Best cruiseline for young adults?

[aloha of the seas]

I'm 25 and my husband will be 28 in a couple of weeks. We cruise carnival because it meets all of our needs and is really cheap. This allows us to take cruises when we wouldn't normally be able to afford one and spend a little more once on board. I'm not saying another line couldn't be better, but I honestly can't think of anything I would want different if that makes sense.

 

 

We're getting ready to book another cruise in January for my 26th birthday/5th wedding anniversary. It will be my 4th Carnival cruise and his 3rd. We live in DC and are cruising out of Baltimore on the Carnival Pride for less than $1000 total after taxes and fees. 3rd and 4th passenger rates are cheaper. We will take a bus or train to get there.

 

 

Some other options to think about are Boston, New York, New Jersey, and Norfolk. The first 3 would be easy to take a bus to save on parking fees.

 

 

I pretty much go by price though. If RCI was cheaper I'd take them, same with any other company. The cheaper the rate the more I can spend on excursions, shopping, etc.

 

Don't totally dismiss flying to Ft Lauderdale or Miami though. I found some round trip flights to FLL from DCA for about $200 a person and cruises are so much cheaper from there. With the exception of the ONE cruise I found for so cheap out of Baltimore, any other cruise we looked at was cheaper from Florida with airfare included.

 

There is another option to getting to FLL that people on the east coast often over look. It may require a little time, but it is always cheaper than the airlines. Taking the train to FLL and then a cab right to the pier or a hotel if you wish to arrive early. This also holds true to Cape Liberty where you can take a train to either NYC or Newark. A lot more comfortable than a bus.

[crzycick]

Only problem with kids is that they get in the elevators and push all the buttons and you then have to use the stairs.

 

 

I've never had that problem but I've cruised early September, Thanksgiving, and late April/early May, so not too many kids. In fact I get agitated by unruly kids very quickly and I've never had a problem with kids on Carnival.

 

Maybe I've just been lucky but my husband and I are laid back, don't party, don't gamble, rarely drink, some might say we're a boring old married couple--although we're in our 20s. I don't care for loud obnoxious people, young or old. I don't care for obnoxious kids, drunks, etc. And even on the "fun ship" I've never encountered anything that bothered me. The "worst" thing I've experienced was an older woman who walked around non pool areas like the casino and shops in her bikini. And that was only comical.

 

I was prejudiced of Carnival though before we cruised it. I never wanted to go on it until our budget was Carnival or nothing. If there was anything I could change I'd love spa like decor but I'm not going to let some brass fixtures take away from my vacation.

[crzycick]

Where did you eve find a round trip for that fare. I've been looking, as we're sailing out of Ft Lauderdale, and as of now, direct fights in both directions is $420. I'd be interested to know where to find those rates.

 

 

From DCA to FLL. I think it might have been Frontier but I can check if you'd like. I think spirit or jet blue or one of those "cheap" lines had some good deals as well.

 

I find it's usually cheaper to fly into FLL but my cruises were out of MIA. When we lived in NC we drove but we don't have a car in DC and I found it was really easy and cheap to take the train to Miami.

[crzycick]

There is another option to getting to FLL that people on the east coast often over look. It may require a little time, but it is always cheaper than the airlines. Taking the train to FLL and then a cab right to the pier or a hotel if you wish to arrive early. This also holds true to Cape Liberty where you can take a train to either NYC or Newark. A lot more comfortable than a bus.

 

 

For some people that might be a decent option. I can get a flight for not much more than $200 but I just checked the train and it would be $254, it's over 26 hours long, cab rides from FLL to MIA are crazy---like $80+ from what I've read, and I'd have to leave 2 days prior and one day after, 2 nights in a hotel and one night sleeping in a chair on the train.

 

 

I'm always on a crazy tight budget and do things as cheap as I can but even if the train was $50 cheaper (instead it's $50 more) I'd take the plane in that situation. But for other people's situations it might not be a bad choice.

[crzycick]

Where did you eve find a round trip for that fare. I've been looking, as we're sailing out of Ft Lauderdale, and as of now, direct fights in both directions is $420. I'd be interested to know where to find those rates.

 

 

Ok, definitely wasn't Frontier, they don't fly to FLL from DCA

 

I used the dates of Dec 11 and 18th because we considered taking a cruise out of Miami then. With Jet Blue after taxes/fees it's $192 round trip per person. Spirit Airlines was $168. The site I use to do most of my large-spanned searching gives the cheapest flight at $170 with taxes on Delta. Although Delta's website says $165.

 

 

I checked Baltimore very quickly on the large search engine and cheapest was $238. Might be worth it to fly out of DC.

[2theship]

Last March my daughter took her first cruise on her own for the spring break of her senior year in college. She is an experienced cruiser, mostly with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean but this was the first time as an adult. Since the girls were piggy-backing onto a family trip that one of her friends was taking, she had no choice in the cruise line and it turned out to be Carnival. She had fun because she was with her friends but really did not care for Carnival. She's a fairly mature 22-year old and was annoyed at times by the behavior going on around her (understand it was spring break so that may have been a factor). I think Royal Caribbean would be a great choice for you.

[Host Faith]

Royal will be a good choice, also lines that are less expensive (therefore will have more young adults) will be Carnival and Norwegian.

 

I've sailed twice on RCI and once on Carnival and have always had a good time (I just turned 30) but I personally prefer RCI.

 

I agree, I would give Royal a try first. I'm 29. Both are great, but I prefer RCCL over Carnival.