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First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions



 
 
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  #11  
Old November 3rd, 2006, 07:17 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Warren[_1_]
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Posts: 476
Default First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions


Tom K wrote:
If you look at Celebrity, the advantages it has over Royal Caribbean are the
better food and more relaxing type experience. More elegant. More chic.
More pampering.


Tom,

This past year I've done a crossing on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the
Seas and Alaska on Celebrity's Mercury. This was my re-introduction to
both lines after 10 and 7 years respectively. The two products - at
least on these two similarly sized and vintaged ships - are, IMHO,
completely indistinguishable down to the china and flatware used in the
dining room.

Warren

  #12  
Old November 3rd, 2006, 05:55 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Warren[_1_]
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Posts: 476
Default First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions

ZombyWoof wrote:
I've been to Haiti and there is a real good reason people risk their
lives at sea trying to get here.


Labadee is RCI's private enclave in a remote corner of Haiti. It's
mainly tropical beaches surrounded by mountains. Most people have no
idea they are even in Haiti when they stop at Labadee.

Warren

  #13  
Old November 3rd, 2006, 06:15 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Brian K[_1_]
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Posts: 712
Default First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions

On 11/2/2006 4:29 PM plucked Senior Frog's
Magic Twanger and said:
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


Eve,

While everyone here will have different opinions about this...I can
suggest two things. Get some travel books from your local library.
Read up on the different islands and what they have to offer. Also,
Google "Adventure Travel", and / or "Adventure Cruising". That seems to
be the kind of trip that interests you. Rather than a large cruise
ship, you might want to look into sail driven cruises. Luxury sail ships
have a much lower draft and can get into ports in accessible to the big
ships. Excursions are more individualized when the number of passengers
is in the hundreds rather than thousands.

You may benefit from contacting a Travel Agent who is a full service
agent specializing in cruising. Note: By this I don't mean a cruise
consolidator. Rather, I am talking about the kind of agent who will
listen to *you* and will craft some cruise options based on your needs.
Also check into Cruise Critic on line which features reviews of the
various ships and cruise lines.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page:
http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951
  #14  
Old November 3rd, 2006, 11:06 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Charles[_1_]
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Posts: 3,112
Default First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions

In article , ZombyWoof
wrote:

I've been to Haiti and there is a real good reason people risk their
lives at sea trying to get here. Not something you want to see while
on a romantic getaway, pretty much samething can be said about the
poverty of Jamaica as well.


Labadee is RCI's "private island" (okay it is not an island) but it is
a walled off from Haiti so don't see anything of Haiti except for a
craft market. It is a beach day with beautiful beaches and scenery and
a BBQ supplied by RCI.

--
Charles
  #15  
Old November 3rd, 2006, 11:33 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
RICK DAVIS
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Posts: 208
Default First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions

Hi Eve, I would suggest Royal C. over Celebrity. Many reasons but
mostly being your first cruise Voyager and Radiance class ships are very
very smooth. You will hardly ever feel the ship move. The Zenith is a
very old ship. Nothing wrong with older ships its just you will enjoy
Voyager or Radiance more. If you can swing it get a balcony cabin. Be
warned: YOU WILL BE SPOILED AFTER THIS. You will want nothing else in
the future. But it is your Honeymoon. Any other cabin you get will be
fine. You have nothing else to compare it to so you'll be happy.

I've taken 20 cruises and 10 nights is just about the perfect length for
a cruise. 1 week flys by and 8 days is nice but 10 is best. I would
suggest if you take the 7 or 8 day cruise and you have the time take a
few extra days on your return to spend in florida. You will be so happy
you did. While your going to enjoy your cruise you will be exhausted
when you get off the ship. Being this is your first cruise you will try
to do everything thats offered. You will be up early in the morning for
your arrival into each port and you will be up late at night (casino,
disco, hanging with new friends). The day you get off the ship is also
a very early morning so no sleeping in. Trust me....take the extra time
to just sleep and relax after your cruise.

As far as ships tours I never take them. I always do my own thing. But
my comfort level is high because I've been to all the ports many times.
The average snorkelling price on a ships tour is between $25-$35 (and
up) per person. So you and your new husband will pay between $50-$75
(and up) just for a 3 hour snorkel tour. Where you can do snorkelling
yourself for $0 to $10 (taxi) for both of you for example. The ships
tours are very expensive but they lead you by the hand. So its really
all about your comfort level and expendable money.

