Choosing a Christmas Cruise

[Cruisin' Chick]

I'm with Keith that one factor you probably shouldn't consider is your phone calls to the cruiselines. And believe it or not, you can talk to five different people at any cruiseline and prob. get five different takes. And many of those answering the phones have never been on a cruise (which is true of some TAs so look for a travel agency that specializes in cruise travel).

 

More important is thinking about what's important to you and your family. Holiday cruises are not going to be the more inexpensive because of the demand. And even going with the cheapest rate isn't going to be an indication of the best cruise for you.

 

Look at the itinerary. What ports look interesting to you? All of the lines you're looking at have children's programs; it'll be hard to tell ahead of time which one will have the best activitites and counselors for you.

 

As for dress codes, it seems you can skip the dining rooms on formal nights on any of your mentioned lines and eat in the buffet dining room. Celebrity, Hal, and Cunard seem to be a bit tougher about being in public areas in non-formal wear even if you skip the regular dining room.

 

Are a variety of activities onboard (besides the kids' program) important to you? There are some differences between the cruiselines and the ships. Check out the various boards here on CC and read what people say. Go on the different cruiselines' websites and see what the deck plans look like.

 

In all honesty, there are various ways to research your cruise, and I don't think talking on the phone to the CSRs is the way to do it at this junction. Save them for when you have specific questions after you book your cruise.

[Happy ks]

We can only give our personal feelings regarding choices, there are many different kinds of people out there and not all lines will appeal to all people.

 

I've not cruised with Princess yet, so have no opinion of them at all. But I have cruised with Carnival, NCL and RCI and our choice would be RCI... most of the time.

 

However, if I were taking a cruise such as yours, more important to me would be the port choices. Out of all your choices, Dawn looks the most appealing to me simply because it goes to different than usual cruise ports.

 

I have to agree with one comment made by another poster, geoherb. Upgrading a ship rather than a cabin can have a greater impact on your cruise experience overall.

[jlrf]

I'm really interested in your choices, and very grateful for your research and preselection! I've paid the deposit on the Carnival Freedom 27 Dec cruise but have discovered that the airfares are horrendous. They quite a bit cheaper around the 19 Dec departure, so I'm thinking of changing. I look forward to hearing about your final decision.

[pg.]

I have read a few times on this board about kids not liking Princess,, often posted by people who haven't taken their kids on Princess yet.

 

My kids loved Princess. They were 10, 14, and 16 and they are begging for another cruise.

They all found friends to hang out with,, the youngest found a friend her age in the children program and they had fun,, and my two older boys ran around with a group of about 4 or 5 other boys and girls,, and most definately had a blast.

 

We like the pizza by the pool on Princess,, and the fresh water pools!

 

As for ports,, I would look at the NCL cruise seriously,, they sound like great stops,, and we think kids love gettign off the boat often..

 

We will never choose to return to Jamaica. Dunns River falls was good,, but I will not go into my whole impression.. its bad.

 

RCCL is over priced and too short.

 

Any cruise is a good cruise,, if you have the right attitude,, like, hey,, no cooking or work for a week!!

[smokester]

We have booked Carnival Glory for the week of Christmas. Less that $3000 for my family of 4 (DS15 & DD19) & 2 cabins. We have 4 ports & only 2 sea days.:)

 

We have cruised RCL & Carnival & we actually like both. For this cruise, we decided to go w/ Carnival because of the $.:D We always choose inside cabins, the ports are more important to us.

 

Whichever your family decides, im sure ya'll will have a ball - heck you'll be on a cruise ship!

[beachbird]

Update:

 

I have narrowed the choices to:

 

Norwegian Dawn: 9 nights, $3735.00, Samana DR - Tortola - Antigua - Barbados - St. Kitts - 3 days @ sea

 

Crown Princess: 7 nights, $3450.00, Grand Cayman - Roatan - Cozumel - Princess Cays - 2 days @ sea

 

After a couple of weeks of research and I found better pricing than what I had posted before. The prices above reflect total cost of 2 rooms (1 balcony and 1 inside I'll let you guess which room the kids get...)

 

I am leaning towards Princess for a bit better food and more laid back atmosphere.

 

I like the idea of being casual on the NCL cruise - no need to pack any formal clothes!

 

Overall, it just seems Princess might be a notch better... very tough decision. Also a bit worried if the 2 extra nights might feel too long. But who knows, we may wish we were staying on board for 2 more nights?! :confused::confused:

 

I will probably pull the trigger in the next day or so. Thanks again to all who have contributed your input and opinions. I have no doubt whatever we choose will turn out to be amazing. The family is pumped!!

[beachbird]

AND THE WINNER IS....

 

Crown Princess: 7 nights - Grand Cayman - Roatan - Cozumel - Princess Cays - 2 days @ sea

 

I kept coming back to Princess, and felt it might be a tiny click nicer than NCL and 7 nights seemed right. We have 2 balcony cabins next door to each other, and got a fare of around $3700 all-in, which includes some additional OBC for each cabin.

 

We are pumped - can't wait! Thanks to everyone for all of your input. The research has been fun, and I plan to post back after the trip and give my thoughts. Now I begin the research on excursions at the ports!

 

Thanks again to all!