My husband and I are going on a cruise for our anniversary. I need some feedback on cruises that cater to you big time, have great food and entertainment. Also, what is the best destination for a 3-5 day cruise?
2007-01-05 05:19:55 · 15 answers · asked by moose on the loose 3 in Travel ➔ Cruise Travel
There are only two major cruise lines that do short cruises: Carnival and Royal Caribbean. I've been on both.
Carnival is geared toward more of a younger, louder, party-er (is that even a word?) crowd, and is priced lower. They have the largest standard cabins at sea.
Royal Caribbean tends to cater towards couples and families, has more up-scale ships, and definitely better food and service.
From the East coast, a short cruise will get you out to the Bahamas and back. From Gulf ports, you can get as far as Cozumel, and on the West coast you'll get down to Baja.
The beauty here is that given your choices, you really can't make a bad decision. Both cruise lines do good jobs of delivering their products. Be advised that they also tend to use their "older" ships on these short cruises.
HOWEVER, if you can see your way clear to take a 7-night cruise, your world of possibilities and options has just opened 10-fold, as all the major cruise line operators have many, many itineraries for you.
The first question is where and when do you want to cruise. The choices are constantly growing: the Caribbean has three options: Eastern, (my wife's favorite for shopping in St. Thomas) or Western ports (generally more adventurious shore excursions). For a Southern Caribbean cruise (my favorite), you'll need to fly to San Juan; then there's Alaska, Panama Canal, Mexican Riveria, Trans-Atlantic, Trans-Pacific, Hawaii, South Pacific, the Orient, Europe (too many options to list here), and a growing popularity for European River Cruising and Barging.
The next question is how structured you want your cruise to be. Most ocean cruise lines have "assigned" dining times and various dress codes for dinner (formal nights, casual nights, etc.). Others have "Freestyle" or "Personal Choice" Dining. In other words, they have 6-10 restrauants for you to choose from, and you eat when, where, and with whom you want - and dress as casual as you please.
Your budget does come in to play in both departure city and cabin selection. A quick scale, from least expenseive to most expensive cabin types is: Inside; Oceanview; Balcony; Suite. The best location for least motion is as close to mid-ship as possible - another factor that not too many people realize is that the higher decks have more motion than the lower decks.
Some final thoughts; 1) make sure you use a good travel agent; 2) ask your travel agent to price out "Celebrity Cruise Line" for you - absolutely the best (our personal favorite!); and 3) remember that August - October is hurricane season in the Caribbean.
Have fun - planning is a big part of the enjoyment!
I hope this information was helpful. Bon voyage !
2007-01-06 00:24:03 · answer #1 · answered by travel guy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Okay, well, best cruise line I've ever been on was on Celebrity's Zenith on a special cruise from New York to the Bahamas. The best destination by far for me, however, was Alaska. In terms of best cruiselines that really cater to passengers needs and have great food and entertainment I'd have to say Princess (if you're travelling with kids) and Celebrity (if you're not). Princess has wonderful ships which cater to everyone, pretty good food, and pretty good entertainment. Celebrity's older ships tend to be about medium sized (Zenith is small, Century is about middle) while the new ones are definitly falling into the mega category (Millenium, Infinity and Constellation are HUGE...and their newest ships, Solstice and Equinox (2008) will be even bigger).
Alaska is a truly beautiful state, and seeing all those glaciers, whales and bears is something you won't get to see anywhere else.
3-5 days, however, is kinda short for any of these. If at all possible, try to stretch it out to 7. But, I know that's not always possible (work, kids, travel). The Bahamas is your best bet for a 3 day cruise (Nassau is a LOT of fun, and some of the cruise line's private islands can be great too). Particularly for the Bahamas I'd recommend Royal Caribbean (food). On the 5 day range of the spectrum, you could to the western or eastern caribbean (i'd recommend west), or a 5 day Mexican riviera. Again, Royal Caribbean and Carnival tend to dominate this region, though Celebrity is also a player for the 5-day market.
Whatever you wind up doing, have fun, and happy anniversary!
2007-01-06 09:11:52 · answer #2 · answered by Owen 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would say that Celebrity or Royal Caribbean and RCL is the parent company of Celebrity, but they have great food and entertainment and the service is amazing, and the people are fantastic out of everyone I heard I have never heard anyone disregard the crew at all, its so amazing how hard they work and they basically survive on their tips to send back home to their family but be prepared and the best destination I would think for a cruise in that particular length would be the Caribbean as they do great short cruises but I would recommend something like a 7 day cruise maybe to Alaska or Mexican Rivera or even the Caribbean but the Caribbean is a nice place to go and have lots of things to do and the weather is great.
2007-01-06 13:56:53 · answer #3 · answered by coolliz2444 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Word of advice, 3-5 day cruise ar way to short...do a minimum of 7 days and I still think that is to short. The Panama Canal trip I believe is 7 days and it was terrific. If you have the time (17 days) do South America and go around the horn through the Megellan Straights! Have fun!
2007-01-05 05:23:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The cruise I enjoyed most, and believe me, I have been on many, is the London sewers cruise. You get right in there, very informative.
I particularly recommend this for an anniversary cruise as it is such an intimate setting. And as for the entertainment you so long for, nothing is more entertaining than watching rats at the dinner table.
Yummy!
2007-01-05 05:23:35 · answer #5 · answered by Lotcie 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It all depends on your budget and age range.
If you want good service and are under 50 but don't want to spend a fortune, you can try a royal Caribbean. If you want good service and are over 50 but don't want to spend a fortune, you can try a Celebrity or Princess.
If you want exceptional service, privacy and don't care about price, try a Seaborne cruise, its more of a 500 person yacht with 1to1 staff to passenger ratio.
Odds are the crowd is older, but there is lots of privacy so it shouldn't matter.
This is just my opionion
hope this helps
2007-01-08 09:39:16 · answer #6 · answered by DAD_to_3 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cruise around alaska was nice and with global warming the glaciers are gonna be gone soon so might as well see them before it goes completely. we picked the alaska cruise mainly for health reasons with the news showing most of the ships coming back with alot of people feeling sick came from the carribean and south american destinations but I would agree with people above me 3-5 days isn't enough time 7-14 day trips are much more enjoyable
2007-01-05 06:03:15 · answer #7 · answered by topgunpilot22 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I recommend 7 night Royal Caribbean to Southern Caribbean cruise. Take Adventure of the Seas and you will not be disappointed
2007-01-06 05:21:04 · answer #8 · answered by igrok 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I've never been on a cruise and have no desire to ever go on one. However the Bahamas are close to Florida so there are a lot of short cruises that leave from there.
2007-01-05 05:23:10 · answer #9 · answered by Mike R 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I went on a couple floats while in the USMC and went to Italy, Japan, Spain, Greece, Australia, Portugal, Korea, the Philippines and a couple smaller countries and the best place, by far, was Italy... beautiful and tons of stuff to do and see. I suggest just going there, forget the cruise...
2007-01-05 06:03:12 · answer #10 · answered by Johnnybgood 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