Myself and my 2 Sisters are taking my Mother on a cruise for her 50th birthday. We are still in planning stages and trying to compare costs of flights versus costs of cruises to different places. We would love to do a European cruise but right now looks like the cost of flights will be too high for us to all equally afford to do this (my 18 yr old student sister insists on paying and equal share). Right now we have decided on a Carnival cruise to the Caribbean leaving from NY (any info about these cruises would be appreciated). My main question is although they allow 4 people in a room would we be nuts to do this? We were thinking if we upgraded rooms they may be a little larger.. is this the case? We are all first time cruisers so any input you can give regarding best cruise lines for us would be greatly appreciated.

there are meny factors that determine a cruise price. maybe we can help you a bit.
where do you live, how long do you want to be gone, where in the carribean do you want to go. and when do you want to go.there are a few ways to save a bit of money.
an upgrade wont give you a larger room. but 4 in a room is doable. tight but do able. just have to co ordinate really good.
give us more info and we will try to help

Hi newbie2cruising, and Welcome to Cruise-chat!

Sounds like a wonderful thing to do for your Mother's 50th birthday. As far as the cabins go, the average inside and outside square footage is 185. The category 9A balcony cabins average is 250. The category 11 balcony suites average is 275, and the category 12 (Penthouse Suites) is 370.

With four people in a cabin it could get a little hectic concerning the bathroom and shower times. People do it all the time though. I assume you are looking at the Miracle?

Welcome aboard,

Dwayne

We've done (3) in an O/V twice & I hated it b/c I was the person stuck with the upper bunk both times.

The only way I would do more than (2) in a cabin is if it's a Balcony or Suite.

We've done (4) in a PentHouse & it was GREAT.

More than plenty of room with a divider curtain.

Thanks everyone for your quick responses.

To answer your questions macmom111.
Myself and my Mother live in St. John's, Newfoundland and my 2 sisters joining me live in Toronto, Ontario.
We want to go for about a week, no more than 9 days. If we got an amazing deal for a 5 days cruise we were considering spending a day or two at the departure city to extend the vacation.
We are not particular about where in the Caribbean we will go.
Timings are our biggest issues right now.. initially we were looking at October of this year but my youngest sister discovered today she'll have some scheduling conflicts with those dates so we have settled on early January or she has 10 days free from feb 13-23.

the prices of a cruise a is generally cheaper in sept and oct and in early in the yr.
we love carnival so we stick with them.
going out of new york you will be a bit limited to ports. also in feb it will be cold going out of New York.
as far as room preference. Just my thought, but we usually get the cheapest room available on the ship. really all you do is sleep, shower and change clothes.
I think it would probably be best, again just my opinion is to get 2 rooms, it will be very tight with 4 adults.
you have picked the best months to cruise as far as prices.
sign up on carnival.com for their specials. they e-mail them to you and you may be able to save that way.
after our first cruise when the 5 days were up we didnt want to get off of the ship. but being your first maybe a 5 day is what to do.
the earlier you book the prices are generally cheaper. but they do offer last minute deals also.
check air fares for the ports you might want to leave out of and see if there is a cruise you might be intrested in out of there.
do your research. lots and lots of deals to be had if you do.