Rough guide to picking the cruise that suits you

FRIDAY, JAN. 6: How do you pick a cruise?

My wife and I have been on enough of them now, we have definite preferences.

I’ve been on plenty of Caribbean cruises and really would like something different, but we’re also planning my 50th birthday cruise for the end of March and the first of April.

The most difficult part is striking the balance between making it affordable for family members to come along as well as picking a ship and an itinerary that I’d enjoy going on.

It really leaves out Alaska (too early) and only Carnival sails the west coast of the US at that time.

So we’re headed back to the Caribbean.

The April 1st sailing would be the most ideal. It would give everyone a day to be in port and not have to worry about any missed connections by flying in and going straight to the ship. That would limit us to Norwegian Pearl

Norwegian Pearl

Starting price: $599.

We’ve been on this ship on an Alaskan cruise. The ship is nice but the crew acted like they could not care less about the passengers.

The one crew member who went above their duty to make it a pleasant trip for us, was taking to task by her manager not more than 10 feet away from where we where seated.

Having said that, I love NCL’s spa on this ship and would use it every day as I think its one of the best deals.

And the variety of food is pretty amazing too.

Itinerary: Miami, Florida;  Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas; At Sea; Ocho Rios, Jamaica;  Georgetown, Grand Cayman; Cayman Islands; Cozumel, Mexico;  At Sea; Miami, Florida.

Norwegian Spirit

Starting price: $629.

A step down from the Pearl in terms of ship quality from the Pearl, but the big plus here is it departs from New Orleans and I haven’t been there since Hurricane Katrina and would be interested in seeing how the city has recovered.

Itinerary: New Orleans, Louisiana; At Sea; Costa Maya, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Roatan, Honduras; Cozumel, Mexico; At Sea; New Orleans, Louisiana.

Adventure of the Seas

Starting price: $819

This is probably going to be the winner. I’ve been on its sister ship Mariner of the Seas twice.

My nephews will be coming so it will be a blast to watch them enjoy the ice-skating, rock climbing and mini-golfing.

Then the itinerary includes three places I’ve never been.

The downside is the cost and it will take a little longer to get to San Juan than one of the Florida ports.

Itinerary: San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; - Basseterre, St Kitts, Saint Kitts and Nevis; At Sea; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles; At Sea; San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Celebrity Solstice

Starting price: $899.

We did our first Celebrity cruise last year and enjoyed the amenities of the ship.

It’s more refined than a Royal Caribbean cruise, which has a lot of adventure activities to do. Plus we have a credit on Celebrity we have to use to by booking before the end of March.

So if we don’t cruise on them now, we’ll be “forced” to book another cruise, for the end of 2012 or for 2013.

The food is tasty, and if we can get into specialty restaurant QSine, that would be a treat for everyone.

The major downside is the cost and the activities for the young nephews wouldn’t be as good.

We’ve been to all the places the ship stops, but there’s still room for exploration.

Itinerary: Fort Lauderdale, Florida; At Sea;  Georgetown, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands;  Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; Costa Maya, Mexico; At Sea; Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Cruising

What’s your favourite cruise line and why?
E-mail Don Burgess at [email protected]