Spending Bonuses on Cruises

MommyLiberty5013 · December 2015

Right now there are some spending bonus incentives to booking a cruise by 1/3. DH and I are looking to getting away in January. And, a cruise seems like a nice idea. Some of these cruises are offering $750 in spending bonuses to book STAT. Do any of you have experiences with those bonuses?

Also, we're thinking Caribbean. Do any of you have any recs for where to go (or avoid)?

vlagrl29 · December 2015

I don't do cruises but regarding caribbean - st lucia is pretty awesome

AprilZ81 · December 2015

Is the bonus with the cruise line itself? Most of the time the "spending bonus" is done as on board credit and/or "free" cabin upgrades. The on board spending credit is used as free money and can be used on any thing you can buy on the ship (drinks, spa treatments, shopping, fee based restaurant meals, shore excursions, etc.). Most of the time unused on board credit given by the cruise line is NOT refundable if it isn't used, so read the fine print and take advantage of the extra spending to buy/do something you normally wouldn't.

I've cruised Carnival (okay) and Royal Caribbean (my favorite) but most lines are "good" as long as you go in with manageable expectations.

Generally speaking the longer the cruise the fewer children on board and if you want to avoid hoards of kids avoid cruising during spring break times (mid-March to mid-April especially) and during the summer.

The eastern Caribbean is more commercialized but has beautiful beaches and great shopping. Itineraries usually include St. Thomas, St. Marten and usually a third stop that might be Nassau, Turks & Caicos or a private island owned by the cruise line. This is a great trip to relax and see beautiful islands. Snorkeling is "okay" but not great.

The Western Caribbean is a little more geared towards adventure and with the exception of Grand Cayman the beaches are more hit or miss unless you pay for a day pass at a resort. Typical stops are Jamaica (Ocho Rios, Falmouth or Montego Bay depending), Grand Cayman and usually a stop in Mexico (Cozumel is the most popular). There are more diving and snorkel opportunities, you can swim with sting rays (so much fun!!!), climb waterfalls and go zip lining.

There are some itineraries that go down to Roatan, Honduras and Belize City, Belize. They usually leave out of Galveston or New Orleans. Both of these ports are very poor but beautiful islands. Again, more adventure based excursions than beautiful beaches.

My personal favorite is the Southern Caribbean routes that leave out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Itineraries vary, but one itinerary usually has St. Thomas, St. Lucia, Barbados and two other stops and only one day at sea. The other itinerary will go to Aruba and Caraco (spelling?). The Barbados route is beautiful. The islands are a good mix of commercial and natural with beautiful beaches, volcanic islands (St. Lucia looks like Hawaii) and you can have both adventure and relaxation.

January is a great time to cruise. If you leave from the mainland US the first day or day and a half might be a little chilly depending on the weather, but once you get into the Caribbean the weather warms right up. We are actually cruising on Carnival at the beginning of February.

Let me know if you have any specific questions!

Xstatic3333 · December 2015

Not a big cruiser, but I can speak to my favorite Carribbean islands. By far my #1 is Bonaire. Beautiful nature, great culture, and pretty safe. Parrots and hummingbirds everywhere. #1 snorkeling destination, likely in the world but definitely in the Atlantic. Some cruises go here, but more go to Curaçao, which is supposedly similar but a bit more built up. Aruba is also part of this chain, and I've only heard great things. These islands are also big for windsurfing.

Puerto Rico I liked a lot and would go to again. San Juan is a friendly, modern city with great history, food, and culture. El Junque is a beautiful rainforest national park that makes a great day trip/excursion.

The DR is not someplace I'll likely return to. Tourists are kept very separate from the actual residents, which makes me feel weird and uneasy.

Nassau and Grand Bahama are so-so. They are wonderful for diving, but topside felt very touristy and overrun with Americans. If your cruise stops there I'd encourage you to see the underwater world, whether by diving, snorkeling, or glass bottom boat, and skip the shopping or drinking-type excursions.

Among my diving friends, Grand Cayman and Cozumel are both also very popular. I'd love to get to them, but will probably just keep going to Bonaire.

