Advice on choosing ship for Caribbean

[Montanabound]

I am helping my son and daughter-in-law (mid-twenties) book a 7-day Caribbean cruise for a delayed honeymoon. I have been to most of the islands, but on Celebrity, whose demographic is too old. They could fly to Orlando, Tampa, Ft Lauderdale, or Miami from Oklahoma for approximately the same price, so the port doesn't matter. Anyone with experience on Carnival have a recommendation of the best ship for first-time cruisers/honeymooners? Thanks!

[mferris77]

Honestly, to a couple of first time cruisers, any of the available ships will be impressive and they're sure to have a good time. I might focus more on the itinerary.

 

Personally I like the Eastern itinerary over the Western, but you would know better than anyone here whether they would like Cozumel or Belize over St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Or there's even the southern itinerary which I hear is very nice as well (next on my list!).

[firefly333]

Do they just want to fly?? Why not book Conquest out of Galveston and a nice beach/seawall hotel to stay at the night before?? I love being able to walk on the beach before my cruise.

[MacysMimi]

Fire beat me to it......

I was going to suggest driving to Galveston and sailing either the Ecstasy 5 day or the Conquest 7 day......And Galveston is such a cool place to visit .....I'm not sure what part of Oklahoma they are from, but we're from the Tulsa area and we drove it in 9 hours, with a couple of stops....It wasn't a bad drive at all.....and if you consider a flight from here, getting to the airport an hour and a half early, a 2 or 3 hour flight....not that much time difference:D

[Kurbanfan]

Tulsa area and we drove it in 9 hours, with a couple of stops....It wasn't a bad drive at all.....and if you consider a flight from here, getting to the airport an hour and a half early, a 2 or 3 hour flight....not that much time difference:D

 

Not much:confused: About half the time...........

[Sandpiper10]

I know you mentioned about flying to a port in Florida, however, if they were willing to fly to San Juan, I'd say take the Victory. We sailed the Victory in 2003 on our 1st cruise ever and it was also our honeymoon. It is such a beautiful ship and it is currently visiting all those southern carribbean islands! I would truly love to sail that ship again! The Victory set our standards to cruising, and we've cruised on the Fascination, and it definately wasn't the Victory! We cruise the Destiny next in May, and they say that ship is laid out just like the Victory, we are hoping the Destiny can compare to the Victory!

[MacysMimi]

Not much:confused: About half the time...........

 

 

Well, yeah....but without the hassles of airport security, luggage restrictions or baggage fees....:D:D

[Kurbanfan]

Well, yeah....but without the hassles of airport security, luggage restrictions or baggage fees....:D:D

 

LOL! Ya got me on the baggage fees:D I just can't imagine driving 9 hours anywhere.......it is a 3 hour drive to Vegas for us......and I choose to fly.......

[Princessbride3]

I honestly dont think you can go wrong on any ship or port. I think it depends on what they like to do.. i would look at some of the itineraries and look on the boards to see what sort of activities they might enjoy.

 

That being said, we have done st thomas, st marten and nasauu.. it was ok.. my husbands first cruise. For our anniversary we did grand cayman (did the stingray city tour) Dunns river falls excursion in Jamaica, we did a beach day and buckets of beer and food on the beach in Ochos Rios and had a great time. However, i LOVE the itinerary of st thomas (going to st johns this time, half moon cays (love the beach and relaxation) grand turk (margaritaville and there is another place down the beach) and san juan.. great stops. This is my fav cruise and we are doing this one again!

[MacysMimi]

LOL! Ya got me on the baggage fees:D I just can't imagine driving 9 hours anywhere.......it is a 3 hour drive to Vegas for us......and I choose to fly.......

 

LOL....I grew up taking driving vacations....12-15 hours one way in a van crammed with 11 of my closest relatives:eek::eek:....and a dad driving who is a truck driver and believes you should only stop twice a day:D:D....a 9 hour drive is a piece of cake:D

[k2excursion]

MacysMimi, I'm just a little ways up 97 from you!

 

We've driven to Galveston 4 times for cruises, plus countless other times to see family in the area. It's an easy drive. We've driven to Miami and Mobile to cruises, and have 2 more Florida drives coming. Galveston's easy for us.

 

Montanabound, any cruise with Cozumel and Grand Cayman would be great. The cruises that go to Cozumel, Roatan, & Belize would be great. Anything with St. Thomas and St. Maarten would be great. Those are my 2 favorites! Just stay away from the Bahamas-only cruises. It's not as great as most people think.

