SunnieD Posted September 17, 2006 #1 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I am just curious. I have thought of different ways to plan for cruising and so I plan to do as many as I can. My mother paid for the first cruise, so I made sure we went somewhere really neat in case it was my only cruise. Second cruise was bacause it was a close drive to board in Baltimore. Next cruise was because it is on the other coast and we wanted to try Carnival. I also wanted the corner aft Cat. 11 and it was available on this cruise. I was thinking of trying a cruise for a good price and staying interior for once. I have only done balcony so it scares me a little. Maybe just a short cruise for that one. What makes you take your cruises? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
six2win Posted September 17, 2006 #2 Share Posted September 17, 2006 First Cruise: I have 4 sisters and we were saving for 5 years to send our parents on a cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary. My father passed away before we could give them that present. Instead we gave the money to my mother for Christmas that year and told her we would take her. So, my mother and her five daughters took a 4 night Bahama cruise with RCI. Second cruise was with my husband for our 30th wedding anniversary, last year. Took RCI because it hit 4 places we really wanted to see, New Orleans, Tulum, Aruba and San Juan. Our third cruise is next month and mainly because my husand and I needed a cruise fix. So, we decided to take our sons and their girlfriends and do the 4 night Bahamas trip. This time thru Carnival, so one girl will only miss 2 days of school instead of 3 if we took RCI. On top of that, our oldest son and his girlfriend decided to get married on the ship! Now, her parents and siblings are going to and before we sail away they will get married on the Sensation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seamama1 Posted September 17, 2006 #3 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I am a cruise-a-holic! Have cruised on a regular basis for over 30 years. When I was younger, the ports were important to me, the ship was important. For the past 10 years, it has been price, price, price. I cruise solo and must have a balcony....so price is important to me due to the dreaded Single Supplement! I have been to most of the Caribbean islands multiple times so I don't care where the ship is going. I rarely get off the ship - might walk ashore if ship is docked and do a little shopping or have lunch at a favorite restaurant but I cruise for the cruise itself. I want to sit on my balcony early in the morning, coffee and croissant in hand and watch the sea or stand at the balcony railing at midnight and watch the phosphorus show. I enjoy sunrises, sunsets, the food, the cabin, the piano bar, the casino, sometimes a show. I have often said that the ship could go out from Miami or wherever and cruise 12 miles and do figure 8's for a week!:eek: I have always enjoyed Carnival and find that they have the very best prices for my needs - so Carnival it has been. I have a long history with them and used to cruise them regularly when they only had 3 dinky little ships; the Mardi Gras, Festivale and Carnivale.:p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishgirl Posted September 17, 2006 #4 Share Posted September 17, 2006 My first cruise was with 3 girlfriends. My second and third cruises were for the ports. After that, I started going on group cruises and that's all I do now. I guess I cruise to see all the friends I have met on the group cruises. We have get togethers each year between cruises. The ship doesn't matter nor do the ports anymore, I've seen most of the ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forecastle Posted September 17, 2006 #5 Share Posted September 17, 2006 PRICE !!!!:p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingb Posted September 17, 2006 #6 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I am just curious. I have thought of different ways to plan for cruising and so I plan to do as many as I can. My mother paid for the first cruise, so I made sure we went somewhere really neat in case it was my only cruise. Second cruise was bacause it was a close drive to board in Baltimore. Next cruise was because it is on the other coast and we wanted to try Carnival. I also wanted the corner aft Cat. 11 and it was available on this cruise. I was thinking of trying a cruise for a good price and staying interior for once. I have only done balcony so it scares me a little. Maybe just a short cruise for that one. What makes you take your cruises? SunnieD, DH and both love to cruise. Our first was a 4 or 5 day(can't remember, senior moment) but I have the album of all the beautiful pictures that I took. And after that I was was hooked! :eek: Hook, line and sinker! Since then I have cruised ever possible chance I get. I chose this next one for the ports, havent been there before. My DH laughling says that I have another planned before we get home........oh! how little does he know. If his health allowed we would cruise a lot more. Nowadays all my albums are on the computer, don't catch any dust, but are still not quite the same. :( Happy cruising! :D Luv's crusin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennisLover Posted September 17, 2006 #7 Share Posted September 17, 2006 My next cruise - Fascination - is booked because of the port (Miami) and the dates. We wanted a short cruise where we could leave the kids with grandma and grandpa in Florida over their break. Thrilled that the ship will be in dry dock getting refurbished before we go. I didn't care about ports -- but have never been to Key West before. Being with DH alone will be a treat no matter where we go! For our RC cruise in February - we wanted to try a cruise line different than Carnival for a new experience. The Navigator was finally agreed to by our group because of the itinerary (hope no one is disappointed if there is a change!). I wasn't the picky one here... we just needed the dates because of school vacation. This year, we were on the Carnival Liberty. We wanted to go on the new Carnival ship and we wanted to go to different ports (Costa Rica and Panama). I cannot wait till I can cruise when I can consider price. I'm hoping I can cruise more when I don't have to cruise on school vacations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunkie103 Posted September 17, 2006 #8 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Price and Ports. 