What's the best ship for my first RCI cruise?

[loungelizard]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to book my first RCI cruise for Jan '07 and was hoping to get some suggestions as to the ideal ship to start on. What do you think? Thanks in advance.

[masonpips]

Questions:

 

1) Do you care about your departure location?

2) Do you prefer beaching it, hitting ports, or staying on board?

3) What atmosphere do you want? LOTS of activities or more kicked-back and relaxing?

4) Who is going, adults, kids, both? Family, friends?

[BaMARox1991]

I would definatly have to say a Radiance or Voyager-class ship for a first time cruiser. I tend to go for the largest ships, so I usually go on Voyager class, but I also like the Radiance class. I would probably pick a Radiance class for my first cruise, though, becuase even after two cruises, the Voyager was overwhelming. We just got off the Jewel of the Seas earlier in the month and we had a great time, I would reccommend it for sure. Either one you pick, I'm sure you will have a great time.

 

Navigator of the Seas 6/06

Jewel of the Seas 4/06

Mariner of the Seas 7/05

Adventure of the Seas 7/04

Voyager of the Seas 5/04

Imagination 7/03

Sovereign of the Seas 7/00

[TryingCruising]

Adventure of the Seas!

 

I say that because it was my first in March and I loved it. :)

[SheltieLady]

We are going on our first cruise on January 13, 2007 and we picked the Jewel of the Seas, we loved the itinerary 8 night Eastern Caribbean the fact that there was 1-1/2 at sea before the first port so we could explore the ship and 1-1/2 at sea before last port.

 

I loved the sound of the ship with all the glass, to me it sounds to have more of a European feel to it, elegant but not stuff. I have sailed before back in 1978 out of England on a P&O Cruise, it my hubby first time cruising in January. We are not into real large crowds like the Voyage class, don't need the ice rink. My husband only requirements was a casino. Had read so many wonderful reviews on her had to book it.

 

I think it all depends what you are looking for if you traveling with kids, you would most likely want the Voyage Class ships.

 

Well we are all paid up on our cruise just have to wait 8 months.

 

Christine

[Pumbaamd]

Lizard . . .

We need more info here, more details 'bout your cruise . . . then we can help you.

[loungelizard]

1) Do you care about your departure location?

Anywhere on the East coast.

2) Do you prefer beaching it, hitting ports, or staying on board?

Definitely exploring ports and doing excursions...beaches included. I rarely stay on board.

3) What atmosphere do you want? LOTS of activities or more kicked-back and relaxing?

I'm high energy most of the time but I do enjoy kicking back for a few hours.

4) Who is going, adults, kids, both? Family, friends?

My girlfriend is coming with me...no kids.

[Cats' slave]

For my friends' first cruise I picked what I call a "Shazam" ship, the Mariner of the Seas. I define Shazam as something out of the ordinary, outstanding, special. They had a wonderful time and so did we.

 

It's packed with things to do, although you can do as much or as little as you want to do. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's still relatively new. On the eastern route, it goes to interesting and beautiful places.

 

All in all I would just say it's an amazing ship. Get a balcony if you can afford it and if not, get an interior and have the time of your life anyway!

[RayJay]

Hello!! I have been on all the Voyager class ships of RCCL and love them all!! Better than Cunard for sure. I would most definately recomment Freedom of the Seas out of Miami. That is my favorite cruise port by far. I will be on Freedom this August. Of course this ship will take over as largest passenger ship on earth. I've read that Freedom will eventually do the western and the eastern Caribbean (alternating). She is starting out doing the Western only. I much prefer the eastern Caribbean as the islands are much nicer and more reflect what one thinks Caribbean islands should be like. (more mountainous and lush). Happy cruising!!!

[Cruising89143]

Hello!! I have been on all the Voyager class ships of RCCL and love them all!! Better than Cunard for sure. I would most definately recomment Freedom of the Seas out of Miami. That is my favorite cruise port by far. I will be on Freedom this August. Of course this ship will take over as largest passenger ship on earth. I've read that Freedom will eventually do the western and the eastern Caribbean (alternating). She is starting out doing the Western only. I much prefer the eastern Caribbean as the islands are much nicer and more reflect what one thinks Caribbean islands should be like. (more mountainous and lush). Happy cruising!!!

