Favourite "other" cruise line? And why?

[popcan]

I know that many of you veteran cruisers have sampled several trips with different lines. We are just beginners, going on our 4th cruise in February 2014.

All will have been with HAL, and we have been quite satisfied so far, but I am wondering about giving the competition a try next time, just to see what different experience we may be missing, or if there is some other compelling reason to change.

 

What is your other go-to cruise line, considering the following:

 

Ship selection,

Cabin size/comfort, (so far we have always gone at least verandah cabin)

Interesting itineraries,

Food,

Service,

Entertainment,

Shore excursions,

General bang for buck,

Intangibles.

 

We're not interested in the mega-sized ships....we think the Volendam is a nice size... and do not travel with children. (Or, if we do, our children are adults now).

 

What are your thoughts?

[scdreamer]

We've been on most mainstream cruiselines, and we loved Oceania. Smaller ships, no formal nights, delicious cuisine, great itineraries, and interesting fellow passengers.

[Aussie Gal]

We always choose the itineraries first and then decide on the cruise line. Our favourite cruise line has to be Oceania with its wonderful service, great food and lovely ships. Of course it is more expensive than Celebrity, Princess or HAL but you are getting a 5 star experience instead of a 4 star one.

 

If there are two itineraries similar, we then weigh up each one and decide whether we want to pay extra for the 5 star experience but in a lesser cabin eg. balcony instead of a mini suite or are we happy with the 4 star experience and have a larger mini instead.

 

Our normal go to cruise line is Princess as we love their two smaller ships, the Ocean and Pacific Princess. Nothing beats cruising with only 600 passengers and the mini suites on those two ships are delightful. We also love the Prinsendam and have cruised on her twice. Her itineraries now are mainly ones that we have done and again they do command a higher premium.

 

Jennie

[C&Sun]

Azamara. Love the small ships, The Quest and The Journey, it's itineraries, the crew, the cabins and its almost inclusive pricing.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Cunard:

Formal Nights where everyone is dressed up and stays dressed up.

Never feeling crowded in public areas

Quality of speakers/daytime program

Afternoon Tea in the Queens Room

Live music (harpist, string quartet or trio, jazz combo, orchestra; no HAL Cats!)

Service, especially bar staff and cabin stewards

Plenty to do but no annoying "It's time for bingo!" announcements

Intangible--an ambiance/atmosphere on board that, to us, is "home."

 

The other things on the OP's list are good, too, but these were the things that came to mind first. Other lines we've sailed in the past have changed, and now we're pretty much down to HAL or Cunard if we want to take an ocean cruise.

[FredT]

Could not care less... For us it's all about the itinerary. While we love the "old comfortable sweater" feel of HAL, we jump ship at the drop of a hat if someone has a more exotic itinerary (or one with MORE stops). We've been on cruise lines with food worse than any college, and lines that blow my mind with the cost... It does not matter. (But we always check HAL first)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We used to love Princess - but saw too much of a decline in food quality -- and this way before HAl's quality of food went downhill (JMO).

 

If I had to chose -- Cunard!! We loved all the formal nights -- which are no longer enforced on HAL.

[pris993]

I would second, or third Cunard for the reasons stated above. It is not our go to cruise line because we do select based on itinerary but in terms of overall cruise experience it is the best.

 

We cruise Princess, Celebrity, HAL and NCL beside Cunard. We are elite on Princess and Celebrity - 2 star on HAL... only 3 cruises with NCL. We have well over 50 cruises on these lines, plus a few others lines lin RCCL years ago, Crystal, and a few lines no longer around.

[Hlitner]

At this point in time (things are always changing in the industry) we would consider Celebrity and Azamara our favorite lines with Princess close behind. Somewhere further down the list would be HA which has dropped (big time) in our estimation based on our last 3 HA cruise (within the past 2 years). We still cruise on HA for the itineraries, but its almost getting to the "hold your nose" and book time. We have a 28 day cruise on the Veendam coming up next month and are debating if we want to book any more HA cruises. There is a 57 day Rotterdam cruise that has an interesting itinerary, but after our last time on the Rotterdam we just are not sure we want to again go on that ship....especially since we are soon doing a month on her sister ship. Although we love the smaller size....we think the designers should be "keel hauled."

 

Hank

[iancal]

Celebrity.

 

Ships, food, service,overall value.

[cruisetrail]

I know that many of you veteran cruisers have sampled several trips with different lines. We are just beginners, going on our 4th cruise in February 2014.

All will have been with HAL, and we have been quite satisfied so far, but I am wondering about giving the competition a try next time, just to see what different experience we may be missing, or if there is some other compelling reason to change.

 

What is your other go-to cruise line, considering the following:

 

Ship selection,

Cabin size/comfort, (so far we have always gone at least verandah cabin)

Interesting itineraries,

Food,

Service,

Entertainment,

Shore excursions,

General bang for buck,

Intangibles.

 

We're not interested in the mega-sized ships....we think the Volendam is a nice size... and do not travel with children. (Or, if we do, our children are adults now).

 

What are your thoughts?

 

I consider ships, not cruise lines.

- Queen Mary2

- Queen Elizabeth

- HAL Signature class

- Princess Grand class

- RCI Oasis class

- RCI Freedom class

- Etc.

[Gerko]

If I could afford it more often, Crystal, otherwise Celebrity. Get me away from any cruise line that has groups of yound blokes in shorts and singlets swiggin bottles of beer at the bar.

