You guys look like fun, knowledgeable people--could use your help!

[Relayer]

I have to put my vote in for Victory. Sailed Southern Caribbean on her this past March. This is a wonderful itinerary and you get to visit some of those kinda mystical islands that you have always heard about. St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados not to mention a 10:00pm departure and the opportunity to hang out in Old San Juan. A real feel for the Caribbean.

 

It is an intense cruise esecially if you don't plan well. You can make your own sea day whenever you want. We found the ship wonderful, the food solid and our shipmates great companions. Heads up... Leave San Juan on Monday if you can.

 

Happy sailing no matter where or when. Nothing better than a deck under foot!

[sharonny]

Yep! Liberty. You can't go wrong with a stop at Half Moon Cay :). So relaxing, absolute paradise.

[dogandcatlover]

We did that same exact itinerary in April 2008 on Triumph. Loved, loved, loved Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk and San Juan. St. Thomas was nice too.

[goodml]

Sorry about that! The Liberty leaves from Miami and hits Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk, plus 2 days at sea.

 

First off, I have to say I loved your first post in this thread:D. Since I'm the one that always gets elected to be the planner and then, also the one who takes the heat, I totally get where you're coming from.

 

Looking at your options, for me the choice would be fairly simple. I'd cross out Mexican Riviera because of the parents, and I'd cross out Victory for your hubby because of the 7 days in port and because it might be too port intensive for others as well. We're also huge fans of having a couple of sea days. The itinerary for Liberty is great and as others have said, the hurricane risk in June is miniscule and truly, if the sis is going to be that worried she's probably the type that will find something to worry about no matter what you choose.

 

Liberty. Done deal.:D

[jerseygirl79]

Sorry about that! The Liberty leaves from Miami and hits Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk, plus 2 days at sea.

 

These are great ports (give or take San Juan).

[aubreysmom]

These are great ports (give or take San Juan).

 

 

I agree with you there!!! I have been to all of them and would gladly go back.

 

However, personally, I would do the Southern Caribbean trip! My sister loves St. Kitt. I have always wanted to do this trip - it is on my bucket list :D

 

I agree with the others, cross off the Mexico cruise.

 

Either Liberty or Victory will be great. Have fun and let us know what you decide :)

[alphakitty]

Those are all awesome ports on Liberty! I would go with that one. I've done the Mexican Riviera too and would say the same at the parents...it was ok, but nothing like the Caribbean. I was on Destiny in Feb and we went to Half Moon and Grand Turk. Just beautiful ...I'd go back to both those ports in a heartbeat!

[steveaaaaa]

We are taking a cruise next June with extended family, 9 people all together. They range in age from my parents (mid 60's) to my kids, (all teenagers). Also my sister and brother in law, (late 40's) as well as my husband and I (very, VERY young 40's) :)

 

I am trying to book this catastrophe in the making, and I cannot make a decision on which cruise to save my soul. I thought I could solicit some opinions from you guys!

 

Here are the choices we narrowed it down to. All mid-June 2010.

 

Victory--southern caribbean, 7 ports in 7 days, no days at sea

 

Splendor--Mexican Riviera, 3 ports, 3 days at sea

 

Liberty--4 ports, 2 days at sea

 

Here is the problem. My parents just did the Mexican Riviera last September. They said they would go again if that's what everyone else wants to do, but they would prefer not to if given the choice. My sister is concerned about it being hurricane season in the caribbean, so she wants to do the Mexican Riviera to avoid being swept overboard by a hurricane. (insert rolling eyes here...)

 

My husband isn't sure about the Victory because there are no days at sea, and he likes days at sea. I told him that no one will hold a gun to his head and make him get off the ship in every port, but he said there will probably be no activities on board since everyone else will be in port. And besides, he likes the ports (WTH??)

 

My kids don't care where we go as long as there is at least one zip lining excursion in some port.

 

At this point, I don't care which cruise we take. I just don't want to hear about it if someone is unhappy. Of course they left the decision "totally up to me".

 

Does anyone care to try and make sense of this mess and help me out??

 

Any choice above will be fun but since you are all young,and have teens,I would look at a RCCL voyager class ships.

Steve

[cuyahoga11]

Any choice above will be fun but since you are all young,and have teens,I would look at a RCCL voyager class ships.

Steve

 

Seeing as RCCL ships were not one of her choices, why not jump over to another cruiseline thread and try to recruit

[Froufie]

These are great ports (give or take San Juan).

 

What's wrong with San Juan? I have been there 3 times and love it! The old city, the forts, the rainforest, the Bacardi Rum Factory:D.... So much to see and do!!!

[Musky Ike]

IMHO, having done both, the southern Carib is nicer than the MR. Port days do not need to be hetic, you can plan a beach day and still sample the local flavors. You really can't go wrong, pick one and have fun, then plan another one for next year.

