New to cruises. Honeymoon cruise good idea??

[nk070514]

Hi! we're new here and have never been on a cruise. Looking to take one for our honeymoon. Thinking of getting married in April '17 but not sure if this is the best time for a honeymoon cruise. Also, we're not opposed to an October or November wedding. We are located in Georgia so we prefer a port in the southeast.

 

When are the best times of the year to take a cruise to the Bahama/Caribbean area? Has anyone taken a cruise for a honeymoon and did you enjoy it/regret it? What cruise lines/ships should we go with? Any advice would be great.

 

Thanks!!:confused:

[DonnasMom&Dad]

Hi! we're new here and have never been on a cruise. Looking to take one for our honeymoon. Thinking of getting married in April '17 but not sure if this is the best time for a honeymoon cruise. Also, we're not opposed to an October or November wedding. We are located in Georgia so we prefer a port in the southeast.

 

When are the best times of the year to take a cruise to the Bahama/Caribbean area? Has anyone taken a cruise for a honeymoon and did you enjoy it/regret it? What cruise lines/ships should we go with? Any advice would be great.

 

Thanks!!:confused:

 

Here is the princess schedule, it may give you some ideas, as to what part of the year you want to exchange your vows, also where you want to cruise. :rolleyes:

 

Cato :)

 

http://www.princess.com/find/search.do?resType=C

 

 

Completed Cruises !

Pre-cruise Days - The Big Red Boat, 1993 ??

1st cruise - Coral Princess, 19 November 2008, 10 day Panama Canal, FLL to ACA

2nd cruise - Coral Princess, 15 May 2009, 3 day Repositioning, Los Angeles to Vancouver.

3rd cruise - Sapphire Princess, 25 November 2009? 7 day Mexican Riviera.

4th cruise - Golden Princes, 12 June 2010, 7 day Alaska. (Golden Anniversary Cruise)

5th Cruise - Island Princess, 04 October 2010, Vancouver - Los Angeles, Repositioning

6th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 05 January 2011, 10 day Mexican Riviera. LA to LA.

7th cruise - Golden Princess, 11 May 2011, 3 day, LA to Vancouver, Repositioning

8th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 14 May 2011, 1 day, Vancouver to Seattle, Repositioning

9th cruise - Coral Princess 19 May 2011 2 day, San Francisco to Vancouver, Repositioning

10th & 11th cruises - Coral Princess 02 July to 16 July 2011, round trip Vancouver - Whittier Alaska, B2B

12th & 13th cruises - Sapphire Princess, x2, Cabins, 18 Sep. 2011, 1 day, Seattle to Vancouver, Repositioning

14th & 15th cruises - Golden Princess, x2, Cabins, 24 Sep. 2011, 1 day, Seattle to Vancouver, Repositioning.

We have now reached Elite status with Princess Cruise Lines

16th cruise - Oasis of the Seas, 26 Nov. 2011, 7 day, Western Caribbean, Ft. Lauderdale, Ret.

17th & 18th cruises - Crown Princess B2B, 03 - 10 Dec & 10 - 17 Dec 2011, 14 Days, South & western Caribbean

19th cruise - Grand Princess, 31 Mar. - 07 April 2012, 7 Days, Eastern Caribbean, FLL - FLL

20th cruise - Island Princess, 06-16 June 2012, 10 day cruisetour Vancouver - Wittier

21th cruise - Emerald Princess, 16 day, 10 - 26 Sep. 2012, TA, Copenhagen - New York

22nd cruise - Carnival Ecstasy 10 - 14 January, 2013, 4 Day Bahamas, Port Canaveral Ret.

23rd cruise - Sapphire Princess 30 March - 06 April, 2013, 7 Day Coastal LA - LA

24th cruise - Coral Princess, 19 May - 22 May, 2013, 3 Day Repositioning Cruise, LA - Vancouver

25th cruise - Royal Princess 16 June - 05 July, 2013, 19 Day Inaugural cruise, Southampton - Venice.

26th cruise - Emerald Princess, 06 - 16 October, 2013, 10 Day Canada - New England, Quebec city to New York

27th cruise - Royal Princess, 24 November - 01 December, 2013, 7 Day,Eastern Caribbean, Fort Lauderdale Ret.

28th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 20 - 24 Jan, 2014, 4 Days, California

29th cruise - Crown Princess, 03 - 10 May 2014, 7 Day, LA to Vancouver.

