Need a honeymoon!

[Izzy03]

Wow, the wedding is coming up so quickly! I slacked on the wedding planning for a few months and now everything has piled up. The big day is April 4th, 2009. I FINALLY booked a florist and a stylist/makeup artist. Now I need to pick out some invitations and order them. PRONTO!

Lastly we need to book a honeymoon. We have gone back and forth between all-inclusives and cruises, and it looks like we will get the most bang for our buck on a cruise.

What cruise lines do you guys recommend? We will be shipping out of Florida and going somewhere in the Caribbean. Norwegian? Carnival? Princess? HELP!!!!!!!

 

[jstarfireb]

I am in the exact same boat (hehe, get it?)...May 10 wedding, need a honeymoon ASAP! I will be on a budget, but I''m also registering for the honeymoon so the guests will help pay for it. We also only have about 5 days. Especially because of the short time, I think a cruise would be great, and since I live on the East Coast, the Caribbean sounds perfect. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Izzy03]

We used Expedia to lay out all the options for us, but the features each ship/line offers will weigh heavily on our decision so that is where Pricescope comes in!

 

[havernell]

I''ve been on a few cruises, always with Carnival (they were family vacations). I get the sense that Carnival is geared more towards families, whereas some of the other cruise lines may be geared more towards couples/adults. I couldn''t tell you which ones are more couple-focused, but it may be worth doing some research on various lines to see if any promote themselves as more "romantic" rather than "fun for the whole family."

Good luck researching and have fun cruising!

 

[meresal]

I've been on Carnival for 2 Western Carribean cruises, and Royal Carribean for 1 Eastern Carribean cruise... hands down, if you have the full week, take an Eastern Carribean. The waters are a little bit rougher (small amount of swaying once in the Atlantic), but if you're an ocean person, nothing compares to the blue waters in Virgin Islands and Bahamas. Strictly speaking of the Carribean of course

I've been on 4 cruises, and I ALWAYS use Cruisecritic.com to decide what cruise to take, once we've decided on the destination area.

It allows previous cruisers to rate the ships they been on, and the excursions they've taken. They have message and review boards for EVERY single ship there is. The great thing is, that every new cruiser updates with their new trips daily, and explain which excursions they went on and if they were worth it. You will spend hours on it, but it is so worth it. You'll feel so much more prepared.

 

[dcgator]

I have not personally been on either of these lines, but I have heard that the Grande Princess out of Ft. Laud is really nice and also that Royal Caribbean over Carnival hands down.

Hope that helps and good luck in finding one!

 

[Izzy03]

Thanks for the suggestions! The cruise itinerary we liked the most is on Princess Cruise line, but we really haven''t heard any feedback either way. We would prefer Norwegian as it sounds the most laid back and has great dining options, but the itinerary is mediocre. Who knows what we will settle on!?

 

[Haven]

I''ve only been on one cruise that left from the US, and that was a Carnival cruise. I highly recommend NOT choosing Carnival for your honeymoon. It was filled with drunk college kids, and the crowd was, well, interesting. Let''s just say I saw a lot of middle-aged men walking around without their shirts on. On the boat, not on the pool deck. So romantic.

Have fun booking your cruise!

 

[JerseyGrl81]

I love crusing and we are getting married while on one! I''ve been on Carnival, Princess, Celebrity and RCCL. The one I would say not to go on for your honeymoon is Carnival. It''s not as classy as the other lines. Celebrity is the most classy of the group and their food was the best. Princess and RCCL are very similar to each other. RCCL has a lot of activities to do onboard (like the rock climbing wall) and Princess has a lot of entertainment (we loved MUTS- movies under the stars). If you have any other more specific questions ask.

 

[meresal]

Date: 12/31/2008 8:42:51 PM
Author: Izzy03
Thanks for the suggestions! The cruise itinerary we liked the most is on Princess Cruise line, but we really haven't heard any feedback either way. We would prefer Norwegian as it sounds the most laid back and has great dining options, but the itinerary is mediocre. Who knows what we will settle on!?

