Advice on Caribbean cruise

[Billy Baltic]

Its looking more likely that we're going to end up with FCC to be used next year. After an extensive search through the European itineraries for next year I've given up on them as either too expensive, too short, ship is too small / lacks facilities. We've only cruised in Europe and I'm clueless when it comes to US cruises. Since we're travelling from Ireland, we would be looking at 10 to 14 days either on a single cruise or b2b during June, July or August. To keep the kids entertained Voyager class ships or bigger would be preferred. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

[Biker19]

36 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

To keep the kids entertained Voyager class ships or bigger would be preferred. 

Kinda boring itineraries, but flights to NJ might be cheap to sail B2B on either Oasis or Freedom.

Edited May 11, 2020 by Biker19

[CK57]

Not that many 14 days cruises in Caribbean, so consider doing BTB.  One eastern Caribbean one western.  Great way to see most of it.  Check islands visited and that they match family goals.  You might be able to find both that go to CocoCay and or at least one with the other to Labadee.    Probably easier to fly to Miami than Orlando from Ireland, thus search ships departure from Miami.  

[Billy Baltic]

4 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Kinda boring itineraries, but flights to NJ might be cheap to sail B2B on either Oasis or Freedom.

Thanks for the suggestion. The only itineraries I’d find boring are multiple days at CocoCay. 

[firefly333]

Maybe a partial or full panama transit? 

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, Billy Baltic said:

Its looking more likely that we're going to end up with FCC to be used next year. After an extensive search through the European itineraries for next year I've given up on them as either too expensive, too short, ship is too small / lacks facilities. We've only cruised in Europe and I'm clueless when it comes to US cruises. Since we're travelling from Ireland, we would be looking at 10 to 14 days either on a single cruise or b2b during June, July or August. To keep the kids entertained Voyager class ships or bigger would be preferred. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

Harmony is on your side of the pond next summer and prices are pretty cheap.  A B2B in the Med with no airfare would be close or cheaper than the Caribbean. 

[Ourusualbeach]

10 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Maybe a partial or full panama transit? 

OP wants a Voyageur class ship as they have kids so that isn't an option

[lazydayz]

I love the Southern Caribbean and from South Florida, it is usually 8 to 10 nights.  We did this on the Adventure in January and it was lovely.  Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao are all great ports. You could add a few days in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. 

[Sobro]

Freedom Class is just stretched Voyager Class. I suggest you take B2B 7-night cruises on Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston, TX in 2021. They alternate itineraries, one week to Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Roatan, then the next week to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Falmouth Jamaica. You can tour the Mayan ruins on one visit to Cozumel and go to a beach resort the next.

 

As a bonus, you can tour the Johnson Space Center (aka Houston Control), which is a 40 minute drive from Galveston, with the kids on the front- or back-end of your cruises making a 16-day Holiday for your family.

[TravelerThom]

7 hours ago, lazydayz said:

I love the Southern Caribbean and from South Florida, it is usually 8 to 10 nights.  We did this on the Adventure in January and it was lovely.  Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao are all great ports....

I agree the ABC cruise (often with Labadee thrown in) is great. However OP was looking for June, July, August (presumably because of schedule conflicts the rest of the year). Who knows what will happen after the pandemic (or when “after” will be) but RCI normally pulls most of their ships out of the Caribbean from Spring through Autumn, sending them to the Med, Baltic, etc. OP also needs to aware that hurricane season starts in June and probability increases as the summer goes on. While chances that one will encounter a hurricane are relatively low, if one comes in you may end up with an entirely different itinerary than the one you booked. 

[TeDaKi]

13 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

Its looking more likely that we're going to end up with FCC to be used next year. After an extensive search through the European itineraries for next year I've given up on them as either too expensive, too short, ship is too small / lacks facilities. We've only cruised in Europe and I'm clueless when it comes to US cruises. Since we're travelling from Ireland, we would be looking at 10 to 14 days either on a single cruise or b2b during June, July or August. To keep the kids entertained Voyager class ships or bigger would be preferred. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

I'm from Ireland too!

For me, the Caribbean is too hot and humid during the summer months. Plus you have the hurricane season to worry about aswell. 

- Adventure OTS has some interesting 10/11 night itineraries up around the Baltic sailing from Copenhagen/Stockholm. 

- You have Harmony OTS doing the usual 7 night Western Med from Barcelona/Rome. 

- Anthem OTS has some 12/14 night sailings from Southampton to the Mediterranean and Canary Islands. 