30th cruise - Pacific Princess, 05 - 12 Aug. 2014, 7 Days, Vancouver RT, Alaska

31st cruise - Golden Princess, 13 - 17 Oct. 2014, 4 Days, LA - Mexican Riv, RT,

32nd cruise - Crown Princess, 20 - 27 Dec. 2014, 7 Days, LA - Mexican Riv, RT.

33rd cruise - Coral Princess, 27Apr. - 02 May.2015, 5 Days, LA - Vancouver, Repo

[SadieN]

Check out the Honeymoon and Wedding Board.

[Cruisin' Chick]

You'll find many honeymooning couples on many cruises. Some cruise lines will decorate your cabin door in honor of your status and you might get waiters leading the dining room in singing "happy honeymoon" to you. This will happen to many couples so you won't be the only ones.

 

My advice is to not book the cruise for the same day as your wedding (assuming you're not getting married on the actual ship). That's because a wedding can be a tiring, sometimes stressful time, as well as an event lasting several hours between the ceremony and the reception. Even if you're in the same city that you'll start your cruise in...you'll want to spend time with those who are attending your special day (at least in our case, we had many people who had traveled across the country for our wedding...so we spent the night at a hotel near the airport for our early flight out to Honolulu the next morning, which gave us a chance to relax and spend some time away from others).

[Clarea]

Hi! we're new here and have never been on a cruise. Looking to take one for our honeymoon. Thinking of getting married in April '17 but not sure if this is the best time for a honeymoon cruise. Also, we're not opposed to an October or November wedding. We are located in Georgia so we prefer a port in the southeast.

 

When are the best times of the year to take a cruise to the Bahama/Caribbean area? Has anyone taken a cruise for a honeymoon and did you enjoy it/regret it? What cruise lines/ships should we go with? Any advice would be great.

 

Thanks!!:confused:

Congratulations and welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

I also think it's a good idea to check out the Honeymoon forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=31

[Keith1010]

A lot of people are not sure if they will like a cruise.

 

I do think a cruise is great for a honeymoon and April is a very nice time to cruise the Caribbean and the Bahamas.

 

There are many cruise lines to choose from.

 

I would take a look at Royal Caribbean.

 

Keith

[KirkNC]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Our first cruise was on our honeymoon.

[XBGuy]

Similar to Kirk, our first cruise was our honeymoon--Carribean in October. It was an interesting experience. We booked only a few weeks before departure and did not know what to expect. We did not know anybody who'd ever cruised before. We cruised on NCL because that one fit our budget and schedule. I honestly think that people make too much about the cruise line differences. I think that the cruise lines we've been on (admittedly, all mass market lines) have been more similar than different.

 

YMMV

 

Anyway, we loved it. We are now retired and still love cruising.

 

I don't know why April would not be a good time to cruise the Carribean.

 

Congratulations and enjoy.

 

:)

[SC_GAY_Cruiser]

nk - its almost more about your personalities and what exactly you want from your honeymoon. In other words.......do you want a relaxing vacation or do you want to go some where it always on the go with lots of many different options? And you can do both on cruise.

 

And of course those options can add lots of cost, so your budget is also important. My daughter did a Sandals in St Lucia 5 yrs ago and they enjoyed it but anything extra they wanted to do involved a lot more cost. There was a lot of "nickel and dining" at Sandals which can also be perceived on a cruise as well.

 

If your wedding is a large affair, you may be ready to get away from lots of people and just chill out for a week at an island or mexican destination.

 

So what do you both agree to want out of your honeymoon?

[OCruisers]

Welcome to Cruise Critics!

Cruises are perfect for honeymoons! :)

[cruiseonthebrain]

We had our wedding and honeymoon on a cruise- and loved it! Maybe try a short cruise to do a "dry run" and make sure you like cruising before committing yourself to a honeymoon onboard though.

[Cruisin'Christine]

Hello,

 

My husband and I have been married for 10 years now and we took a cruise (our first one) for our honeymoon on April 1, 2006. The weather in April for our Caribbean cruise was beautiful! We also became hooked on cruises and have now been on a total of 15 cruises and we have one more booked this October. I think a cruise is a lovely honeymoon, because you just unpack once, but are in a different island every day or so, depending on the itinerary. The food is amazing, entertainment is varied and great, and it is such a relaxing honeymoon. Enjoy.

[nk070514]

nk - its almost more about your personalities and what exactly you want from your honeymoon. In other words.......do you want a relaxing vacation or do you want to go some where it always on the go with lots of many different options? And you can do both on cruise.

