Help w/cruise selection, please ...
in [Cruise Ship]
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From: Bo1953 on 1 Nov 2009 13:20 I and a few friends are wanting to go on a cruise next year.. the first week in November and need some suggestions... We want something small, under 1,000 passengers and is child friendly (9 & 10). Any all-inclusives possible? If not, that is fine too... There will be between 10 -14 of us traveling. Any thoughts on this for me? TIA... Samuel a/k/a Bo1953 NJ
From: peter on 1 Nov 2009 13:53 Bo1953 wrote: > I and a few friends are wanting to go on a cruise next year.. the > first week in November and need some suggestions... > > We want something small, under 1,000 passengers and is child friendly > (9 & 10). Any all-inclusives possible? If not, that is fine too... > > There will be between 10 -14 of us traveling. > > Any thoughts on this for me? > > TIA... > > Samuel a/k/a Bo1953 > NJ Your two requirements may be difficult to reconcile. Smaller ships generally don't have much to offer for kids. The larger ones, such as the Royal Caribbean ships, do. There are a number of travel agents on this board, such as John Sisker and Ray Goldenberg, that are actively looking for customers. They are spammers. I would avoid them at any price, but feel free to pick their brains and then book your cruise elsewhere (but don't expect much). Susette and George Leppla, on the other hand, appear to be decent and knowledgeable folks that might deserve the commission associated with such a large group (or they could negotiate an attractive group rate for you). You'll find links to what cruise ines have to offer kids on this page: http://www.vacationstogo.com/newsletter_archive.cfm?id=cruising_with_kids_7_12
From: Tom K on 1 Nov 2009 17:18 "Bo1953" <bo1953(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:02d73bfd-165b-49a3-9758-de90ddb99dcf(a)r36g2000vbn.googlegroups.com... >I and a few friends are wanting to go on a cruise next year.. the > first week in November and need some suggestions... > > We want something small, under 1,000 passengers and is child friendly > (9 & 10). Any all-inclusives possible? If not, that is fine too... > > There will be between 10 -14 of us traveling. > > Any thoughts on this for me? > > TIA... > > Samuel a/k/a Bo1953 > NJ Peter is right, small ships tend to be less kid oriented. They also tend to be much more expensive. Many don't even have family type cabins. In November, you're looking at the Caribbean. Bermuda and Alaska seasons are over. And Europe is winding down. In November, your best weather will be in the Caribbean. Where do you want to leave from? Do you want to fly? Most cruises leave from Florida or Puerto Rico. But there are other options. Do you want to leave from the NY area? Explorer of the Seas leaves right from Bayonne and goes to the Caribbean. But they tend to be slightly longer sailing because they need to spend some time getting to the Caribbean, conversely there is no flying. Explorer is a large ship but she is VERY kid friendly. With rock walls, ice skating rink, roller blading track, mini golf, basketball, Johnny Rockets for burgers, parades in the indoor promenade, pizza place in the promenade. --Tom
From: Sue Mullen on 1 Nov 2009 19:00 Bo1953 wrote: > I and a few friends are wanting to go on a cruise next year.. the > first week in November and need some suggestions... > > We want something small, under 1,000 passengers and is child friendly > (9 & 10). Any all-inclusives possible? If not, that is fine too... > > There will be between 10 -14 of us traveling. Ships that are under 1000 passengers are ones like Oceana, Azamara and the more upscale, more expensive cruise lines. Most of these are not going to be great for kids. If you want kid friendly you are going to have to go up in size, maybe a RCCL Voyager or Freedom class ship. I believe some of the upscale, more expensive cruise ships are all-inclusive, but as I said above they are not kid friendly. The RCCL, Princess, Celebrity etc cruise ships are not "all inclusive", but they do include a lot. The only extras are soda, alcoholic beverages, tips and donations to the casino. They all try to sell photos and have gift shops, but you can cruise and avoid these costs easily. IMO you should find a travel agent to work with, their commission comes from the cruise line, not from you. Most of the travel agents here are very good, but do not deal with any of them if they email you soliciting your business. sue
From: Bo1953 on 1 Nov 2009 22:58
On Nov 1, 1:20 pm, Bo1953 <bo1...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I and a few friends are wanting to go on a cruise next year.. the > first week in November and need some suggestions... > > We want something small, under 1,000 passengers and is child friendly > (9 & 10). Any all-inclusives possible? If not, that is fine too... > > There will be between 10 -14 of us traveling. > > Any thoughts on this for me? > > TIA... > > Samuel a/k/a Bo1953 > NJ Thanks all for your input. We have given thought to the larger ships and we think it will be a bit more in terms of people and crowds than we wish to have. Yet if these are our only options for something kid friendly, then I might have to suck it up ... I was thinking Sea Dream for one... we will not be afraid of the extra costs. We most likely will be flying as we are in NJ.. I was thinking something out of PR or VI... will have to do more research, thought to start here first to find out who else might have similar requirements and be in the know. I will tak=ae you up on advice of getting a TA, that is a great ideas for this type of vacation. Thank you again... |