Ship vs itinerary

[BobNoxious]

On 5/29/2023 at 10:24 AM, BLAMBKY said:

We absolutely enjoy the BIG ships & all their entertainment but I am ready for different ports. Looking at possibly the Canada/New England routes but they seem to be older/smaller ships. Do you spend more time in ports making the ship less important, more about transporting? I would appreciate hearing others opinions/experiences. Thanks!

Liberty of the Seas doing the Canada/NE route.    Also, Oasis on it right now (may 28).

[luvbrady]

I do like the newer, bigger ships- that said if it is just us itinerary would be #1.  If we are with a group or just another couple who have not experienced a bigger ship I will sacrifice the itinerary for the bigger ship to 'allow for the wow'.  Just did that early in the year where we did a Mexican itinerary versus the St. Thomas/St. Marteen I would have prefered.

[LilBlackDress]

Some years I book by itinerary, other years I book the ship regardless of the itinerary... and sometimes I get lucky and book a ship I really enjoy with an itinerary I wanted. 

 

My husband prefers Oasis/Quantum Class. I don't care one way or the other... I just want to be on a ship, and enjoy the staff, entertainment, the ocean, and the views!! 

[Tree_skier]

33 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

For me it is a combination of both. I want to sail Voyager class or higher but different ports and itineraries are big selling features too.  I'll probably do a smaller ship for the Panama Canal cruise since that is the only option but will mostly stick to the mid to large size ships.  

Just as a follow up since I realized I should have included this...

 

Price also factors into it as well.

 

I've got Adventure booked in Feb 24 almost exclusively because the price, at the time itineraries were released, was remarkably low.

 

The itinerary was good and helped in the decision but price was the driving factor on that one.

 

Dec 10/23 we have Harmony booked and that decision was based on a combination of price and ship without regard for Itinerary.  We are paying for it all and going with our daughter, her husband and their three teenage children.  When presenting my daughter with three options she choose this one.

 

Her choices were...

• 8 nights on adventure (best itinerary, oldest, smallest ship)
• 7 nights on Harmony (Biggest ship, most typical itinerary )
• 6 nights on Odyssey (Newest ship, decent itinerary)

 

The prices were in that order from lowest to highest but were all reasonably close to one another. She choose Harmony, mostly for the kids sake. They have only been on one cruise before (Adventure of the Seas) and wanted to experience something different.  The ports didn't make a difference to them since they have limited experience.

 

All were similar in price

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, BobNoxious said:

Liberty of the Seas doing the Canada/NE route.    Also, Oasis on it right now (may 28).

Yes...Liberty doing the Canada/NE route and looking forward to it this October. We've also done it on Anthem.

 

We sail for the itinerary not the RCI ship. Loved our Arctic Circle on Jewel 2022 and Panama Canal 2022 on Serenade. We'll be doing the British Isles July 2024 on Jewel.

[shof515]

2 hours ago, BobNoxious said:

  Also, Oasis on it right now (may 28).

Oasis only does 1 Canada cruise that only goes from cape liberty to St John, New Brunswick . they only do this one off sailing when they need to switch oasis Bahamas sailings from a Sunday to a Friday 

[PhillyFan33579]

I know this wasn’t an option in the OP’s initial post, but for the last year or so I have, with a few exceptions, selected cruises based on what is available in the literally dozens of casino offers I have received. I have no problem going on the same ship or same itinerary if the only thing I have to pay for is taxes and port fees. Add in 5 free drinks per day being Diamond Plus and free drinks in the casino when it is open, I normally spend no more than $400 per cruise, to include extra tipping. 

[bwaylvsong]

On 5/30/2023 at 4:09 PM, shof515 said:

Oasis only does 1 Canada cruise that only goes from cape liberty to St John, New Brunswick . they only do this one off sailing when they need to switch oasis Bahamas sailings from a Sunday to a Friday 

Just was on this sailing- St John was probably my least favorite port I have been to.  Halifax was beautiful but there was still noticeable smoke in the air from the recent fires.  The Oasis itself was generally phenomenal and the star of the show.

[moposh]

I have sailed on smaller ships several times because the port I live near uses small ships to get under bridge.  I have also sailed on Allure and Explorer.  I like the mid-size ships.  That said, I tend to go more for ports than ship.  Is it going somewhere I want to visit?  I do like to disembark at the ports rather than stay on board.

[Russ Lomas]

On 5/29/2023 at 10:24 AM, BLAMBKY said:

We absolutely enjoy the BIG ships & all their entertainment but I am ready for different ports. Looking at possibly the Canada/New England routes but they seem to be older/smaller ships. Do you spend more time in ports making the ship less important, more about transporting? I would appreciate hearing others opinions/experiences. Thanks!

Port intensive cruises, do not waste your money on the big ships with all the bells and whistles.  You will be ashore and not use them too much.  For those itineraries, the smaller ships are better.  For sailings where you have been there, done that before (or with crummy ports - our upcoming Oasis cruise that goes to Nassau and Port Canaveral arriving in the afternoon each day) then we pick the bigger better ships.

 

On 5/29/2023 at 2:13 PM, Tin can said:

We are UK based and rarely sail with Royal out of Southampton as we have been there and seen that. It makes things expensive flying and cruising out of new ports but you can't take it £ $ with you 😀. 

We booked the 15-day Serenade of the Seas sailing next summer out of Southampton that does 13 Northern European ports in 15 days.  We are very excited to try that itinerary on that class of ship from the UK.

 

On 5/30/2023 at 2:04 PM, BobNoxious said:

Liberty of the Seas doing the Canada/NE route.    Also, Oasis on it right now (may 28).

I was going to mention the same thing.  Oasis going to Canada is rare, but I saw it was in Halifax earlier this week.  The Liberty is a big ship with lots to offer that does the Canada/NE route several times.  Good compromise for those who want a big ship and those ports.

[Fouremco]

On 5/30/2023 at 4:09 PM, shof515 said:

Oasis only does 1 Canada cruise that only goes from cape liberty to St John, New Brunswick . they only do this one off sailing when they need to switch oasis Bahamas sailings from a Sunday to a Friday 

 

4 hours ago, bwaylvsong said:

Just was on this sailing- St John was probably my least favorite port I have been to.  Halifax was beautiful but there was still noticeable smoke in the air from the recent fires.  The Oasis itself was generally phenomenal and the star of the show.

Canadian cruise ports include Saint John, New Brunswick, and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. There's no St John in the Maritimes, at least none that's a port.

 

I agree that Saint John itself isn't a great port to visit, but there are numerous interesting excursions available beyond city limits. 

[bwaylvsong]

16 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

 

Canadian cruise ports include Saint John, New Brunswick, and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. There's no St John in the Maritimes, at least none that's a port.

 

I agree that Saint John itself isn't a great port to visit, but there are numerous interesting excursions available beyond city limits. 

The Saint John we went to was the one in New Brunswick.  I would have liked to see the Reversing Falls, but it was too far from the port for my mother to walk and we didn’t see any cabs.

[Fouremco]

5 minutes ago, bwaylvsong said:

The Saint John we went to was the one in New Brunswick.  I would have liked to see the Reversing Falls, but it was too far from the port for my mother to walk and we didn’t see any cabs.

That's unfortunate, as the Reversing Falls are definitely worth seeing if the tide is right. I'm surprised that there were no cabs around, as visiting ships usually draw them in.