Me and my best friend want to go on a cruise for our sweet 16?

Question

Our birthdays are 2 days apart, hers is december 10 and mine's the 12th, and we want to go on a cruise for our sweet 16 this year like a couple days after christmas and get back in early january 2009. The thing is she lives in VA and I live in NC so we were thinking of flying(or maybe driving...could take a while) to Florida where a lot of cruises take off. But we don't know which cruise line to take, probably Carnival or Royal Caribbean but neither of us has been on a cruise before. Is there a deal where you can book a flight and a cruise? And who should come with us since we'll only be 16? My mom and her mom or both of our parents? We don't want the cruise to be that long, like probably 6 nights or under and we also want it to be affordable but not have it feel like its a cheap vacation. Any advice from cruisers?

Answer 1

Make sure you have a passport because all cruise lines now require you to have one.  You need to have your passport number to registar your information.

Answer 2

ROYAL CARIBBEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is the BEST cruise line for kids, teens and adults! you aren't allowed to travel alone so someone would have to go with you. But really you can be with them as much or as little as you want. You'd have to sleep in the same stateroom but that just makes it cheaper for you two! The teen program on RC is great! They have activities every night and don't close till 2am!! Don't go Carnival! Everyone says horrible things about carnival but everyone loves RC! You won't regret it! Take it from someone whose been on many! You'll have fun on ROYAL CARIBBEAN!

Answer 3

Others have given you good answers.  I'll just add that you can four women in a room if you use the gym showers some of the time.  [So you're not all trying to get ready at the same time.]  It might not cost that much more to have two cabins, but those 3rd/4th person rates can be pretty low.

For some good general advice, go to your library and get a book on cruising.

Answer 4

My sweet 16 is actually today and I got back from a cruise on yesterday. I cruised on Carnival Imagination. It was a 5 night out of Miami and we went to 3 different places in the Eastern Caribbean. It was so fun!! I highly recommend it. It is a perfect length, not too short not too long. I would recommend going with both moms. That way if you guys want to go do something alone the moms have each other. There are tons of things to do. Cruises are amazing. You could probably do either one or two rooms. There is actually lots of room to put your clothes once you unpack. So if you want to save some money you could get only one room. There is plenty of space. Good luck with your choice! I would recommend Carnival. It is slightly less fancy, I believe it is slightly cheeper, there are tons of  teen activities (Club 02) and it is warm and lots of fun!!

Answer 5

I went on Royal Caribbean this year on Enchantment and it was great 5 day cruise with 3 stops to western Caribbean. They had an awsome teen night club and it was an awsome trip. I am 15 so

Answer 6

For your age group go with Carnival. You will need at least 1 adult with you. If 4 go,book 2 cabins as the bathroom situation with 4 women can be trying. You can share a cabin with your friend and let the moms stay next door.Have an agent do all the booking and they can get the flights coordinated for everyone. Something out of Miami, Tampa or Port Canaveral are good.

Answer 7

There's actually a cruise port in Norfolk, Virginia. If you book a cruise departing from VA, you can visit your best friend and then go to the cruise port together. I would suggest going on a Royal Caribbean cruise. There are sooo many things to do. I went on my first cruise a few years ago when I was 15 and I had a blast.

The ports in FL are very large and are home to some of the best ships. I would suggest Freedom of the Seas ship or Voyager Class ships from Royal Caribbean.  There are many activities you and your best friend can do such as ice skating, moutain climbing, teen dances, flow rider(surfing ride on the ship), boxing, skating, miniature golf, or get massages.

Airplane tickets can be purchased with cruise tickets. I suggest you do it this way since the cruise ship usually provides transportation to and from the airport to the cruise ship. They will also wait for you if your plane gets delayed. Expedia.com is a good site or book it directly through the royal caribbean website.

Well, since it's you and your friends sweet 16 I would suggest taking both sets of parents. That way your parents are in 1 room, her parents in 1 room, and you 2 in another room. That way everyone is a part of your special birthday vacation.

Some advice when booking a cruise, interior rooms are much more cheaper than balcony rooms. The rooms are about the same size but balcony rooms cost twice as much and most people never stay in there rooms too long.

Don't forget to look at a ships amenities before you book the cruise. Some cruises are cheaper than others becuase the ship is older and has less amenities.  Keep checking websites everyday because prices go up and down. I booked a cruise with Royal Caribbean and 1 week later the price dropped $100, I called them and they were happy to refund me the difference.

Good luck with your cruise.

Answer 8

I took a Princess cruise out of Florida for my honeymoon, and I loved every minute of it. Mine was book through an agent, who did both our airfare and cruise details. I believe that you can do a package deal with Princess. Here is their websitt, hope it helps!

http://www.princess.com/

Answer 9

that sounds fun! im 15 and i just went with my 2 best friends on the royal caribbean cruise to ensenada. i would deffinitly recommend it. for the first 2 day [it was a 4 day cruise] at night time we just hung out with my friends brother and his friends however on the 3rd day we decided to go check waht the teen room is about and we met some really cool people [ and there were a ton of guys and only like 2 other girls] and that night we played a dating game and twister and then all the teens went to a dance. it was alot of fun and i would deffinitly recommend it [and going to the teen activites earlier] as far as i know i have heard that carnival is not a very nice cruise for teens but only for people in their 20s..and for bringing parents i would just bring your moms cause the rooms tend to run on the smaller size so with less people you will want that was more..hope that helps!