What is your favorite cruise line and why?

[PunkiC]

We just returned from our first cruise, liked it far better than we had anticipated, and plan to do more.

 

Our first cruise was on Princess--a Class Reunion Cruise--so our initial thought was to continue with Princess so we can eventually get free internet service, which is a big deal to us.

 

We are, BTW, in our early 60s, in great physical shape, love to work out and dance every day on a cruise. We also love to dress up and go to shows. Small amounts of really good food would be preferable to massive amounts of average food. We thought Princess had massive amounts of average food.

 

Which cruise line do you like best and why?

[Jane110]

Pinki,

 

We like Oceania for a number of reasons:

 

The itinerary's are fabulous and they go to very interesting ports.

The ships are mid sized - 600+ people - mostly a well travelled group.

The food is exceptional and it's all open seating. No set times. Dine everynight at a different time and with different people if you like.

 

However, you may not like Oceania for the following reasons:

 

There are no formal nights. Every night is "country club casual".

There are no "big" shows. They do have nice entertainment, but it's much more low key. A few singers/dancers/comedians etc, but if you expect the Broadway-like show productions, you'll be very disappointed.

 

The disco is open everynight and often there is dancing in the showroom and lounges.

 

BTW, we cruised on the Grand Princess last year and liked it very much. We opted for open seating dinners and found the food on our cruise to be very good. Not as stellar as Oceania, however, we had no complaints and frankly, it was better than we expected.

[Goldryder]

Having sailed with NCL once already and another in a couple of months, I would certainly recommend them.

 

Their Freestyle Dining is brilliant, you can dress up or down according to how you feel, there are no fixed restaurant choices, you can choose to eat anywhere on the ship and at any time too. The food is good, obviously some is better than others as with all cruiselines. The included restaurants have a very decent level of food and staffing, the $15 a head cover charge restaurants are excellent and you can get all dressed up if you so wish.

 

NCL ships have very good shows, activities or if you just want to laze by the pool or sunbathe, you can do that too.

 

NCL seems to have got the balance right and gives you the freedom of choice in whatever you want to do and when.

 

I am off on their 14 night Christmas and New Year cruise this year on Norwegian Crown, their oldest, smallest ship and have recently been on the Norwegian Jewel, their newest and biggest ship.

 

For purely value for money, I am very impressed, although being a UK customer , I got the all in package whereas in the US it tends to be seperate cruise, flights and hotels.

 

So far though I cannot fault NCL in any way. :):):)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done quite a few cruises on Cunard, Princess, NCL, and once on RCI.

But for the past few years we have stayed with HAL. We like the friendliness of the crew. And over the years we have gotten to know quite a few crew members.

We also like the larger cabins on HAL.

We love the food - portions are just right for us.

Only once did we have bad service - that was with a wine steward and we took care of that situation right on the ship. Results were to our satisfaction.

[kente]

We have been on HAL, NCL and CEL. We definitely like Celebrity the best. We have had the best service, best food and the cleanest ships on CEL.. We liked HAL also but it was our first cruise and we had nothing to compare it to. Unfortunately we had a less than satisfactory cruise on the Dream/NCL. The service in the dining rooms was horrible. The breakfast service in the dining room was slow and the food was often cold when delivered to the table. Many nights there were lines at the dining rooms. I would never condemn a cruise line because of one less than satisfactory cruise, but it would be difficult for me to sail on NCL again after that experience.

[mr green]

Pinki,

 

We like Oceania for a number of reasons:

 

The itinerary's are fabulous and they go to very interesting ports.

The ships are mid sized - 600+ people - mostly a well travelled group.

The food is exceptional and it's all open seating. No set times. Dine everynight at a different time and with different people if you like.

 

 

 

 

What other 'extras' are there on Oceania? Drink prices, are they on a par with other lines, are there any stores, and do any dining rooms cost extra? We are thinking about trying them in Europe next year. Thanks john

[geoherb]

I've sailed on Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Celebrity. The last two are our favorites. We've taken our last six cruises on them. We're 43 and 49 and tend to like good food and service, variety of entertainment options in the evenings, but not discos or ballroom dancing.

 

I'd like to try a cruise on one of Royal Caribbean's Radiance-class ships to see how they are compared to our earlier cruises on the Nordic Empress (now the Empress of the Seas) and the Sovereign of the Seas.

 

We haven't ruled out going on a Holland America ship. In planning for our last cruise (on Celebrity's Century), a HAL ship was in the running but turned out to be a lot more expensive.

[patnjohn]

Our last cruise was on Celebrity & our next one will be on Celebrity too. We have done 3 on Princess. We loved Princess. We found Celebrity to be just a "cut above" though. Food better. Service better. Linen placemats on trays in buffet. Someone also takes your tray & finds you a table & gets your soda, ice tea. Cold towels when returning from port. Sherbert served poolside in the afternoon. Champagne served upon embarking ship. Every worker had a smile & some kind words when we past them in halways, etc. Have fun whatever line you choose.

