Tips for First-Time Anniversary Cruisers?

[tonyr1988]

Sorry if this is asked a lot - I mainly saw wedding questions (it is much more stressful than an anniversary, and pretty important to plan right :D), so I figure it's okay if an occasional anniversary repeat sneaks in.

 

My wife and I are first-time cruisers. We're both 21(ish), and it will be our 2nd anniversary in November - we're planning on cruising in December. We couldn't afford a real honeymoon, so it's a honeymoon/anniversary celebration.

 

Just wondering if there were any tips on what to look for/avoid? We don't want to be on a "boring" cruise - we want exciting things to do. But...we'd prefer not to have a bunch of 15 year olds running around - we'd like to have some privacy. We're also kind of looking at a decent number of docking places - we've never been to the Bahamas or Caribbean, and would love to have "mini-vacations" to them.

 

We were briefly looking at the Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas - is that a good one for this? There's just so many ships for so many lines, we're getting overwhelmed with options. I need direction! :P

 

Thanks for any help.

[DiveCruiser]

Book a balcony on carnival. The rooms ar bigger and the clientel is not OLD. WHen you get you r capers highlight evrything that is possible to do on the ship, even the things that sould silly (She will love it). We found thta over the years you get to meet more people and have a ball trying out things. Remmember you can cut out early if it doesnot appeal.

 

Bob

[wiscwood]

My favorite cruise lines are Royal Caribbean (and no, I'm not old!) and Norwegian (cause I love the freestyle dining). I've never been on Carnival though. I agree that you should splurge for a balcony if you can, very romantic. The nice thing about NCL is that it's easy to make reservations for romantic dinners for just the 2 of you, if you'd rather not sit at a big table with other cruisers. Most boats have an adults only pool, and there will probably be fewer kids if you go before school lets out. I don't know about RCCL, but on NCL you can get a spa pass for the entire cruise at a pretty good price - which is a nice kid-free place to relax on the heated loungers or in the whirlpools. Have fun!

[NurseBeth]

Carnival has a good night life, and lots of activities planned at all times, but still has quiet areas on the ship you can "escape" to as well. On the Conquest class ships they have a reservations-only supper club which would make a nice setting for a romantic dinner for two. If you are cruising that time of year, you shouldn't have to worry too much about the ship being "overrun" with kids....it's not like you would be cruising over Spring Break or summer vacation. Good luck planning!

[tonyr1988]

Thanks for all the awesome help. We didn't check out Carnival a whole lot yet - we will definitely do that.

 

wiscwood, you mentioned that many ships have an adult-only pool. Is there any way to figure that out beforehand? (besides asking people who've been on the boat before, which may be the easiest way :D)

 

Are there particular Carnival (or RCCL, for that matter) ships that are generally geared towards family or the elderly, or others that are geared towards couples?