How'd you pick your cruise line?

[Rhea98]

We like the "freestyle, " but I also like large ships. Did first cruise on the Sky--cost too good to ignore and out of Port Canaveral--nice, easy to drive to port from our south central FL home. I LOVE the sea but didn't think too highly of the 7 day Caribbean cruise. It was ok, just not "Wow, I love this. " Went on Epic a few years later. Wow, I loved it! Going back in Nov then again for TA/MED in April. I may even have to move to Europe just to get more cruising with her! We tried Carnival Liberty last year-another too cheap to ignore. Loved the ship and it's crew/staff. Did not care for the food at all! Did not care for the way they handled embarkation/debarkation in Miami. NCL did it so much better. Still looking at RCL Allure and/or OOS-waiting for a great deal. But for now, I'm very happy with NCL.

[rhelms]

I always buy the cruise reward for the free $100 every cruise.

Very smart on NCL's part. Keeps me coming back.

[wasiii]

…..for my first cruise in 2006, my girlfriend at the time picked Alaska to go to and she picked the cruise line, which was Princess. The next one we went on was 1 month later on Carnival to Canada. This was because we were bringing my 9 year old son at the time. After that, I did mainly Carnival because I would normally cruise with my son and spending the extra money on a different cruise line would just go to waste with him. He would not appreciate the better food, service, etc.

 

Let’s move to present day. In 2010 I started going out with my childhood sweetheart. Being “Platinum” on Carnival I took her on a couple of cruises. Unfortunately, she ended up getting sick on them and said that she would not cruise on Carnival anymore. So when we were getting married in 2012, I booked us in a suite on the Norwegian Star. She had an enjoyable time on that one and wanted to continue cruising on NCL.

 

She found out a few weeks ago that she was comped a cruise from CAS on NCL. Needless to say, we’ll be on the Sun to Alaska next year. She also found out recently that she is a little short for getting another cruise comped by CAS, this time for Royal Caribbean. I hate when she gambles, but I’ll make an exception this time.

 

;)

 

wasiii

[cmdchiefthom]

Twenty or so years ago, an ex-girlfriend of my was in a bind to replace her grandmother who was taken ill, aboard a two week Caribbean cruise on HAL's old Noordam. She asked me if I were interested in sharing a cabin with her, as there was no way to get a refund. What a deal.:eek: A couple of years later, when planning a honeymoon for my bride, not the girlfriend, I decided on a cruise, and because of my previous experience, I picked the old Nieuw Amsterdam, and that was 25 or so cruises ago. At first, HAL was our cruise line of choice. But with Carnival calling the shots, the food, upkeep, and even the number of crew onboard, began to lose the luxury status HAL advertised. On several cruises, the Suites and the ships themselves, were filthy, so I started looking around, and besides NCL, I also did Tahiti aboard Princess. Eventually, I pretty much stopped even looking at HAL, prices were outrageous, and the itineraries were the same year after year. Now, I don't even bother to look at any other cruise line, I just feel at home aboard NCL.;)

[T.O.cruisers]

Any ship is better than a week on land. I'm not lucky enough to live near a port so my past cruises have necessitated a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Barcelona and now Venice. I pick the ship depending on the itinerary and price. This is the first time we are cruising on NCL. Freestyle will be a totally new experience for me and I'm all for new experiences and seeing as many places as I can.

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Cruised on carnival many years ago then stopped crusing and did a lot of land vacations. Received a certificate from the taj in Atlantic city last year and figured I would give it a try. Loved it. Now booked again for this November back on the breakaway. I won't switch to other lines because now that NCL has me hooked through CAS and I can't get any prices even near what I get on NCL. I have received 2 certificates from casinos for carnival but not interested. Sticking with NCL. And the convenient cruising out of New York certainly doesn't hurt.

Edited September 9, 2014 by FootballParent

[spidybabe]

Started on NCL with "free" cruise from land based casino. Loved..loved...loved it! Loved the freestyle concept and the total atmosphere of NCL. Reduced rates more "free" cruises and free drink card also help to keep us coming back again and again.

Wish I could live ...uhmmm....3weeks/month..on a ship.....??come on lotto numbers

Safe sailing

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Sam The Cat]

My first NCL cruise was based upon an ad and I in the travel section of the NY Times which they had a picture of the hull of the Dawn (their newest ship) I went on line to look at prices and received an email from NCL regarding what cruise I was interested in. That was that except on my first NCL cruise on the Dawn I did get an upsell to a suite and the rest in history only suites. I did go on on Carnival which the only reason was that it met my time frame.

