Best cruise/Ship for 20 somethings

[williamson_ja]

My nephew is looking to do his first cruise with some friends. They want to do something in the Caribbean, not too many kids, a quiet adult area on the ship, good entertainment. They are not big on drinking/partying. Just having a general good time and seeing some neat site in the caribbean. Any thoughts? What would you suggest? OH, and he said that he liked things very luxurious. I'm not exactly sure what he means by that, but I'll throw it out there anyway. Cost isn't too much of a factor for him.

[lv2cruisgrl]

Freedom of the Seas...my BF daughter loved it, she was in her 20's.

[williamson_ja]

Freedom of the Seas...my BF daughter loved it, she was in her 20's.

 

I've never been on a ship with the Dreamworks experience. Are the characters too "in your face" or does it not bother you if you are not looking for it. He certainly does not want to feel like he's on a kiddie cruise. Thanks!!

[olibubble]

I've never been on a ship with the Dreamworks experience. Are the characters too "in your face" or does it not bother you if you are not looking for it. He certainly does not want to feel like he's on a kiddie cruise. Thanks!!

 

i was on the liberty in may. thwy had dreamworks doing a dance during sailaway, and they had a dreamworks parade on the promenade on the first night (but at 11pm??! there were more adults than kids!) and after that i never sw another dreamworks character the whole time!

[mtsnd1900]

not too many kids, a quiet adult area on the ship, good entertainment. They are not big on drinking/partying. Just having a general good time and seeing some neat site in the caribbean. Any thoughts? What would you suggest? OH, and he said that he liked things very luxurious. Cost isn't too much of a factor for him.

 

Sounds like a perfect fit for the Solstice Class Celebrity ships.

 

Freedom was also great, and you can look into an RCCI cruise out of San Juan, which seemed to have less kids than those out Florida. Longer cruises (9 days plus) may also have less kids. Timing is everything, go while school is in, not during vacation times.

[williamson_ja]

I heard that Celebrity has mostly senior citizens. He's looking for a young crowd- but not mostly kids.

[didicruiser]

Celebrity has all ages. Last cruise on the Eclipse I sat with a 70yo couple and a 25yo couple....I'm 50 :eek:

[PurpleJet]

We are in our mid to late 20s and 4 years ago we had our honeymoon on Freedom which was brilliant, eastern caribbean..

 

Last year we went on a transatlantic and the majority of people were older than us but we had the best holiday ever :-D only 20 kids on the whole ship

[publicpersona]

I heard that Celebrity has mostly senior citizens. He's looking for a young crowd- but not mostly kids.

You have the correct impression. There will be all ages on Celebrity, but on average, the demographic is older.

 

More so than the ship, you should look at the pricing. The cheaper cruises attract a younger crowd. A 3-day Bermuda? Lots of college kids. A 12-day Panama Canal .. much older crowd.

[lv2cruisgrl]

I've never been on a ship with the Dreamworks experience. Are the characters too "in your face" or does it not bother you if you are not looking for it. He certainly does not want to feel like he's on a kiddie cruise. Thanks!!

 

 

No they are not in your face and there are more adults then kids on ships.

[sjcruiser]

Freedom or Liberty of the Seas would be a good choice. We were on the Liberty when they were rehearsing for the upcoming Dreamworks Show, which hadnt been brought onboard yet.

[FOXTROT]

Since you are on the RCCL site, how about the Allure or the Oasis. Yes there are kids on board, but there is soooo much to do.

[volleyballmom87]

If luxury and lack of kids are a must, but cost doesn't matter.... How about Azamara or Oceania?

[williamson_ja]

If luxury and lack of kids are a must, but cost doesn't matter.... How about Azamara or Oceania?

Don't know anything about those two lines. Could you tell me a bit about them?

[Cruisegirl6]

Few questions you didn't say where he would want to go out of...which port? Not sure where you live as it does not state so that has to be considered too.....where would he like to go out of?

 

I have to say FOS! Carnival has drastically cut the most when it comes to entertainment and especially the food and the buffet lunch consist mostly of fast food type foods on Carnival. RC still remains to have all the hot dishes, meats, veggies, much better quality foods and much better selection. Service overall in RC is soooo much better, Carnival is a hit or miss. What time of year does he want to go...you will find alot more kids on Carnival.

