Yesterday I talked about a "trip" vs. "vacation". Let's talk about how you answered those questions yesterday. Are you interested in relaxing? Does warm weather sound good to you? Are you not trying to accommodate children? Only want to unpack once? Then you might be interested in a Caribbean vacation in the spring rather than the summer. Today we'll talk about cruises. Next week we will touch on resorts.
I personally prefer to take all of my cruises in late fall, winter or early spring. This accomplishes two things for me. First rates are lower because kids are in school and there are more cruise ships going to the Caribbean at that time of year. The second reason is that since I don't have children, on vacation it can be really nice not to be around someone else children. Now, I am not saying there won't be any kids on a cruise ship if you follow this advice. But the numbers are greatly diminished. Most of the kids are either pre-school, home schooled or foreign kids.
During these months there are more cruise ships in the Caribbean because all of the ships from Alaska come south or move to other parts of the world. This allows a lot more ships to concentrate in one area than during other times of the year. Plus since it's not hurricane season, risks of bad weather are greatly reduced. Although the major Caribbean sailing ports are all located in Florida, it is becoming more and more common to see sailings out of Galveston and New Orleans which are both easy to drive to from the DFW area or most other parts of Texas. Cruise lines that will have ships in Galveston in coming months include Carnival which is in Galveston year around. Royal Caribbean is there every Nov - Apr. Princess is coming back to Galveston for the first time in a number of years beginning in November they will remain until April as well. Finally, Disney will bring a ship into Galveston for the first time this year.
I would consider Carnival to be more of a starting price point cruise line. You can spend as much as you like on Carnival, but if your budget is more limited then Carnival might be for you. They are sort of marketed as a party ship and they seem to attract a party crowd. If you are interested in a great nightlife while on board, you are planning to take kids on your cruise or you just want to be with a younger and more lively crowd during your cruise then you will probably really enjoy Carnival. Carnival sales two ships out of Galveston. Depending on when you want to go you can either take your cruise on board, Carnival Magic or Carnival Triumph. If you wish to sail out of Galveston while your kids are out of school at anytime other than Christmas or Spring break, Carnival is going to be your only option. Pools are geared more toward kids and less for relaxation with slides and bright colors. You should be aware that anytime school is out in Texas, the prices increase. So you can reduce the price of your cruise by nearly half simply by going while Texas schools are in session.
As I said, Royal Caribbean has had a ship in Galveston from Nov-Apr for a number of years. This year Mariner of the Seas will sail out of Galveston. It is a Voyager Class ship which means it has the ice skating rink and putting greens along with the rock climbing wall that all ships in the fleet have. This year RCI has added outdoor movie screens to all of their ships for watching movies under the stars which Princess has been doing for a number of years. Many other updates have been made to RCI as well. Royal Caribbean's target is between 35 and 55 years of age. Galveston gets a lot of first time cruisers, so you might see a slightly younger crowd on a cruise out of Galveston than you would out of Fort Lauderdale. RCI is a step up from Carnival in style and also in price. RCI has a very extensive kids program that the kids really seem to like so even when there are a lot of kids on board, you may not see much of them since they are pretty occupied most of the day. Again, during spring break and Christmas break the prices can nearly double.
Princess, will be back in Galveston this year with their ship Caribbean Princess. Princess is a very traditional cruise line which means you are more likely to see things like champagne fountains on a Princess cruise. Their target customers are slightly older than RCI's. So you won't see as many kids on board, or they will be older kids. That is not to say that kids are unwelcome. There is also a kids program on Princess, but it is much smaller and less involved than that on RCI. Princess now has a "Sanctuary" on board every ship which is an adult only pool in addition to the other pools which all allow kids. They have had Movies Under the Stars for several years with what they have always boasted as the worlds biggest movies screens at sea. The Princess fleet is always one of the newest and most updated fleets at sea. If you are looking for an out of this world, traditional cruising experience, Princess is for you.
Also new to Galveston this year is Disney with their ship Disney Magic. I personally have not been on a Disney cruise but would love to go on one. From everything I have read, the cabins are more luxurious and the entire experience is more extravagant. The most amazing thing that I have read about Disney ships is in the bathrooms. Apparently, cabins have a split bath which means, as you walk into the cabin, there is a bathroom on each side. One contains the shower and a sink while the other contains a toilet and a sink so that it is possible for two people to get ready at the same time. If you have never been on a cruise ship before you really have no idea exactly how small a bathroom can be, so I just think this idea is ingenious! Also, in one of the bathroom mirrors there is a magnifying mirror built in! Finally, the shower area has a small tub for children to bathe in. Here's a YouTube video of a tour Disney Bathroom Tour.
Of course, cruising out of Louisiana or Florida to the Caribbean are still options. The sailings out of Louisiana are actually more limited than the ones out of Galveston, but they do offer NCL cruises which you can't take from Galveston. Florida, on the other, hand has more cruises available year round than I can go into today. Tomorrow we will get into Florida cruising options. Have a great day!
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