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All of the cruise lines have specials listed on their web sites and Carnival and Royal Caribbean both have good specials. Carnival is the budget cruise line so their prices will be slightly lower than RC but my advice is go with RC because they have more and better amenities and things to do on their ships, like the rock climbing wall, ice skating, roller blade skating, mini-golf, water parks, basketball courts, etc. You will have the most fun and likely find the best prices on RC's Oasis, Freedom and Voyager Class ships: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/ho...

You will also get a better price by booking early, like up to a year in advance AND also go on the dates when the price is the lowest. Prices generally vary by date as much as a couple hundred dollars; eg: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cruiseDe...

Remember that the prices shown are for each of the first two persons in the cabin and then there is generally a much cheaper fare, about 50 %, for the 3rd and 4th person in your cabin. Also RC has same family cabins on some of its ships that are slightly larger than the regular cabins.

Most cruise lines will push drinks on you, especially the first couple days. Don't think you have to buy drinks to have fun. If you don't drink all day at home or on other vacations, then don't drink all day on ship. Plus you'll quickly run up a very high drinking bill. Bring along a 6-pack of 16 oz soft drinks and/or bottled water in your carry on (or checked luggage) OR, buy soft drink when you get to a port and bring them back to your cabin.

The cruise lines will offer a lot of interesting tours but they will be expensive. You DO NOT have to buy tours to get off the ship in port stops. You can go off on your own and many times in Caribbean and Bahamas ports you can find cheaper tours on the pier.

There is plenty of free food on ship 24/7 so there really no reason to pay to eat in a specialty restaurant. You'll not be able to eat all of the great free food.

Cruise lines will take lots of photos of you boarding the ship, getting off in ports, at dinner, on formal nights, around the ship. These will be very expensive ($10 to $25) so take your camera with you all of the time and take your own photos and ask other passengers to take photos of you, they will gladly.

The ships have internet service but it is very expensive; likely about $50 an hour, even if you buy a package. Wait until you get to a port stop and find an internet cafe. Ask the wait staff and your cabin steward because they generally know where they are.

Most of the cruise lines will have you use a hand sanitizer that will be at the entrance of the ship and also at the entrance of eating places. Use it and also take with you a small bottle of sanitizer or some handiwipes to help prevent the flu and the Norwalk virus.

Your cruise will have a formal night or two when you can wear your best stuff. The formal nights are REQUESTED not required attire. You will not be denied entry to the main dining room or any other place if you decide not to dress up, as long as you are at least sports casual.

- Its best to pack using soft-sided luggage because with space limited in your cabin it fits under the beds better if its not hard sided luggage. Pack using the vacuum clothing bags (about $20 for 3 at Target) so that you can get more in your bag AND so that if the TSA at the airport opens your bag they can see what's inside without rummaging through your things.

-Take a small carry-on bag for the last night of the cruise. On the last evening you will be required to put your luggage outside your cabin by about 2:00 AM so that they can start taking it down to the lower deck for offloading the next morning. So you will need a small bag for your toiletries and your clothes that you sleep in.

-If you plan to get into the pools or hot tub as soon as you get on ship (they will be open), bring those clothes in your carry on bag; you other luggage may not get to your cabin until much later in the afternoon.

Well, you can get a 7-day Carnival cruise starting at about $339pp. Dates.9/5, 9/12, 9/19, 10/9. These are all Miami departures. September and October will be the lowest prices.

Royal Caribbean will have higher prices.

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Hope I helped!

I've just come back from a Royal Caribbean cruise. I had an interior room, and found it quite adequate. My only extra expenses were tips and excursions. I never took a ship excursion. It was very easy to get a cab with a tour guide, that was much cheaper and took us to more places.

Despite the fact that I didn't drink (not even soda), I didn't go to a specialty restaurant, didn't use the SPA, the laundry, or the casino, I managed to have an absolutely marvelous time. There were so many activities, so many new people to meet, and so much free food.

I guess the question is whether you and your family need the extras or not.

You really need not spend a lot of money on a cruise. Tons of things are included and free. Not the least of these is food, which is plentiful onboard, and usually free. All lines love to sell you things, but I think Carnival tends to present less temptation than RCCL. Royal will put lots of goodies out there that are very nice (and also cost extra). Cupcake, anyone? $5. Burger at Johnny Rockets? $5. I can only imagine what it would be like to take a child onto one of the newer RCCL ships where goodies are everywhere, and each little thing carries an upcharge. Carnival isn't quite as flashy, but does offer better value.

Anyway...you can save money on sodas by taking your own. I throw a 12 pack in my checked luggage and save the $2 the line charges for a canned soda.

You can save money on alcohol, if you drink. Drinks onboard are pretty pricey. Carnival allows each passenger to take one bottle of wine onboard in checked luggage. Most other lines do not. Officially, liquor is not allowed in checked luggage, but people can and do take it that way.

You can save money on shore excursions by booking your own tours, or doing tours independently. A very cheap shore excursion "tour" would be $40 per person...that's $160 for your family of four. But often you can rent a car for $30 or $40 and have just as much fun. (We think it's more fun.) Or you can often take a taxi to a nice nearby beach, if you know what is available, and the going rate. Get on cruisecritic.com and research your ports before you go. There are tons of people there who have been to your port many times and know all the angles.

Cruises are a very good value if you avoid the overpriced goodies. If you have specific question, feel free to email me.

Good luck.

Royal Carribean is the high-quality cruise line for a household amassing. Every time I were at the cruise line it's been full of a huge sort of humans however now not crushed with children. There is lots of matters to and spot each on board and in port. I have taken the western carribean cruise on Freedom of the Seas and feature booked a cruise on Enchantment this October. I decide on the Radiannce elegance ships for his or her dimension. Either means, you are going to have a exceptional time.