help me choose a cruise!

[Makenna08]

hey guys i'm new to cruisemates. my names makenna, i'm a senior and i'm from so-cal. so heres my dilema... my sister is turning 21 and i'm turning 18 in may and we want to take a birthday cruise to celebrate both of our birthdays with 2 friends each!!! we've been on 8 cruises before, all with carnival. my parents are cool with us going, but they are unsure if they want to come with us b/c they are "tired of cruises..." lame i know. so that kind of eliminates carnival from our choices of cruises b/c you have to have someone 25 or older in your booking group. =( my parents also want to get to platinum status (10 cruises) with carinval and you can get that by going on princess too because they are the same company. so we've been looking into princess b/c you only have to be 18 to sail alone... but the problem is that princess doesn't seem to have any caribbean cruises that are shorter than 9 days in the summer =( and we were thinking like 5 to 7 days.
so heres our options...
1. convince my parents to come... (it would be fun if they didn't have to but i really want to go on carnival... i love the party atmosphere) plus they don't care how late we are out and they know we will be drinking and stuff.
2. go on princess w/o my parents... but they only have a 9 day caribbean cruise plus i'd have to convince my friends to pay that much for a cruise and i don't think that everyones down for paying that much... plus is princess much fun? is there a lot of teens/college kids?
3. or go on royal caribbean, but i've never been so i don't know what its like, plus my parents want us to help get the platinum status with carnival/princess.

uhhh so many choices.

so i've found a few inteneraries to go along w/ my different choices...

1. carnival liberty - 7 day
miami, fl
half moon cay
day at sea
st. thomas
san juan, puerto rico
grand turk
day at sea
miami, fl
this is my number one choice... if i can convince my parents to go.

2. carnival imagination - 5 day
miami, fl
day at sea
grand turk
half moon cay
nassau
miami, fl
i know this is a shorter cruise, but i'm not sure if our friends are willing to like a thousand dollars for a cruise, and this ones cheaper, and they just totally remodeled the imagination and i wanna see whats new on it.

3. caribbean princess - 9 day
new york, new york
day at sea
bermuda
day at sea
san juan puerto rico
st. thomas
grand turk
day at sea
day at sea
new york, new york
now this cruise sounds AMAZING... i'd love to go to bermuda but it is pretty expensive and i dont know if my friends are down to pay this much... plus do you guys think princess is fun??? i'd be going in june or maybe july.

and i guess we could do royal caribbean, i just don't know which cruises are good... any help or suggestions?? Thanksss.

[Kristina99]

I would pick the Princess cruise.
There will be plenty of teens/college people since its in the summer AND allows 18 year olds to cruise.
So just tell your friends to start saving now!! It will be soooo worth it.

[kid789]

Your parents are wrong. Princess cruises (and other Carnival owned cruiselines) DO NOT count toward the sailing credits on Carnival ship.

[mmerali]

Cruise credits apply only to the line on which you sail...i.e. princess cruise = princess credit. That being settled, Princess is probably the best pick keeping in mind that a 9 day is a lot longer than a 5 or 7, and that Princess is probably one of the better cruiselines out there (being the "high end" of CCL).

[jmoneeeey]

hmm i would go with the princesss!!! bermuda sounds amazing.... plus thats a good ship and an amazing inteinrary.

[Ewokdude]

I'd say princess, but it is really expensive. It is like 1500 for the 9 night caribbean sailings, which is really expensive. Carnival will be cheaper, but you need a parent. RCCL is in the middle, which in my opinion, is the best option.

-Ewokdude

[girl_next_door]

i know me and my friends wanted to do the imagination one for senior trip, but we couldnt find good dates for it. and you need a parent. and we were gonna spend 2 nights before or after the cruise. to make the trip still long. you know?

the princess is amazing. if your willing to pay. definitely go for it!!

otherwise, the liberty is great too.

all of them are great. it just depends how much your willing to pay. talk to your friends.

[nikkilynne08]

Carnival Liberty is amazing. I went on it fro spring break last year and I def recomend it! I'm going on royal caribbean this year, so I don't have any advice on that.. but my parents are tired of cruising too... they just have to go because my sis is only 14. But just keep trying to convince your parents to go.. it worked for me.

[SuperGreg]

First off.

What is the price difference between the Carnival Liberty and the Caribbean Princess?

What about flights, cheaper to Miami or New York?

I think if you go on either one, you should have a pretty good time.

Would you consider going on a cruise from Los Angeles to Mexico? This would give you the ability to save on flights for a cruise.

And, just wondering... Where in Southern Cali are you? I'm from a suburb of LA.

[KTS1193]

I LOVE CARNIVAL LIBERTY! :]

went on her last year for spring break.

Nikki I missed you on the sailing by a week :[
I sailed on 3/31/07

[Enchantment 04]

go on the princess sailing