Southern Caribbean-Which Ship?

[tabcourt]

Hi All,
My wife & I planning a trip departing around January 20,2005 to Southern Caribbean. We're 1st timers and have no idea which ship to pick. We'd like to draw on the experience of others. We're mid-forties, no kids, have a budget of around $1,000 per person for the cabin and would like a destination-intensive itinerary as we'd like to visit as many islands as possible (7-10 nights). We'd prefer a ship not overrun with kids, and that is more like a "floating hotel" than a "boat". We'd like a fun, pleasant atmosphere and not anything that is remotely like a "cattle car". Casino and shows a plus. Not into formal wear except as maybe a one-night event.We live in NY, but would certainly fly to Florida or Puerto Rico to catch the ship. Has anybody taken a cruise with similar attributes and like to tell us about it? Thanks!

[wspatton]

Hi Tabcourt!

We are first timers too, also in our mid forties travelling without our adult children. We are going on the Golden Princess to the souther Caribbean and leave May 9th. Our itinerary is port intensive, which is what drew us to it. We also are not real interested in formal nights but after reading these boards for 3 months, we are much more "into" it and are planning to play along. I do know that most So Caribbean cruises are 7 nights and have two formal nights. We have heard that this big Princess ship feels like a much smaller "boat" and does not have the "cattle car" feel to it.
We will see. Also read that Princess limits the number of children on any one sailing, which is also good for us, even though we love children. This will be our first "just us" vacation in a very long time.

We will let you know what we think when we get back - we are very excited!

Mary

[B]<FONT SIZE="5"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Bill & Mary</FONT></FONT>[/B]
[B]<FONT SIZE="3"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000">Golden Princess: May 9, 2004</FONT></FONT>[/B]
[B][I](A 25th Anniversary First Cruise.... Everyone has to start Somewhere!)[/I][/B]
[B]Leaving [I]ON[/I]:[/B]
[B]<FONT SIZE="4"><span style="border:blue double 5px;"><span style="background-color:#000066;"><tt><FONT COLOR="#33CCFF">~ 5/9/04 at 11:00p.m. {No Countdown Clock: [I]You Figure It Out[/I]} ~</span></span></FONT></FONT>[/B]</tt></p>

[Coolmama_1]

We too are on the Golden Princess Southern Itinerary (7/4/04). We were looking for a cruise that was port intensive, good food and didn't care about rock climbing, roller blading etc. Princess seemed to be a good fit for us. Have raised my kids and we are happy empty nesters anxiously awaiting this trip! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Judy

Cruisin in July on the Golden Princess