Help me pick a cruise!

[Ru5tY]

I'm having trouble deciding which cruise to pick for September. I guess I'm worried about hurricane season most of all for the Caribbean side. So far I've done Baja, Bahamas, and Western Caribbean itineraries (all with Carnival), so I've never been on any of the following itineraries.

 

Out of the following options, which would you guys pick/recommend?

 

My budget for cruise + air is around 1k CAD, but I threw in Hawaii in there since the price seems to be relatively low in Sept compared to other months for Hawaii cruises.

 

- 1st price is the cruise-only price in CAD, quoted from travelocity, but I'll probably get a cheaper quote when I go to a Chinese travel agency (in Toronto, chinese places are the cheaper than internet rates)

- 2nd price is the total price of cruise & air (in CAD) from either YYZ or BUF to the respective debarkation port of the cruise.

- Click the links for cruise itinerary and ports of call

 

Thanks for any input!

 

 

 

NCL Pride of Aloha, 7-night Hawaii $731.00 $1,417.00

Sept 17 departure from Honolulu

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=46801

 

NCL Spirit, 8-night Bermuda + Eastern Caribbean $618.00 $778.00

Sept 16 departure from New York

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=61355

 

Carnival Destiny, 7-night Southern Caribbean $539.00 $1,090.00

Sept 17 departure from San Juan

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=38405

 

Princess, Caribbean Princess, 7-night Eastern $618.00 $801.00

Sept 16 departure from Ft. Lauderdale

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=38266

 

Carnival Glory, 7-night Eastern Caribbean $562.00 $743.00

Sept 16 departure from Port Canaveral

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=37679

 

Royal Caribbean, Mariner of the Seas, Eastern $674.00 $898.00

Sept 17 departure from Port Canaveral

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=42864

[melika091900]

i would go for hawaii....

sept is hurricane season and i would never take that chance again, since we got stuck right after hurricane ivan in 2004..

 

youve been to the caribbean already what about hawaii?

i would go to hawaii

good luck deciding

 

 

take care

[caviargal]

Of all the ships you posted, IMO Mariner is the nicest and the best value.

 

While Hawaii may appear reasonable, it is truly a very expensive place to visit and you will very likely spend a lot of money while in port. Basics are $$$$ and I found it a turn off. Download the shore excursion brochure from the NCL website and you will see what I mean.

 

How about the airfare? Hawaii is expensive to get to and a long trip from most places. Orlando has lots of airlines and great fares.

 

Carnival Glory shows a cheaper price but I was aboard last year and she does not compare on any level to Mariner. It was the most overcrowded, poorly designed ship I have even cruised.

 

I love the southern route out of SJU but not on Destiny.

 

JMHO.

[agabbymama]

My vote goes to Hawaii. I've not cruised, but have flown there four times. It is absolutely beautiful. Can't wait to go again.

 

I have been to Jamaica (flight/land) and cruised from San Juan Puerto Rico to St. Martin to St. Thomas. Nothing in the Caribbean to entice me to go back.

 

You have been to the Caribbean, while the islands landscape is beautiful, I didn't find the poverty at all attractive. While Hawaii may be more expensive, I feel it is worth it.

 

But the ultimate choice has to be yours. If the ship is more important than the destination, you have a tough decision to make. If the destination is at all important, Hawaii is THE destination.:D

[pounder207]

Hawaii if it's within your budget. Remember it's expensive out there. Of the remainder I'd say NCL Spirit. It's out of NYC so it's a shorter flight and it's good bang for the buck.

[CateW]

Hawaii is a beautiful spot but it is an awfully long way to go for a 7 day cruise and won't have an awful lot of time in each port. I haven't sailed on NCL for years but my sister went on the Spirit last year and is going again in November. September can be iffy to Bermuda but if you favor freestyling cruising where you can have dinner at whatever time you want and you can avoid formal nights, this is the trip for you. Mariner would be another good choice - this would be more traditional I think with seating times and formal nights, which we really like - I think this would be my first choice. I've never saild Carnival so I can't speak to what that experience would be.

[LHP]

Just a small word of caution. Since it is hurricane season, don't base a lot of your decision on specific "ports" (since as we all know those can change this time of year dramatically).

 

As someone has already warned, Hawaii is beautiful but very expensive. The airfare and cruise costs are just the beginning.

 

Whatever you choose...have a marvelous cruise!

