What is the best Cruise line for my mother and i and her boyfriend?

Question

i am 13 years old and my mom and Boyfriend are 30 years. im looking for a 8 or 9 day cruise something fun for 2009 summer. in your oppinion what is the best line. we want to go somewhere in the carribean

also you can add any planning tips for teh cruise.

thanxz =]

Answer 1

hi you mite want to check out carnival,as they are for family and young folks, theres alot to do on there for your age group as for your mom and her boyfriend they will have a great time to if you go to carnival they will send you a cd to look at and a book to give you and ideal of what the ship look like and what they have on them this is also on there web site it also a little cheap in price but great service gives you more money to spend on your trip good luck in your search

Answer 2

ROYAL CARIBBEAN!!! I am your age, and i absolutely LOVE royal! I am going on a 9 day this july! I can't wait!!! Go to www.royalcaribbean.com !

Its the best!

Answer 3

Here is some suggestions:

Royal Carribian (rccl.com)

Disney cl

ncl (ncl.com)

Carnival (carnival.com)

Celiberty cl

princess cl

I think that you would love RC. Theyre having a lot of fun stuff aboard theyre ship and the service is great! Johan.

Answer 4

I  have been on about 20 cruises on 4 different cruise lines and so here's what I say based on my experiences.  I suggest that you print this for your mom and friend, especially if they are not familiar with using Yahoo Answers.

First you should know that all of the cruise lines give the best price for early bookings that are a year or more in advance. So its good that you are starting your cruise search process now. Cruise lines also list specials on their web sites so do look for those. The specials can many times save you a couple hundred per person over the price for the exact same cruise on a different date.

Second you should 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. The price you pay will depend mostly on the type 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.

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.

You can reserve a cruise on line, by calling the cruise line, or through a travel agent by paying the minimum deposit which will be between $250 and $350 per person for a 7 day cruise, depending upon the cruise line. The minimum will be more for a longer cruise, for example $450 per person for a 14 day cruise. 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 listed below the web sites for the medium priced cruise lines which operate from US ports. These are the cruise lines that most people use.  The lines that I have listed below will have cruises starting in the range of $800 to $1,000 per person for a 7 day cruise, again depending upon the date and type cabin you select.

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

CARNIVAL:

http://www.carnivalcruiselines.com/

I have been on Princess, Celebrity, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean ships and can vouch that they are good cruise lines. However, there are some differences.

- Princess, and Celebrity have great ships are more classy and reserved than the other cruise lines. If you want a better cruise experience for your money go on one of these cruise lines. The difference in cost of these two over the others is not that much.

- Holland America has more senior citizens cruising on its ships. It has great ships and service but the majority of the passengers will be about twice your parent's age, and more. You may want to rule them out.

-Carnival is the budget cruise line that has more first time cruiser and young people (20 to 35 age group) who want to party, party, party. If that is what your parents are looking for then Carnival is the cruise line for you. Carnival is family oriented to an extent and will also have a good number of kids and also some older passengers.  They, like the other cruise lines do have kids programs, for your age I think called Camp Carnival.

-Norwegian cruise line is good and I have been on many of their 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. In my experience their passengers tend to be a mixture of young and middle aged people.

-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, mini-golf course, full sized basketball courts, and adults only pool and hot tub area called 'Solarium", surfing on ship on the "Flowrider", pool tables.You cannot go wrong with RC.

Regardless of which cruise line your parents select, the things that are included are pretty much the same. The price of your cruise includes your cabin, all meals (including breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks and free room service)(you do pay to eat in the specialty restaurants), all shows and entertainment, and free use of all facilities on ship. The things that you will have to pay for are:

GRATUITIES: They will amount to about $10 per person in your cabin per day; about $70 each for a 7 day cruise.

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND SOFT DRINKS: Coffee, tea, milk, juice, and lemonade and punch will be provided free but you must pay for drinks (alcoholic beverages) and they will add a 15% gratuity to each drink of soft drink order.

PHOTOGRAPHS: Cruise lines will take plenty of photographs of you all over the ship, in the dining room, and as you exit the ship in ports. These will cost a lot, like $15 to $20 for most.

TOURS/EXCURSIONS: You are not required to book any tours and can get off and on in the ports as much as you want. But the cruise line will offer a lot of tours and these are expensive.

SOUVENIRS: Anything you buy on ship from a gift shop or duty free shop goes on your on board account. Things that you buy on shore you pay cash or credit card for.

CASINO: If you plan to gamble on ship you will need cash for that.

OTHER: most cruise lines have what they call "specialty" restaurants where there is a gratuity/service charge. All other food on board is free and its not really necessary to budget for food; you cannot eat all of the FREE FOOD that will be available.

If you want/need to have your hair done, get a massage or wrap, or any services from the spa, you will have to pay for them. You can use the gym free but the spa stuff cost big bucks.

Ships now have internet cafe and some have WiFi but the there is a fee for internet access and it is very expensive (like about $50 to $60 an hour).

You cabin will likely have a minibar with soft drinks and munchies; you have to pay for them (but there is free room service 24/7).

I have found that the best 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 decision you will have to make is where you want to cruise to;in  the Caribbean.  There are really three basic types of Caribbean itineraries.

- Western Caribbean cruises typically go to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and a private cruise line island.

-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 want to do a Caribbean cruise that is longer than 7 days you may want to consider one to the Panama Canal.  Cruises there typically do stops similar to the Western Caribbean (as I mentioned above) including Jamaica, Cozumel or a Mexico port, and Grand Cayman along with Panama and Costa Rica.

I recommend Royal Caribbean because it has great kids programs in Adventure Ocean and in the teen's club called Fuel. Also, Royal Caribbean has the most things to do on their ships.  The Freedom Class ships that I mentioned above also have a water park just for kids called the H2O Zone. It has a mini-lazy river, a small pool and a bunch of water cannons and other types of falling water to play in.

My suggestion would be for you to look at going on one of RC's cruises and specifically on a Freedom Class ( http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis... ) or Voyager Class ( http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis... ) ship. I have been on both of these class ships and they are great and I think your kids will enjoy them. The Freedom Class is a larger version of the Voyager class and it has THE most things to do. The Voyager Class is slightly smaller and has all of the on-board activities except the Flowrider. Take a look at the features on RC's web site.

These class of ships also give you a lot of cruise options and itineraries. Right now one of these ships, the Mariner of the Seas, leaves out of Port Canaveral (we sailed it last year); the same port that Disney leaves from. The Freedom class ships sail out of Ft Lauderdale and Miami.

So do look at going RC but also look for the two class of ships I mentioned and you will have a great time, and you will have lots to do while you cruise.

Answer 5

I'd suggest you get a book on cruising from your library or bookstore and do some reading on what the different cruise lines and ships offer.  There are lots of variables when choosing a cruise, so you do need to have some idea of what you want.

A good travel agent - preferably one with lots of cruise experience - can help, once you've got some parameters in mind.

If you're interested, you might want to check out CruiseCritic.com.  Click on "Boards" for discussions on all kinds of topics related to cruising, including the different lines and ships.  If you click on "Reviews", you'll find comments on all the ships by both pros and "Member Reviews", which can give you something to go on.

Carnival is a good first cruise and Royal Caribbean is well-liked by a lot of people.  Norwegian is generally lower quality than the others, from what I've read.  Princess is a bit more refined but still very active.  Celebrity is classy and "quieter" and Holland America is even quieter - very traditional and classy.  Disney is supposed to be great for families, but it is more expensive than the other "mass-market" lines, as they only have two ships and thus limited space.

Have fun with your research; I hope you find just the right cruise for you and your family!