WC dilemma - line vs itinerary?

[bookbabe]

Question for the more experienced WC folks out there…which is more important, the cruise line or the itinerary?

 

Would you rather have the absolute perfect world cruise itinerary on a cruise line that isn’t your first choice, or would you go with an only okay itinerary on your favourite cruise line?  Or would you wait however many years it takes to get the perfect world cruise itinerary on the perfect line?

 

Thoughts?

[Hygge!]

I would say both are important. 

[Heidi13]

8 minutes ago, bookbabe said:

Question for the more experienced WC folks out there…which is more important, the cruise line or the itinerary?

 

Would you rather have the absolute perfect world cruise itinerary on a cruise line that isn’t your first choice, or would you go with an only okay itinerary on your favourite cruise line?  Or would you wait however many years it takes to get the perfect world cruise itinerary on the perfect line?

 

Thoughts?

 

An interesting question, which I will answer based on having completed 2 World Cruises and almost 40 yrs working at sea.

 

When asked about previous ships, many old seamen would indicate whether she was a good feeder, or not. Who was Captain, Chief Officer and ports of call were well down the list of memories. As a pax completing a WC, it can be anywhere from 3+ months to 8 months, which is a long time, with the ship effectively becoming your home away from home.

 

We have completed 2 WC, the first on Princess being terrible and the 2nd on Viking being amazing. With Princess, the ship resembled a Greek Tramp Ship, with plumbing leaks everywhere, the meals were terrible, entertainment terrible, Maitre'D & Chef hopeless, etc. The itinerary was excellent, but a great itinerary didn't make up for a dreadful ship.

 

Our second WC on Viking also had an amazing itinerary, but due to COVID, we missed most of the ports, spending almost 50 days at sea between Darwin & Gibraltar. Between those ports, we got ashore once in Bali. Fortunately the ship was brilliant and we had such a great cruise, we booked another Viking WC in 2023.

 

Since most cruise line vary WC itineraries, you should be able to find a preferred cruise line and then wait for the best itininerary.

[rkacruiser]

I was fortunate.  My preferred cruise line, HAL, offered an exceptional itinerary to celebrate their Golden Anniversary in world cruising.  It was a unique HAL world cruise itinerary with port calls in Venice, Sochi, Sevestapol, Melbourne, Freemantle, Bermuda among others with a return to New York and ending in Fort Lauderdale.  

 

If one has a cruise line with which one is "comfortable" and has had lots of experience, that would be my first consideration.  To book a long cruise on a cruise line with which I have had no experience would be risky, I think.  I'd have to do much research regarding entertainment, menus/cuisine, service, the cruise line's experience with world cruising, etc. before I'd make a booking.  

[SargassoPirate]

My first world cruise is booked for 2023, after moving it from 2022.  While not an experienced world cruiser, I have some 50 cruises under my belt, the longest being 49 nights around South America. Cruise Critic has been a huge help when researching any cruise or cruise line. 

 

Conventional wisdom is to never book a world cruise on a line with which you have not traveled.  Having cruised with Princess many times, I might have booked my WC with Princess without a second thought and them had the same experience as Heidi13 above.

 

What I did was draw up a matrix with cruise lines offering world cruises and consider items that are important to me, such as wrap around promenades and guest laundromats.   I included itinerary considerations such as countries I had not been to before, balance of port days with sea days, adults only ships, and the cost per day for the cruise.  I also watched video tours of the ships and video reviews by passengers.

 

My cruise needs are pretty simple anymore: a comfortable cabin with passengers above, below and across the hall. wraparound promenade, guest laundry, several sea days in a row, some interesting guest lecturers, and a wee dram or two in the evening with some unamplified string or piano music.  I do not care to attend over-amplified shows in the theater or eat dinner in a loud MDR. 

 

In the end, I made a decision that I am excited about and looking forward to sailing around the world in 2023.

[BVILady]

5 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

May I ask which line you booked with?

 

In the end, I made a decision that I am excited about and looking forward to sailing around the world in 2023.

 

[SargassoPirate]

On 7/9/2021 at 7:45 AM, BVILady said:

 

 

Yes, I booked with P&O.  The cruise will be on the Arcadia.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

On 7/6/2021 at 12:00 PM, bookbabe said:

Question for the more experienced WC folks out there…which is more important, the cruise line or the itinerary?

 

Would you rather have the absolute perfect world cruise itinerary on a cruise line that isn’t your first choice, or would you go with an only okay itinerary on your favourite cruise line?  Or would you wait however many years it takes to get the perfect world cruise itinerary on the perfect line?

