I want to surprise my wife with a cruise for her Birthday in February. Her and I are both beach bums and love the sea, sand and fun. What cruise or cruise line would you suggest that has great amenities, service, and side adventures that gives you the most bang for your buck?
Need Suggestions for Cruise Options
- Thread starter BvillePoker
- Start date
I like Royal Caribbean. On the shore excursions make sure you pick ones through the cruise line and just really research the reviews. My wife is an expert at this and found us some really fun ones. If you start kinda figuring out places you want just ask and I give you some advise on places. I have been to a ton of islands down in the Caribbean.
I have been on 3 different cruise lines (2 of them multiple times). Here is my impression of the 3 lines.
Celebrity. Pricier than the other two but might be worth it. The food and service is better. The amenities are very nice. Seems a bit less crowded and fewer kids. Much more relaxing not having kids running all over the place, crying, etc.
Royal C. This is the line I have gone on the most. Their ships have tons of stuff to do at all times. The food is better than Carnival, but not as good as Celebrity. There are a lot of kids around (more than the other 2 lines I am listing). Better shows and alternatives for entertainment while on board.
Carnival. This is where the party is. More directed at college age to 35 year old people. You can have a lot of fun watching drunk folks do silly things. Fewer kids but still plenty of them. Food not as good as the other 2 lines. Fewer activities to choose from at a given time of day, but it always seems like there is a party going on somewhere on board. The casino is larger than on the other 2 lines.
As far as which lines have the best excursions at the ports, they are all pretty much the same. Once you get there you realize that all of the cruise lines send people to the same destinations to do the same things.
Celebrity. Pricier than the other two but might be worth it. The food and service is better. The amenities are very nice. Seems a bit less crowded and fewer kids. Much more relaxing not having kids running all over the place, crying, etc.
Royal C. This is the line I have gone on the most. Their ships have tons of stuff to do at all times. The food is better than Carnival, but not as good as Celebrity. There are a lot of kids around (more than the other 2 lines I am listing). Better shows and alternatives for entertainment while on board.
Carnival. This is where the party is. More directed at college age to 35 year old people. You can have a lot of fun watching drunk folks do silly things. Fewer kids but still plenty of them. Food not as good as the other 2 lines. Fewer activities to choose from at a given time of day, but it always seems like there is a party going on somewhere on board. The casino is larger than on the other 2 lines.
As far as which lines have the best excursions at the ports, they are all pretty much the same. Once you get there you realize that all of the cruise lines send people to the same destinations to do the same things.
Add Norwegian Cruise Lines to the avoid at all costs list.
We did Princess years ago and enjoyed it a lot.
We did Princess years ago and enjoyed it a lot.
I can't believe that no one is going to walk thru the most obvious door.
I don't personally have experience with any cruise line, so standard disclaimers.
However, I've lost track of the number of people who have recommended Disney. Sounds crazy if you aren't taking kids, but many have said that there is so much to do on those ships that you won't encounter tons of kids if you don't want to.
Obvious catch is price - the mouse is pretty darn proud of his ships.
Disney doesn't have casinos on their boats and there are more kids than on other ships. I think that disqualifies them from consideration. JMO.
Carnival sucks on all levels - if you book a cruise with them you deserve the fate that awaits you. For the sort of entry level to a good cruise line go with Royal Caribbean. Princess is probably a 1/2 notch or a notch above that. And Celebrity takes it up another level. Beyond that you're getting really expensive.
I'd like to do a Viking river cruise someday, personally.
I'd like to do a Viking river cruise someday, personally.
I think there were some ads on this website a few years back. I dunno. I never saw them.
We've only been on Disney, but absolutely loved it. Obviously there's kids, but there's enough spaces on the ship that are adults only, that if the wife and I ever cruise by ourselves, we'll still cruise Disney.
The service onboard was amazing. Food was quite good.
The service onboard was amazing. Food was quite good.
We went on Disney last year. If you don't have kids, I wouldn't go (we have kids). Celebrity was nice and MSC was perhaps a shade under them. I'm going on another Celebrity this week (Alaska). I'll let you know how it looks.
Let me start this post by saying I have never been on a Disney cruise.
Why would anyone without kids/grandkids go on a Disney cruise? The way I see it, you are paying X amount of money for Y amount of product. Product includes: food, drink, entertainment, service, ambiance, and other things. On a Disney cruise, a significant percentage of the product is directed at making it fun for the kids and at things that are more likely enjoyed by kids than adults. I would think that it would make more sense for 2 adults, travelling without kids, to spend their time on a ship that is less focused on the kid experience.
Why would anyone without kids/grandkids go on a Disney cruise? The way I see it, you are paying X amount of money for Y amount of product. Product includes: food, drink, entertainment, service, ambiance, and other things. On a Disney cruise, a significant percentage of the product is directed at making it fun for the kids and at things that are more likely enjoyed by kids than adults. I would think that it would make more sense for 2 adults, travelling without kids, to spend their time on a ship that is less focused on the kid experience.
I never looked into Disney because up until 3.5 years ago I was a heavy smoker and Disney didn't allow smoking or have any smoking areas on the boats. Also not having a casino would kill it for me also. I love playing poker on vacation. It is about the only time I get a chance to play. You guys have convinced me to look into Celebrity next time I am think about doing a cruise.