Cruise recomendations

[moosebrew]

My wife and I are planning on taking our first cruise around September of 08. Was wonderin if anyone had recomendations on cruise lines and routes. My wife wants to go to the Caribian area and really wants to stop in Jamacia.

So chip in with your loves and hates of particular companies. Feel free to tell me your story and experiences!

Thanks
Mark

[Cigar_Dan]

I'm going on a my first cruise in aug 08. the trips to the bahamas on carnival, so far the ppl i've talked to said that carnival is great...

might be a little more expensive but look at the disney cruises too

[floydpink]

I cruise Royal Carribbean every year outta Port Canaveral and love em

[sailchaser]

My wife and I have cruised several times. We just were on the Liberty of the Seas a few months ago and had a wonderful time. My wife is actually in the cruise business, their website is icruise.com and has lots of good cruise information if you want to check it out or pm me for info

[SmokeyJoe]

My wife and I are big fans of Royal Caribbean. On our last trip, we were on the "Liberty of the Seas" on a western Caribbean cruise. Had an AWESOME cigar bar on the ship called the Connoisseur Club.

[JohnnyFlake]

I love to cruise. My wife and I have been on Carnival once, it was okay. We have been on Princess twice, it was better than Carnival. However, our favorite is Royal Caribbean, we have been on them five times!

If you want to stop at Jamaica, you'll have to check the itineraries of the cruise lines you are considering, for that time of year. For us, we love the Eastern Caribbean itineraries best. The ones that stop at St. Thomas, St Martin/St Marteen, Barbados, Aruba and so on! For what it's worth, all of my friends that have been on cruises, that stopped at Jamaica, did not care for it. However, a few of the same friends, that went to Jamaica for a five or seven day stay, enjoyed Jamaica very much. I have never been to Jamaica, so I cannot speak from experience.

We have found that booking your trip directly with the cruise line or one of their captive agents, is truly the best way to go.

[4WheelVFR]

Skip the cruise and go straight to the island. Fly to Tortola BVI and stay on Virgin Gorda or Jost Van Dyke, or even both. It's hard to go wrong in the BVI.

[glking]

If you are going on a cruise, check out Windjammer.

Way better than bieng on a floating hotel.

[smokin5]

I've been regularly cruising for 14 years, & I like Holland America the most.
Caveat, though, I like them because I can sit back & do nothing but smoke, drink & relax. VERY FEW children, but a LOT of old folks. Not a good ship if you want to be a frat dog again, like Carnival. Also, they recently reduced the size of the cigar smoking area to only 2 spots on the stern (rear for you landlubbers), on the 10th & 11th decks.

I just returned from a 10 day Holland America cruise to the southern Caribbean (Curacao, Aruba, Dominica, etc.) & thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Met a few new BOTL's on board, also.

Bottom line, your best cruise will depend on your personality & what you're looking for. I suggest you check the cruise lines from that perspective. Good idea to check some of the cruise line forums for this, as well.

[daniel2001]

Never, ever, ever, ever go on Holland America. We took a Baltic cruise with them and were extremely close to not paying, it was that rubbish. We saw some amazing places (Stockholm, St Petersburg, Moscow, Berlin, Helsinki and so on) on that cruise, but a lot of it was spoilt by the lack of organisation of the ship and by the obnoxious pratts that were on the ship with it.

We have had the best experiences with Princess Cruises. My parents went on a Med cruise on a new Princess ship over the summer just gone and loved every drunken minute of it. I can whole heartedly recommend Princess and P&O Cruises. In the States, P&O might not be well advertised as it is mainly aimed at Brits, and for Caribbean I think that P&O doesn't bother, just lets Princess do the Med (P&O and Princess are part of the same group).

[Spagg]

The wife and I are heading on a 7 night cruise Saturday (Dec 1st)!!! We have cruised both Carnival and Royal Carribbean. We enjoy both cruise lines.

Have fun!!

[moosebrew]

Thanks for all the fast replies! Is the balcony worth getting if the ship has cigar bars? I have heard there really isn't any wind and people who smoke on the balcany only tend to blow the smoke into the next room. Is that true and if there are good cigar bars would you bother paying for the balcany?

Mark

[tmarc75]

I'm getting married next year and we are contemplating a cruise for our honeymoon. I will have to keep an eye on this thread.

[4WheelVFR]

Originally Posted by tmarc75

I'm getting married next year and we are contemplating a cruise for our honeymoon. I will have to keep an eye on this thread.

Traveltalkonline.com and wheretostay.com. Awsome resources for travel info, especially to the Caribbean and Bahamas.

[EvanS]

Never been to the Carib but my cruises to Alaska and Mexican Rivera were both Norwegian Cruise Lines...everything was superb across the board