An offer that is too good to refuse, or is it

[Sky Sweet]

If you found a bargain on a cruise line that you previously did not enjoy, which would you do....Book it with the attitude "this offer is too good to refuse", or decide that nothing is really a bargain if you wouldn't have been willing to pay the going rate for it?

[flashdog_1]

Sky Sweet,

You are always thinking, aren't you? I bet we'd like each other if we met.

 

I decided a long time ago that I would not take a C----v--l cruise, but they sail their oldest ship, docked only 3 hours away from here, now that they're back from storm duty in Pascagoula, MS. One of their 4 or 5 night trips costs about the same as X's 4 nighters out of Miami, but I would really consider the convenience of being able to drive to Mobile if someone needed a cruising companion! I've read their reviews and most people have a good time, and most seem to be from Alabama.

 

So I can't say I would not do it.

[gone_cruisin]

I guess it all depends on your wallet. Does your wallet allow you a similar cruise on your tried and true cruiseline or would this be an additional cruise not already planned for the family vacation?

 

Unfortunately for me, the wallet always wins. If the price is too good to be true, I say go for it! I know I would without hesistation.

 

As far as the going on cruiseline that you already tried and was not fond of......a vacation is what you make of it. I have found that having a good attitude and open mind always ensures that I find enjoyment in anything.

 

I have outgrown Carnival (in many ways), but if they had deal for a 7 night cruise for $250, I would grab it in a heartbeat.

 

Happy Cruising!

[superjerryw]

Would you eat in a restaurant that had lousy food because it was cheap....

[lesleyfb]

Oh, I don't know. We went on a Costa cruise and said at the time "never again" but now ...... either it wasn't that bad or I've forgotten how bad it was as some special offers have come through and the price is almost too good to be true.

[bububr]

No, I usually would not. But there are exceptions.

 

We dine at a breakfast place where he food is okay...BUT the service is excellent, inviting ,and fun.

 

We look forward to our saturday breakfast outing. Its almost like "Mels Diner" and we usually get Flo for our waitress.

 

While I will only do a bad thing thrice...three strikes and you are out, I find that sometimes one or two not so perfect experiances do not make or break the service. Not everyone is PERFECT all of the time...including me.

 

However break my three strikes rule and you ARE out. Olive garden is my recnet example. We had two previous bad experiences, but we tried again. After recieving our food luke warm, complaining several times...we found out our waiter was having a fight with his girlfriend and on his cellphone. Sorry Olive garden..but I don't believe in cellphones, especially at work. The manager comped us our dinner and tried to replace it, even gave us a $50.00 gift card to come back. I broke the card in half, paid for my check, wrote a letter to corporate...and have never been again. Sometimes when I see the ads I miss it...but I DON'T want to have to deal with it again.

 

If this cruise line the OP wants to sail was just okay, or if the incidents were strictly related to that cruise I might sail agin...I like to give others a chance. If this is common behavior for the line...Why waste your money on a vacation that doesn't/will not live up to your expectations....Go elsewhere pay the extra and enjoy you trip.

 

Dave:eek:

[teedee]

I've never had a bad cruise on any cruise line, and that includes Carnival. I think it all depends on your attitude going in. I can't think of any line I wouldn't try again if the price was right.

Terri

[gone_cruisin]

bububr,

 

That sound a little unfair for Olive Garden. It was the waiters fault, not the restaurant. Why not try going to another Olive Garden?

 

You can always find something good in everything......you just have to look!

 

All cruiselines for the most part, are great! The differences between them are their clientele and the "little extras" above and beyond the norm that set each one of them apart.

 

Think of it like comparing flying first class with Delta Airlines and Southwest. Both get you from point A to point B safely. It's the little extras that make the Delta flight more enjoyable.

[wrp96]

There are a couple of lines (NCL) I would, at this point, only try if the cruise was given to me for free. There are some I would try, but only if it were a really good deal. I don't consider it a good deal, no matter how little I spent, if I'm unhappy for the length of the cruise.

[chessbriar]

No!!!

 

There are three cruiselines I would not sail not matter the price. Carnival, NCL, Costa. Most others I would consider.

[negc]

Would you eat in a restaurant that had lousy food because it was cheap....

