First Time Cruiser - Will Be My HoneyMoon - Advice?

[HoppierIsBetter]

Hello all! I'm getting married Oct 1st and my fiance and I are looking to go on a RC cruise for our honeymoon. We have been going to an all inclusive resort in Mexico for the last three years and want to try a cruise.

 

We are thinking Caribbean, but I'm not sure if we should do Eastern, Western, or Southern. There are any ports that we specifically would like to hit, but missing Mexico for me is fine since I've been to Mexico several times.

 

I'm really looking for that wow factor of a cruise. I'll admit, I'm a tech guy and love see the latest ways technology is incorporated. However, that is not a must - just throwing it out there.

 

I like Anthem Of The Seas because of the NorthStar, SkyDiving, Bumper Cars, etc and the fact it sails out of NJ and we live in MA. Could save some money by not needing a flight, but I wonder if it's a good idea to sail out of NJ in Oct? Plus recent press has made me wonder if I should stay clear from that ship.

 

I did price point this cruise out of FL and was wondering if that is a good deal? I have no idea what to expect to pay. I would love a suite to get that royal treatment on the honeymoon, but I was hoping to keep around a $5,000 budget.

 

Here is what I found:

 

Oasis Of The Sea

---------------------------------------

 

Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Large Balcony Deck 8

 

$2,701.02USD including taxes, Gratuities and Vacation Protection

 

Is that a good price? Should I get their protection ?

 

 

One thing to mention is I need to book this week because my fiance needs to get in her vacation time by the end of the week.

 

Thanks!

-Brian

[TickledBlue]

For the Oasis quote that you got, I don't think that's too bad of a deal...I looked that up and got $2,423.72 for a cat. D8 w/gov. fees and gratuities, but without the travel protection. As far as travel protection goes, I usually self-insure for everything except medical (which is really cheap, like $30-40 at my age). Sometimes we'll do full coverage. Just google for 3rd party travel insurers if you'd like to compare rates vs. coverage.

 

Sure there is a slight gamble for Anthem out of NJ in Oct. It is a slight gamble for anywhere in the Caribbean as well since it is hurricane season. We took that gamble many, many times and was only slightly impacted once by a hurricane.

[Kamloops50]

If Mexico isn't important . Stick to the Eastern or Southern Caribbean cruises.

Southern would be my choice a smaller ship than the Oasis Class ships.

[klfrodo]

Number 1 advice

Book the wife using her maiden name.

Too many times newly weds are excited and book using new name. Only to have problems when flying or trying to board the ship and last names not matching on documentation.

The problems can be overcome, but why deal with problems on honeymoon.

[HoppierIsBetter]

So if they pose the same risk in terms of hurricane, should I choose one or the other? I'd be happy to fly to FL, but if there is no real huge benefit besides getting the date we want or whatever, than maybe Anthem would be okay? It looks like an awesome ship.

 

Is there a site I should check through booking? Any benefits to using a travel agent?

 

Thanks,

Brian

[printingchick]

I agree that sailing out of a cold weather climate any time close to winter is ill-advised. Even recent events aside, if you're looking for a tropical honeymoon, it's a lot nicer to start out from a warmer climate. Additionally, cruises from the northeast tend to cost a LOT more. It's like they KNOW you're getting out of air fare so you can afford to spend more for the cruise! (You're getting near the end of hurricane season by October, so those risks are less of an issue.)

 

My top choice of itineraries is southern, because I prefer port-intensive cruises. I like to wake up in a new place every day. I also like that southern itineraries are all REAL ports of call, versus "private islands," which are small cruise-line beach resorts. I like to get out and explore in port, not be limited to a beach resort. (No offense to people who like to cruise to enjoy beach resorts.)

 

In case you're about to veto southern itineraries out of hand, due to the flight to San Juan, look a little deeper. In my experience, the flights cost in the area of $100 more than flying to Miami, but the cruises tend to run about $100 less per person. And it's only about an hour longer flight. Also, cruises depart from San Juan around 8:30PM, giving you more time to get there if you choose to fly the day of the cruise. If you can fly in the night before, staying a night in San Juan gives you one more southern Caribbean port on your itinerary!

 

My second choice would be the western Caribbean, and it would allow you stops in Mexico. I like the western itinerary because it tends to have more ports than the eastern itineraries. Eastern Caribbean is typically Nausau or a private island, coupled with a couple of the northern-most southern Caribbean ports, like St. Thomas or St. Maarten. Just not very intriguing to me.

