Who Offers The Best?

[IndyKid]

I'm fairly new to cruising, but I see a lot of seasoned travelers on CC, including those who have traveled on other cruise lines. I have only sailed on RCL, but I'm in no way dedicated to them.

 

For those who have sailed on other cruise lines, I'd like your opinions on which of the mainstream cruise lines offer the best of:

 

Service

Accommodations

Food

Entertainment

Ports of Call

Overall Value

[iheartbda]

You may want to post this on the Ask A Question board where you won't have, ummm, as many loyals.;):)

 

One line may excel in one area and another line in something else. You need to pick the thing, or things, that are most important to you.

Edited March 20, 2016 by iheartbda

[IndyKid]

You may want to post this on the Ask A Question board where you won't have, ummm, as many loyals.;):)

 

One line may excel in one area and another line in something else. You need to pick the thing, or things, that are most important to you.

 

You're right, the folks on this section of CC might be a bit biased:D

[deliver42]

I've cruise Carnival and NCL, as well as RCCL, and right now I'd still say RCCL. That said, I am trying X,MSC, and Princess because of itinery,and price.I don't believe Royal gives the best of either right now. Same iteneries and much higher prices. I cancelled a Harmony cruise to book with X on the Silhouette because I got an Aqua Class cabin for 9 nights for the same price as a balcony for 7 nights on the Harmony.Plus $300.00 OBC.

[denatravels]

I've mainly done Royal, but have a nice repo coming up on celebrity (booked for itinerary and nice perks) and Princess (Royal doesn't do glacier bay). I'm expecting these to be more the same, than different. Tend to let itinerary and price be the deciding factors, not so much cruise line.

 

 

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[Baded]

It seems odd to me, more and more people are crusing, they are making larger and larger ships, but the services seem to be getting cut little by little.

[north29]

I'm fairly new to cruising, but I see a lot of seasoned travelers on CC, including those who have traveled on other cruise lines. I have only sailed on RCL, but I'm in no way dedicated to them.

 

For those who have sailed on other cruise lines, I'd like your opinions on which of the mainstream cruise lines offer the best of:

 

Service

Accommodations

Food

Entertainment

Ports of Call

Overall Value

 

For all the mass market cruise lines are basically the same, and slightly to moderately different. Answering your question is more of a personal opinion on what a person likes, or expects out of a cruise. Boutique cruise lines are a completely different type of cruising. Read some of the reviews and you can get a good idea of the opinions of each cruise line GOOD or YES BAD so take a 50% chance your decision will be good.

 

Sorry they will not let you edit title LOL

Edited March 20, 2016 by north29

[mrpayroll]

Been on Disney, Princess, Carnival and Royal. Had a great time on all of them. All of them offer something a little different. :)

[OCruisers]

We sometimes cruise on RCCL but Princess is actually the best fit for us.

Give Princess a try ... especially if you're planning on going to Alaska. :)

LuLu

[Big_G]

I'm fairly new to cruising, but I see a lot of seasoned travelers on CC, including those who have traveled on other cruise lines. I have only sailed on RCL, but I'm in no way dedicated to them.

 

For those who have sailed on other cruise lines, I'd like your opinions on which of the mainstream cruise lines offer the best of:

 

Service

Accommodations

Food

Entertainment

Ports of Call

Overall Value

 

The difficulty in answering your question is that these can vary from ship to ship let alone line to line. If I were listing the things that keep us coming back to Royal, I'd list those you've listed and add innovation, entertainment, suite program, and loyalty program. Without the latter four, I would include Celebrity and Princess.

[beshears]

I didn't read all the postings to your question, but this is MY opinion. We are doing RCCL now because of the time for me to be able to cruise. I have cruised over 25 years, doing Princes, HAL, NCL, RCCL as well as Carnival. I am not a young person, and we do not party, but we really like Carnival better. One of the reasons is the beds, as well as the nice bathrobes they furnish for you. I know they don't furnish the robes for you, or that is what I had read on the RCCL.

[biomedbob]

Robes! :confused:

[OCruisers]

Not just food ... everything (entertainment, cabins, service, etc.) is rather subjective.

What's best for one person may not be best of another. ;)

[richstowe]

I'm fairly new to cruising, but I see a lot of seasoned travelers on CC, including those who have traveled on other cruise lines. I have only sailed on RCL, but I'm in no way dedicated to them.

 

For those who have sailed on other cruise lines, I'd like your opinions on which of the mainstream cruise lines offer the best of:

 

Service

Accommodations

Food

Entertainment

Ports of Call

Overall Value

Overall Value is easier to list then to define . My best advice is to start each cruise search with an open mind . I have and it has resulted in booking 5 cruise lines in 8 cruises . I'm what you could call an antiloyalist . :D

 

As others have posted, mass market cruise lines are more alike then different . I do believe that Royal Caribbean is doing well and has become more arrogant in their actions towards customers . Specifically in regards to the cancellation of multiple Empress sailings . In addition I have found they have priced themselves at the top end of the comparative price range .

 

Big_G does an excellent job of explaining why , with his criteria , RC comes out on top .

Edited March 25, 2016 by richstowe

[kalliekae]

We've only cruised 10 times so that's a paltry amount compared to most on here, but here's our limited experience. Our first cruise was on a HAL Caribbean cruise at Thanksgiving. It was a surprise gift to us so I had done zero research on any type of cruising. We were hooked. Loved their outstanding crew and the service was top notch. We stayed with them for 6 more cruises because of itinerary, cabin size, and service. However, their entertainment was sorely lacking and we were getting bored on sea days.

 

Switching to the Oasis and Allure was the best decision ever. We love all the activities, restaurants, and the WOW factor of the ships. Downside to Royal for us is the cabin size. In order to get the same sized cabin we had on HAL, we would have to pay far more on Royal and it just didn't make sense. However, we have found Royal's Junior Suite to be acceptable and now stay in those on our favorite deck, 8. Also, Royal's C&A points add up more quickly and have better perks than HAL's Mariner program. For now, we will sail Royal, but I am not opposed to checking out other cruise lines once we retire.

Edited March 26, 2016 by kalliekae

[beshears]

Yes, one of my main factors that I like about Carnival compared to most other "general " state rooms is the size. They are a tad bigger. I have checked out the dimensions (inside, window, balcony) on the various ships sights.

 

Yes, I know someone "??" when I said robes, but Carnival has wonderful robes, not anything cheap. When they furnish that, I don't have to furnish my own.

[land lover]

TO me itinerary was always first.................so I really can't answer your question...so why am I posting..???I have cruised probably 10 different lines, I do have high status on 2 of them, so I look to them first when it comes to cruising cuz some of the benefits r really nice. But, I would never book for them.

 

Itinerary first and price second, don't let any loyalty program suck u in because they change all the time.

Edited March 30, 2016 by land lover

[laurac22]

If traveling with our son we sail Royal for the entertainment, and service mainly.

 

If my DH and I travel alone we sail Celebrity for the service, accommodations, and ports of call. We find the food pretty comparable on all lines.