AZ_Engineer Posted May 31, 2007 #1 Share Posted May 31, 2007 Hi, we are considering a family cruise but don't know where to start. We have twins who are 16 and a 14 year old so we need to support 5. Friends suggest the Carribean. I'd like to keep from spending a ton. We have two time frames. July 2007 sometime between 7/9 and 8/5, or over Christmas break. Friends suggest Carnival, is this the place to start? How hot will the Carribean feel in July. We live in AZ and while it's hot here, it's usually very dry. Is July a good or bad time for the Carribean? Should we consider something more exotic like a mediteranean cruise? Airfare is more obviously, are cruise prices similar? What about cabins? The best suggestion I've read is Ocean view for the Parents and across the hall for the kids. Can the cruise line guarentee that we will have rooms across the hall? thanks....joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikid5 Posted May 31, 2007 #2 Share Posted May 31, 2007 Another option would be Royal Caribbean. You'll most likely have to book 2 rooms. The family suites fill up a year in advance. Use this link to get some reviews by actual teens of what they liked; http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/teen/. The weather will be cooler than AZ, but much more humid than your dry heat (think of your monsoons in August). Christmas cruises are fun, but a peak season. You won't find many discounts. Happy hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nu2cruises Posted May 31, 2007 #3 Share Posted May 31, 2007 Hello, We are new to cruising, and have only done the Carribean on Disney in March. It was awesome! Your kids are older, so I don't know how they feel about that, and with the Magic in Europe, Disney only offers 3 and 4 night in the Caribbean. We are doing an Alaska cruise at the end of June on the Golden Princess and it sounds like it will be a lot of fun with quite a few kids activities. Our kids are 12 and 9. After looking at some other lines, I would like to try Royal Caribbean as well. We went to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. In Grand Cayman we swam with stingrays and the snorkeling was great. In Cozumel we visited ruins, but they were very hot. If you do the Caribbean, you do have to choose between east and west. Just my thoughts! Have fun planning and I think you will have a great time! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted June 1, 2007 #4 Share Posted June 1, 2007 I'll make this easy on you... Carnival - usually cheaper. You *can* get comparable prices on RCCL but not always. If you go on RCCL - book a Voyager Class ship...not as expensive as Freedom class but FILLED to the rim with kid friendly activities. Just got to www.rccl.com and click on ships, then "Voyager Class" and you can see the ships The CHEAPEST is Carribean...NO DOUBT. You won't find a cheaper Med cruise. The airfare would kill you. The cheapest cruises usually leave Port Canaveral/Miami/For Lauderdale/LA/Galveston TX has a few. When you cruise from a North Eastern State you start competing with a supply/demand problem. Not many ships per port. Many people in the north don't want to fly. Means more expensive cruises. If the Carribean doesn't feel stiffling to me in June/August and I live in frigid PA, it should be fine for you. For the cabin...get a balcony cabin with an inside connecting or across the hall. I've been on Disney, RCCL, Carnival and NCL and your BEST bet for that age would be RCCL or Carnival. As far as itinerary...if you like adventure (swimming with sting rays/river tubing/snorkeling) choose a WESTERN Carribean itinerary. If you like relaxing on the beach/shopping more of a European feel go on the Eastern Carribean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted June 1, 2007 #5 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Do Alaska-I have been to Alaska four times- twice on Norwegian and twice on Princess. Get connecting cabins- which are not possible on Princess but are available on the Norwegian. My all-time favorite cruise line is Celebrity but for teens I think you will be better off on Norwegian. The ships are more casual and you can eat whenever you want. The teen program on Norwegian is good but most kids 14-16 are going to do their own thing. There is plenty for kids to do on Norwegian. For a first time cruiser on a budget I think you'll have a great time on one of the newer Norwegian ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkhair1 Posted June 1, 2007 #6 Share Posted June 1, 2007 NCL is great for kids depending on the ship! Have a great cruise whichever you choose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZPam Posted June 1, 2007 #7 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Being from the Phoenix area and having also lived south of Houston for 7 years, the humid weather is a killer for me. Give me 110 dry heat any time of the day. Our monsoon weather will give us about 30-35% humidity and you will experience more like 90% in July in the Carribean, so not a great comparison in my opinion. That is one of the reasons we usually cruise over spring break in March so that it's not so humid. You might want to consider a Mexican cruise out of LA. Easy enough to drive over and save on the air fare. Christmas cruises anywhere tend to be more expensive, so be prepared for some sticker shock at that time of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ_Engineer Posted June 1, 2007 Author #8 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Being from the Phoenix area and having also lived south of Houston for 7 years, the humid weather is a killer for me. Give me 110 dry heat any time of the day. Our monsoon weather will give us about 30-35% humidity and you will experience more like 90% in July in the Carribean, so not a great comparison in my opinion. That is one of the reasons we usually cruise over spring break in March so that it's not so humid. You might want to consider a Mexican cruise out of LA. Easy enough to drive over and save on the air fare. Christmas cruises anywhere tend to be more expensive, so be prepared for some sticker shock at that time of the year. You just reinforced my main concern. By July we are ready for cool weather. My wife and I did a vacation to Acapulco in July and we hated the weather. We'd love to go on a fall or spring break but the kids are heavily committed to competitive soccer and that is peak soccer season. :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted June 1, 2007 #9 Share Posted June 1, 2007 I read the reviews of the Norwegian Star and the Norwegian Pearl-each doing a 7-day Alaskan cruise out of Seattle. Looks like the July 29th sailing is going to be the least expensive at this point. I highly recommend Alaska. But I have done the Caribbean at the beginning of August (2006) and was pleasantly surprized by the weather. There is always a breeze while sailing and even in port I didn't notice a difference in temps from say March. But bear in mind, the Caribbean is hot and humid in January and March. Humidity is always present in the Caribbean. It is always a "bad hair day" on a Caribbean cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballinafad Posted June 1, 2007 #10 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Go to ***** dot com. This is an easy site to navigate and you can search all cruise lines for your dates. You can also get all the info you need on any of the ships you are interested in. You can certainly save a bundle if you want to just get 2 interior rooms. We usually do as we are only in the rooms to sleep and shower. If you book with Carnival directly (we usually do) try to do so when they are having a free upgrade sale. You may be able to handpick your cabins for the price of a Guarantee. Good luck and let us know what you choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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