Caribbean and Central America Travel Answers

I cannot help with a specific recommendation as I'm not a regular cruiser and only choose smaller ships with up to 600 passengers. however you might find this specialist cruise site useful - http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/

Thanks for your reply I will have a look into that site..

Look at cruisecritic.com also you will probably find more reviews there than will be one cruisecritic.uk

Look at cruisecritic.com also, you will probably find more reviews there than will be one cruisecritic.uk

The crowd on cruises can be very dependent on what time of year, over the holidays you'll find more families, I'm betting the same is true of spring break. I thought Carnival had a reputation for being a younger crowd, ie the party ship. I've never cruised on them, I almost always use Princess. If you want to socialize on board, try looking at the roll call for the ships on cruisecritic.com, you'll find all kinds of people that are sailing with you and can chat with them beforehand.

I have cruised many times, several different cruises with Carnival. I have found all the cruise lines quite similar. There are differences in the ships and what they offer. Carnival is a little less formal than other cruise lines, and I think the ages of most cruisers is between 30-50. There are children on all cruise lines(depending on the time of the year). During the day you will be on shore at the various ports and you can choose your own activities and be away from the crowds if that is what you want. In the evenings, there are shows, casino, etc for entertainment. I really enjoy the piano bars on Carnival. (The piano bars really rock and there are people who cruise Carnival because of the piano bar entertainment.)

If you are looking for a wonderful relaxing seven day cruise I would highly recommend you looking up Star Clippers (www.starclippers.com).There are two types of sailing ships in the fleet. They carry only about 170 guests.

After 40 cruises (most in the Caribbean) we have done just about every cruise line in the Caribbean. Most will be fine for what you are looking for. You might find a larger concentration of some ages on some ships, but you will always be able to find people of your own age on most ships. There are a few things that will affect what you are looking for more than the cruise line. Locations, expense, and length of cruise will have more of an impact on the age group. Longer, colder, and more expensive cruises tend to have older passengers. I found find a good travel agent who only does cruises and ask for suggestions. Also, look at www.vacationstogo.com for research, but I highly recommend using a travel agent. I am 60 and did our first Carnival cruise four years ago to Mexico mostly because we took the kids (27-38) and grandkids (6-3). I loved the Carnival ship and so did the kids. It was perfect for all ages as far as I could tell.

No kids...no problem. Try Celebrity or Princess Cruises...both are better for the non kids traveller. They have destinations suiting your port choices. If you want a larger range of islands try leaving out of Puerto Rico.