Stay with a cruise line or ???

Hi! I have taken several cruises with Carnival and been very happy with all of them. I am currently doing some research to plan a cruise to the Caribbean next May for approx 6 people/3 cabins. I am trying to be as frugal as possible. Should I stay with Carnival (reserving the cabins on their website), go to another cruise line or go to a travel agent? Thanks for your input! :)

Your choice! Carnival doesn't offer as much for return cruisers as other lines....it's a vacation...pick what suits the group best! As far as booking with a bunch of others...you don't have enough for a "group" rate...so tell everyone which ship, and let them book their own stuff. Takes you out of the middle of it...and makes THEM responsible for their own "good time". You do NOT want to be the "go to" person for their problems....and there will be problems...big or little...someone will have an issue with something. DO NOT put yourself in the middle of that!

What he said. Definitely words of wisdom if lasting friendships are important.

We were in the main loyal to RCI and Celebrity (Diamond plus with RCI and Elite with Celebrity) however more recently moved to NCL their Free at Sea promotions make it worthwhile us booking them.

All of our cruise decisions are driven by itinerary. Of last, Oceania has had the itineraries of most interest to us: Cape Town to Buenos Aires, Monte Carlo to Venice, Singapore to Rome.

We did a 14 day in the Baltic on Celebrity and a Yangtze River cruise on Viking and the obligatory Caribbean east and west on NCL.

All driven by itinerary. The loyalty programs I have looked at offer very little unless you practically live on the cruise lines' ships. Kind of like getting a 10,000 mile gift from your favorite airline. Nice but what can you do with it?