Cruise information needed please!

[NPloysa]

Mackenzie and I are thinking about going away next Christmas. I mean playing a real life "Christmas With the Cranks", and maybe go on a cruise to the Caribbean or some other "warm" place.



Anyone with experience please give me ideas, where to find deals, what duration is just right for first-time cruisers, best destination as far as warmer climates go, etc, etc.



I am looking around the Carnival site now, since it is the first cruise line to come to mind, getting rough prices, excluding airfare, etc.



Would it be wrong to pick/schedule a cruise around a ship with the biggest, baddest diesel engines?



Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!



Nick

 

[TORQUE THIS]

In January of 2002, my wife and I went on a Princess cruise. It was a 7 day cruise to the western caribbean. For me it was the best way too vacation! My wife was pregnant at the time so for her it wasn't too enjoyable.



We are looking into another cruise this fall or winter also.





BEWARE!!!!!! There is no exchange of cash on the ship. You are given a credit type card to pay for drinks, souviners, etc. If you don't watch what you spend, you could be in a world of trouble the last night of the cruise! It adds up FAST!

 

[NPloysa]

So you put a certain amount on the card beforehand?



Nick

 

[TORQUE THIS]

I believe you can give credit card info before boarding. We did not give a credit card number because we didn't have credit card with anything available... (that's a long but funny story).



The best thing to do is keep tabs on your daily receipts. We did this and we off like $12. 00. (Lost a receipt down by the pool one day)

 

[tpuig]

Depends what you're looking for. A younger crowd into partying hard tends to like Carnival and similar. A more relaxed quieter crowd (read older folks) might like a Holland American cruise. More adventurous and athletic may like the Windjammer sailing cruises, or smaller ships. There is even an auto enthusiast cruise coming up sponsored by Hemmings Motor News.

There are some real advantages to booking early. You can get big discounts, like 50% off in some cases. 10 years ago we booked a cruise on Renaissance (no longer in business) to the Seychelle Islands off Africa. As early booking incentive, they gave us a 5 day Safari in Kenya. We booked the lowest cheapest cabin, but as more and more people booked the same, we kept getting bumped up. We ended up in the second level. It was a small ship, 100 passengers and 105 crew. Absolutely awesome.

A couple years ago we took another Rennaissance cruise to Tahiti, and it wasn't as good. Dont 'get me wrong. Still very nice, but 600 passengers made it seem a whole bunch more crowded, even on a much larger ship. I can't even imagine one of the giant 5000 passenger cruises.

Typically food is all inclusive, but booze and misc stuff is not. Sucking down $8 beers adds up really quick, as does the scuba, Jeep island tours and deep sea fishing trips. Wine with dinner every night? Of course, you're on vacation... And you are expected to leave a tip for the staff, who don't get paid much. Figure on $10-50 a day for that. Since you sign for everything and it's billed to the room, it can be quite a shock at the end of the cruise when it's time to pay the piper. But usually the music is good and the food is great. Some ships have small casinos and most have shows of some sort. You can shoot skeet off the stern as well...



Luckily you've got plenty of time. Do your research on some cruise and travel forums. Theres lots of great info and some real horror stories. Hope this helps.

TP

 

[BKenny]

My brother and his girlfriend went on a caribbean cruz right after thanks giving . I will have to ask him witch cruze line it was but they left out of NewOrleans and they had a good time they loved it. They stoped at a bunch of different ports i remember Cosomel Mexico and the Camon Islands.

 

[TboneMan]

As mentioned earlier, Carnival caters for the younger "partying" types. Stick with Princess, Royal Carribian, Celebrity or Holland America if you want a more adult experience.



From a past cruise experience, AVOID, if you can, flying home on the day the cruise returns to its home port. Especially if it is a port with several cruise lines. We had a TERRIBLE experience in Puerto Rico. Three ships disembarked at the same time. The crowds at the airport were so bad that punches nearly started flying. Post-911, no peice of baggage was screened and it took 4 hours to check in. Fortunately we had a late afternoon flight. Some friends of mine a similar problem (although not quite as violant) in Miami.



From now on, we plan an extra day at the end of the cruise or have a late flight and avoid the airport immediately after disembarking.



Other than that, cruising is a fantastic vacation especially if you like fine dining, site seeing, drinking, and shopping (duty free). Tipping is very important on ships. Since you're on the ship for some period of time (we like 7 days) you get a chance to find out who REALLY wants to exceed your expectations. In our experience, we tip a couple of servers (bar tenders, deck servers) a bit high the first time (say 25%). They will be your friends for the entire cruise (at normal tipping rates). I remember one evening our party went to a lounge for a couple of drinks. The bar maid we had given an early generous tip too, was there. She would deliver the round of drinks and pour the beer into a glass (8 oz), when she saw that the rest of the bottle would fit into the glass, she came back over and poured the rest into the glass. This happened each round! If she saw us on the sitting on the deck or in a lounge she always made a point of checking with us.

 

[TPCDrafting]

Nick if you decide against the cruise, check out applevacations.com

We did an all inclusive trip to Cozumel last year and had a great time. Most fun for the $$ that I've ever had. You have to watch the site almost every week as they have specials that come and go. And they fly out of DIA directly to your destination. Either way you go, get open water diving certified before you go (if you haven't already)

 

[Forrest]

We just did this one ... the week before xmas.



http://164.109.173.140/fleet/pal/



Ck the routes, # of days, shore excursions. Great cruise. I'd go on this one again, in a minute. There is so much to do on each island.



NCL is adding at least 1 more boat to the route. The 2nd boat will do the route in reverse. I took >500 pics ... gotta love digital.



We're also checking into the Alaska cruise options. Andy did it on a smaller boat which got closer to the shoreline & waterfalls.

 

[cap-n-cray]

For the last several years my family has cruised a week in the summer in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. We are our own crew. We charter a boat and cruise the San Juan Islands and the Canadian Gulf Islands. I am the captain and I run the diesel engines. Staying at the docks in front of the Empress Hotel downtown Victoria, BC, is like camping on main street Disneyland. Always had a great time. :-laf



Here is one of many Charters companies.



Cary

 

[JLEONARD]

We did an all inclusive trip to Cozumel

Wife and I went on a all inclusive dive trip to Cozumel a few years ago... I agree it was a great value. We did a lot of diving and a lot of partying.

Jay