Which is your favourite cruise line and why?

[LuCruise]

I only have Royal and Disney to compare with (and Princess if all those years of watching Love Boat counts....lol). Disney does a great job for kids, but as you can probably see from my signature, I have to say my favourite is Royal. First, I find the ships beautiful and classy....nice marble areas, beautiful bars, etc. You walk in and it's "wow".

 

I'm a big show/theatre person (to watch) and the shows on Royal are really impressive and you get a variety between ice shows, aqua shows (so unique), Broadway shows (the best!), comedy shows, variety shows, etc etc. And the variety of dining is great too...although I'm not a fan of speciality dining as we pay enough for the cruise. And well, the activities and variety of pools is outstanding.

 

When we cruise, it's all about the ship. Doesn't even really matter where we go.

 

I love too how Royal is a family cruise and geared to all ages. On Disney, when our kids were in the kids club, I found there wasn't much for the adults to do.

 

For our next cruise we came very close to trying NCL. Looks great for activities and shows look pretty good. But something made us stick to what we know and like. So next cruise is Royal again.

[geoherb]

My list from top to bottom with our number of cruises in parentheses:

 

1. Princess (18)

2. HAL (5)

3. Celebrity (4)

4. Royal Caribbean (3)

5. Carnival (2)

6. NCL (1)

 

I generally only look at what the top three are offering, but I'd consider any of them (or any other line). One of these days, I'd love to take a luxury cruise.

[Greselda2251]

We have cruised with Carnival; Celebrity; RCCL; and Princess.

We found that Celebrity was very nice, but a little too quiet for us....and we were in our early 60's at the time.

Royal Caribbean was also very nice, but their food (subjective), left us with a lot to be desired.

Princess is always our 2nd go to cruise line, however their beds are rock hard! But we do love their mini suites on Dolphin deck!

That brings us back to Carnival (every time!). We actually love their ships and their staff, in addition to their food offerings. Also, their beds are so comfortable, and most of their cabins are much larger than the other lines we have tried.....IMHO:D

[Pudgesmom]

Windstar, for the above reasons and because the largest ship has 300 passengers.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

As for now:

 

1. Celebrity (great food, relaxing atmosphere, wonderful service, exotic itineraries)

2. Royal Caribbean (love Voyager / Freedom Class ship designs and entertainment, the food is so-so)

3. Carnival (MDR food and staff are fine, but we're less impressed with maintenance, mattresses, and customer service)

 

Soon we'll try Holland America and Norwegian, and hope they fit in towards the top. :D

[iancal]

We no longer have a favorite or even a preferred. They all seem to be going the same way...to the lowest common denominator.

 

We select by ship first, then cruise line. We see much more variance between ships than we do between cruise lines such as Princess, HAL, or Celebrity.

 

We have really reduced the number of cruises that we take in favor of independent land travel.

[lamchops]

We no longer have a favorite. They all seem to have slipped a bit over the last 5 years.

 

We select by itinerary first, then value, and then preferred cruise line of the moment.

We always top off our cruise with the remainder of my vacation allotment pre/post cruise so that plays into itinerary choice.

 

current preference:

 

Celebrity

Norwegian (does freestyle/anytime the best IMHO)

MSC (would be #1 but DW prefers English first)

Royal Caribbean

Princess

Costa

 

I still have to try HAL and Carnival but am not in a hurry based on our recent experiences on other CCL brands. A killer deal would change that comment!;)

[iancal]

Actually, our most favourite cruise line is the one that offers a last minute cruise on a great ship, great itinerary, with a balcony, that ties in nicely with a land trip that we happen to be doing at that particular time. And of course at a price that we cannot resist.

 

So far, this approach has served us best. It has allowed us to sample multiple cruise lines, multiple itineraries, and of course many different ships. Cannot imagine being loyal to one cruise line, one airline, whatever.

[kelmac]

Actually, our most favourite cruise line is the one that offers a last minute cruise on a great ship, great itinerary, with a balcony, that ties in nicely with a land trip that we happen to be doing at that particular time. And of course at a price that we cannot resist.