[Blondie008]

Ever since 2009 - we chose our cruiseline - due to smoking policy :o

We stopped cruising Celebrity - and started choosing our cruise to fit all around our smokes.

Costa was our number one choice - smokers paradise...

BUT!!

TWO YEARS nowSmoke Free -and so happy now to choose lines for fun, for adventure, for experience, for travel - our whole world just opened up again.

It is awful how controlled one can be.

No more though - hotels, vacations, cruises

The world is our very fresh oyster!! :D

[iaa]

Sorry not trying to pry and definitely not making fun of this, but guess the first part in bold didn't work out. :p

I'm not the person you're replying to, but I am married and also chose NCL for my upcoming cruise mainly because of the solo cabins. I get mandatory time off work around Christmas and that happens to be the busiest time for my husband. And he also hates cruising. As for myself, I've only been on one and didn't have the greatest experience either, but I'm going to give it another shot. It at least sounds better than sitting at home alone for a week in the middle of the winter.

[Barb Nahoumi]

I am platinum on NCL, that said it is my cruiseline of choice. However, we did try RCI last year and enjoyed our 10 day cruise on the Explorer.

 

We all enjoy freestyle, the MDR open for embarkation lunch, and other nicities which we found missing on other cruise lines we tried.

[funat55]

We were Carnival cruisers for years and had no complaints. Our nephew was a DJ and met his wife while working on board who was one of the dancers. We took a number of family cruises so we could see Brent and Haley. Then they got a job on the Norwegian Dawn and my brother and his wife told the rest of us how much they loved NCL. As a result, took my own family on the Pearl for Thanksgiving last year, did the Getaway this year and am going on the Epic next year.

[Warm Breezes]

Obviously most people are on this NCL message board because you sail with or have an upcoming cruise with NCL. Just curious how everyone chose NCL.

 

Me, my DM paid for the family to go on our first cruise a few years ago on the Epic. I then did a quick 4 day cruise on Princess last Nov. and am going on the Dawn this Nov.

 

When I plan my next one, I may look around.

 

I'm just curious if most people on this board are die hard NCL travelers or do you flip flop/try other lines? And if you are a die hard, what has made you stick with NCL and have you tried other lines?

 

I don't choose my cruise based on cruise line (unless I have a FCC to use up). We pick a ship based on what we want out of that vacation. It usually starts with a limited time span we have to vacation. Sometimes there is a specific port we want to sail from. Sometimes there is a certain itinerary we want to sail. Sometimes there is a type of ship we want to sail (ie new mega ship). Once we narrowed our choices down to a couple different ships based on our wants and timing we usually pick a winner based on price.

[soaringfalcon]

We originally chose NCL because of the freestyle concept. DH and I are both introverts so sharing a table does not appeal to us in the least and he hates to get dressed up on vacation. We've taken 3 cruises, each one better than the last and after the service we received on our August cruise...we've declared ourselves NCLers for life :) Would that ever change? Maybe but we love sailing out of NYC, love freestyle and the staff.

[youngestof9]

I found NCL by accident! I sailed on Serenade of the Seas (RC) in 2009 and booked another RC with my family for 2011 from San Juan. But the airfare was so ridiculous to San Juan that I started looking around for something else. That's when I discovered Epic was being built and that was that! Sailed 4 times more on NCL and have 2 booked.

 

That said, I am sailing RC again in February and will not hesitate to try other lines. However, NCL's style, price and itineraries have met my needs thusfar. I actually wish they would sail from San Juan and hit some more southern caribbean routes on 7-day itineraries. I can't do the 10+ day itineraries with my kids due to school and it seems the SJ airfare has leveled out. I do love freestyle and with NCL's newer ships, I absolutely love all the dining options and the entertainment.

[JayinAZ]

My first cruise in 2004 was on Disney based on a friend's recommendation and my daughters age at the time. The forced eating with strangers was not fun for us so we won't go with Disney again. Now, it's the ship with the most unique activities, ports we like, and pricing. Since the major lines (Carnival, NCL, RCCL) are all basically freestyle we just pick which meets our above criteria. Not a big deal if I have to get "dressed up" for a formal night to eat in the MDR by wearing dockers and polo shirt once or twice.

