1st Luxury Cruise

[Emptynesternow]

We have cruised on Princess, Carnival and RCCL...but are interested in a luxury cruise....not having been on one we are wondering where is a good place to start (besides itinerary) in choosing one. What are the biggest differences between cruise lines. Are there luxury cruises in the Caribbean or just in Europe? Everyone has their preference in cruise lines, but some stand out more than the rest. Your feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Sue

[commodoredave]

We have cruised on Princess, Carnival and RCCL...but are interested in a luxury cruise....not having been on one we are wondering where is a good place to start (besides itinerary) in choosing one. What are the biggest differences between cruise lines. Are there luxury cruises in the Caribbean or just in Europe? Everyone has their preference in cruise lines, but some stand out more than the rest. Your feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Sue

 

We love Regent, Seabourn and Crystal for luxury cruises. They have itineraries all over the world (including Caribbean, SA, Europe, Asia, and NE/Can), offer a pretty similar level of great service, cabins and food. Crystal only offers medium-sized ships (almost 60,000 tons), while Regent has medium-sized as well as one smaller ship (Navigator). Seabourn has 3 very small yacht-like ships, as well as several medium-sized.

In choosing among them, we look at who is offering the best deal on itineraries we are interested in. There a plenty of 2-for-one deals right now, with various other incentives including free air, OBCs, etc. In fact, with many of these deals a luxury cruise is no more expensive than getting a suite on a premium-class ship like Celebrity. Bottom line: give a luxury class ship a try, and you won't regret it. In fact, you may find it hard to go back to the premium class ships in future!!!;)

[kitty9]

DON'T be fooled by the two for one "deals". They are nothing but marketing tools and there isn't much real savings. For example, crystal used to have two booking options, one a brochure rate and the other was an early booking rate. Everyone paid the early booking rate. Now, Crystal, along with Regent, started these 2 for one deals where they stopped the early booking fare and used the brochure rates to base their 2'fer rates. Most times, you're paying the exact same fares than you would have with the early booking fare. So, in short, don't be fooled by this marketing tool.

 

With that said, your choice should be based on a few things. First, the itinerary. Find one that suits you. Second, if dressing formally is something you don't want, you might want to look closer at Regent. Crystal still has three evening dress codes, formal/semi formal/casual, their passengers tend to follow the codes and a vast majority of men will be in tuxes on formal nights. Regent usually has one formal night with the rest being casual. Finally, if you want a lot of activities, you might want to look at the larger ships of Seabourn and also Crystal. The really small ships, by virtue of their size, don't offer nearly the amount of activities that the larger ships do.

 

I recommend finding a good local travel agent who specializes in luxury cruises. Read their brochures and see if anything strikes your fancy.

 

Good Luck.

[Keith1010]

We have cruised on Princess, Carnival and RCCL...but are interested in a luxury cruise....not having been on one we are wondering where is a good place to start (besides itinerary) in choosing one. What are the biggest differences between cruise lines. Are there luxury cruises in the Caribbean or just in Europe? Everyone has their preference in cruise lines, but some stand out more than the rest. Your feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Sue

 

Sue, there are several luxury cruise lines to choose from. This includes Crystal, Regent, SeaDream, Seabourn and Silversea and Sea Cloud.

 

Not all, but most of them sail itineraries around the world including the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, South American and the Middle East. There are many similarities and there are differences. Many of the differences are driven by the size of the ships withs some lines sailing ships of 100 and 200 passengers and other lines sailing closer to upwards of 800 to almost 1,000 passengers per ship.

 

A book I highly recommend that is published annually is Cruising and Cruise Ships published by Berlitz and Written by Douglas Ward which gives a nice writeup on most ships including the Luxury Lines.

 

I would also read the cruise critic boards for these lines just to get a sense of what the majority opinion is on the attributes of the cruise lines.

 

Then go to the respective cruise line web sites where you can really get a lot of good information including the feel of each ship.

 

Also read some reviews on Cruise Critic under the passenger review section.

 

Finally, talk with a good agent. Ideally try to find one who has expertise in luxury cruises and for me that means that they have sailed on most of the luxury lines themselves.