[KirkNC]

We've been on most mainstream cruiselines, and we loved Oceania. Smaller ships, no formal nights, delicious cuisine, great itineraries, and interesting fellow passengers.

 

We really need to give them a try. I keep hearing good comments about them.

[KirkNC]

Celebrity.

 

Ships, food, service,overall value.

 

That is our second line as well, I would add itineraries to your list.

[rafinmd]

Really HAL is my second cruise line. The "other" and by far my preference is Crystal.

 

Like HAL, great promenade decks

Varied and interesting enrichment programs, with speakers who actually mix with the passengers.

Extreme elegance, enough formal nights to enjoy getting dressed up without it ever becoming a chore.

Nice sized ships, a bit larger than the Veendam with 300-400 less passengers.

Superb service, special dining orders encouraged, head waiters who will prepare dishes tableside on request.

Near all inclusive, my bill will be 90% shore excursions.

Mark Farris in the Symphony avenue saloon

Everyone, from the first time cruiser in the lowest cabin to a 5* equivalent in the Penthouse is treated like royalty.

Priests on board every cruise who go above the call and do excellent interdenominational services on Sundays

Superb afternoon tea in the equivalent of the crows nest every day, including embarkation day.

And to top it off a 25% single supplement makes it surprisingly affordable.

 

My choice below HAL is Cunard. Most of the Crystal advantages but a step below in most every respect. Their drawbacks that put them behind HAL are the large ships and limited selection of itineraries appealing to Americans.

 

Roy

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

I like HAL, I believe they have been the best we have been on so far, and we had tried RCI and Carnival. We cannot afford the "high end" lines, and of the "mainstream lines", I think HAL does a good job for the money. So until HAL totally disappoints, or we win the lottery, I guess HAL is for us.

[Randyk47]

We're basically destination cruisers and have over the last couple of years have turned our attention to European itineraries. At the same time we've also become a bit disenchanted with several aspects of HAL. With that in mind we cruised with Silversea last year and had a fabulous cruise. We loved the smaller ship, all-inclusive aspect, and actually paid less for a comparable cabin on Silversea than HAL. Next year we're trying Seabourn but this was again an itinerary driven choice and again very competitive with HAL for a comparable cabin. Should add we really like smaller ships and the resulting fewer passengers so we look for those along with the itinerary.

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

I have to also say that we like smaller ships, that is why we pick HAL over other mainstream lines. Big behemoth ships with 5,000+ passengers are not for us.......

[cruisetrail]

I like HAL, I believe they have been the best we have been on so far, and we had tried RCI and Carnival. We cannot afford the "high end" lines, and of the "mainstream lines", I think HAL does a good job for the money. So until HAL totally disappoints, or we win the lottery, I guess HAL is for us.

 

Some time ago I was dreaming about a cruise on a "luxury" ship.

That was before I actually booked one of them and took a closer look at the ship.

Long story short, I was lucky to cancel it on time and recover the money.

The only one of them I still look at from time to time and check prices is the Crystal Serenity, but the price difference does not justify the difference in (presumable) food quality.

[CrabbyHarper]

We are elites on Celebrity and always considered it our favorite cruise line. That was before the "S" class ships. Our last cruise with Celebrity was on the Silhouette. The cabin was long and narrow, with the coffee table obstructing bathroom entry in a hurry at night! Storage was minimal, especially for a line that requires formal clothing. I could go on, but I have already reviewed this ship. "Modern luxury" does not mean old-fashioned comfort, and I opt for the latter.

 

Points in Celebrity's favor are the great perks for "elites" which include private breakfast and Happy Hour, regardless of stateroom category. The no smoking on balconies policy is great if enforced. The prices are lower than the luxury lines, which we choose not to afford.

 

Our new favorite line is HAL and we will achieve three star status on our upcoming cruise in Feb. The cabins on HAL are very comfortable. The cost of a bottle of liquor in the stateroom is reasonable. There is almost always a priest aboard. The service is great! And the bread pudding is wonderful.

 

HAL's superior verandah suites are usually quite a bit less expensive than Celebrity's Sky Suites.

 

HAL's libraries are usually much better than Celebrity's.

 

BUT...if the itinerary and price were right, we'd book Celebrity again in a heartbeat. :)

[Aquahound]

I consider ships, not cruise lines.

 

I love this statement and I agree 100%. On a recent cruise, I narrowed it down to a HAL ship a RCI ship and a Celebrity ship. I went with Celebrity because the HAL ship didn't have private, standard balcony rooms. It had that lanai set up.

[George C]

I like Costa for the Itilian food and service, and RCCL for entertainment and ships in general, but it depends on the ship, Hal is now my 3rd choice, will also try Princess again.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I love this statement and I agree 100%. On a recent cruise, I narrowed it down to a HAL ship a RCI ship and a Celebrity ship. I went with Celebrity because the HAL ship didn't have private, standard balcony rooms. It had that lanai set up.

 

Which HAL ship were you looking at?

[Cruising-along]

Celebrity for their smoking policy, service, and better rewards system.

 

But HAL has them beat for itineraries, wrap around teak decks, and better laundry program for all passengers, not just when they reach a certain level in the loyalty program.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I went to afternoon tea on our first sea day on Princess. I sat with two other women, and as often happens, we discussed favorite/least favorite lines. None of us listed Princess as our favorite, but it may have been a first time on Princess for all of us. One woman said her favorite line was Costa. The other said Costa was her least favorite. So everyone likes different things, and it's great that there are lines to please everyone's tastes.