Royal caribbean is not that formal, fairly laid back, only thing is the traditional fixed dining but you can always buffet some nights which you would have to do on OV anyway.

NCL are even more laid back, Princess would work too, we did a Sea princess and that has charters and a good mix of UK/US
Canival is another option to look at

For the caribbean we budget under £1k for 14nights Dec or Jan thay have been around £800 on some dates, I think Feb tends to be a bit more expensive since there is a half term in there.

I would look at all those mentioned and see what sort of prices you can get

The more choices and dates you give yourself the better the chance of a late deal

can you recommend any royal carribean we look good entertainment maybe live music piano playing etc what are the best sites to start and look for good deals and when do they start to put them out for Jan/Feb I dont really like the idea of the formal dining ie having to sit next to someone if we want to mix with people we will but like to dine alone

Not looked at the RCI offerings in the caribbean recently, we like the voyager class with the mini mall down the middle and the Freedom are bigger versions

All ships have the shows, live music in the lounges atc.

To check out the ships http://www.royalcaribbean.com is a good place to start.

Anytime between now and xmas for Jan,Feb deals with the posibility of a late deals in Jan for Feb.

This thread has some info never did get round finishing the lists forthe travel agents.
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=93370

Whenever you find a TA site sign up for the emails.

Keep an eye on the deals thread.

Teletetext is still a good place to get list of deals and TA that do deals(so you can then get to the web sites and check them out)

TA's that come up a lot are in the posts on the deals thread have a read through that for ideas.

Had a look through TXT 228

Vision of the seas 25 jan Thomas Cook advert 14n £999.

http://www.thomascook.com/cruise/ on the front page,
Legend of the seas 14n ?? Jan £999

These are smaller RCI ships than the ones with the mini mall down the middle.

One thing with Jan Feb it is low season so there should something late booking if you can be flexable.