Where to go for the 1st time, what ship for adult and youth?

[ATL GA]

Hi all,

I live in GA, need advice on best sail port (Fort L., Orlando or Port Canaveral) for a 6 nights first time cruise. Where is water blue and sand clean Western or Eastern Caribbean? What ship to choose Roal C., Princess or Carnival? Does room with balcony worth money? Thanks

Edited February 22, 2019 by ATL GA

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Eastern or Southern Caribbean is better, IMHO.

How old are all the people involved? How active? More of a party/active resort atmosphere or laid back and relaxed?

 

Quote

What ship to choose Roal C., Princess or Carnival? 

these are not ships, these are cruise lines. Each one has  multitude of ships which could be very-very different....

 

Departure port will depend on the exact cruise you will pick... Will you drive or fly, and how many of you are going? Some ports offer a ton of cruise lines, ships and itineraries, and others will only have a handful.

When will you be traveling? Are you limited to school breaks?

Edited February 22, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[ATL GA]

Almost 9 years old girl and more relaxed adults in mid 40's and one parent in her 75.

Edited February 22, 2019 by ATL GA

[Itchy&Scratchy]

22 minutes ago, ATL GA said:

Almost 9 years old girl and more relaxed adults in mid 40's and one parent in her 75.

in this case, if you like better food and good entertainment, and your kid will be fine in a kid's club all day, go with Regal or Royal Princess. Or the new Enchanted and Sky Princesses. The 75 yo grandparent would really like Princess ships, I think.

 

If you don't care about the food, but want a ton of activities for the kid and the parents, like great entertainment, rock climbing, ice skating, go with the newer Royal Caribbean (RCI) ships.

 

Another decent option for all involved is the newer Norwegian ships (Breakaway and newer) - lots of activities for families with kids and wonderful entertainment, but the food is very so-so.

[MCC retired]

6 night cruise is very rare , 7 the most popular , 3,4,5 nights tend to be too short IMO .

Any of the Mass Market cruise lines will provide a great Family cruise .

Carnival, RCI , NCL , DCL all sail from the ports you mention .

Some of their ships are like floating Amusement Parks others more subdued but will still have something for all.

As far as blue water and sand  ,lots of it on any cruise from FL.. Beaches are   everywhere .

Balcony worth it ? Depends on your budget . We always book a balcony now.

You as first timers could really us a Cruise Specialist TA who will ask qualifying questions to narrow your choices.

[ATL GA]

Yes, it is a challenge to find nice ship, food and entertainment on the budget. I guess my daughter wants something like water slides and we are more interested in European style food  and quality evening shows. 7 days would be acceptable. Disney cruises just over our budget. P.S I already visited Cancun Riviera Maya last year, beach was rocky and 5 of 7 days stay seaweeds...So, hoping to catch some clear water in Caribbean.

Edited February 22, 2019 by ATL GA

[Itchy&Scratchy]

I'd skip Cozumel, Mexico, then. If you are used to Panhandle FL sandy beaches (like we are), then Cozumel will not be your cup of tea. 

 

 

[ATL GA]

I like Destin/Panama City Beach FL water and sand quality. So, on cruise I am expecting something similar or better. It means I am interested in Eastern Caribbean destinations? I heard Turks and Caicos are nice.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

52 minutes ago, ATL GA said:

I like Destin/Panama City Beach FL water and sand quality. So, on cruise I am expecting something similar or better. It means I am interested in Eastern Caribbean destinations? I heard Turks and Caicos are nice.

yes, you would be looking at Eastern and Southern caribbean, and skipping Falmouth, Jamaica, and Cozumel. :)

[Essiesmom]

If you want more European style food, I suggest you add MSC into the mix.  There are great waterslides on Seaside and Meraviglia.  EM

[Sauer-kraut]

St. Maarten is nice for beaches as well.

