25th Anniversary Advice, Please!

We'd like to cruise to celebrate our 25th next June. Our only cruise experience is on Royal Caribbean Oasis and Allure. Would we like Carnival? I'm picky and would prefer a newer ship. We'd like a Caribbean cruise but ports other than St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Information on your favorite ships/itineraries would be appreciated. Thank you!

First, congrats in advance on your 25th anniversary!

I would recommend sticking with a new or new-ish ship in the Carnival fleet. We have sailed on Oasis, and that class of ship is basically unrivaled anywhere else, as you well know.

In my opinion (totally subjective, no doubt), we encountered a better variety of entertainment choices on Oasis, but we prefer the food on any Carnival ship. That being said, we didn't do any pay restaurants on Oasis. We always do the steakhouse on Carnival (which incurs a $35 pp fee). We enjoy the ocean views on Carnival ships as opposed to the cityscape feel on Oasis, although the promenade and Central Park and boardwalk areas are all lovely and really kind of blew me away. I cruise for the ocean, so I was SO glad we had an ocean balcony on that cruise. Whether you'll like Carnival is hard to say. You'll find more similarities than differences since they are both mass-market lines. They each do some things better.

We have loved Carnival Breeze (twice) and Carnival Magic. Our upcoming cruise is on the brand-new Carnival Horizon, and I hope to love it as much or more.

You don't say whether you have a preference of departure ports, but the Horizon will be out of Miami, the Vista (sister ship to Horizon) out of Galveston, Breeze out of Port Canaveral/Orlando, and the Magic out of Ft. Lauderdale next June.

We love the Southern Caribbean itinerary, and you won't have been to Aruba or Curacao on the Allure or Oasis. Curacao is my all-time favorite, and I've cruised to most Caribbean ports. We found the most idyllic beach there (Porto Mari).

If you favor a more active cruise, rather than mostly beach days, you might favor the Western Caribbean.

I'd start with going to carnival.com and clicking on Plan, then Find a Cruise. Use the filters there to narrow down your search. It allows you to select by departure port, general destination, dates, and ships.

The ships I've mentioned above will be 6-, 7-, or 8-day cruises, which you will probably enjoy more than the shorter cruises.

Just in case you might be remotely interested, Carnival offers a vow renewal package. You can find details about that on the website as well.

Again, congratulations on 25 years together, and good luck on finding a fantastic cruise!

We'd like to cruise to celebrate our 25th next June. Our only cruise experience is on Royal Caribbean Oasis and Allure. Would we like Carnival? I'm picky and would prefer a newer ship. We'd like a Caribbean cruise but ports other than St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Information on your favorite ships/itineraries would be appreciated. Thank you!

How new of a ship? Less than 10 years old? Less than 5? Currently, the Breeze is our favorite ship. The Liberty is a very close 2nd. Which Caribbean route are you thinking of, and how long of a cruise are you thinking about? 6 day? 7 day? 8 day? Eastern Carib.? Western Carib.? Southern Carib.? We all have a favorite ship (or two). There are some ports that people want to go back to again and again, and others that some won't even get off of the ship for. You might want to look at some Western Caribbean itineraries or Southern Caribbean, and bypass the Eastern Caribbean if it's becoming to repetitive. Also, cruisers' reviews may or may not be helpful. Those types of reviews tend to have more opinions than facts. Since this would be a special cruise, celebrating your 25th Anniversary, I'd like to suggest something. How about an 8-day Southern Caribbean on the Breeze or the Magic?

Great advice! Our neighbors are seasoned Carnival cruisers and I'm sure go advise us on ports. They never been on any other cruise lines so I wanted so varied opinions. Thanks for your detailed response. Ft. Lauderdale or Miami would be preferred to depart. We'd like a balcony and possibly a suite. We're vegetarians so probably wouldn't go to the steak house lol!

Look at the 8 day southern on Magic or Horizon. Those are both very new ships and have lots of food options and the itinerary is great.