Haven't you heard about the guy who complained loudly about the quality of the food at the restaurant that he always dined at but justified his doing so "because the portions are enormous":)

[mmp13]

funny, if I decided not to go back on a cruiseline I did not particularly like I would not be a loyal celebrity cruiser right now. Our first cruise on the Galaxy left me cold and my husband really had to twist my arm to get me to try it again. Turns out that my first cruise was probably not great because we had many family issues going on at home. It was probablY not about the cruise line since I loved our second Galaxy cruise....Exact same cruise, same time of year etc. It was a good lesson though. I now know I will never say nerver to anything. I have had to eat my words way too often .:D bottom line is if the price was right I would definitly try a cruise line one more time.

[mkringen]

Would you eat in a restaurant that had lousy food because it was cheap....

 

Yes. It is called fast food.

[mkringen]

Would you eat in a restaurant that had lousy food because it was cheap....

 

Yes. It is called fast food.

 

Michelle in SoCal

Mercury 4/7/06

[superjerryw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by superjerryw

Would you eat in a restaurant that had lousy food because it was cheap....

 

 

Yes. It is called fast food.Mercury 4/7/06

 

Just because it's fast and cheap does not mean it's lousy. A couple of donuts or a box of munchkins from Dunkin Donuts would have been far superior to most of the desserts on our last few cruises.

[ECCruise]

No!!!

 

There are three cruiselines I would not sail not matter the price. Carnival, NCL, Costa. Most others I would consider.

 

Have done all 3 (Carnival 4x, Costa 1x NCL 6x), would do any again in a minute if the price was right. Celebrity CC Elite (10x).

 

Besides, comparing one cruise on a line can be so different the next time you sail. Have had both just OK and great on EACH of those lines (Plus Princess) including Celebrity. Go for it!

[TechKnowBabble]

However break my three strikes rule and you ARE out. Olive garden is my recnet example. We had two previous bad experiences, but we tried again. After recieving our food luke warm, complaining several times...we found out our waiter was having a fight with his girlfriend and on his cellphone. Sorry Olive garden..but I don't believe in cellphones, especially at work. The manager comped us our dinner and tried to replace it, even gave us a $50.00 gift card to come back. I broke the card in half, paid for my check, wrote a letter to corporate...and have never been again. Sometimes when I see the ads I miss it...but I DON'T want to have to deal with it again.

Dave:eek:

 

I'm confused..the dinner was comped but you paid for it anyway? Why?

[ocngypz]

It depends.

 

I am not a fan of 7 night cruises out of FL. I much prefer 8+. I won a freebie in a sales contest. I had previously done the itinerary 4 times.. and it isn't one of my favorites to start with. Then air was over $450.00. Then I would have to fly down a day early.... nope.....free cruise or not.. nothing could twist my arm.

 

And I am talking about a freebie on Celebrity.

 

Fast foward..... a seminar at sea opportunity. 6 nights in April. Cheap air......I'm gone.

 

I'll try anything once, but 7 days or longer please if leaving out of FL.

[MagnoliaMan]

Cant shut off a cruiseline because of a "sad" experience. Like every other life experience, an apple can spoil those in the barrel. Because of a wait person, or single restaurant as one of a chain of many stores, cant condemn the ones behind it.

Saw several comments on NCL being not so good, along with several other lines. We were 12/06 on NCL SUN out of Houston 11 nites to W Carib. Having been on 13 other cruises prior to this one, had good comparison. Have been on Cunard, HAL, RCCL, Celebrity and NCL previously. This was one of the best we have been on. NCL Food in main dining rooms (there are 2) was way better than I recall previous 4 NCL cruises, entertainment (a little weak at first few nites), service in dining rooms par excellence, would put this food and service up against any of the alternative dining service and the food in their Le Bistro (French Cuisine) paid added dining room.

Perhaps we see the cruising as an good experience that cannot be had at home. Of course, if you want to look for lemons, you find it. If you can make lemonade from lemons, everything works well.

