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When you pick a cruise you need to consider where its going AND what's on board the ship to do. Cruises going to the Caribbean and Bahamas offer at their port stops a wealth of beach type activities like swimming, snorkel, scuba, jet ski, para-sailing, and swimming with the dolphins or stingrays.
Caribbean cruises offer more of these activities than do cruises to the Bahamas, mainly because the cruises are longer, and stop at more islands and places where these activities can be had/purchased. My personal preference, based on the many cruises I have done all over the Caribbean, is a Western Caribbean itinerary.
You will have many options for good cruise lines going to the Caribbean including, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival and Celebrity (plus a few others). Princess is a great cruise line with very lovely and well decorated and appointed ships.
Some people will tell you to go on Carnival and it is a cruise line that some people love and others hate. Its a budget line that has some good ships.
Norwegian is a good line if you want things very informal. Celebrity is a great upscale line, close in amenities to Princess.
But Royal Caribbean has more on-board activities than any of the other cruise lines. Royal Caribbean has a really nice web site where you can pull up an interactive model of it's ships and look at photos and/or a 360 degrees view of the ship and its features. Just go to the Royal Caribbean web site and click on "SHIPS" and then select a ship to look at.
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/gohome.d...
Things that are usually always available on Royal Caribbean ships:
- pools and hot tubs
- a full service gymnasium with all types of free weights and exercise machines
- a mini-golf course
- a roller blade track and/or an ice skating rink. If there is an ice rink there will be an ice show like the ice capades
- a rock climbing wall (a RC cruise line exclusive right now)
- a full sized basketball/volleyball/tennis court
- table tennis
- a walking/ jogging track
- a show room where there will be a show every evening, one for each dinner seating
- a game room with games and cards provided
- an internet cafe (you have to pay to use it)
- a library with books provided or bring your own
- a disco that is open every night starting about 11:00 PM and lasting until the last person leaves.
- Adventure Ocean reserved for kids and a teen disco called FUEL, plus a video arcade (fee to play games)
- a piano bar and a sports bar
- some ships have a pool table (the Radiance class ships)
- all ships will have lounges and cocktails bars at various places on ship
- some ships have a small movie theater and you can also watch movies (most for free) in your cabin.
I have been on about 20 cruises on four different cruise lines and the cruise that I recommend for you is on one of Royal Caribbean's Freedom class ships, the Freedom of the Seas and/or the Liberty of the Seas (these are identical ships that both do Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings. I have been on the Freedom of the Seas and its a great ship. It has areas specifically for family members of all ages. From the adults only Solarium that has a pool and two hot tubs, to the H2O Zone that is a water park for kids to the Adventure Ocean and Fuel areas that are for kids of all ages. It has the rock climbing wall, a mini-golf course, a full sized basketball/tennis court, an ice skating rink, a fabulous free ice capades type show, THE best gymnasium I have seen on ANY ship, and the flowrider which is a place where kids and adults can body surf right on ship.
You may want to also consider going on the Freedom's newest twin sister ship being launched this year, Independence of the Seas. The Liberty, like the Freedom, does cruises in the Eastern and Western Caribbean and both ships use the Royal Caribbean private island port stop, Labadee. Both the Freedom and Liberty have cruises departing from Miami. The Independence will depart from Ft Lauderdale and do some Caribbean cruises and also so trans Atlantic and Mediterranean, and with departures out of Southampton, England.
Finally, Labadee is a private island like the ones that many cruise lines have. But Labadee is THE best private island that I have EVER been on. It has multiple beaches and all types of activities you can pay to participate in like Jet ski, para-sailing, a zip line, an ocean water park and its so huge that you will never feel crowded. |
Time travler
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I love Princess cruises. I have been on 8 cruises with princess. Two of them were to the Caribbean. You could go snorkeling, great shopping, bike riding, para sailing, and swimming among many other activities. You never get bored on a cruise because there is so much to do. Most cruise ships have a gym, several swimming pools a beauty salon, spa treatments, movies and entertainment, plus some of the best food you ever ate. What a wonderful gift your mother is giving you. You would LOVE it. |
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