Does anyone have any recommendations for cruises?

[jasabo]

Dh and I are thinking about going on a cruise. We'd need to leave from the west coast, preferably southern CA as we live in AZ. It would probably be in August or September (most likely August). We went on a cruise a few years ago to the Virgin Islands, but that was when we lived in DC. I know nothing about west coast cruises. Does anyone have any suggestions for cruise lines, routes, etc?

Thanks!
Lisa - mom to 10 month old twin boys

[Jeanmick]

Hi Lisa,

Several cruise lines are now based in San Diego, which would be a pretty port to start off in. Very convenient from the airport, if you're taking a flight in. Drop offs via ground transportation are also easily accessible. Carnival just announced a route starting in San Diego, and Royal Carribean has a ship that also docks regularly in SD. Most of the cruise lines that start off in SD and San Pedro (in LA area) do a Mexican Riviera cruise, with stops in places like Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, and Mazatlan. My folks have done this route on different cruise lines a few times and have enjoyed it. From the looks of the pictures and stories they've told, they liked it a lot.

My personal experience with cruising was on my honeymoon. We took a ship called the "Mercury" owned by Celebrity Cruise Lines from Vancouver to Alaska and I highly recommend them. We also did a short 4 day cruise on Royal Caribbean on one of their older ships (now retired). The cruise was okay, but I think their newer ships are supposed to be much, much better.

If I'm not mistaken, Late Summer is around the time many of the major cruise lines have routes where their big ships start making their way down the coast from Alaska to head over to the Caribbean via Panama Canal. It's during this time that you'll find the bigger ships making stops in more unusual ports of call (i.e., San Francisco). You might want to check some of the websites (i.e., Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Carnival) for those special routes down the West Coast. HTH!

Oh, how I long to be able to take another cruise with DH....sigh...:)

[Marisa6826]

Lisa-

I know that Flagger has been recently doing a whole bunch of research on cruises, maybe PM him?

-m

[Tondi G]

We've been looking into the Carnival Mexican Riviera Cruise. The ship now leaving LA or Long beach actually is the Carnival Pride... decent boat... newer and larger.... majority of the rooms have oceanview or balconies! The ports are Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. I took this cruise with my parents as a child and remember having a lot of fun!

The one reason we chose Carnival over the other cruise lines is it is the only one that offers the childrens program to kids 2 and up... all others start at 3yrs.... and carnival will change diapers.... most others they won't take children that are not potty trained! I believe for younger children they do offer a baby sitting type service in the evenings as well for a small fee..... if you want an adults night!

I found that the vacationstogo.com website was very helpful as far as info on different cruise lines go etc. and their prices seem pretty good as well! Other cruise port options are Galviston TX (ports Progreso Yucatan, Cozumel and Belize) and New Orleans..... the boat that leave New Orleans is a BIG boat and the ports are Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel MX ..... so western Carribean route! San Diego cruises are 8days... ports Acapulco, Ixtapa and Manzanillo!

That should get you started! Also a side note.... DH and I took a Royal Carribean cruise for our honeymoon and we had a wonderful time. I would book another RC cruise in a heartbeat... especially when DS is over 3 and Potty trained!!!!

Good luck... HTH's you!

~Tondi and Mason 7/8/01

[cdlamis]

Lisa,

Are you driving or flying to CA? If you are flying, you may want to look into cruises that leave from Houston. I think Norwegian Cruise Lines are the only ones that have cruises from there. We sailed the Norwegian Sea.
www.ncl.com

We also live in AZ and we flew to Houston for the 7 day cruise. We went to Cancun, Cozumel, and Honduras. I think that voyage also now includes Belize too. It was awesome! Since they were in the Carribean, I liked those ports much better than the Mexican ports on the west side like Puerta Vallarta. The water is much clearer than the Western Mexican shore.

HTH and have fun!

Daniella
Mom to Julia 6-13-02
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b35d0802848f *December pictures

[khakismom]

Lisa, I don't have that much info for you since I have never cruised, but I leave for one in 4 weeks!! We are sailing the Navigator of the Seas on Royal Caribbean to the western Caribbean leaving from Miami, FL. My entire fam is going and we are taking both girls.

I would think that if you get online and just start checking out all the different cruise lines, you will see that some leave from the west coast. I know Carnival has cruises leaving from San Diego, LA, and Ensenada. Just search for the city of origin and see what cruises are available.

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Static_Templates/Port_Map/homeports.aspx

The person to talk to here is Bonnie (sbjf). Her father worked for a cruiseline and she has quite the cruise resume. She's a pro!

[amp]

I can't speak to anything specific in your neck of the woods, but we cruised to Bermuda for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it! We departed out of NY, on the Horizon (Celebrity Cruise line) for a 7 day cruise. It was fantastic! We loved the destination and were very happy with the cruise line and ship, so I just wanted to put in a good word on those.

[momma_boo]

Maureen,

Have a great trip. Can you please let us know how your trip goes? DH really wants to go on a cruise later in the year and I'm trying to pick one that is fairly baby/toddler friendly (since DD will be about 18 mos then).

[khakismom]

Absolutely Esther! I will be sure and post about it when I return. I am literally counting the days until we leave! :)

[vpalmer]

Tondi,

Have you taken your Carnival Cruise yet or are you still planningit yet? Do you know if it is true that cildren are not allowed in any pool unless they are potty trained? I was told this by a Carnival Rep this morning.


Veronica
Mom to Eva
Born on 6-12-03

[vpalmer]

Maureen,

You may actually be on your cruise right now if my calculations are right! Are non potty trained babes allowed in the pools on RC Cruises?

Thanks,

Veronica
Mom to Eva
Born on 6-12-03