Are we asking too much?

[Lady Vidora]

Hello again, all.
Hubby and I have decided we LOVE then 10 day itineraries for both the southern and caribbean medleys. Since we dont want to spend extra $$ to leave out of san juan that pretty much leaves the Sun. When we first thought about taking a cruise it appeared we could get on the ship for about 1-thousand dollars per person. But now, since we've decided a big part of the experience would be a balcony, we're not so sure that we can afford a 10 day...especially when you figure in the extra port days and excursions. The seven day itineraries out of Ft. Lauderdale have a pleasant, but not great itinerary. We are leaning towards princess for the luxury, (we know it's not high-end luxury, but holiday inn luxury and we're okay with that and the anytime dining ... and a little bit for the freshwater pools) We're not looking for a party boat. Soooo, off hand, are there other ships we should be condidering in different lines for either a better 7 day itinerary to the eastern or southern caribbean from a port in the U.S., or a longer 10 day to those locations. Again we want to keep the original cruise price to about 1,000 before all of the other extras are added.
This is starting to get really confusing.

[Kate Ashlock]

You'll find that most of the 7 day itineraries will be the same throughout the cruise lines. Most have the same ports - some interchangeable (ie Belize instead of Jamaica) or (ie Nassau instead of San Juan). There's something for everyone in every port!

Definitely though you are going to want the extra $ for the various expenses. Tips alone is $10 pp/pd + excursions, alcohol, extras. For a 10 day, I'd allow $600-800 depending on your lifestyle.

I don't know of any Southern (other than 10 day) that leave from the US. $1000 pp for a balcony on a 10 day is likely not going to happen. I do my price comparisons at http://www.vacationstogo.com which is also a good play to compare all lines itineraries and options.

Once you've gone on Princess, they send you all these fabulous email deals ($500-800 for an 8 day in Oceanview for example), but you don't get them until you've gone at least once ... Good luck!

[CruiseDiva]

I totally agree with Kate. You probably won't find a 7 nt southern cruise unless you leavefrom San Juan, but in addition to Princess, you might want to consider HAL. They have some interesting 7 day eastern routes that are a bit different than the norm. They also have a 10 day cruise that my TA quoted me at about $1000 pp for a balcony.