Which cruise line to go on next...

[msperkey]

We recently returned from (my) 8th cruise with carnival. It was on the Magic and my 3rd time on that ship. Several times during the course of the cruise, I would hear people discussion carnival vs royal Caribbean and norweigen. They ranked carnival at the bottom. I have been looking at the prices for RC and they are quite a bit higher. Do you book a cruise for the ship or the itemerary? And is RC or Norweigen worth the extra money? Thanks

[Essiesmom]

Every cruise is different. Sometimes we book for the itinerary, sometimes for the home port convenience, sometimes because it is a real bargain. Only once have we booked to sail on a particular ship (QE2 in her last year). Only you can decide if the fare is worth it. And don't limit yurself to those two possibilities. Go the the websites of each line that sails from ports you want to sail from. I get wonderful deals from Celebrity, Princess, HAL in my email. MSC also has some tremendous bargains. EM

[Clarea]

We recently returned from (my) 8th cruise with carnival. It was on the Magic and my 3rd time on that ship. Several times during the course of the cruise, I would hear people discussion carnival vs royal Caribbean and norweigen. They ranked carnival at the bottom. I have been looking at the prices for RC and they are quite a bit higher. Do you book a cruise for the ship or the itemerary? And is RC or Norweigen worth the extra money? Thanks

The only way for you to tell if it's "worth it" is to try yourself.

[Keith1010]

We start with the itinerary. To me that is very important. From there we select the ship/cruise line.

 

Whether RCI and NCL is worth the extra money is a personal opinion.

 

If you are happy with Carnival continue sailing them. If not it is time to start looking at other lines.

 

Keith

[Velvetwater]

We loved NCL and Royal just as much as Carnival....Royal has the edge of all rounded wow factor but NCL had the edge for value with the packages they do.

 

Go for Royal if you want a bit extra wow but at a slightly higher cost

 

Go for NCL if you want a similar experience with a similar price tag/all inclusive element.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Definitely try another cruise line.

We choose a cruise by itinerary.

You won't know if you will like something different unless you try it.

[welikepalms]

We have sailed NCL, Royal and Princess. They are all different in there own ways. At this point we put Royal above the others for many factors (non huge) but mostly because they have a wow factor we enjoy. We are going to try Carnival next to cruise with family that had already booked. Will report after that trip. Having said all this we have not had a bad experience on any of our previous cruises. We have also sailed small to large ships, older to new. They all have something to offer. All enjoyable and relaxing. As another had posted try a variety of lines and see what works for you. Lastly we lean more towards itinerary over ship at the onset of researching our next cruise. Enjoy seeing new places and ports.

 

Happy Cruising

[goldenrod]

We have been on 11 different cruise lines some great some not so great, but if you want the wow factor and can afford it Regent is our top pick!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[pacruise804]

We recently returned from (my) 8th cruise with carnival. It was on the Magic and my 3rd time on that ship. Several times during the course of the cruise, I would hear people discussion carnival vs royal Caribbean and norweigen. They ranked carnival at the bottom. I have been looking at the prices for RC and they are quite a bit higher. Do you book a cruise for the ship or the itemerary? And is RC or Norweigen worth the extra money? Thanks

 

I think this can be deceptive at times. NCL often has included beverage packages, but their fare is higher. If a drink package is important to you, then compare sailing rate plus any costs for beverage package (including gratuities) to have a fair comparison.

 

Each line, and each ship within the line*, have their own character. I would advise trying other lines if they have a cruise that fits your budget and itinerary desires.

 

*For RCI we have only sailed on the Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore, so I always chuckle a little at wow factor. Our weather was so rough most of the outside was unusable during the trip and the ship itself is older/smaller. It still had some nice features though (Solarium).

[jonbiz1212]

Having kids, I've actually gotten Norwegian and Royal Caribbean much less than I've found Carnival cruises because of their kids sale free deals. Got on the Epic for $1200 or so, Oasis for $1600 or so in a balcony, and now the Harmony for about $1900 for a family of 4 on 7 night cruises.

[evandbob]

In addition to NCL which I found to have similar pricing to Carnival, there is a new player in town with a new ship - MSC Seaside. I'm sailing both the Carnival Horizon and MSC Seaside this year and will have the same priority level on both, even though I'm sailing MSC for the 1st time because of their loyalty match program. Pricewise, MSC mid ship balcony Fantastica level is about 2/3 the cost of Horizon's spa balcony.

After 8 Carnival cruises, you can probably recite the CD's messages as he announces them. Time to move on, and you won't know what you are missing until you try other lines!

[lucy2mb]

:)

We recently returned from (my) 8th cruise with carnival. It was on the Magic and my 3rd time on that ship. Several times during the course of the cruise, I would hear people discussion carnival vs royal Caribbean and norweigen. They ranked carnival at the bottom. I have been looking at the prices for RC and they are quite a bit higher. Do you book a cruise for the ship or the itemerary? And is RC or Norweigen worth the extra money? Thanks

We are Platinum with Carnival and considering a change for a future cruise. We can get a spa balcony room on the Magic 8 night cruise for $400 less than 7 night on RC Oasis for regular balcony. How did you like the Magic?