Take My Family - Please!?!

[Nick Needs To Know]

I'm a single guy, in my very early thirties, and, I'd like to do something extra special for my parents this year. My Mom just came out of a battle with cancer and has completed her treatment and things look very positive. My sister and her husband agreed that we'd split the cost between us and that we'll go with them. I have been on two cruises so far, so, I still consider myself a newbie.

 

Unfortunately, due to schedules, the only time we can all take vacation will be over the Christmas holiday. I have no problem being away from home during the holidays, but, I know this is probably the most expensive time of year to cruise. Given this - my sister and her husband and myself have agreed that we'll take lesser cabins so Mom and Dad can live it up a bit. In other words, we'll take inside cabins and get our parents a balcony cabin.

 

Now the main problems - which ship? which itinerary?

 

Since we're doing this for Mom and Dad, we'd like to tailor it to their taste. They are retired and while they have traveled, they have never cruised and they are far from world travelers, however, the cruise experience does appeal to them and they've talk about trying it for a while now. Mom is ever so slightly prone to seasickness and after going through chemo, well, l'd like to have the calmest waters possible so she doesn't have any problems that are associated with seasickness. And, yes, we'll be sure to by her those bands.

Mom and Dad are active for their age and will enjoy things like spa treatments, the chance to golf on-shore, and they love meeting people.

 

So please post your recommendations. We're going to surprise Mom on Valentine's Day with the plan so, we want to book fairly soon so we have the best cabin choices.

 

Thanks.

 

Nick

[alibail]

The smothest area I've cruised to is the Mediteranian Sea, being practically all enclosed it tends to be very calm (although saying that one of the times it was very rough).

[swooldri]

The Inside Passage cruise of Alaska would probably have the smoothest seas (been 4 times never rough), but not for the time of the year you are looking at. I would say your best bet would be either a Southern Caribbean cruise or a Eastern Caribbean. Good Luck, Steve

[mii]

How about a trip to Bermuda. Now Princess does not sail to them until I think next year but between the east coast and Bermuda is not all that far. That might be smooth sailing.

 

Marilyn

[Perky1]

If you are sailing at Christmas time.. Alaska would be out... the Mediteranean (so) would be too cold. If cost is an issue then I would do the Carribean. It's the cheapest. depends on where you are flying from as well.

[TexasMom2]

How sweet of you and your sister/BIL to do this for your parents! Cruising is a great way to meet people.

 

From what I understand, there can be very good airfare deals from New York to Florida and San Juan, if you watch the deals. Cruise prices can be a little cheaper from San Juan but I'm not sure about over the holidays. The seas in the Southern Caribbean were very smooth for us but we didn't sail in December.

 

Good luck...planning is half the fun!

[cruzfvr]

You guys are awesome!!! How about a cruise over the holidays in Tahiti? The Tahitian Princess is a smaller ship, and we loved the islands. It is very humid during our winter over there, but you are in paradise!

[cynbar]

Southern Caribbean would be a good choice, I think. The ocean is usually fairly calm, and there are more ports (only 1 sea day)than on some of the other cruises , which allows for chances to try different things on land -- golfing, shopping, sightseeing, beaches are all popular, and it's harder to cram all that in on the Eastern route which really only has 2 ports (plus the private island). Also, too many sea days are risky, I think, for someone who hasn't cruised before. The only drawback is that the flights to San Juan would be higher than to Florida, but if you start scouting now, you should be able to find some deals out of the NYC area. I would definitely stay away from the Mexican Riviera, where the seas are almost always somewhat rough as you leave and return to LA. Your parents are VERY lucky to have thoughtful children like you and your sister--- what a great way to spend some quality time together!!

[spocruiser]

In addition to the advice you receive here, I would suggest you go to Travelocity and do an "advanced" search in their cruise section. This alllows you to plug in a range of dates and it will pull up every cruise going anywhere within this period.

 

If you have decided on a specific itinerary or a departure port, then you can narrow it down. You can streamline it further by eliminating cruise lines that may not fit your needs or budget, but ultimately it will give you a good master list of what is available. There are often good reviews of the ships as well.

 

There may be other sites with similar features, but I have found this to be a good starting place.

 

Best of luck to you and your family. I am glad your mother has had success with her treatment. Your post hits home with me as we took our first cruise a year ago to celebrate my wife's cancer being in remission (she received good test results again today in fact), so I very much know what you and your family has been through. We enjoyed our first cruise so much, we have another scheduled for April and I am beginning to shop for December, so be careful, you might also get hooked!

[MaryPoppinz]

My vote would be for the Panama Canal. It's the perfect time of year. THe 10-day Canal r/t from Ft. Lauderdale are really easy trips. Ft. Lauderdale is great. Easy to fly into, easy to find hotels and restaurants near the pier, easy to embark/disembark there.

 

If you can do it another time, the repositioning from NY to San Juan in October on Crown Princess is really nice -- Bermuda, Grand Turk, St. Kitts, etc. The prices for this trip are great, but you've got the one-way return to NYC from San Juan.

