What's your biggest factor in picking cruise line/ship?

[soopamanluva]

The ports and who is cheapest in going to those ports... Not much else matters to us

[Warm Breezes]

First it has to fit in the time slot(s) we have available with travel time.

Second depends on what we want out of that vacation the following can vary in importance based on that vacation: embarkation port, itinerary, the ship itself. Third, once one and two are defined we look at the ships that meet those qualifications and pick the one that fits it best for the price we are willing to pay.

 

Very rarely does cruise line matter except for our first 2 cruises which were on Disney and we had young kids. We wanted to give them the Disney experience. Also it will come into play when we have a FCC to use like on our NCL Escape cruise.

Edited March 28, 2016 by Warm Breezes

[Lakesregion]

Unless it's an enrichment lecture hosted by someone from Lowe's or Home Depot, and includes a free set of socket wrenches, I don't go. :D

 

But you can wear your overalls work boots and ball cap to those sessions and not be out of place.

[mibarron]

For me, it's the port first. My youngest hates flying, so I try to pick a port that we can drive to. Typically NJ, NY and MD. Time comes next, as I can only manage to go on vacation once a year, usually in the summer months. Then I look at the itinerary and hope there is one that includes a port we haven't been to yet. Price is last. I will splurge if I have to, if the cruise meets my other criterias. To do this, I will look at all cruise lines. Lately, it seems Carnival seems to match the last few times we've sailed. Next year, who knows...:cool:

[stleda124]

First I choose where I want to go, when, and how long. I go to some big box TA and put that in the search engine. I see what cruise lines are going at that time and what the prices are. The ones that are within $500 of each other I then start researching more intensively. The ship, the port, the price, what's included, etc etc.

 

January 7th Eastern Caribbean. I was looking at a cruise for a family of five. I choose Celebrity because I could get a cruise with two AFT balconies with $600 OBC and drink packages included for the same price as carnival balconies without any inclusions.

 

After I decide the cruise line, the date, the room, I then decide the TA. I choose my TA based on the perks they were offering. All in on two rooms we will have $1200 OBC and 2 SV Aft Balconies.

 

 

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[Saltz]

Port of departure. Length of cruise/Price. I don't mind what the itinerary is, I'm just happy to be cruising. Oh, and always on Carnival. They have the best prices, plus, I'm trying to work my way up that VIFP ladder.

[burtie]

First--Total cost, including transportation to and from port and cruise cost. We live within 5 hours of Seattle and 7 hours of Vancouver BC so it is usually much less expensive to drive and park than it is to fly someplace.

 

Second--Itinerary.

 

Third--Length of cruise

 

Our favorite cruise was a B2B out of Vancouver BC to Anchorage Alaska for a total of 14 days on Princes a couple of years ago. Total cost was less than $1300 for the 2 of us in an ocean view state room. Cost included hotel for 1 night (which included parking for 14 days), cruise, and cost to drive to Vancouver. This was three years ago and have never been able to match the price again.

[SadieN]

I can understand. It hard for me to disconnect from work on a land basis trip. I like cruising because I can literally say that I can not be on my phone or i will not have service.

 

 

We're repeating Hawaii for this exact reason. Those two middle sea days DH can't call the office.

 

 

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[ano]

I also look at total cost. Airfare now-a-days can be very expensive especially adding in all the luggage charges with most airlines. If we can fly there with Southwest, its a slame-dunk. We've sailed all the major cruise lines and think they all have pros and cons that seem to evolve with time. Carnival remains a good value which is important, NCL is as well, maybe even a bit more low-key which the wife likes, but others fill the need as well. We used to sail RCL a lot an we liked it maybe 10 years ago, but for use its more a cattle-call so we haven't been on one in a long time.

[trogmd]

Firstly, We try to cruise almost always in the Autumn ( the Fall, for our American friends :D)

 

Secondly, Length of cruise must be around 2 weeks long.

 

Thirdly, Itinerary and hopefully a new part of the world we have yet to visit.

 

4th, Our price limit is around £1,700 each ( about $2,500 ) for a balcony cabin. ( My partner will only travel in a balcony :(, whereas I would travel in a lifeboat as long as I am on a ship I don`t mind. :D

 

5th, The ship ( NOT the cruise line ). I do like the new ships as I like to experience new things. This is why I chose the Vista for our next cruise.

I do not have a favorite cruise line. I really want to go on an Oasis Class ship in the future when the prices come down to a reasonable level for us.

I also am interested in trying out the new ships MSC are building.

 

Mark :)

[Towel Critter]

I don't know that, with us, there is a single biggest factor in choosing a cruise. There are several factors, price, ship, itinerary, and date of the cruise. I try to find a good balance between the four. It doesn't always work out, but that's my goal.

[ABCGreys]

For us, it's itinerary, then line/ship, then price.

 

We feel like we've done the western Caribbean enough, so seeing new ports is the biggest determining factor. After that we usually compare Carnival, Royal, and Norwegian, although depending on who is cruising, just me and the hubs or with the kids, we also look at Princess and Celebrity and look at the ship amenities. Then, I normally do a spreadsheet comparison for price and factor in airfare before making the final decision.

[Hog Rider]

Smokng areas.

[Rosethorn40]

How did you even find this post?

 

Touché

 

(And thanks for the smile)

[JROBTX]

So...I just go when my friends go.

 

But their big factors are:

1. Timing - We usually chose early/mid Oct when kids are in school.:D

 

2. Out of Galveston. My friends take their elderly mom with them and it would be a real challenge for her to fly.

 

3. Ship

[nealstuber]

Living in Texas we don't have a whole lot of options. Can't go during November December January so we can never cruise Disney which stinks! And between carnival and Royal Caribbean carnival always wins because of price and ship quality. Galveston has a nice set of ships though so we're not complaining a bit. We might try princess out of Houston sometime but price differences never seem to be worth it as we're just looking to get away. Don't care where we go or who with we just want to get away [emoji1]

 

 

Sorry don't get the ship quality aspect of your reply: Voyager, Mariner, Navigator, and now a Freedom class ship out of Galveston...Don't see any Conquest class ship in that League, Magic/Breeze are closer in quality, but only because of Cove Balconies.

[nealstuber]

I try not to got book itineraries out of FL that I can go to out of TX.

 

 

 

 

Have to agree with you on this. When we were choosing between Oasis and Allure, we were locked in to a Specific week. We choose Oasis because the Sunday to Sunday worked better with our air, but that ended up being a Western and that's pretty much what we always do from Texas.

 

Didn't mind it at the time, but now after a couple more Western cruises, wish we had done th atone different.

Edited March 29, 2016 by nealstuber