Newbie--Where to Find Information
Brett Weiss
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
David C Jacobson
"Brett Weiss" <law...@erols.com> wrote in message
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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
Donnassei
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
Eileen Garland
http://www.02cruise.com/LineSearch/index.asp
Eileen
Tom & Linda
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
Thomas Smith
www.cruisemates.com. You can also check out basic information from
www.cruising.org.
Tom Smith
"Brett Weiss" <law...@erols.com> wrote in message
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Brett Weiss
easy to get someone to watch them for long. <g>
--
Brett
"Tom & Linda" <TKAN...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
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EileenMcDonald
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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Howard Garland
Howard
EileenMcDonald
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.
Tom & Linda
years ago. Prices were astronomical back then. They were asking in the
range of $7000 including air for a family of 4 for a regular outside
cabin.
I'll look again. Maybe as you say, things have changed a lot since
then.
Thanks for the update.
--Tom
D Ball
Eileen,
You are correct to a degree. As you point out in a later post, the RCI Brilliance
price you quote is a special sale announced today, for new bookers. Honestly,
I can't figure out why the Brilliance is lagging in bookings. If you look
at the pricing on the other RCI ships that remain open for Christmas bookings,
it is very strong. In fact, our Christmas cruise price went up today for
new bookers. And it didn't start low!
If you use any of the travel search engines & check Christmas pricing for
Caribbean cruises, you will see some moderate (not what I'd call low) pricing
for some Carnival and NCL cruises + for a smattering of ships doing San Juan
and New York departures. Otherwise, with a few exceptions, you will not find
a lot of choice in the way of favorable pricing on the Princess, Celebrity,
RCI and HAL ships.
So, I would have to remain in the camp that says Christmas pricing is generally
premium. It starts out high on all ships. Many of the popular ships sell
out. As the holidays near and inventory needs to be filled on some of the
older ships & ships with more difficulty itineraries, the cruise lines will
offer sales. To take advantage of those sales, you have to be able to get
favorable air arrangements (convenient connections + a reasonable rate during
the holiday season are not always easy to secure, especially the closer it
gets to the holidays), and you can't be real picky about your cabin assignment,
as there's usually not a lot of choices left.
This is our 5th holiday cruise in a row. We always buy a minimum of two cabins,
an inside and one or more balconies. We've booked far in advance and within
weeks of the holidays. We've used RTC-recommended TAs and others to get the
best possible prices. And we've never gotten a bargain. YMMV.
Diana Ball
Near Houston, TX
http://www.dianaball.net
NCL Sea – W Carib - Holidays 99
RCI Explorer – E Carib - Holidays 00
RCI Rhapsody – W Carib - Holidays 01 (back-to-back)
NCL Star – Hawaii - June 02
Dawn Princess – Alaska - July 02
Star Princess – Mex Riviera - Holidays 02
RCI Serenade – Transatlantic – Maiden 08/04/03
RCI Mariner – E Carib - Holidays 03
Richard Bornstein
Dec 25, returning Jan 2. Cost is about $1100 per person. Inside. less
than $200 per day for a Christmas cruise.
"Howard Garland" <garl...@comcast.netremove> wrote in message
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B D
Candy
Bill C
"EileenMcDonald" <eileenm...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:jNOdnVw-TI3...@comcast.com...
> >>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.
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.537 / Virus Database: 332 - Release Date: 11/6/03
>
Friends of ours just booked a 4 day sailing on CCL's Fascination today from
Dec 22 - 26. They got a suite for $459. They go to Key West and Cozumel. My
wife has been wanting to do this for the last couple of years but I have
always had the same feelings as Tom, way too expensive. I'll have to
reconsider this for next year.
Bill
Tobie Gerbrandt
We got an email from Princess advertizing the Island Princess Christmas
Cruise. It is 10days, partial transit (Panama) leaving Port Everglades 16
Dec. Great price. We couldn't resist and we're on.
Tobie>>>>>on an Island in the Pacific
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Brett Weiss
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Brett
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