Which cruise to choose (for a group of friends in their late 20’s)

[ejkj84]

I am planning a cruise for a group of friends. There will be about 14 of us. Some are couples and others are groups of friends all young professionals in our late 20’s. I need some help deciding between two different cruises that I have narrowed down from all of the ones leaving from San Juan in late January.

 

We choose San Juan as a departure point because we are going in the winter and want warm weather from the start. Also I have not been to many of the Southern Caribbean ports and flights are not that much more than flying to Florida anyways. The two I have narrowed it down to are:

 

Carnival Victory going to St. Martin, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Thomas

Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas going to St. Martin, St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados.

 

So the only difference in ports is: St. Kitts & St. Thomas vs. St. Croix and Antigua

 

The Adventure of the Seas will cost $200 more per person than the Victory. We can pay this much more, but do not know if that is what we want.

 

Things that are important:

-Lots of good entertainment and activities

-Having decent food

-We do not need a crazy party but would prefer that there are things going on past 11pm

-Good service

 

Things that are not that important:

-extra $$ dinning options

-the rooms (we will be getting the cheapest inside cabin)

-Spa

-children and Teen activities

 

My cruising background and thoughts (incase it would help you recommend one cruise over the other)

 

Carnival Conquest August 2005 (Went with family, liked the ship, don’t remember much)

Carnival Fantasy March 2007 (Went with college friends, enjoyed it)

Crown Princes March 2009 (Went with friends from work, great ship & staff, but hated how almost everything shut down by 10pm)

Enchantment of the Seas September 2010 (Ok cruise, not much going on)

Liberty of the Seas March 2011 (My favorite cruise of them all! Best entertainment, food, staff, and fellow passengers)

 

As you can see my past two cruises were on Royal and they were probably my least favorite and favorite cruise of them all. That is why I am finding it hard to decide if the Adventure of the Seas will be worth the extra $200. Or if the $200 would be better spent on more shore excursions and drinks 

 

So any thoughts on St. Kitts & St. Thomas VS. St. Croix and Antigua?

Adventure of the Seas VS. Carnival Victory?

How do you think the passenger mix will be different on the two cruises? The activities and entertainment? The food?

[will773]

I read your cruise history, and you said that the Liberty of the Seas was your favorite cruise ever. For this reason, I would choose the Adventure. They are very, VERY similar ships. You won't find much that is different.

[cruiseguy1016]

I've never been on a Carnival ship so I can't compare but I have been on the Adventure of the Seas. The Adventure has lots of activities and entertainment options. If you have been on Liberty you know about the Royal Promenade and the activities that are available. The Adventure has many bars and lounges. When we were on Adventure, we were out late at night every night and we always found things to do.

 

As for the ports, St. Kitts was okay but it did not thrill us. We have been to St. Thomas several times. We have seen most of the sights there and have taken the ferry to St. John a few times. There are lots of things to do there. I would pick St. Croix and Antigua just because I have never been to either of those places. In fact, we will be sailing out of San Juan on the Serenade of the Seas next March and we will be stopping at those two ports.

 

Again, I have never been on a Carnival ship so I can't compare but I have been on 7 Royal Caribbean ships and have been very happy each time. We have always had great food, great crews and great entertainment.

[JerseyHorseLover]

I have done Carnival & just recently Royal Car. I think you will like RCL better. Food is better. More activities too. Pools on RCL stay open to 11pm! Carnival much earlier. I feel it is one step up from Carnival. You will LOVE St. Maarten. Whatever you choose, you a GREAT time !!:D

[Puffinater]

I would pick the Adventure based on the ports. I would take Antigua over St. Thomas any day. Either one will be a great trip.

[masonpips]

We did the Adventure itinerary you have listed. LOVED Antigua. St. Croix = "ok". But we didn't do an excursion and just wandered a bit from the ship (it is a VERY port-intensive itinerary, be prepared to take a day or so to relax). The island looked beautiful and our friend dove there and loved it.

 

We loved the Adventure and it was a great staff as well. I've not cruised on Carnival but I thought the atmosphere on the Adventure was great. We are mid-40's but enjoy going to the bar before/after dinner, seeing shows, listening the bands onboard and occasion hitting the dance floor. The Adventure had it all and the mix of ages was great.

[cb at sea]

The passenger mix will be about the same. You're travelling with a big group....you won't have to depend on the rest of the passengers for your good time.

The food on either ship will be 'decent'....not stupendous, but decent and plentiful.

As far as night life goes....it can vary from week to week....like I said...you have a good sized group...you'll make your own fun!