 

I don't frequent the mega ships, but know they cost significantly more than the Freedom Class and smaller ships, so I can't say if that price is a good deal. Not to me, but again, I'm not comparing apples to apples. I prefer ports to sea days, so I don't need all those bells and whistles. (Again, it depends on whether you're looking at the ports as the destination, or the ship itself.)

 

I always get travel insurance. Early on, I had a close call due to a weather delay and I don't travel without it now.

Edited March 7, 2016 by printingchick

[Kamloops50]

So if they pose the same risk in terms of hurricane, should I choose one or the other? I'd be happy to fly to FL, but if there is no real huge benefit besides getting the date we want or whatever, than maybe Anthem would be okay? It looks like an awesome ship.

 

Is there a site I should check through booking? Any benefits to using a travel agent?

 

Thanks,

Brian

 

That said , as a first time cruiser I would recommend using a TA. There are questions during the booking process that a TA can answer . They can basically arrange everything including the flight to FL.

[HoppierIsBetter]

Number 1 advice

Book the wife using her maiden name.

Too many times newly weds are excited and book using new name. Only to have problems when flying or trying to board the ship and last names not matching on documentation.

The problems can be overcome, but why deal with problems on honeymoon.

 

It's funny you mentioned that. We just had a conversation over text and she was like I'm taking your name but I was saying lets just use your maiden name for now to avoid any documentation issues ;)

[WisconsinFan]

You didn't mention the date of the cruise, since your wedding is 10/01/2016, I can safely assume it isn't that sail date. The 10/08/2016 Oasis cruise is a Western Caribbean itinerary, sailing a week later on an Eastern would be my first choice. St Thomas and St Martin/Maarten are top favorite port of calls.

 

The price is fair, especially for an Oasis class. Check out the Eastern cruise on Allure of the Seas on the weekend of 10/08 if that is the weekend you have your heart set on.

 

We usually purchase travel insurance privately, you can save a few dollars.

[Tapi]

Hey Brian:

 

The Oasis class ships are all tech marvels, so if you love that stuff, you will spend half of your cruise just in awe at the engineering aspect of those ships (I was! [emoji851]).

 

As far as itinerary goes, Southern trumps Eastern, and Eastern trumps Western. But the only way to do the MUCH better Southern itinerary is to sacrifice a bit on the ship.

 

If you still want to stick to the newest and most advanced ships, keep in mind that there's SO much to do on them that itinerary will be a very distant secondary reason to sail on these ships. You will be pressed for time to squeeze in everything that there's to do in a week. For us, halfway through the week, we gave up and decided to just do the most important things in our "must do" list and save the rest for a future cruise.

 

No matter what you pick, you'll have a great time. When I got married we sailed on the tiny Empress of the Seas (a little over ten years ago) and it was awesome. I did treat my new wife to "the royal treatment" by booking a suite, and although it was nice, we agreed that it may have been a waste of money so we haven't booked a suite ever since.

 

One final piece of advice: Allow yourself at least a day between your wedding day and your cruise. If my experience is any indication of what you can expect, the wedding day will be a crazy and exhausting blur and it will suck to wake up early the next morning (maybe hungover) to catch an early flight to catch a cruise departing that same day. When we did it, we got married on a Saturday, we took a late afternoon flight to San Juan on Sunday and then we sailed on Monday.

 

Hope the info is useful! Enjoy and congrats!

[grouchomarx]

Anthem is an awesome ship. Sailing from NJ in October should be ok, the weather is still quite mild (we sailed November, it was fine). There is nothing specifically to worry about with Anthem, it's had some bad luck lately with weather and noro, nothing any other cruise ship is immune to. Tech wise it's an amazing ship I think you would love it. You would save money on airfare that you could apply to upgrading your cabin. Something to think about.

[scootersdad]

Sailing out of NJ or Baltimore means "Probably" losing a day of warm weather each way. I sailed out of Baltimore in October and it too cool for the sun

 

Don't play the newlywed game.... especially if any family are around.

 

Congrats !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited March 7, 2016 by scootersdad
layout

[drvmywifecrzy]

Sailing out of NJ or Baltimore means "Probably" losing a day of warm weather each way. I sailed out of Baltimore in October and it too cool for the sun

 

Don't play the newlywed game.... especially if any family are around.

