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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Dream Cruise!
I have always wanted to go on a cruise. For Christmas my husband gave me my dream cruise for January 2013. I need to decide where and for how long I would like to go. At first we were think a 2 week Caribean cruise but now we are thinking that 2 weeks might be too long for our first cruise and a 1 week cruise with an extra week either before or after at a destination close to the cruise port might be better. What are your opinions?
Also where on the boat should we stay and what type of room? Our budget is moderate. We do not drink so that brings our costs down but my husband is 6'4" and needs some room. We are thinking we definitely would like a balcony.
Re: Dream Cruise!
Yay for cruises! I love cruising, but I have never split time between a port and a cruise, so I can't help with that question. In my humble opinion, the longer the cruise, the better!
If you think you will have any problems with motion sickness, try for the middle of the boat, the lower deck, the better. Though, I have some trouble with this and stayed in an aft cabin one time and felt fine. Always be prepared for motion sickness either way though! Bring bonine, the wristbands, whatever works for you. I had never experienced motion sickness before and got hit with it on my honeymoon. I wasn't prepared
The type of room totally depends on your tastes and budget. My husband and I normally choose balconies for warm climates and interior rooms (to save money) for colder climates - we are in an interior cabin for our Baltic cruise in May. Also, consider how much time you will spend in the room. My husband and I can be homebodies and we enjoy quiet time in our room, so we chose balcony cabins for that reason. For out Baltic cruise, it will be very port intensive and, considering the difference in price, we chose an interior room.
Best of luck planning!
Cruises go lots of places. What are you interested in? Do you like history & ports -- try a Med cruise. Do you like the beach? Try a carribean cruise. Do you simply want to experiece the ship -- try a transatlantic trip.
I think a 2 week cruise for your 1st one might be too much in case you hate it. I'd take a regular cruise then add time on before & after. It's always a good idea to arrive in your port city at least the day before you sail in case there are problems with the flights.
Mid-ship / mid deck offers the least motion if you think sea sickness will be a consideration. Balcony cabins are always higher up.
Check out www.cruisecritic.com. They will answer Qs you didn't even know you had.
Very exciting! I agree with your reasoning in that a 2-week cruise might be a little long for your first. A 7-day or 10-day is a good way to start.
Most Caribbean cruises start and end at the same port, so that one city would be your option for the extra week on land. If you leave from Florida (most ports are there), you have many options. Port Canaveral is close to Orlando (Disney, Universal, etc). Port of Miami-Dade is in Miami, so you could explore there or even drive down to the Keys. Port Everglades isn't too far from Miami either. And the Tampa Port Authority in Tampa is near the Gulf of Mexico beaches. I don't know much about other ports (I'm from FL and we always left from the ones I mentioned), but it's worth looking into to decide which cruise to take.
For where you should stay on the boat... prices vary by deck (lower = less expensive) and cabin type (inside = cheapest, balcony = most expensive). My family always tried to stay near mid-ship (so not too far forward or aft) because you usually have less walking to do from the common areas (pools, casino, dining rooms). But I've stayed all over the ship and to be honest, it doesn't matter much if you're not planning to be too long in your room. (And you shouldn't! So much to do!
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Good luck planning! I also recommend checking out the CruiseCritic.com boards. You can find info on ports, ships, excursions... whatever you want. It might also be beneficial to talk to a travel agent specializing in cruises.
This was what I was going to suggest! DH has been on 7 cruises, and I've been on 3 and we both agree hands down that our favorite cruise was the southern caribbean cruise out of San Juan. Especially since you're looking to extend your trip by staying in the departure port, you could fly in a few days early and spend a few nights in San Juan, and then spend a few more nights when you get back so you don't feel rushed before or after your cruise.
We went on Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas and stopped in Aruba, Curacao, Dominica, and St. Thomas. We want try out their alternate itinerary which stops in Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, Antigua, and St. Croix. My aunt and uncle love that cruise so much that not only have they done both itineraries, but they also went back and did them all over again back to back. I think the Carnival Victory and a Celebrity ship are also stationed out of San Juan and do similar itineraries. If you wanted to compare different cruise lines.
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We did one very similar to yours! We were on Adventure and stopped in Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten, St. Thomas. It was really fun!
I've done 2 different cruises out of PR, on two different lines. If I had the time you have, I'd probably choose a 10 day itinerary that gets over to the ABC islands, just b/c I've wanted to go there for awhile. And then you could add 4 days in PR which is a lovely destination in itself.
If you can afford it, for a caribbean cruise, I definitely think a balcony is worthwhile. I took H on his first cruise a couple years ago, and my grandparents thought the balcony was so worth it they actually paid for our upgrade. I think H loved every moment on that balcony.
As far as which itinerary/line you choose, that's mostly going to be up to personal preference. They're all both similar enough you really can't go wrong while being unique enough to be able to have a preference.
DH and I just got back from a Southern Caribbean cruise with Royal Caribbean that left out of PR... Ports included- Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Thomas and St. Croix. I would HIGHLY recommend this cruise for your first one!
I love itineraries that make me spend the
least time on the boat. DH wins with the boat thing, and I win with the
packed itinerary thing...
I get sea sick, so I also would recommend a balcony room (which we did not do on our first cruise), and to go to the dr. before hand and get the motion sickness patch. I didn't have these on our first cruise and I was really ill. It's so much better to spend a few dollars to be over prepared than to spend your dream vacation getting sick!Cruising out of San Juan is my favorite.
If you go before & after you will save a ton on airfare. Tuesday, Wednesday flights are cheap but the prices go way up for the weekends.
B/c you said you like history, try to find a cruise that goes to St. Kitts. The fort there is incredible. The fort in San Juan is pretty cool too. St. Lucia is the most lush of the islands. If you get to Greneda, check www.cruisecritic.com ports of call board & book a private tour with Mandoo; he's amazing. You will learn not only the history but the current socialiogy.
I vote for a week-long Southern Caribbean cruise, but make sure you get a balcony cabin. We loved having our balcony, I can't see cruising w/o one
This past January we did a Southern Caribbean Cruise out of San Juan on the Caribbean Princess. The boat was beautfiul, it was my first cruise, and as others have said, I would get a balcony! It was wonderful to wake up in the morning and go right outside and watch the ocean at night in our room.
Our spots included: St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, Dominica, and Barbados. We enjoyed all of the islands and would recommend them. Seven days was a perfect amount of cruising for it being my first time. Also, I enjoyed how our cruise was very port intensive. I didn't feel the greatest on the one day at sea because it is a lot of motion for a whole day. Our ship was cruising always at night, so it was perfect!!
Thanks to all who answered. We have put the cruise off till 2014 now though because there was a large deposit of timeshares in Interval International yesterday and we got 3 weeks in a 2 bedroon condo at the Westin Ka'anapali in Maui for January 2013.
We got married in Maui this February and hadn't planned on going back quite so soon but could not resist when this fell into our laps. Those of you with timeshares know oppurtunities like this do not come very often.
We will definitely be doing the San Juan - Southern Caribbean cruise in with a balcony for sure after all the recommendations!