 

Thoughts?

I would favor the cruise line over the ports.   The ship and the other passengers are by far the biggest factor in your world cruise.    Different lines attract different passengers and offer different activities.  

 

If you  base you world cruise on a particular port - that will be the one that gets canceled at the last minute due to weather.   If you must visit a particular port - fly there independently.   

 

Casino?  No Casino?  Like to dance?   Big Production shows or no shows....etc etc etc...

[rkacruiser]

12 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

I would favor the cruise line over the ports

 

It's serendipity when one's desired cruise line and the ports on the itinerary are what the cruiser prefers.  

 

That happened to me during the Grand World Voyage in 2008.  

[Jim Avery]

Just my two cents worth but a world cruise, especially one where all the passengers are taking the full cruise as opposed to BtoBto BtoBto B,  etc. is to me not like any other cruise.  We think of it as moving to a new little town and securing a small waterfront flat.  Small but very nicely fitted with a top notch staff and everything we could want included.  And then our flat changes locations daily.  The only problem is when they tell you to go home.....🍸

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Just my two cents worth but a world cruise, especially one where all the passengers are taking the full cruise as opposed to BtoBto BtoBto B,  etc. is to me not like any other cruise.  We think of it as moving to a new little town and securing a small waterfront flat.  Small but very nicely fitted with a top notch staff and everything we could want included.  And then our flat changes locations daily.  The only problem is when they tell you to go home.....🍸

 

So true Jim.

 

A proper WC is just so different from the ones that have a small proportion on for the duration and then they fill the ship with B2B2B's. That's when you really get to know the crew and fellow pax.😁🍺

[Mich3554]

On 9/22/2021 at 3:47 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

So true Jim.

 

A proper WC is just so different from the ones that have a small proportion on for the duration and then they fill the ship with B2B2B's. That's when you really get to know the crew and fellow pax.😁🍺

I guess we will get a chance to compare B2B2B to WC.  We leave next month for one, going from Athens to Santiago on the Jupiter.  We had scheduled this last year to determine if DH was really game for so many days on a ship.  We shifted everything to this year, then went ahead to schedule the 22-23 WC last Dec anyway.    

[vslparis]

On 9/21/2021 at 2:25 PM, Jim Avery said:

Just my two cents worth but a world cruise, especially one where all the passengers are taking the full cruise as opposed to BtoBto BtoBto B,  etc. is to me not like any other cruise.  We think of it as moving to a new little town and securing a small waterfront flat.  Small but very nicely fitted with a top notch staff and everything we could want included.  And then our flat changes locations daily.  The only problem is when they tell you to go home.....🍸

What a perfect description of what I envision my upcoming WC to be ! My

 DH and I recently spent a couple of nights on Mackinac Island at the Grand Hotel . I thought that our WC experience might be like spending the summer season on the island with it’s seasonal residents at the Grand and the summer “cottages” on the island but with the added benefit of the island breaking free and setting sail for a few months around the world 😎

[zoncom]

For me, a combo of great ports, excellent food and a beautifully run ship.

[cruiselvr04]

We are thinking about 2025.  2024 is coming too quickly for us as we’d be leaving around the end of 2023 which is when we both retire.  I want to be able to really plan and don’t have enough info to book right now.  
 

I do think I’ve ruled out Princess.  We just weren’t impressed so I doubt that’d change for a world cruise.  Viking has been the top runner right now. Although Royals is very interesting.  And we’ve been on that ship many times and love her.  There are definitely some cabins I’d be willing to spend 9 months in on that ship. ( The biggest negative I see is lack of laundry.  Their fold and wash service is only good for things you don’t care about like underwear and socks.)  The service would not be as good but I’m also interested in where the ship goes and not spending all my time at sea ( which I feel Princess does.)  A world cruise is a travel adventure not a vacation so to speak.  
 

I’ll continue to read and learn and try to be on top of decisions when world cruises open for 2025. It really isn’t that far away….

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We are thinking about 2025.  2024 is coming too quickly for us as we’d be leaving around the end of 2023 which is when we both retire.  I want to be able to really plan and don’t have enough info to book right now.  
 

I do think I’ve ruled out Princess.  We just weren’t impressed so I doubt that’d change for a world cruise.  Viking has been the top runner right now. Although Royals is very interesting.  And we’ve been on that ship many times and love her.  There are definitely some cabins I’d be willing to spend 9 months in on that ship. ( The biggest negative I see is lack of laundry.  Their fold and wash service is only good for things you don’t care about like underwear and socks.)  The service would not be as good but I’m also interested in where the ship goes and not spending all my time at sea ( which I feel Princess does.)  A world cruise is a travel adventure not a vacation so to speak.  
 