My mom and I took the Norwegian Jewel for a Mediterranean cruise in 06. It was great and very sophisticated. They had wonderful shows and the dinner option are great. You can make reservations for whenever you want.

However, since you don't have the "group" settings, you won't meet lots of other people. This is more of a ship for big groups (saw lots of family reunions) that already know who they are hanging out with the whole trip, and small families that are focused on themselves. Their was not a large showing of young singles/couples.

FI and I did RC and loved it. We were seated at a table with two other couples (our age), one on their honeymoon and the others had just gotten engaged. We had a great time, and we all hung out after dinner each night. It was a nice medium of fun times/great night options (wine bar, martini bar, 80's dance, etc) and sophistication. The couple that was on their honeymoon, bought a special package that gave them a "honeymooners get together" each day (ex, champagne lunch, happy hour, etc) with other honeymooners on the ship, chocolate strawberries when they got the their room, and a breakfast one of the days on their balcony. RS was extremely accomodating to all the passengers.

I haven't been on Princess, but I would assume it's like Norwegian and a bit on the nicer side. I would also assume that Celebrity is the same way??

The two Carnival cruises we went on were cheap party cruises. Graduation from HS girls trip and graduation from college girls trip. It was about partying and having fun. I would not recommend this line for anything but, as it's all you are going to see. However, they do have the BEST on-board alcohol prices.

 

[Izzy03]

Thank you so much! We were debating between about 8 cruises and 6 of them were Carnival. Certainly narrows that down! Of the two we have left, one is the Norwegian Pearl. I love all the dining options and the ship looks really beautiful, but it is only a 7 day cruise and visits Cozumel, Belize, Honduras, and Great Stirrup Cay. The other is the Emerald Princess which is 3 days longer and has a lot more stops (Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, St Kitts, St Thomas, and Princess Cay. We are just not as stoked about that ship. I think I will check out Celebrity and make my decision.

How do those itineraries sound to you guys?

 

[meresal]

I just looked at Emerald Princess on cruisecritic and it has a 5 star rating. What is it that you don't like, or that you like less abou the ship?

We absolutely LOVED the Virgin Islands. So I would have to say those stops. I am also not a huge fan of Cozumel. Unless you are taking the excursion to the Mayan Ruins, there is really only beach and bars. You can do snorkeling and scubba, but it just isn't the same since the big hurricane hit in 05, IMO.

ETA: Just looked at the other ship as well, and they both look awesome!! I don't think you would go wrong with either.

 

[JerseyGrl81]

Both ships you have narrowed down sound great. The main difference between them to me is the dining options. I never been on Norwegian, but from what I know about them they offer a lot of different restaurants for you to eat at, some of them you pay for others are free. You pick where and when you want to eat each night. I have heard people say that they couldn't get reservations at the restaurant of their choice when they want to. If you don't like to dress up you can dress however you want to dinner, since they don't have a dress code.

Princess on the other hand offers different dining options. A big difference is that you need to dress nicely for dinner each night (I usually wore a sundress) and two nights will be formal night where you will dress up fancy. You can choose between two different dining options 1. the main dining room or 2. anytime dining. In the main dining room you have the same dinner time each night (there are two seatings one at about 6pm the other 8:30) with the same people (you can request table for two if you don't want to sit with anyone else) and same waiters. This is nice because the waiters get to know you and what you like, but you have to be there at the same time each night. The other option is anytime dining which is similar to the main dining room, but you get to go there at anytime you want. You still have to dress up and you can be seated with others or request a table for two. Princess also has specialty restaurants that you can choose to eat at while you are on the cruise. There are usually two, an Italian and a Steakhouse that has a cover charge of about $20 pp.

I hope this helps!

I agree with meresal to check out cruisecritic.com its a great website with a lot of information!

 

[Izzy03]

Thanks for all the advice! My fiance is ready to book the Princess cruise. While I would prefer the Norwegian ship itself, an extra 3 nights away on Princess can''t be beat! Can I just skip the wedding and get to the honeymoon?