Great advice! Our neighbors are seasoned Carnival cruisers and I'm sure go advise us on ports. They never been on any other cruise lines so I wanted so varied opinions. Thanks for your detailed response. Ft. Lauderdale or Miami would be preferred to depart. We'd like a balcony and possibly a suite. We're vegetarians so probably wouldn't go to the steak house lol!

I'm not a vegetarian, so I hope this isn't a dumb question. Do vegetarians eat seafood? If so, the sea bass at the steakhouse is excellent! If you don't eat seafood, then never mind.

I'm not a vegetarian, so I hope this isn't a dumb question. Do vegetarians eat seafood? If so, the sea bass at the steakhouse is excellent! If you don't eat seafood, then never mind.

Pescatarians eat seafood. (That's specific type of vegetarian.) Vegans absolutely do not, and many vegetarians who are not vegans don't either.

To the OP: Do you want relaxing beautiful beaches, or a combo of beaches and more active excursions/sightseeing/culture? If the latter, I would recommend the Western Caribbean. If you want to just be on a beach and do nothing else, definitely Southern Caribbean.

We did 8 day Southern Caribbean for our 25th and loved it

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We are going on an Alaskan cruise for our 25th next July. This way my hubby won't forget our anniversary again!!

We, too, have sailed Oasis class ships, and a newer NCL cruise ship, but we are returning to Carnival for two cruises booked for 2019 and 2020. The 2020 cruise is our 50th Anniversary! We’ve heard good things lately about the two ships we chose, the Breeze and Magic, so we are excited. Top that off with the fact that I just scored FTTF for my Breeze Cruise! So psyched!!

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I'm not a vegetarian, so I hope this isn't a dumb question. Do vegetarians eat seafood? If so, the sea bass at the steakhouse is excellent! If you don't eat seafood, then never mind.

BTW, the sea bass remains on the old steakhouse menu, for ships with the new menu, the fish entree is "dover" sole.

My wife Patti and I will be celebrating our 25th Anniversary with a 14 day Hawaii cruise aboard the Splendor next April. Pulling out all the stops for this one, including flying first class to the West coast. :D

Since June of 2019 is your date choice and the Southern route is my vote for the best, there are 3 options for you. June 1, 15 or 29 are all 8 day sailings from a Saturday to a Sunday out of Miami on the newest that Carnival has at this time, the Horizon. Sea days are days 2, 7 & 8, with 3-6 visiting Grand Turk, La Romana, Curacao and Aruba. Since you sail out of Miami, you also have the option to fly into Fort lauderdale and with it being a Sat-Sun cruise, you only need to take off a week from work and you get a 8 night trip, 9 if you fly in the night before your cruise. I would also recommend the Havana area of the ship for your cabin, which is restricted to passengers staying in that area until 700 pm each day. There is a small pool, two hot tubs and a bar. Also restricted to age 12+, so no crowding or little kids to ruin your anniversary. There are two different reviews currently on the Carnival boards from the July 3 sailing from passengers that stayed in the Havana area that will give you a better perspective.

My wife Patti and I will be celebrating our 25th Anniversary with a 14 day Hawaii cruise aboard the Splendor next April. Pulling out all the stops for this one, including flying first class to the West coast. :D

Congratulations! We are thinking of a similar sailing for our 25th in 2020:hearteyes:

My wife Patti and I will be celebrating our 25th Anniversary with a 14 day Hawaii cruise aboard the Splendor next April. Pulling out all the stops for this one, including flying first class to the West coast. :D

My brother and sister in law are doing a Hawaiian Cruise next February for their 50th Anniversary. They asked us to join them, but I already have a cruise booked for March, and would not be able to swing 2 cruises plus airfare a month apart.

Congratulations on your 25th, Jeff and Patty! I will be looking forward to another excellent review! 🛳🏖🌴

We did a 25th anniversary cruise last year and it was spectacular! You can see the review in my tagline. I really liked this one because it was the first cruise that wasn't about the destination.

