Please help to pick a cruise line...

[lrmg1228]

I have convinced my husband to go on a cruise with me, something I have wanted to do for a very long time. The problem is if I don't find the right cruise that he will enjoy I will never get him back on one again. We are just average people mid 30's, but don't drink, dance or gamble. I really want to go on one just to take it easy. Any suggestions? I have several cruise books and have considered the following:

Holland, but I am concerned that these will be too slow

Celebrity, but question whether these will be too stuffy

Royal Caribbean, but they get a lot of mixed reviews

Carnival, may be just a little to happening for our style. One writer (book) wrote this is the Walmart of cruising...

Princess, they get mixed reviews as well. Although one writer (book) wrote they are a mixture of RCI, HAL and NCL

 

As far as the food, we eat at your everyday resturants in town. We are not 5 star junkies, we are looking for decent food, but this is not the very most important feature of the cruise for us.

 

I would like a clean, well keep ship

Good Service

Decent rooms

entainment options (I think I even saw where one person put they had a napkin folding lesson, interesting)

Decent food

 

I could be missing something, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

One thing that seemed interesting in the 2 books I have been reading is when they tell you who they feel your fellow passengers are on a particular line they always mention income. In other words upper middle-class families would typically not cruise on a Carnival? When you are on a cruise is it that obvious as to your fellow passengers income category?

[Capt_BJ]

wind star

 

trust me

 

wind star

[lrmg1228]

Windstar might be a little too scary for me.

[SANDY BEACH]

I would suggest Celebrity Millennium. Celebrity is not stuffy. Very friendly staff. No daily announcements every 30 minutes, food and presentation good, entertainment good and overall experience very relaxing. I would stay away from Carnival. It doesn't sound like the right cruise for you. As much as I also like Holland I think it might be a little older crowd than you want. RCI maybe. I think if you go Millennium, you will be booking that 2nd cruise before you leave the ship. Good luck. It's one of our favorites.

[98Charlie]

Best advice I can give you is to read these boards, check out the layout of cruise ships and the itineraries that sound good to you.

 

We have been on 9 different ships on 4 different cruise lines over the past 40 months. There are some things we like better about one cruise line over another and yet there is no cruise line we wouldn't sail again based on our experiences on all of those ships.

 

We have sailed Celebrity 3 x, NCL 5x and Princess and RCI both once - no, we haven't sailed Windstar.

 

We enjoy the more formal atmosphere of Celebrity on formal and informal nights since we don't have an opportunity to dress up for dinner that much here in the heartlands of farm country -- but we also like the free style dining concept of NCL on some cruise itineraries that gives us the option to dine when we want to dine and spend more time in ports.

 

IMHO, NCL serves the best foo-foo drinks of the four lines we've sailed. Drinks seem to be a bit stronger and cost the same as the other lines.

 

To us traveling by cruise is an adventure that begins to happen the minute we begin looking for a cruise and cruise line. We find a ship with an itinerary we like and then do some research about the ports of call and read some reviews.

 

Then we decide if that's an adventure we're ready to explore.

 

Got 3 three more adventures booked we're exploring soon and already have a couple more in the waiting to be booked.

 

I'm personly terrifed of water and can't swim. Getting me on a cruise ship took about 35 years of my husband's life with me to happen. Now it's hard to get me off the ship. I still can't swim and not fond of being in water more than waist deep - but I swam with the sting rays in Grand Caymon two years ago. I regard that as one of my major accomplishments in life. :D

 

Dianne

[lrmg1228]

I appreciate your responses. Like I said I have 2 books and have been reading them for the last several days. I also have been veiwing differnt post here to help determine if the books seem to be accurate as far as their ratings of the ships. I guess I will keep looking. I am still trying to decide between Alaska and the Caribbean. Maybe once I figure that out I can narrow it down to a ship. We live in Florida and about 3.5 miles from Ponte Vedra Beach, but never go to the beach itself (I burn easy). I think I would enjoy the warm weather and scenery (hope I spelled that correctly, no spell check), but I know we would also enjoy the wildlife part of Alaska as well. I just don't want to be cold. I guess I need to find out what the weather is like in early summer in Alaska.

 

Again thanks for your advice.

[98Charlie]

Try putting a question out on the Alaska board for temps in early summer.

 

DH has always said he wants to go somewhere ``warm'' when we're on vacation since we live in Central Ohio where we have ice and snow in winter and fall normally begins in mid Sept.

 

Last two summers we've had record sub tropical weather in summer. Last Sept. temps dropped to frost area here and it was actually warmer in Alaska in mid-Sept. than it was in Ohio.

 

DH & I have a Mex. Riviera cruise booked for this Sept. We will go from this heat to more heat. We're actually looking for an Alaska cruise for next Sept. just to have a chance to cool down a bit before fall and winter hits up with us again.

