Questions about a cruise?

Question

I have never been on a cruise before and I will be going in March. Does anyone know what I should be looking for as far as maybe websites I should check, or is it best to go through a travel agent? Are there certain cruises that are better than others? I am clueless to this so far. Anyways any info would be appreciated thanks :)

Answer 1

You've actually got a lot going on in your question! Good for you doing the research up-front!

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!

Answer 2

I would recommend that you look at cruisecritic.com as they ahve great reviews if you havent booked I would now and check all the travel websites and then check the major cruise lines for certain destinations and other stuff like that. I would recommend caribbean or the bahamas and even Mexico as they are warm and the spring is a warm weather type of vacation, and depending on what your doing for first timers I would highly recommend a travel agent, and then I would recommend an oceanview stateroom, not to big but not superly small, as for cruise lines, Carnival is generated towards younger crowds, and Celebrity is really nice along with Royal Caribbean, Princess and Holland America are generated towards the older crowd, and then NCL is kind of in the middle some people like the Freestyle option and others dotn its kind of up to you and how structured you want your cruise to be, and etc. And then their is Costa and you dont really ever hear about them but they are nice cruises and if you find a really good deal they are most like any other cruise line but it wouldnt be highly recommended as their are other cruises that would do much better.

Answer 3

I've been on a cruise, once. We went Royal Caribbean and it was my favorite vacation of all time. We went through a travel agent, but if you figure out what you want other websites could be better. Check out expedia, travelocity, etc. just to see what's out there. If you're totally clueless you could walk into a travel agency and bring home some brocures for free.

Each cruise line tends to offer something different. Royal Caribbean seemed to be more family oriented than some other ships but it had a huge about of activities and I was definitely never bored!!!

Answer 4

Hi Holly,

I recommend checking out cruisecritic.com to get an idea of the many cruises to choose from.
Cruises are offered from 3 days to 20+ ... numerous ports of call & departure ports. There are many factors in choosing the right cruise, l suggest you use a professional, whether it is calling cruiselines directly or calling a travel agent to help answer your questions.
I would be happy to give you a price quote ( I am a travel agent) but to get the best price in the room category you want, get prices from several sources.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

We just bought our first cruise from Priceline.com and it was really easy. We also have checked out www.cruisecritic.com and they have gobs of message boards you can look at to see what cruise lines have the best reputation and go to the places you want to see.

One thing that made a big difference for us was where the departure city was. We didn't want to have to purchase plane tickets plus the cruise, so we wanted to embark from a city that was within driving distance. So your selection of embarkation point can narrow down your choices. Once we selected a port, then it was just finding out what destinations were available from that port. After that, we narrowed it down further by how much we were willing to pay.

It really pays to spend some time doing the research and it sounds like you're doing that!

Bon voyage!!

Answer 6

if you have never been before see a agent there is so much you need to know and they can make your cruise what you dreamed it would be.. be smart .....have fun

Answer 7

www.carnival.com

If you want something that is geared towards a yonger crowd Carnival is the way to go....just not up in Alaska!