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What Determines Which Cruise You Book?

BassettMom

By BassettMom,
in Ask a Cruise Question

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Linerguy

Linerguy

Posted
Posted
Saw this question asked on another board; how do you pick which cruise to book?

 

For me it would be:

1. Time of year

2. Cruise line

3. Price

4. Itinerary/ports

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

IMO, you skipped the most important option: ship. That's how I pick a cruise.

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Who Knew

Who Knew

Posted
Posted

For me, I cruise just to cruise...destination, itinerary, etc. are considerations but not necessarily the determining factor. A good deal will definitely help though. :)

 

I am not a patient person by nature, so my friend does the research for cruises. She then sends me a few prospects. One will usually stand out from the others, and that is usually a combination of good deal, ease and sometimes ports I haven't been to.

 

There is no firm list of criteria though, sometimes I just want to cruise. :D

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2BeOnaBoat

2BeOnaBoat

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IMO, you skipped the most important option: ship. That's how I pick a cruise.

 

HA. I've only done this once but it gets added to my list as well. Somehow I have would up on the Caribbean Princess too much. So I booked a Houston trip to try a different terminal and ship. I would like to try a smaller ship as well.

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terrysko2000

terrysko2000

Posted
Posted

For us: 1. time of year ( I need to work around my paying job :)

2. itinerary (I like to try new places - will revisit favorites later)

3. cruise line.

I just enjoy cruising! We live far from any port so our vacation involves airfare and more time travel - But most definately worth it!

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nzOdy

nzOdy

Posted
Posted
.... Somehow I have wound up on the Caribbean Princess too much. So I booked a Houston trip to try a different terminal and ship...

 

 

That's funny, because we are visiting family in Texas next month and decided to extend our time with a cruise out of Houston, low and behold, it's on the Caribbean Princess (our first sailing on her)

 

For us, the determining factors are varied, but have included:

Price

Home port (prefer San Francisco)

Associate Cruise Director

Size of ship

Length of cruise

School & Work Schedules

Ports of call

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CoffeHound

CoffeHound

Posted
Posted

right now it is

 

1) departure port (San Francisco preferred but will consider LA, Seattle, Vancouver)

 

2) time of year/timing of cruise i.e. how many days off (don't you just hate when your job cuts into your leisure time?)

 

3) Itinerary

 

This is pretty much what I am using for my "normal" vacation time that I am planning in the near future. Right now I am trying to decide on my next "big" vacation (longer and farther away) like Australia or the black sea, and for that, Itinerary, cruise line and price (somewhat)

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WISH84

WISH84

Posted
Posted

We have a tradition of always cruising over our wedding anniversary... so the time of the year is always December which works out good for us as we both work at a University and December is also very slow.

 

So, once I start looking at cruises, they are always in December (we've take a few cruises in the summer) and I first start looking:

 

Ships - Which are departing the week we need

Destinations - of those ships, which ports do we want to visit

Ships - If no destinations move us, we select the ship we want to be on.

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Grego

Grego

Posted
Posted

Since we have been to most areas and we live so close to Port Everglades and are retired, our order would probably be:

 

Itinerary

Price

Ship

Calendar

 

The only other order would be as result of a super last minute great can't pass it up almost free offer....

 

Price

Price

Price

Price

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2BeOnaBoat

2BeOnaBoat

Posted
Posted
That's funny, because we are visiting family in Texas next month and decided to extend our time with a cruise out of Houston, low and behold, it's on the Caribbean Princess (our first sailing on her)

 

For us, the determining factors are varied, but have included:

Price

Home port (prefer San Francisco)

Associate Cruise Director

Size of ship

Length of cruise

School & Work Schedules

Ports of call

 

I like the Caribbean Princess in fact the shopping cart handle is one of my favorite ship features. But it seemed like 4 of my 1st 6 cruises were on that ship.

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MrCruise

MrCruise

Posted
Posted

I'm driven a lot by value. Living in Florida, I have the chance to watch deals and book last minute.

 

Of course, value doesn't always equate to lowest prices. I never sailed an interior and there are some lines I won't consider at all. But that being said, the $80 or so per day deal I found on a deluxe balcony on my coming Princess cruise was great knowing the cabin typically goes for $125 or more. Likewise, I'd jump on the chance to sail Crystal again if I could find a sailing for $200-$250 a day, but I think that may just be wishful thinking! LOL

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Kinkacruiser Holiday Sharing Rare

Kinkacruiser

Posted
Posted

For us it's:

 

* length - at least 21 days to make it worthwhile ;)

* time of year - April - December, which is before the cyclone season starts

* itinerary - hopefully somewhere we haven't been to before

* the exchange rate

* ship - always cruise Princess, so that's not an issue

* cost - to accommodate the cruise budget and allow for 1-2 cruises annually

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Mom33

Mom33

Posted
Posted

Our Cruise Atlas came today and we are reading it and researching all the itineraries Princess has for 2016-2017.

 

Next we will look at pricing and compare it to other cruise lines that have the same or similar itinerary.

 

Once we pick the itinerary and price and the cruise line, we will check out the ship.

 

The choice of ship has never been a problem when selecting our cruises.:D

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iceleven

iceleven

Posted
Posted

1. Departure port. San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, in that order. I am a reluctant flyer (but will if absolutely necessary.)

 

2. Time of year. Never at the end of a business quarter.

 

3. Length of cruise. Still limited to two weeks at a pop until retirement. More than one cruise per year is no problem though.

 

4. Itinerary. Since I limit our cruises from the west coast (until retirement) I have to try to mix them up so as to not get too terribly tiresome. But then again, I'm never bored with cruising...hubby needs more variety, though.

 

5. Ship or cruise line is not an issue. At least not a problem with any of the lines that cruise from the west coast. (Princess, HAL, Celebrity, Carnival)

 

Again, all of this will change once husband is retired and hopefully that will be sooner than later.

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nukesubsailor

nukesubsailor

Posted
Posted

The points I consider when choosing a cruise:

Is it on Princess?

Is it on a ship I like?

Is it during a period when schools are in session & it is not tax return preparation time?

Is it long enough to make it worth having to fly to the embarkation port or

can it be combined with another cruise to make it longer?

Is the sailing date far enough off to get the launch fare and my choice of cabin?

Is it visiting ports I want to see?

Is it a cruise the wife and friends want to take?

 

If the answer to all the above is yes, then I will book it if I have the funds.

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