 

Dianne

[lrmg1228]

Will do, got to go for right now, getting kicked off of the computer by my 16 year old daughter. I will check back later tonight or tomorrow.

 

Thanks again for your help.....

[gumballz]

I'm personly terrifed of water and can't swim. Getting me on a cruise ship took about 35 years of my husband's life with me to happen. Now it's hard to get me off the ship. I still can't swim and not fond of being in water more than waist deep - but I swam with the sting rays in Grand Caymon two years ago. I regard that as one of my major accomplishments in life. :D

 

Dianne

 

Dianne, that's great!! I have a severe fear of falling (I fell down stairs about 10 years ago and broke my leg.) I wish I could get over that. I'm not afraid of heights......but I won't be able to do the rock wall because I'm afraid of how I'll feel once I'm up there. I hate it. :(

[DesertGal]

I think Norwegian is a great cruiseline for first time cruisers because of Freestyle Dining. They had ten different restaurants on our last ship compared to the other cruiselines which often have one dining room and one buffet. We enjoyed having our choice of a Japanese Restaurant, Italian Restaurant, Steak House, even a Mexican Restaurant. You also have the choice of a table for 2 or a larger table with other guests each night. I prefer that to eating in the same dining room with the same people every night.

 

Norwegian has great entertainment too. I also noticed alot of people from mid 30's to mid 40's on our last NCL cruise. Can't beat NCL prices either--they are a fantastic line for a great price.

[miami]

Since you live in FL why don't you see which ships sail out of the nearest port. All the cruise lines have websites where you can check the itineraries. I chose NCL for several reasons but one of the main reasons was the freestyle dining. I do not want to dress up for dinner and liked the idea of dining when and where we wanted.

[bishopridley]

Hi,

For your first Cruise pick one of moderate duration. Three days is far too short, three months far too long. I suggest seven to ten days. Caribbean in the New Year or Alaska in the Summer. Either one will provide nice temperatures although on the Alaskan you will need some warmer (Light jacket etc.) clothing for the evenings or when close to the Ice. I'd go as far as to recommend Princess; the average age is ten to twenty years older than you but that also means a quiet voyage; no heavy duty parties; and the service is excellant.

Relax, enjoy and be refreshed, Cheers.

[98Charlie]

Dianne, that's great!! I have a severe fear of falling (I fell down stairs about 10 years ago and broke my leg.) I wish I could get over that. I'm not afraid of heights......but I won't be able to do the rock wall because I'm afraid of how I'll feel once I'm up there. I hate it. :(

 

The rock wall I could do - if I was 10 or 20 years younger. Never been afraid of heights but know at my age (57) if I fell off I might never walk again - at least on two legs. :D

 

And about that Sting Ray City tour, I will be the first to admit that my husband almost lost his swimming trunks twice during our tour. I'm only 5-ft tall and water was chest high for me. When waves came in from other boats coming and going from the sand bar I always had my fingers attached to the leg of his swim suit. Don't know who looked more terrified at those times, DH or me. :)

 

Dianne

[wtevrfltsurbt]

I feel your angst! I just took my hubby and 13 yr old daughter on their 1st cruise last year and I was terrified if I didn't get everything right they'd never want to go again. They fell in love with cruising! I hope you have the same result. I chose Mexico, an 11 day cruise because we live in San Diego and I thought that by going "local" hubby would not feel like we'd gone to the far side of the moon. Breaking him in gently so to speak. We cruised with Celebrity which has formal nights etc. He wears a suit everyday to work so not a big deal for him to wear a tux for formal nights. I got them both very involved with the planning of excursions making sure each found something of interest to them and made sure I communicated my love for cruising to them and tried to explain the peace/excitement/relaxation I get when on board. By the time we were due to board they were so jazzed about going it was amazing! Hubby loved it so much we booked another for the following year, (party time in my world):D

Our next cruise is Hawaii for 15 days on Princess. If dressing up is a good thing for you these 2 lines IMO are great, if it's a hassle then perhaps another line would be better. There are no "fashion Police" aboard, but most cruiselines ask that you adhere to the dresscode which is usually posted on their website.

Hope this helps and good luck!

[gumballz]

lol....cute :)

[jerseygirl3]

I would suggest either Princess or Celebrity.

[Wennfred]

For a first cruise, go with Carnival... a nice ship like any of the Spirit Class will hook you and your hubby... Great cruise, good food and great people. its the perfect cruise for your age group... now if you were abit older, then yes I would recommend those listed above like Celebrity and Princess. :)

[crazidude1400]

Celebrity-I would choose an M class ship

[vmom]

I'd strongly recommend that you try Princess. If you want to try RCCL, make sure and go when school is in session, otherwise too many kids...and choose a newer ship. Have been told by fellow cruisers that they did not enjoy Carnival or NCL as much as Princess or RCCL.

