Cruise recommendation for 20th anniversary - Help me :)

[ummgood]

Hi Everyone!

 

My wife and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary in 2020 and were thinking of taking a cruise to celebrate.  We have been on 3 cruises before.  2 DCL cruises on the Wonder with our 3 kids way back in 2012 and 2013.  We also took a cruise on Liberty of the Seas a few years ago out of Galveston 4 years ago.  Our Galveston cruise went to Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.  I would like something different.

We would want to leave in the September or October of 2020 timeframe.

So the question is how nice are the Carnival ships out of Galveston now?  Should we stick to Royal Carribbean or go with something new?  We would also like to visit different ports so that is part of the requirement even though I don't think my wife would complain about Cozumel again but not Belize or Roatan.

We typically don't mind the dining room food but would probably want it better than what we experienced on Liberty of the Seas.  We also don't mind eating a couple times at upgraded restaurants.  We would also want to consider different drink packages when deciding what to book.  Any pros/cons?  I would love to hear everyone's opinion of the ships currently sailing out of Galveston and the itineraries for ideas.

[ssb]

26 minutes ago, ummgood said:

Hi Everyone!

 

My wife and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary in 2020 and were thinking of taking a cruise to celebrate.  We have been on 3 cruises before.  2 DCL cruises on the Wonder with our 3 kids way back in 2012 and 2013.  We also took a cruise on Liberty of the Seas a few years ago out of Galveston 4 years ago.  Our Galveston cruise went to Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.  I would like something different.

We would want to leave in the September or October of 2020 timeframe.

So the question is how nice are the Carnival ships out of Galveston now?  Should we stick to Royal Carribbean or go with something new?  We would also like to visit different ports so that is part of the requirement even though I don't think my wife would complain about Cozumel again but not Belize or Roatan.

We typically don't mind the dining room food but would probably want it better than what we experienced on Liberty of the Seas.  We also don't mind eating a couple times at upgraded restaurants.  We would also want to consider different drink packages when deciding what to book.  Any pros/cons?  I would love to hear everyone's opinion of the ships currently sailing out of Galveston and the itineraries for ideas.

Adventure Galveston to Copenhagen 

[ummgood]

2 minutes ago, ssb said:

Adventure Galveston to Copenhagen 

I wish I could but I don't have that much vacation 🙂

I guess I should have clarified a 7 or 8 night cruise would be ideal.

[VideoTech]

First of all, Galveston cruises (unless the ship is repositioning at the end of a season) are unlikely to go anywhere except Western Caribbean. It's simply a matter of how far they can travel and get back again in 5 or 7 days.

 

As to cruise lines, it really depends on what you're looking for. They all offer the same basic product, but each has a different kind of vibe. We would not willingly sail Carnival ever again, as the ships in the smaller ports like Galveston tend to be much older, and the cruise line has a deserved reputation as a "party" cruise line, which is not our thing. 

 

My DW recently completed a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Galveston and was very disappointed with Enchantment. We've cruised one or two of Royal's larger ships, and been happy with them, but she felt Enchantment simply was too old and run down, with few options for dining. Allure of the Seas will be cruising out of Galveston soon, and that ship is certainly new, up to date, and huge, with plenty of options for dining and entertainment. 

 

Beyond Carnival and Royal, I believe Disney sails out of Galveston. Very different style of cruising, oriented towards families and children. No casino if that's part of what you like on a cruise. 

 

You can go to New Orleans, which isn't that far away, and you add the choice of NCL. As you'll see by my sig, we are longtime NCL cruisers and really like their product. But again, you'll mostly have Western Caribbean itineraries. 

 

So, unless it's just out of the question, I would consider flying to a Florida port. This opens up the whole of the Caribbean itineraries to you, and adds several other cruise lines to the equation. For special cruise like you're planning, I'd suggest either an NCL ship in a Haven cabin, or perhaps a Celebrity ship in a suite. 

[ummgood]

18 minutes ago, VideoTech said:

First of all, Galveston cruises (unless the ship is repositioning at the end of a season) are unlikely to go anywhere except Western Caribbean. It's simply a matter of how far they can travel and get back again in 5 or 7 days.

 

As to cruise lines, it really depends on what you're looking for. They all offer the same basic product, but each has a different kind of vibe. We would not willingly sail Carnival ever again, as the ships in the smaller ports like Galveston tend to be much older, and the cruise line has a deserved reputation as a "party" cruise line, which is not our thing. 

 

My DW recently completed a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Galveston and was very disappointed with Enchantment. We've cruised one or two of Royal's larger ships, and been happy with them, but she felt Enchantment simply was too old and run down, with few options for dining. Allure of the Seas will be cruising out of Galveston soon, and that ship is certainly new, up to date, and huge, with plenty of options for dining and entertainment. 

 

Beyond Carnival and Royal, I believe Disney sails out of Galveston. Very different style of cruising, oriented towards families and children. No casino if that's part of what you like on a cruise. 

 

You can go to New Orleans, which isn't that far away, and you add the choice of NCL. As you'll see by my sig, we are longtime NCL cruisers and really like their product. But again, you'll mostly have Western Caribbean itineraries. 

 

So, unless it's just out of the question, I would consider flying to a Florida port. This opens up the whole of the Caribbean itineraries to you, and adds several other cruise lines to the equation. For special cruise like you're planning, I'd suggest either an NCL ship in a Haven cabin, or perhaps a Celebrity ship in a suite. 

 

Thanks so much for your input.  There are some newer Carnival ships sailing out of Galveston too.  We really prefer not to fly if possible.  We haven't sailed enough out of Galveston to exhaust all the ports yet.

Does anyone have any comments on a Carnival Havana Cabana room?  I might book one of those because it seems a little extra special for an anniversary cruise.

[ummgood]

I am currently booked on Carnival Vista in a Havana Cabana room just to lock that in.  It worked for our dates and seemed like a fun room category for our 20th.  The ports are different than we have done.  If something else better comes up we can always move the reservation.