Which ships are most sociable?

[Taxguy77]

I have cruised on Silverseas, Seabourn,Regent, Princess, NCL and some others that are no longer in business. I have cruised on a ship with 46 passengers and one with 3000.I agree with the other posters here-it is the passengers that are important-statistically 5-10% of the passengers are going to be snobs, jackasses, or whatever-that leaves 90-95% who are really nice.

I enjoy meeting people, and my wife is always at my side to give me the elbow when needed LOL

She had taught me the proper answer to the "How many cruises have you been on" question, as well as many others.

 

We tied (PaiGow poker). I was on a TA with 11 pax, but have not had the 'pleasure:confused:' of 3000 others. :eek:

I beleive the 5/95 is closest to the actual. :) It seems to be fairly easy to avoid the 5% (usually).

The most expensive cruise we have been on was a Vantage President's cruise. We met some fine folks whom we still email. He had gone to work on the NYSE right out of hi school, but was very bright. Have also met boors with PHDs.

[Taxguy77]

You appear to be limited in the $$$ you will spend in the fuure for cruising. As a man with about as much hair, vocabulary suffering from years of Spanglish, but no tux I offer my opinions.

We used to cruise NCL, but quit after some bad dining experiences and realizing the ships were getting bigger, but we wanted smaller ships. HAL is a good medium, smaller ships and more amenities for not much more money (none on some itineraries). I almost canceled our TA after I found the HAL board, but never encountered the snobs that were posting. (My opinion, flame if you think you're one of them).

After trying a smaller ship, you may want to change your perspective greatly. We like the smell of the ocean, roll of the ship days and just sea and sky. TAs are half our cruises. Opinions vary greatly.

[mikewrit]

Again, many thanks for all the responses. As for what is and is not useful in a cruise review, I appreciate longer, more layered efforts. If a fellow traveler dings the dining with a 1 or 2, I'd like to know more than that the breakfast buffet line was a jammed-up madhouse.

[Capt_BJ]

Did you like Windstar?

 

Yes I do

 

for the reasons mentioned

 

there are times when you get what you pay for . . .

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Could you have a great, memorable cruise even if you did not make any friends on the ship?

[kitty9]

Your impressions concerning the luxury market lines are way off base. Of course, you will find the doyennes of society here and there, but believe me, this is no longer the Titanic days of cruising where you bring trunks of gowns and white tie and tails. I've been on all the luxury lines at least a few times each, and I've met all kinds of sociable people, and not all wealthy by any means. You'll find those who have saved a lifetime to take a luxury cruise and they are as welcome as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. I'm a former public school teacher, and I've not felt snubbed by my fellow passengers on Crystal/Seabourn/Regent/Silversea/Sea Dream. To be honest, I've found some of the snobbiest passengers on the mass market lines----those who feel you have to kiss their ring because they "can afford a Penthouse Suite".

 

I'm going to throw a little something new into your equation. After sailing on small, medium and large/behemoth ships, I think it's easier to be sociable on smaller ships. When you're on those huge-mother ships, you can see a person, or group of people on one day and then never see them again. The ships are far too huge for sociability. Plus, there's so much to do on those ships, that people are constantly on the go to see and do everything.

 

I guess you'll just have to take cruises on all the lines out there in order to determine for yourself how sociable one line/ship is over another. I think with all the cruises and lines I've been on, I can pretty much know what to expect. But with only having experience on one line, like NCL, it's impossible for you to be able to ascertain the differences and pluses and minuses of one line over another.

[Hlitner]

We agree with Kitty that nitwitt (oops meant Mikewrit) is totally offbase and talking about something for which he has no clue. We have cruised on 12 different cruise lines and more then 50 ships from budget to ultra-luxury and can say with some authority that his idea of luxury cruising is a fairy tale. We do question whether some of the ultra-luxury lines are truly worth the money (my DW reminds me we can cruise on HA for 50 days for the price of some of those lines for 10 days) but its hard to argue with the food, service and cabins on some of those ships. Guess we could put on our "cruise snob" hat and say that somebody who has only cruised 4 times on NCL is only qualified to speak about NCL (which was our first cruise line back when they had the Sunward II).

