Do you go for the ship or the ports?

[K1200S]

I have been on several cruises and usually end up on the ship that is going someplace I have not been. This time it is all about the ship. Thought it would be fun to compare against Voyager. How do others pick the ship?

[steve20832]

I use a combination of both. Although I prefer newer ships.

[big al]

We cruise 85% for ships,15% for ports...reason for that is 98% of ports stay the same..we're very tired of Nassau,Cozumel,Jamaica,Grand Cayman for Western routes...we much prefer Eastern routes like St.Maarten(fav),St.Thomas/St.John..and really liked Tortola (BVI)...would love to try Antigua,St.Lucia,and the new Grand Turks port that Carnival is doing..Western never seems to have a new port (I don't consider Costa Maya a new port)..did Belize and Roatan on the NCL Sun and they were just OK.,nothing great and VERY poor....especially RCL whom I think has probably THEE most boring itineraries on most of their East/West routes..and those Caribbean islands need to lure tourists by building some new ports & docks..I would LOVE to do a St.Maarten,Tortola,and Grand Turks cruise..how about it RCL?

 

Big Al

 

 

USS Constitution (’61)

USS Independence( ’63)

SS United States( ‘53 & ’67)

Queen Mary (??)

Raffaelo(’63)

Michelangelo (’62)

SS France (’66)

Carnival Fantasy (’90)

Carnival Sensation (’95)

RCL Majesty Of Seas (’96)

Carnival Paradise (’98)

Grand Princess (2000)

Celebrity Mercury (2001)

NCL Star (1 night.) (’01)

NCL Sun (’01)

Carnival Pride (’03)

Carnival Triumph ( ’04)

RCL AOS (’05)

HAL Westerdam (’05)

Disney Wonder (5/06)

RCL Mariner OS (8/06)

RCL Freedom Of The Seas (11/06)

NCL Jewel (3/07)

[Steamboatin]

Itinerary is the most important to us.

 

We are loyal to no cruise line.

 

Once we have selected a part of the globe we wish to visit we begin to do a broad web search of the cruise lines that have cruises in that area of the world. Than we compare all the cruise lines itineraries. From this we obviously take into consideration price and narrow the list down to 2 or 3 cruise lines at most. Than it is simply which cruise line has the best itinerary for the best price for a balcony cabin.

 

Now that we are home once again we will start the selection process for our 2007 cruises. Our next cruise will probably be to the Eastern Med. Now the next question is will we do a land tour with an escorted tour company pre or post trip in connection with that cruise.

 

Oh what choice there are out there to be made and what a joy it is to think and research about them.

 

We have cruised 13 times with 2 more booked for this year. We are not loyal to any cruise line. Best itinerary for the dollar is our primary selecting criteria.

 

Now having said that we prefer longer cruises. If it came down to prices being near the same and one cruise line's itinerary was a few days longer than the other's than we probably would go with the cruise line with the longer cruise.

 

A good example of that is the cruise we just go off of yesterday. Celebrity, HAL and RCCL have cruises now to the Baltic Capitals. Celebrity's cruise is a longer 14 day cruise with more ports and that is the cruise line we selected and just sailed on.

 

Another example is where price did not play a role in the selection process. In August we are going on a HAL New England and Canada cruise for 7 days from Boston to Monteral. Certainly with my military discount Carnival would by far be the cheaper cruise line. But Carnival's itinerary is very inferior to that of HAL. So we selected the best itinerary and have booked the HAL cruise.

[kulekhatt]

SHIP! :)

[Murphy]

It depends. We took the Hawaii, Panama Canal and Canadian cruise obviously for the itinerary. We take some last minute deals for the price and don't care about ship, cabin or itinerary. these are strictly R & R trips.

 

But we are booked on the Freedom ONLY for the ship as I personally think the itinerary stinks. Except to jump off and do a little shopping, I doubt we'll get off the Freedom at all during our trip!

[wraithe]

I pick a ship that's going to be gone for the number of nights that I want to be gone, and leaving from a port that's convenient to either home or something that I want to do. For instance, first cruise on Grandeur was leaving from Baltimore which I could drive to and 9 nights, second cruise was on Mariner leaving from Port Canaveral and I was going to Lakeland for Sun-N-Fun air show upon return. I learned on the first cruise that itineraries change, so I don't worry too much about where the ship's going.

[TheWog]

It depends. We chose our first cruise for the cruise line and the ship and then chose the itinerary after that.

 

Second cruise we chose for the length and then the ship and then the ports it went to.

 

Third cruise is for the ship and then the ports.

[FitzLA]

I go for the ship, as evident by our upcoming Freedom cruise. I could care less about any of the ports we are going to. If I like a specific place, I go for a week or 2. I go to Hawaii usually once a year, and I would never take a cruise there. I like it way to much to waste it on a cruise. I have to have at least 10 days in Hawaii.

[Twaincruisers]

We have normally cruised for changing itinerary, although when we just want to take a break we usually try a new ship going to our favorite ports. And this year we have taken two cruises to nowhere just because it is easy to do living in Miami. One of those cruises was Saturday on the Freedom of the Seas....I would love to repeat that cruise to nowhere!

[CruiseAwayWithMe]

I use a combination of both. Although I prefer newer ships.

Same with me. It's amazing to discover new islands that you have never been too. It adds excitement to the journey. I have been to many of the caribbean islands before though. Having a new ship layout is exciting too because it add to the vacation. I think both are equally important. I do go for newer ships too. :)