I need help choosing a cruise line please.

[MicCanberra]

I reckon Princess or Celebrity as the mid-way point.

 

It's party-time on RCI and Carnival at one end of the scale, Cunard (rather formal) and HAL (older demographics) at the other end.

 

JB :)

 

Agreed, a 5-7 day cruise to start with is probably best.:D

[bigsky]

Meant to say I wouldn't book less than 7,.. I wrote I would... Oops

 

 

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[Bird59]

We are in our early / mid 50's and we enjoy Carnival. We do not drink but have never had a problem with people partying or being to out of hand. Service and food is good and they are focused on having fun. Carnival is a good bang for the buck. So is Norwegian. These are the only lines we have sailed but always had a great time. Carnival is more relaxed in some aspects like dress in Dining room than some lines. I agree with previous posters. Take at least a 7 day. Also what is your interest . Had you rather spend more time in ports seeing different places or had you rather have more sea days? Pick your destination and your itenerary, then pick the cruise line that gives you the best cruise based on what you like rather than picking the line first. You will enjoy it, whichever line you choose

[LizSydney]

I've only ever cruised Princess but I would never go P&O. Cunard is too expensive. I'd say go Princess or Royal Caribbean.

[bigsky]

Too much of an older crowd on princess

 

 

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[LizSydney]

I'm 30 and I didn't find that at all.

[Iluvcruising2]

I've found the cruise lines more alike than different, then again I don't have that much experience. Most of our sailings have been on Royal, once on Celebrity, once on NCL, once on MSC and one more on Holland America some years back. They were all good.

 

Celebrity Silhouette had a classy feel. I found their buffet to be excellent, probably the best amongst all the ships I've been on.

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Having sailed many times on Royal, we are very familiar with the product and will be sailing with Royal again this June. Typically more activities on board but we are not really into activities, so it doesn't really matter for us. Here is a video clip of the buffet line on Adventure of the Seas.

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NCL Jade - this was more of wanting to try something new after having sailed so many times on Royal. We were willing to try because we had a good deal on their 2 bedroom penthouse suite (non-haven) which was fabulous!

[YOUTUBE]POIy0VzgXGw[/YOUTUBE]

 

Thinking back, the NCL Jade cruise was our first brush with 'suite life' and we were very happy we could get this type of treatment, even though we didn't have to pay very much more for it relative to other sailings. It was the NCL cruise that made us realise that perhaps Royal and Celebrity were not always the most cost effective. And I found the NCL Jade buffet to be very good too!

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And once we were more willing to try, we could cast our net wider, and the next attempt at something new was with MSC Yacht Club. This was an incredible experience, albeit slightly more pricey because it is the Yacht Club. The experience starts from the time you board the ship. We would happily sail in the Yacht Club again, no doubt about that. (Full review in my signature link)

[YOUTUBE]QYM1lHmhqS4[/YOUTUBE]

 

All the above is not to say that we have left Royal. Not at all. Our next cruise is on the Serenade of the Seas.

[LizSydney]

I'm a fan of Princess. I've looked at Cunard but they're too expensive. P&O are budget so I'd never go with them. I'd consider RCCL.

 

 

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[Aquahound]

I need some help. I tend to over analyze everything. We are in our forties never been on a cruise, not the big party scene type of people but we don't want boring and stuffy either. Does anyone have any suggestions? How many nights is good for your first time? I do have motion sickness so I don't think I would want a 7 day or longer cruise. Thanks you!

 

I suggest Royal Caribbean, Celebrity or Princess....all of who have 5 night sailings.

[ABQrobin]

I would suggest you do Carnival, but do a 5-7 day trip. Shorter than that, like the others have said, is a party group. Not everyone on the ship, but many are just there to party on short cruises.

We love Carnival, we are active 50s, don't drink a lot, just a few drinks a day at most. We like excursions and visiting new ports, we find Carnival has the best all around value for us. We don't want fancy, we want live music, decent food, and excursions at every port. Carnival works for us. Check out my trip reports listed below my signature.

 

robin

[ElephantBoy]

Hello

 

It was my first cruise during Thanksgiving week. I would recommend Royal Caribbean. RC was awesome. I would recommend a cruise for a week. You need not worry about sea sickness. We did not feel any sickness, especially the weather was great.

 

You can buy OTC medication prior to the trip.

 

Enjoy

[Aquahound]

I would suggest you do Carnival, but do a 5-7 day trip. Shorter than that, like the others have said, is a party group.

