nhtravels Posted February 10, 2020 #1 Share Posted February 10, 2020 With an ever growing bucket list for travel, I'm in constant planning mode. When you are planning your cruise, do you choose based on the ship or are you more about the destination? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted February 10, 2020 #2 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Is it a cop out to say "both"? In March I am sailing on the Bliss to FL/Bahamas, which is a terrible itinerary. But I am doing because it was very cheap and sails out of NYC, which is an easy port for me. In December, I sailed on the Bliss out of NYC to the Southern Caribbean and it was definitely NOT cheap, but I wanted to go to the Southern Caribbean, as I had never been there before. I ended up loving it so much that I am looking at Southern Caribbean sailings out of San Juan for next January and I will probably not be picky at all about the ship or even the cruise line, just the itinerary. At the end of August we are sailing to Alaska. In that case, we are taking our first Princess sailing, because it was significantly cheaper to sail on the Ruby Princess than the NCL Bliss for the same itinerary that same week. So cost is also a factor in our decision making. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Peachypooh Posted February 10, 2020 #3 Share Posted February 10, 2020 We cruise for the destination.That said, we look at the ships that are cruising where we want to go and pick the one we feel most comfortable with. In our case any Jewell class ship. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare shof515 Posted February 10, 2020 #4 Share Posted February 10, 2020 because i am limited to sailing out of NYC (my home port) i cruise for the ship since the itinerary out of NYC is always terrible 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR24 Posted February 10, 2020 #5 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Always destination for us. I'm not saying we don't want to see different ships, it's just that we would sail the same ship to different places and not think twice about it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pauser Posted February 10, 2020 #6 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I take both into consideration. First I look for an itinerary, but I've had itineraries change in the past, so I also look at the ship. We prefer the Jewel class ships or a similar size. I have no desire to sail on the giant ships. That would deter me from sailing even if I loved the itinerary. In that case I might look at other cruise lines. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakman58 Posted February 10, 2020 #7 Share Posted February 10, 2020 We cruise mainly for the destination. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geegee1 Posted February 10, 2020 #8 Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) I cruise out of convenience of a NY area home port. While we've done the Port Canaveral/Bahamas one a bunch of times, we've also have done a 10 day to the Caribbean as well. But if we didn't live so close to the port, we probably hardly ever take a cruise. Edited February 10, 2020 by geegee1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Bostonjetset Posted February 10, 2020 #9 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I would say it's the destination about 75% of the time and the ship the other 25%. For example, I love sailing on the Queen Mary 2 so have a 3rd transatlantic scheduled on her even though there are no ports. Also, our upcoming Nieuw Statendam sailing has ports that aren't overly exciting but I really want to sail on that ship. For a trip to Alaska, anywhere in Europe, or Bermuda I feel that the ship is not so important at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Newleno Posted February 10, 2020 #10 Share Posted February 10, 2020 We cruise 1 - price, 2 - destination, 3 - ship (a good ship for us is one with wide open spaces where you can see and feel the sea all over the ship, jewel class are great for us) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpearlkc Posted February 10, 2020 #11 Share Posted February 10, 2020 We cruise for port of departure. Most of our cruises have been out of New Orleans and to most of the same destinations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poffles Posted February 10, 2020 #12 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I have to say 'generally' both. I want a ship that I will like and is not older but the itinerary is not port specific but I want warmth. I just love cruising! For instance, I keep hearing people talk about Alaska and think 'am i missing something' and 'maybe i should I consider' but then being from Canada and having the wilderness and nature so close around me all the time ... AND the 4 seasons with the colder ones seeming longer than the rest ... I cannot convince myself enough to want to go there. Cost all being equal (or lotto win), the itinerary would move up the scale a lot but the Caribbean has been my happy place ... I have done some Caribbean ports 5 times and I just think of it as another warm place with sun and sand and I am traveling on a cruise ship! I have one booked in March out of NY for the first time ever and only because it was very very cheap and closer flight. While I look forward to trying NCL again and on a newer big ship, I find myself not being as excited and I realize it's due to not sailing out of a warm place like Miami or FLL and also the waters may not be so friendly. I keep having a pep talk with myself 🙂 It may be first and last time out of NY but I might be surprised. