cwnhokie

Thank you!  I'll check those out.  The British Isles and Open sounds great!

My husband wants to golf in Ireland for his 50th next year.  I just got the idea to see if there are any golf themed cruises so we could enjoy without having to take care of the traveling around ourselves and I can explore other sites.  We plan to travel with one other couple.  I have no idea where to start.  Any ideas or recommendations?

Thank you so much for the detailed review. We are trying to decide between the Pride and Splendor so you review gave us a great look at the Splendor!

Taking the train and leaving the night before adds a hotel room to the cost which slowly makes it not such an awesome deal. Not to mention taking an extra day off of work or arriving in NY at midnight. Decisions, decisions...

Would we be taking the train to Penn Station? I know nothing about NY

Looking at your signature, we were on the Pride cruise the week before you. The one you are talking about for $22, is that one night or two?

We are thinking about doing the 2 night cruise to nowhere on the Breakaway in January. We have about a 4 hour drive from the Baltimore/Washington area. Trying to decide whether to take the train or drive. My husband is afraid that it will be too short and will be a tease, but for the price it almost seems like a no brainer. Anyone done it before? Thoughts? We have never sailed NCL or out of NY and thing we should no about?

Thanks, we have a granny with mobility issues too. Something to consider. We took her on the Liberty of the Seas and I promised her she wouldn't have to walk much and could sit in her lounge chair the whole cruise. That turned out to be lie. We had quite a walk from the elevator to our cabins, but live and learn, right?

Grandeur would be Bahamas and Explorer would be Bermuda. I would like to try Bermuda, just because we have never done it, but not sure if it would be a great first cruise experience for the teens. It's so hard making decisions for other people, but still a good problem to have.

Breakaway looks amazing but it a little over the price range I'm trying to stay in.

NCL Breakaway! Our favorite so far (and tons to do - my kids range in age from 10 - 17, and they loved it).

I didn't realize the Breakaway went out of NY, now another to consider...:confused:

We are looking for June 2014. How difficult is getting to the port for Splendour? The only negative I've heard for the Splendour is that it's more crowded than the Pride, did you find this to be a problem? Splendour is the cheapest and longest of the ones I've priced. Although I'm sure driving and parking in NY will eat up those savings.

I've posted on the Carnival boards and RCCL boards and was referred here for your knowledge. We are traveling with two families plus grandparents with kids ages 6,7,11,13,16,17,20,and 21. We live in Maryland and could easily drive to Baltimore, NY would be a bit further. Would it be better to drive to NY to go on the Explorer (5 nights) or the Splendour (8 nights) or just stick with easy Baltimore and which would be better for our group Pride (7) or Grandeur (7)? My husband and I sailed on the Pride but we didn't have the kids with us and didn't pay attention to what they had for kids to do. Thanks for all your thoughts!

I'm confused too! :) I've got it narrowed down to Pride, Splendor, Dream, Fascination, RCCL Explorer or RCCL Grandeur. Planning a trip for the whole extended family and for 5 of the kids it will be their first cruise so I want it to be perfect. And the grandparents don't get around very well and get stressed out easily so I'm trying to make it easy for them. And the sister and brother in law are on a tight budget with 5 kids, two in college, so I'm trying to make it doable for them because they really want to do this for their kids. I love opinions from those who have been there.

We have no issue with flying actually enjoy it, but I do worry about the grandparents, they get stressed out easily. We will be going in the summer.

I am sailing the Pride in February and almost booked the Splendor, but in my months of research before booking, I found very few instances of people who had sailed both and preferred the Splendor. I think this is due to the Pride being much less crowded. The extra day is tempting, but I settled on the Pride. The only consistent complaint about the Pride is the decor, but it sounds right up my alley. Everyone complains of the cold, but both ships would share that issue.

We sailed the Pride without the kids and loved it. Getting to port could not have been easier, embarkation and debarkation were a breeze. You will love it.

We have sailed on the Pride but not with kids. In laws live about a half hour outside of Baltimore so we could easily take a cab and are familiar with our surroundings whereas in New York everything would be unfamiliar. We will be going in summer so should be warm.

We live in or near Baltimore. Will be sailing with kids ages 6, 7, 11, 12, 16, 17, 20 and 21. Flying to Florida or driving to Baltimore, prices about the same with airfare factored in. Is it worth it to fly for the bigger newer boat?

Also I think I failed to mention that we range from 20 minutes to 1 1/2 hours from Baltimore and 3 1/2 - 4 hours from NY. Does that change anyone's recommendations?

Well that's seems overwhelmingly one sided. Maybe we take the extra two days and explore New York since we are from Baltimore.

Anyone have any opinions on Explorer, Grandeur vs. Carnival Pride?

There will be 14 of us, two families with grandparents and kids ages 6, 7, 11, 12, 16, 17, 20, 21. We all live within an hour and a half of Baltimore but at most 4 from NY. Splendor is a little cheaper and has an extra night. DH and I have been on the Pride but without the kids so I didn't pay attention to if there was much for them to do. Thanks!

Looking for a port we can drive to since there will be 14 of us and would like to save on airfare. Explorer is 5 night and Grandeur is 7. Grandeur is closer to us, but Explorer is a newer. Taking kids aged 6-18, 5 of them on their first cruise. Explorer is about $150 cheaper per person but also 2 days shorter. SIL is on a tight budget since they have 5 kids. Thoughts?

Why is there no cruises showing up for next summer now for the Pride?

Great review! We were on the same cruise, I however, have not rested and recovered enough to do a review yet. Half marathon for me tomorrow and then hopefully I'll remember enough to do a decent review and post some pics. We had a wonderful trip too! I would definitely sail on Liberty again.

We booked the Sheraton Riverwalk on Hotwire. It was nice, we didn't spend much time there. We stayed the night before. They have a shuttle. We didn't feel like waiting for the shuttle, so we walked to Channelside for dinner and fun the night before. Then we caught a cab back, the shuttle had stopped running by the time we came back. We went downstairs in the morning and told the valet we needed a shuttle to the pier and we had one in about 15 mins. The shuttle driver was annoyed that we had such a big group and didn't book a private shuttle, but he took us anyway.

We are in port from 11-8. Would we have time to hire Gerry to see some things on the East side and spend some time at a beach club? If we would, which should we do first?