Price, Itinerary or Cruise Line

[Tee & Chilli]

Which of the three is most important when selecting your sailing?

I tend to jump around and try different lines based on price and itinerary.

I'm fortunate I can drive to several ports.

 

Recently I returned from a Mediterranean cruise and someone suggested it's more challenging to reach x level when trying different lines. I'm reading many cruise lines are scaling back on loyalty benefits. The comment had me thinking if this person values the benefits or the label of being at x level with a particular cruise line.

 

Any thoughts?

[matj2000]

We keep a mix of everything.

 

I start with the dates, I go Thanksgiving & Spring Break only.

 

I use a TA cruise website to bring up all the cruise lines for that month and compare them to find the best value on 2 balcony cabins. This might include free gratuities, OBC, or any other perk offered.

 

If I cannot decide between picks, I often put deposits on several voyages.

 

We try different cruise lines often so things don't get stale.

 

I don't like to do the same ship or ship class twice (Although I am going on the Liberty 2x in a row for reasons around NFL homegames).

 

I try to find ships that go Eastern vs Western when I can, however most Caribbean ports are pretty similar.

 

I have little interest in Status levels...

Edited November 19, 2016 by matj2000

[George C]

Which of the three is most important when selecting your sailing?

I tend to jump around and try different lines based on price and itinerary.

I'm fortunate I can drive to several ports.

 

Recently I returned from a Mediterranean cruise and someone suggested it's more challenging to reach x level when trying different lines. I'm reading many cruise lines are scaling back on loyalty benefits. The comment had me thinking if this person values the benefits or the label of being at x level with a particular cruise line.

 

Any thoughts?

 

I like RCCL perks and will soon be diamond plus, but in general I am agree with you last 4 was RCCL but only about 15 of my 60 cruises were RCCL, I like changing once in a while, price and ship and cost of a smaller suite are thing I look for

[Desert Cruizers]

I first go with Dates and the particular cruise such as a TA, Caribbean etc then check out the itineraries and pricing for each. I will settle on an itinerary depending on the ships doing them. I try not to pick a lot of Caribbean sailings as the Ports repeat themselves so look for something we haven't done yet since we don't have the luxury of sailing often. Our level isn't important to us as we cruise to see new ports and meet new friends.

Edited November 19, 2016 by Desert Cruizers

[kalliekae]

We choose cruises base upon the ship since that is now our destination. We've done quite a few Alaskan, Mediterranean, Baltic, and European cruises so those are of no interest anymore. Our last four cruises have been to the Caribbean only because we love the Oasis class ships not for the islands. We've seen all the islands so the ship is our destination. We have only cruised HAL and Royal. HAL's Mariner program is not anything to be excited about. If we had as many cruises with Royal as HAL, we would now be Diamond and have much better benefits.

[luvscruising2007]

We have sailed RC almost exclusively. We really like the product and will attain Diamond status on our next cruise.

We are flexible with dates, so that is generally not a priority.

Itinerary and departure port are important. I was very sad when the Explorer left Bayonne and Baltimore has only one ship.

We try to avoid any repeat itineraries but have duplicated a few ports.

[mirp]

Price is important to me.

 

Itinerary I don't like to repeat so looking for something new but that is difficult.

 

No interest in status level with cruise line. I think like the airlines they will change benefits so not worth chasing status. And just like the airlines you can buy status by paying more and sailing in suites, haven, yacht club etc.

 

 

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[dani negreanu]

Itinerary.

 

The only time I've cruised for the ship was when Allure was in Europe for dry dock.... 3 hours flight to Rome beats almost 16 hours to Miami :)

[goldiep]

Itenary is number one for us. We like port intensive cruises. We want somewhere new each time. Price is next. We do not have the money to sail lines such as Oceania or Regent. Ship loyalty is not really a factor, though the age and size of the ship can be one. We check to see when a ship was last refurbished. We don't care for the mega ships, prefer the mid sized ones.

 

 

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[bakersdozen12]

I choose the best itinerary that I can afford during the time in which I want to sail. Period. Nothing more. So far I've only been on Carnival, but two cruises were not picked by me, and the other two were choose for the reasons I mentioned. Same for the two I have booked. To me, the ship is just the vehicle to get me to where I want to go, and as long as I don't have to cook my meals or clean my room and make my bed, then I feel like I'm on vacation!

 

 

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Edited November 20, 2016 by bakersdozen12

[sweetlove13]

1. Itinerary - There are places I need to check off my bucket list & places I don't want to go or have already been & don't need to go again

2. Cruise Line - I'm partial to Royal but I would try another line if the itinerary & price were right. Not doing Carnival again ever except maybe a weekend booze cruise out of my home port

3. Price - I obviously don't want to overpay & love a good deal but at this point in my life travel is high up there on my list of things to do & I don't mind paying for it

 

 

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[Clarea]

Price first, then itinerary.

[John&LaLa]

Departure port, but that may change one retirement kicks in next year

 

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