Are you loyal to one particular cruise line? How do you decide your next cruise?

[caribbound]

Instead of the Liberty, take a look at Freedom of the Seas. It sails from Port Canaveral, a 3-hour less drive than Miami, and alternates east and west itineraries. We drove from Kansas City and it was only about 19 hours total, most of that at night with very little traffic. It is cheaper, too, as the ship is a year older, but still stunningly beautiful.

 

Freedom is $150 MORE for the Western Itinerary (travel week can't be changed as we're going during ds college spring break and taking the girls out of lower grades). I've done Western 3 times, and while there's always something new to do/see, I'd love to try Eastern. DH and dd's have done Western once, and it'll be ds' first. I read an extensive pic review of Freedom and it was so beautiful I'm just hoping Liberty is as nice, actually.

 

We live in WI so dh has no interest in driving anywhere but a taxi to the hotel pre-cruise in case of bad weather, and then to the port, lol. Port won't matter unless we can't use FF miles to one but can to the other.

[tnincy]

i am loyal to the lowest price.

[GottaLuvCruising]

We've cruised 12xCarnival, 5xNCL, 4xRCI, 3xPrincess, 3xDisney and 1xCelebrity. I never met a cruise I didn't like. But there are definitely somethings I enjoy more about some lines.

 

Princess' atmosphere, food and entertainment suit us best. But we hate the open balconies and can't deal with the smoke on them. (Some people get lucky, we just haven't).

 

Carnival is fun, upbeat and relaxed. We really like the longer itineraries with a more mature demographic. We are thrilled about the smoke-free spa staterooms / balconies and would love to do the Magic's transatlantic.

 

Celebrity offers the smoke-free staterooms & balconies, but we found the atmosphere stuffy (food & service were awesome!) We'd definitely do it again, but hope for more options.

 

NCL really disappointed us in entertainment and food. We loved their Alaska and Panama Canal itineraries, but unlikely we'd do NCL again.

 

Disney is great fun and the shows are awesome the first time. I'll do it again under the right circumstances but not my first choice.

 

RCI is a terrific balance and our next cruise is booked on them. But we did a smoke-free inside stateroom because we can't pick our neighbors. We do enjoy RCI food, entertainment and service, so we'll have an awesome time even without our balcony.

[cuted126]

I have always had a great time on Carnival,so i've had zero desire to try any other cruiseline!! If it ain't broke,don't fix it!!!

[Minoushka]

I have tried many cruise lines .I would like to try them all .Some I like more then others and some I did not care for at all .....MSC

Most lines are more similar then different I like big cabins and balconies .Food is pretty much the same everywhere

Itineraries base my choice of course price is DEFINITELY a consideration.Sometimes I do go for the Ship ...such as Freedom OTS .Next year hope to do Allure

Some companies ...Celebrity were a BIG disappointment also Ncl last trip on Majesty was a DISGRACe ...so those two will not appear anywhere in the near future

Princess ships I have just learned all LOOK Alike but I enjoy Princess ..I like different so I like Carnival and theme ships I enjoy the glitz on Costa and Carnival

RCCL is Great for stuff like ice shows and promenades but destinations are BORING right now

I choose different ships for different reaSONS.tO ME THERE ARE TRIPS ...FOR VISITING PLACES .....AND VACATIONS..... FOR BEACH SWIMMING AND SNORKELINGi TRY TO DO ONE OF EACH PER YEAR

 

Michele

[psbtrvlr]

Our order is usually...

 

The time of year to sail

The general itinerary

The ports

The price (includes airfare and hotel)

The embarkation port

 

Lines aren't a consideration Unless there are 2 that basically mirror each other on multiple lines

 

This is basically what we do too.

[Kurbanfan]

The RCI Explorer Bermuda/Caribbean or Bermuda/Bahamas is the one I'm currently leaning toward. I will have to check back with you in May and see how it went.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies so far. As I said we really enjoyed the Dawn and the Miracle and thought the food, service, entertainment on both Carnival and Norwegian were really good. My boys are really all about the ship, the "stuff" so I think they'd enjoy the extras onboard RCI although they first started looking at NCL Epic and the Blue Man group and bowling alley. It's so hard to decide!!!!!!!!

 

 

I think your boys would really have great time on RCCL.......they have so much more to offer for that age group!

We always choose the itinerary first .......then cruiseline........we like them all!!!

[lawyerrose]

Well If I ever find the cruiseline that has all I want in a cruiseline (my mesuring stick is the now defunct Dolphin cruiseline) I will be....most cruiseline (except for one) will get considered depending on ports, price, and time of year!:cool:

 

Carnival so far is my fave!:D

 

Andy

 

I haven't run into too many people who loved the Dolphin line, but I'm one of them! Glad to know there are others. Loved their little ships and GREAT FOOD!