Some things that made it outstanding:

We booked time in the professional portrait studio. The pix were AMAZING but EXPENSIVE!!!! We bought 4 8x10s for $200 but the entire package would have been TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS!!! Glad we got the ones we did - wish we could have afforded all of them.

My sister sent us a cake and had our room decorated. That was such a special touch!

I got my hair done in the spa for dinner one night and felt glamourous. Our room steward gave us a gift card and that's how I used it.

Enjoy! It will be a wonderful way to remember your anniversary for years to come.

DH and I celebrated our 25th on the Breeze in 2014. The Breeze is a beautiful ship and we really enjoyed our cruise. Have booked Liberty for our 30th next year. Hoping it will be just as memorable as the Breeze! Congrats on your 25th! Happy sailing!

Great advice! Our neighbors are seasoned Carnival cruisers and I'm sure go advise us on ports. They never been on any other cruise lines so I wanted so varied opinions. Thanks for your detailed response. Ft. Lauderdale or Miami would be preferred to depart. We'd like a balcony and possibly a suite. We're vegetarians so probably wouldn't go to the steak house lol!

Ok, I tend to ramble on, so here goes. I hope you find some of my post helpful.:halo: I bolded the key words in case I ramble too much...

Since you are vegetarians, I would suggest you consider a ship that has the included "Tandoor" restaurant. It is basically an Indian buffet station and has a lot of delicious vegetarian (and a few not so vegetarian) options during the lunch hours. I am not sure which ships have Tandoor, but I know for sure the Dream-class ships, Dream, Magic, and Breeze all do. Of those three, Breeze is the newest, and I believe she is going to home-port back in Port Canaveral, FL in the foreseeable future. Dream is heading to Galveston, TX and I have no idea about Magic.

Even without Tandoor, depending on your degree of vegetarianism (Vegan, Vegetarian, Lacto-Ovo, Pescatarian, etc), there are usually plenty of options available, except maybe Vegan, which would be somewhat difficult, though not impossible. You can always advise your dining staff about your preferences and needs, and I have heard they are pretty good at accommodating.

For dinner time in the Main Dining Rooms, I have noticed there is almost always a fish/seafood option, and typically at least two vegetarian options. One is the nightly "Indian Vegetarian" which is available on the "every day" menu, and there is usually another entree (root vegetables, enchiladas, grilled tofu, polenta, spanakopita, squash, etc) that changes nightly. Some nights will have a pasta option that contains no meat, but that is not a consistent thing. This website, which I believe is created by a member here, has a many menus posted, which can give you some idea of options.

I would suggest that Breeze is a good choice for you to look into and investigate a bit more. She is a very modern ship with all the bells and whistles. For food options there is also Cucina del Capitano (up-charge Italian), Bonsai (very fair priced a la carte priced sushi), Blue Iguana (tacos and burrito bar during lunch, and sometimes breakfast), as well as the standard options that all the ships have. Dream is a great ship to, and I have not sailed on Magic. Breeze and Dream are my favorites thus far and my only repeats.

Finally as far as the Steakhouse in concerned, it is an up-charge ($35 per person), and they DO have seafood options, but I am not sure about non-pescatarian vegetarian. It is a very romantic setting with amazing food and service, but the options are a bit limited for non-carnivores. Also, they typically do a presentation of the steaks at your table, so if you don't like the sight of raw meats, just be aware that they do that. This is no judgement on my part, I just want you to be aware :)

For the record, I am NOT a vegetarian, but I am working on drastically cutting back animal products in my diet for health and ecological reasons. I pay a lot of attention to available options that help me do this everyday. When I am on my vacation, I tend to "turn off" my dietary habits, but I do still pay attention to options. I understand that not everyone can do that, but if my rambling post helps you out, great :DCongrats on 25 years !