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Celebrity, Princess or HAL for relaxtion and pampering with family...Which one?


tulip2010
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Hi all,

We are planning a Western Caribbean cruise in the spring/summer of 2018. My husband, myself and our 12 year old son will be traveling. We are coming out of an intense and very stressful 2 years and need a great vacation.We cruised Princess about 9 years ago and loved it but are looking at other ships as well. Timing for work may limit us to a specific cruise. That said, we are trying to decide which line is best for us.

 

We are quiet low key people who want a good or great meal, time to relax in our rooms and read and just hang out on our balcony. We want to do as little as possible and have everything be as easy as possible. Our son doesn't need a lot of entertaining in the kids club and is happy reading and swimming. He wants to see the ruins. Costa Maya looks great for that and easier than Cozumel. Roatan looks very interesting but not a must. We are only planning to go ashore for 2 or at most 3 days. The rest of the time will be spent relaxing. My husband and I would love a good spa and DH loves good wine. We are planning to splurge on a suite and a few days pre-cruise wherever we end up. We are thinking Neptune if HAL, mini-suite if Princess and Skye Suite if Celebrity.

 

HAL looks great and the price is right but we are concerned about the age factor. We don't need same age people to hang out with but we have friends who thought we might not enjoy it because of the age difference. I am 50, DH 52. It didn't seem like a big deal until our friends mentioned it.

 

Anyone who has cruised any or all of these lines...I would love information or opinions about the differences, what you loved, which is the most stress free and relaxing line.

Thank in advance!!!!!

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I have cruised all 3 lines several times. My recommendations, in order, would be Celebrity, Princess, HAL.

 

I think Princess has the better entertainment of the 3, but I think Celebrity has the best ships....especially Solstice Class.

 

I think Celebrity has the best wine selection.

 

Service is great on all 3. In my opinion, food is best on Celebrity.

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I like both Princess and Celebrity and I think they are quite similar. Either one should be good for you.

 

We've only done one Holland America cruise, and just didn't care for it too much. There didn't seem to be a lot to do, and we are people who like to just relax. We were about 70 and felt younger than average; however it was a two week cruise during school, so that makes a difference.

 

Costa Maya does have some nice ruins; we've taken one of the independent vendors there and had a great tour. The ruins from Cozumel are beautiful, but diffincult to do from a cruise. Lots of road/ferry time to get to Tulum, which is a small but spectacular site; even harder to get to Chichen Itaz.

 

Roatan is enjoyable; we've taken an island tour that included iguanas, ziplining and beach time. Last year we went to a zoo to pet monkeys, sloths, etc. and then to the beach. Very good snorkeling from the beach.

 

If the cruise also goes to Belize, we enjoyed the cave tubing.

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I would think you son would hate Holland so Princess and Celebrity are better choices. If you have to cruise after April Your choices in those 3 lines is limited. Holland is gone May - October but Princess and Celebrity unlike past years each are keeping on Florida based ship for next summer so you may find a fit.

 

I would also suggest you consider the RCCL Oasis class ships. They are great ships and if you are getting a suite you have access to the private Costal Kitchen dining room which is very good. There is just so much to do on them.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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