[efields2]

Given that you are looking at port-intensive cruises, the nightlife MAY be a bit quieter than what you would find on a cruise out of FL with multiple sea days. But, you are going with a large group of friends and I'm sure you'll have a great time making your own fun on either ship.

 

Take a look at each island and see if there's anything in particular that stands out that you'd want to do. That may help you decide which one will work better for your group.

[Cruisegirl6]

As you can see on the bottom I have been on many cruise lines/ships:

 

Carnival has cut down the most drastic when it comes to its food especially in the buffets...the MDR their quality meat has gone down it used to be sirloin steak nightly now its flat iron steak, RC/Princess remains to give you the better cut meat. If your a fast food type person who loves fast food Carnival is for you, if y our looking for better food better quality/variety/selection definately choose RC. If you look at the bottom of my post you will see which cruise line chose to go on next month...it certainly wasen't Carnival due to its lack of quality/selection of food and its cheesy shows and hit or miss service. Im not bashing Carnival I simply giving you my opinion...RC service overall is excellent and its shows are more quality/production type shows.

 

You have narrowed down your departure port to be San Juan so that is good....St Croix and St. Kitts are very similiar type islands....St. Thomas although nice island not much to tour just few handful places..I have to say itinerary I choose RC, food I have to choose RC, service I have to choose RC, shows I have to choose RC, cocktails I choose RC (they cheaper on RC also and better), specialty restaurants (not familiar with that particular rc ship does it have one or two?) I have to choose RC, children and teen activities both very good but I think RC has a good step up, depending on the category room you get on RC (they different sizes) determines the size cabin...if you choose oceanview or inside they smaller on RC than Carnivals staterooms but the balcony's on RC are larger than Carnivals (I believe).

 

I also would call and check to see when both ships were last in dry dock/refurbishment as they both older ships, I believe both have been refurbished but not positive.

 

Both ships have things going on past 11pm.

 

My vote RC!

[mtsnd1900]

I am planning a cruise for a group of friends. There will be about 14 of us. Some are couples and others are groups of friends all young professionals in our late 20’s. I need some help deciding between two different cruises that I have narrowed down from all of the ones leaving from San Juan in late January.

 

We choose San Juan as a departure point because we are going in the winter and want warm weather from the start. Also I have not been to many of the Southern Caribbean ports and flights are not that much more than flying to Florida anyways. The two I have narrowed it down to are:

 

Carnival Victory going to St. Martin, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Thomas

Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas going to St. Martin, St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados.

 

 

Adventure, hands down. Incredible ship and we did something very similar with 19 people. All the islands mentioned are fun, but the Adventure is a better ship.

 

TIPS: make sure all your dinner reservations are linked - we had a really big table for all of us and it was really nice.

 

Definitely fly down a day early, a few days if possible. Spend a day or so in Old San Juan, use it as an extension of the vacation. My sisters flight the day before was cancelled, finally made it in the morning of but with no luggage. They got the luggage a few hours later, it came in on the last possible flight allowing them time to get to the ship. Spent the day worrying rather than seeing the beautiful city.

[Jimnbigd]

Adventure of the Seas is a Voyager class ship, Liberty of the Seas is a Freedom class ship. I think the only difference is the Freedom OTS has the flowrider, cantilevered hot tubs, and Sorrentos. (Pizza on the Adventure will be in Cafe Promenade, but not the other Sorrentos items). Still, the Voyager class ships are amazing, and do have most of the Freedom class features including the Studio B ice rink.

 

But...Since you are so port intensive, I actually might lean towards the cheaper Carnival ship, since you will probably be too tired in the evenings to really enjoy the ship's features. Just my thoughts. You'd have a good time on either. Oh, one more point. Currently Carnival still lets you bring a your own bottle of wine on board as well as your own water and soft drinks. RCCL does not allow any of these; sometimes people do get the own water or soft drinks on board, but on my Voyager OTS cruise last March this was all confiscated and not returned until the last night.

 

Both ships have stuff going on past 11pm. RCCL mostly will be the disco and maybe a lite night comedian one night. Carnival will be the disco and probably the Punchliners Comedy Club some nights. And for late night both have piano bars; RCCL also has the English pub on deck 5 and better live entertainment in the Viking Crown and deck 5 lounge.

 

For this large a group, I do recommend a fixed dining time for evening dinner.

[amc80]

I am going to be a first time RCI cruiser, but I have looked at the Compass for my itenerary. There is WAY more going on late night than there was on Carnival. So if late night action is important to you, I'd go with RCI.

[volleyballmom87]

On Adventure there is a Latin band that plays in the Viking Crown pretty late into the night. I loved it! This where the Puerto Ricans went to party. And it WAS a party! :p