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktwothousand Posted February 10, 2020 #13 Share Posted February 10, 2020 For Caribbean, or for ports I'm not that interested in, its all about the ship. I've been known to stay on board a whole cruise some times. That being said...For destination cruises, I absolutely will not go unless its a ship I like. (i.e. one with studios, a big one, newer). I would rather take a land-based vacation to a destination I'm interested in, if there are no good ships going there. I am all about NEW and BIG when it comes to the ships...forget any of the old small boats - not my thing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poffles Posted February 10, 2020 #14 Share Posted February 10, 2020 11 minutes ago, marktwothousand said: For Caribbean, or for ports I'm not that interested in, its all about the ship. I've been known to stay on board a whole cruise some times. That being said...For destination cruises, I absolutely will not go unless its a ship I like. (i.e. one with studios, a big one, newer). I would rather take a land-based vacation to a destination I'm interested in, if there are no good ships going there. I am all about NEW and BIG when it comes to the ships...forget any of the old small boats - not my thing. Ditto Caribbean staying on board ... especially if one has been there few times over and one has the drink package on board. 🍺🍹🚢 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Nahoumi Posted February 10, 2020 #15 Share Posted February 10, 2020 We cruise for the destination, and the port that it leaves from. Boston is our go to port, because we don't have to fly to get there. New York is reachable by bus or Amtrak. No flying or driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Wheels Only Posted February 10, 2020 #16 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Ship has priority over itinerary. In some cases, the itinerary rotates from one week to the next so in those cases, I'll pick the better itinerary of the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nola26 Posted February 10, 2020 #17 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I often sail using a casino certificate that applies to a specific list of cruises. In that case I choose itinerary/departure port then ship. If I have been on a ship before I look for a new itinerary on her. Sometimes I can only sail during a given week; then my selection is based on availability, convenience and itinerary. A winter week in the Caribbean is better than a cold one in New England. We have booked 4 non certificate cruises. Escape year one so ship driven. The others have been itinerary driven then ship (Mediterranean, Hawaii and Japan). We will replace Japan based on itinerary as it's a birthday celebration trip. Price or value is always a factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Laszlo Posted February 10, 2020 #18 Share Posted February 10, 2020 For my wife and I the ship is for getting to point A to point B. We have sailed everything from the Sun, Gem, BA and Escape. Our next cruise is February 2021 on the Jade on an 11 day. Luckily the Jewel class ships are our favorite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhtravels Posted February 10, 2020 Author #19 Share Posted February 10, 2020 There's so many places I want to see! There's so many ships I'm looking forward to sailing! They just don't always line up together. I guess that means I just need double the trips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals22 Posted February 10, 2020 #20 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Currently for me it would be a combination of ease of getting to the port, the destination, the price and the size of the ship. We prefer Jewel class or smaller ships but will go on the larger ships if those are the ones that are going from the port we want to leave from. Price/amenities are possibly more important to me right now than the ports. We recently moved to florida so looking forward to not having to fly to another city to board the ship. We can easily drive to the florida ports. Hoping we can cruise more often now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedwingHockeyFan Posted February 10, 2020 #21 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I pick Itinerary over ship. For my next cruise there were three ships sailing the same itinerary so I eliminated the ship I had sailed on before then narrowed it down with price. I want to try the 7 day Southern Caribbean itinerary but I have already sailed the Epic twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted February 10, 2020 #22 Share Posted February 10, 2020 1 minute ago, RedwingHockeyFan said: I pick Itinerary over ship. For my next cruise there were three ships sailing the same itinerary so I eliminated the ship I had sailed on before then narrowed it down with price. I want to try the 7 day Southern Caribbean itinerary but I have already sailed the Epic twice. Which ship did you end up picking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedwingHockeyFan Posted February 10, 2020 #23 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Just now, JamieLogical said: Which ship did you end up picking? It was a 2021 Eastern Caribbean Itinerary and I picked the Joy over Escape (Been on it) and Bliss (Cost $100 more per person) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weltek Posted February 10, 2020 #24 Share Posted February 10, 2020 First and foremost, the destination. We definitely have our preferred ships, so that's always somewhat of a factor, and as we check off destinations, it will probably become more of a factor. For example, one more trip and I think we'll have hit every Caribbean and Mexico port Norwegian sails, so we'd pick a preferred ship next time if just sailing for warmth in January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisekitty22 Posted February 10, 2020 #25 Share Posted February 10, 2020 It was destination. Now its ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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