 

Keith

[Emptynesternow]

Thanks to all for your replies and great suggestions!

[commodoredave]

DON'T be fooled by the two for one "deals". They are nothing but marketing tools and there isn't much real savings. For example, crystal used to have two booking options, one a brochure rate and the other was an early booking rate. Everyone paid the early booking rate. Now, Crystal, along with Regent, started these 2 for one deals where they stopped the early booking fare and used the brochure rates to base their 2'fer rates. Most times, you're paying the exact same fares than you would have with the early booking fare. So, in short, don't be fooled by this marketing tool.

 

With that said, your choice should be based on a few things. First, the itinerary. Find one that suits you. Second, if dressing formally is something you don't want, you might want to look closer at Regent. Crystal still has three evening dress codes, formal/semi formal/casual, their passengers tend to follow the codes and a vast majority of men will be in tuxes on formal nights. Regent usually has one formal night with the rest being casual. Finally, if you want a lot of activities, you might want to look at the larger ships of Seabourn and also Crystal. The really small ships, by virtue of their size, don't offer nearly the amount of activities that the larger ships do.

 

I recommend finding a good local travel agent who specializes in luxury cruises. Read their brochures and see if anything strikes your fancy.

 

Good Luck.

 

That's a good point on the 2-for-1 pricing. Since the "brochure price" is manipulated and does not reflect market reality, the price of a 2-for-1 can be misleading. In order to determine if it is really a good deal, I usually break down the total price into a per diem and compare it to previous sailings or comparable cruises. That has helped me steer clear of several deals that were not really deals at all.

[martinsfo]

Don't forget to add all charges, everything you will spend will on the ship.

[Keith1010]

That's a good point on the 2-for-1 pricing. Since the "brochure price" is manipulated and does not reflect market reality, the price of a 2-for-1 can be misleading. In order to determine if it is really a good deal, I usually break down the total price into a per diem and compare it to previous sailings or comparable cruises. That has helped me steer clear of several deals that were not really deals at all.

 

Your approach is good.

 

The reality is that most of the cruise lines either market the fares as 2 for 1 pricing and if they don't do it this way luxury cruise lines such as Sea Dream and Silversea are showing many fares at 50% off published rates (isn't that the same) or lately Silvesea has it at 60% off.

 

It's no different than when you go to the stores. How often do we see items market at 50% off the original price or even the regular price but they are usually at that price.

 

The key as you said is to look at the bottom line price and what you get for that price.

 

Keith

[wwinfl91]

Watch different online cruise agencies for deals. We got a $33,000 21 day cruise on a luxury cruise line for (drum roll please) $4400. That was for a guaranteed balcony suite with everything included including liquor and tips.

 

Another key is being able to go when the deal is available. The one we got leaves from Rome. We had just come back from a 13 day Med cruise on RCL and then an 8 day stay in Rome but decided the deal was just too good to pass up. So we found a flight over again and are taking the return flight next April after we do another transatlantic on Princess. The option was to overpay for a one way flight or abandon our return ticket.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[Keith1010]

Excellent advice and a great deal for your luxury cruise.

 

Keith

[wwinfl91]

As of last night the online agency I use and the cruise line were still advertising available cabins if anyone is interested. Check out Seabourn's site.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[gsutiger2]

Watch different online cruise agencies for deals. We got a $33,000 21 day cruise on a luxury cruise line for (drum roll please) $4400. That was for a guaranteed balcony suite with everything included including liquor and tips.

 

Another key is being able to go when the deal is available. The one we got leaves from Rome. We had just come back from a 13 day Med cruise on RCL and then an 8 day stay in Rome but decided the deal was just too good to pass up. So we found a flight over again and are taking the return flight next April after we do another transatlantic on Princess. The option was to overpay for a one way flight or abandon our return ticket.

 

Have a great next cruise.

wwinfl91 - which online agency did you snag that great deal?

[wwinfl91]

We aren't supposed to post that information on the boards but if you want to send me an email I will send you one back with their web site. I have booked over 24 cruises through them and always been very satisfied.

 

warrenm_us@yahoo.com

 

Have a great next cruise.