What should I do?

[Anniversarygirl25]

I'm taking my first cruise - with DH as part of a longer trip for our 25th anniversary. We sail on Enchantment of the Seas on 4/25. I am so excited!

 

I have been ridiculously addicted to these boards and can not believe the amount of great information I have received! I just know this short 4 night cruise is not going to be enough for me so I am already looking at booking the next one.

 

So my question is this - what ship should I look at sailing on as my next step in cruising? I'm not tied to a specific location - I'm in Seattle so unless it's Alaska, I'm flying somewhere.

 

I know it's very subjective but I am really interested in some opinions on favorite ships! :)

[bigeagle12]

If you are interested in doing Alaska .. try Radiance .. GREAT ship [emoji3]

[Clarea]

Since you have to fly so far, I'd go for a longer cruise. Serenade has some 10/11 day Southern Caribbean itineraries out of Ft. Lauderdale.

[bouhunter]

Hard to beat Southern Caribbean out of San Juan Puerto Rico:) On Royal Caribbean that would be Adventure or Jewel.

[Oak Hill Cruisers]

Also check out Holland America. They have been doing Alaska for a long time and they have some nice 'cruise-tour' excursions.

 

We hope to do a trip with them soon.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

you picked a great ship, she is my favorite! And yes, you will be addicted.

 

I suggest just going to the future cruise spot while you are on board and put down $100 for an open booking. Plus when you get to the other ports you'll be able to see all the other ships and decide if you want to go bigger. I have and still stick with the smaller ones and it helps that they leave from my home port.

 

Have fun!

 

Where you are going? We are on the Grandeur from 4/20-4/30. We could be in the same port at the same time:)

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Alright, so if you're looking in the Caribbean, I agree with Bob about Serenade, and also Navigator's 9 night sailings from Miami look awesome. Nav is a bigger ship if you're interested in that (great class of ships!). There's always Oasis and Allure, but they're huge so it might be best to try something a bit smaller, but still larger that Enchantment, which would be Serenade (pretty similar) or Navigator (which is big, but not too big). Have fun making decisions.

 

Are you looking at any other destinations? i.e. Europe?

[foxgoodrich]

If you don't mind flying to Florida, Freedom of the Seas is my favorite ship! Why? I don't know, exactly, but I think it might be because I was so familiar with Royal's Voyager class ships when I first sailed Freedom. It's a little bigger and a little nicer, and I love the art on this particular ship. I just think Freedom is gorgeous. And it felt very familiar and easy to navigate to me since I knew the layout of Voyager class ships so well.

 

In the Royal Promenade on Freedom, there is my favorite piece of art on any Royal Caribbean ship. If you look UP, you'll see a BIG bronze mermaid diving down through the ceiling amid a sea of bubbles. My DH fell in love with the mermaid for fairly obvious reasons (:o 2 of them...) I fell in love with her just because she's so unique and a sculpture on the ceiling is cool. We happened to be aboard Freedom in 2013 when Diana Nyad finally made it - she successfully swam from Cuba to Florida after trying several times. So...yeah...we named the lady diving through the ceiling "Diana."

 

If you want to try one of the really big ships then I will tell you I just loved Allure. It's another beautiful ship and there's so much to do on that ship, you'll never be bored. She sails out of Fort Lauderdale, which is so easy to fly to.

 

Just my thoughts on 2 of my favorite ships...have a wonderful time with your cruise dreaming and I hope you and your DH have a fantastic anniversary cruise on Enchantment. (I liked her a lot too!:D) (I'm kind of a 'shippie' though...) Get some ideas in mind and you and your DH could book your next cruise while you're aboard Enchantment.

Judy

Edited February 18, 2016 by foxgoodrich

[Anniversarygirl25]

Thanks everyone! I think I'm leaning Caribbean just because of the lovely weather. My DH turns 50 in April next year, so that's probably going to be the next date. Southern Caribbean looks heavenly, I'll start checking out those ships and see what calls to me :p

 

I have considered Europe but I think that will have to wait, I'd want to do a really long one and I can't swing the vacation time for something like that right now.

 

Cru1s1ng2009 - we will be in Coco Cay on 4/26 and Nassau on 4/27!

 

Thanks again for the suggestions!

[cb at sea]

We love the Caribbean...simply because of the relaxtion value.. do or not...up to you! Other places, you feel obliged to tour!

[OCruisers]

We love the Caribbean...simply because of the relaxtion value.. do or not...up to you! Other places, you feel obliged to tour!

 

Love your comment ^. So true! Other than in the Caribbean, we feel we must take some sort of tour.

