Ship & Itinerary advice from the Carnival pros please

[gumballz]

My DD and I are planning a graduation cruise for her. She graduates in December of 2006 so we'd like to sail to the Caribbean in January 2007. We can't decide which itinerary and which ship.....so for all of you 'professional Carnival cruisers'......let's hear your advice please.

The ships we're interested in sailing on are the Triumph, Victory and the Glory. We can't decide on whether we want to take an Eastern Caribbean or a Western Caribbean. We've never been to either (I'll be in the Bahamas in April....but that doesn't really count as Eastern or Western).

Our main interests while we're on the cruise are seeing/visiting gorgeous tropical beaches, doing some relaxing snorkelling and doing a little shopping.

Any advice will be welcomed! Thanks!!

 

[deansenecal]

Hi gumballz
OK I personally don't care for the ships you have selected only because they are a little bigger than I personally like but that is just me and I digress.
I would recommend the Western cruise. Since you did not say what port you wanted to leave from I will assume the Western cruise from Miami is what you are talking about. Usually this is Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Jamaica.
Grand Cayman - Visit Stingray City, turtle farm, HELL, seven mile beach, or just shop some upscale jewelry stores. Seven mile and stingray are snorkeling trips.
Cozumel - Snorkel at Chankanaab park, shop in the local town. Upscale jewelry stores, or Mayan ruins at Tulum
Jamaica - Dunn River Falls, shopping in two gated shopping centers or visit the local flea market. Rum factory, river tours, or island tours Pink sand beaches at Dunn River Falls are great for sunning

On an Eastern cruise
Most will hit St. Thomas, St Marten, Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is a wasted stop because you don't get there until later in the day. Too late to really explore the island.
St. Thomas. OK for snorkeling, visit St Johns. Great shopping - bring home extra liquors, cool beach
St. Marten. - Unique island divided into French and Dutch owned island. Nude beach - not much else St Marten is trying to become a shopping resource second to no one. They are still working on it. It is fun to shop for jewelry here. They will ply you with more Heineken than you can handle. They also have the Americas cup challenge where you can crew an actual Americas cup yacht. Island tour, and Butterfly farm.

This is just my humble opinion. Hope this helps

 

[lainie]

The BEST CLL Itinerary I have even been on was an 8 day cruise that stopped in St Maarten/St Martin, Barbados and Martinique. St. Maarten/St Martin is a unique island -- 1/2 Dutch, 1/2 French. Orient Beach on the French side is beautiful and the America's Cup Regatta on the Dutch side is THE best excursion I have ever taken. Martinique is French and offers great tours of the rainforest, volcano, great history, shopping, rum distillery. Barbados offers great beaches, the Malibu Rum Distillery, bike riding....

I agree that the smaller CCL ships are better. The Spirit Class ships -- we were on the Legend when we did this itinerary. I am not sure which ship does it now. I think it is a Southern Caribbean Itinerary. I loved the Legend and the Spirit. Have been on the Victory, Conquest, Glory -- all are nice but the smaller ships are preferable to me.

 

[gumballz]

Thank you both for your input.

Can you tell me what the difference is between the larger ships and the smaller ships....other than the obvious size? What makes you both like the smaller ones better?

Thank you

 

[Cruzman]

As a rule, the larger ships offer less of an oportunity to get to know all of the passengers and crew before the cruise is over; one on one relationships, common on smaller ships are less likely, and crowding can be a problem. Until now, the largest Carnival ship on which I have sailed is the Pride. Having said that however, we are booked on the Glory to the eastern Car. April 15. We shall see how that works out (spring break, no less). As a rule, I prefer the smaller ships also. My most memorable Carnival cruise was on the Paradise to the eastern Caribbean. Oh yeah, when it comes to gorgeous beaches and fantastic scenery, the eastern itineraries win hands down IMHO. Of course Jamaica, which is on some western itineraries, is right up there too! Also, know that Carnival has added some new itineraries which include stops in the Turks & Caicos Islands instead of Puerto Rico. Check them out!

 

[deansenecal]

Hi gumballz
OK my reasons for not liking the larger ships will be a little different. I am not a big social type person. I go on a cruise to get away from people. ( I am in customer service ). So I am not looking for the more intimate feel of the smaller ships. I have traveled on the old Tropical which is a very small ship. And I did not care for it. The older ships don't have all of the big open spaces. The vaulted open areas. But there is one really great reason to go on the smaller ships. They go to ports not visited by the MASSIVE ships. This gives you the opportunity to see something new. But the Tropical is no longer.

My all time favorite class of ships are the Spirit Class. They have large open areas, lots of them and more balcony cabins. (I really like balconies.) There are lots of places to go to that are out of the way of the main traffic and less frequented. It seems like it is just me and my wife talking privately on board this huge ship. I feel like I can get away from people and find my own space. The Destiny Class ships are in a different category. They carry so many more passengers, I feel like I am bumping into someone all the time. Here are the simple stats
Destiny Spirit Inspiration
Length 892 feet 960 feet 855 feet
Width 127 feet 127 feet 118 feet
Decks 12 12 10
Tonnage 101353 88500 70367
Passenger 3360 2124 2052
Crew 1040 930 920
Passenger to crew ratio 3.23 2.28 2.23

A very quick look tells you that you have more room on the Spirit class ship. The passenger to crew ratio is better.
But here is the real problem for me. Everyone seems to want to go on the BIGGEST ship. The ship just feels crowded to me. When you get to a port is takes longer to get off the ship because there are so many more people. Debarkation is a real headache on the Destiny class ships. It seems like all of the people who can't follow simple instructions end up on the Destiny class ships. You will hear non stop paging for this person or that family to report to the purses desk. It is done stop. Yes you get this on all cruises but we seem to notice more of it on the Destiny class ships.

Also you did not give us a lot of data to work with, but if you can go for 8 days versus 7 days you can consider a southern cruise out of Miami. This will give you more ports to visit. You can investigate all of the ports by googling them.

We all have our own personal reasons and tastes. What I consider great fun may be boring to you. But it really does not matter which cruise you take or which ship. At least you are on the water and away from work.
Enjoy your cruise.

 

[Babushka]

I personally prefer the larger ships. Out of the ships you've named I've only been on the Glory and we had a great time on it and are booked on the Valor in April. I like the larger ships because there is more to do. The larger ships usually have a larger variety of bars/nightclubs, shops, etc. Not that we are big into the nightclubs. Even though the ship is more crowded I have never felt like I'm bumping into others because of overcrowding. If anything I've always been really impressed that I could find quiet spots on the larger ships. The best thing to do is to try both when you can and judge for yourself. Whichever size ship you choose I'm sure you will have a great time! Our first cruise was on a very small ship, only 40,000 tons and we loved it! I've just come to love the bigger ships more!

 

[serene56]

I liked everything about the Miracle-- out of Tampa- easy to get around-- one does not get lost on decks that go nowhere. Everything is compact but it is more opened feeling .

I am sailing on the Liberty is 2 weeks... then I can compare it to the Conquest class ship.

 

[lainie]

I prefer the smaller ships because they go faster and can travel further distances and tend to have more interesting itineraries, IMHO. There is no difference in the activities. Having been on the smaller Sensation, Elation, Spirit and Legend, and also the bigger Victory, Conquest and Glory -- I can tell you that there are not more activities on the bigger ships than the smaller ones. The smaller ones are nice because there is only one formal dining room instead of two and maybe a few less lounges which is fine because there is 800-1000 people fewer on the smaller ships.