 

This is my opinion....you can see I have cruised on Princess, NCL, Carnival and RC, my choices now remain to be Celebrity (although a more sophiscated crowed and it does get quieter in the evenings after 11 I not think this is the cruise line for your son right now)....RC is the best, Princess is great, but again a little more on the quiet side after 11pm. My suggestion is RC for your son, the dreamworks is just another thing they do on the ship and basically you not even see it unless you make yourself find it lol Don't let that worry you....I have to choose RC and Freedom of the Seas is the perfect size, large but not too large and not small lol It has alot to offer.

[bermuda09]

If your nephew is considering a RCCL ship that goes to the Caribbean, try the Serenade. My husband and I went on this cruise last summer and we are in our 20s. We absolutely loved this ship and the itinerary was excellent (we went on the sailing that traveled to Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix).We did not find there to be many children on this ship, either.

[williamson_ja]

Few questions you didn't say where he would want to go out of...which port? Not sure where you live as it does not state so that has to be considered too.....where would he like to go out of?

 

 

We're landlocked and have to fly to whatever port we want to go out of. He does want to go to the Caribbean so I was thinking sailing out of Florida somewhere would be great. He probably wouldn't mind doing Puerto Rico either.

[Cruisegirl6]

My experiences with going out of Puerto Rico....usually the ships are older ones and the ships have more spanish speaking people and more announcments both in english and spanish. You will get good ports.

 

I think going out of FLL/Mia or even Tampa you may find better rates, if you fly into Orlando you need to travel to the pier/port....

 

Fll port is only 5 minutes from the airport and has hotels right at the port for instance the Marriott Marina or Embassy Suites on 17th st. Causeway I believe is right there.

 

Miami airport is a pain in the butt hate it if I take a cruise out of Mia I will fly into Fll and rent a limo to the hotel overnight and take a cab ride (short ride) to the pier

 

If he expects better quality I have to say Royal Caribbean overall service is very good to excellent Carnival is a hit or miss...food on Rc is so much better and tell him to try the specialty restaurants surely there is an extra fee but its not bad and so much well worth the extra cost. :)

 

If its his first cruise I have to say any cruise itinerary will be good he never seen any of the islands...so would go with figuring the price of airfare to each area of Florida then considering the price of the cruise.

[slideshell]

i'm in my early 30s and while i love celebrity i don't think it is what your nephew is looking for

 

i have never cruised with rcl before but we are booked on the oasis and are super excited about it - from everything that i have read/seen so far i can't imagine he and his friends not having a good time on her or the allure

 

hopefully whatever they choose, they have a wonderful time

[volleyballmom87]

We are in our early 40s and our daughter is 21 and cruises with us. We have cruised out of PR twice. Both on Serenade and Adventure. Adventure has more stuff to do on the ship, but Serenade seems to be more intimate and had better service. Both ships are extremely port intensive and go to the best islands in the Caribbean. So IMHO the ships are not the draw as much as the islands. I don't see what difference it makes if Puerto Rican's are on the ship or not. We found most of the ones that we met were quite fun and enhanced our trip. We cannot wait until we are back in PR in December to get together with our last tablemates! LOVE Serenade!

 

The reason I brought up Azamara and Oceania is because they are considered to be mid-level luxury lines. Azamara is owned by the same company as RC. Oceania is considered to have the best food and service on the seas. But remember you get what you pay for. These are not cheap, but the ships are very nice and the food and service are impecible.

[The-Dude]

They are not big on drinking/partying. Just having a general good time and seeing some neat site in the caribbean. Any thoughts? What would you suggest? OH, and he said that he liked things very luxurious. I'm not exactly sure what he means by that, but I'll throw it out there anyway. Cost isn't too much of a factor for him.

 

What's their budget? If they think RCCL is a luxury liner, you're nephew better start looking at other cruise lines because RCCL is far from a true luxury line.

 

I hope your nephew is prepared to spend a lot for real luxury and a quieter, more mature cruising experience. The real high-end and luxury cruise lines include Cunard, Regent Seven Seas, etc.

[volleyballmom87]

The real high-end and luxury cruise lines include Cunard, Regent Seven Seas, etc.

 

Azamara and Oceania are in between those and the mass market lines.

[Host Faith]

My nephew is looking to do his first cruise with some friends. They want to do something in the Caribbean, not too many kids, a quiet adult area on the ship, good entertainment. They are not big on drinking/partying. Just having a general good time and seeing some neat site in the caribbean. Any thoughts? What would you suggest? OH, and he said that he liked things very luxurious. I'm not exactly sure what he means by that, but I'll throw it out there anyway. Cost isn't too much of a factor for him.

 

DH and I have the same taste, and we started with RCCL in our mid-20's. If sticking with RCCL, it sounds like the Serenade, Southern Caribbean would fit the bill.