 

To the OP .... The Caribbean is a very relaxing and wonderful place to cruise. Just seeing the beautiful blue water is so worth it. :)

 

LuLu

[mek]

I would suggest you wait until you return from your cruise to make a decision. Find out what you like and dislike about cruising and go from there. There is a big world out there with other lines. Personally, I would never sail exclusively with one line, especially were you live.

 

If you are looking for something besides Alaska, cruises to Hawaii depart from several ports on the west coast - some are RT, which would eliminate much flying. Coastal cruises are great and you can also go to Mexico from LA or San Diego.

Edited February 18, 2016 by mek

[SPacificbound]

For a nice Fall cruise Vancouver or Seattle to Hawaii is always nice. :)

 

Radiance is a beautiful ship.

[Anniversarygirl25]

Thanks for all the great ideas!

[dbali]

Liberty goes out of Galveston, Tx. The itinerary is usually Rotan (I love that place), Belize, and Cozumel.

[MicCanberra]

I'm taking my first cruise - with DH as part of a longer trip for our 25th anniversary. We sail on Enchantment of the Seas on 4/25. I am so excited!

 

I have been ridiculously addicted to these boards and can not believe the amount of great information I have received! I just know this short 4 night cruise is not going to be enough for me so I am already looking at booking the next one.

 

So my question is this - what ship should I look at sailing on as my next step in cruising? I'm not tied to a specific location - I'm in Seattle so unless it's Alaska, I'm flying somewhere.

 

I know it's very subjective but I am really interested in some opinions on favorite ships! :)

 

Cannot help with what to pick but whatever it is, do the research on it and know what deals you can get then book when on board if they can better that deal. Enjoy your cruise.:D

[robtulipe]

Liberty goes out of Galveston, Tx. The itinerary is usually Rotan (I love that place), Belize, and Cozumel.

 

Actually the above itinerary alternates with Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

 

We really liked the beautiful Anthem when we were on it last month out of Bayonne, NJ and is the reason we are going to be on it again next month. Go for one of the 12 night Caribbean itineraries with its 6 port stops. Did the Southern one last month and are doing the Western route next month. Also Newark airport is a lot closer to Seattle than a southern eastern port especially San Juan. There's lots to do on this loaded with stuff ship so the 2 sea-days down to and 3 back from the Caribbean are very enjoyable and interesting. ;)

Edited February 18, 2016 by robtulipe

[cruisingsince94]

Thanks everyone! I think I'm leaning Caribbean just because of the lovely weather. My DH turns 50 in April next year, so that's probably going to be the next date. Southern Caribbean looks heavenly, I'll start checking out those ships and see what calls to me :p

 

I have considered Europe but I think that will have to wait, I'd want to do a really long one and I can't swing the vacation time for something like that right now.

 

Cru1s1ng2009 - we will be in Coco Cay on 4/26 and Nassau on 4/27!

 

Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

There is a great 9 night cruise on Navigator of the Seas out of Miami on April 14th doing the Southern Caribbean. It caught our attention and we booked it about 3 months ago.

Check it out. :)

[fluffyscruffy]

We live in Bellevue and will be cruising to Alaska For the 6th summer in a row this July. In my opinion there is nothing more beautiful. When you are ready to go to Alaska I would suggest picking a ship that goes to Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier and or College Fjord. They are incredible places.

 

The round trip Hawaii from LA or San Fran are nice as are Mexico cruises. We will often do one of these as we don't like long flights.

 

When you are older consider the Panama Canal. Flights work out best if you go eastbound through the Panama Canal.

 

Enjoy!

 

Patty

[soccer2010]

Last year we did the Southern Caribbean out of San Juan. Now I'll always choose the Southern over Eastern or Western Caribbean. I would wait until after the cruise to book your next cruise. I try to have a few places and times in mind and wait for a deal with a travel agency.

 

We booked our 7-day cruise out of San Juan for ~$1400/cabin (Interior) where everyone else was quoting ~$2000.

[alfaeric]

I'm taking my first cruise - with DH as part of a longer trip for our 25th anniversary. We sail on Enchantment of the Seas on 4/25. I am so excited!

 

I have been ridiculously addicted to these boards and can not believe the amount of great information I have received! I just know this short 4 night cruise is not going to be enough for me so I am already looking at booking the next one.

 

So my question is this - what ship should I look at sailing on as my next step in cruising? I'm not tied to a specific location - I'm in Seattle so unless it's Alaska, I'm flying somewhere.

