Please help me make a decision

[nevis92]

I can't decide between three cruises leaving Ft. Lauderdale on March 16, 2008. We are in our early 40's and our kids are 10 and 12. Price is pretty comparable on all three and have been to most of the islands on all three itineraries so that isn't a factor. I will post on all three boards and I need honest opinions. You can see who we've sailed with to give you an idea of what we are used to.

 

The three cruises are:

 

1. Princess-Grand Princess

2. Holland America-Westerdam

3. Celebrity-Millenium

 

I booked the flights so we have to pick from one of the three. I'd appreciate any help.

 

Thanks!

[nevis92]

I meant to put Caribbean Princess on my list and not Grand Princess.

[PA Blonde]

we've found that the service provided onCelebrity is superior to that on Princess....

pablonde

[TWELVEOHONE]

You and your kids are much too young for Holland America.

The service on Princess has gone down over the past few years/

 

My vote is Celebrity

[Sea Island Lady]

My adult children (two were teens when we cruised) loved the Millie ship and still claim it was their best cruise outside the Carnival Glory! Mom, Dad and grandparents hated the Glory. :rolleyes:

 

With children the age of yours, I would go with the Caribbean Princess if this is a cruise for them. The CB has a large outdoor movie screen and I would think many more children would be cruising on her for spring break (that could be a good thing or bad thing.) :D

 

We had great service on the Coral Princess and loved the ship. The CB is larger.

 

I agree that the Westerdam would not be too much fun for the kids.

[nevis92]

Of the several cruises my children have been on, they enjoyed the kid's program on Galaxy most. There were not a lot of kids on the cruise but just enough for them. I find when there are large groups of kids, they tend to get unruly. The group of children on Galaxy last year got a lot of individual attention from the staff and didn't run crazy around the ship.

 

That is why I am reluctant to try Princess.

[Sea Island Lady]

Good point!

 

When my children were younger teens, we took a late season Disney cruise, and there were so few teens that many events were cancelled. :( So, they ended up hanging out around the ship, instead of in supervised programs.

[Coreopsis]

Of the several cruises my children have been on, they enjoyed the kid's program on Galaxy most. There were not a lot of kids on the cruise but just enough for them. I find when there are large groups of kids, they tend to get unruly. The group of children on Galaxy last year got a lot of individual attention from the staff and didn't run crazy around the ship.

 

That is why I am reluctant to try Princess.

Well, you've got a fun choice to make.

 

Since you've sailed the HAL ship - I would try something new (unless you loved that experience.) We sailed HAL and found the average age of passengers to be too old (or maybe we thought we were too young!) As a result, we felt the food and entertainment also was geared to older audience. It wasn't for us (yet anyway!)

 

Since you are reluctant to do Princess - that just leaves the Millie. We have sailed her - beautiful ship. We didn't take our kids on that trip, but they have sailed Celebrity Mercury and they loved the food and being totally pampered in the dining room (my son was in love with the breadsticks and on the last night - they brought a huge amount for him!) They also liked having the same waiter each night and the fact that they knew all their preferences. My daughter is a choc-o-holic and loved that they would make something special for her if there wasn't something chocolate enough on the menu. They were both teenagers (or almost) and they liked 2nd seating to be away from the younger kids. (1st seating had too many toddlers and seniors.) Anyway, I think our dining experience was a highlight.

 

Have you looked at where you can get cabins on these ships? If you can snag an aft balcony or some configuration (FV) that gives you more room - that might make your cruise even more enjoyable. Maybe leave it to cabin selection?

 

Good luck with your selection!

[chessbriar]

Try Millennium, it's a step up from your cruise on Galaxy

[Sky Sweet]

I can't decide between three cruises leaving Ft. Lauderdale on March 16, 2008. We are in our early 40's and our kids are 10 and 12. Price is pretty comparable on all three and have been to most of the islands on all three itineraries so that isn't a factor. I will post on all three boards and I need honest opinions. You can see who we've sailed with to give you an idea of what we are used to.

 

The three cruises are:

 

1. Princess-Grand Princess

2. Holland America-Westerdam

3. Celebrity-Millennium

 

I booked the flights so we have to pick from one of the three. I'd appreciate any help.

 

Thanks!

 

I have never been on Princess, but have been on Celebrity's Millennium and Holland America's Westerdam.

 

Westerdam has nicer cabins, is in better condition, and has a much better buffet. It also has a better disembarkation procedure and an amazing private island.

 

Millennium has a better specialty restaurant and better service in the main dining room.

 

Holland America has a reputation for having an older demographic, but that wasn't the case when we sailed on it during Thanksgiving week. At that time there were 150 children and more younger adults than I have ever seen on a Celebrity Cruise. My daughter, who was in her twenties, and her husband did not think most of the passengers were old.

 

Based on my experience, Celebrity has a younger passenger base in Europe and Alaska but its demographic on Caribbean often make this baby boomer feel like the youngest person on the ship.

 

I would choose Westerdam over Millennium, but it is a matter of personal preference.

[nevis92]

Sky Sweet,

 

I agree with your points about the different ships. Thanks so much for your input.

 

As I mentioned, I posted my original question on all three cruiseline's boards and have found the Princess folks to be most enthusiastic about Princess. Maybe because it is such a large cruiseline, it has a more active board.

 

Anyway, as I'm torn between the three ships for March 16, I know there is no bad choice. Here is where my thought process is right now:

 

Westerdam: We've cruised aboard her before and that's a positive and a negative as you can see by my signature, I like to try different lines. But familiarity means I know what I'm getting and it is a safe choice. Slight negative is that the children's program ranks third of the three choices. Strong positive is that week's itinerary; Half Moon Cay, (THE BEST!), Aruba and Curacao. Very appealling itinerary for me.

 

Millenium: Best service ever last year on Galaxy so I would expect the same. Also the best food of all our cruises to date with the exception of the Lido Buffet on Westerdam. I'm curious about the M class ships and it looks stunning. LOVE SUSHI. The week's itinerary is my least favorite of the three although I would love to see Labadee as it's been 15 years since my last visit there.

 

Princess: Big Ship with over 3k people scares the daylights out of me! I hate crowds and hate shopping malls and my perception is that it is one big floating shopping mall full of overfed people. (I could be way off base here but it is my perception). No question it has a great kid's program so that is a big plus. Decent itinerary and I have never been to Princess Cays.

 

Oh, poor me, my life is so stressful that I have this tough decision to make.

[Kaboochi]

We have never been on princess or holland but our friends have and they have said Princess was good for kids but Holland does not cater to children. We sail RC, Celeb and Costa. Celeb has an absolutely fantastic kids club (morning through afternoon and night time activities). You can have an adult dinner while the chidren have a great time with new friends, then enjoy the evening activities before putting them to bed. My daughters loved it. The ship service is great, and the entire experience is fantastic. Go with Celeb, that's my vote. Laurie

[Destin dreamer]

We took our son on the Caribbean Princess, which we all loved. Lots of fun things to do together as a family and the waiters were great with our son. They entertained him and made him feel very special. I am shocked to see that that ship holds around 3000. We never felt crowded and we had a great time. My husband and I leave this week to sail on Millie. We decided this ship looks like a nice cruise for couples!! We are looking forward to enjoying the spa etc. We took our son on a Disney 3 day cruise in October out of guilt of not taking him on this trip!!!!!!!!!(Just kidding- that cruise was also great and I would recommend it if you haven't sailed with Disney). I will be glad to let you know next week when we return how I felt the Millie would be for children!

We have planned another cruise next year on Princess with him but this could change if I see that celebrity is a good fit for children.