 

The one negative on the Liberty and Freedom itinerary for the eastern is no St. Thomas. They are both stopping at Labadee, San Juan and St. Maarten. I think that San Juan is a waste. I know that RCI is selling these two ships as a destination in themselves but I would think that they could have come up with a little better itinerary.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Navigator or the Jewel :D Have fun planning!

 

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[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

I'd choose an itinerary that is pleasing within the time I have available and then choose the ship that best serves the intinerary.

 

That said I love Mariner of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas and Brilliance. My husband really liked Enchantment of the Seas and the much smaller and older Majesty of the Seas.

 

For all out thrills, the brand new behemoth Freedom of the Seas would have to be a knock out first cruise. For me, I'll pass until Freedom goes to the Eastern Caribbean. I'm really tired of Western Caribbean ports.

[scher]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to book my first RCI cruise for Jan '07 and was hoping to get some suggestions as to the ideal ship to start on. What do you think? Thanks in advance.

I have to tell you, my families first cruise with kids was on the Voyager. It did the Western Carribean. great itineraries with kids. Grand Caymen, swimming with stingrays amazing, climbing the falls in Jamaica and experience to try. and then beautiful beaches and fun shopping in mexico, and a relaxing playing day with water park on Labedee. If you have kids try this cruise and ports. If you start out with the new Freedom you wont have as much to look foward to on the next cruise. why start with the biggest, work your way up.

[loungelizard]

Thanks for all the info! I'll certainly be doing some research since I have plenty of time to plan. For me, the itineraries are important but they are secondary to the ship itself. I know that may sound odd to some people but I consider the ports a bonus, especially those that offer nature and animal excursions and great beaches. I really enjoy the onboard experiences and ambience more than the ports and I love sea days. I've done all the standard itineraries and after awhile they all seem to blend together. I would like to cruise the Panama Canal and visit Costa Rica ... I think that would be exciting and memorable. If I was taking my kids I might consider a Voyager class ship, but I think I'd like to try a Radiance class for this cruise since it will be just the 2 of us. So now that I have narrowed it down...what Radiance ship would be ideal? I saw that Brilliance of the Seas does a Panama Canal cruise...and it's 10 days or more which would be excellent because 7 days just isn't enough for me. Any thoughts on Brilliance OTS and this itinerary?

[Cruising89143]

Navigator or the Jewel :D Have fun planning!

 

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Let's see, the Navigator is my favorite ship to date and the Jewel will be upcoming this December. Sounds like two good choices to me. I hope that I enjoy the Jewel as much as I did the Navigator. :)

[wraithe]

Not trying to sound flip, but the best ship to sail first is whichever one "YOU" choose. We picked a ship (Grandeur) based on itinerary, then quickly found out that itineraries change (due to Wilma in our case). We also quickly learned what many on CC urge, pick a ship as your destination and if it happens to pull in somewhere cool, then that's the icing on the cake. We sailed Mariner in April, and loved it, too, even though we never had time in 7 nights to visit the ice rink, see the Quest, any of the comedians, 19th hole, or several other bars, only saw one show, etc. There's so much to do onboard for adults that any of the ships will probably satisfy you, if you have kids, they might like the Voyager class better. If you're into ballroom dancing, you'll have plenty of opportunities to dance every night, catch a different type of show, or just relax under the stars while the ship plys the oceans. Just my two cents. Hope you have a great cruise, whichever one you choose.