 

As far as ships go, first-timers might be overwhelmed by the Dream. On the other hand, they may love the huge size and the large number of people. I really like Fantasy class ships, much smaller but still seems huge to first-timers, but there are very few 7-day cruises on those. Spirit class is a favorite of many, and they've got a great itinerary out of Tampa on the Legend. The Miracle does some nice 8-day cruises to St. Maarten, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts. I'm booked on that. The Conquest out of Galveston or the Triumph out of New Orleans would be good choices, and not too long of a drive. Bigger ships than the Miracle and Legend, but still great ships.

[Fourseventeen]

western on the valor...it was amazing! My wife and I did it for our 1 year anniversary.

[Fourseventeen]

oh yeah and we are about the same age group as your son and daughter in law.

 

They have gotta go cave tubing in Belize and go to stingray city in grand cayman. Look up youtube.com and search for videos of these places. AMAZING never forget experience.

[caribnsnrklr]

I agree with Sandpiper10 about San Juan. My DH and I loved the itinerary last year so much that we just did it again! The ports are all fantastic and what a way to have your first cruise experience than a port a day! I vote Victory:D

[bcs819]

Trying to select a first cruise is difficult because you don't have much of a gauge. When friends ask, I suggest they look at the excursion lists and see if there is something that catches their eye. Eastern Caribbean is really about relaxing, shopping, snorkeling. Western is about more exotic destinations, ruins, activities (cave tubing, ziplining, etc).

 

What do they want out of their vacation? If they're active people who are always on the move, Eastern might be too boring for them. If they're not experienced travelers, I would really use the excursion lists to select a favorite port or two and then work backwards from there.

[MacysMimi]

MacysMimi, I'm just a little ways up 97 from you!

 

We've driven to Galveston 4 times for cruises, plus countless other times to see family in the area. It's an easy drive. We've driven to Miami and Mobile to cruises, and have 2 more Florida drives coming. Galveston's easy for us.

 

Montanabound, any cruise with Cozumel and Grand Cayman would be great. The cruises that go to Cozumel, Roatan, & Belize would be great. Anything with St. Thomas and St. Maarten would be great. Those are my 2 favorites! Just stay away from the Bahamas-only cruises. It's not as great as most people think.

 

As far as ships go, first-timers might be overwhelmed by the Dream. On the other hand, they may love the huge size and the large number of people. I really like Fantasy class ships, much smaller but still seems huge to first-timers, but there are very few 7-day cruises on those. Spirit class is a favorite of many, and they've got a great itinerary out of Tampa on the Legend. The Miracle does some nice 8-day cruises to St. Maarten, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts. I'm booked on that. The Conquest out of Galveston or the Triumph out of New Orleans would be good choices, and not too long of a drive. Bigger ships than the Miracle and Legend, but still great ships.

 

 

It's a small world!!!! I'm like you, Galveston, to me is an easy road trip....but then again, out here, we do tend to drive rather than fly....

[sbnuggie]

Legend out of Tampa, Hands down.

 

As we are quickly finding out, flying to Houston then to Galveston is a big Pain in the butt and expensive. If they want to drive to Galveston it's not an issue. Tampa is easy, easy, easy to get in and out of when flying and the spirit class ship is a perfect combination of size versus people on board.

[LaShea]

I'm with some of the others...they should consider going out of Galveston. The Conquest goes to mexico and also goes to the Bahamas. It has some of the same iteniaries that the ships out of Florida have.

 

I just don't understand why you should waste money to fly when you could use that money for better excursions, fun or save it all together. I don't know how much the flights are from OK to FL, but I am sure they could easily save a few hundred dollars by going out of Galveston.;)

 

I know they will have a blast no matter where they decide to cruise from though!:D

[RollerCoasterLover]

Referring to an earlier post, I agree that the Fantasy class ships are the perfect size to start out on. (I have never been on a Spirit class, so I cannot compare). I took my first and second cruise on the Sensation and this summer I am going to the Elation. I love this size. All the same fun ship activities and great food, with not as many people. I felt the Conquest class (I was on Liberty) was too crowded and didn't offer any more 'stuff'. This is just my opinion. I don't want to persuade you but for first-time, any ship will probably awe them.

