To Choose by Ship or Itinerary?

When choosing a vacation do you choose by ship or Itinerary?

2 adults (40) cruising without kids (6 which get to stay with their other parents) -so this is really OUR TIME :-)

I am in between 4 cruises for April 2017 and having cruised often I find myself wanting new ports to experience......

Port Canaveral (45 min from home)

Sunshine - Aruba, Curacao, Grand Turk (0 ports visited before)

Magic - Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay, Belize, Cozumel (3 ports visited before)

Miami (4 hrs from home)

Vista - Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel (Havana Interior - all ports visited)

Glory - Half Moon Cay, St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk (2 ports visited)

Price is the same for all + or - $50 pp for Interior W Picture Window

HELP!

We vote you take Carnival Magic and book a balcony (you just thought you wanted an interior). So, we vote you book one of these two types of balcony cabins: A cove balcony on Deck 2 mid-ship or forward; or a Lido balcony mid-ship.

The cove will put you closer to the water and under the lifeboats with a larger balcony. The Lido balcony will put you closer to all the outside deck action and buffets.

Costa Maya is a really great stop. There is a large tourist area right off the pier. But most take a taxi to Mahahual and go to one of the beach places that do food, drink, and massages.

Here's hoping you have a great cruise. Bon Voyage!

 

I am in between 4 cruises for April 2017 and having cruised often I find myself wanting new ports to experience......

 

Port Canaveral (45 min from home)

Sunshine - Aruba, Curacao, Grand Turk (0 ports visited before)

HELP!

Please, don't miss the opportunity to go DEEP in the Caribbean to Aruba & Curacao (two of the three ABC islands). :D

LuLu

I choose by departare port...we're not flying for a cruise. It's simple, we'll drive to gal, tx for Disney, otherwise Carnival from N.O.

In your case, I'd do Sunshine - Aruba, Curacao, Grand Turk (0 ports visited before) since you said you want new ports to explore.

We vote for itinerary is what our choice would be. If you have never been to any of the Ports, take that cruise. Once you have been to all the Ports, then choose by ship.

Have a great cruise whichever one you pick.

Dont care for Sunshine so would do either Magic or Glory.

We do like the Glory itinerary the best

When we started cruising it was mostly for itinerary. Now that we have been through most of Caribbean, Alaska, Panama Canal, some Med....we are changing. We are now taking some cruises just to experience the ship (i.e, Allure)...so it depends on what is most important to you and your family.

I'd say we kinda do both now; although we are booked on a different ship this time with ports we've been to.

That being said, we cruised Glory this past March and it wasn't a good experience. We pretty much decided Miami is off the cruise departure list. I'd pick Sunshine not necessarily for the ship but for the itinerary.

We choose by location. We can drive to about 4 ports. We'd have to fly to the others. If location was no concern, I'd probably make ship choice a bigger priority than ports.

I'd do the Sunshine for the itinerary you haven't been to yet and then the Magic to try the cove balconies that everyone raves about. We're trying them on the Breeze next/ And then do the other two next just for the heck of it.

I choose first by itinerary, then ship. From all the ones you've listed I vote for the Southern route on the Sunshine. I've done that itinerary and it was our best itinerary to date, and we sailed Sunshine earlier this year and she's a great ship. I think it would be a win-win combination!

I choose by port

Sunshine doesn't get the best reviews, but in this case I would take it for the ports.

I look at all of it but in this case I would take Vista for a chance at a Havana cabin.

Itinerary. Always itinerary.

I'm also an itinerary priority sailor. :)

What do the other people say? What activities do you wish to do, or is it, clearly doesn't matter?

You haven't been to several of these listed ports, any of interest to go to?

Magic hands down , almost 20 years newer ship than Sunshine , If I'm on a ship for 7-8 days ,I want the nicest they offer , not a redecorated older ship

We generally try to balance the two, ship and itinerary. We like sailing on ships we've not been on, so I look for a cruise on a ship that is new to us and also offers a port or two we've not visited. Obviously, this plan can't work forever, but it works for us for now. As for your choices, I'd vote Aruba and Curacao, but HMC is a great stop too.

Living in Florida we have 4 ports available and really never an issue. We love exploring and outdoor activities primarily water/beach types. I am really leaning towards the Sunshine because of the itinerary. Vista being a new ship I am intrigued by the whole Havana area. Decisions Decisions. Magic cove balcony sounds cool too. Being primarily an RCI cruiser in the past, I'm ready to go on another Carnival ship since I had so much fun on the last one.

If you are more interested in the ports than the ship, then I would go with the Sunshine cruise. I mean, how can you pass up three new ports?

Sunshine for new ports

From your choices I would pick Sunshine for both the ship and the itinerary.

When I cruise I cruise for the itinerary. I would say go somewhere you have never gone before. I really like Costa Maya. St.Thomas is nice to. I also like Cozumel I do not like Belize or Ocho Rios. What can I say about Puerto Rico I love it. I think if Carnival was in Puerto Rico more time it would be more fun.Carnival is their not long enough 3P.M. you can not go up the mountains if you did you would come back late and miss your ship if we got into Puerto Rico earl and left at less 5P.M. that could work

For us it is all about the itinerary. I'd take a little dinghy if it went where we wanted to go!

(Departure port does play a lot into where we go though.)

We did itineraries first (Eastern, Western, Southern) and now we choose by ship.

I would take the Southern (Aruba, Curacao) on Sunshine. Ignore other people's thoughts and try it for yourself. We thought it was a great ship. It's our second favorite behind Breeze.