nhsails

For Caribbean with just Hubs and I:

1. We do week after Thanksgiving up to week before Christmas. Love weather, less kids, decorations without the price.

2. Have cashback CC put monthly expenses on, that's the play $>

3. For us: budget, islands, Cruise line then ship.

4. Book on Cruise, OBC, cabin selection, reduced deposit.

5. Average about year out.

6. Pay off except last $100-200 monthly.. Pay final amount when due.

7. Prepay what you can - OBC you have. Example: if have $100 OBC and know you are doing 2 tours for $300, beverages at $300 and a specialty at $60, pay off all but specialty. In ship book specialty. No surprises.

8. When in doubt, book a cruise or two when they come out on different lines for reduced deposit, watch pricing and trends, cancel when you make final choice.

If not Caribbean we do same, except book day itineraries come out. Then cancel one when we book airfare.

Enjoy

Dee

Well,

Motegi nailed it. While our line if choice is Celebrity for Caribbean we bounce around, agree NCL better for suites, very casual. When we booked our Magic cruise for December got call back asking alot about our opinions on suites and what we feel is missing. Was honest so I'll give you my opinion after cruise on CCL.

Sorry for the attitude from people, ran into it myself. Carnival is way behibd NCL, RCCL,Celebrity, MSC, etc in suite perks.sorry

Dee

Tigger, you get Elemis products in cabin. Same as used and sold in Spa. Plus unlimited access as others have said . Quieter..

Nice Intrepid.

Thrilled2012

All comfy at JFK. Let me when you are ready and I'll answer best I can.

Dee

Thrilled, landed.

Will do, boarding for short flight so will do when land

Will do, boarding do

Thrilled, think of in order: 4Seasons/Ritz; Hyatt;Holiday Inn Express. We've done 2 Crystal:beautiful, elegant, pampered, clothes matter 😉. Gorgeous cruise, exquisite meals and we were bored to death.nit on our first again list.

RCCL: depends on class of ship, from Oasis up the ship is the destination certainly family oriented. Decent food, but lots of families. Freedom class down, more *traditional" cruise experience. Again, good food more couples more port focus.

MSC: More like RCCL,BUT it is certainly European focused particularly with food and entertainment. Lots of Euros on ships, which are beautifully done. Not as family oriented, I like the newer ones, in fact have Seaside reserved for next year. If you are comfortable with a much more varied cruise base and European staff( less client/staff personal contact) go for it.

We seem to do Celebrity, Azamara and Oceans more than any others. Fits our comfort level us live the very limited smoking. Let me know if you I can help more specifically.

Dee

Thrilled,

We've done almost all lines, perhaps I can answer some questions without a friend filter for you.

Thrilled,

What cruise are you looking at? We've done just about all the lines so perhaps I can answer some questions you may have without any friend filter.

Dee

Patrice,

Curious, would you explain "snobbiness" on Celebrity? Your post defines something I've said for years. All lines have a personality. Try them until you find what you are comfortable with. Glad you did. Happy Sailing

Dee

Another view, many of us cruise multiple lines, believe more common with them than Carnival to book as soon as dates open. We have 4 on books right now, 3 different lines and out as far as Holiday 2019 all booked when became available. Good pricing, good perks and cabins I want.

Of course. Enjoy

I feel easiest way to be fair to all workers is to include tips in price of cruise. Cash for "above & beyond".

$2 for coffee, $5 for food

Insuremytrip.com. shop around. When I was traveling for work alot, bought yearly policy, now we buy per trip. One broken wrist was enough to convince us.

Interesting comments here. We will be on Magic in November with a group of 12. Our first Carnival cruise in 15 years and our 65th cruise overall on 17 different lines. We've done everything from interiors to suites, depending upon where we wanted to go, what was available and how much $$ we had to play with. We did several CCL cruises over a 2 year period. On each cruise we encountered some serious issues with people and alcohol and yup, we walked over the guy in the cabin next to us passed out every night on our last one. That was it, couldn't get my husband anywhere CCL. I have found with each passing year people are ruder. But then I see the same thing off a ship also. We have become a society that has become quite self-absorbed, sad. I will also say, I have seen and also experienced a surprising amount of anamosity toward people based on cabin preferences. We had a couple get up and leave a table a couple of weeks ago when they saw our cabin card, they didn't want to socialize with us "snobs" in a suite. So it plays both ways people. I myself am curious to see the changes on CCL. I'm going into it open minded so will see how it goes. Personally I believe every line has a personality of their own and each ship is a little quirky. Like cars, Chevy, Cadillac, GMC, same parent but very different personalities. Be honest about what you want, what you can afford and you'll be fine. Promise to come back and give you my honest thoughts. Happy Sailing everyone.

And we saw 3 people have them confiscated in port in Roatan in December. I would check with each country before you board.

Let's put it in a simple context: you get your end if year pay check, instead of Holiday Bonus you get a candy bar & tee shirt from your bosses vacation. See, easy. Cash if you ask them to go above normal duties or they volunteerily do. Simple.

Millie older smaller. Equinox is in my favorite class. Perfect size for us. Design of this class is great enjoy ratio of guests. Very limited smoking on Celebrity, enjoy that. Nice Bev pkgs, and both people don't have to get same.

D

Pretty vague if you let us know where you're looking at, who is going, do you like active with lots of ship involvement or not. Lots of touring? More time on ship? Adventure? Relaxation? You will get more specific advice. All cruise lines have their own personalities, within lines, each ship and class of ships are a bit different. Celebrity is our line about 75% if time. Doing Carnival this December, going with 12 couples so entirely different vibe. Just got off Reflection with husband, much more relaxing, spa time.. just depends what you want for that trip. Let us know and you'll get lots of great ideas. People in here are pretty smart.

D

Thank you, what I was afraid of.....

D