 

I know it's very subjective but I am really interested in some opinions on favorite ships! :)

 

It's hard to answer that- "favorite" is relative to what we are trying to do. And I suspect that it will be the same for you- do you want a floating resort (which we think is super cool) up to the Oasis and Allure. Do you want a small ship to get into more intimate ports- for RCI- the sisters of the Enchantment do that quite well. Or for not RCI- there are some really sweet ships that get into very small ports.

 

So my recommendation to you.. keep cruising. Don't worry about your next ONE cruise. If you have fun, you should consider variation in the ship- be it the various RCI classes or even other lines.

 

I'd try a cruse on the Jewel out of San Juan and the Freedom/Independence out of Florida for a very wide contrast of ships/itineraries within RCI. There are some good 4/5 day sets if you want to try smaller- Indy out of Fort Lauderdale and I think the Brilliance out of Tampa.

 

(we've not done any other lines, as we are very comfortable with with Royal Caribbean offers us- from ship lines to different itineraries)

 

Just keep cruising.

[robtulipe]

Last year we did the Southern Caribbean out of San Juan. Now I'll always choose the Southern over Eastern or Western Caribbean. I would wait until after the cruise to book your next cruise. I try to have a few places and times in mind and wait for a deal with a travel agency.

 

We booked our 7-day cruise out of San Juan for ~$1400/cabin (Interior) where everyone else was quoting ~$2000.

 

Would not it be better to book the next cruise onboard as doing that on Freedom in October got us an extra $200 OBC for that Anthem 12 night Southern Caribbean cruise we did last month? :confused:

Also our TA gave us $230 OBC and our cost, including port fees and taxes per person was $95 per day for that 12 night cruise without considering the above OBC. We were on a brand new ship in a deck 10 balcony. Taking into consideration the OBC we got, which covered our gratuities with still some left over, our net cost for the cabin was $77 per person per day.

Even our next month more expensive 12 night Western Caribbean Anthem cruise is costing us $105 per person per night including port fees and taxes and we again have a balcony cabin. Port fees and taxes for this cruise is $45 more per person than the Southern route for the same number of ports. We are getting $200 OBC from our TA and only $100 OBC from RCI as we will did that booking after our cruise last month. These OBCs is not included in the $105 cost and gives us a net cost of $92 per day per person.

We did book our October Brilliance cruise onboard Anthem so have $250 from RCI and more OBC from the TA we transferred the booking to. :)

An inside on an older ship, such as Adventure, for $100 total cost per person per day is not a good deal and $143 an ridiculously high cost especially for an non-holiday period like March or May. :D

Edited February 18, 2016 by robtulipe

[robtulipe]

Another advantage for us was we were able to drive to Bayonne and our hotel stay, vehicle parking, shuttle to/from port package cost us only $202 including all taxes and fees and it was a very nice hotel, the Ramada Plaza Newark Airport booked through trinityreservations.com. That's what we are doing again in just over two weeks.

Parking alone at Port Liberty for a 12 night cruise is $240.

Doing that from the mainland would be impossible for a cruise out of San Juan, PR. :D

 

One good point for SJ is that embarkation port has very low port fees. :)

Edited February 18, 2016 by robtulipe

[Anniversarygirl25]

Oh...so many choices!!! Thanks everyone!:D

[mimirdh]

Oh...so many choices!!! Thanks everyone!:D

 

Just my thoughts....

Jewel from San Juan is wonderful, Freedom/Liberty/Independence class are my favorite ships due to the promenade, with a close second to the voyager class ships. I thought the Oasis was wayyyyy too big but plan to try that or the Allure again....

 

On ships with The Park Café, don't miss the roast beef sandwiches!

 

BUT please consider picking out a few itineraries and dates before you sail. When you are on board this cruise, go to the Next Cruise Office located on the ship (sometimes you need an appointment- there is a sign up sheet) If you book your next cruise while on this ship you may receive a bunch of perks that may not be offered if you book online after your cruise.. You will need to put a down payment for the reservation while onboard but they will add it to your expense account if you'd like.

 

There is another option called an "open booking" which I tend to purchase frequently while on cruises. I just put $100 toward the open booking (tell them it's for two people but only put your name on the reservation so far). Then, when you get home and decide to book a cruise, you give them the open booking reservation number and the down payment for the second cruiser. This works out good for me because sometimes it's just easier to come up with $250 rather than $500 for a down payment during a cruise sale.

 

The open booking never expires and is non refundable, but its a way to make the initial down payment smaller. The downside is, there aren't as many perks with this option as there are if you book a cruise while on the ship.

 

Enjoy!