 

Hank

[kitty9]

Hank, you crack me up. I wanted to say something similar. Of course someone who's not experienced with anything other than one cruise line won't have a clue about other lines and will make false assumptions. We both know some cruise lines are more similar than different to one another, but there are other lines that cannot be compared to another.

[mikewrit]

Could I catch a little break here, Hank and Kitty? I'm looking for clues and the base, not trying to impose my values on anyone else. Most clues I do have come from reading threads in this venue, and I scarcely claim to know much of anything based on four NCL outings -- all of which were dandy in every respect.

[Lard Greystoke]

We agree with Kitty that nitwitt (oops meant Mikewrit) is totally offbase and talking about something for which he has no clue.

 

Seems like a bit of a slam. OP was very clear about what his own experience was and was not. He did not claim to have sailed on luxury lines. His speculative remarks were clearly speculative (they were perhaps overspeculative). They were not stated as facts which need to be refuted.

[SueBryantCruiseUK]

I've posted this subject on the Cruise Critic UK blog today - www.cruisecritic.co.uk/blog - as I think it's a really interesting thread. Hopefully, the blog will open up further debate! Tricky question, though as my experience is similar to most people here - every cruise is different.

[glrounds]

I have a very close 1st cousin (our Mothers were twins) that cruises with her husband almost exclusively on Crystal. Both retirees of Fortune 500 companies they can easily afford it, but never a snobbish comment or suggestion. :)

She always enthusiastically questions me about all the cruises I've taken on Carnival, sharing in the fun I've had. She's always very anxious to learn about the experiences I have with my "affordable" line. Not a snobbish bone in her or her husband's body.

That's class. ;)

That said, I've met some people on my Carnival cruises that are laboring with the delusion that they are royalty and expect be treated that way. :( Sometimes I'm even embarrassed FOR THEM.:o

[Cruisin_on_th_net]

mikewrit, I thought you're comments were pretty clear. You weren't stating them as facts nor were you inferring them to be. You were pretty upfront about your info coming from cruise critic.

 

I'm amazed that posters feel the need to insult you and bang on about their superior knowledge of cruising and their superior (read -obnoxious) opinions that are correct. (to them of cause! LOL)

 

You have my admiration for behaving so politely in your response. I don't think I could; with such judgemental unnecessary comments being bandied at me.

 

And just so I'm clear, Hlitner and Kitty9 you were both off base with your posts.

 

Oh and I've done NO cruises, but my opinion is very valid (to me!!! LOL - and that's what counts for me ;))

[ncovert]

We've sailed four times on NCL and plan a fifth aboard the Norwegian Pearl through the Panama Canal next April. As a CC newbie, I've been spending way too much time on these boards. I am particularly interested in the varied culture of cruising, from the super luxury lines -- where everything is included in a fairly steep price and passenger attitudes seem snooty and women think of wearing ball gowns to dinner -- to what are called "mass market " lines -- where dignified society matrons are exposed to noisy, smelly kids, badly dressed boors and unsavory dinner conversations about gastric distress. On which lines or particular cruises are passengers most likely to make lots of great friends and share much enlightening conversation about wonderful shore visits and rich days at sea? Would it be useful for CC to more strongly encourage that aspect of cruising as part of member reviews?

 

In my experiences my wife and I have found these types of people on both CCL and HAL. Each of our cruises last year we came home with at least two good friends (actually8 on the middle of the three cruises) that we have kept in contact with. Of course those same lines may also have the people you are trying to avoid and as I have no other experiences with any other lines I cannot give an opinion of other lines. I guess at the end of the you have the good with the bad. My wife and I try to not let the bad get in the way of having a great time on our vacations.

[mikewrit]

I appreciate the responses from Queensland and Arizona. I am really not trying to avoid any types of people. Even self-important toffs who enjoy abusing the service crew are amusing to watch awhile. I'd rather be on a friendly cruise than otherwise, but any cruise is better than none.

