Trying to decide on my next ship

[cruzinlisa]

I just got back from a cruise, so naturally I am trying to plan the next one. :D It will not be until next year, sometime between March and May, so I know not all itineraries are out. But I want to start narrowing down a little now, things like cruise line, class of ship etc. I have been on 4 Carnival cruises (Imagination, Valor and Conquest x2) and 1 Celebrity (Constellation).

 

We absolutely LOVED Celebrity. We had a drink package which was included, Aqua class balcony (with access to BLU dining room). I thought the ship was pretty and loved the staff and the attention to detail seemed better than on my other cruises. But everyone kept saying that it was nothing like a longer cruise on a bigger Celebrity ship.

 

Next year we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary and my 40th birthday :eek: in May. So I want to do something nice and memorable, but we still have a budget (and its not very big). I would prefer to do a 7 day cruise, but would do 5 (if there was a drink package to sweeten the deal). We will probably take our DD (will be 4) with us, but that is still undecided.

 

I haven't ruled out much (except probably Carnival), but mainly have it narrowed down to Royal or Celebrity.

 

The pluses for Celebrity are the free drink package (hopefully anyway) and a 5 day cruise is going to be affordable. But the cons are:

If I want to do Carribean, it will have to be March or April. That rules out May, or means we have to do Bermuda, Alaska or Europe. Europe is not in the budget, I am kind of not sure about Bermuda and I would rather do Alaska in the summer when DD is older.

 

So that kind of leads me back to Royal. I have never been so I do not know much about the ships. I like the idea of Oasis/Allure because of all the features. But I am not ziplining, going on a flow rider or water slides, nor will my 4 year old. DH probably would, but I am not sure if it is enough to justify the extra expense.

 

So, I guess what I am asking (finally!) is whether I should keep looking at Oasis/Allure or if there is another class that would be better suited. Budget friendly is a plus.

[cb at sea]

If you want to sail at a specific time, you'll need to book the ship that does it! I don't know if Allure would be worth the cost, if you aren't going to use all the features, but if it's the only thing sailing where you want to go, when you want to go.....well...I guess that's what you'll have to do!

 

If a Voyager or Freedom class ship sails during your timeframe, book that! They are GREAT ships, with plenty to do, but you aren't paying the cost for the "bells and whistles" that you won't use!

[SharkCruiser24]

If you liked the ambiance of Celebrity, you might want to start looking at Royals Radiance class of ships. These ships include: radiance of the seas, brilliance of the seas, serenade of the seas, and jewel of the seas. These ships are actually about the same size as the constallation. If you want something a little bigger, maybe the voyager class ships or the freedom class both include the highly popular royal promenade. These mostly do 7 night cruises except for the liberty of the seas out of Fort Lauderdale she sometimes does 4 and 5 day cruises.

 

 

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[cruzinlisa]

If you want to sail at a specific time, you'll need to book the ship that does it! I don't know if Allure would be worth the cost, if you aren't going to use all the features, but if it's the only thing sailing where you want to go, when you want to go.....well...I guess that's what you'll have to do!

 

If a Voyager or Freedom class ship sails during your timeframe, book that! They are GREAT ships, with plenty to do, but you aren't paying the cost for the "bells and whistles" that you won't use!

 

We are not totally set on the time. WE could go in the early spring, but it would be nice to sail in May. That will probably rule out celebrity. But there are some ships that do sail during that time period.

 

 

What kind of features do the Voyager or Freedom class ships offer.

[cruzinlisa]

If you liked the ambiance of Celebrity, you might want to start looking at Royals Radiance class of ships. These ships include: radiance of the seas, brilliance of the seas, serenade of the seas, and jewel of the seas. These ships are actually about the same size as the constallation. If you want something a little bigger, maybe the voyager class ships or the freedom class both include the highly popular royal promenade. These mostly do 7 night cruises except for the liberty of the seas out of Fort Lauderdale she sometimes does 4 and 5 day cruises.

 

 

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What would you recommend about the Radience class over the voyager or freedom class. I thought Constellation was a little small, but okay. I believe it was smaller than what we have sailed on in the past, but maybe not. I fear that Oasis/Allure are too big, but I do not want too small either. (Goldilocks...)

[tidygirl]

I may not understand this but why can't you do the Caribbean in May? Also I am curious is there anything on Celebrity cruises for kids to do? I've always heard they are geared for older people so have never checked with them. We did an Alaskan Cruise on Royal in 2009? with our kid 16 -20 and it seemed like it was mostly older people.

If you are taking your 4 year old maybe look for a ship that does have a water area for kids, mini-golf (they have fun playing even at that age) and I know they have kids programs that keep the little ones entertained. We weren't fortunate enough to take our kids when they were small but started cruising when the youngest was about 13 and they still enjoy going as young adults. Though they are more into the volleyball tournaments, mini-golf , rock climbing walls and now the flow rider!