Have not been on this board in a few years

[gstepic]

This forum was very helpful when we went on our first cruise about three years ago. My wife could have sworn I have been on a cruise before because of how much this forum helped me to plan.

 

We have waited too long for our second cruise! We are starting to consider our vacation alternatives for 2009. and a cruise is on the list. We are thinking of taking our 8 year old granddaughter if other family joins us with their kids. I usually vacation in the fall or spring and avoid vacationing in the summer. I am curious how much warmer the Caribbean is in the summer than the fall. If only a few degrees then this will not be a factor. At 8 we could pull her out of school, but with older kids this could be a problem.

 

We are toying between taking her to Disneyworld or a cruise on a Carnival ship. I am really debating about what to do because I enjoy the time alone with my wife and being able to kick back and relax. An eight year old will expect to be entertained. If some other family with older kids joins us then we may still have some quiet time.

 

I think I am thinking out loud on this thread, this will be a decision we will have to give a lot of thought. If summer cruises are much warmer and more crowded, this could be a factor. My guess is a ship can only get so crowded if all the cabins are sold so maybe crowds really are not a factor.

 

Gary

[goneclear]

This forum was very helpful when we went on our first cruise about three years ago. My wife could have sworn I have been on a cruise before because of how much this forum helped me to plan.

 

We have waited too long for our second cruise! We are starting to consider our vacation alternatives for 2009. and a cruise is on the list. We are thinking of taking our 8 year old granddaughter if other family joins us with their kids. I usually vacation in the fall or spring and avoid vacationing in the summer. I am curious how much warmer the Caribbean is in the summer than the fall. If only a few degrees then this will not be a factor. At 8 we could pull her out of school, but with older kids this could be a problem.

 

We are toying between taking her to Disneyworld or a cruise on a Carnival ship. I am really debating about what to do because I enjoy the time alone with my wife and being able to kick back and relax. An eight year old will expect to be entertained. If some other family with older kids joins us then we may still have some quiet time.

 

I think I am thinking out loud on this thread, this will be a decision we will have to give a lot of thought. If summer cruises are much warmer and more crowded, this could be a factor. My guess is a ship can only get so crowded if all the cabins are sold so maybe crowds really are not a factor.

 

Gary

 

 

Lets See here:

8 years old,

Cruise?

Disneyworld?

Disneyworld.:)

If GD is not going

Cruise.

[gstepic]

To me a cruise is about relaxation and a little romantic time with my wife. We only would consider taking our granddaughter if other family went with their older kids - in other words babysitters!

 

I have noticed prices are a bit steeper in the summer and much less in late September early October, so we most likely would not go during the summer, our granddaughter is at the age where pulling her out of school for a week will not be a big deal. In fact there is no way we would go to Disneyworld in the summer either, baking in the sun while standing in line for hours is not exactly what I call fun.

 

As much as we loved our only cruise we had planned on going to Hawaii yearly for our vacations. When I retire in a year and half we were then thinking of also adding a cruise every couple of years. But with the current cost to fly Cruising may take over as our number one vacation goal. We could drive to LA or Galveston and flying to common ports from Albuquerque is still much cheaper than flying to the Islands. Our timeshares do save us on rooms though but plenty of mainland places to use our points.

 

A cruise really does offer what we love most in a vacation - time to kick back and rest, yet still a lot to do and some interesting sites to see. We never go out to eat or for a drink so for me the time out with my wife is extra special. In Hawaii we look for nice places to have a meal or drink by the ocean, and for some reason I think we would be able to do the same thing on a cruise! :D

 

In the past we always were about seeing what we could see and we were typically gone from sun up to sun down, and I needed a vacation to rest from my vacation! So being able to have time to sit on a deck chair with an interesting book while listening to music is very appealing, especially since my job has been extra stressful. On our trip to Hawaii last year, out of fourteen days we only spent a few hours on the beach, we are working on trying to change that (going back to the same places helps)!

 

Even our last cruise was hectic as we just stayed in our room the last night, passing on the nightly show because we were so tired. Funny, I picked a cruise with four ports of call, thinking the more places we can stop the better, now having three is just fine with us (we are looking at the Western Caribbean out of Galveston with Carnival)! We just did not want to miss anything! The more we go back to the same place we are able to find more time to relax, so I am really looking forward to our next cruise.

 

Gary