5 day Fantasy to Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay. Found the cruise, saw the price, discovered Military rates.....couldn't pass it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molly361 Posted September 17, 2006 #9 Share Posted September 17, 2006 That's a tough call- I would have to say ship first price second- We also have been to most of the Eastern/Western ports numerous times and sometimes don't even get off the ship - I would like to say price first but we changed from a VERY reasonable price Western cruise on the Triumph for April 2007 to a NOT very cheap one on the Freedom of the Seas as we have never done a Voyager class vessel - we also always try to have a balcony if possible except for tomorrow's 4 day Bahama cruise which was booked last minute (2 weeks out):cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mississippigirl Posted September 17, 2006 #10 Share Posted September 17, 2006 We pick a cruise that departs nearby because we can't afford to fly. We live in Mississippi so we usually sail out of New Orleans. This year we are having to sail out of Galveston. Only because we want to try the Conquest and I want to go to Grand Cayman. Next year it will be back to NO because we will want to try a different ship. So basically we always go on a western caribbean cruise........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentbob007 Posted September 17, 2006 #11 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Price and ship. I wanted to do a cheap 7 day, hence a september cruise. Having read so many great things about the Miracle, I knew I wanted to sail on her. I'm glad I did. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyluver Posted September 17, 2006 #12 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Why do we cruise when we do......CAUSE ITS WINTER IN CANADA!! lol First and second cruise was because of the dates. My sister has a time share and invited us to spend the 2 weeks of christmas break in Florida. Not going to turn that down!! Our third cruise was mostly the itinerary. Turned out we also loved going that time of year. In December there is still alot of winter left after the cruise but in February when we come back it is only about a month or so till the weather starts to get better. This cruise we booked because we loved St. Thomas and St. Martin soooo much!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryAnn261 Posted September 17, 2006 #13 Share Posted September 17, 2006 We booked the Pride out of Long Beach because we didn't want to be in South Florida the weekend of Super Bowl. Super Bowl is in Miami in February. We wanted to sail that week since my brother and sis-in-law will be celebrating their 30th anniversary that week. Didn't leave us many choices... only West Coast and San Juan. I'm sure we will be happy w/ the Pride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisebabe43 Posted September 17, 2006 #14 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I don't think we have ever cruised for price or ship but we probably started out because there were some ports that we would like to see. Now we cruise because we love it and we can do it. It started out as our mommy and daddy alone time and we have kept it that way. When the kids were young they stayed with Granny and Papa a couple of times but now that they are grown we can go more often and we do. I did two this summer. Poor dh only did one with me. I have also gone with a dear friend in the past because we needed "mommy time". My dh and hers were all for us to go somewhere and get "recharged" so we took a couple of 3 day weekends, one was on a cruiseline that has since gone bankrupt. I just have to say that we just love cruising and now we don't care where we are going, and we are trying different ships just to see what they are like. Our next trip is going to be on the Destiny in the Southern Caribbean in 2007. I can't wait until we are retired and we can take advantage of some of the really good rates in the winter time. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhall85917 Posted September 17, 2006 #15 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Price and Itinerary... I'm a teacher so can't go when the best prices are available. I usually try to go early June before prices really go up. We start looking at itineraries that we would like to try and go from there with what we can find with the best price for our time frame. We would love to do Panama Canal but those are spring and fall and we can't go then - that will just have to wait for retirement!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHP Posted September 17, 2006 #16 Share Posted September 17, 2006 We booked our Miracle cruise 3 days after we returned from the Pride to still get the Interline discounts before they were discontinued April 1st. