Newbie--Where to Find Information

My wife and I are thinking of going on a short (3-4 night)
Caribbean cruise over Christmas. Neither of us has ever been on a
cruise before, and, frankly, I don't know where to start looking.
I haven't been able to find anything other than travel agents and
cruise company sites.

Could someone suggest a site that compares and contrasts the
various cruise lines, their ships, entertainment, ambiance and
prices? Suggestions are also welcome. We're in our early 40's,
aren't huge party animals, and like sun and good food.

Thanks!

--
Brett

"Brett Weiss" wrote in message
...
My wife and I are thinking of going on a short (3-4 night)
Caribbean cruise over Christmas. Neither of us has ever been on a
cruise before, and, frankly, I don't know where to start looking.
I haven't been able to find anything other than travel agents and
cruise company sites.

Could someone suggest a site that compares and contrasts the
various cruise lines, their ships, entertainment, ambiance and
prices? Suggestions are also welcome. We're in our early 40's,
aren't huge party animals, and like sun and good food.

Thanks!

--
Brett

Brett, I just came back from my first cruise, and can offer you some of the
information I retrieved to prepare myself for that cruise (which was the
Carnival Conquest to the Caribbean).

MSNBC (www.msnbc.com) has a travel encylopedia on cruises in its travel
section from Arthur Frommer. There are helpful articles on getting a
background on cruises.

There is a web site that will let you look at the different ships so you can
see how the rooms and facilities compare, in a 360 degree view. That site is
located at www.virtualtoursusa.com/galleyships.htm .

Cruise critic (www.cruisecritic.com ) is a site that has reviews from guests
on various cruise ships. The reviews sometimes tend to be negative, however,
so don't be overly concerned if someone says that a cruise ship was not good
because the cigars were not as good on that cruise ship as on another cruise
ship (an actual complaint).

There is a site that will help you get some information on the caribbean
ports, www.caribbeanportreviews.com , that I found helpful.

I cruised on Carnival, which has a reputation for fun, and even if you, as
you say, are not party animals, you will find much to do. The Conquest
travels to the western Caribbean (Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel).

A good travel agent can help you save some money (you can almost always beat
the quotes the cruise line gives you on their web sites). If you would like,
I can refer you to mine, who handles Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Holland, and
Norwegian.

Hope this information helps.

David Jacobson

Baton Rouge

Hi Brett,
How wonderful that you're thinking about that first cruise.. Any idea of a
destination? Although you mentioned only going for 3/4 days, but really think
about doing a 7 day, that will open up a lot of other options and ships. Where
do you want to cruise out of also?

I'd suggest looking into Celebrity, Princess and Royal Caribbean, all lots of
fun, good food and I'd say the best entertainment is on Royal Caribbean. We
recently tried Radiance and absolutely fell in love with that class of ship and
have also done Celebrity Infinity, which was very nice as well.

There is tons of good information in the "first cruise" section of Cruisemates,
you may want to wonder there and see what interests you.

http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/firsttime/

I'm sure you will find the perfect ship for both you and your wife, and I bet
you fall in love with cruising, enjoy!

Donna
Tuesday Chat Host
http://www.cruisemates.com

I knew this would come in handy for someone! Try the Cruise Wizard at

http://www.02cruise.com/LineSearch/index.asp

Eileen

Brett Weiss wrote:

My wife and I are thinking of going on a short (3-4 night)
Caribbean cruise over Christmas. Neither of us has ever been on a
cruise before, and, frankly, I don't know where to start looking.
I haven't been able to find anything other than travel agents and
cruise company sites.

Could someone suggest a site that compares and contrasts the
various cruise lines, their ships, entertainment, ambiance and
prices? Suggestions are also welcome. We're in our early 40's,
aren't huge party animals, and like sun and good food.

Thanks!

Your options for 3/4 night are rather limited. Disney, Royal Caribbean
and Carnival.

