CRUISE PRIOITIES - destination, ship, cabin, dates?

[gaechann]

Hi all!

 

I've been "surfing the sales" sites so that got me thinking - what are the most important priorities? Destination, ship, cabin, dates?

 

Here is what I've worked out:

1. Some immediately book their favourite aft cabins as soon as the itineries come online (why beats me?). Others seem to prefer the "hump" cabins so they seem to be booked out quickly as well.
   
2. Others look at the destination as the most important criteria
   
3. A third type of passenger only checks out a certain cruise line then looks at the destinations & cabins available.
   
4. The final criteria seems to be the time of the year best for the passenger.
   

Mix them all up and you have the "perfect" cruise I guess! Usually there's some compromise to be made.

 

I suppose I fit more into the 3rd category as I mostly cruise with RCI though with only 3 ships "down under" I'm starting to double-up on the destinations. I'd need to dig into my little super fund money to afford an overseas cruise so that's unlikely to happen!

 

For my latest booking I checked out the RCI website, then the time best for me to travel, then the destination, then the available cabins. I'm happy with the compromise that I had to make (time of year) as I found a great Junior Suite on the Radiance to the South Pacific for a VERY reasonable price. Just need to find the "perfect" cruise buddy to come with me now! :D

 

Just curious to know how others go about finding the "perfect" cruise for them!

 

Gae

[gaechann]

I recently had lunch with an old workmate who had been on a Mediterrean cruise. She said "never again - it was so boring".

 

BORING - on a cruise? :eek: You have to be kidding me! Still I guess, cruising isn't for everyone.

[MicCanberra]

I recently had lunch with an old workmate who had been on a Mediterrean cruise. She said "never again - it was so boring".

 

BORING - on a cruise? :eek: You have to be kidding me! Still I guess, cruising isn't for everyone.

Yes, I don't understand that at all.

We normally cruise destination or itinerary first and then the dates, prices, and company. However, recently we have booked a couple of cruises for the dates and then the itinerary. Cabins are really not that big an issue for us as ewe cruise mainly in Veranda staterooms.

We seem to be cruising X a bit more lately but that may be just coincidence as they are the only cruiseline offering some itineraries that fit in with our plans.:D

[gaechann]

Yes, I don't understand that at all.

We normally cruise destination or itinerary first and then the dates, prices, and company. However, recently we have booked a couple of cruises for the dates and then the itinerary. Cabins are really not that big an issue for us as ewe cruise mainly in Veranda staterooms.

We seem to be cruising X a bit more lately but that may be just coincidence as they are the only cruiseline offering some itineraries that fit in with our plans.:D

 

I have a X future cruise certificate so they are definately on my "to try soon" list. I look at their destinations but their dates haven't been quite right for me yet.

[MicCanberra]

I have a X future cruise certificate so they are definately on my "to try soon" list. I look at their destinations but their dates haven't been quite right for me yet.

We have some Princess furutre crusie credits but their prices seem far too high compared to some of the other cruise lines doin gthe same itineraries.:D

[Kiwi_cruiser]

I think for us its price, dates, destination, ship then we just take what every cabin we can get for the best price!

[TeamH]

I recently had lunch with an old workmate who had been on a Mediterrean cruise. She said "never again - it was so boring".

 

BORING - on a cruise? :eek: You have to be kidding me! Still I guess, cruising isn't for everyone.

 

We have never cruised before but it has taken me years to finally talk my husband into a cruise. His main reason is that he thinks he'll be bored. I'm absolutely certain he won't be, but just in case I've booked us an itinerary that is heavier on stops than sea days. Hopefully he'll come around because I would like cruising holidays to continue in our future.

 

On a side note, how do you send private message. Just want to send you one with a message that I can't post here.

Edited January 3, 2014 by TeamH

[mr walker]

On a side note, how do you send private message. Just want to send you one with a message that I can't post here.

 

PM's are disabled on cc.

 

Hope you get your husband to enjoy your cruise :D

[MicCanberra]

We have never cruised before but it has taken me years to finally talk my husband into a cruise. His main reason is that he thinks he'll be bored. I'm absolutely certain he won't be, but just in case I've booked us an itinerary that is heavier on stops than sea days. Hopefully he'll come around because I would like cruising holidays to continue in our future.

 

On a side note, how do you send private message. Just want to send you one with a message that I can't post here.

Good plan, there are lots of activities on board to keep someone occupied if they wish.

BTW, I am not sure the private message function works on CC.:D

[TeamH]

PM's are disabled on cc.

 

Hope you get your husband to enjoy your cruise :D

 

At least I'm not going crazy then. Thought there must have been something wrong with my eyes not being able to find "New Message". Thanks for letting me know.

 

He better! :)

[Royalty X]

I normally look at ships first (I will now only sail RCI or Celebrity), then destinations, then dates, ands finally cabins. :)

[goodycruising]

We are restricted by our work for holiday times. So that is our first priority. We have also made diamond level on RCI so that makes us look at those ships at this stage. We are also reciprocal elite for celebrity of course now, so we will be looking at that down the track.

 

We find destinations are important, but we are also looking forward to our next cruise that will have a couple of ports where we might try the day on the ship, as we have visited many times before on land trips. We did a ship day once by default due to bad weather, but we spent the day reading in the colony club on Radiance waiting to go when the weather cleared, but it didn't.