AprilZ81 · December 2015

Oh, Jamaica is one of my least favorite stops. My favorite(s) are Barbados, Grand Cayman and St. Lucia.

hoffse · December 2015

I would do southern caribbean if you can swing it. El Yunque (in PR) is the only rainforest in US territory. The old town with the forts is actually on the world heritage list, and the list for the US is pretty short for the size of our country.

You are less likely to have hoards of kids because the flight is a little longer to PR and you cannot drive.

RC is a nice line. Princess and Celebrity are higher end but an older crowd. For a getaway that could be a good thing though. Carnival is the cheapest, so it's the cruise line that tends to attract big families and college kids on spring break. Spring break cruises are a huge thing for southern colleges, so I would avoid that time of year or pick a different line.

Spending bonuses are ok, but read the fine print and make sure you don't end up spending more "real" money than you otherwise would just to use the credits.

als1982 · December 2015

We like the flexibility of Norweigian - any time dining and no formal nights. The ship and cabins on Celebrity are the nicest. Disney is hands down the most amazing - nice rooms, great dining, lots of adult only areas, and amazing amenities. Royal Caribbean is a good value but definitely not our top choice.

On board credit is nice, but free drink packages, paid tips and free excursions could be better depending on your preferences. I will say on our last Norweigan we did have a small credit ($200) which they did count toward the daily required tips - I wasn't sure they would do that and if it could only be used on stuff or spa treatments, so that was nice. I'm not sure if all lines do that though!

We've only done two short Caribbean cruises both out of Cape Canaveral - one Disney to Nassau and their private island (amazing!) and a Norweigian to Nassau, St. Thomas and Tortola (BVI). They were all okay - we just primarily hit the beaches and probably liked Tortola the best.

hoffse · December 2015

I'll second the idea that Disney could be the best line out there. I haven't cruised them, but somebody I work with cruises 2x per year and also says they are easily the best - she says they are better than Regent, Oceania, or any of the other ultra luxury lines (she has cruised all of them). They didn't try Disney until they had a kid, but they have since cruised Disney without their kid for a major anniversary because they liked it so much.

jessica490 · December 2015

Royal Caribbean is my favorite cruise line that I won't even try anything else. I've been on Celebrity and didn't like it. I like the eastern and southern Caribbean islands and western is my least favorite. AprilZ gave the stops above.

bmo88 · December 2015

We did a 7 day Carnival Cruise from Puerto Rico for our honeymoon during the fall and loved it. We went to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Marteen. Our favorites in order were: St. Lucia (zip lined through the rain forest), Barbados (catamaran and snorkeling) and St. Marteen (beach). The other stops were very commercialized. We also spent three days in PR and loved it. We went to El Moro (old fort) and old town in San Juan, the beaches and the Bacardi distillery. We then rented a car to visit El Yunque and smaller towns. I am fluent in Spanish so I was confortable exploring. Keep in mind, though a US protectorate, a lot of Puerto Ricans don't speak Enlgish outside of San Juan or tourist areas. We also went last minute with Carnival last September because they had a $130 pp promo for 5 nights that went to Nassau, Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk. It was really fun as well. Both times we went, there were hardly any children. We liked the ship entertainment, activities and food. It was not super fancy, but was still fun and felt relaxing. Our favorite thing to do was to go to the ship's comedy club every night for the live show.

cbee817 · December 2015

We cruised with Disney (Bahamas and their private island) and Norweigian (Hawaii). Both were really nice ships- we always book balcony rooms so they're more spacious and have a private view. DH would usually get us breakfast in the morning and bring it back to the room so we could relax and eat on the balcony. We ended up doing a lot of the excursions in Hawaii because we were stopped for 1 day and then moved onto the next city each night. It was a little pricey, but it was our official honeymoon trip (over 1 year after we got married) and we figured we would probably only go back one more time if we can (to take our girls when they're older). The Disney cruise stopped in Nassau- I didn't really care for it, but their private island was awesome.. the beaches were really nice, DH went snorkeling- it was a very relaxing.

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