 

Congrats !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Definitely play the newlywed game. You guys will learn alot about each other and help make the trip special

[scootersdad]

Sailing out of NJ or Baltimore means "Probably" losing a day of warm weather each way. I sailed out of Baltimore in October and it too cool for the sun deck.

Congrats !!!!

 

Don't play the newlywed game.... especially if any family are around.

Edited March 7, 2016 by scootersdad
duplicate

[grouchomarx]

Anthem has two indoor pool areas, they are quite warm. You can use them in any weather which makes this ship perfect for sailing all year round from NJ. No lost pool time whatsoever.

[bluegirlum]

Congrats on the upcoming wedding!

 

Sorry to add to all this, but I think something important to think about is how much you want to DO on your honeymoon. My impression of all-inclusives in Mexico is that they involve you sitting on the beach /at the pool most of the day, maybe going off site once during the week. Do you want something like this or do you want something where you are doing something every day? If you are in a new port every day, you may feel pressure to do something every day---even just getting off the ship. It's not a bad thing to want to stay in your cabin the whole time you're on your honeymoon, but if that's the case, you probably don't want a port-intensive cruise because then you might feel bad not getting off the ship at each place and checking it out. If you just want to sit on the beach, Coco Cay or Labadee is probably a perfect stop for you. What are you interested in? What is your fiancée interested in? Do you have money to do fun excursions or do you want to just get off in each port and go to the local Senor Frogs (there's no wrong answer--just things to think about)?

 

I would also probably go through a TA, as they can help you get On Board Credit and arrange special "honeymoony" stuff. Also, think about if you want to eat dinner alone or with other people.

 

Good luck and have fun!

[KG1924]

We got married while sailing the Oasis so it was a combo with our honeymoon (along with 50 of our family and friends...very romantic lol) we had a fantastic time and I love that class of ship since you can be busy all the time or relax all the time-it can suit a wide range of preferences. Also, being "newer" it will have more of the fun, techy stuff. The following September we do a honeymoon part 2 on the freedom and that was my husbands favorite to date. Still a larger ship but my husband really liked the solarium on there because they have bar stools in the pool (it's the little things for him!)

 

In general, we prefer eastern, but I think we've just done the western more....and, like you, have done all inclusive in Mexico quite a bit. Neither is bad and both are beautiful, especially if you haven't been to any of the ports. Southern is my favorite because it just seems less commercial to me, my only concern is that they tend to be older and/or smaller ships. That said, the Adventure is hardly small and she was our first cruise :) we will always love her!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[KG1924]

Also, I think that's a decent price on the Oasis-we are on the Allure in May and are paying about $2400 for a D5 (regular ocean view balcony) including taxes and port fees. October should be cheaper than summer/holiday sailings and while it's still hurricane season, they will do everything to keep you safe. It may mean a change in itinerary, but for me it's a gamble worth taking to pay less.

$5k is a good, realistic budget for the entire trip, depending what you want to do on the islands.

 

While booking directly thru Royal is very easy, I agree with other posters that for your first time it would be good to use a travel agent to help with questions. It won't cost you any more and they often have obc offers.

Congrats and be prepared to get hooked on cruising :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[HoppierIsBetter]

Congrats on the upcoming wedding!

 

Sorry to add to all this, but I think something important to think about is how much you want to DO on your honeymoon. My impression of all-inclusives in Mexico is that they involve you sitting on the beach /at the pool most of the day, maybe going off site once during the week. Do you want something like this or do you want something where you are doing something every day? If you are in a new port every day, you may feel pressure to do something every day---even just getting off the ship. It's not a bad thing to want to stay in your cabin the whole time you're on your honeymoon, but if that's the case, you probably don't want a port-intensive cruise because then you might feel bad not getting off the ship at each place and checking it out. If you just want to sit on the beach, Coco Cay or Labadee is probably a perfect stop for you. What are you interested in? What is your fiancée interested in? Do you have money to do fun excursions or do you want to just get off in each port and go to the local Senor Frogs (there's no wrong answer--just things to think about)?

 

I would also probably go through a TA, as they can help you get On Board Credit and arrange special "honeymoony" stuff. Also, think about if you want to eat dinner alone or with other people.

 

Good luck and have fun!