[pacruise804]

On 2/22/2019 at 1:56 PM, ATL GA said:

Yes, it is a challenge to find nice ship, food and entertainment on the budget. I guess my daughter wants something like water slides and we are more interested in European style food  and quality evening shows. 7 days would be acceptable. Disney cruises just over our budget. P.S I already visited Cancun Riviera Maya last year, beach was rocky and 5 of 7 days stay seaweeds...So, hoping to catch some clear water in Caribbean.

 

Many ships will have water slides - look at the ship details for each line to be sure.  Europe is a big continent 😉 which regional food were you most interested in?  Most ships will have Italian offerings, some have British pub food while others might have French specialty dining.  I've never noticed Spanish, German, Polish, or Russian specialties.  Buffets often have a "world cuisine" but it will be buffet quality.  Food has always been acceptable to me, but rarely anything that wows - when feeding that many people it is hard to present comparable meals to land restaurants.  Quality evening shows can be subjective.  Carnival tends to win for comediennes, Royal has a reputation for stellar stage shows.

 

Last year seemed especially bad for seaweed.  My understanding is it is cyclical so hopefully not as bad for the next few years.  Princess Cay (Princess and Carnival)  is a rocky beach, Grand Turk is very soft, HMC (Holland America and Carnival) is powder soft, Gold Rock beach at Freeport is stunning (we were part of an excursion, minimal facilities).  I realize most of those are Atlantic/Bahamas, but are often included on Eastern Caribbean itineraries.

[cb at sea]

Seaweed is dependent on the tides/winds, etc....it comes and goes...same for jellyfish!

 

The Eastern and Southern Caribbean has, IMO, the better beaches.  The sand is much firmer than in the states...more a crushed shell/coral  sand, rather than crushed rock, which is what the Florida beaches are.  Makes them firmer and there is less sandy turbulence in the water.   The water truly is turquoise and very clear!

 

Carnival tends to have the largest standard cabins...usually in the 185 sq. ft range...even if it's not a balcony.    But, no ship's cabins are "hotel-sized", so don't expect a lot of space, unless you book a suite of some sort.  Carnival's "suite perks" are the worst value.  NCL's suite perks are just about the best.  Otherwise, the experience on pretty much any ship will be quite similar.

 

[Palmetto_state]

On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 12:17 PM, ATL GA said:

Hi all,

I live in GA, need advice on best sail port (Fort L., Orlando or Port Canaveral) for a 6 nights first time cruise. Where is water blue and sand clean Western or Eastern Caribbean? What ship to choose Roal C., Princess or Carnival? Does room with balcony worth money? Thanks

Which ever one is closest and cheapest to get to 🙂  We like Port Canaveral only because we are most familiar with that port. Water is beautiful everywhere, hmmm will have to take advise from other posts, though ST. Johns, ST. Marteen are nice. Which ship, Carnival is probably best price and potentially has water park like the "Magic" but either way don't just look at the cruise lines, look at the specific ship to see what that one has. 

-------Now the hard question To Balcony or Not to Balcony, my wife had been on cruises when she was older (20s) with her sister and Dad to go Scuba Diving. That carried over to our first 2 cruises where the statement was made, "I'll never pay for a balcony when we can sit upstairs and see the ocean either inside or out, ok I might have said that too 🙂 and agreed with her. The balconies are not that big and the furniture is most probably plastic depending which cruise line.      We then went on a 3 night  Disney cruise and thought lets get a balcony because if our daughter (her first cruise) gets sick or goes to bed early we will have somewhere to sit. Since then we've invested in binoculars and haven't been back to an inside room LOL.  I try to get us to book an inside room but to be honest I don't try hard at all. But again, it's about the cost. Depends on the budget and whether the willingness to spend more is there.  Your First cruise? You may go again someday? Won't have power shut off at home if money is spent? Want to impress the parent or this might be a one and done for the older parent?  I know this isn't a simple YES get one or NO it's not worth it, so like any advice from strangers take it for what it's worth …….free .  

Edited March 3, 2019 by Palmetto_state