Eastern Carribean or maybe western

Family and I may plan to take a east carribean cruise with air soon
(less than 60 days). Any advice on which islands are best to see? Is
the carnival cruise too wild for say 55+ old parents traveling with
their college age kids (I mean for the parents not the kids <grin>) ?

Also debating whether to save money and do the western carribean
cruise instead (closer to our home so we don't need air) but my wife
prefers eastern carribean cruise. Is one better than the other? Why?
With either, one daughter wants to swim with dolphins. Can either
cruise excursion accomodate this (in a pool not in the open seas) ?

Any suggestion as to which travel agents to consider for either cruise
on line? I know of the larger ones... Travelocity, Expedia or Orbitz
but not sure of others.

Last, anything to consider or advise that maybe might be helpful. Any
good web sites to read up for this type cruising? If it matters, we
already have done one cruise in Hawaii (would consider again but wife
wants change).

thanks.

[Roger Dean]

Originally Posted by db

Any suggestion as to which travel agents to consider for either cruise on line? I know of the larger ones... Travelocity, Expedia or Orbitz but not sure of others.

At travel.com where I also participate in this newsgroup, you can compare the cruises from those companies and more. One cruise booking engine offers cruises from around 70 cruise lines and cruise operators worldwide. I do virtually all of my online cruise shopping here. If you are comfortable with online booking, its a great resource. If not, you can still find the best prices and see if your local travel agent can match them.

Anyway, hope its a bon voyage!

Roger

<db> wrote in message news:nfkk13d1l54soi6kamqk216atd1rud5241@...

Something to consider is sailing out of
San Juan and doing a more southerly route.
San Juan allows reaching a few of the more
exotic islands (St. Lucia, Barbadoes) and
more stops for a seven day cruise. I can't
comment on the WX though since we usually
look for the bargains in the late fall.

On Mon, 9 Apr 2007 18:53:11 -0500, "clint" <bocarsm@m>
wrote:

>Remember hurricane season June1-Nov 30!


Yes. My wife tho is VERY aware of it and has reminded me more than
once. But thank you for the important info !!

<db> wrote in message news:nfkk13d1l54soi6kamqk216atd1rud5241@...
> Family and I may plan to take a east carribean cruise with air soon
> (less than 60 days). Any advice on which islands are best to see? Is
> the carnival cruise too wild for say 55+ old parents traveling with
> their college age kids (I mean for the parents not the kids <grin>) ?
>
> Also debating whether to save money and do the western carribean
> cruise instead (closer to our home so we don't need air) but my wife
> prefers eastern carribean cruise. Is one better than the other? Why?
> With either, one daughter wants to swim with dolphins. Can either
> cruise excursion accomodate this (in a pool not in the open seas) ?

Instead of swimming with dolphins, why not go to Stingray City in Grand
Cayman.

The stingrays are free, wild animals, though they see 3000 people a day.
They chose to come visit the people.

Dolphins on the other hand are extremely smart creatures that are being held
captive in salt water "cages". A lot of people refuse to support these
excursions because of the apparent cruelty to these animals (remember the
"Free Willie" movies?).

I personally would have loved to swim with dolphins, but have refused to
after reading about how they're kept.

> Any suggestion as to which travel agents to consider for either cruise
> on line? I know of the larger ones... Travelocity, Expedia or Orbitz
> but not sure of others.
>
> Last, anything to consider or advise that maybe might be helpful.

Yes... find a local, or internet travel agent that you can talk with, even
if only by phone or via e-mail. They'll give you a LOT more service and
assistance than the large internet sites.... and probably be cheaper in the
long run. You want someone you can talk to by phone if there's a problem.

--Tom

> Any
> good web sites to read up for this type cruising? If it matters, we
> already have done one cruise in Hawaii (would consider again but wife
> wants change).
>
> thanks.