That said, Allure has been our favorite so far, but we'll be on the Epic in 6 months so there may be a new winner.

Unfortunately there's no ocean in Arizona so no homeport advantage for me.

[adivineeternity]

Haha, for my boyfriend and I the discussion started almost a year ago at various points as we talked about all the places we eventually wanted to go. He specifically mentioned Arizona, where I have been, and Bermuda, where I have not been.

 

Fast forward to mid-February - He mentioned wanting to go on a real vacation this year and we talked about it and decided Arizona would be pretty awesome. "Well, wait a minute," you say, "you can't reach Arizona on a cruise ship."

 

This much is true, but let me finish.

 

We started researching what it would cost to take a trip out to Arizona, figuring car rental, hotels, flights, food, gas, attractions, etc. and realized that it would be in the $2000-2400 range for the two of us. One day, closer to the end of the month, he brought up wanting to go to Bermuda again but that it would be cheaper to go on a cruise than it would be to fly there and stay in a resort or hotel.

 

"Ah, now we're getting somewhere." Yes, my friend, things are starting to make some sense.

 

So, I got online (99% chance I was at work ignoring emails and pawning phone calls off on my coworker when I did this) and looked at cruise prices out of Boston, Baltimore, and NYC. I confess, I REALLY didn't feel like working, so I looked at cruises to the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Bermuda, Canada/New England, and knowing me, probably Alaska and Hawaii, as well, just to waste as much time as humanly possible at work. After a bit of research (probably at least an hour or two), I texted le boyfriend and told him that, from what I could see, a cruise to Bermuda would actually run roughly the same as a trip to Arizona. So that night we did some more research to more specifically estimate the Arizona trip and then talked about it over the course of the next 24 hours or so.

 

"Get to the point. We know what you chose, clearly." Yes, I know you know what I chose, otherwise I wouldn't be here.

 

The following night, we looked again and decided that Bermuda was easier to save for because, once booked, the unknown costs would consist almost entirely of things like food and souvenirs. The rest would be easy to plan for. The conversation from that point went something like this:

 

Him: Okay, so let's go on a cruise!

Me: Cool. Here are our options for Bermuda.

*shows him Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian options to Bermuda*

Him: I thought there was a 6-night option.

Me: No, these are the options out of New York. The 6-day is out of somewhere else. There's also Boston.

Him: No. Boston is too far when we have Manhattan's terminal right there. (step two, establish where our port is)

Me: Okay, so New York sailings. These are still our options.

Him: Well, 5 nights seems too short. I still could have sworn I saw a 6 night option.

Me: You're hallucinating. That was out of some other city. If 5 nights is too short, that rules out Royal Caribbean. So Celebrity or Norwegian. Celebrity is slightly cheaper, but out of Bayonne-

Him: I don't want to go to Jersey. That's too hard.

Me: Fine. Norwegian. (step three, establish that he's all about convenience whereas I don't care and would probably still be speculating if it was entirely my choice)

Him: Cool. My mom sailed them and loved it, so that's who I wanted. (step four, establish that this would have been much easier if he'd started with that sentiment)

Me: So... when in September do we want to go?

Him: We have to get a balcony. Nothing else will be as awesome.

Me: ... ??????

 

*two days later*

 

Me: Babe! I found a great deal! I'm gonna book now.

Him: Okay, we'll talk about it tonight.

Me: *incapable of waiting, so books it anyway* Okay, I booked it! September 21!

[cruisecritiquer]

My first cruise in 2004 was on Disney based on a friend's recommendation and my daughters age at the time. The forced eating with strangers was not fun for us so we won't go with Disney again. Now, it's the ship with the most unique activities, ports we like, and pricing. Since the major lines (Carnival, NCL, RCCL) are all basically freestyle we just pick which meets our above criteria. Not a big deal if I have to get "dressed up" for a formal night to eat in the MDR by wearing dockers and polo shirt once or twice.

That said, Allure has been our favorite so far, but we'll be on the Epic in 6 months so there may be a new winner.

Unfortunately there's no ocean in Arizona so no homeport advantage for me.

 

Does Disney still force you to eat with strangers? :confused:

 

As an introvert, I couldn't not deal with that every single day. I'd be exhausted.

