Help? First time cruiser...

BabyBee · December 27, 2004

Planning a cruise for Summer '05 with my husband and another couple. I wanted to rent a beach house for the week, but I was outvoted. I am completely overwhelmed by the number of cruise choices available, so hopefully you guys will be kind enough to help me out with some recommendations if I can tell you what we're looking for.

We'll probably only cruise for 5 days or so. We want a smaller ship. Neither of us can stand giant, multi-thousand room hotels unless we're in Vegas. Beach bums at heart, we prefer lounging on the beach or exploring local culture to lots of amenities. We are not fancy, formal kind of people, so we want a casual atmosphere. Preferably no children, and lots of opportnity to party. Nothing I've found seems to fit! Any suggestions?

Thanks so much for your help!

Shari2 · December 27, 2004

Welcome to Cruise Crazies, BabyBee!

I was thinking of Radisson. They are smaller ships and are country club casual, and I don't think they have many children, but, I'm not sure about the oportunities to party. Radisson is also a little pricey.

Where are you thinking of cruising to? The Zenith to Bermuda comes to mind, also. It's a smaller ship(not too small, around 42,000 GRT)and Celebrity has great food and service and plenty of opportunities to party. They do have some formal nights and informal nights, but you can opt out and eat in an informal area for those nights if you want.

I think it will be hard to not find a number of children on ships in the summer, though, as they are out of school then, and many families cruise then.

NCL has, "Freestyle Cruising." You can dress and dine as you want. You may want to try one of their ships.

The Sun and the Dawn Princess are nice ships and they aren't quite as large as some.

I think you will have more choices of ships if you do a 7-day cruise, also!

Maybe if you give us some more information, we can come up with some more ideas!!