Onboard Next week, help me pick an 05 cruise to book pls :)

[Vistadeck]

Hubby and I are having a heck of a time picking a cruise to do for '05, probably later in the year since we're just about to go on Infinity. First choice would be Galapagos but its too pricey for us for '05 maybe with planning we'll do it for '06. Some nice options to chose from and hope to book one and take advantage of the on board credit, any input would be nice from my fellow X fans :) We usually go by price and length of cruise. We've done one variation or another of each of these cruises except the deep caribbean back to back option. When's Celebrity going to do Austraila/New Zealand or Asia? :) hopefully one day. We like to spend $1000-$1300ish for an inside on a 2 weekish cruise, each of these fit that or close, Zenith's 14 night Carribean is nice but we won't be going that soon to take advantage of it. Here's what I'm looking at, any other suggestions would be cool :)

 

Constallation (back 2 back Carribean Dec 05) - two different one week itineraries.

 

Millenium Transatlantic Nov 05 from Barcelona

Galaxy Transatlantic Rome to Galveston

 

Constellation Transatlantic Eastbound from San Juan

 

Summit 15 night Hawaii '05 Christmas / New Year

 

Summit 14 night Alaska from San Diego - Vancouver

 

__________________________

 

Thanks for any input :)

 

To see the one's we've done I've posted pics etc. on my site :

http://www.recordlady.com/Pages/CRUISES/cruises.htm

 

Tina

"Vistadeck"

Infinity in 8 days ! :)

[gkm]

We're booked on the Summit for Alaska departing Aug. 29 and are taking a land tour before (tour #12). We plan to stay in Vancouver a couple of days to see the sights there. I see that you have already done Alaska a couple of times, but can you ever go too much? :D

 

We did the Galaxy from Rome to Baltimore this past September and would definitely recommend this one. It ranks right up there with the best and we had a wonderful time.

 

Garry

[Vistadeck]

Definitely, I never get tired of Alaska and its a nice option living here in Seattle. I do love the Galaxy though, I think its my fav X ship and I've enjoyed Rome a lot.. Its hard to pick :)

 

Tina

"Vistadeck"

[mii]

We are seriously looking at a 12 night round trip on the Constellation from Cape Liberty Oct. 5 to the 17th doing Canada/New England. We have done that before except it was on Princess and was round-trip from Boston but that was a few years ago and they know longer do that route. The airfare is great considering you go into Newark Airports rather than the N.Y. ones.

 

Marilyn

[cujosmom]

VistaDeck - I am "assuming" you are wanting to book your next cruise "on board" to get the shipboard credit? If you're still not sure where you want to go once you get on board, just book anything. As long as you keep the original booking number, once you get home you can change it again and again. Even if you book a Celebrity Cruise on board and then want to sail on Royal Caribbean as long as the booking number doesn't change it's not a problem. One thing to remember, though, I'd book at least a 12 night cruise because if you book a 7 night and then decide you want to take a 12 or 14 night cruise, you'll only get the $100 credit instead of $200 or $250.

 

A year ago while on board I booked the 12 night Mercury to Alaska. After I got home, I changed it to a 7 night RCL to Alaska and then changed the sail date month. The credit stayed with me because I never cancelled the original booking number.

 

Last Sept in Alaska I booked the Nov 2005 14 night Hawaii roundtrip from San Diego on the Infinity. You might take a look at that cruise since it starts and stops in San Diego and you don't have to deal with one way air to/from Hawaii or the hassle of Ensenada Mexico.

[hisfirstm8]

Check out the Transatlantic in Sept 05. It is a 12 night and has great rates. We already have 30 pages going on the message board!

 

Barbara and Mike

[FortyNinerLiz]

We are going on the Sept. 16, 2005 transition cruise to Alaska on the Summit and then it adds Victoria, Seattle, San Francisco, Catalina Island and then into LA. 14 nights and it should be really fun!! We went on the New England/Canada cruise on the Constellation in September and had a wonderful time.

[Vistadeck]

Thanks for the input :) .. quite the decision to make.

 

Nice to know a bunch from CC will be on the Constellation TA .. that may be fun, and since its a shorter cruise than the other TAs would give us a few days in Europe and still keep it close to a two week vacation.

 

Tina

[idssms]

I recommend the Millie from Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona on May 1st.

 

Prices have not escalated that much and it's a beautiful cruise making stops in the southern Caribbean along the way.

 

idssms

[gkm]

Definitely, I never get tired of Alaska and its a nice option living here in Seattle. I do love the Galaxy though, I think its my fav X ship and I've enjoyed Rome a lot.. Its hard to pick :)

 

Tina

"Vistadeck"

Tina, if you decide to do the Galaxy transatlantic and stay in Rome before, I definitely have a tour guide to recommend to you. I'll be glad to answer any questions you have about this cruise.

 

Garry

[Host Anne]

Vistadeck ~ you'll be sailing next week with very dear friends we met last year on Brilliance of the Seas. Karen and Ed from New Jersey! If you run into them, tell them Host Anne says hello!

 

ENJOY! ALOHA!

[btoohill]

We're sailing this coming February 2005 and want to book Europe the following summer 2006. I doubt the Europe itineraries will be out. Can we book for Europe when there's no ship or date or should we just pick any 12 day sailing and book that with the idea of shifting it to a European itinerary when one becomes available?

[cujosmom]

Btoohill - I'm not sure if you can book a "to be determined" cruise if Europe 2006's itinerary is not out when you sail. You can always ask. If they say no, just go ahead and book at least a 14 night cruise as far out as you can to any destination and then switch once the 2006 Europe becomes available. Just keep the same booking number when you do switch.

[zalusky]

So what makes the transatlantic interesting. Do they pump up the sea days with more interesting stuff?

 

Rome is nice but you probably need to get there lots of days in advance to really enjoy it.

 

What are the highlights that make it a must?

 

Regarding Alaska, everybody we talked to on the last cruise said do a land tour and do it first. Alaska without the landtour just wasnt as interesting because most of the ports were JUST fishing villages. What do you guys have to say.

 

We just did the Panama Canal and really enjoyed it. It was a nice mix of sea days and port days. Whereas Hawaii/Transatlantic have sea days bunched together and port days bunched together.

 

I like the idea of alittle rest between ports and not feeling constantly rushed and having to get up early IE 7am to 3pm sort of thing.

 

I asked about Austrailia and they said nothing out their yet. They do seem to be changing itinerarys around though like "no more vancouver to hawaii" and "ensenada to hawaii" and summit doing some pacific stuff.

[Vistadeck]

Hi all :) Thanks for the input, back from the cruise now, booked the back2back on Constellation then changed it to the Galapagos when we got home lol

 

Can't wait !