 

And of course those options can add lots of cost, so your budget is also important. My daughter did a Sandals in St Lucia 5 yrs ago and they enjoyed it but anything extra they wanted to do involved a lot more cost. There was a lot of "nickel and dining" at Sandals which can also be perceived on a cruise as well.

 

If your wedding is a large affair, you may be ready to get away from lots of people and just chill out for a week at an island or mexican destination.

 

So what do you both agree to want out of your honeymoon?

 

We want to visit sandy white beaches with beautiful blue water and most importantly relax and enjoy our alone time. (We have children so there is never any alone time). We also have elderly parents and are kind of skeptical of being on a ship and not be able to get home as fast as we'd like should something happen. We're limiting to a 5 day cruise. We were going to book a resort on an island but have no idea which one to go with so we thought this would be a good way to sample a couple different ones.

Edited April 5, 2016 by nk070514

[FluffsMom]

Just don't do what one young couple I know did for their honeymoon cruise - while trying to save money they unknowingly booked a cabin that only had bunk beds - :rolleyes: - while they had fun on their honeymoon, they were more than happy to get home!! :o

[Alaskan Joe]

If it were me I would get married in April and take a Honeymoon cruise. Then take another cruise in October/November:). As for what cruise line I like RCCL.

[cb at sea]

Early spring is a LOVELY time in the Caribbean....bear in mind that the Bahamas are NOT in the Caribbean, but have weather more like Florida...so in April, it will be nice there, too!

[mjkacmom]

nk - its almost more about your personalities and what exactly you want from your honeymoon. In other words.......do you want a relaxing vacation or do you want to go some where it always on the go with lots of many different options? And you can do both on cruise.

 

And of course those options can add lots of cost, so your budget is also important. My daughter did a Sandals in St Lucia 5 yrs ago and they enjoyed it but anything extra they wanted to do involved a lot more cost. There was a lot of "nickel and dining" at Sandals which can also be perceived on a cruise as well.

 

If your wedding is a large affair, you may be ready to get away from lots of people and just chill out for a week at an island or mexican destination.

 

So what do you both agree to want out of your honeymoon?

 

Really? We honeymooned there 20 years ago, and it was a true all inclusive, food, alcohol, activities, tips... Unlike a cruise, where a lot of items are extra. Of course, Sandals was a lot more expensive than cruising.

 

I'd be wary of cruising during spring break - I wouldn't want tons of kids on my honeymoon.

[SuiteTraveler]

5 day cruises typically have 2 - 3 ports and 2 - 3 sea days. If something happens on a sea day you are SOL about getting back home until your arrival at the next port. If that is a concern, you might be better off going somewhere on land that has an airport such as Pensacola Beach:

 

http://www.visitpensacolabeach.com

 

Or Cancun, take a look at these amazing resorts:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g150807-d506374-Reviews-Live_Aqua_Cancun_All_Inclusive-Cancun_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g150807-d152680-Reviews-Fiesta_Americana_Condesa_Cancun_All_Inclusive-Cancun_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g150807-d2627483-Reviews-Secrets_The_Vine_Cancun_Resort_Spa-Cancun_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

 

If you wish to choose a cruise, you would be best off with a 7 day cruise. IMO, the best accommodations at sea for a honeymoon are on NCL's Epic, Getaway, Breakaway and Escape - check out The Haven Spa Suites which are specially designed for couples to have an intimate and relaxing vacation. These suites include a spa tub for 2 in the suite and a large shower - big enough for 2, plus full access to the NCL Spa Thermal Suite with water circuit, hot tub, heated tile loungers, sauna saunarium, steamroom and salt room. You also get access to The Haven pool, hot tubs, restaurant, lounge and butler and concierge service which makes your honeymoon even more special. Attire on NCL is all casual, you typically eat in a different restaurant every night at a table for 2 unless you meet people onboard you want to eat with. There are water slides, rock climbing wall, mini golf, ropes course and lots of entertainment onboard.

 

Other ships that are great for honeymoon would be:

 

RCCL Oasis of the Sea

RCCL Allure of the Sea

 

I recommend these ships for spectacular entertainment and lots of things to do. These are direct competitors of the above mentioned NCL ships and are the biggest cruise ships in the world.

 

For a romantic spa vacation type cruise check out the Princess ships:

 

Royal Princess

Regal Princess

[NurseDave]

Yep, depends on what type of experience you want. I personally think a honeymoon should be one of those "once in a lifetime" deals where it's something you most likely wouldn't do for a standard vacation. We'll take cruises every few years I think so we did Tahiti for a week as that's something we wouldn't just plan for an annual trip.