Well, my preference would be the January sailing. The amount of kids would be about the same. With the December sailing, you have all the pre-Christmas stress to deal with before and after your cruise. The January cruise will be after the holiday season and you can relax. Although, I wouldn't make dieting a New Year's resolution. I, personally, have never felt crowded on a Carnival or RCCL cruise except when there was the rare offering of free alcohol. Just remember, if at any time you feel overwhelmed, get a bucket o' beer and head to your nice and private stateroom, order up some room service. Then just sit back and dwell on the fact that you are in a place that 99% of all people wish they could trade with you.
You travel agents on here can answer this question...what kind of a travel agent would make a ridiculous comment like that?? RCL IS LESS CROWDED THAN CCL? How many cruises has that agent been on??
I've always gone to the Caribbean in January or Feb.....the weather has always been very good at that time...BUT there can be rain during that period....We were on there in the 3rd week in January this year and the weather was perfect, but the week before it rained every day with downpours on a few of the days according to the crew...roll the dice and just pick a week...A bad day of cruising is still better than just about anything...
Originally posted by PA Steve Rocky Mount:
You travel agents on here can answer this question...what kind of a travel agent would make a ridiculous comment like that?? RCL IS LESS CROWDED THAN CCL? How many cruises has that agent been on??
Hi Steve, the only thing I can say is that the agent might be more prejudice towards Royal Caribbean then Carnival. Some agents steer all their clients to the agents preference of cruiseline or ship. A good agent will qualify you for the best cruise for your needs.
Example, a couple of years ago we went on a Celebrity cruise that was one of the rare adult only cruises. Nobody could book on the ship if they were under the age of 18. We ported in San Juan next to the RCCL Explorer of the Seas. My husband and I were in Senior Frogs and started talking to a family next to us. They were on the RCCL ship and stated there were over 900 kids on their ship. It was a February sailing..boy were we glad we were not on that one. They stated that the kids pretty much took over the pools, hot tubs, etc...
Its hard to say that one ship would be more crowded then the other. You do have some agents that prefer to sell only one line and they steer their clients that way.....not a good way to do business...I know I would not put a 70 year old couple looking for peace and quiet and solitude, on either of those lines...so a good agent will qualify the clients by asking the correct questions in what they are looking for.
Just off the Valor last week. It was quite crowded, but there are many places to avoid crowds. For example, you can go to the FABULOUS steakhouse restaurant and sit at the bar with live music...you don't have to eat there. There are usually no people there. The piano bar was often not too full, as were other areas of the ship. You just have to seek them out. Our ship was full and the Lido deck did get kind of crowded.
I will add that the ports last week were GREAT. I booked excursions through shoretrips, which worked well and saved some $$. Because I wanted to do the canopy tour in Roatan, which Shoretrips doesn't have, I used Roatan Tourist Bureau. Lori and Mario [lorimar@globalnet.hn] were great and can arrange almost anything that you like. They are very reliable and also own a charter sailing outfit. Our other learning was that we would have preferred to just hang around the beautiful beach in Costa Maya. Chacchoban ruins are amazing, but we were so hot and exhausted from the 3 previous days of touring.
Back to the kids --- well, it's summer and there are plenty of them on board. Might be different at the time you are sailing.
You travel agents on here can answer this question...what kind of a travel agent would make a ridiculous comment like that?? RCL IS LESS CROWDED THAN CCL? How many cruises has that agent been on??
Steve it may not actually be rediculous. The Voyager class of ships (if that's what was being compared) have among the highest, per passenger square footage not including staterooms. So, usable space outside your cabin is higher on these ships. This can make for a less crowded ship. I don't really think there is enough of a difference to make a big difference but if you read their marketing, it's a point RCI is pretty proud of.
As far as answering the OP's original question... you said the Carnival was an ideal itinerary. I say book the Carnival and have a great vacation! Sometimes T/A's can let their favorites get in the way of what's best for the client. In this case the client did their homework and found a great cruise with an itin that works for them. Time for the T/A to shut up and book the cruise.
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