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?

[Elmer McCurdy]

I'd go with whoever has the cheapest drink prices.

 

(Yeah, that's where my priorities are.)

[serene56]

Not sure about the Adventure of the Seas-- But Victory is port intensive with no sea days. (do you really see yourselves out and about after midnight ?)

 

Have you priced airfare from your home port to San Juan? that itself could be a deciding factor if that is the right cruise for you.

 

 

We are sailing the Legend on Janaury 29th and I do not think one of those ports will be cool at that time of year.

 

 

St Croix? cruise lines stop going there for a while now because of crime- when did they start going back there

[Martini Mom]

All I can say is that our trip to St. Thomas, which we turned into a side trip to St. John was awesome! Trunk Bay, on St. John is the most beautiful place we've ever been. It is seriously like a postcard or a calendar pic. AMAZING!

[Cinderose]

Take a cruise that goes out of New Orleans - fun time before or after the cruise...

and there are some good itineraries from there to the Caribbean as well...

[slotguy777]

I prefer Carnival, but as far as the ports I would pick St. Kitts and St. Thomas. St. Kitts is a pretty little Island. St. Thomas has Megans Bay and great shopping! I have not sailed on RCCL, I just don't believe it is worth the extra money. On the Carnival Forum alot of the ex-RCCL people said they left them because the extra cash was no longer worth it. They said the service was going down hill with the larger ships. So we are sticking with Carnival.

[ejkj84]

Not sure about the Adventure of the Seas-- But Victory is port intensive with no sea days. (do you really see yourselves out and about after midnight ?)

 

 

Have you priced airfare from your home port to San Juan? that itself could be a deciding factor if that is the right cruise for you.

 

 

We are sailing the Legend on Janaury 29th and I do not think one of those ports will be cool at that time of year.

 

 

St Croix? cruise lines stop going there for a while now because of crime- when did they start going back there

 

yes. We were up to 4am everynight on the Liberty of the Seas

 

Both of the cruises leave from San Juan.

 

We have considered the Legend. But Since the flight were not much more to San Juan we decided to fly there. Is the Legend a better ship?

 

I don't know much about St. Croix, but thanks for the heads up.

[JUST TRIPPIN']

Having only cruised twice, one time on the Victory and one time on the Legend, take this with a grain of salt. I would do the Victory again in a heart beat.

 

The Victory not only had a port intensive itinerary which we liked but it was much warmer during late January when we cruised both times. The clientele was much younger on the Victory. We are late 40's and are in between having a good time and yet going to bed a little before midnight. The Legend was a beautiful ship but leaving out of Tampa, our entire party aged from 35 to 65 were all very aware of the older crowd with lots of scooters. The nightlife was just nowhere to be found. The piano bar was empty every night. We still had fun but I don't think your age group would appreciate this particular ship.

 

One other great thing about the Victory was the fact that it also saved a lot of money for us. Each day we would be in a port and head to a beach. The beer prices were usually $2-$3 dollars, much cheaper than while onboard. By the time we made it back to the ship, let's just say, we weren't as thirsty!

 

Loved both itineraries but there was so much more to do on the Victory's ports. In addition, I had a friend go on the RC AOS and while he said they liked the ports, they were less than thrilled with the ship. Hearsay only!