Help me choose :)

[mkcurran]

Our extended family has decided its time for a family cruise. Our group will consists of at least three families of 4. Two have kids in the 8-10 range. My other two sisters have kids who will be three and one. My older sister and her 20 somethings may come. And my Mom will come. So anywhere from 17 - 25 people.

 

We are looking at January and February cruises to leave our cold weather but avoid spring break

 

I have sailed on mainly carnival(Dream, Breeze, conquest and few older ones), did one disney, one celebrity, one NCL, and one Costa cruise.

 

My one sister has only sailed Disney. So that makes me nervous. Everyone else has never cruised.

 

Since we have been on many cruises I try to find ones that go to new islands. I really want to do the ABC islands. Esp Bonaire to snorkel. Rest of family just wants to go to warm nice beaches.

 

I have been put in charge.

 

Here are the cruises we are looking at:

 

Magic -- 8 days. from Ft. Lauderdale Aruba Curacao Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk

Only downfall is my husband is a baby and will be cold at Half Moon Cay in January. Ha ha. (even though we love it there) And we have been to Grand Turk many times. But its a good stop for my sisters with little ones. (easy). We Like that it leaves Ft. Lauderdale (south west goes there and we have points)

 

Magic -- 8 days from Ft. Lauderdale Aruba Curacao La Romana and Grand Turk

Similar to above. La Romana intrigues me since I haven't been there. I have been to Amber Cove and we loved our waterfall excursion. My Brother in law isn't sold on this port. There isn't as much info on it on the boards.

 

Fascination -- 7 days from San Juan St Kitts, St Maarten, St Thomas, St Lucia, Barbados

Ship doesn't have everything like ropes course and stuff the kids like. 5 island is fun. We have been to the first three ports but I have wanted to go to St. Lucia and Barbados. Leaving from San Juan is a better harder but not too bad.

 

Horizon -- 8 days from miami Aruba Curacao La Romana and Grand Turk

A bit more money then the magic for same itinerary but newer ship. Three new islands for us.

 

Now I know this is a Carnival board but we are also looking at 2 other cruises on other lines.

 

Royal Caribbean -- Adventure of the Seas 8 nights. Aruba Curacao and Bonaire. from Ft. Lauderdale

I have never sailed Royal but haven't wanted to try it. I like that it goes to all three ABC without having to leave from Puerto Rico. But it has lots of sea days. Its not the newest Royal ship but it seems to have lots of fun things.

 

NCL -- Epic 7 days from San Juan. Aruba Curacao Bonaire St Kitts and St Lucia

I like this itinerary best. All new islands for us except St. Kitts. But this cruise is by far the most expensive. Their are no interior rooms for families of 4 (which we usually get). We would have to upgrade to balcony or suite. But you do get the "free" choices of alcohol, dining, etc. We would get 2 and $140 on board credit. I am not sold on the freestyle dining. I like having the set time to eat. We did it with 20+ people on Carnival and it was nice to get together at dinner. (set time). It would be hard to do freestyle with such a big group.

 

I would take one of the Magic cruises, the Horizon one, the RC and the NCL cruise and run up a spreadsheet showing cost for 4 in a basic cabin with the drinks package and all gratuities to compare the prices. Then I'd make them vote.

[Cruisegirl6]

Another thing to consider, if your turning platinum on this next carnival cruise or you are platinum its nice to have the room available upon boarding and the priority check in and departure, if your not platinum definitely choose RC you won't be disappointed, for us, it blows Carnival away even if its not RC largest cruise ships but its not the small ones either.

[brookeq]

Here are some tips for organizing: get a spreadsheet or google doc together and categorize things like ports, sea days, airfare cost, inclusions (thinking of NCL), Cabins, Excursion prices, ship bells and whistles. When ready show this to everyone and gather input, trying to get a total price. They say they want you in charge for planning but after seeing this they may have some opinions and further input. You may all decide to do different things too, and that’s ok. As long as they are aware is key.

 

 

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You are my kind of person. I already started this. :)

[IntrepidFromDC]

I would take one of the Magic cruises, the Horizon one, the RC and the NCL cruise and run up a spreadsheet showing cost for 4 in a basic cabin with the drinks package and all gratuities to compare the prices. Then I'd make them vote.

 

My idea too! OP seems to have good analytical skills, so make a spreadsheet. Have the columns show ship, cost, duration, itinerary, then have additional columns focus on pros and cons to give everybody enough information to fight amongst themselves! :D

 

You can also take it a step further and create a PowerPoint presentation, with Uncle Sam ("it's up to YOU") type graphics!

[KarimaJ]

Yup! People say they want someone to handle it all and make decisions but when rubber hits the road they could get upset if they think they weren’t told everything. Or if something was too expensive, etc.... such is life.

 

 

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[momof4girls]

What is the price difference between the Horizon and Magic? Depending on the price difference, and IF nobody is big into going to the comedy shows and regular shows, I’d pick the Horizon. Otherwise, I’d go with the Magic.

[disneylover89]

Check the camp group ages on each cruiseline too. They may be different. Kids you thought could be together in the camp group may not be able to

[evandbob]

My two cents:

 

Your sister would hate the Fascination, it's a very old and tired small ship. The Horizon and NCL Epic sound too expensive, the Magic about right. La Romana has some nearby resorts, including Dreams, where you can do a day trip.

 

Go to the port of calls section to get more info on LaRomana. Or do the RCCL.

[dmdiver]

Thanks when researching what to do in la Romana the Seavis tours seem to be the top choice. Did you like it?

We have gone to the beach off the ship in Grand Turk and last time we rented a quad and drove all around the island. That was fun. Its small so we pretty much saw everything.

 

Yes, the Seavis tour to Saona was reasonably priced, included food & drinks. We got $7 off using a booking code that we got on our CC roll call. If you book the tour & get so many people to also book using the code you are given, then everyone gets 10% off. Reservation was made online, but no payment required until we got to the marina. I paid in cash, but I think they might take credit cards. We enjoyed the speedboat ride to the island, snorkeled, had lunch, relaxed, then on the way back we stopped at the starfish garden. It was a shallow vegetated sandbar. We all got out of the boats. The guides helped us find starfish. We were allowed to hold them & take pics - just not to keep them out of the water very long. They also had rum cake & rum punch for those who wanted it. Then back into the boats & back to the marina. Seavis also provided transportation from the ship to the marina & back as well.