<p>We are considering a family reunion this winter in the Florida area. Could be at a resort, but I’m also wondering about a cruise because one family member has a difficult illness (chronic fatigue) and I’m thinking she could get on board and relax while her (grown up) kids and other family do whatever they want. I will consult a travel agent, but would appreciate any suggestions from the wise ones here.</p>
<p>We’ve been on two Disney cruises out of Florida. The ships were beautiful, the kids had a great time, and the service was great.</p>
<p>I have only done the Disney cruise, when my son was young. Lots of friends do Carnival western Caribbean week cruises, their kids college age. </p>
<p>There are also great hotels in South Beach, the Breakers in West Palm, and the Boca Hotel. A lot depends on age of family members and the kind of environment you want.</p>
<p>We’ve done several Royal Carribean Cruises out of Florida. I always see large family reunions on board, you might want to call about pricing etc.</p>
<p>I like Royal Carribean. You might check out cruisecritic.com. It’s the cruise version of CC. Lots of helpful folks with great information.</p>
<p>Royal Carribean or Celebrity. Would strongly advise against Carnival for this type of gathering. </p>
<p>And I second cruisecritic.com</p>
<p>I agree that cruise critic (the “other cc”) forum is very helpful. We had a blast on Royal Caribean out of Canaveral. Where will you be leaving from?</p>
<p>jym-southern FL would be the best place for us to leave from.</p>
<p>The kids are all college age. We are mostly concerned about our family member who has limited energy and so I was thinking a cruise might be good because she could check out when she needs to, and feel that her kids are going to be having fun and have food.</p>
<p>Also a Cruise Critic member/reader…</p>
<p>I recently cruised to the Eastern Caribbean out of Fort Lauderdale on Holland America. FtL has a very nice cruise terminal. I’ve cruised 4 times in the past 18 months, with 4 different cruise companys (although admitedly Carnival owns 3 of the 4). My kids, ages 21 and 18, LOVE Carnival. I am also a fan. We missed not having the adult comedy shows on our last Holland America cruise.</p>
<p>Cruising is a great option for someone that is disabled or physically impaired and if your college-aged kids are anything like mine, they will have a blast.</p>
<p>Check out “end-of-the-world-cruise dot com” that is run by a prof in CU Boulder Astronomy Dept and director of the Fiske Planetarium to coincide with the Mayan prediction that the world will end on the solstice in December.</p>
<p>It leaves Miami on 12/16 and returns on 12/23 and is on the Norwegian Jewel. There will be astronomers and sci-fi writers giving lectures on board.</p>
<p>Jshain:</p>
<p>Glad to hear you like Carnival. We love cruising. I went on my first cruise in 2005 and have gone on one every year since. Never on Carnival, but will be going on Carnival for the first time in @3 weeks. Holland America, Norweigan & Royal Carribbean so far.</p>
<p>OP: Try booking a cruise with Crown Cruise vacations out of NJ</p>
<p>Cruising has been wonderful for us and we’ve gone with all ages from very young to older with special needs (motor scooter on board) It really has become a fun way for us to see many islands we probably would not see otherwise. Also its taken us to Hawaii and Alaska too.</p>
<p>We enjoy cruising definitely over sitting at a resort. You can relax on board the ship and get some sun time and then when the boat is in port, go exploring, sightseeing & shopping.</p>
<p>Lots of cruise ships leave from both Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.</p>
<p>I just got off a Norwegian cruise - many family reunions on board.</p>
<p>I would suggest cruising the Caribbean out of FL or San Juan. Not out of NJ or NY - you want to cruise most of the time in the Caribbean, not the Atlantic. The seas can be very rough in the Atlantic, which makes things difficult for someone with mobility problems. The Caribbean is much smoother.</p>
<p>Also, ifyou do decide to cruise, make sure that your family member gets travel insurance which covers “pre-existing conditions.” Most cruises require non-refundable payment in full within 90-70 days of sailing. In the event that she has to cancel due to her disability, she’ll get all her money back. If you also get travel insurance, you might then also be able to cancel if your family member cancels and you don’t want to go without her or if her condition is such that you want to stay with her. Of course, read any travel insurance contract carefully.</p>
<p>I haven’t cruised out of Florida since my honeymoon, but I totally agree that for a varied group like yours a cruise is a perfect choice. Everyone can go their own ways during the day and meet for evening meals/shows. Enjoy!</p>
<p>Also, another +1 for cruise critic. So informative!</p>
<p>Thank you all so much! I’m certainly leaning towards a cruise leaving from south Florida. We will give our other family members some choices, but cruises can be so flexible.</p>
<p>“I agree that cruise critic (the “other cc”) forum is very helpful” - Me too! </p>
<p>Keep in mind that the very big cruise ships often require a lot of walking. It’s possible that you could arrange for the one family member with health issues to be near a central elevator. </p>
<p>OP - If you need a ref for a rep at online company dealing with many cruise lines, send me a PM. We used one that did a terrific job helping us plan a recent cruise. We ended up on Norwegian in the Western Med, but she sounded knowledgable across the board.</p>
<p>I once took carnival cruise (in Carribean), and hated one aspect of it. The whole 7 days were like one giant frat party. Rowdy college kids staying 4 in a cabin, and making noise all night long. Even the entertainment director seems to cater to that kind of passengers: most of the programs were geared toward those with the mental age of 21. Since then I did other cruises, and they did not have that kind of animal house feeling. Maybe it was just the cruise I took. </p>
<p>If you take other cruises, there are plenty of excitement for younger crowd, and yet, still not so much like a frat toga party for older passengers. I vowed I would never take Carnival cruise ever again, especially departing from FL, given there are so many choices.</p>
<p>if you go to vacationstogo.com, you get the ENTIRE list of cruises for any region in the world. You can easily compare the prices in one single web page. Then you can either make a reservation from that site or you can then go to the web site of individual cruise company and book that way. the price is the same. What vacationstogo.com provides is a very simple way of comparing options and prices.</p>
<p>I love Royal Caribbean. Celebrity is fine also. Note that they are all owned by the same big company: they purposefully market differently to address different customer segments.
In terms of refinement, it’s carnival < Royal Caribbean < Celebrity. </p>
<p>BY the way, Royal Caribbean has the industry’s largest, most luxurious ship ever (rock climbing, water slides, and central park like promenade on board). I think they sail out of FL for Caribbean cruises. I forget what the ship is called. you can go to their web site, click on ships and see which one it is. I have never sailed on this class of ships, but i hear they are floating cities.</p>
<p>Have a good vacation.</p>
<p>
The two ships are Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. Each holds more than 4,000 passengers. I’d be owrried about traveling on such a large ship, particularly if someone has mobility issues.</p>
<p>Norwegian also had a lot of entertainment opportunities for kids, teens, young adults and those who are old enough to have college/post-college children. Not a toga party atmosphere at all.</p>
<p>Of course, if you sail during school vacations, you’ll probably have more things geared to the younger set.</p>
<p>Experienced cruisers–
Would a 17 year-old and a 19 year-old be allowed into venues together (e.g. karaoke bar or whatever)? Or, if the cutoff is 21, when one is over 21 and the other isn’t?</p>
<p>I think my family could enjoy cruising together (one of my kids has health problems that do limit vacation activity options that involve “touring”), but not if the kids can’t do things together in the evenings.</p>