Cruise for a milestone Bday-help!

[Spikedr]

2015 I turn 50 (did i really just put that in writing????) I want to treat myself(and hubby) to a big trip. After a lot of research, I think I've decided on Celebrity Infinity 10 day Caribbean in October 2015. I like the ports it visits. I know everyone has had good and bad experiences on all cruise lines, but here are my questions:

 

Room choice? I have been thinking of Concierge or Aqua class rooms. What are the advantages/disadvantages and also room location-forward or aft?

 

Dining package? Worth it? A la Carte by restaurant?

 

Adult beverage package? I don't really drink much and both of us would have to pay for it.

 

Shore excursion recommendations for these ports?

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

St. Johns, Antigua

Castries, St. Lucia

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Tortola, B.V.I.

 

Any other advice? Thanks for all input! :cool:

[Fog123]

No advice, but happy 50th from someone who is celebrating a 50th birthday with a first cruise as birthday present. We're going to Alaska for mine. ☺

 

We love the Hawksbill resort in Antigua, it's our home away from home. I think a taxi is about $25. The beaches are free to visit and there are four to choose from. You can also buy a day pass but not sure how much it is.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[t_car]

2015 I turn 50 (did i really just put that in writing????) I want to treat myself(and hubby) to a big trip. After a lot of research, I think I've decided on Celebrity Infinity 10 day Caribbean in October 2015. I like the ports it visits. I know everyone has had good and bad experiences on all cruise lines, but here are my questions:

 

Room choice? I have been thinking of Concierge or Aqua class rooms. What are the advantages/disadvantages and also room location-forward or aft?

 

Dining package? Worth it? A la Carte by restaurant?

 

Adult beverage package? I don't really drink much and both of us would have to pay for it.

 

Shore excursion recommendations for these ports?

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

St. Johns, Antigua

Castries, St. Lucia

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Tortola, B.V.I.

 

Any other advice? Thanks for all input! :cool:

 

Happy upcoming 50th!!

 

I can't comment on Celebrity, however most dining and drinking packages are usually not worth it. The food in the main dining rooms of all ships we have been has been really good, and for special evenings, we'll make reservations for a specialty restaurant. Drinking packages are priced and meant for people that like to indulge quite a bit. Totally not worth the expense if you are planning to have a drink with dinner and a couple of cocktails afterwards.

On to excursions on the ports.

In St. Thomas, a taxi ride to Megans beach is great, on the return stop at the shopping areas near the ship for a lot of good deals.

St Maarten (my wife's favorite island), do an island tour with stops at markets, Mako beach (by the airport), Orient beach, downtown Philipsburg, and some of the best scenery anywhere.

St Lucia is my favorite port. Last time we planned our own tour with "Cosol Tours". Fantastic 7.5 hrs filled with fun, food and drinks including local beer, beaches, boat ride, drive through volcano, visit to banana plantation, and local bread and cheese near the end. Awesome tour, great value.

In Antigua, do a beach. They are all great.

In Tortola, we just walked around the shopping area. We did not see much that we liked. Probably good to check out some other type of activity, or just enjoy the pool on the ship (less crowded then) :D

 

Welcome to cruising. Enjoy your first cruise.

Edited April 20, 2014 by t_car
added content

[panoramaofthepast]

2015 I turn 50 (did i really just put that in writing????) I want to treat myself(and hubby) to a big trip. After a lot of research, I think I've decided on Celebrity Infinity 10 day Caribbean in October 2015. I like the ports it visits. I know everyone has had good and bad experiences on all cruise lines, but here are my questions:

 

Room choice? I have been thinking of Concierge or Aqua class rooms. What are the advantages/disadvantages and also room location-forward or aft? We did Concierge on Celebrity Millenium; nice perks and the room was larger because it was an M class ships

 

Dining package? Worth it? A la Carte by restaurant? We did the dining package; Millennium only had 2 specialty restaurants, so we did Olympic twice and Qzine once. We enjoyed this very much. It's basically 3 specialty nights for the price of 2 and a bit. I especially liked Olympic

 

Adult beverage package? I don't really drink much and both of us would have to pay for it. We don't drink, so this was not an option

 

Shore excursion recommendations for these ports?

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

St. Johns, Antigua

Castries, St. Lucia

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Tortola, B.V.I.

 

Any other advice? Thanks for all input! :cool:

Have fun!!

Edited April 21, 2014 by panoramaofthepast

[Cruisin' Chick]

2015 I turn 50 (did i really just put that in writing????) I want to treat myself(and hubby) to a big trip. After a lot of research, I think I've decided on Celebrity Infinity 10 day Caribbean in October 2015. I like the ports it visits. I know everyone has had good and bad experiences on all cruise lines, but here are my questions:

 

Room choice? I have been thinking of Concierge or Aqua class rooms. What are the advantages/disadvantages and also room location-forward or aft?

 

Dining package? Worth it? A la Carte by restaurant?

 

Adult beverage package? I don't really drink much and both of us would have to pay for it.

 

Shore excursion recommendations for these ports?

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

St. Johns, Antigua

Castries, St. Lucia

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Tortola, B.V.I.

 

Any other advice? Thanks for all input! :cool:

 

I would definitely go over to the Celebrity board to ask questions about Celebrity. And check out the Caribbean destinations board too to get info about those ports. But I would also google each port as usually just about every port has a website and there'll be plenty of tourism websites -- all with a ton of info.

 

Since I don't know about Celebrity, I'll point out that in general, dining on mass market cruise lines is generally included in your fare, except for the specialty restaurants which usually have a cover charge (many people find the main dining rooms fine for dining, but I'm guessing you thinking of a celebratory meal). I know on Princess, there's not ala carte prices in the specialty restaurants (at least as far as I know) -- you just pay the cover charge and order what you want.

 

My biggest piece of advice is that if you're flying to your embarkation port, do so at least a day ahead. You'll be there and relaxed when you board, rather than stressing out if there's any delays.

 

Another thing to consider if that you're going to the Caribbean during hurricane season. If one looks like it's going to pop up, the captain will change the itinerary (west Caribbean to east and vice versa). This kind of decision is for the passengers' safety and it's just best to keep this in mind.

[cruiseaholic777]

Celebrity is a great choice. As far as St. Thomas i would shuttle over to St. Johns, Trunk Bay is the place to see. I would not go back to Megans Bay it is highly over rated. Golden Eagle has some great tours by boat (at St. Marteen). ;)

[Troyer5]

I also will also be turning 50 in 2015. As I enjoy cruising, my mother will be taking a cruise with me that year. Father doesn't care for ships after the Korean War. I might be treating my brother/wife, he turns 50 this year. I decided on RCCL IOS eastern as I am Emerald class, mother is gold. This one has 3 days @ sea, San Juan, San Maarten, and St. Kitts.

 

Doug

[two_black_dogs]

Can't give you any advice at all, but just wanted to say happy 50th birthday for 2015. My husband and I also (both) turn 50 next year and we are celebrating with a Panama Canal cruise on Princess. It's our second ever cruise, and we are hoping to be wowed, since we are coming from Australia especially for it...

 

Happy birthday to all the 1965 babies in 2015!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic

Happy 50th birthday-to-be.

You may want to check out the Celebrity board at this link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28

Once you have booked your cruise, you may want to join your Roll Call at this link -- just scroll down until you find your ship, open that up, then scroll down until you find the date of your cruise:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=206

Check out the Ports for your cruise at this link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587