[mexico8]

This is such a highly subjective, personal thing.

 

There are those who draw people to them, and there are those who do not. Let me give you a good example. My husband and I sailed with one of my very good friends and her husband. She is super outgoing and vivacious and talks to everyone around her. The other 3 of us, on the other hand, are much quieter and not very outgoing but we're all perfectly nice, fun, friendly, intelligent people ... not snobbish, just not vivacious. Lisa made friends everywhere she went. She was pulled up onto the stage during one of the shows in the theatre and probably a hundred people yelled out, "LISA!" because they all knew her. She is sought out because of her huge smile and friendly personality. Happens absolutely everywhere we go.

 

Lisa left the ship saying that everyone was so friendly and wonderful and she made so many friends. The rest of us, who were on the exact same cruise, sitting at the same tables, doing the same excursions, made maybe 1 or 2 friends. Friendship, conversations, relationships are created by individuals, not by ships or cruise directors or cruise lines.

 

And one other point I'd like to make since you have been reading the reviews, is that you have to take them with a grain of salt. Remember that old adage about someone with a good experience telling one person and the person with a bad experience telling ten? Well that's absolutely true in the reviews. The vast majority of cruisers have a great time but just don't take the time to write reviews. Those who are either super cheerleaders, or have a bone to pick will write a review. I learned long ago not to make decisions based on individual reviews or comments from these boards.

 

If your goal is meet a lot of new friends on a cruise then just dive right on in and talk to the people around you. Some may not want to converse, but that probably has nothing to do with snobbishness, but more to do with their personality or issues or whatever.

Janinie,

 

You hit the nail on the head. Thanks for such a good answer.

 

Wendy

[Mr. Luckytoo]

This is such a highly subjective, personal thing.

 

Friendship, conversations, relationships are created by individuals, not by ships or cruise directors or cruise lines.

 

I couldn't agree more with the bolded statement but I think that a ship has a definate influence of the types of individuals it attracts.

 

How do YOU interact with other people? Are you an extrovert or an introvet? Most people find that they make friends with people whom they have a lot in common while other people don't.

 

If you like to socalize with people in your similar socio-economic group then you need to cruise on a cruiseline that resembles YOUR socio-economic status.

 

I was surprised to see a post from a new Cruise Critic member on the Celebrity Boards saying they were a gay couple and wanted to cruise and meet with gay cruisers to have a good time. In their case rather than socio-economic they used another criteria for meeting similar minded people.

 

It has been my personal experience that I can meet and befriend people on ANY cruiseline; but I'm an extroverted person. My wife, on the other hand, is very reserved and shy and many people with whom I find easy to converse with my wife later tells me she doesn't like; such is life.

 

In my personal experience certain cruiselines attract different types of people. I've found that NCL people tend to be more self-centered and not as outgoing as people on say Celebrity. It is my belief that the "Freestyle" have it MY WAY, attracts a certain demographic, whereas the Celebrity brand attracts a more mature and sophisticated different demographic. [NOTE: I am painting with a very BROAD brush that reflects MY personal experience(s)]

[beachchick]

Seems like a bit of a slam. OP was very clear about what his own experience was and was not. He did not claim to have sailed on luxury lines. His speculative remarks were clearly speculative (they were perhaps overspeculative). They were not stated as facts which need to be refuted.

 

While I agree that there is no need and no place for name calling (e.g., nitwitt), I disagree that mikewrit presented his OP as speculative in any way. Yes, he stated that he has cruised presumably only on NCL, but he stated this as a declarative without modifiers (e.g., "From what I've read here and elsewhere" or "I get the feeling that" or "It seems that"):

 

I am particularly interested in the varied culture of cruising, from the super luxury lines -- where everything is included in a fairly steep price and passenger attitudes seem snooty and women think of wearing ball gowns to dinner -- to what are called "mass market " lines -- where dignified society matrons are exposed to noisy, smelly kids, badly dressed boors and unsavory dinner conversations about gastric distress.

