ranking cruise lines and why

[mcjigs]

I’ve ONLY been on Carnival Cruise line but we are scheduled in December for Celebrity for the first time.

We went on our latest Carnival Cruise this past December and I was very disappointed with the food for the first time in 8 years of cruising with Carnival. So we are switching to try Celebrity this December. Why did I pick Celebrity… because I read the book “What time is the midnight buffet?” by chesterh. Hope it will be a good switch!

We are next planning a European Cruise in 2007 and I’ve been searching the boards for info and haven’t seen this question asked recently.

How would you rank all cruise lines you have used and why?

Thanks, ~mary~

1997/Carnival Fantasy/Bahamas/4 days

2002/Carnival Pride/Exotic Western Caribbean/7 days

2003/Carnival Sensation/Grand Caymans & Cozumel/ 5 days

2005/Carnival Pride/Mexican Riviera/7 days

Dec 2006/Celebrity Millennium/Eastern Caribbean/7 days

2007/? Ship/Cruise Line/Europe/ ? days

[Comeoutroll]

Let's see. We've been on 3 with 3 different lines.

 

1. Celebrity (Century). This was our first cruise and the service and dining were the best. I'm not sure if any cruise will be this good since it was our first and we were so in awe of everything. I also really liked all the places you could stand outside and look at the water.

 

2. Royal Caribbean (Explorer) This was our most recent cruise. I loved the solarium pool area, Johnny Rockets, every employee being so friendly, and it was really perfect for us and our 3 year old. Downside - not enough area to look at water. Least favorite room steward. Liked the size of the casino too.

 

3. Carnival (Elation). This was a fun time and though rated 3rd was very close to 2. The Karaoke was fun to watch, I liked the breakfast buffet, and overall thought the dining room was good. Great room steward and good public areas including nooks and crannies to watch the water.

 

I usually base my decision on price, ports, etc. and am not dedicated to one cruise line yet.

[Tatka]

For me each line has "+" and "-"

 

What I loved about each line:

 

1) Celebrity(Century/Mercury) - a bit upscale ... champagne on embarkation, white glove service etc, best food in dining room, great omelletes. Great size/ Pax ratio .. Great , most professional service in DR and EVERYWHERE.

 

2) HAL(Zuiderdam) - many varieties of fresh juices, nice buffets, nice sized cabins, great bedding, Great size/Pax ratio , you can stay in cabin untill disembartion, free movies in cabin... Arts filled ships

 

3) RCCL (Splendor) - beautiful ship, lots of glass to see a sea, wonderful solarium, nice service, free movies in cabin

 

4) Carnival(Liberty) - interesting new ship , good sized cabing, great bedding, great service in DR and from room steward.. Sushi, nice selection of seafood and oriental food in buffets.

 

Minuses:

 

1) Celebrity - notmany ... a bit boring lunch buffets, no free movies in cabin

 

2) HAL - very slow service (understaffed?), some problems with A/C in room .. too cold, couldn't fix.

 

3) RCCL - less impressed with a food of all lines.. other than that not much

 

4) Carnival... terrible overcrowded ship... I think many of disappointments came from this. Lines, lines , lines ... Very weak pool band... I was expectimg more of "carnival" atmosphere from this company... Fun ship wasn't really fun.

[mcjigs]

Comeoutroll & Tatka I really thank you for your helpful comments. I enjoyed reading all you had to offer and I really appreciate it. Thanks! :D

[geoherb]

The way I rank cruise lines we've sailed on is Celebrity, HAL, and Princess tied for first, Royal Caribbean in second, and Carnival and Norwegian a distant third.

 

I'd gladly book another cruise on any of my top three. I would look carefully at the ship and itinerary before booking another RCL cruise. (For instance, I think the Radiance-class ships are about as large as I want to sail on.)

 

I would not book another cruise on Carnival and Norwegian. It's not that we had a bad time on those two cruises, it's just that after experiencing better cruises it would be hard to go back.