 

Also, Princess has personal choice dining, which is basically simialar to NCL's freestyle dining. Or there is a traditional dining room seating available for those who prefer a set dining time.

 

Princess has a choice of entertainment available every evening.

[CONVERT94]

Anything Celebrity.

[Cruisin' Chick]

You are starting off right by asking us. I remember reading one book on cruising in which the author seemed to stick his nose up at many of the cruiselines.

 

I can only respond about Carnival (a younger crowd; often rowdy) and Princess (a wide range of ages). We went to Alaska last year and saw beautiful scenary. It was in the 60s during the day and pretty rainy but someone who cruised the week before said they had "shorts" weather. (August)

 

I don't swim and not really into drinkiing (migraines) and we don't gamble. In fact the only drinks I had on the last cruise were the freebies and they were pretty watered down -- no effect on me at all. The really nice thing about going on cruises is that you don't have to join in on the activities if you don't won't to. You don't even have to leave the ship until the last day.

 

If you want to avoid kids, avoid when most kids are out of school (June thru August and last 2 weeks of December and the weeks surrounding Easter). It's really hard for us to go when school is in session because the homework, etc. is pretty relentless.

 

I'm sure whatever cruiseline you choose, you'll have a good time.

[lel5344]

I think for a 7 day cruise in the Alaska Inside Passage, any of the mass market lines (Celebrity, Carnival, RCL, NCL, Princess, Holland America) will work. Note that Holland America and Princess are reputed to have the best shore excursions in Alaska.

 

Check out http://www.cruiseclues.com for information on the lines, the ships, the daily activities, the menus, the photos, etc. Talk to an experienced cruise travel agent who has been on several ships to Alaska. Check out the message boards here for comments regarding the different lines.

 

Then decide on your priorities. do you want to sitt down with the same people every night for dinner, or would you rather eat in a different venue every night? Do you want lots of shipboard athletic-type activities or would you rather just sit in a quiet place and sip on a hot drink? Do you want an indoor swimming pool or is swimming not important to you? Do you like to be entertained constantly or would you rather just nap a lot?

 

Keep browsing these forums and ask specific questions about specific cruise lines in those respective forums. While each Cruise Critic member has a different idea of the perfect ship for that first time cruise, I think virtually all of us will agree that you'll have a great time!

[Seago2]

I would say that NCL is your best bet. Freestyle Cruising is absolutely for you- that way you aren't forced to eat with the same people every night. I find that NCL has the best food of the major cruise lines.

 

I just sailed on CCL for the first time and I have to object to the Walmart reference. I have never actually been to Walmart as I live in the city and they tend to be in rural and suburban areas, but I HAVE been on CCL and it was not downmarket at all. I am a lawyer and I met plenty of lawyers on board. There were many families but no kids running wild- not even one. If you are cruising Alaska then you might do well to stay away from the more stodgy lines or you will die of boredom.

 

The thing to remember is that what bothers you, or doesn't interest you, on shore will have no bearing on what you find entertaining at sea. My mother has a Harvard PhD and was married to an architect for 30 years... refined taste she has in spades. She was just laughing her @** off at the hairy chest contest two days ago. You will find that after a few days you loosen up considerably and drop any attitude you bring with you on board. Happens to me every time.

 

I chose CCL because of the quad cabins and sweated bullets for three months because of the negative CCL reviews I read. I shouldn't have bothered. It was a great cruise.

[NancyIL]

My experience is limited to Holland America and Royal Caribbean. HAL had great food and very classy service, but definitely an older demographic. I LOVED my two cruises on Royal Caribbean: Western Caribbean out of Tampa on Splendour of the Seas, and Baltic on Jewel of the Seas. Narrowing it down to WHERE you want to cruise will be a big help in deciding WHO you want to cruise with! If you are interested in Alaska (I'm hoping to do that in 2007), everyone says the itinerary is the most important thing. Itinerary/price also helped me decide between RCI and Carnival in the Caribbean. Price is what kept me from going on a Disney cruise and with RCI instead, and I don't have any regrets.

[wtevrfltsurbt]

I have to disagree Nancy, you can have a fabulous destination but if the environment on board is something you are not comfortable with it can be miserable getting there. Just my own opinion:D

My experience is limited to Holland America and Royal Caribbean. HAL had great food and very classy service, but definitely an older demographic. I LOVED my two cruises on Royal Caribbean: Western Caribbean out of Tampa on Splendour of the Seas, and Baltic on Jewel of the Seas. Narrowing it down to WHERE you want to cruise will be a big help in deciding WHO you want to cruise with! If you are interested in Alaska (I'm hoping to do that in 2007), everyone says the itinerary is the most important thing. Itinerary/price also helped me decide between RCI and Carnival in the Caribbean. Price is what kept me from going on a Disney cruise and with RCI instead, and I don't have any regrets.