hotmamma51

The wife and I are looking to book our first cruise for our 15th anniversary. We are late 30s. Not hard partyiers but like to have a few drinks. We are stuck between 5 options and looking for some cruise expert opinions. The cruises are:

 

Carnival Sunshine, 8 night (Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Kitts and St. Marteen)

 

RCCL Adventure of the Seas, 8 night (Labadee, San Juan, St. Marteen and St. Kitts)

 

Carnival Magic, 7 night (Cozumel, Belize, Honduras and Grand Cayman)

 

RCCL Oasis of the Seas, 7 night (Labadee, Jamaica and Cozumel)

 

Norwegian Getaway, 7 night (St. Thomas, Tortula-BVI and Nassau)

 

All are the same week. The Sunshine, Adventure and Oasis are basically the same cost. Magic is $600 cheaper. Norwegian is $200 more than the 3 but includes the drink package, dining package and prepaid gratuities (all things we will buy with Carnival or RCCL for about $1200) so in the end the Getaway is about $1000 cheaper in the end.

 

How do I decide? I have read so many reviews and frankly don't know how to decide. We are leaning towards the Adventure but the price on the NCL Getaway is so tempting. Help, please. Thanks!

We have cruised on the carnival Sunshine - lovely smaller more intimate ship and you cant go wrong with the Ports. There is a lot to do in San Juan, St. Kitts and St. Marteen. In Grand Turk we usually hang out at the Cruise Port shopping and by the pool in Margaritaville.

We enjoy the size of the balcony on RC Adventure of the Seas. Its perfect for a nice quiet breakfast - ordering room service is free and simple. The size of the ship isn't overwhelming for 1st time cruisers, and as for the Ports your just swapping the beach in Labadee for the one in Grand Turke - I would go to YouTube University to view the difference in the 2 beaches and their activities.

Oasis of the Seas is a much larger ship - but it also triples the number activities on board its ship compared to Carnival Sunshine, and Adventure of the Seas.

We have cruised about 10 times (just RC and carnival) and when deciding which cruise to take, I consider the ports, the size and age of the ship and what month we are traveling - just in case you want to avoid the hurricanes, and children out on summer recess.

Sorry I cant give any information on Norwegian or the ports in Honduras and Belize.

What ever you choose, just know that you will have a blast. Congratulations, and Happy Anniversary

Not a silly question at all. I have been successful in having Carnival change my bed around on 2-cruises. I let our personal planner know what side of the cabin I needed the bed and when we arrived it was already switched. On another cruise i asked the room Stewart to make the change and it was done right after the muster drill.

Emmysmomma9- Thank you for sharing. I appreciate the time you spent on your review. It is a great help in deciding excursions.

Our group of 27 got off yesterday. It was a pretty good cruise visiting St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba and Curacao. I noticed that there are not many threads about this ship so feel free to ask me what I thought.

 

Here is what we did in port:

St. Thomas-Shopped a little in the AM and went back on board to enjoy the pool.

St. Kitts-Asked a taxi for the best beach, he suggested we stop at South Friars and then to Cockelshell. We loved Cockelshell.

Aruba-Took a ride to Palm beach for the day.

Curacao-Went snorkeling for the day, it was great. I will look up the company if anyone wants it.

Thank you for taking questions,

What did you enjoy about Palm Beach

How was the water at Cockshell Beach in St. KITTS, was there a problem with seaweed.

Are there small refrigerators in the cabin

How did you obtain tickets for the Ice Show.

Again, thank you

Thank you so much for the info. Your family is adorable, and I love the idea of an inflatable pool we will definitely use it next year with our granddaughter.

I often bring my tablet with me while cruising because I like to read (when i'm not people watching). But I also understand that bringing it near water is not always the wisest thing to do and it remains MY responsibility to keep it safe.

Thanks again for the pictures and the review.

Thanks for sharing, have a great time.

So sorry to hear about your experience. Hopefuly your health didn't suffer to much from the stress and not having your own medications. Wish you all the best during your next vacation. :):)

Great. Thank You

1st time embarking on the RC side of PR. Have sailed out of PR several times but it was always out of Old San Juan with Carnival. Any idea how long the process is?? And once checked in will we have time for sightseeing.??