.

The "FROM" prices you see will always be for an inside cabin. There are also some subcategories within each category with cabins on a higher deck, and/or a better location on ship (like midship), and/or that are slightly larger costing more. So as you browse, pay attention to the square footage of the cabins. You may not want to pay more for the same sized cabin on a higher floor; or vice versa do pay less for the same cabin on a lower deck.

You can reserve a cruise:

- on line on the cruise line's web site,

- by calling the cruise line's cruise consultant to book, or

- through a travel agent

You must pay the minimum deposit which will be between $250 and $350 per person for a 7 day cruise, depending upon the cruise line. The balance will be due approximately 60 days before the cruise departure date. But you can make periodic payment on line or with the cruise line. I have reserved on line and made payments many times. If you are trying to book for July you will likely have to pay the full amount at booking.

You DO NOT have to book the air fare to the cruise port city through the cruise line. You can book that or your own, OR if you want drive to the cruise port. All of the cruise ports have parking available right at the port. I do that all of the time for cruises leaving from Florida ports. If you book your own air you can, if you want pay for transfers between the airport and the pier, or just take a taxi.

Cruise lines give the best prices for early booking which are a year in advance or more.  But if you look for a cruise by price, rather than having a firm set date that you want to cruise, you will likely be able to find a 7 day cruise at  a good price.  You should for sure look for specials; the prices of identical  cruise can vary by date.

My suggestion to you for a great and classy cruise is to look at Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and/or Norwegian cruise lines, but pretty much in that order.

CELEBRITY:

http://www.celebritycruises.com/home .

ROYAL CARIBBEAN:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/gohome.d.....

NORWEGIAN:

http://www.ncl.com/

PRINCESS:

http://www.princess.com/index.html

Another decision you will have to make is where you want to cruise to; Bermuda, Alaska, Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico, or Europe. In general the shorter cruises of 3 to 6 days go to Bermuda or the Bahamas. Cruises going to Alaska, the Caribbean, the Mexican Riviera and Europe are 7 days or more. If you think you want to go to the Caribbean there are really three basic types of itineraries.

- Western Caribbean cruises typically go to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and a private cruise line island.  On these cruises you get great beaches, like 7-Mile beach in Grand Cayman, and the opportunity to book tours to Mayan ruins.

-Eastern Caribbean typically go to St Thomas, St Maarten, a private cruise line island and maybe another island like Tortola or Puerto Rico. If you want to do a lot of shopping then pick a cruise with St Thomas as one of the port stops. St Maarten is also mainly a beach and shopping stop.

- Southern Caribbean cruise itineraries typically start in Puerto Rico and go either to Aruba, Curacao, and St Thomas and St Maarten, OR they go to the southern Caribbean islands like Barbados, Grenada, Antigua, St Lucia and maybe St Thomas and/or St Maarten. The main difference between these two itineraries, aside from the different islands, is the Aruba cruise has 2 "at sea" days with no port stops, while the other has a port stop about each day.

If you are going to Alaska there are also a lot of options for slightly different itineraries. Some Alaska cruises start in Alaska, (Anchorage, Seward, or Fairbanks) and others start in Seattle or Vancouver. Cruises of the "inside passage" are generally 7 days but you can also do what is called a cruise-tour which may be 10, 12 to 14 days and involves touring by train and/or bus either before or after the ocean voyage. So you have to look very carefully at your options for an Alaska cruise. You should not just say to an agent I want an Alaska cruise. Pick one or more of the cruise lines I listed above and search for Alaska cruises and look at all of the options available to help you decide.

Answer 6

Norwegian ,Holland America(I prefer big time)

Alaska is great and is in your price range.

Answer 7

I'm going on the princess golden at the end of October which is leaving from L.A.. It goes to Hawaii and back for a 14 day cruise. This cruise is right in your price range and since you live in central California, your only extra expense would be to get down to L.A. That should not be much of a problem I think this would be a great cruise for you. Go to Proncess.com for more info or e-mail me.

Answer 8

My best friend just got back from a 7-night Mexican Riviera Cruise on Royal Carribean.  The day she got back, her husband put deposits on their next TWO cruises!!  They had such a great time!  There are kids on board, but RC is a "family" oriented cruise line, so many activities for kids of all ages, including rock climbing wall, surfing area, ice skating, etc all on the deck..  plus a dodge-ball tournament, gambling, nightly entertainment... all included inthe price.  My friend and her husband also took two excursions, They swam with dolphins and went on a half-day trek into the jungle, then rode zip lines back down to the shore, where staff was waiting to take them back to the ship.  VERY cool!!  

She convinced me... to the point I just made reservations for my daughters and I for next year.  $3,000 for 3 of us (2 @ the double occupancy rate of $1,050, 1 @ $599, plus fees.)    All the meals are paid for.  The standard things you might want to do that aren't included in the price are any excursions you want to take, gambling/arcade/internet expenses, and gratuities.   Everything else is covered in the price.

From Central California, you're so close to LA, if you're trying to keep the costs reasonable, do the Mexican Riviera Cruise and save the rest of your cash for shopping, excursions, maybe a little jewelry??  :)