3/4 Nights eliminates options like Celebrity, Princess, Holland America
and (possibly) Norwegian.

Christmas is PRIME TIME. There may be very limited availability at this
time... you may have waited too long. And if there is, it will be BIG
money. People plan prime time sailings a year in advance.

I would suggest getting a copy of Frommer's and Berlitz cruise books and
read about Disney, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. They give a good
perspective on the overall differences in terms of what kinds of things
each focuses on.

Is there a reason you can't go either before of after XMAS? Prices will
probably be 70% cheaper. The problem with XMAS is that you're competing
with all the families that can't go other weeks of the year. Families
are limited to XMAS, Easter and Summer. Those are the most expensive
weeks, just because there are that many more people who want to go those
weeks.

Another consideration... if you only go for 3 days, you can't go south
of the Bahamas - it just takes longer to get further south than 3 days,
and the Bahamas can very possibly be chilly in December/January.

--Tom

Brett Weiss wrote:

My wife and I are thinking of going on a short (3-4 night)
Caribbean cruise over Christmas. Neither of us has ever been on a
cruise before, and, frankly, I don't know where to start looking.
I haven't been able to find anything other than travel agents and
cruise company sites.

Could someone suggest a site that compares and contrasts the
various cruise lines, their ships, entertainment, ambiance and
prices? Suggestions are also welcome. We're in our early 40's,
aren't huge party animals, and like sun and good food.

Thanks!

--
Brett

The two most popular cruise information sites are www.cruisecritic.com and
www.cruisemates.com. You can also check out basic information from
www.cruising.org.

Tom Smith

"Brett Weiss" wrote in message
...
My wife and I are thinking of going on a short (3-4 night)
Caribbean cruise over Christmas. Neither of us has ever been on a
cruise before, and, frankly, I don't know where to start looking.
I haven't been able to find anything other than travel agents and
cruise company sites.

Could someone suggest a site that compares and contrasts the
various cruise lines, their ships, entertainment, ambiance and
prices? Suggestions are also welcome. We're in our early 40's,
aren't huge party animals, and like sun and good food.

Thanks!

--
Brett

Unfortunately, we're in a narrow window--with 4 kids, it isn't
easy to get someone to watch them for long. g

--
Brett


"Tom & Linda" wrote in message
...
Your options for 3/4 night are rather limited. Disney, Royal
Caribbean
and Carnival.

3/4 Nights eliminates options like Celebrity, Princess, Holland
America
and (possibly) Norwegian.

Christmas is PRIME TIME. There may be very limited
availability at this
time... you may have waited too long. And if there is, it will
be BIG
money. People plan prime time sailings a year in advance.

I would suggest getting a copy of Frommer's and Berlitz cruise
books and
read about Disney, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. They give a
good
perspective on the overall differences in terms of what kinds
of things
each focuses on.

Is there a reason you can't go either before of after XMAS?
Prices will
probably be 70% cheaper. The problem with XMAS is that you're
competing
with all the families that can't go other weeks of the year.
Families
are limited to XMAS, Easter and Summer. Those are the most
expensive
weeks, just because there are that many more people who want to
go those
weeks.

Another consideration... if you only go for 3 days, you can't
go south
of the Bahamas - it just takes longer to get further south than
3 days,
and the Bahamas can very possibly be chilly in
December/January.

--Tom

Brett Weiss wrote:

My wife and I are thinking of going on a short (3-4 night)
Caribbean cruise over Christmas. Neither of us has ever been
on a
cruise before, and, frankly, I don't know where to start
looking.
I haven't been able to find anything other than travel agents
and
cruise company sites.

Could someone suggest a site that compares and contrasts the
various cruise lines, their ships, entertainment, ambiance
and
prices? Suggestions are also welcome. We're in our early
40's,
aren't huge party animals, and like sun and good food.

Thanks!