[CONVERT94]

Pinki,

 

We like Oceania for a number of reasons:

 

The itinerary's are fabulous and they go to very interesting ports.

The ships are mid sized - 600+ people - mostly a well travelled group.

The food is exceptional and it's all open seating. No set times. Dine everynight at a different time and with different people if you like.

 

 

 

 

What other 'extras' are there on Oceania? Drink prices, are they on a par with other lines, are there any stores, and do any dining rooms cost extra? We are thinking about trying them in Europe next year. Thanks john

 

 

YES YES Pinki-Tell us more. NO formal nights and no Broadway/Vegas glitz? I'm hooked already.

[PurpleCow]

What other 'extras' are there on Oceania? Drink prices, are they on a par with other lines, are there any stores, and do any dining rooms cost extra? We are thinking about trying them in Europe next year.

Drinks were about $6.00, but there were always several daily specials that were $4.75. Soft drinks were $2.00. You are permitted to bring drinks aboard for consumption in your cabin, so you don't have to try to sneak anything in. Coffee bar with coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade and another juice is open 24/7. The specialty restaurants don't cost extra. The cabins are a bit smaller than on other lines, but how much time do you spend in your cabin? There are 2 shops and a small casino.

[Andee]

We love Oceania for all of Jane110's reasons.

 

In the past, we cruised different lines, selecting a cruise for the itinerary. Now I just want to read the Oceania brochure and hope they're sailing to places I'm even mildly interesting in seeing.

[PunkiC]

Which cruise lines allow you to bring alcohol on board?

 

Princess allows you to bring wine and champagne, but not hard liquor. You may, however, send yourself a bon voyage gift and they will have it available in your suite when you arrive.

 

How much does internet service cost on other cruise lines? Princess if $.35 per minute, which is crazy. Starting with your 6th Princess cruise, however, internet service is free.

[Andee]

Oceania allows you to bring alcohol on board.

 

I don't know about the Internet costs because that's not something we do on vacation.

[Jane110]

Drinks on Oceania are generally about $8.00 + 18% gratuity automatically added. There is a less pricey drink of day, but never found one that appealed to me.

Corkage fee in the dining room is $20. per bottle.

 

Internet charge is a whopping $.95 a minute and the computers are s-l-o-w.

 

No additional charge for specialty restaurants. However, the Main Dining Room is so excellent, you won't feel a need to go to the specialty places.

 

Cabins are smaller than on other lines, however, there is alot of storage space in the cabin as well as in the bathroom. No fridge in cabin unless you book on the 7th deck "Conciege Level". We book a deck 6 balcony and miss having a fridge.

[PunkiC]

Yikes! $.95 per minute for the internet? I would die from withdrawal. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if there were lots of ports. When we were at sea, I really missed the internet. That is our incentive to take a lot of little one/two day Princess cruises before we retire and really want to qualify or free internet for long cruises with lots of time at sea. I am hoping that the internet works at sea, but guess it depends on where we are in relation to the satellites.

 

We love ballroom dancing and, while we enjoyed the good bands and having lots of room to dance on our Princess cruise to Alaska, there were times when we felt like we were the floor show. Some folks told us that more people dance on the southern cruises than on the Alaska cruises. I hope so. It is more fun when there are more people get up and dance.

 

So far Princess and Celebrity sound the best to me. Do they have formal nights on Celebrity? We really do enjoy the formal nights.

 

Does anybody besides Princess have free internet with Platinum status?

[Jane110]

When it comes to the big ships, Princess are Celebrity are our favorites. I've been on HAL and NCL and wouldn't go back on either.

Both Celebrity and Princess have formal nights.

 

Jane

[caviargal]

Drinks on Oceania are generally about $8.00 + 18% gratuity automatically added. There is a less pricey drink of day, but never found one that appealed to me.

Corkage fee in the dining room is $20. per bottle.

 

QUOTE]

 

Per my Oceania sales rep, now $25. I find this a bit much.

[cruiseapril]

We like Princess because of the varied itineraries and excursions.

[PunkiC]

So far, everything I have read, leads me to want to stick with Princess, but maybe try Celebrity if a great deal or a good party comes along.

 

The food on Princess was so/so, but there were lots of veggies at the buffet so I could always make an amazing salad. Maybe I will start bringing my own gourmet salad dressing. We don't really need to eat that much anyway. ;)

 

As an aside, we went condo shopping last weekend and fell in love with one condo with a sweeping view of Puget Sound. I was thinking how much fun it would be to watch the cruise ships through our telescope. That way we could enjoy cruising, even when we were at home. :D Celebrity and Norwegian dock just down the hill from our home. Princess is further south of the city, but still viewable from the condo.

[SPI_Rick]

PunkiC, as you can tell, everyone has their own favorite cruise line. I believe that all of the major cruise lines will give you a good experience.....if they didn't they wouldn't be a major cruise line for long. Since you've already taken a Princess cruise and liked it and since Princess has a wide variety of destinations, you should probably stay with Princess and try to earn some of the perks that you get as a past passenger. But if you see a great deal on another cruise line or if there is a 'must see' destination that Princess doesn't offer then don't feel bashful about booking another cruise line.....you'll enjoy any of the mainstream lines.

