Do I need to be with somebody 25+ years or older to book/be on the Carnival cruise?

My and boyfriend and I are planning a cruise to the eastern caribbean islands this coming winter (December 2010). He's never been to his native land of Puerto Rico so I'm eager that he sees it. He's 21, and I'm 22. We're both college students who are planning for this trip during our college winter break. We're not the wild crazy kind, we're just doing this for our own sake and interest.



But I read somewhere that you can't be on the cruise unless you have somebody who's 25 years+. Is this true? It'd be a real shame because we have gotten this far with our other cruise-research, and we wouldn't want this crummy rule to be stopping us. I did a mock-booking on the Carnival website to see how much we would have to pay. I registered and chose him as my guest, but the website didn't say anything about an age barrier. We plan to share a room--Interior or Oceanview.



I got this piece of info from this website: http://www.cruisedirectonline.com/cruisetips.htm



"Can unaccompanied minors cruise?

Unaccompanied minors cannot cruise. In fact, on Carnival, Celebrity, Crystal, Holland America, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Windstar cruises, each stateroom must have at least one adult age 25 or older as a guest. On Disney Cruise Line and Princess cruises, each stateroom must have at least one adult age 21 or older. Exceptions are generally made for married couples under age 25 (or 21)."





Also, as college students, we tend to drift to the cheapest choices first, but we want this to be a good experience. As of now, we don't mind being in the interior stateroom, but we can afford an oceanview. Would this make a major difference besides for having a window/porthole to look out from? Are the bathrooms bigger?



Please let me know, thanks so much in advance!Do I need to be with somebody 25+ years or older to book/be on the Carnival cruise?
you will be able to travel with no problem seeing as you are both over the age of 21.
well , back in 2004 my mom booked for my sister a room . so the rules may have changed .Do I need to be with somebody 25+ years or older to book/be on the Carnival cruise?
On Carnival, you do have to be 25 and over to cruise alone, unless you are married.



I would suggest you consider NCL or Royal Caribbean(in a similar price range, depending on ship), both of which allow 21 and over to cruise alone. I would suggest you consult with a travel professional on this, although I am willing to advise and book for you since I am a travel professional and can book in all 50 states(plus territories). I will mention that you should get the same price from a travel agent that you would direct, and be careful with choosing a travel agent since some charge excessive service fees(I personally only charge for air only, but some agents will nickel and dime you to death).
Forget about Carnival and its age 25 policy and just select a Royal Caribbean cruise. You can book on them at your ages with no problem. Plus they have better ships with more activities and more fun on board. Pick a cruise on a Freedom Class, Oasis Class, or Voyager Class Royal Caribbean ship. Take a look at what they have on board: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis鈥?/a>
i have traveled with royal caribbean cruise lines and with carnival cruises, and in regard to your question: you have to travel with someone that is over 25 if your are under 21. once you are over 21, and since you both are, there is no problem. me and my boyfriend sailed to the western caribbeans with carnival, he is 23 and i am 22. with royal caribbean cruise line i traveled, to the caribbeans as well, with my younger cousin she is 18.. royal caribbean is i bit more lenient with age. they allow guest over 18 to room with someone over the age of 21.



i have traveled with both and these are their rules. neither of you are considered minors. if you have any questions it's best if you call carnival cruises. they are very helpful and can answer all the questions you have.



hope this helped :)
Neither you nor boyfriend will be a "minor" next December, so you appear to have lots of choices. I suggest you meet with a travel agent who books a lot of cruises, ask lots of questions, and pick up the printed information on the cruise lines that seem most interesting to you. It costs nothing to work with a travel agent, and you have the best chance to book the cruise that most closely meets all of your budget, schedule, and preferences issues. When you deal directly with a cruise line, the rep will NOT be inclined to say "hey, I think you might like this other cruise line better", but a travel agent will! Each cruise line has a different "personality" and markets to slightly different groups of passengers, although you will find a variety of people on each ship. However, different people DO have distinctly different preferences, and you should try to find the one that you will enjoy the most. For example, I personally hate the party-hearty atmosphere with the get-drunk-stay-drunk types and poorly supervised children (after the clubs close) and long lines, so Carnival is NOT for me. Other people adore Carnival. My preference is clearly Cunard, but Cunard isn't always available for where I want to travel, so I enjoy Princess and Holland America, which are a bit more traditional and with a more calm atmosphere. So -- there are actually quite a few things to consider, and a travel agent can help you sort it all out. I am not a travel agent, by the way, but always go through mine for booking all my trips, and she does an excellent job for me. (Don't forget or skip the travel insurance -- things do happen, and the insurance will help you NOT lose your money if you have to cancel at the last minute for a reason covered by the insurance! We had to do that once, but we got our $6500 back from the insurance and were able to take another cruise a few months later. Without the insurance we would have lost it all.)



Also, go to the various cruise company web sites and look at the photos, the diagrams of the cabins, and read what they say. You will find that inside and ocean view cabins are almost always identical in size and amenities, and that the size increases with cabins with verandas. There is a lot of good information available on line.
It is correct on most cruises (carnival is one) you have to be 25 or older to cruise. Just see if you can get a parent to join your or something even though the rule does suck. If you dont want someone else to join yall than go to on disney as you'll be aloud to both cruise there. I've never had an interior but I have heard the ocean view rooms are just a tad bit larger. We liked having the window to look out of as you could see what time of the day it was and see the water and stuff but a porthole room is cheaper and does the same thing.

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