Driving myself insane - Med Vs Caribbean Vs...

[familycruzinnewbie]

We are experienced travellers but new to cruising. Kids are 8 and 11 right now. DH has been teaching the spring/summer semester for the last 10 years so other than the year we spent in Ireland we have not had much of a summer vacation. He just switched semesters this year so are going away for 3 weeks - though the first 2 are conferences for him in Western Canada and Hawaii followed by a week of r&r in Hawaii. We live in Eastern Canada and have to fly everywhere. I mention Carnival below but would look at sales on other lines. All dates below are 2012

 

My big birthday is next April so I was thinking of taking the kids out of school end April/Early May for a 1 week Eastern Caribbean cruise. Thinking Carnival Liberty. We have to fly to whatever port, it could be $800 per person unless there is a good sale, though we could use airline points on a few tickets.

 

DH was thinking going to Europe in the summer so I suggested skipping the Carnival cruise and doing a 12 day med cruise late June or Mid-August. Not fully decided but was looking at Carnival Breeze (Barcelona-Venice) or Ruby Princess Grand Med (50% more expensive) or Norwegian Spirit (route of Ruby Princess with price of Carnival). We do not live near any cheap airline options so it would probably be $1200 per person airfare, but no good point options here.

 

Other options -

DH could go to a conference in San Juan in 7 day southern Caribbean on the Carnival Victory. Worried about airfare and the cruise fare is quite a bit higher in July.

Could wait and do a Caribbean cruise in mid August when rates go down. Schools do not go back until ~ Sept 5.

Could also cruise in the summer from New York, but would still have to fly.

I have mentioned Alaska or Northern Europe in the summer but kids say they want something warm. DD mentions pools and waterslides.

 

Any thoughts on the above? I can't even decide what I want.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Of course if you can afford it I would want to do Europe. For a warm itinerary I'd pick Greece and Turkey, since this was my favorite warm weather cruise through Europe. But airfare is really expensive in summer and you could pay for the entire Caribbean cruise based on airfare x 4 to Europe. So its really apples and oranges.

 

It sounds like your family wants warm weather coming from Canada and I can't say that I blame them but have you thought about the Holland America cruise from Montreal- Boston. This would save you some money on air (not sure where you are from in Eastern Canada).

 

As for saving a bit of money, if you decide to do a Caribbean cruise I notice if you do Greyhound from Canada to either Albany, Manchester New Hampshire or Boston and then fly southwest to Florida for a caribbean cruise you will save big money. Also, there are Caribbean and Bermuda cruises out of New York that might work for you with Greyhound being an option.

 

This summer we are doing the Boston- Montreal cruise and then flying home from Albany and taking the Greyhound for $50 per person from Montreal- Albany. I refuse to pay the rates to fly one way home from Canada.

[familycruzinnewbie]

Thanks. We live in Newfoundland we have to fly as it would take us 2 days and an expensive ferry to get anywhere. So greyhound is not really an option. We would consider a cruise from NY to Bermuda or Caribbean but we have no interest in the Canadian one as we have seen that already. We would still have to fly to NY.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Out of New York (Bayonne) I would choose Celebrity Summit to Bermuda or Caribbean Princess to the Caribbean if available. I like both those line- with a slight edge to Celebrity.

[Keith1010]

I think a Mediterranean cruse is wonderful. With that said it is quite port intensive so the key for you to think through will the children be fine with that. We took our kids on their first Mediterranean cruise at around the ages that your children are now. Our rule was not more than 4 hours on any one shore excursion as often it can get very tiresome particularly for the children. You know your children best so you'll have to decide. Our children did have a great time but there are some who would not. I recommend a 12 day cruise if you do this and I would try to arrive two or more days prior to the cruise. They way you will have time should you encounter a plane delay or worse a cancellation plus it allows you to get over the jet lag. That time of year it will be quite humid and hot and very busy with tourists.

 

ANother good option is Bermuda as rebeccaslousieagain mentioned and we have done that a couple of times with the family when the kids were younger also on Celebrity.

 

Keith

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Don't get me wrong I love Europe and wanted to do a cruise there this summer. When I realized airfare would be at least 1100 dollar per person and a cruise from the US would be under 1000 per person, it just didn't make sense, since my son is all about the ship and not about the ports of call. I am about the ports of call but if the kids will be just as happy with a cruise closer to home in the sunny Caribbean- you will save a fortune and have a great time.

 

Honestly, we spent for two people $6000 last trip to Europe for an 8 night cruise, air and incidentals. We did no excursions either. So for a family of four it would realistically be $10,000 or more to do Europe. You can do the Caribbean or Bermuda for half that.

[familycruzinnewbie]

Thanks. DH now seems to be leaning towards trying to Caribbean in late April. I think he wants to try out a shorter cruise (7 day)with no sightseeing expectations before embarking on a 12 night port intensive one. He says if they end up having a big Europe sale, we can look into that too (prob land based), but doesn't want to commit yet.

