Caribbean Cruise 2008 Help Decide!

[shaklee3]

Hi, my Fiance and I are 25 years old and we are going on a Caribbean cruise for our Honeymoon. We've narrowed it down to 4 different cruises that are within our budget, but all go to different places. I'd like to get opinions from people as to which would be the most fun for our first cruise as far as port excursions and ships go. All rates are for the oceanview staterooms for cruises in Sept/Oct 2008:

 

Crown Princess

Princess Cays, Bahamas

St Maarten

St Thomas

Grand Turk

$699 + $100 onboard credit

 

Carnival Glory or Valor

Nassau, Bahamas

St Thomas

St Maaten

$549

 

Carnival Miracle

St Maarten

St Lucia

St kitts

$709

 

Carnival Liberty

Half Moon Cay

St Thomas

San Juan

Gran Turk

$749

 

 

Thanks!

[PattyG12]

:( No Royal Caribbean in the mix?

[shaklee3]

:( No Royal Caribbean in the mix?

 

I looked at these, but RC was more expensive for the 7-day trips. Most of them are around $900 for the oceanview, but some are above $1000. Is it really worth the extra money?

[cusyl]

I would go for the Crown Princess as the ports are best.

[adamsmom]

These all sound great--I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. You've picked the cheapest time of the year to cruise, so prices may come down between now and then, including the Royal Caribbean ones. (And, no, I don't think it would be worth the extra price difference that you've quoted.) The $549 sounds like a great price! You might even check to see how much a balcony would be on that cruise--it might not be any more than the OV on the other cruises. That would definitely factor into my decision. Although the onboard credit on Princess offsets some of that price too.

 

St. Lucia and St. Kitts are usually only available on southern Caribbean cruises out of San Juan or something similar, so those sound particularly appealing to me. In fact, I may check out that particular cruise myself! We've never been to Gran Turk either. Nassau is a great place--one of my favorites. Especially considering the great time we had in Atlantis last time we were there, and it will be cheaper that time of year. Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays would be a nice private island beach day. It's nice to have 4 ports of call, unless you prefer more at-sea days. Me--I want to see as much of the world as I can.

 

Those larger Carnival ships will have a big 3-story waterslide that's lots of fun. Never done Princess, so I can't tell you anything about it.

 

Just remember--you will be hooked after one cruise, so you can always do the other cruises in the future. Don't think that this one has to be the end-all, be-all cruise!

[barbarah33]

I would pick the Crown - and I have sailed on both lines many times. This is your honeymoon so you want something special and Princess is, IMHO, a nicer line than Carnival with better food and service. (They are both owned by the same company but Princess is a step-up from Carnival.) I have sailed on the Crown and she's a beautiful, still pretty new, ship with lots to offer. As if that weren't enough private islands are great days on cruise ships; it's one giant beach party.

Enjoy it no matter what you pick!!

[celbercrz333]

I agree that all 4 are good choices. Just keep an open mind about the weather. We've done 2 cruises. First one was to Bermuda from NYC on Oct 11, 2003. First night out we hit a tropical storm. Second cruise was from Miami and supposed to go to Nassau. We spent 3 days floating around the ocean due to hurricane Jeanne in Nassau. This was late September 2004.

[adamsmom]

Yes--forgot to mention that. That is why it's cheaper to cruise in the fall, I guess. Just stay flexible with your ports or whatever, because you are cruising during hurricane season.

[kornerkick2]

Hi, my Fiance and I are 25 years old and we are going on a Caribbean cruise for our Honeymoon. We've narrowed it down to 4 different cruises that are within our budget, but all go to different places. I'd like to get opinions from people as to which would be the most fun for our first cruise as far as port excursions and ships go. All rates are for the oceanview staterooms for cruises in Sept/Oct 2008:

 

Crown Princess

Princess Cays, Bahamas

St Maarten

St Thomas

Grand Turk

$699 + $100 onboard credit

 

Carnival Glory or Valor

Nassau, Bahamas

St Thomas

St Maaten

$549

 

Carnival Miracle

St Maarten

St Lucia

St kitts

$709

 

Carnival Liberty

Half Moon Cay

St Thomas

San Juan

Gran Turk

$749

 

 

Thanks!

I don't know if you are gonna like this...but I am suggesting that you add another option:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/search/vacationSearchResult.do;jsessionid=00000iRB141uxnwCj1KkP8WzPxQ:12hbiodf7?cS=ADVSCH&duration=07&dest=CARIB&date=20093&port=ANY&ship=ANY&selectedCurrencyCode=USD&price=ANY&cruiseTourOnly=false&sortBy=1&state=&x=14&y=8

RCCL is by far my favorite line and an OV stateroom is the same as the Carnival Liberty. In addition, as mentioned by a previos poster, this time of year, it would not be rare to get a price drop. The ports of call are Coco Cay (private island) St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Let me know what you think of this...!

[huxlemo]

I like Carnival and I like the itinerary for the Valor or Glory. I like more sea days. Being it is your honeymoon, you can relax and enjoy each other. You could save the money you would spend on the other cruises and do an extra excursion or something at the spa together. Or you could splurge for a balcony. :)

[shaklee3]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I'm still not leaning towards a single one yet :)

 

I don't know if you are gonna like this...but I am suggesting that you add another option:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/search/vacationSearchResult.do;jsessionid=00000iRB141uxnwCj1KkP8WzPxQ:12hbiodf7?cS=ADVSCH&duration=07&dest=CARIB&date=20093&port=ANY&ship=ANY&selectedCurrencyCode=USD&price=ANY&cruiseTourOnly=false&sortBy=1&state=&x=14&y=8

RCCL is by far my favorite line and an OV stateroom is the same as the Carnival Liberty. In addition, as mentioned by a previos poster, this time of year, it would not be rare to get a price drop. The ports of call are Coco Cay (private island) St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Let me know what you think of this...!

 

That's true, but they do go to different ports. Although the ship has a higher rating than the carnival one too...I just checked, that price they quoted is only for one date in september, otherwise it goes up significantly from there. I'll have to keep this one in mind though.

[shaklee3]

I found the same princess cruise for $640/oceanview with the $100 credit. I think this is the best deal so far...

[shaklee3]

It turns out those prices for the princess are oceanview rooms that are obstructed by rowboats :(. I'm back to square one now looking at Carnival and RC.

[janetz]

Crown, hands down. As far as obstucted views, look at the deck plan. They are pretty right on. Our TA told us and it was also stated on the booking that we had a fully obstructed view. When I booked it I saw it was between two lifeboats. Well a CC member stayed in the cabin that we have and there is NO obstruction. :)

[shaklee3]

Crown, hands down. As far as obstucted views, look at the deck plan. They are pretty right on. Our TA told us and it was also stated on the booking that we had a fully obstructed view. When I booked it I saw it was between two lifeboats. Well a CC member stayed in the cabin that we have and there is NO obstruction. :)

 

 

Ok, I'll ask what the room choices were again. The rates went up $120/night/pp for the "unobstructed views". Also, they told me the $100 credit does not apply to the oceanview with obstructed views...

[simplelife]

I would go for the Crown Princess as the ports are best.

I like the Miracle's ports best.

[shaklee3]

I found a deal for the carnival Liberty cruise for $569 for a guaranteed oceanview room. I agree the Miracle's ports look like the best, but it's quite a bit more. I'll have to think about it...

[SnorkelMoose]

I would go for the Crown itinerary. In fact, I AM going on that Crown itinerary (October 12)!!