 

 

......for me, I'm sticking with Princess for the time being.....2 Princess cruises completed, 2 more Princess cruises booked, 1 more Princess cruise to be booked later this year.

[sailnsee]

We started cruising almost 20 years ago by going on two carnival cruises-it served the purpose-younger children,teens etc. but since then we have gone on 1 NCL,2 Princess, 6 Rccl and 3 Celebrity. We liked Princess but still favor RCCL. We went on our first Celebrity this year after RCCL purchased them and we could use our sailing status-liked them so much we went on another and have one booked in Jan. and next Oct.(11 day to the Med.) We haven't forgotten Royal tho'-going to Med. this Oct. for 12 days. Haven't tried Hal-maybe someday but Celebrity and Royal are keeping us busy! Great cruises!

[phaelon56]

Thus far I've been on only one cruise the Princess Grand in October 2003. Like the Original Poster I wasn't sure I'd enjoy cruising and intentionally brought along low expectations. My GF at the time had been on three Carnival ships and convinced me to go - I chose Princess after my research and suspect I made a good choice. It exceeded my expectations by a huge margin and I'm booked for the Caribbean Princess this fall.

 

I had a natural disiniclination towards Carnival in part because of their advertising/marketing approach and also because I'd heard that they were often boozy party cruises. I think that's changed to some extent but have also since been informed that this tends to be true of 3 and 5 day cruises but much less so on the 7 day and longer.

 

What Princess offered in my experience:

 

- always efficient and usually very friendly service

- subdued and elegant decor in the rooms and public areas

- two fresh-water adults only swimming pools

- better than expected food in the dining room and IMHO restrained portions sizes; dining room meals were generally acceptable but a few items were exceptional considering the context

- nice mix of people on my cruise ranging mostly 30's to 60's

 

I was and still am uninterested in visiting port towns, cities or islands for only a single day. My styel of non cruise travel is to explore local cultures in much greater depth than a one or two day stop allows. Also, I could care less about itineraries if the weather is warm and they stop someplace where I can scuba dive or snorkel {:-)

 

I did find the onboard entertainment to be fairly lame and the food in the buffet (we only tried it for one breakfast and one lunch) to be mediocre.

 

Popular wisdom (which may be flawed) says RCCL skews to a younger crowd with its active sports features (in line skating track and rock climbing wall on board), HAL to a much older age bracket and I really never got a handle on what the "rap" is about Celebrity and NCL.

 

I did find my cruise to be a great value for the price paid and discovered that the element of being pampered by a service oriented staff and being able to really truly relax has strong appeal. By chance we got two free upgrades and ended up with a balcony room for $629 each on a 7 day cruise. Princess is shrewd with the free upgrades - I got totally spoiled with the balcony and could not possibly cruise without one. Decided to spring for a mini-suite this time - still a bargain in my opinion at $998 each for 7 days (fall special due to low booking rates).

 

We'll be on the Caribbean Princess and there have been reports of service slippage / attitude problems due to an extra 500 passengers with no increase in staff size. But the balance of reports seem to indicate that much ius based on expectations and passenger attitude - I'm sure we'll have a great time and now they have outdoor movies as well!

[marco]

I've been on approx 100 cruises, starting as a child in the 60's and I've probably sailed on all of them at least once from Dolphin to Silversea. Honestly, I don't have a "favorite". Yes, one might have better dining options, one better shows, one more ammenities, one bigger cabins, but they ALL provide what I really go on a cruise for: a shady corner in a deck chair watching the ocean go by, beautiful sunsets on the water in the evening, the salt air on an early morning walk, a pretty harbor scene when entering a port, a nice beach to spend an afternoon at or an interesting sight to go visit, a cozy corner for a cocktail and a little music before dinner. It's really not all that important to us that on "ABC" line, the balconies are 5 feet bigger, I have to pay (or not) for ice cream, the chocolate buffet is to die for, there are cloth hand wipes in rest rooms, the towels are bigger, someone hands you a tray in the buffet line, the elevators are slow, some guests don't dress up on formal night, they do or don't make little animals out of towels to leave on your bed in the evenings, and on and on and on.

[ClaudiaF]

 

Depending on what type of cabin you take, you could have concierge service, early embarcation and disembarcation, butler service.

Drink prices are about the same but some are higher just depends. You can bring on any booze you like for your in room consumption or if you waqnt to bring your own wine to a dining room they charge a corkage $ 20.00

The wonderful special resrauarnts do not charge extra, but you just have to make reservations.

The ships are really the prettiest at sea IMHO.

[ClaudiaF]

Drinks on Oceania are generally about $8.00 + 18% gratuity automatically added. There is a less pricey drink of day, but never found one that appealed to me.

Corkage fee in the dining room is $20. per bottle.

 

QUOTE]

 

Per my Oceania sales rep, now $25. I find this a bit much.

 

Where did he or she hear that one? I think that is a bit over the top and not sure if correct.