25th wedding, love good food and fine wine - which Cruise?

[lhsail]

I would highly suggest Celebrity if food and wine are important. We sailed the Solstice last March and the food was the best we've experienced on a cruise in some time. We sailed the HAL Noordam for New Year's and were extremely disappointed in the food and service. Not the HAL we'd experienced previously. We were on the Caribbean Princess a couple weeks ago. A very nice ship, the food was good, not great. No complaints about the service. Princess has mini-suites, which give you more space at a reasonable upgrade (not enough for two couple to share). But, Celebrity's balcony cabins are good sized. Sister ships to the Solstice are being introduced which might give you some other nice alternatives.

[beachchick]

Even NCL garden villas have one "luxury" master bedroom with bath with jaujzzi jets, a second bedroom more equal to a minisuite on NCL, with the similar bathroom (small tiny bath tub), and a third room (has twin beds) more like an interior cabin and bath(shower, no small tub) on NCL. The difference is the villa also has a huge living room and dining area, and also a huge deck with hot tub and deck furniture. Also the villa PAX share a pubic pool that other PAX are not allowed to use.

 

There is a video on youtube of a garden villa, which I saw. I am sure if you go to youtube and do a search for Norwegian cruise lines garden villas, you can find it.

 

The other thing is those villas rent for about $20,000 per person.

 

I just wanted to mention that it was the Garden Villa on Jade that our butler allowed us to tour. Both the second and third bedrooms, particularly the second bedroom, had decent sized baths with some of the luxury features of penthouse suites. The third bedroom may have had twin beds; if so, they had been put together to form a queen/king. Both bedrooms had nice sitting areas and small private balconies as well. The master bedroom did not have its own balcony, but it did have that fabulous super luxury bath with the whirlpool tub, etc. and was larger and more luxurious in every way.

 

In any case, the second bedroom was quite a bit "more" than a mini suite and the third bedroom was not like an interior stateroom at all. No, they were not at the same level as the master bedroom, certainly not, but it was far more acceptable, IMO, than any of those (for example, the AB or RCI's RFS) with teeny interior second bedrooms with no amenities and teeny bathrooms. Still, if we were cruising with other couples we would expect a fare differential if we cruised in the second or third bedrooms. Say, master bedroom 50%; second bedroom 30%; third bedroom 20%.

 

I know that the GVs on Dawn and Star are not the same as those on the Jewel class. I suspect that those second and third bedrooms are likely more what you describe. We've not seen the GVs on those ships. And of course, Sun, Sky, and Spirit do not have GVs at all.

 

Another note is that the Garden Villas only have the small private pool (in the Courtyard and shared with Courtyard Villas and Owner's Suites) on the Jewel class and on Epic. The Jewel class GVs also have private Deck 15 sundecks.

 

I quite agree about the fare being :eek: even though the GVs are amazing. There's no way we could afford them unless we won them in a contest or something! Of course, sometimes the fares go down to a "mere" $13,000 or so per passenger for the first two and then a "token" amount (I've heard things like $1,000 per) for the 3rd+ passengers. But we couldn't justify it even at that price. Oh well. OTOH, we can cruise in our minimum of mini-suite or balcony cabin and were fortunate to get an amazing offer for a Courtyard Villa a couple of years back. There are those who can't cruise at all, so I'd best not complain lest I tempt fate.:D

 

beachchick

[adchesney]

Without reading any of the responses, and having visited our DD and family in England several years ago and vacationing with them in Spain, I would sugest Spain, not a cruise.

5000 pounds won't get you far on a cruise, but should get a home or condo for a week, and the opportunity to have a couple of memorable meals in great reastaurants.

 

I'm speaking about southern Spain, of course. Also, ther are charter flights from England, not deluxe, but not long flights, either.

 

Dear Taxguy77

 

Thank you for your reply, I have done a few high quality European tours, two years ago was an 18 day wine tour of the France, Michelin restaurants and Chateaus - it was outstanding.

 

However, having never cruised before, I thought I would use the collective wisdom and knowledge of this forum for cruise advice. If you can take the time to have a read of the the previous posts, I believe some sound advice has been given.

 

Thus far, I think a Caribbean cruise on Celebrity or HAL is my favourite. I am just waiting for the Winter 2011 brochures to come out.

 

Regards

 

ANDREW (UK)

[ailuro]

I agree that £5K won't go far in a cruise unless you can go outwith peak time, find a cheap flight, take an inner cabin etc. but that takes the luxury away, don't you think? You could save a bit by cruising the Med or Egypt, still warm at the time of year you want to go. The bottom line is you won't be able to have it all, so you need to decide what your priorities are.

 

UK cruising prices are awful compared to prices paid by U.S. customers.:mad: That just seems to be the way of it.

 

If you definitely want to cruise the Caribbean, why not book a holiday to somewhere a bit cheaper and pick up a four day cruise in the middle of it?:)

 

Have a great time, whatever you decide.

 

there are lots of variations between cruislines and indeed destinations - for example some cruiselines are stricter than others on taking alcohol aboard, some are strict about their smoking policy, some will allow people in shorts and sleeveless T shirts into the main dining room. Some cruiselines have lots of kids running around on them, or old folks walking at snails pace in the corridors. Staterooms above and below public areas can be noisy.

All of this matters to some people, some of it doesn't matter at all to people, again you need to decide which ones matter.

[sail7seas]

=adchesney;23866402]

 

<snip>

 

However, having never cruised before, I thought I would use the collective wisdom and knowledge of this forum for cruise advice. If you can take the time to have a read of the the previous posts, I believe some sound advice has been given.

 

Thus far, I think a Caribbean cruise on Celebrity or HAL is my favourite. I am just waiting for the Winter 2011 brochures to come out.

 

Regards

 

ANDREW (UK)

 

 

 

Andrew....

 

The 2010-2011 Cruise Planner is now available. You may wish to request a copy.

 

Some nice itineraries.

[kitty9]

Royal Caribbean will not provide you anywhere near the Michelin dining experience. Think more of a regular fish and chips dining thing.

 

If you want better food with a younger crowd, with fewer kids, then I can tell you that you can do a wonderful cruise on Celebrity Solstice. You can get a Concierge Class cabin for $2800 total, for two, not including airfare, for a 7 day cruise. Solstice has excellent, and very romantic, specialty dining options, such as Tuscan Grill or Muranos, where you can dine on sublime food and experience excellent service.

 

Unfortunately, your budget will not allow you to take a longer cruise, unless it's with a more budget line, or if you can accept a lower cabin category. As with all things, it's a give and take. When I first read your post, I thought, "Crystal would be perfect for this couple". They are known to have the best food and service in the business, but they are quite expensive.

 

Another thought would be to look into a trans-Atlantic on Celebrity. Those tend to be longer, and they are quite a bit less in cost. Check with you travel agent, or take a look at Celebrity's website and see if anything would work for you with a trans-Atlantic.

[beachchick]

Quick note slightly OT to momofmeg: You aren't going to believe this, but I was just browsing about on a cruise website yesterday and found a Jade Western Med 7 night in May with the GV "only" $6,000/person for 1st and 2nd and $299 for 3rd, 4th, etc. Three couples could make a pretty sweet deal out of that. The AAs are listed at $2,350 (same as the A4s), so I guess the last minute deals can be pretty good (compared to the regular fare that is).

 

Anyway, I thought it was interesting.

 

beachchick