 

So far, this approach has served us best. It has allowed us to sample multiple cruise lines, multiple itineraries, and of course many different ships. Cannot imagine being loyal to one cruise line, one airline, whatever.

 

ic,

 

Excellent and valid stance. We too, mix land travel with cruises most of the time. My wife will retire in 2018 and we hope to combine all forms of travel into a four month adventure in Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Doing some "turbo" savings in order to make that happen.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:D

[iancal]

That is exactly what we did.

 

Highly recommend independent travel in Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia though vs one or two night stops on a cruise. The cruise stops in these countries are often too short and too far from the worthwhile areas. You will miss out on a lot. We did a Fiji cruise from Sydney then picked up a late booking RCI to NZ and parts of Australia.

 

We liked it so much that we keep returning.

[GrJ Berkshire]

Has to be Regent!!

Quality all the way, you pay up front but no tips, drinks extras to pay

 

Super line, you get what you pay for.

[Bizmark'sMom]

Lindblad

Windstar

Celebrity

Princess

Royal Carribean

 

I am itinerary driven. Lindblad and Windstar excell in interesting ports and superior service without being at all stuffy. No formal nights, ever. Excellent food. No constant up sells or photographers popping into your face all of the time.

[pris993]

So far we have sailed with three, Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Princess.

 

Royal Caribbean is our favorite, and we have sailed 5 times with them, one each with the other two lines (hmm, maybe 6 times with Royal Caribbean).

 

We prefer Royal Caribbean because it seems to have a broader mix of passengers, more families and because of that, we have found to the entertainment better suited to our tastes.

 

In general the food has been very good on Royal Caribbean too, although on the one HAL ship (Oosterdam), the food was also very good. the worse cruise food we have had was on Princess (Royal Princess).

 

We have been cruising for years, since l980's well over 50 cruises on 9 lines. We have cruised the most with Princess, next Celebrity, Holland American and Cunard more recently.... we have cruised NCL a couple of times.

 

 

We find most lines are very similar. We like Princess the best because most flexible and accomodating for ordering off menu. We are fussy about what we eat and often do not care for what's on the menu. So typically order off menu. Celebrity and NCL are the worse in responding to off menu requests. When we areon these two lines we eat the buffet.

 

If you are okay with the buffet, NCL may okay ... we found the buffet on NCL okay... good for salad and sandwiches... we skipped dinner.. mostly comfort foods. We made our own salad and sandwiches from what was offered and doable.

[cruzeluver]

The only line I would be hard pressed to return to is NCL. Our cruises with them have been mediocre but we went due to people we were traveling with. Entertainment was very good and specialty dining was also excellent (main dining room awful) but everything else just so-so. Their ships left virtually no impression on us.

 

For Carnival we will only book Dream class or Sunshine. Their other ships are a big snooze with decor that is tacky and cheap-looking. Space ratios are not very good either. I will say though they do a good job with food overall.

 

Royal is our second favorite. Lots of "wow factor" and a lot of fun amenities. Ships are maintained beautifully and service has been excellent. Food a bit hit and miss, but more hit.

 

Which leaves Celebrity as our overall favorite. Great value. Gorgeous ships. Polished service and the best food we have had at sea. If I have any complaints its a lack of activities on sea days that appeal to us but we know this going in and focus on relaxing.

[pghsteelerfan]

Well, we USED to have a favorite. Carnival. Unlike many here, we've only been on 7 cruises total and six of those were with Carnival. We enjoyed Carnival in that they were affordable, so we were able to splurge and get a balcony. We also loved the relaxed atmosphere as both DH and I consider ourselves very down to earth and just feel uncomfortable in very formal situations. HOWEVER, Carnival has been making some very recent changes that have just "broken off our relationship", so to speak. We were considering another cruise out of San Juan in spring 2018 but because of Carnival's changes, we're looking at RCI. And a bonus there, RCI tends to mix up the itinerary out of San Juan so on the one we're considering, there will be 3 ports we haven't been to before or in years.

