nda_roxybabe

Sounds like Oasis class may be the way for us to go. I'll start narrowing down the ports and see which one we'd like the most.

Thank you all for the suggestions, I know we will have a great time!

I really hate to disagree with all the "seasoned cruisers, my DW and I have only been on 4, 3 of our cruises have on Freedom class ships and 1 on the Allure, we DID NOT find the allure to be a "zoo" but the best of our cruises. Yes there is a lot to do and yes RCI tries to entertain you, but isn't that part of the cruise. What do you do at night? Drink? my thought would be to go on the Oasis class. Ports and entertainment, a great way to cruise.

I don't think we'd find it a zoo either, so an Oasis class may work for us. I just worry about a ton of kids, which I know sounds hypocritical since I'll be bringing my own and I love children, haha.

Thank you all! Sorry for the delayed response, as you noticed I'm west coast (AZ). We are okay flying anywhere to embark out of, but FL is probably easiest. East coast is fine as well as we tend to enjoy a little cold weather every now and then.

My first Carnival cruise was less than a year after my RC cruise and I just felt the caliber and class was seriously lacking.

The Carnival cruise my husband and I went on that was disappointing was the Miracle in 2010 over Christmas. We did not like all the kids running around (now, this could have been because of the time of year?), the lack of Christmas decorations (obviously no deal breaker, but I had expected it to be decked out), the food was mediocre, the ship didn't feel very nice, the staff didn't seem to go above and beyond... I'm not sure, we just really weren't impressed.

I think we're probably looking for something newer, nicer, and something we can feel a bit spoiled on. We like St. Regis type experiences where the service is top notch along with the amenities. We don't need to be overly entertained, but definitely want some things to do. We'd probably like to lounge by the pools, eat, eat, eat, see some evening shows, play some ping pong, go into port, etc. I doubt we'd take advantage of things like rock climbing, ice skating, and wave surfing since we will have the baby.

I'm not too worried about the baby as we'd be unlikely to leave him in child care. I do appreciate the point about having a pool that allows swim diapers as we'd definitely want to take him in a pool.

After a disappointing Carnival Christmas cruise several years ago I've talked my Husband into giving cruising another go.

I've been on a RC cruise (Brilliance of the Seas) once before as a teen, back in 2003. I remember it being an amazing experience and wanting to do it again. Since then I've been on 2 Carnival cruises, the last of which with my husband, and they have come no where near to comparing.

I want to show my husband the amazing experience I know cruising can be. We've decided to hit up the Caribbean in either Jan/Feb/March 2018. I'm having a hard time picking which cruise though and hoping you can help as I'm so out of the loop.

What ship would you recommend to really wow? We will have our (then) 8 mo old with us, but would prefer a cruise without a ton of children. Ports of call are semi important (would love to go to Grand Cayman again), but the ship matters more for this voyage.

We both like newer, nicer things. We would be a getting a balcony room and likely a junior suite.

It looks like it'd be looking at one of these ships:

-Freedom

-Rhapsody

-Empress

-Liberty

-Oasis

-Allure

-Anthem

-Jewel

-Adventure

Any suggestions to make sure he really gets a good cruising experience?