 

I don't know about that. I just did a 5 night Carnival cruise and it was more of a party crowd than any of my 3 or 4 nighters on RCI or Princess.

[MCC retired]

The shorter cruises 3-5 nights are generally on the cruise lines older ships and do less interesting itineraries . They also attract those that try to cram 7 nights of cruise activities into 3-5 nights.

If you fly in , your airfare for a short cruise is about the same as a longer one.

Do 7 nights and relax. First timers are overly concerned about seasickness . Take meds with you but don't expect to use them.

[LizSydney]

The shorter cruises 3-5 nights are generally on the cruise lines older ships and do less interesting itineraries . They also attract those that try to cram 7 nights of cruise activities into 3-5 nights.

 

If you fly in , your airfare for a short cruise is about the same as a longer one.

 

Do 7 nights and relax. First timers are overly concerned about seasickness . Take meds with you but don't expect to use them.

 

 

This is actually where the bigger ships are better but they only do longer cruises. If you're worried about sea sickness better to go with a longer one on a bigger ship.

 

 

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[Aquahound]

This is actually where the bigger ships are better but they only do longer cruises. If you're worried about sea sickness better to go with a longer one on a bigger ship.

 

Not necessarily. I did a 3 night cruise on Regal Princess, their newest/largest ship. Plus, RCI does regular 4/5 nighters on Freedom Class ships out of Florida.

[horsegal]

The party atmosphere also depends on time of year and itinerary, even home port can affect it. Carnival out of Texas is a very laid back cruise. Spring break time out of Florida is a totally different crowd.

 

We have done 5 carnival 5-9 day cruises and never had a "Wild party cruise" sure there are drunk people here and there but that can be on any line.

 

We did one royal cruise to Bermuda for 5 nights and that was actually the worst cruise we have ever done, topless girls in the hot tubs (probably no bottoms either with the way they were sitting on the guys... ) crew walked right by and were def. watching them and did nothing about it. Lots of drunk rowdy people on that cruise.

 

 

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[louanne93]

The party atmosphere also depends on time of year and itinerary, even home port can affect it. Carnival out of Texas is a very laid back cruise. Spring break time out of Florida is a totally different crowd.

 

We have done 5 carnival 5-9 day cruises and never had a "Wild party cruise" sure there are drunk people here and there but that can be on any line.

 

We did one royal cruise to Bermuda for 5 nights and that was actually the worst cruise we have ever done, topless girls in the hot tubs (probably no bottoms either with the way they were sitting on the guys... ) crew walked right by and were def. watching them and did nothing about it. Lots of drunk rowdy people on that cruise.

 

 

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Couldn't agree more! We have done RCI, Carnival and Princess. Have found a party scene on BOTH RCI and Carnival and enjoyed them both (and I don't drink)! Princess was way too old for us! Everything was dead by 8pm.

[horsegal]

Couldn't agree more! We have done RCI, Carnival and Princess. Have found a party scene on BOTH RCI and Carnival and enjoyed them both (and I don't drink)! Princess was way too old for us! Everything was dead by 8pm.

 

 

I keep thinking about giving RCI another try but we also thought the food was much better on carnival and the price for a balcony is so much cheaper!

 

 

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[csj092809]

I do not think Carnival is a "party" crowd either. I mean, if you are hanging out in the casino at 2 a.m., maybe...but in general I never saw crazy party goers everywhere. I was more than comfortable on a 7 night cruise with my then 5 year old. My significant other and I definitely knew where to go for some fun on nights we took advantage of the babysitting service, though. :)

[A2Mich]

Princess was way too old for us! Everything was dead by 8pm.

 

 

Including half of the passengers.....

[A2Mich]

I keep thinking about giving RCI another try but we also thought the food was much better on carnival and the price for a balcony is so much cheaper!

 

 

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I haven't been on Carnival in 10 years, so I can't personally compare their food quality now, as I'm sure that things have changed. As far as pricing, I've found that in a few cases, RCI has come out about the same, and sometimes even cheaper than Carnival, but for the most part, IF you can hit the sales and Crown and Anchor pricing, our Royal Caribbean cruises have only been slightly more expensive than Carnival. I personally like RCI's ships more than any of the Carnival ships that I have sailed (though those are limited to Spirit class and Fantasy class). I would, however, sail on Carnival again without hesitation.