 

Over the past few years, they have been taking things away and I'll admit that although disappointed these were not things that affected our cruise. But with the recent announcement that the aft pools on several of their ships that had been adult only are now "family friendly". That was one thing we really enjoyed doing on sea days and now that has been taken away. We don't have a problem with children, but as a couple who doesn't have any it was nice to have that adult only pool that we could enjoy. Carnival is going overboard with "family friendly" lately, and are becoming the "more affordable Disney" and Disney is at the bottom of our list of cruise lines to choose from.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Well, we USED to have a favorite. Carnival. Unlike many here, we've only been on 7 cruises total and six of those were with Carnival.

 

I'm right there with you, even thought about going loyal after our first cruise, but curiosity and itinerary diversity got the best of us. I have no complaints about our first cruise, unbelievable value for the money. Our 2nd, I could tell that maintenance and mattress quality were slipping. They were literally swapping mattresses around cabin to cabin, presumably to satisfy those that voice their concern about sleep quality.

 

Our 3rd Carnival cruise was the beginning of the end. Not quite as bad with mattresses, and certainly didn't notice the swapping issue, but then again we brought egg crates. I would not have slept well for 14 nights without them. Maintenance issues were even more blatant, and we were unimpressed with the lack of hand sanitizes in the buffet, taking no precaution from early cases of noro. Lastly, having had my hair botched in the salon, and being laughed at and mocked by the stylist once she realized what she did, I didn't feel that a $35 refund made us square. I got treated like a trouble maker for relaying another passengers complaint, a botched shave from the same stylist, where this passenger had to finish the job in his cabin. While I was asked to NOT go up to the salon to show the manager my hair initially, this guy showing up was essential. "Who is he? What's his name? If he doesn't want to meet me, I can see him around the corner. Tell me his name!"

 

So my hair got cut 18" too short, and the stylist thought I looked funny, but there are far more serious issues happening to others where Carnival drops the ball. We booked our last cruise on Carnival to Baja to redeem a booking deposit and gift cards. After that, it better be a REALLY exotic itinerary, like NY to Greenland or something, but otherwise we're done.

[ducklite]

I'm right there with you, even thought about going loyal after our first cruise, but curiosity and itinerary diversity got the best of us. I have no complaints about our first cruise, unbelievable value for the money. Our 2nd, I could tell that maintenance and mattress quality were slipping. They were literally swapping mattresses around cabin to cabin, presumably to satisfy those that voice their concern about sleep quality.

 

 

 

Our 3rd Carnival cruise was the beginning of the end. Not quite as bad with mattresses, and certainly didn't notice the swapping issue, but then again we brought egg crates. I would not have slept well for 14 nights without them. Maintenance issues were even more blatant, and we were unimpressed with the lack of hand sanitizes in the buffet, taking no precaution from early cases of noro. Lastly, having had my hair botched in the salon, and being laughed at and mocked by the stylist once she realized what she did, I didn't feel that a $35 refund made us square. I got treated like a trouble maker for relaying another passengers complaint, a botched shave from the same stylist, where this passenger had to finish the job in his cabin. While I was asked to NOT go up to the salon to show the manager my hair initially, this guy showing up was essential. "Who is he? What's his name? If he doesn't want to meet me, I can see him around the corner. Tell me his name!"

 

 

 

So my hair got cut 18" too short, and the stylist thought I looked funny, but there are far more serious issues happening to others where Carnival drops the ball. We booked our last cruise on Carnival to Baja to redeem a booking deposit and gift cards. After that, it better be a REALLY exotic itinerary, like NY to Greenland or something, but otherwise we're done.

 

 

 

Windstar is doing an Iceland to NYC itinerary with two stops in Greenland, s few stops in the Maritimes, and a couple stops in New England before finishing in NYC.

 

 

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[Stateroom_Sailor]

Windstar is doing an Iceland to NYC itinerary with two stops in Greenland, s few stops in the Maritimes, and a couple stops in New England before finishing in NYC.