[glrounds]

When narrowing your selections, do you begin with itinerary, cruise lines, prices, what? For those who have perhaps cruised more than one line, do you like one more than the other? Yes, I realize I'm posting on the Carnival board but Carnival was our most recent cruise so I guess old habits, lol.

 

These days I begin with:

Does it leave out of LA or San Diego? (no airfare)

Splendor

Paradise

Spirit

Elation

Itinerary doesn't matter (I've cruised the Mexican Riviera 10 times)

Do they give this SOLO cruiser a break? (120-150% of DO rate) price

How important is VIP status? (I'm PLATINUM)

Love the VIP boarding

FREE laundry

FREE slots tournament entrance

I've been with Carnival since my 2 initial cruises. If it ain't broke, why fix it? :D

[dan40]

I haven't run into too many people who loved the Dolphin line, but I'm one of them! Glad to know there are others. Loved their little ships and GREAT FOOD!

 

 

I found Dolphin to be a blast! The only short cruises I would do.

[TAMDAE]

We have been on two cruises, both with Carnival. One was to Key West/Cozumel and the other to Jamaica/Grand Cayman. We have no complaints about the Carnival Cruise Line. We are booked on an October cruise to New England/Canada with Royal Carribean. I am a bit nervous to try a new cruise line, but from the reviews, I don't think I have much to worry about. Whichever you choose, I am sure it will be a blast! :)

[grandmato4]

Nothing wrong with checking out pricing and itinerary on the dates you wish to sail on a new cruiseline along with ones you have already sailed for comparison purposes. You'll only know for yourselves if YOU like RCI by trying it out.

 

We first pick a time of year to sail. And next an aprox number of nights we have to sail. Rarely a specific week to start with but usually a month long timeframe. Then we decide a general itinerary such as western caribbean or eastern or southern. Ports we are willing to sail out of or out of come into play here too. If we're not willing to fly to the west coast we can't have a Mexican Rivera itinerary in mind.;) Next we look at all the options on any cruiseline we would consider sailing that fit the criteria we've come up with and this is where price usually starts to come into play along with narrowing the actual week(s) we want to sail. Sometimes at this point we've already narrowed it to several different itineraries on the same cruiseline OR narrowed it to two different cruiselines with what may be slightly different itineraries. Most often its at this point that "which" cruiseline comes most into play if there are a couple of options on different cruiselines. If all things seem almost equal we then have to weight if for the cruise we're planning is trying a new cruiseline really on the list of things we wish to do or do we want the comfort of knowing what to expect from a cruiseline we've sailed before.

 

There are times that we want a relaxing get a way but price is at the top of the critera after time of year and before itinerary. Carnival almost always wins when price is at the top of the list.

 

We always keep in mind that on any cruise we choose we may end up during our sailing with an entirely different itinerary than we thought when we booked, which is fine with us as long as we're on a cruise.:)

[lisa e]

We have done quite a few different lines..I enjoyed them all for different reason

 

Carnival... first cruise Carribbean

 

Windstar... Carribbean... loved the small boat able to dock at different ports ..small crowd great service..

 

Celebrity... Hawaii... great food great service ..we were the youngest on board the best thing it was so quiet at night, like being on your own private ship..

 

Paul Gauguin..South pacific.. amazing!!! our best trip ..dive board on the back of the ship for water sports..great service small crowd..loved it!

 

Vicking River cruise with my parents..Europe..small ,quiet, amazing ports..

 

RCCL Brilliance..The cruise that changed my life I came home with twins..

 

so now that we have the boys and are living in San Diego we are trying carnival again..I hear it is great for children ...no matter where you sail it is Vacation! lisa

[ChampionCruiser]

Until now, our primary deciding factor was picking a DIFFERENT cruise line than we've done. So we've been on six cruises with six different cruise lines and LOVED every single one. Unfortunatly we ran out of options for this summer so we're going on Carnival again (we're still excited, though).

 

So I always suggest trying a different line. After that, the itenerary is the most important for us.

[frednsb]

Lately I have been doing most of my cruisng on Carnival and RCCL. I do plan on trying Princess sometime and now that they are porting in Canaveral this summer, maybe NCL. I look at where they are going first, then if Carnival goes there, then prices.

But I would try any of them if they had what I wanted!

[PA Dutchman]

Price, itineraries, balcony, ship and 10% for Platinum status has to be considered. That leads us back to CCL. Don;t take to much to make us happy.