[momofmeg]

I'm having trouble deciding which cruise to pick for September. I guess I'm worried about hurricane season most of all for the Caribbean side. So far I've done Baja, Bahamas, and Western Caribbean itineraries (all with Carnival), so I've never been on any of the following itineraries.

 

Out of the following options, which would you guys pick/recommend?

 

My budget for cruise + air is around 1k CAD, but I threw in Hawaii in there since the price seems to be relatively low in Sept compared to other months for Hawaii cruises.

 

- 1st price is the cruise-only price in CAD, quoted from travelocity, but I'll probably get a cheaper quote when I go to a Chinese travel agency (in Toronto, chinese places are the cheaper than internet rates)

- 2nd price is the total price of cruise & air (in CAD) from either YYZ or BUF to the respective debarkation port of the cruise.

- Click the links for cruise itinerary and ports of call

 

Thanks for any input!

 

 

 

NCL Pride of Aloha, 7-night Hawaii $731.00 $1,417.00

Sept 17 departure from Honolulu

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=46801

 

NCL Spirit, 8-night Bermuda + Eastern Caribbean $618.00 $778.00

Sept 16 departure from New York

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=61355

 

Carnival Destiny, 7-night Southern Caribbean $539.00 $1,090.00

Sept 17 departure from San Juan

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=38405

 

Princess, Caribbean Princess, 7-night Eastern $618.00 $801.00

Sept 16 departure from Ft. Lauderdale

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=38266

 

Carnival Glory, 7-night Eastern Caribbean $562.00 $743.00

Sept 16 departure from Port Canaveral

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=37679

 

Royal Caribbean, Mariner of the Seas, Eastern $674.00 $898.00

Sept 17 departure from Port Canaveral

http://res.cruisedeals.com/travel/cruise/sailplan.rvlx?CruiseItineraryID=42864

 

 

I would go for the Hawaii one since it is that affordable.

 

I did Mariner of the Seas last year-WAY too many on that ship-I am doing Caribbean Princess this year-so I don't know if I will feel the same about that ship or not-I was told by those who had done both ships that even though the Mariner was larger in size that the Caribean Princess did not feel crowded except in the show lounge which only seats 750 people.

 

I have heard so many bad things about Carnival conquest class ships I would NEVER cruise on one of them-people say they are worse then the RCI voyager class.

 

Bermuda was very nice too-so if you decide Hawaii is alittle pricy for you-why not go for Bermuda? We love Bermuda!

 

Where do you live? we recently found out that Norweigen Majesty is doing a few Bermuda cruises from Charleston, SC in October. For us that is a 5 hour car drive-if we had not already made final payment on the CP I would have loved to do that cruise-even if it is an old ship. I want to go back to Bermuda and not having to fly to NY or Boston sounds very good to me.

[momofmeg]

Okay-no you would not be interested in a Bermuda cruise form Charleston. I should have looked and saw where you were from!

 

but all you southerners-I like that! It is just too bad I have my cruises booked for the next 2 years!

[LHT28]

anything on the Atalantic coast & Caribbean in Sept is iffy.

Try a west coast cruise or Hawaii.

I would not bother with BUF flight it is not worth the aggravations ...most of the flight from U.S. have several connections involve plus the cost of a hotel the night before or after.

Try AC or AC Vacations for some cruise deals

Encore also has some sell-off your TA can book for you

http://www.encorecruises.com/enc/ApplicationSentry?Comp=420

How about Alaska on Celeb??

[Ru5tY]

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for all your responses!

 

We ended up choosing Princess, Caribbean Princess, Eastern Caribbean, on September 16, 2006. After sailing Carnival for the past 3 times, we wanted to try Princess and the deal just too good to pass up!

 

Booked through *****.com - the cruise ended up costing $445 USD per person, including all port charges, fees and taxes, for interior room on the Aloha deck.

Cruisedeals.com quoted $475 USD, and Travelocity quoted $723 USD.

 

As for flight, we've flown out of Buffalo for the past 2 cruises, so we feel comfortable doing so, especially given the significant savings versus flying out of Toronto.

Buffalo to Ft. Lauderdale will cost us $157USD tax included, round trip, on Northwest airlines.

 

Total price = $602 USD per person for cruise & air ($674 CAD, which is nice given our strong dollar!)

 

In addition, we are each also getting the $25 USD per person ship credit from Princess.

 

We can't wait! :)