First Time Cruise

[Allurial]

Hello my SO and I are looking at taking a Carnival Caribbean cruise next winter break from out of either New Orleans or a port in Florida. We have never been on a cruise or taken a true "vacation" together that wasn't just going to each others places. I bought a book on cruises and have been reading it but I wanted some more personalized thoughts on cruises, and if anyone could make any recommendations as we haven't nailed anything down yet. We wanted something more romantic without too many children (no Disney) but still while not spending too much. How much should we both expect to spend? Obviously I'd have to spend more getting to the port being from Boston where as he is from New Orleans, but what can we expect to spend on the boat for a seven day cruise.

[Caro1]

My SO and I took a 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise with Carnival in 2015.
A simple way to cut children out of the equation is to go on a cruise outside of school break times.

We had three ports of call in Mexico, Grand Cayman and Jamaica and booked shore excursions for all of them. The snorkeling in Grand Cayman ended up being cancelled due to thunder and lightening. In Mexico, we went to see a partial wet/dry cave, it was simply amazing. In Jamaica we went to see the Dunn's River falls (which was a very touristy place).

You can check out the exact prices for the cruises on the Carnival Website as the prices vary depending on the date of travel.
You should however take into consideration that on top of the cruise price that we Website tells you, you have to add cost of excursions and for tips on the boat. The tips for the whole stay are mandatory and are added automatically to your room bill.

On the boat, you can eat for free or choose to pay a little extra for "better" places, if you want to go to a steakhouse on board or whatever. Also there is an upcharge for Soda/alcohol that you can either buy by the glass or by purchasing a drink pass for unlimited Soda / alcohol.

From personal experience I can say it is definetly worth spending the extra money on a balcony room instead of an interior room.

Let me know, if you have any specific questions.

[Cepeda]

I would agree, spending a bit more for the better places is always worth it if you can afford it.

[hmrambling]

I would agree, spending a bit more for the better places is always worth it if you can afford it.

Welcome to LFAD, Cepeda.

This thread was posted in August so it could be possible that OP has already taken the cruise (or not).

[Allurial]

Nope! Not yet, was looking for next December/January. Looking at Royal Caribbean since I love the ports they have and it seems a better fit for SO and me, wanted to take a holiday cruise too either christmas or new years something with a little extra romance.