Which cruise would you choose?

Question

Should I take a Spring Break or summer cruise? Should I go on Carnival or Royal Caribbean? Which is better, a Southern Caribbean itinerary, or a Western Caribbean one? Are there any other good iteneraries besides these? Which Carnival ship is the best? Give all info you have!! I especially need info on teen programs.

Answer 1

I have never been on Carnival, at the urging of my travel agent.  But I have been on more than 15 cruises on RC, Norwegian, Princess, and Celebrity.  Carnival is good; a good basic cruise line that has budget fares.  But Royal Caribbean is much better and just as much fun.  Plus RC has activities that I think you would like such as the rock climbing wall, inline skating or ice skating, a full sized basketball court, mini-golf, a free ice capades type show, great gymnasiums and equipment, and depending upon your cruise, the best private island in the Caribbean at Labidee, Haiti.

The Labadee private island which is usually a stop on Western Caribbean cruises, and some others, is huge with several beaches, jet skiing, parasailing, scuba and snorkel available, plus an ocean water park you can use for $5. a day.

The typical Western Caribbean cruise, regardless of the cruise line, is Cozumel, or Costa Maya, Grand Cayman and Jamaica.  I have seen some Westerns that do Belize or Key West instead of one of the other stops.  This itinerary will give you a couple at sea days and maybe a private island day.

The typical Southern Caribbean cruise goes to several Leeward islands like Antigua, ST Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Tortola and St Thomas and/or Puerto Rico.  With this itinerary you are typical at a different island every day and thus there is a lot of time spend touring or engaging in water activities.  There may be only one 'at sea" day when you can just kick back on ship and totally relax.

Another itinerary is out of Puerto Rico and goes to Aruba, Curacao, St Thomas and St Maarten.  This itinerary is good if you want more at sea time and a more relaxed cruise. Aruba and Caracao are nice (we just did this itinerary) and in St Thomas you get to shop or see/use some really great beaches.

Most cruise ships now have programs for kids divided by age groups.  Carnival , Princess, RC, and NCL have teen programs.  You can get details on these on the cruise line web sites.  

My recommendation is to decide whether you want to go almost every day on a new island or go some and then have a couple relax days.  My recommendation, go on one of RC's new ship, Freedom of the Seas or Liberty of the Seas.  Both ships are brand new and thus everything is shiny new and working properly and the ships have all of the latest thing available on ships like flat panel HDTV's in the room and pillow top beds.  We went of the Freedom last year and it was great.

Answer 2

My teens LOVED Carnival.  Definately the best for kids

Answer 3

Both spring break and summer are busy times for the cruise industry, since that is when most families take there vacations.

Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean offer a quality program and both have excellent teen programs.  

Here is some information on the Carnival teen program ...

Carnival offers two different teen programs. For our 12-14 year old guests, Camp Carnival offers a wide range of activities from late night movies, sports night, teen disco, Karaoke, late night swimming under the stars, scavenger hunts, and many other age appropriate activities.

15 - 17 year olds have a place all their own as well, it's called Club 0 2. This program, like Camp Carnival, was created for these older teens it was designed and dedicated to our guests in the specific age groups. The older teens get a chance to show off during a Karaoke session, pool parties, late night dances, outdoor sporting events like basketball and ping pong.

Many of our ships feature lounges which are dedicated to both age groups.  Some of these lounges feature video monitors with Playstation 2 or X-Boxes, as well as comfortable seating. High energy dance floors with state of the art lighting and sound have also become a mainstay in many of our "Teen Only" lounges.

For Carnival, I would recommend the newer ships, Freedom and Liberty.  However, any of the Conquest or Spirit class ships would be a good choice.

Royal Caribbean also has a very good teen program ...

Our Navigators program is specially designed just for tweens. It's not some structured program of classes. You can come join activities and games when you want to, or just chill in our Living Room with your friends. And your parents won't worry about leaving you there, because every member of our Adventure Ocean® staff holds a college degree in education, recreation or related field and has experience working with children ages 3 - 17.

Our teen program isn't some structured set of classes or rules. We know you're almost an adult, and it's your vacation too. So we give you the freedom you deserve. You can join events all day, or come and go as you want. And we have two great places where you can get away from it all. The Living Room is a laid-back place you can just hang with your new friends. And Fuel is the place where the party is. Open 'til 2 a.m., you can dance, listen to music, or just hang out there.

On Royal Caribbean I recommend the newest of the large ships for teens; Navigator, Mariner, Freedom, Liberty and Independence.  The reason I recommend these ships for teens is that these ships have an expanded area for the teens, known as Fuel (the teen disco) and the Living Room (a place for teens to hang out or play games).  While other ships have these facilities also, these facilities are bigger on these five ships.

Personally I believe that both Carnival and Royal Caribbean offer a quality cruise experience.  While similar, they are not exactly the same.  Choose one, and I am sure you will like it.  Then choose the other next time, and then you can pick the one you like the best.

As to itineraries, the southern is very port intensive.  There are five ports and only one day at sea.  Days at sea are very relaxing, and after hitting three ports in a row, you will long for that relaxing day at sea.  The western and eastern itineraries usually offer two to three sea days and four or three ports.  Also, the southern itineraries usually start in San Juan, which means additional flying time and cost.  

I suggest you look at the islands that will be visited and decide which ones interest you the most.  However, if you go during the summer, be aware that a hurricane could cause the ship to change its itinerary to avoid the hurricane.  This is one of the advantages of a cruise ship.  When is the last time you saw a land based hotel move out of the way of a hurricane?

Answer 4

I agree that the southern Caribbean seems to be the best.  Can't vouch for it myself as I had to cancel my southern Caribbean cruise right before I was supposed to go in Jan. 2002 (a 9/11 thing).  One of my friends who did go said that the shore excursions were much better than other Caribbean cruises we had taken.  As far as RC vs. Carnival, I would put more stock in the ship that is going to the Southern Caribbean than which cruise line.  Look at the amenities on each ship that is sailing that itinerary and pick the one that has more activities you would use.  Have a great time!

Answer 5

i liked the southern itinerary as  you left from san juan and you see more islands.  go on whoever you get the best deal on.  they are all very comparable.  we see a lot of spring breakers on most of the cruises we have been on.  i would look for a newer ship , if there is a choice on the lines, and also who gave me the best deal.  most all of them , except maybe holland america, have excellent teen programs.  and teens seem to hook up at the meets and go off and do their own things too.