 

My best to your family. :)

[Nick Needs To Know]

Thank you everyone! Wow, I never thought I'd receive such an overwhelming and positive response to our plans. I have to admit, I'm still confused but, will take every suggestion very seriously. I guess I'll be spending the weekend on the internet doing research but, it's for a very worthy cause. Once again, thank you, one and all - you've really touched me with your warmth and good wishes.

 

Nick

[lahoban]

I know this is the Princess board but there's a group cruise with pretty good prices on Dec. 17, 06 on Carnival Conquest. It's going to the western caribbean. You guy's are very sweet to take your parent's on a cruise.

[Rongee]

Do not sell the Mexican Riveria short. I have been there twice and it is by far my favorite cruise, plus the most reasonable. Both in Dec, once at Christmas, weather is wonderful. Plus it is less than half the price of Alaska.

 

Ron

[Mary Ellen1]

As far as the seasickness, make sure you take some ginger pills. They're great for calming a queasy stomach.

 

Mary Ellen

[cruise fairy]

Given the age of your parent's....I'd definitely vote Princess ( I guess I'm a little biased though). I've heard from many of our friends that Southern Carribean is very calm that time of year as well.

I get VERY motion sick, we stayed on Emerald deck in a balcony cabin (front of ship) did not feel any motion. I didn't use any kind of motion sickness anything the entire cruise.

You and your family are terrific for doing this for your parents....lucky family:)

[Nick Needs To Know]

Hi Everyone,

 

Again, thank you so much for all your suggestions. I spoke to my sister this morning and, I told her everything I was able to find with my research and she shared what she found with me. After some discussion, we believe our parents would probably enjoy the Southern Caribbean route the best. Now, the real work begins...

 

We selected the Southern Caribbean for several reasons, first because my parents honeymooned in Puerto Rico 35 years ago and, we thought they'd get a kick out of returning there. The second reason is because the cruises from Puerto Rico are very port intensive (and that's a good thing) because they really stop at some interesting islands. And, lastly, from what we could find, it seems like the Southern Caribbean has the calmest seas in December.

 

We are now looking at Crown Princess departing December 23; Carnival Destiny departing December 24; Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas departing December 24; Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas departing December 23; and our long shot is Celebrity Galaxy departing December 22 (the Galaxy is a long shot because it is a longer cruise and, we'll all have to see if we can get the extra time off work to go on an 11 night cruise).

 

I realize each ship I've mentioned has it's pluses and minuses, and, that just adds to the confusion. So, I will now turn this forum back over to you and, I will be posting this on the other boards as well. And, any information about the specific ships I have listed, the islands or hotels for a pre or post hotel stay is more than welcomed and very much needed. The only thing we do know for certain is that we've been informed to buy our airlines tickets as soon as possible but, my question is - shouldn't we book our air through the cruise line? Or is it better to go on our own? We all live in New York but, Newark is our first choice for airports since it's easy access from Staten Island.

 

Thank you so much everyone!

 

Nick

[Celest1022]

Nick,,,

My suggestion is getting your parents a minisuite,,,not much more in $$$ and if you and your family have inside cabins,,you can go to your parents mini suite and visit,,,spend time on the balcony,,,also what I thought was awesome is their "Balcony Dining". Five course meal,,set up on the balcony with linens and flower arrangment on table and photos taken with a full time server waiting outside their room. The meal was awesome the experience was awesome,,,it is $100.00 per couple but worth it. Susan

[Nick Needs To Know]

Wow! That does sound nice. Can you provide some more details. Is there a special menu or do you order off the dinning room menu for that evening? Is wine included in the price? I'm sure this would really appeal to my Mom, so, any additional information any of you can provide would be highly welcomed! Thanks so much for that suggestion!

[mii]

I would strongly recommend doing your own air for two reasons. First most of the time you can get it cheaper and 2nd you can go when you want to go not what the cruise line sets for you. Have a great, great cruise.

 

marilyn

[cynbar]

Most everyone here will suggest booking your own air, and I have to agree. With a little homework, you will almost always save money AND be able to book direct flights at your preferred times. The cruise lines almost always book connecting flights (more aggravating, more chances of delays and more chances of losing your luggage.) Also, cruiseline -- booked air generally gets you a late departure out on your return trip, which can be a sour way to end a trip. Yes, you can pay extra for custom planning through the cruiselines-- but honestly, you're better off arranging it yourself. We always try to fly in the day before a cruise --- it gives you less chance of missing the ship because of flight delays, and it's a great way to start your trip off rested and ready to go. There's a message board here on cruise critic for pre and post cruise hotels, this will be a big help to you in picking a place to stay at a reasonable rate. Also look at Puerto Rico in the Ports of Call section of these boards for tips.We stayed at the Caribe Hilton last April (right on the beach) and loved it. Good luck!!