 

To me, this is a straight statement of "this is the way it is." Maybe I should have read between the lines or assumed that he was speculating, but I do expect some form of the type of modifiers I used as examples.

 

<snip>

I'm going to throw a little something new into your equation. After sailing on small, medium and large/behemoth ships, I think it's easier to be sociable on smaller ships. When you're on those huge-mother ships, you can see a person, or group of people on one day and then never see them again. The ships are far too huge for sociability. Plus, there's so much to do on those ships, that people are constantly on the go to see and do everything.

<snip>

 

I had not considered that, but it makes some sense. I have to say though that we found the most sociable and fun people on Mariner of the Seas, which is the largest ship we care to cruise on. There was a large group of MS patients and their friends and family onboard for a vacation-conference. On the whole, they were the friendliest and most interesting people you could want to meet. Then again, we had similar experiences on the very small Hurtigruten Midnatsol (the old one) several years ago. I'm sure it didn't hurt that I had been an exchange student in Norway during high school and know the culture and (much of) the language, but it was still fun to be on a small ship where you did see the same people and get to the know smaller crew.

 

One of the reasons we have no interest in the Freedom or Oasis classes (or any cruise line's ships of that size) is that we think it would be too impersonal and too much of a "theme park" atmosphere. That type of "hyperactivity" cruise and that many passengers onboard does not suit our tastes at all.

 

This is such a highly subjective' date=' personal thing.<snip>

 

Friendship, conversations, relationships are created by individuals, not by ships or cruise directors or cruise lines.<snip>

 

If your goal is meet a lot of new friends on a cruise then just dive right on in and talk to the people around you. Some may not want to converse, but that probably has nothing to do with snobbishness, but more to do with their personality or issues or whatever.[/quote']

 

I agree and your last paragraph is excellent advice.:)

 

beachchick

[mikewrit]

Like beachchick, I presume I would not get the most out of a cruise on one of the giants. But people who pay good money to fill those huge hulks seem to think they are wonderful. I can either dismiss them as hapless boobs or I can seriously consider what it is about that experience that makes it so popular that most of the ships coming out of the yards are bigger than those already in the fleet. I have experienced very little snootery at first hand, but I see it reflected in the CC board threads about dining style preferences. In any case, I have come to share the concensus among veteran cruisers that a ship is not sociable; its passengers may be.

[beachchick]

Like beachchick, I presume I would not get the most out of a cruise on one of the giants. But people who pay good money to fill those huge hulks seem to think they are wonderful. I can either dismiss them as hapless boobs or I can seriously consider what it is about that experience that makes it so popular that most of the ships coming out of the yards are bigger than those already in the fleet. I have experienced very little snootery at first hand, but I see it reflected in the CC board threads about dining style preferences. In any case, I have come to share the concensus among veteran cruisers that a ship is not sociable; its passengers may be.

 

I don't think they're hapless boobs by any means, but it's sure not an experience we want. My opinion (based on nothing more than random thoughts, reading posts, and our experiences on RCI's Voyager class ships) is that the cruise lines are making the mega-huge city ships because (1) they can pack them full of more surcharge/extra cost activities and venues to make the ship a destination itself, thus more revenue, (2) they believe (possibly rightly) that a large segment of the population wants or needs to have constant stimulation in order to enjoy themselves, and (3) while computers and other personal technology keep shrinking, there is a feeling of "bigger must be better" when it comes to theme parks, cruise ships, and other entertainment/vacation destinations. It's a self-feeding circle: Cruise lines build bigger ships, passengers think they must be better, cruise line builds bigger ships, and so on. And for some passengers, it is true that bigger is better, which is a perfectly fine preference. I'd just like to see a few newer ships in the mid-size and even smaller categories (e.g., 50,000 to 90,000 tons) to go along with those new monster ships. There are plenty of us who have no interest in something like Oasis.

 

beachchick