 

 

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Interesting, I hadn't looked at Windstar itineraries. Definitely bucket list worthy! I'm in my late 30's, so don't want to do anything too expensive just yet, but I would lump something like this in with the Galapagos.

[cjw928]

We've been on Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and we're going on MSC in a few days.

Carnival is terrible. The people are rude, the staff doesnt care, and the food is terrible. Dinner took 2hrs.

I like Royal Caribbean but my husband had a lot of bad cruises with them prior to us getting together. He found their people (staff & guests) to be very rude and lazy. I thought the ships were nice but I also had issue with guests being rude. The food is ok. Dinner took 2 hours.

Norwegian was amazing!! We sailed the Escape Jan 2016 and it was wonderful! The staff was friendly and efficient. Great specialty dining, I highly recommend Le Bistro and Pinchos Tappas Bar (iron chef garcis)! The food was some of the best I've ever eaten, and I'm a serious foodie. I've eaten at a handful of iron chef & other top chefs restaurants and these were better. Entertainment was great. & Free drinks!! Dinner only took 1 hr.

[Warm Breezes]

We've been on Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and we're going on MSC in a few days.

Carnival is terrible. The people are rude, the staff doesnt care, and the food is terrible. Dinner took 2hrs.

I like Royal Caribbean but my husband had a lot of bad cruises with them prior to us getting together. He found their people (staff & guests) to be very rude and lazy. I thought the ships were nice but I also had issue with guests being rude. The food is ok. Dinner took 2 hours.

Norwegian was amazing!! We sailed the Escape Jan 2016 and it was wonderful! The staff was friendly and efficient. Great specialty dining, I highly recommend Le Bistro and Pinchos Tappas Bar (iron chef garcis)! The food was some of the best I've ever eaten, and I'm a serious foodie. I've eaten at a handful of iron chef & other top chefs restaurants and these were better. Entertainment was great. & Free drinks!! Dinner only took 1 hr.

 

I have to say that I have not noticed any significant differences in how long our meals took on any of the cruise lines we have sailed (Carnival, NCL, Princess, and Disney). Average is 1 1/2 hours....some a little shorter, some a little longer. Varies by the meal not the ship or the cruise line. Elegant/Formal nights are almost always the longest on any ship.

[cjw928]

I have to say that I have not noticed any significant differences in how long our meals took on any of the cruise lines we have sailed (Carnival, NCL, Princess, and Disney). Average is 1 1/2 hours....some a little shorter, some a little longer. Varies by the meal not the ship or the cruise line. Elegant/Formal nights are almost always the longest on any ship.

 

I definitely noticed a difference between the lines in regards to how long dinner took. I'm always keeping track of time so I tend to notice those things. I've only been on one NCL Cruise but dinner always only took an hour. Carnival and Royal Caribbean are very slow in comparison (I've been on multiple for each line) usually taking an hour and a half to two hours. I heard MSC is even slower but I haven't been on it yet to make that kind of call.

[Aquahound]

I have to say that I have not noticed any significant differences in how long our meals took on any of the cruise lines we have sailed (Carnival, NCL, Princess, and Disney). Average is 1 1/2 hours....some a little shorter, some a little longer. Varies by the meal not the ship or the cruise line. Elegant/Formal nights are almost always the longest on any ship.

 

I agree. With very rare exception, my experience has been that dining time in the Main Dining Room is exactly the same on those 3 lines.

[cjw928]

Only thing I'll add is that on each line I told our waiter that we were in a rush and wanted to make the theater showing that night and the only line that got us in and out under an hour was Norwegian and we made it in 35 minutes; 3 courses and wine.

[firegal2539]

Royal and Celebrity are equal in my book. Love the Royal Freedom class.

 

Celebrity would be next because of the pp

 

 

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[firegal2539]

Sorry didn't finish. Celebrity would be next because of crew to passenger ratio and the food. HAL for the same reasons as Celebrity. NCL would be last, not real thrilled with them.

 

I hate Carnival (sorry all Carnival lovers) you get what you pay for.

 

 

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