Extra $$ costs: Tipping, Mixed Drinks (wine & beer packages), Casino,
Spa, Bingo, Photos, Ships Stores (Duty Free Shopping), Ships Tours,
Extra Charge Dining, Laundry, Room Service Tippin Dollars, Art Auction.
It can get pretty expensive if you want to do it all. Have I forgotten
anything?

Anymore questions just ask.

Rick

  #16  
Old November 3rd, 2006, 11:49 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
G&G
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Posts: 66
Default First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions

It won't really matter which one you go on. All these ports are overcrowded
when the cruise ships arrive, all sell cheap t-shirts, etc. You won't be
able to tell which island you are visiting. Too touristy.
G
wrote in message
oups.com...
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



  #17  
Old November 4th, 2006, 12:02 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Warren[_1_]
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Posts: 476
Default First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions


RICK DAVIS wrote:
The Zenith is a
very old ship. Nothing wrong with older ships its just you will enjoy
Voyager or Radiance more.


Voyager's construction started roughly only 5 years after Zenith's
debut. If Zenith is "very old" then Voyager must be considered "old."

just saying...

(I agree about the OP probably enjoying Voyager or Radiance more)

Warren

  #18  
Old November 4th, 2006, 12:23 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
RICK DAVIS
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Posts: 208
Default First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions

Warren, Zenith is 14.5 years old. I consider that old.

  #19  
Old November 4th, 2006, 01:22 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Von Fourche
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Posts: 66
Default First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions


wrote in message
oups.com...
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....




There's no doubt that BIG ships are in flavor. You can't go wrong on a
Voyager class ship. I was on a seven nighter on the Mariner of the Seas, a
sister ship of the Voyager. Mariner was amazing.

As others have said, a ten nighter may attract an older crowd. Seven
nights sound perfect, especially since this is your first cruise.

As for balcony/window/inside cabin. When I was planning to go on my
first cruise (the Mariner of the Seas) I asked if I should get a balcony or
not. The best advice I got here was - there is so much to do on these big
ships that you don't really spend much time in your cabin, so you probably
wont miss a balcony. However, since this was my first cruise I decided to
get the balcony. I will say it was nice having the balcony. But we did not
spend much time out on it.
Since this is your honeymoon and first cruise I was say shoot for the
balcony but you really wont miss it if you get a window only room.


  #20  
Old November 4th, 2006, 03:57 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Tom K
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Posts: 2,578
Default First cruise - CARIBBEAN - questions


"Warren" wrote in message
ups.com...

Tom K wrote:
If you look at Celebrity, the advantages it has over Royal Caribbean are
the
better food and more relaxing type experience. More elegant. More chic.
More pampering.


Tom,

This past year I've done a crossing on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the
Seas and Alaska on Celebrity's Mercury. This was my re-introduction to
both lines after 10 and 7 years respectively. The two products - at
least on these two similarly sized and vintaged ships - are, IMHO,
completely indistinguishable down to the china and flatware used in the
dining room.

Warren


Having done Navigator, Jewel and Mariner OTS the past 3 Decembers with the
Viking gang, I can honestly say that RCI food is pretty much below my
minimum level. Your Legend sailing may be an exception... but to me, RCI
food isn't close to Celebrity food, other than the night that Celebrity has
the stupid lamb shank. Over that same period that I've gone with the Viking
gang, I've done 3 Connie sailings, 4 Zenith sailings and 1 Century sailing.
So I think I have a decent point of comparison.

I've simply nibbled-without finishing too many RCI dinners over the past 3
years to consider the food up to Celebrity's standards. It gets to the
point where I don't even bother asking the waiter for something different...
And I won't even bother with RCI's fish of any kind. The hake and congrio
fish on Celebrity are excellent. Salmon is lousy (over cooked and bone dry)
on both. And the desserts on RCI are so bad. The only good dessert I've
had on RCI the past 3 years was the exceptional apple pie that they serve in
Johnny Rockets. Now I'm not saying all the Celebrity meals are top notch.
They're not. But I get a lot more good meals on Celebrity than on RCI.
Though it may help that I know what to pick on Celebrity based on
experience.

To me, Celebrity and RCI aren't even remotely close in terms of food.
Though maybe I'm just pickier than other. I know that a lot of the RCI
meals that I just picked at, others at the table devoured to the last drop.
They're sending back clean plates, and I'm sending back most of the meal.
So maybe I'm more fussy.

--Tom


 




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