Carnival, Royal Caribbean or other for August cruise?

[jocelysue]

A couple of younger friends of ours with 3 daughters, aged 13, 11 and 7 would like to take a cruise this August. They live in Toronto and want to drive to their embarkation port . They also wish to return to the same port.

They have asked me to help them plan this cruise despite the fact that DH and I are senior citizens and have only taken much longer cruises on HAL, Princess and Cunard where children's activities have not been our focus nor centre of interest.

However as I am an avid fan of Cruise Critic and have planned all our cruises here, I've agreed to ask for advice, pointers, suggestions, etc. from fellow CC's on this board.

Right now they are looking at the Carnival Breeze sailing out of Baltimore on August 14 and are wondering whether it would be preferable to take a family suite or 2 adjoining balcony cabins.

The itinerary is of no importance to them. They simply want to take a week or so of R&R with no cooking, and with activities close at hand which each daughter can pick and choose without their all having to do the same thing at the same time. So after listening to us talk about the joys of cruising they've decided to join us happy mariners.

Also the cruise line is of no importance to them (except for Disney which they cannot afford). What is of importance is the ship which must offer amenities for their daughters (e.g. climbing wall or zip line or skating rink or trampoline......you get the picture. Something the girls can enjoy doing as "girls just like to have fun". Also the price must be reasonable so luxury lines are out of the question. And they must return home by Labour Day when school starts.

I would much appreciate any insight you may have. Why aren't our friend on CC themselves ? They both work almost more than full time and after getting dinner ready and helping with the kids' homework they simply don't have the energy to spend much time on line....which is another reason they requested my help as they know there are few things I enjoy more than preparing a cruise, even if it isn't my own.

Am really eager to receive your ideas and thanks a lot in advance.

[Essiesmom]

I think you must mean Carnival Pride from Baltimore, as Carnival Breeze will still e in Europe then, and will sail from Miami when she arrives in the US. I suggest you go to http://www.cruisetimetables.com to find cruises sailing from possible homeports. Enchantment of the Seas from Baltimore might be a better choice if you want the rock wall...

Also look at sailing from NYC, particularly those on Celebrity or Royal from Bayonne (Cape Liberty) NJ. If they sail from NYC, parking would be a killer, but you can get park & cruise packages with free shuttle from several hotels in NJ and Staten Island.

But my best suggestion is...Send them to a travel agent! You don't want to be blamed for a vacation they didn't enjoy...EM

[carolinesmom]

I second the recommendation to send them to a travel agent. The first time we decided to plan a cruise I had no idea where to start. I have a travel agent I had previously used for Disney World trips and her company also does cruises (that is all they do). She was immensely helpful. I gave her a time frame of dates, where we wanted to sail (in our case the Caribbean), and my children's ages. She recommended 3 cruises that she thought would work well for us. This is exactly what your friends need.

[Friend100]

I concur with other posters to get a TA for advice. My 2 cents though ..

 

Enchantment of the Seas 8/23, 8 nights from Baltimore round-trip to Bermuda, Boston and Rhodes Island. Since they are from Canada these US ports and Bermuda are all "foreign" ports to them anyway! I am seeing some good price.

 

Other options within driving distance from the GTA:

• Boston: NCL Dawn to Bermuda
  
• New York/Cape Liberty: Celebrity Summit to Bermuda, HAL Veendam to Bermuda, NCL Star to Bermuda, NCL Gem to Florida/Bahamas, Explorer of the Seas to Caribbean/Bermuda. Ships like X or HAL obviously have less activities and may not be what they are looking for, but price not bad.
  

If they can drive to Florida, then Freedom of the Seas 7-nights from Port Canaveral. Or, to go all out, fly to Vancouver and do an inside passage cruise to the Alaska!

[SadieN]

If it is important to have a rock wall or ice rink or a bowling alley then they should book ships that have them. If it is not important than they should check out the cost of ships without those activities.

[lucigo]

If they don't think they can afford Disney then they probably can't afford a suite. There are some ships still that will accommodate 5 people in a cabin, which is the least expensive option.