I know that the majority of the people on this message board are older than I am. But I am hoping that they would share their wisdom. My friends and I ages 21-25 are looking to cruise for the first time. We are looking for a fun time and have our shipmates be around our age. Nothing against anyone that is older, but our ideas of a good time differ. 4-7 day cruise caribbean in february or early march. any idea on a price range, cruise line, helpful hints, tricks of the trade? any help would be appreciated.

Mitch
go pack go!

If you're looking for fun w/people (kids? ) your age, then a Carnival Cruise is your answer. I would think the shorter 3-4 day cruises would attract more of the younger crowd because of it costing less $$$ than the week long cruises. I just checked their website and the 3/4 day Bahama cruises are going for $329-$379 in March. Of course, this is for the lowest category cabin and the ships that do the shorter cruises are Carnival's oldest (least "amenities"--no rock climbing walls or mini-golf here!!). Keep in mind that there is a lot of stuff NOT included in the price -- alcohol, tips, shore tours to name a few.

Royal Caribbean also does 3/4 day cruises but Carnival has the "Fun Ships".

Best of luck to you and let us know what you find!

JC

I'm just slightly above your age range, so I understand where you're coming from. My husband and I sail on Princess, but a lot of the people sailing with them are my parents' age, not my age. In fact, I'd say that most cruise lines tend to have a lot of people 50+. The previous poster is right, Carnival is the exception to that rule, so I would recommend them if you're the type that wants a young night-club scene. You can also usually find pretty good deals with them, they're known as an inexpensive cruise line.

Also, you'll find more young people in tropical climates than you will in Alaska or New England. On a recent cruise, we were on the Diamond Princess in Alaska, and there was almost nobody in what's supposed to be the happening nightclub on board. For us, it wasn't an issue because we're not the clubbing type (we're almost 30 and married now, so we've got more of a middle-aged lifestyle), but it would probably have been not very much fun for someone college-aged. Honestly, I don't think we met anyone who was college-aged, other than the crew, during the entire cruise.

Good point too about booze being extra. It's pretty easy to run up a big tab.

I'm in my late 20's, and there were quite a few 20-somethings on our Royal Carribean cruise (December 2003).

If food and accomodations aren't top priorities, and have fun with people your age is, then your best bet would be with Carnival. Otherwise, I would highly recommend going with Royal Caribbean.

Carnival Cruises has one of the youngest groups afloat. The shorter cruise also brings down your age range. Beware though that even if you pay $400 for a 4 night cruise.......rumour has it that Carnival averages a 125% spend on these cruises meaning.........You will probably spend $600 on board on Alcohol,Casino's,Spa and many other "on board options" to take advantage of. FYI. Enjoy, cruising is great fun.

Also....Beware of the February school holidays which will bring 700-1000 middle and highschoolers on everyship afloat. Never a good time on these.

No matter which line you choose, you need to make sure that you guys can sail on them because of age restrictions. Ask your travel agent to be sure.

If anybody is under 21 on the day the ship sails (even if their birthday is the next day), many lines won't let them go without a parent or guardian. Some lines won't let unmarried people under 25 share a cabin, things like that. It's not a huge hassle as long as you check before and don't be surprised at the dock.

Carnival probably makes the most sense, it's a younger crowd, certainly more of a party crowd then the other ships, and I believe over 21 they don't care.

Couple things to remember, it's the total cost hat matters, so when you are planning think of the travel to the port city, taxes, and fees as all part of the cost.

You can of course save on airfare if you are close to a port city, fir example you can sail out of New York if you live in that area year round, but in February the first and last day of the voyage won't be exactly sit on the deck and get a tan weather. Flying to Lauderdale and Miami can be very inexpensive, but if you hit one of the school vacation weeks, the airfares may already be gone, so don't wait once you make up your mind.

Thanks everyone! very helpful. Is there a good time in february at all? thats when we were going to go. thanks for the heads up on being under 25 and sharing a room. any other good tips/websites to book/coupons, specials. keep them coming. if anyone has questions about budget travel to europe, hostels, anything like that, i can help with that. kind of a knowledge exchange.

mitch

where did you visit on this cruise, if i may ask, how much did you end up spending on drinks etc. feel free to email if you want [email protected] put ft in subject line. thanks

mitch

YGM

If you go carnival (and probably most other lines) you can get all your friends back home to go online and prepay for your drinks for you. Whenever somebody says to have a drink on them, tell them to go here

http://www.carnival.com/BonVoyage/Ad...t.aspx?pid=BAR

and for $19.50 buy you guys four drinks. I do it for lots of friends when they go, it's nice to have a few drinks waiting for them.