wrote:
We decided to buy our first cruise:
place - Caribbean, time - December, we found too many nice cruises and
now we are confused what is the best for us? We need some help....

We have three types:
1) 7-night Caribbean-Western - from Miami with Royal Caribbean -
Voyager of the Seas
- Labadee, Haiti
- Ocho Rios, Jamaica
- Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
- Cozumel

2) 8-night Caribbean-Eastern - from Fort Lauderdale with Royal
Caribbean - Radiance of the Seas
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda
- Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- St. Martin - Sint Maarten
- Nassau, Bahamas

3) 10-night Caribbean-Ultimate - from Tampa with Celebrity Cruises -
Zenith
- George Town, Grand Cayman
- Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
- Colon, Panama
- Roatan (Isla Roatan), Bay Islands, Honduras
- Cozumel, Mexico

We have a lot of questions, we are under 30, we would like to see a
lot, we like snorkeling, exotic places, good fun etc. It will be our
honeymoon, but we want to spend it in active way. We don't want to
spend all day on the beach.
Do You think 1st cruise for 10 nights isn't too long for first timers??
Is it better to take 7 nights?
Is it big diffrence between these lines ( royal and celebrity ) ? Is it
really bad to stay at interior room or it's better to pay a little bit
more for oceanview? what we should know about additional charges? Is
some lines better for "young" people? ( beside disney's ship )? What
about shore excursions? Have You tried something? What can You
recomend? Is it better to organize our time by ourselves or buy some
excursions? We would love to hear everything what You know, every
suggestion, specialy from people who tried one of those cruises.
It's our first time and we would like to know everything before we book
the cruise
Thank You soooooo much

Eve

Hi Eve,

The interent is great for looking but you end up with information
overload. Ok, first off. If you want to be active most everyday then
book out of San Juan. The ships from San Juan typically are in port
more often. This will keep you busy. If you want more sea days book a
cruise out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale etc. I suggest you stay with a
7-day honeymoon cruise. Typically you will find a younger crowd on
Carnival but every sailing date can be a different mix of ages and
people. There are a lot of factors that can effect the sailing.

Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity. Celebrity tends to be more queit than
Royal Caribbean. Your mass market cruise lines are NCL, RCL and
Carnival. Your premium cruise lines are Holland America, Princess and
Celebrity. Food tends to be a little better on premium cruise lines.

I suggest you pick a budget, pick the destination that appeals to you
the most, pick a ship and sail for 7 days. As far as the stateroom you
can go two ways. One it sounds like you will not be in the room very
much so an inside might work. The problem is it is your honeymoon and
if you want to enhance your experience then book an oceanview or
balcony. This will add life to your room and experience.

Shore excursions-- You can pick up taxis etc depending on the port of
calls. Make sure you negotiate price up front with a clear
understanding of what you want and expect from you tour. Make sure you
will be back at the ship in time. (very important the ship will leave
with out you. Booking a shore excursion with the cruise line
eliminates this problem. It easy but will probably cost more and you do
not have as much flexibility.

The Captian
www.theluxuryships.com