Recommend a Cruise

[123LuckyMom]

This is a ways away, but my mother is thinking she wants to take us all on a cruise next fall/winter along with her best friend and her family to celebrate her and her best friend's 70th birthday. We would most likely be cruising out of NY, but since her friend is in CA, we could leave from there, too. None of us has ever been on a cruise, and I am the official vacation planner for my family. I thought I'd start by asking your advice!

DS will have just turned 5. DD will be 1.5. My mother is not active and will want luxury and relaxation. Budget is not of great concern. Any suggestions?

[ilfaith]

Cruise Critic will probably be your best source of information.
http://www.cruisecritic.com

[Bryan mom]

Since you mentioned none of the party cruised before, recommend a shorter cruise duration as some people may not enjoy cruising.

Out of NY/NJ are cruises to Canada (might not be available in Fall/Winter), Bahamas, and Bermuda. These will probably be a longer cruise of at least 6 days. Out of CA are shorter trips to Vancouver and Mexico.

If budget is not of concern, perhaps consider all parties flying to a cruise port with more options that suit your specifications on date, duration, and destination.

[Tondi G]

If you want to go in the fall or winter time I would suggest flying down to Florida and cruising from there. We live in CA and have taken a Mexican Riviera cruise 2 times. Once in July ... it was HOT! Once in May and the weather was lovely in Mexico but the first day at sea was windy and cool on the deck (so swimming wasn't much fun) and on the last day at sea coming home it was pretty chilly out on deck and we hit some rough waters and the pool was literally sloshing back and forth and splashing all over the deck!

I talked to a counselor in the kids program and asked her what route had the roughest waters and she said her worst was Bermuda/Bahamas.

With kids I HIGHLY recommend Royal Caribbean Cruise line. We have had a fantastic time on every cruise. The boys LOVED the kids program. Food was good, entertainment was good. If you want to really do it big see if you can book a cruise on The Oasis or Allure of the seas. The biggest ships out there and they have ziplining, a carousel, an ice rink, H2O zone pool area.... ALL ON THE SHIPS! If that is too expensive then one step down is the Freedom class of ships. They have an H2O zone swim/splash zone and are supposed to be great too! We love cruising and can't wait to take our kids to the Caribbean!

[123LuckyMom]

Of course we need to start in FL if it's winter! Silly me!!! Okay, so starting in FL then... Any more suggestions?

[Nechums]

We did a cruise out of LA in the winter and it was cold. Still enjoyable, but no swimming and we had to wear light sweaters on deck!

[Reader]

We did a Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska and it was fine. I liked that they had a toy lending library and a place for little kids to play. I got bored with the food by the end, but it wasn't bad, just bland. I wanted to suggest Disney Cruise line, only because I think they are the only cruise line to allow non-potty trained kids in a pool, if that's an issue for your 1.5 year old. If it were me and budget wasn't an option, that's what I'd do. Also, I second cruise critic to learn more & suggest vacationstogo.com as a quick way to search available cruises (not necessarily to book, it's just that they give a list rather than multiple clicks trying to figure out what's available). Once you pick out a cruise, you can go on cruise compete.com and travel agents will try to give you the lowest quote + on board credit. Have fun planning!