[elleluv]

Thanks for all the info! I'll certainly be doing some research since I have plenty of time to plan. For me, the itineraries are important but they are secondary to the ship itself. I know that may sound odd to some people but I consider the ports a bonus, especially those that offer nature and animal excursions and great beaches. I really enjoy the onboard experiences and ambience more than the ports and I love sea days. I've done all the standard itineraries and after awhile they all seem to blend together. I would like to cruise the Panama Canal and visit Costa Rica ... I think that would be exciting and memorable. If I was taking my kids I might consider a Voyager class ship, but I think I'd like to try a Radiance class for this cruise since it will be just the 2 of us. So now that I have narrowed it down...what Radiance ship would be ideal? I saw that Brilliance of the Seas does a Panama Canal cruise...and it's 10 days or more which would be excellent because 7 days just isn't enough for me. Any thoughts on Brilliance OTS and this itinerary?

 

It sounds like the Brilliance Panama Canal cruise would be perfect for you.... DH and I are doing the Brilliance 11 night Panama Canal in December. Since we haven't gone yet, I can't give you any personal experiences; but if you do a search, there are some great reviews and threads on this board that will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from the cruise. The reviews that I found were almost universally positive.

 

Have fun planning, and have a great cruise! :)

[twinmom38]

Come along with us !!

[shortstop95]

For a first time cruiser here's what I recommend... go on a new ship.... having sailed on both new and old... newer ships are just hands down "much nicer".. older ships have older deck chairs and there's nothing worse.. we were on Voyager and it was impossible for our group of four to find four chairs in a row where one wasn't broken. Also first time.. do a western caribbean run that includes ochos rios and grand cayman. Dunn River Falls remains probably the most fun we've ever had on a shore excursion (save the locals peddling at the end).... and Grand Cayman is beautiful with Stingray City another excursion not to be missed.... Finally I recommend bigger versus smaller.. more activities and higher quality entertainers and shows.....We've done 12 cruises with 13 & 14 on the way... any questions.. just ask....

[lusyrsgirl]

I just got back from my first cruise and it was on the Serenade. Had a southern caribbean itinerary which was absolutely fabulous. The ship is not quite 3 years old and is gorgeous. The only drawback is that now my husband and I fear that we are spoiled for anything less...:rolleyes:

[Nisroftheseas]

My first cruise was on Mariner and I loved it (as did the rest of my family). It had everything we could possibly want, and even on our full cruise, their were NO lines. It was great. Plus the port wasn't crowded. At all. It definitely set a very high bar though. (We suffered from such bad cruise withdrawl that we had trouble finding anything "good" to eat, because the food on our cruise was so excuisite!!!)

[wrp96]

Thanks for all the info! I'll certainly be doing some research since I have plenty of time to plan. For me, the itineraries are important but they are secondary to the ship itself. I know that may sound odd to some people but I consider the ports a bonus, especially those that offer nature and animal excursions and great beaches. I really enjoy the onboard experiences and ambience more than the ports and I love sea days. I've done all the standard itineraries and after awhile they all seem to blend together. I would like to cruise the Panama Canal and visit Costa Rica ... I think that would be exciting and memorable. If I was taking my kids I might consider a Voyager class ship, but I think I'd like to try a Radiance class for this cruise since it will be just the 2 of us. So now that I have narrowed it down...what Radiance ship would be ideal? I saw that Brilliance of the Seas does a Panama Canal cruise...and it's 10 days or more which would be excellent because 7 days just isn't enough for me. Any thoughts on Brilliance OTS and this itinerary?

 

I just did the 10-night Panama Canal cruise on Brilliance in February and had an amazing time. I posted live from the ship here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=299889, and my review is posted at the end of the thread. I highly recommend this cruise to everyone.

 

I definitely recommend any Radiance class ship.

[loungelizard]

wrp96 ~ It was a pleasure reading your review, thanks for making me aware of it. I've decided to book this cruise for Jan 07, but I have yet to narrow down the date. I don't think I can go wrong with Brilliance OTS. Many thanks to all who shared their thoughts, opinions and experiences...I wish you all smooth sailing!

[wrp96]

As you can tell, I had a great time on this cruise. I felt it was the best combination of sea days and port days, the service was amazing, and the ship is absolutely gorgeous. And in January you'll definitely be ready for the much warmer climates the Brilliance sails to if you live anywhere that gets winter.

 

Have a great cruise!