Planning Stressssss

[freefallen]

I've been wavering back and forth from :D to :confused: to :( and again. Planning has been so stressful!! Anyone planners out there feel this way?

 

For free drinks during our March '10 vacation (hehe), I've been appointed as planner of the first cruise my friends and I will be taking. I made a good list and we voted, narrowed it down to:

 

- Carnival Destiny, 5-night to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, Nassau, Bahamas

- Celebrity Century, 5-night to Ocho Rios, Jamaica Grand Cayman

 

And then I go to read more reviews, and I hear not so good things which makes me rethink my choices. Then I go and research more cruises, but seriously how many cruises can happen in March '10 fit for a group of picky female graduate students? Oy.

 

Any tips on deciding on cruises? Filtering through reviews? Checklists of things to note of?

 

Thanks~!

[erinmarie424]

Of the places you list I have only been to Half Moon Cay and Nassau - and in my opinion Half Moon Cay is like heaven on earth. If you're after a nice day on the beach, this is the place to go. The sand is like cake flour (seriously - before I went I saw someone describe it that way and when I got there I realized it was the perfect description)

 

Nassau was OK - but I'd go on a cruise that went there if it meant going to HMC as well.

 

Have a great time - no matter where you decide to go!

 

Erin

[CanadaDeb]

I started a similar thread...it's so hard!!!! My husband and I want to cruise the southern Caribbean and I was caught between RCCL and Princess....decided to go on Princess aftre several comments and comparisons....I listened to the parts of the comments that would affect us ( ie someone said Princess doesn't have an ice rink or rock climbing wall...neither my husband or I would take advantage of that so I kind of just ignored that part...does that make any sense? Good luck!

[freefallen]

Thank you Erin! Yes, the port stops for Carnival sound great. I've just been hearing not so great things about the ship, I guess.

 

CNDDB1, that totally makes sense, thanks. Have a wonderful time on your trip! :)

[cb at sea]

Take a vote---majority wins....either will give you a good time. Once you choose the trip, let everyone do their own thing.....you'll have plenty of together time, but you don't want to force excursions/outings on folks who'd rather do other things! Meet for dinner every night and compare your adventures!

[zekekelso]

The only reason to do that much planning is because the planning is fun. When it stops being fun, stop. Pick one pick the other flip a coin whatever. As long as you've done enough planning to avoid something totally inappropriate you are fine. Beyond that the cruises are much more similar than they are different.

[freefallen]

Thanks for the advice. Planning has stopped being fun, but I would feel bad if I end up picking a bad ship. :(

[Ellusionz]

Forget the ship, go for the private island! I plan all my cruises around if they go to a private island or not :)

[freefallen]

Very true, Ellusionz! I've heard great things about Half Moon Cay. :D

[creef1014]

Because you're talking prime spring break season I would suggest:

 

-Carnival if your group wants to party and be in the middle of a big party

-Celebrity if you want a toned down more relaxing trip

 

Also I would choose Celebrity because the Bahamas are so close and cheap to visit you can always go there. Jamaica and Grand Cayman are much more difficult place to get an opportunity to visit.

 

The Carnival still sounds good though because if goes to Grand Turk and the private island. You just have to make an executive decision; you've narrowed it down enough that you can't really screw it up. Good luck.

[freefallen]

:) Oh, we do want a relaxing trip with some fun dancing at night. Ack.. we've been excited about the Carnival stops now though, ack..

[anxiousforvacation]

If I hadn't been to either, Money is usually the deciding factor for me. Which one is cheaper?

 

I dislike Jamacha, but loved Grand Caymen and That really made up for Jamacha. Haven't been on the other cruise.

 

Besides why the big decision. Book one for this year and the other for the next year. Tell them you should be rewarded double drinks because you planned double trips.:D That should take all the stress away. And you are guarenteed double the fun!

[flashdog_1]

Tell us more. Have any of the girls cruised before, so have preferences about which line?

 

I would think, but sure could be wrong, that there'd be fewer spring break kids on the Century sue to X's reputation for having older passengers (which is not true BTW. They are of all ages) which means less chaos.

 

Go to the review section and read about spring break cruises to see which you think you can hack. Don't read about staid other times of year cruises because they won't be comparable. Compare apples to apples.

 

I've heard that Carnival food is very good, but I know that Celebrity's is great, if that is a deciding factor for you.

 

You cannot smoke in your cabin or on your balcony on Celebrity, however, if you have any smokers among you. Those passengers would have to find the designated smoking area on deck.

 

All lines are cutting corners, so if I say something that is passe I hope someone will correct me. On Celebrity they give you a glass of champagne when you board free of charge.

 

Celebrity's drink stewards are not pushy at all, but efficient.

 

I'm with the others who say that you can get to the Bahamas pretty easily and cheaply on other lines (NCL has 4 night sailings pretty cheap), so go for the Jamaica port which is harder to find.

 

Let us know what you decide ultimately!

[CruiseNut7]

I know exactly how you feel as I am the one that plans our cruises. If it were me, I'd go with Carnival because of their ports of call.

 

If I were on the Celebrity sailing, I don't usually get off the ship in either Jamaica or Grand Cayman - that's just a personal choice as we've visited there frequently and neither has anything to offer me - JMHO.

 

Grand Turk has a beautiful beach right where you dock, a nice shopping area there and an awesome Margaritaville (with swim-up bar). The private island is terrific and in Nassau, walk into town, visit Senor Frogs, shop in the staw market for a nice knock-off designer handbag!

 

Whatever you decide, you'll have a terrific time. :)

[freefallen]

Thanks everyone for the advice!

 

I decided on Carnival for the extra port stop and also when I called there was a resident rate which discounted about $75. :D I'm super excited and just crossing my fingers that it won't be too, too crowded.

[ecpc1302]

We did the Destiny cruise last January and had a wonderful time. The only negative is that our original cabin was directly above the piano bar microphone, but Carnival was able to move us to a different cabin. Other than that particular cabin, we found the ship to be very nice. Loved HMC, went back on Fascination in July and rode the horses there with my grandchildren. I would take a cruise based on HMC port stop. We also like Grand Turk and Nassau (Atlantis).

 

BTW, I'm originally from Chicago, bet you'll enjoy the weather break!

Elsie:cool:

[freefallen]

Thanks Elsie! Glad to hear a positive review. :) Many people suggested Atlantis. I was worried we wouldn't have time to go, so I'm glad you let me know you went!

 

And yes, I cannot WAIT to leave this Chicago weather!!

[Happy ks]

Make plans to fly down a day early! You don't want to go through all this planning stress only to have bad weather cancel out the trip for you.

 

Carnival sounds like a good fit for you.

[saltmom1]

We left New Year's Eve Day and EVERYTHING falls on me. Hope this puts your stress in perspective I had aGREAT time after all my stress !

 

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