 

Magnolia Man

 

Cunard X l

HAL X 1

RCCL X 4

Celebrity X3

NCL X 5

 

Next up:

Celebrity Galaxy 3/09/06 11 nites

NCL Crown 10/29/06 31 Nites NYC-Miami-PanCanal-Peru-Santiago-

Cape Horn-BuenosAires:)

[operafan]

If you found a bargain on a cruise line that you previously did not enjoy, which would you do....Book it with the attitude "this offer is too good to refuse", or decide that nothing is really a bargain if you wouldn't have been willing to pay the going rate for it?

 

 

"Free" wouldn't get us on a Princess ship again!

[Hflors]

"FREE" would get me on almost any ship. Although.....

 

Several years ago I swore I would never do another NCL cruise. HUbby and I did a Valentine's cruise that was supposed to be "sooooo" romantic. Well it turned out to be a cross over between Animal house and a day care center. The whole ship was over run with children! We found out (1) It was president's week and (2) a large co was having their get together with the whole family (3) a special where small children were free. It was a nightmare. The only place to get away from all the kids was in the casino. I love children had two of my own. They were home in school staying with a family member. The cruise line gave us a voucher for a percent off our next cruise - didn't use it. I was sooooo happy to get home.

 

Last year it happens that the NCL Sun was going to a place we wanted to go and had a great price so we booked the cruise. It was great! OUr only problem was a room across the hall with three young boys in it. They carried on so bad I finally went to the pursers office. It was so bad that we could hear banging on the walls ACROSS the hall. We couldn't tell them to keep the noise down because they didn't speak english! AFter that it was very quiet the rest of the week. The Sun was a beautiful ship and we loved the cruise.

 

Moral of the story is. Go for it. If something bothers you speak up. If it can't be fixed try to ignore it. IF all else fails you will be home way too quickly!

[98Charlie]

Have to agree with Terri that there are no lines I wouldn't try again.

 

Looking forward to our fourth X cruise next month, have cruised Princess 2x and NCL 6x and have our second RCI cruise coming up in April.

 

During our cruise experience we have found a ship on two different lines that we aren't really crazy to cruise again -- but there was nothing so wrong that damaged our enjoyment of the cruise itself.

 

Tom Lehrer once said, ``Life is like a sewer. You can only get out of it what you put into it.''

 

His philosophy applies to cruises as well.

 

Dianne

[CruiseQueen13]

If it was my main vaca that year - no - definitely not. If it was a throw together, cheapy, spur of the moment extra - probably.

 

We've learned price isn't always an indication of quality w/ cruising. The cruise we spent the most for (not including shipboard accts of course) was NCL (Dawn) and it was our least favorite. The cheapest was Princess (Golden) and it was fabulous!

 

Always have my eyes open :D .

[operafan]

"FREE" would get me on almost any ship. Although....

 

Moral of the story is. Go for it. If something bothers you speak up. If it can't be fixed try to ignore it. IF all else fails you will be home way too quickly!

 

LOL....Thought about this for a minute and figured that if I spoke up on that Grand Princess cruise I would have spent the entire week jawing at the purser and hotel manager. What does one do about slop for food, terrible service, no a/c in cabins (any of them) and a horrendous cabin steward who cleaned the room "when she felt like it" and then got ticked when we complained and ripped the tags off our luggage the night b4 the cruise ended.

 

We've been on quite a few cruises and have NEVER experienced anything like this before. Turned me off Princess forever. Even for free. Vicki

[98Charlie]

LOL....Thought about this for a minute and figured that if I spoke up on that Grand Princess cruise I would have spent the entire week jawing at the purser and hotel manager. What does one do about slop for food, terrible service, no a/c in cabins (any of them) and a horrendous cabin steward who cleaned the room "when she felt like it" and then got ticked when we complained and ripped the tags off our luggage the night b4 the cruise ended.

 

We've been on quite a few cruises and have NEVER experienced anything like this before. Turned me off Princess forever. Even for free. Vicki

 

Even with your comments regarding the Grand Princess, DH and I are still looking at booking that ship for a cruise later this year. What's one pax's ``last time'' isn't necessarily another pax's ``first time.''

 

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience but we're still willing to give her a go.:)

 

Never been served ``slop'' on any cruise line and doubt I ever will. I'm a farmer's daughter and know exactly what ``slop'' truly is.:eek:

 

Dianne