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DqALEX Posted September 17, 2006 #17 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I am just curious. I have thought of different ways to plan for cruising and so I plan to do as many as I can. My mother paid for the first cruise, so I made sure we went somewhere really neat in case it was my only cruise. Second cruise was bacause it was a close drive to board in Baltimore. Next cruise was because it is on the other coast and we wanted to try Carnival. I also wanted the corner aft Cat. 11 and it was available on this cruise. I was thinking of trying a cruise for a good price and staying interior for once. I have only done balcony so it scares me a little. Maybe just a short cruise for that one. What makes you take your cruises? Price. I booked the Carnival Celebration for a quick fix in Aug. The Price was right and I coulden't wait untill Dec for my next cruise on the Legend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnieD Posted September 17, 2006 Author #18 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I should try one of the short ones too. I think it would be fun with a friend b/c it would give me just enough time to unwind and start missing the DH and kids;) . If I was with them, the cruise would be too short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansu Posted September 17, 2006 #19 Share Posted September 17, 2006 We were casually discussing another winter vacation to an all-inclusive resort, but we couldn't get the website for the tour company we wanted to co-operate, so I drove to Walmart, save your comments as it was a Sunday and they are the only travel agency open to pick up a brochure, but it had moved to another Walmart 3 days previous....too far to drive....anyhow hubby googled the date we wanted and Carnival came up. Albiet, I have been after him for 25 years to take a cruise...but we didn't think we could afford it. I called the 800 and spoke with PVP, she was very sweet and gave me a price with airfare too good to imagine, I handed hubby the phone, and 3 minutes later he asked me to get him his wallet. Once he had given the deposit I asked PVP where I was going...she laughed and replied Panama, Costa Rica and Belize...KARMA as this was the trip I had always dreamt of taking. Can't wait to take the ferry excursion through the Panama Canal...the trip of my dreams! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClerkPatsy Posted September 17, 2006 #20 Share Posted September 17, 2006 We pick a cruise that departs nearby because we can't afford to fly. We live in Mississippi so we usually sail out of New Orleans. This year we are having to sail out of Galveston. Only because we want to try the Conquest and I want to go to Grand Cayman. Next year it will be back to NO because we will want to try a different ship. So basically we always go on a western caribbean cruise........ You'll be happy to know (if you don't already), that Carnival is putting another ship (Triumph) in NO for a 7 day with 2 itineraries. 1. Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. 2. Costa Maya, Progreso, and Belize. I believe it will be there the end of September '07 or beginning of October '07. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnieD Posted September 17, 2006 Author #21 Share Posted September 17, 2006 What a wonderful story! I hope you have the time of your life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jandkfarms Posted September 17, 2006 #22 Share Posted September 17, 2006 My first cruise was to celebrate dh and mine 5th wedding anniversary and we never did have any sort of honeymoon. I thought my ports sounded fun and a 5 night cruise lets me get some value for my airfare. This cruise was a special suprise for my mom. This will be her first vacation ever and she is very excited. It will just be me and her. Thought the Bahamas sounded fun for her. We sail on Oct 9th!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansu Posted September 17, 2006 #23 Share Posted September 17, 2006 What a wonderful story! I hope you have the time of your life! If you are referring to my post...thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbevrn Posted September 17, 2006 #24 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Rarely to we pick for the ship, though I CAN see that happening in the near future. I want to sail the Freedom pretty bad. For the most part, we have booked because we felt we got a great deal and I have been addicted since my very first cruise. Two of our cruises were to celebrate graduations of our children and one to celebrate when DS got home from Iraq. I've only booked Carnival, LOVE LOVE LOVE it and don't see a great need to go elsewhere. I booked Royal Caribean once, but wound up having to cancel due to circumstances beyond my control. So, I took that as an omen to stay with Carnival! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VentureMan_2000 Posted September 17, 2006 #25 Share Posted September 17, 2006 We select a cruise based on price. I look for the lulls in the pricing, like aound May 1st... and have looksed at Sept prices... but Sept is more difficult due to the kids just starting school... and things are a bit discombobulated then. May is easier because school has become routine, and we can have the car pools cover for us while one of our Mothers watch the kids (teens) for the week. We will only book balconies now. I was able to get a great cruise price and great air price for our cruise last May... Ended up $100 more to cruise the Eastern Carribean then to drive down to Long Beach, CA to cruise the Mexican Rivierra. Actually, if you consider the gas round trip to L.B., it was probably a wash. This year, this isn't true. Air fare is nearly double of last year, and the price pp for the same cruise is $100 more than last. So we will be cruising the Mexican Rivierra this coming May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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