 

My fiancee loves sitting on the beach and having drinks brought to her. I like it also, but can't do it more than a few hours - unlike her.

[HoppierIsBetter]

Congrats on the upcoming wedding!

 

Sorry to add to all this, but I think something important to think about is how much you want to DO on your honeymoon. My impression of all-inclusives in Mexico is that they involve you sitting on the beach /at the pool most of the day, maybe going off site once during the week. Do you want something like this or do you want something where you are doing something every day? If you are in a new port every day, you may feel pressure to do something every day---even just getting off the ship. It's not a bad thing to want to stay in your cabin the whole time you're on your honeymoon, but if that's the case, you probably don't want a port-intensive cruise because then you might feel bad not getting off the ship at each place and checking it out. If you just want to sit on the beach, Coco Cay or Labadee is probably a perfect stop for you. What are you interested in? What is your fiancée interested in? Do you have money to do fun excursions or do you want to just get off in each port and go to the local Senor Frogs (there's no wrong answer--just things to think about)?

 

I would also probably go through a TA, as they can help you get On Board Credit and arrange special "honeymoony" stuff. Also, think about if you want to eat dinner alone or with other people.

 

Good luck and have fun!

 

My fiancee loves sitting on the beach and having drinks brought to her. I like it also, but can't do it more than a few hours - unlike her. :D

[HoppierIsBetter]

You are all awesome!

 

Thanks for the well wishes and keep the info coming.

 

I feel so pressured since her company is making her book time off for October at the end of the week.

 

I like to take to research and analyze (probably over analyze)

 

I thought the guy I bought the ring from was going to punch me in the face because I had some many questions and took so long :D

[joand452]

That said , as a first time cruiser I would recommend using a TA. There are questions during the booking process that a TA can answer . They can basically arrange everything including the flight to FL.

 

I recommend using an agent as well. But try to get one who has actually cruised! You'd be surprised at how ill-informed some can be (like not knowing the difference between starboard and port sides of the ship).

 

We love Oasis, and have spent a total of 3 weeks on her. We liked Allure, too, which leaves on Sunday, but may already be in Europe in October. We like flying down to Ft. Lauderdale the day before the cruise (highly recommended no matter where you cruise from) because it really puts us in the vacation mode even earlier!

 

Best wishes!!

[Nado44]

If the tech wow factor is high up on your list of must-haves, I'd go with the Anthem as it has a lot more high-tech stuff.

 

But for a honeymoon, I'd go for the Eastern Caribbean itinerary on Oasis of the Seas. Great ship, great ports, sea-days, etc. Your quoted price is also a good one. After making your deposit, be sure to periodically check future pricing. If it comes down prior to the final payment date, call for the price adjustment.

 

Good luck!

[bobmacliberty]

I'd also vote for an Oasis eastern itinerary cruise. Allure is easily our favorite ship to date (almost the same as Oasis) and our eastern cruise last summer was our favorite itinerary. We really enjoyed CocoCay (Royal's private island) and St. Maarten (do a YouTube search on Maho Beach!).

 

We're doing the southern itinerary for the first time this summer and the consensus opinion here seems to be that southern is best. As others have noted, the ships will be slightly older and smaller, but that's all relative. The Adventure of the Seas that we will be on, and her sister ships were (I think...someone will correct me) the largest in the world at the time they were built around 2000. There is only 1 sea day (relaxing by the pool with drinks :)) and 5 days stopping at different ports. That gives you flexibility to take tours and visit interesting places, or find a great new beach every day. We will also spend a day in San Juan before the cruise starts. As others have noted, you will be in warm weather from the moment that you step off the plane until you get back on a week later. The same is probably true when leaving from Ft. Lauderdale on Oasis but several people can attest that wasn't always true this winter.

 

We've only cruised out of Bayonne once (5 day cruise to Bermuda) and my wife will never cruise from there again. We had very rough seas (in June) on the first day leaving and the last day coming back. All outside decks were closed. If you or your fiancé are prone to motion sickness, that's a consideration. Some (many?, most?) cruises from Bayonne get calm seas, but the risk of rough seas seems to be higher out of Bayonne than out of southern Florida. One data point was enough for my wife.

[HoppierIsBetter]

How are the beaches at ports? Crowded? Can you rent cabanas or umbrellas ahead of time? How good and expensive are drinks?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app