I’ll continue to read and learn and try to be on top of decisions when world cruises open for 2025. It really isn’t that far away….

 

The other consideration is the RCCL WC will be a number of segments, with most likely a very small percentage of the pax on for the entire cruise. On the Viking 2019/20 "Ultimate" WC, on the first half, only about 200 were doing the entire voyage, or first half. Therefore about 700 new pax every 2 weeks - the WC'ers refered to them as HoHo's - Hop on, Hop off.

 

While Viking will provide a true WC experience, with no segments, I expect the RCCL cruise will be many B2B2B's.

[Mich3554]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

The other consideration is the RCCL WC will be a number of segments, with most likely a very small percentage of the pax on for the entire cruise. On the Viking 2019/20 "Ultimate" WC, on the first half, only about 200 were doing the entire voyage, or first half. Therefore about 700 new pax every 2 weeks - the WC'ers refered to them as HoHo's - Hop on, Hop off.

 

While Viking will provide a true WC experience, with no segments, I expect the RCCL cruise will be many B2B2B's.

It is many B2Bs.  I took a look at the web site and it looks like it is broken into segments.  In fact, I think I saw it advertised as such…..’even if you can’t do the whole cruise, you can do a piece of it’.  
 

We leave next week for our 56 day B2B2B and I am curious as to how different it will be from our WC.  

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

It is many B2Bs.  I took a look at the web site and it looks like it is broken into segments.  In fact, I think I saw it advertised as such…..’even if you can’t do the whole cruise, you can do a piece of it’.  
 

We leave next week for our 56 day B2B2B and I am curious as to how different it will be from our WC.  

 

In our experience, it depends on the percentage of WC'ers v's Segmenters. On our first WC, with only about 20% World Cruisers, the ship changed every time and it was a collection of B2B's. This was confirmed by some of the pax that signed up for the Viking 19/20 Ultimate WC, with the first half being a series of 2 week cruises, as it was 700 segmenters & 200 World Cruisers.

 

When we sail on the 22/23 WC, I believe you will find a different atmosphere, as all pax are on for the duration.

[NCCruzQueen]

On 10/22/2021 at 6:01 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

On the Viking 2019/20 "Ultimate" WC, on the first half, only about 200 were doing the entire voyage, or first half. Therefore about 700 new pax every 2 weeks - the WC'ers refered to them as HoHo's - Hop on, Hop off.

HoHos is a new term for me.  I have been on one World Cruise and two Grand Voyages.  The term “segmenter” has been heard for those passengers onboard for a smaller number of days than the entire voyage.  

[rkacruiser]

On 10/22/2021 at 7:46 PM, Mich3554 said:

It is many B2Bs.  I took a look at the web site and it looks like it is broken into segments.  In fact, I think I saw it advertised as such…..’even if you can’t do the whole cruise, you can do a piece of it’.  
 

We leave next week for our 56 day B2B2B and I am curious as to how different it will be from our WC.  

 

Because of the difference in guests, one long/world cruise can be different from another as to the atmosphere created by different people (or groups of people).  Regarding the very long Royal Caribbean world cruise, from a sociological perspective, sailing the entire cruise ought to supply extensive data for a Master's or Doctoral thesis in Sociology.  

[NCCruzQueen]

On 10/27/2021 at 3:18 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Because of the difference in guests, one long/world cruise can be different from another as to the atmosphere created by different people (or groups of people).  Regarding the very long Royal Caribbean world cruise, from a sociological perspective, sailing the entire cruise ought to supply extensive data for a Master's or Doctoral thesis in Sociology.  

 

@rkacruiser  Very true.

[donaldsc]

I have not and probably will not take a WC because they have too many sea days and I don't like sea days.  That said, on a shorter cruise of 20 - 30 days, my primary selection factor would be ports as I use a ship as a big bus to get me to places that I want to see.  On a >30 day cruise, ports would be important but the ship would also be a very important factor.  

 

DON

[Jim Avery]

Right you are about sea days.  A world cruise, by necessity, has lots of sea days.  Personal choice as to liking them.  In my career at sea, sea days were for the most part calm.  Away from shoreside management and cargo handling work.  Just make sure you don't hit anything on your watch....😎

[ekka49]

Just so happy to get booked on a world cruise out of Australia this week.

110 nights Coral Princess 2024. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Cruise line for us we have don 4  on Holland  America  2017 2018 2019 2020 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Gail & Marty sailing away