Trying to plan my parents a 25th anniversary cruise…?

Question

So I am 20 and I have two brothers and I was hoping to send my parents on a cruise for their 25th anniversary in Sept/Oct.

They went on a cruise for the honeymoon and loved it but have yet to go on another one so I thought this would be nice.

Questions I was hoping to get answered…

Recommendations for location and length? My mom gets cold easily so I am leaning towards the Caribbean area but open to other ideas. Length I am hoping for between 5-7 days. Money issues…I am not entirely worried about money but I would like to keep the budget from going too much over $2000 if possible (including airfare).

A major problem I think I may have comes with passports, neither of my parents have one. Is there any way of getting them passports without them physically doing it themselves?

When is the best time to book a cruise for late Sept? I know some websites/cruise lines have discounts the closer it gets to the departure dates. Any recommendations of websites would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You have a LOT of questions in this question and you really should go to a travel agent to have that person sit with you for an hour or so and discuss all of your questions.  Travel agents do not charge a fee but make their money from commissions of ticket and tour sales.  For a cruise for two the agent will probably make around $300 for book the cruise.

BUT, I will try to answer some of your questions and I suggest that you simply review some of the questions and answers I have been responding to to give you more ideas.  OK, this will be very long.

PASSPORT:

You can get all of the information you need about passports right on line here:  http://travel.state.gov/passport/passpor...

-  A passport will be required as the rules change this summer requiring one of all persons entering/reentering the US.  

-  The cost is $97 per person.  

-  You can go to a Post Office to get the passport application, or just print it right online.  

-  You can take the passport application to a US Post Office for them to send it to the appropriate office, or just mail it yourself to the address on the web site.

-  There is also a link on the web site for you to track the status of your passport:  https://passportstatus.state.gov/opss/OP...

Normal processing for a passport is 4 to 6 weeks but you can get it in 2 weeks if you live in one of the cities that has a processing office and take all of the information required into that office.

RECOMMENDED CRUISES:

You will always get the best price if you book very early and early means 9 to 12 months or more in advance. You can book on most any cruise line web site by paying a deposit of $250 to $350 per person, depending upon the length of the cruise, and then pay the balance no later than 60 to 75 days before the cruise (depending upon the cruise line). Anyway, if you want to go next September then right now is a great time to book for a good price.

I have found also that great deals can be had by going directly to the cruise line web sites and looking for their specials. Most will have their specials prominently displayed on their home page but I have found that Royal Caribbean and Carnival have the best web sites for this.

Another factor to consider is to be flexible on your date of travel. Consider going when there is a special. Many times identical cruise itineraries can very in price by hundreds depending upon the date.  So look at different dates other than September.  And remember that June through the end of October is the Hurricane season in the Caribbean.

Most cruises are done by cruise lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, and Disney. Most of the ships for these lines are now 1500 to 2500 passenger ships. The ships are big but things are so well managed that you really don't feel crowded on them. Prices on these ship can be as low as $800 for a 7 day inside cabin and about $1200 for a balcony cabin. Sometimes people get confused by the categories on ship that agents or the web sites refer to. Categories are simply a listing of the different types of cabins on the ship by size, location and amenities. Categories are the price structure.

There are 4 basic types of cabins on ships, inside, outside, balcony and suites. The cheapest cabins offered are always the inside cabins; those without a window or porthole. The inside, outside and balcony cabins are generally about the same size on each ship, but may vary by ship and cruise line.

The terms "cabin" and "stateroom" mean the same thing; the cruise industry prefers stateroom. The standard cabin that most people get is generally between 175 and 200 Sq feet, about the size of a 9 by 12 ft home bedroom (balconies are about 45 to 55 sq ft). Each cabin has a two beds which can be made into a queen, a bathroom with a shower stall, a closet and some drawer space, a TV and telephone, a safe for valuables, a mini-refrigerator, and a life jacket for each passenger.

The type of cruise you have can vary by cruise line. Carnival is the fun ship, they are low priced, and are the party cruise line that most young folks and first time cruisers take (ages 20 to 35) who want to party, party, party. If that’s what you want for your parents then Carnival is the one.

Disney has good ships (but just 2 ships right now) but is primarily for kids, and families with kids. It does have adults only areas on ship, but the kids are still there on ship. I would not recommend sending them on Disney unless you are positive that they do not mind being around a lot of kids. Also, since Disney has only two ships your options with them are limited.

Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Celebrity, and Norwegian tend to have people who have cruised many times and are in the 40 and over age group; a more reserved crowd. Although the crowd is more reserved the ships are still just as much fun.  Among these, Holland America tends to have the oldest cruiser; primarily people in the 60 and up age group.

Celebrity and Princess also tend to be more upscale and Royal Caribbean tends to be more family oriented. Norwegian is also family oriented but is more casual with its "freestyle cruising" Freestyle simply means that you do not have to select a time to go to dinner each day; you just go whenever you want after about 6:00 PM. It also means that the traditional "formal night" which are really requested attire on ships, is more like "dress up if you want to night".  Actually Princess and Holland America have this same dining option and Princess calls it Personal Choice Dining and Holland has their own name for it.

MOST ACTIVITIES:

There are two other factors to consider when planning a cruise (1) what activities are on ship, and (2) what port stops will be made that I will enjoy.

For adults there are always pools and hot tubs and many ship have a Solarium (a cover area) with a pool and hot tubs for adults only. This is in addition to the regular pool and hot tubs for everyone. Some ships have water slides.  Ships have great gymnasiums with a variety of equipment. The RC's Freedom and Liberty have THE best gyms I have ever seen on ships.

The cruise director will organize games and activities around the pool, especially on "at sea" days when there is no port stop. They may also have a midnight party on the pool deck with a buffet, music and dancing one night. Each night there will be a show and it is usually run twice so that no matter what time you go to dinner you can see the show. If you go on the Royal Caribbean ships with the ice skating rink they will have a free ice show that is fabulous.

If you are a gambler there will be a casino, except on Disney ships. Each day you will receive a "newsletter" type flier in your cabin that details the time and location of all of the activities on ship the next day. So you will know what is happening and where. Also, most ships will have a channel on the TV in the room that recaps activities for the current and next day. If there is a port stop the next day most ships will have a presentation in the show room or a lounge that talks about where to shop; then this is repeated on TV.

Royal Caribbean is the cruise line that has the most activities on its ships. In addition to multiple pools and hot tubs, you will find, depending on the ship, the rock climbing wall, a full sized basketball/tennis court, a mini-golf course, an ice skating rink, a roller blade track, a water slide, and on the new Freedom class ships (Freedom of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas) a flowrider that allows you to surf on a boogie board right on the ship. RC's ships also have great gyms and the best gym I have ever seen is on the Freedom (and Liberty).

CARIBBEAN CRUISE ITINERARIES

There are really three basic types of itineraries for the Caribbean. Western Caribbean cruises typically go to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and a private cruise line island. If you go to Cozumel there is the opportunity to buy a tour to see Mayan ruins, if that's your interest. If you go to Jamaica the two main attractions are a river raft float trip (not rapids) and the Dunn's River Falls climb. If you go to Grand Cayman you will likely want to go to 7-Mile Beach ( a short taxi/mini-van ride ($4-$5 per person each way), or do a swim with the dolphins/stingrays tour.

Cruises to the 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.

Most Caribbean cruises have a private island stop where the ship takes food ashore for an all day beach party with games and entertainment. Royal Caribbean has THE best private island I have ever been to at Labadee, Haiti. Its a huge place that has multiple beaches and many activities. RC's ships the Freedom and The Liberty which do both the Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries both have stops at Labadee.

The 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 two "at sea" days with no port stops, while the other has a port stop about each day.

Having taken all of these type Caribbean cruises I prefer the Western Caribbean or the Southern Caribbean to Aruba. I like the Western Caribbean port stops better and I like the at Sea days on the Aruba cruise.

Another Caribbean itinerary is the Panama Canal which typically has port stop

Answer 2

Caribbean is always nice I actually will be going for my 5 year anniversary sept 20th this year on the freedom of the seas (we went on a cruise for our honeymoon). a week is perfect, you need your parents to apply for a passport or a passort card (THEY have to apply you cant) which is the same but a whole lot cheaper (the passport card), google it! the sooner you book the better... rooms run out fast, but if you wait you may be able to get a deal. I know my parents (who arent that active and wouldnt do things like go to to the clubs or wont do the surf thing or rock climbing wall or the ice skating rink) like a smaller ship so freedom of the seas (which has the things i mentioned) maybe too much. it depends on what they like, what they like to do. if they are more active and like large groups of people then freedom maybe right.... you may need to do some investigating! And check out all the ships!