[igloo42]

Hi Nick - cruising is a great way to spend the holidays & all of your options would be fine - but will there be any children included? Though all of the ships at that time of year have kids programs it could be a factor in your decision since there will be alot of families sailing for the holidays.

 

The 1 thing I can add though is that Jetblue has some great flights to SanJuan (especially from JFK but they do have some options from Newark) so check out their flights when you do your search - they do not come up on many of the bigger websites so jetblue.com would be your best bet (& they have very nice leather seats & individual TV's).

 

I also concur with the previous poster about getting into San Juan a day early - you will not want to be stressed by bad weather or congestion at the airports delaying your arrival in San Juan...also, there are some interesting things to see in San Juan and all price ranges for hotels but your best bet would be to stay in a nice place in Old San Juan.

 

Have a great time planning & traveling...it will be great for you to be together as a family.

 

Doreen

[katisdale]

We did a renewal of vows for our 35th anniversary on the Caribbean Princess. I think your parents might really enjoy this. It is very meaningful, and given what your mom has been through really puts the "for better and for worse" of the original vows in a new light. I had had several health "scares" in the period up to our cruise and when we did this it had a lot of impact.

[Lynda90]

Nick, here is some info on the Ultimate Balcony Dinner. I found this by doing a search so it is not my review.

 

Ultimate Balcony Dinner Review As promised, here is my review of the Ultimate Balcony Dinner.

 

Let me first start by saying that before our cruise my husband and I posted the question many times to see if anyone had experienced this and we couldn't get any information except from the folks that couldn'tt understand why we would want to spend $50/pp for food that we could order from room service and have delivered for free. That is not what this experience was about. This was a fine dining experience. When I first heard about this option, I also wondered the same thing. After reading my review, I think you will see why I changed my view.

 

The Ultimate Balcony Dinner is only advertised in the suites but any room with a balcony can experience it. We had trouble early in the week finding any information about it. We checked at the Purser's Desk a couple of different times. Our table mates at dinner had trouble also, but they paved the way for us and experienced it on Wednesday night of the cruise. You just need to call the Food & Beverage Supervisor at the Bell Box (on the 5/1/04 Sailing of the Caribbean Princess it was Christian) and let them know the day and time you would like to make a reservation. 24 hour notice is required and they can only accommodate two balcony dinners per night. Since this dinner is not advertised, not many take advantage of it. Christian said the most they had done on one cruise was four. The menu will be brought to you and you will order the day before.

 

An hour before your dinner starts, the gentlemen from Room Service will come to set up. They put a table cloth on your patio table, bring all the china and glassware and a beautiful flower centerpiece. They moved the small round table from our sitting area to the balcony to use for the ice bucket.

 

45 minutes before dinner begins, cocktails (your choice) and canapes will be brought to your room and served to you out on the balcony. A photographer will also come to the room and take photos on the balcony. You get to decide at what point during the meal you would like to have the photos taken- we chose to have them done during the cocktail time (I figured that I would still have lipstick on by this point). The photos (4- 8x10's) were delivered to our room before our dinner was over- these are included in the price.

 

The Menu

 

Cocktails (your choice) and canapes

 

Appetizer Course- Pacific Blue Crab Cake Baked in a Puffed Pastry Crown

Thyme infused tomato chutney and whole grain mustard cream

 

Salad Course- Marinated Chevre and Mesclun Field Greens

Pear, Walnuts and an Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette (there was also some toasted goat cheese on the top)

 

Main Course (your choice)

Broiled tail of Cold Water Lobster w/ Drawn Lemon Butter and Vegetable Bouquet

Or

Grilled Filet of Beef Tenderloin Diane w/ Chateau Potatoes, Vegetable Bouquet and Mushroom Demi-Glace

Or

Surf and Turf- Broiled Tail of Cold Water Lobster and Grilled Filet of Beef Tenderloin

Served together with Rissole Potatoes, Vegetable Bouquet and a Duo of Sauces (our choice)

 

Dessert Course- Princess Extraordinary Quartet Mouesseline

Delicate Quenelles of Dark, Swiss, Milk and White Chocolates

(there was also a small cookie dish of berries- strawberries and blueberries)

 

Split of Moet & Chandon Champagne

[Tandy22]

My husband & I are over 70. We have cruised 7 times the last 4 on Princess. Prefer the Sun Class or smaller ships because of walking difficulties. Cabin location is also very important to us so we book a near to center cabin near an elevator. Never had problems with noise from elevator. Have been told the older you are the less likely you are to get seasick. Been in a couple of storms and maybe we were just lucky but neither of us got seasick.

Have a great cruise.

Susan

[Celest1022]

Nick,,,,The Ultimate Dining Experience is just that,,,As we have actually experienced it,,,Your parents will NEVER forget it. The food was not the same as on their reg menus....Give you an example the salad was handmade into a flower using the leaves as flower petals . I have pictures of it and would love to show you but when I try to post it says they are to big for this,,,if you want I can email them to you. Susan