 

Also, I am from southeast MO, so I know I am a bit closer to Mobile, but there are six 7-day sailings out of that port this year. (2 in May, 2 in July, 2 in October, I think). The first one in May is on the Fantasy and the rest are on the Elation. All six itineraries are: Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and 3 fun days at sea. May be something to consider.

[Jimnbigd]

I agree with many other posters who say "Drive to Galveston." I just checked Southwest Airlines, and the cheapest flight Tulsa to Houston Hobby would be around $500 total for two -- plus then you still have to pay for ground tranportation to get to Galveston. The only problem might be if you have car trouble. That's always a risk. And of course you have to pay to park your car during the cruise.

 

Also, you don't have to drive to Galveston all at once. Consider driving to, oh, Fairfield or Huntsville, staying the night, then driving to Galveston the morning of the cruise. Houston traffic on a Sunday morning is not that bad. (But I would not do this if taking the Ecstasy leaving on a Monday. :eek:)

 

I recommend EZCRUISE parking in Galveston.

[truchattycathy]

I agree about the Conquest. They can drive and spend time in Galveston or fly into Houston.

 

I have been to both itineraries and personally, I liked the Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Cozumel cruise the best. Hope they have a great time!

[Ocean<3er]

I don't have a lot of advice as far as which ship because we're going on our first cruise next month. :) We paid $365 for one way tickets from Tulsa to Tampa through American Airlines which I didn't think was too bad. We haven't bought our return tickets yet but I just checked earlier through Southwest and the price was basically the same give or take $10. Good luck to them though in deciding. :)

 

Hello to my Oklahoma neighbors! :) I'm in Broken Arrow so I'm right by you Tulsa/Sapulpa people. :)

[RoadTripFanatic]

I WOULD FLY! 9 hrs in a car to get TO a cruise port is fine. BUT the thought of being on a nice relaxing cruise for 7 days and then driving 9 hrs home sounds awful. I think it's much easier to hop on a plane and fly home. :) I'm not a driver. I don't like spending 9 hrs in a car. I'm much happier on a 10 hr flight than a 10 hr drive. That's just my humble opinion. :) I do love a good road trip but with a cruise I would't like it. (Says the lady who FLEW 4 hrs to Las Vegas to spend the next 16 days driving from Vegas to Yellowstone to South Dakota to Denver and back to Vegas to fly home. )

 

As for the ship I would pick a ship that wasn't one of the new massive sized ships but I would pick one that wasn't more than 8 years old. I'm a western Caribbean type person. I love Roatan Honduras and Grand Cayman. I think they are both amazing. I think the best thing to do is to sit them down and ask them what they want to do on their trip. Are they more into shopping and sightseeing or do they like to snorkel and hit the beach? I think that would make it easier to decide.

[MacysMimi]

I don't have a lot of advice as far as which ship because we're going on our first cruise next month. :) We paid $365 for one way tickets from Tulsa to Tampa through American Airlines which I didn't think was too bad. We haven't bought our return tickets yet but I just checked earlier through Southwest and the price was basically the same give or take $10. Good luck to them though in deciding. :)

 

Hello to my Oklahoma neighbors! :) I'm in Broken Arrow so I'm right by you Tulsa/Sapulpa people. :)

 

Hello my Broken Arrow neighbor!!!!

 

Wow...$365.00 ONE way????? When we drove to Galveston last year' date=' our gas down there and back ran us $90.00....my sis has one of those crossover type vehicles (looks like an SUV, only smaller??).....I spent around $50.00 for food down & back, we paid $35.00 to park and our hotel was free:D (thank you for a gift certificate)....but even if we had paid $100.00 for the hotel, I'm still at less than the cost of a one way ticket.....LOL

 

And to the PP who said they wouldn't want to face a 9 hour drive after a relaxing cruise.....it really, truly wasn't bad at all....we weren't in a hurry because we had all taken the next day off to recoup and we were anxious to get home to see the grandkids:D It made the miles go fast and I had lots of talking and texting to do to catch up

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[Lizzzie35]

DH and I went on our honeymoon in December aboard the Dream. It was our best vacation ever! However, I think it has to do more with the itinerary than the ship, like most people are saying. When booking a cruise, I check out which ports I'd like to go to and then from there pick a ship. I would definitely recommend St. Thomas. It was one of my favorites. Heading up to Paradise Point to watch the sunset was amazing.