[BullDawg91]

Does Disney still force you to eat with strangers? :confused:

 

 

 

As an introvert, I couldn't not deal with that every single day. I'd be exhausted.

 

 

You can request to sit with just your party or they will place you with table mates that hopefully you will have something in common with. You can also skip the MDR for the buffet area which actually becomes regular table service but with unassigned seats for dinner.

[cruisecritiquer]

You can request to sit with just your party or they will place you with table mates that hopefully you will have something in common with. You can also skip the MDR for the buffet area which actually becomes regular table service but with unassigned seats for dinner.

 

That's good to know. It's funny, I was just talking to someone about this...one of the reasons I think I also gravitate towards NCL is because I can be as solo or linkedin as I want. :)

[JayinAZ]

Does Disney still force you to eat with strangers? :confused:

 

As an introvert, I couldn't not deal with that every single day. I'd be exhausted.

 

Honestly, I never even thought of Disney after our first cruise. Not only was the price high but I just wasn't into Disney everything. Luckily I didn't give up and there are plenty of other options. Ncl and rccl have some amazing new ships.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I'm platinum on Carnival and have also sailed Princess. My first NCL cruise is in a month. We didn't choose Carnival, our TA did--it was back in 1997 and my then-husband and I were under a ton of stress and pretty broke. I went to the TA and said, "I have $800; what's the best vacation I can get for that?" She said, "A cruise." We had no idea what we were doing. We did a four-day and I was hooked. Every time we decided to cruise, my ex-husband wanted to cruise Carnival--he's quite the creature of habit. Once I booked Princess and I told him it was cheaper than Carnival for the itinerary we wanted (it was actually a few $$ more :o). I LOVED Princess, but ex and the kids wanted to go back to Carnival. Now that I'm divorced, I can choose whatever line I want and I've wanted to try NCL and HAL for a while now; would also love to try Princess again.

 

I can't wait to go on my first NCL cruise. I'm going solo and excited about that, too. If I like NCL--and I have no reason to think I won't--I'll book the Epic so I can try out a studio cabin. It'll take a few years for me to get to a level where I get any significant benefits, but I'm willing to put in the work. ;);)

[hes122]

A friend of mine who cruises frequently gave me some basic information on some of the lines she's cruised with before. Once I had that, I went to AAA and talked with an agent who gave me brochures for Carnival, RCCL, and NCL (I may have ordered the NCL one myself). I then looked through the brochures thoroughly to get a better understanding of how each line operated. My best friend & I knew we wanted to go on a Caribbean cruise so that narrowed down some choices. I emailed her with 3 itineraries and explained the ins and outs of each line without putting my own opinion as to which one I preferred. We sat down one night when I was in town and we went through everything. It turns out her favorite was mine so it worked out to our advantage.

Edited September 10, 2014 by hes122

[Siora7777]

I haven't cruised that much but for my first and next cruise I chose it based off price and port. My sister lives in Florida so that's why I chose those because they leave from Miami. Our November cruise was also chosen based off the ship. My last cruise I booked based off price of a balcony cabin and itinerary. I'm not loyal, I'll pick based off price. Lowest price has always won. I'd like to try them all at least once. That's the only way I'll know what I prefer.

[peg013]

Our first cruise was on Royal Caribbean in 2002 with our middle son's high school band. Next up was also with the high school band (son was now a junior) in 2003. We did the Norwegian Dawn out of NYC. Then sending our sons to college got in the way until May 2007 when we did the Carnival Miracle out of NYC for our 25th wedding anniversary. Next up was 11 nights on Holland America's Noordam out of NYC. What we knew was we really like cruising out of NYC and preferred NCL's freestyle dining, and entertainment more than the others we had tried. Our next 6 were on NCL. Then we did a Carnival Glory cruise in 2011 since friends were already booked on it and invited us to join them. Add 10 more on NCL then another on Carnival Splendor July 2014 which was diverted TO Bermuda since again friends were already booked on her. Next up is our third time on the Breakaway, to Bermuda this time. 2015 will be the Gem, then the CTN's and TA on the Norwegian Escape......... Current count: 17 on NCL, 1 RCCL, 1 Holland America, 3 Carnival with 5 NCL cruises scheduled from now until Oct 2015. We've never had a bad cruise - I don't even think that is possible unless the ship sinks! Norwegian is our #1!