--
Brett

Christmas is PRIME TIME. There may be very limited availability at this
time... you may have waited too long. And if there is, it will be BIG
money. People plan prime time sailings a year in advance.

Really? I don't find this to be true, Tom. Not only that, I don't understand
why I see this advice being given, over and over, year after year, on RTC.
We've taken 2 Christmas cruises....both booked close in...and both of them
were the cheapest price we've ever paid to cruise. Costa Classica cost us
600 w/port and taxes, per person for an outside room. Celebrity Century cost
us 799, outside.
Just got an email today from just one of the many, many cruise
sellers...Christmas cruise can be had for as little as 599, inside..and
that's on a new or newer ship. The X-mas cruise on the Dawn is 689 IN, 829
OS and 999 for a balcony..the Sun is 599, 649 and 999. The Sky has IN for599
with OS at 649...The Wind is same price for IN or OS, 649 with balcony to be
had for 919. OS on the Dream is 639, the Majesty is 739 OS.. and the Crown
14 day cruise is 1,099, IN...1,189 OS.
That's just one cruiselines holiday offerings.. I only saved 2...On RCL, The
Brilliance, 7 day X-mas cruise is 999 for a balcony and celebrity Century is
850,IN and 950 OS.

I remember, no too long ago, some one asked about an X-mas cruise, I think
it was Late August/ early September....just about every person that answered
him/her gave the advice you just gave...and it just ain't so, Tom. Sure,
there are higher priced X-mas cruises, but there are always bargains to be
found if you wait to book. It was the same last year... I remember we were
wishing we had the dough to go, we just came back on November 26, believe me
we could have cruised cheap. Maybe if a hard to find cabin is needed, like a
quad, but for 2 people.. no problem.
Eileen

Eileen




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You are absolutely correct, Eileen.

Howard

EileenMcDonald wrote:

Christmas is PRIME TIME. There may be very limited availability at this

time... you may have waited too long. And if there is, it will be BIG
money. People plan prime time sailings a year in advance.

Really? I don't find this to be true, Tom. Not only that, I don't understand
why I see this advice being given, over and over, year after year, on RTC.
We've taken 2 Christmas cruises....both booked close in...and both of them
were the cheapest price we've ever paid to cruise. Costa Classica cost us
600 w/port and taxes, per person for an outside room. Celebrity Century cost
us 799, outside.
Just got an email today from just one of the many, many cruise
sellers...Christmas cruise can be had for as little as 599, inside..and
that's on a new or newer ship. The X-mas cruise on the Dawn is 689 IN, 829
OS and 999 for a balcony..the Sun is 599, 649 and 999. The Sky has IN for599
with OS at 649...The Wind is same price for IN or OS, 649 with balcony to be
had for 919. OS on the Dream is 639, the Majesty is 739 OS.. and the Crown
14 day cruise is 1,099, IN...1,189 OS.
That's just one cruiselines holiday offerings.. I only saved 2...On RCL, The
Brilliance, 7 day X-mas cruise is 999 for a balcony and celebrity Century is
850,IN and 950 OS.

I remember, no too long ago, some one asked about an X-mas cruise, I think
it was Late August/ early September....just about every person that answered
him/her gave the advice you just gave...and it just ain't so, Tom. Sure,
there are higher priced X-mas cruises, but there are always bargains to be
found if you wait to book. It was the same last year... I remember we were
wishing we had the dough to go, we just came back on November 26, believe me
we could have cruised cheap. Maybe if a hard to find cabin is needed, like a
quad, but for 2 people.. no problem.
Eileen

Eileen




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You are absolutely correct, Eileen.

Howard

Btw, Howard... just to further prove the point..that Brilliance fare is a
Happy Hour special fare, for NEW bookings, only. RCL released the HH
specials today. There won't be any early booker's getting a fare that low.
Same for the Century fare. RCL combines the specials.. both lines..different
ships each week. What I mean, is you never know which ships are having the
HH promos on any given week.
Eileen



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