- Odyssey OTS is doing 7 night cruises from Rome to Greece. 

- Did you ever consider Alaska? It's fabulous!!! Been there twice! Easy to get a flight from Ireland to Seattle or Vancouver. If you want larger ships, 2021 sees Quantum OTS and Ovation OTS sailing 7 night roundtrips from Seattle. 

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by TeDaKi

[alfaeric]

One quick question- what's the cheapest flight destination for you?  Miami/FLL (different airports), New York, or Houston?

 

I, too, would lean primarily to an Oasis class ship, and their B2Bs, and then second the Freedom classes- first the ones with amenities you family would want more than others (slides, shows, etc...).  Then down to the Voyager class ships- they have some of the cool stuff, but not all.

 

That being said, the Oasis and Allure prices had come down a lot in the last couple of years- not sure if that will maintain post shutdown or not.  But they will likely be some of the most important ships to start up- per passenger, they are among the cheapest to operate; and with high passenger counts, the profits because of that are high.  If there's any lingering slow down on ships, these will certainly be the ones starting the fastest.

[strathcona]

The three months in the Caribbean is extremely hot. But cruise prices are not any lower because school is out. Most Voyager, Oasis class I ve been on in August, had way too many children, mine included. Most of the ships are reposition elsewhere during the summer months as well. This will not be the case this year. One option is booking something else at this summer rate and lift and sail for next year. Even the Christmas rate are very low as well if you have holidays during that time. Don't know about airfare. Some of the seasoned travellers can comment on how low the rates are for this year, and how a lift and sail for next year is almost a bargain. Not commenting on whether sailing will happen this year but16-18 months from now, we should be back to normal. 

[GalwayGirl03]

My inlaws are in Ireland ( imported my husband to the states) and they once visited us in Philly in August and they will never ever come during the summer again!!!  They have cruised with us too and December is beautiful down in the Caribbean for them but I couldn't imagine them being able to handle the heat during the summer.  I think Harmony will be your best bet in the Med.  Good luck!!!!

[Billy Baltic]

21 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Harmony is on your side of the pond next summer and prices are pretty cheap.  A B2B in the Med with no airfare would be close or cheaper than the Caribbean. 

 

Thanks. I checked out Harmony. Its doing a standard 7 night route in the western Med. We did this on Oasis last year and have been to some of the ports multiple times so don't even bother getting off the ship. From here, pricing for a Med cruise is a lot more than a Caribbean cruise.

 

[Billy Baltic]

18 hours ago, lazydayz said:

I love the Southern Caribbean and from South Florida, it is usually 8 to 10 nights.  We did this on the Adventure in January and it was lovely.  Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao are all great ports. You could add a few days in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. 

 

I like the sound of this. Thank you. I'll check it out.

[Billy Baltic]

10 hours ago, Sobro said:

Freedom Class is just stretched Voyager Class. I suggest you take B2B 7-night cruises on Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston, TX in 2021. They alternate itineraries, one week to Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Roatan, then the next week to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Falmouth Jamaica. You can tour the Mayan ruins on one visit to Cozumel and go to a beach resort the next.

 

As a bonus, you can tour the Johnson Space Center (aka Houston Control), which is a 40 minute drive from Galveston, with the kids on the front- or back-end of your cruises making a 16-day Holiday for your family.

 

I'll definitely look into this. Thank you.

[Billy Baltic]

9 hours ago, TeDaKi said:

I'm from Ireland too!

For me, the Caribbean is too hot and humid during the summer months. Plus you have the hurricane season to worry about aswell. 

- Adventure OTS has some interesting 10/11 night itineraries up around the Baltic sailing from Copenhagen/Stockholm. 

- You have Harmony OTS doing the usual 7 night Western Med from Barcelona/Rome. 

- Anthem OTS has some 12/14 night sailings from Southampton to the Mediterranean and Canary Islands. 

- Odyssey OTS is doing 7 night cruises from Rome to Greece. 

- Did you ever consider Alaska? It's fabulous!!! Been there twice! Easy to get a flight from Ireland to Seattle or Vancouver. If you want larger ships, 2021 sees Quantum OTS and Ovation OTS sailing 7 night roundtrips from Seattle. 

 

 

Hi! Thanks for all your suggestions. 

I figured the Caribbean would be around the same temps as Eastern Med which we really like but hadn't thought of the humidity. 