 

Cabin location is becoming more important as time goes on, but there are many good locations, and on our next cruise we went on price, and while we are unsure about out first adjoining e1 close to the rear and over the colony club, we are packing our earplugs, have loaded our white noise app, and we are cruising !!!!

[radiancecruiser]

My husband is a shift worker with an unusual shift. So when we looked at 3 different RCI cruises in February, even though all 3 were approximately the same length, the dates of the cruises made a difference to how many shifts my husband would have to take off. So we chose the cruise that required the least number of shifts.

So our cruise at the beginning of Feb required 5 shifts, whereas the cruise at the end of Feb required 7. Both cruises are 10 nights. Hope that's not too confusing.

Also, my daughter liked the idea of visiting the island ports eg, Mystery Island, as opposed to city-like ports like Nouméa and Suva. That also influenced our choice.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[gaechann]

We have never cruised before but it has taken me years to finally talk my husband into a cruise. His main reason is that he thinks he'll be bored. I'm absolutely certain he won't be, but just in case I've booked us an itinerary that is heavier on stops than sea days. Hopefully he'll come around because I would like cruising holidays to continue in our future.

 

On a side note, how do you send private message. Just want to send you one with a message that I can't post here.[/quote]

 

Without any spaces: gaechann @ gmail.com

[aussielozzie18]

When I booked my first cruise just gone, I booked the cruise based on the following:

 

1. First hand recommendation from a friends who had cruised themselves (Rhapsody)

2. School holidays dates (December)

3. Advertised special (Christmas Cruise) with OBC and the byline "no cooking or cleaning up on Christmas Day" - Bliss - no turkey cooking!

4. Ports - our cruise was stopping at Champagne Bay and I was told it was a must do

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

Great thread. I would say our cruise just back from was date only. We wanted to be on the ocean for Christmas. We loved being out of contact ph & IT wise for that time. 2nd consideration was departure port. It left from our home city, so no luggage restrictions. I packed a Christmas tree, presents, solar lights for the balcony, Chrissy decorations, loads of crapola I would normally never consider being caught dead with!!:D

 

However in future, it will be price & dates, closely followed by preferred line, and departure port being in Aus. We have realised we LOVE sea days, & as such ports / destinations are neither here nor there for us. We are balcony sailors (CUBS -LOL :D!) so would aim for one @ $200 p.day price tag maxi.

 

Found a cheap Radience one that fits the bill for 2015 Easter :D my itchy fingers are bursting to hit the purchase button, but not sure if I can be bothered researching another line and all their bits n bobs!;)

[aussielozzie18]

We have never cruised before but it has taken me years to finally talk my husband into a cruise. His main reason is that he thinks he'll be bored. I'm absolutely certain he won't be, but just in case I've booked us an itinerary that is heavier on stops than sea days. Hopefully he'll come around because I would like cruising holidays to continue in our future.

 

On a side note, how do you send private message. Just want to send you one with a message that I can't post here.

 

Good idea on a port heavy itinerary. I loved the sea days (great for relaxing by the pool and reading) but I know my hubby would be bored.

 

My hubby is yet to be convinced that a cruise is his thing but his certainly showed more interest when a male friend told him about the gym and trivia on board.

 

Hopefully, one day I can convince him with a short cruise.

Edited January 3, 2014 by aussielozzie18

[TeamH]

We have never cruised before but it has taken me years to finally talk my husband into a cruise. His main reason is that he thinks he'll be bored. I'm absolutely certain he won't be, but just in case I've booked us an itinerary that is heavier on stops than sea days. Hopefully he'll come around because I would like cruising holidays to continue in our future.

 

On a side note, how do you send private message. Just want to send you one with a message that I can't post here.[/quote]

 

Without any spaces: gaechann @ gmail.com

 

Thanks :) Just sent an email. It was just a website that wouldn't show here.

[gbenjo]

I like to collect the model ships they sell in the gift shop so the priority for me is a different ship for every cruise? :D:D

A bad cruise/ship/stateroom/destination/food......no not food.....is still better than no cruise.:eek:

[gaechann]

 

Thanks :) Just sent an email. It was just a website that wouldn't show here.

 

Thanks for your email! I will certainly give that VTG site a good look over for specials overseas!

 

Gae

[MicCanberra]

I like to collect the model ships they sell in the gift shop so the priority for me is a different ship for every cruise? :D:D

A bad cruise/ship/stateroom/destination/food......no not food.....is still better than no cruise.:eek:

 

Hush, there is no such thing as a bad cruise is there?:D

Edited January 3, 2014 by MicCanberra

[gbenjo]

Hush, there is no such thing as a bad cruise is there?:D

 

Only if they ran out of food....and that ain't gonna happen:D

[MicCanberra]

Only if they ran out of food....and that ain't gonna happen:D

 

I have read that some people think the cruise is ruined if they have run out of escargot. As much as I love eating Escargot, going without does not affect the cruise in any way.:D

[gbenjo]

I have read that some people think the cruise is ruined if they have run out of escargot. As much as I love eating Escargot, going without does not affect the cruise in any way.:D

 

Many people finish a cruise carrying "extracargo"...and walk at a snails pace:):)

[MicCanberra]

Many people finish a cruise carrying "extracargo"...and walk at a snails pace:):)

 

LOL, very funny, I may use that in the future.:D