 

Cruise rates are good then but airfare is still a problem. I should be able to get an idea of airfare and points tickets in the next week or two once our return date goes on the calendar. It's not looking good though for Miami on points, may have to look into other airports.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Ok- first MIAMI airport is the absolute worst airport in the US avoid it and dismiss if from your brain.

 

Ft. Lauderdale airport is the best for cruises and a 15 dollar taxi ride to the port, which abounds with cruises to everywhere imaginable- including Europe transatlantic cruises. They are usually 2 week cruise with a few ports in Europe and I highly recommend them for both relaxation and to see some interesting ports of call. Then you only have to fly back one way and some airlines, like AerLingus (in the US) do this reasonably. For the others that don't you could just book and imaginary roundtrip from Europe home and obviously not use the return flight. Its usually cheaper than doing a one way on most airlines. This really would fit the bill for you since your kids want caribbean. The weather in April will be hot in Florida and the cruise over will be sunny and warm.

 

Second if you do a land based trip in April, you may want to do Rome because the rest of Europe is still rainy and a bit chilly. But Rome is an ideal base for exploring- close to Naples, Florence, Sienna, Tivoli, etc. etc. So if you only have a week during school break this is ideal. We stayed 5 nights in Rome on a 10 day trip to Europe and stayed at the Hotel Imperiale on the Via Veneto (quads are about 233 Euros per night)- was fantastic! Like not having to pack and unpack all the time.

 

If time permits though- a few nights in Paris is wonderful too! The Hotel Garden Elysee would be my first choice there for a family suite its about 300 Euro per night.

[onthelake]

I have to agree airfare is a killer right now. We are also looking at a trip sometime Feb to April 2012. Only go to Europe if you have your heart set on it. We have cruised there a number of times and love it but the airfare will at least double the cost. I agree with rebeccalouiseagain that sailing out of Fort Lauderdale gives you many options and is almost always a lower cost option than Miami as well as a less stressful airport to navigate. I know many folks want their trip fully planned well in advance but based on my current research and with what happened this year, I am waiting until closer to our vacation window (Nov/Dec) to actually book anything as I think prices will go down. I have targeted the cruises we would prefer and I will follow their costs. The cruises aren't really the biggest cost factor, airfare is (Western Canada).

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Celebrity Silouette (a new beautiful ship) sails out of Bayonne NJ (near Newark or JFK) to Europe on April 22, 2012. Its a 13 night cruise with stops in Lisbon, Malaga, Livorno (Cinque Terre! excursion magnifico!) and ends in Rome. This one would be ideal. Check it out. Its around $1000 a person.

 

Let me put a plug in for not having to pack and unpack with a family of four!!!!

[familycruzinnewbie]

Our school break is at Easter, but DH's teaching term doesn't finish until the latter half of April so that only works on years that Easter is late. So I would be willing to take the kids out of school after the break for a week but not really much more. Even for Florida, we'd have to arrive at least the day before and possibly even stay a day at the end just because the trip is longer, with connections and there is still a possibility of snow or some other weather issue even in late April.

 

The only thing I look at getting really early is points tickets. There are sales, nothing great and things go fast. What exactly is the issue with Miami? Should I not fly into Miami, sail out of Miami or both. Do people fly into FLL for Miami cruises? We would most likely be flying Air Canada so prices are similar, just a matter of availability for points tickets or sale tickets.

 

Editing to say Rebecccalouise we booked one way on Continental the year we went to Ireland but ended up buying return tickets home. We considered using the return portion to get to Newark, skip the Newark-Ireland leg and then buy a one way home, decided to just let the whole return ticket go unused. Not sure if they would let you skip the Newark-Rome part in the above TA but I can't take the kids out of school that long next year.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Im with you on school. We travel only during school breaks too

[rin1]

I've only flown to MIA, even for Ft. Lauderdale cruises, and it's been fine.

[alj1208]

I think a Caribbean cruise in late Spring would be a great "starter cruise" for Canadians still thawing out from winter! If you live in a cold climate, as we do in New England, there's nothing more amazing than a Caribbean cruise to take the chill out of your bones. My recommendation would be an Eastern or Southern Caribbean route for your first cruise. Choose your cruise line and ship carefully. The have different vibes. You will be hooked on cruising, and you'll have enough experience to decide on your second cruise.... maybe Europe or Alaska.

[Friend100]

To the OP, if I read it correctly you are going to Hawaii this year and you are planning for a cruise next year? Will you consider the NCL POA sailing around the Hawaiian islands? It sounds like flying out of YYT (I assume) it will be long and expensive anyway, why not going for the best islands and best warm place IMO!

 

All other major cruiseline have Hawaii cruise in April 2012 - either some kind of roundtrip from LA/San Diego/San Fran, or one-way repo from Hawaii to Vancouver (Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas).

[familycruzinnewbie]

vivapataca - DH has a conference in Edmonton followed by one in Honolulu this June, so we are going from one to the other followed by a week in Maui. We did consider doing the POA after the Honolulu conference, but decided against it. DH wanted to be able to spend a few days just sitting after two weeks of conferences so we decided on Maui. That's all booked, tickets bought etc.

For April 2012 we would only consider a 7 night from Florida. I have several I have been looking at.