- We've done a Baltic cruise. The ports were really interesting but the weather wasn't great - half the days were wet and there was only one day warm enough to use the pool deck. Not really fun for children. 

- Harmony is an option but we did the same route on Oasis last year. We've been to some of the ports many times so it was a good time to check out the ship ... but don't think we'd do it again.

- Anthem has some nice itineraries but very expensive. It's coming in around twice the price of the most expensive cruise we've done so far.

- Odyssey is the most tempting but again its very expensive and the dates of the longer cruises (9 night) don't work for us 

- Alaska is on the to-do list but the 10 hour flight would probably be too much for our kids ... the youngest is 5.

 

Out of curiosity, do you use a TA or book through RC? I've not been able to find a good Irish TA for cruising. 

[Billy Baltic]

8 hours ago, alfaeric said:

One quick question- what's the cheapest flight destination for you?  Miami/FLL (different airports), New York, or Houston?

 

They're all around the same price ..... for now. God knows what they'll be charging when this global lockdown lifts.

[Billy Baltic]

7 hours ago, strathcona said:

The three months in the Caribbean is extremely hot. But cruise prices are not any lower because school is out. Most Voyager, Oasis class I ve been on in August, had way too many children, mine included. Most of the ships are reposition elsewhere during the summer months as well. This will not be the case this year. One option is booking something else at this summer rate and lift and sail for next year. Even the Christmas rate are very low as well if you have holidays during that time. Don't know about airfare. Some of the seasoned travellers can comment on how low the rates are for this year, and how a lift and sail for next year is almost a bargain. Not commenting on whether sailing will happen this year but16-18 months from now, we should be back to normal. 

 

Thanks for the info. We would do early 2021 to get cooler temperatures but we're trying to give as much time as possible for cruising to get back to normal. That may not have happened by June / July 2021 but better chance than Feb / March 2021.

 

[TeDaKi]

15 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Out of curiosity, do you use a TA or book through RC? I've not been able to find a good Irish TA for cruising. 

 

I find it easier to book online directly with the cruise line. Irish TAs are usually more expensive.....I can never seem to get a good or better deal with them. 

I'm always envious when I read about people in the US getting brilliant deals and discounts. We just don't get them here which is a pity 😔 
 

[Billy Baltic]

1 hour ago, TeDaKi said:

 

I find it easier to book online directly with the cruise line. Irish TAs are usually more expensive.....I can never seem to get a good or better deal with them. 

I'm always envious when I read about people in the US getting brilliant deals and discounts. We just don't get them here which is a pity 😔 
 

Completely agree. The inability to reprice when it gets cheaper is frustrating too. 

[Jimbo]

5 nighter on Carnival Breeze and then a 7 nighter on Liberty of the Seas,, prices are low for both cruises.

• • Day 1: Galveston, Tx
  • Mon Aug 16 2021 | Depart 03:30 PM
• • Day 2: Fun Day At Sea
  • Tue Aug 17 2021 |
• • Day 3: Costa Maya, Mexico
  • Wed Aug 18 2021 | 01:00 PM To 08:00 PM
• • Day 4: Cozumel, Mexico
  • Thu Aug 19 2021 | 08:00 AM To 05:00 PM
• • Day 5: Fun Day At Sea
  • Fri Aug 20 2021 |
• • Day 6: Galveston, Tx
  • Sat Aug 21 2021 | Arrive 08:00 AM

• •  
•  

and then a 7 nighter on Liberty of the Seas

• • Day 1: Galveston - Texas
  • Sun Aug 22 2021 | Depart 04:00 PM
• • Day 2: Cruising
  • Mon Aug 23 2021
• • Day 3: Cozumel - Mexico
  • Tue Aug 24 2021 | 07:00 AM To 04:30 PM
• • Day 4: George Town - Grand Cayman
  • Wed Aug 25 2021 | 10:30 AM To 06:00 PM
• • Day 5: Falmouth - Jamaica
  • Thu Aug 26 2021 | 08:00 AM To 05:00 PM
• • Day 6: Cruising
  • Fri Aug 27 2021
• • Day 7: Cruising
  • Sat Aug 28 2021
• • Day 8: Galveston - Texas
  • Sun Aug 29 2021 | Arrive 06:30 AM

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Jimbo

[zekekelso]

If you are looking for "interesting" ports in the Caribbean, the Southern route is best (IMO). As of now (who knows what the future holds) the Freedom does 7-day sailings out of San Juan.