[aggie1]

We took our family of 8 on the Carnival Conquest over New Years and had a wonderful time. 3 sea days and 3 port days, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The granddaughters loved it all and so did mom, dad, uncles, and grandparents(who paid for it). You can go zip-lining in Jamaica, beach day in Grand Cayman and we did Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel for granddaughters, plus shopping in every port. You can fly into Houston and get a shuttle to Galveston. I would recommend coming in a day early and leaving day after you disembark. Only reason is sometime port is closed because of fog and you get in late. That happened to us and we did not get to disembark until around 3:00 pm. Conquest is wonderful and we all had a wonderful time. Whatever you decide you will have a great time as you are altogether!!!

[kicia]

We're doing the Liberty in 5 weeks because we like the ports. The good thing about San Juan is this is a day time stop so you can actually see something. Also we're going to have Butch as our CD who is great and he could be on the Liberty in June after a vacation unless he is transferred to another ship. Choose the Liberty.

[meluvtogocruise]

I vote for Libery in this instance.

 

I have been on Splendor with 9 extended family members and had a fabulous time as did everyone else.

 

I have also been on Liberty. This is a beautiful ship and your parents haven't been on her yet.

 

mel

[littlechief]

Too funny!! You made me laugh...I would leave them all home and go alone..just kidding. I am also always the planner, so I just tell the gang that this is the trip planned and those who want to tag along are welcome to come. Good luck and have a wonderful trip--I am sure it will be a great time--think LOTS of drinks :)

[Jeafl]

--think LOTS of drinks :)

 

I'm thinking this is the best advice of all...

[poptart]

Sorry about that! The Liberty leaves from Miami and hits Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk, plus 2 days at sea.

 

with that said--I vote Liberty!!! :D:D:D but I'm not sure if there is any zip lining at any of those ports.

[Nuttycruisegirl]

The Liberty would be my choice far and away....Great itinerary and great ship.:) Sea days and good ports...what more can you ask for? Then again...I would never do a cruise with no sea days.;)

[dahkota]

There are ziplines in San Juan.

[ringram]

I'm sorry you're being put thriugh this. My vote given your circumstances if the Liberty. With the number of people, unless money is no object, flying to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami is going to be cheaper than flying to San Juan for the Southern cruise. If you flying out of Chicago, Southwest to Ft Lauderdale is pretty cheap. Since we've done both the Eastern and Western numerous times, I would love to do the Southern. But Southwest doesn't fly there and that's where all my free airfare comes from. I would agree with you're DH, I like the sea days and the activities they have those days.

 

I personally love the Conquest (Liberty) class ship, and will be on the Liberty this October. Yes, you cannot walk end to end on Decks 4 & 5, but I think you have to really picky to make this a criteria for picking a ship.

 

If they can't have an awesome time on any of these cruise, you weren't going to please them anyway. Good luck.

[carters4usm]

Hi....I just booked the Liberty today for the June 12th sailing.:) After looking at a lot of options and spending lots of time on these boards, this looks like a great itinerary. I'm really excited about these ports and having a couple days at sea to enjoy the ship experience is a plus. We'll have our 2 teens (14 & 18) with us as well. Come on and join us on the Liberty.

[shipty2]

I vote for the Liberty.

[Jeafl]

Hi....I just booked the Liberty today for the June 12th sailing.:) After looking at a lot of options and spending lots of time on these boards, this looks like a great itinerary. I'm really excited about these ports and having a couple days at sea to enjoy the ship experience is a plus. We'll have our 2 teens (14 & 18) with us as well. Come on and join us on the Liberty.

 

Hi everyone! Drum roll please because a decsion has been made!! We (OK I) have decided that we are going on the Liberty! We are going to try for the June 12 sailing as well, if the cabins we need are available.

 

If the rest of my family doesn't like it, they can stay home and pout. We made a list of pros and cons for all ships and found that the only con for the Liberty is that we have all been to St. Thomas and San Juan before. At this point, I don't care about that, we can always find something new to see and do.

 

Besides, the beauty of a cruise is that if you have unhappy family members you can always find another deck to hide from them, right?

 

Thanks for all the help and opinions! :)

 

By the way, carters4usm, I have a 14 year old and an almost 17 yr. old too!

[carters4usm]

Well, sure hope we'll both be happy with our choice! ;) I really am excited about it and feeling so relieved to have finally made the decision. My family depends on me to make our vacation plans too, which being a bit of a "control freak", I guess it works. Love the whole planning process, but it sure can be stressful if anyone's not having fun or starts complaining, but you're right, it's a BIG ship. This is our DD's (14) and DS's (18) (ages by next June) first cruise. I'm hoping they're able to make some friends on board, makes it so much more fun for them, so maybe they can introduce themselves to each other before the cruise. Facebook or something or even some kind of roll call here on the board?

 

Yeah.....10 months and counting!!:D

 

Cindy

[Jeafl]

carters4usm, We haven't booked yet, but we hope to on Monday. My daughter will be 14 and my son will be almost 18 on the cruise. I'm sure they would love to meet your kids if we end up on the same cruise. :)