Whats more important the Itinerary or the Ship?

[mmboogie107]

Good morning all. I am trying to decide on cruising with the Jewel on the Eastern Caribbean or to cruise with Pride of Hawaii. I have been to the carribean once and just thought it was ok. However, everyone raves about the Jewel. And as far as the Pride of Hawaii goes, Hawaii is always great but apparently the ship is not so great. Can anyone give me advice on how to decide? Thanks for all your help.

[judyf]

For me it's both it depends on the mood I'm in, the departure port and the ship. For me this choice would be Hawaii because I've never been there. Easy for me. I'm having a real hard time deciding what cruise to do the first week of April 2007 so I know what you're going through.

 

I'm sailing the Spirit next month and it's all about the ship and departure port sure isn't the itinerary. In April in was mostly the prots but also I wanted to sail on the Star.

 

Hard choices we must make isn't it? lol

[life is good]

My friends and I always choose a cruise for the ship first. As we all know, a cruiseline can change an itinerary at anytime for just about any reason... I assume you have read reviews on both ships by your post. You spend much more time on the ship than onshore. You sleep, eat and do your relaxing on the ship. My feeling is a bad port should not reflect on the ship in anyway. Whichever you choose, make sure you choose to have a great time!!! So IMHO, go for the ship first.

[Druke I]

That can be hard call.

 

We usually look at itinerary first, and then the ship(s) and cruise line.

 

There are times you have to lower your expectations regarding the ship, if you are really set on a particular itinerary.

 

If you do your homework well in the first place, disappointments may well be lessened.

[Zeno]

1. Itinerary

2. Cruiseline

3. Ship

[garycarla]

Since you asked....

 

The Pride ships are very different than the rest of the NCL fleet. As you read through the reviews you will see the service levels are different because of the 85% American crew. Hawaii seems to be pretty much a floating hotel between the Islands.

 

If you are comparing to the Carribean, that is alot different than comparing to Europe.

 

I guess what matters is what you are expecting from a cruise. How much touring vs hanging out on the deck.

[seahorse]

This is easy........Jewel if you want the Caribbean.

 

Itinerary if you want HI. the ship does not matter in HI.

[redlef]

If I wanted to to kick back and relax, I would care more about the climate than the ship or destination.

 

If i wanted to sightsee, I would defintely choose the destination first.

 

I am looking forward to a trip on the Queen Mary one day, and that would be just for the thrill of being on the Queen Mary, so I would look at how easy and how expensive it would be to get onto her.

 

We're on the Jewel to the Med this summer. The Jewel's schedule fit our vacation schedule better than the other ships in the area. If we had taken RCI's tour, which leaves the day earlier, we would have had to fly on a Friday, which was about $500 more expensive per ticket than our Saturday flights.

 

Some ships have better food, some have better service, some have better decor, but they're all better than a day at work. I won't starve on any of them.

[dongordon]

I would say that the ship is first and the itinerary second, except if the ship goes to the same ports each year. For example, I went to Florida and the Bahamas twice and decided to switch to the Spirit this year.

 

Leaving from NYC is also a huge consideration......I am reluctant to fly to a cruise in the future after experiencing the ease of departing from a port within driving distance from my home.

 

Don

[dwrist]

We cruise for the relaxation and being away from all worries, concerns,etc. We book based on the ship and how many sea days. That is our choice and desires, not yours.:)

[insidecabin]

We usualy throw price into the equation and try to ballance all the options. We try to do one trip where the itinery is top of the list one with the ship but if we keep the prices keen we can stretch the budget to an extra trip.

 

Sometime you get lucky and the ship and itinery are both good at the right price.

[Host Kewlguy]

The ship is far more important in our opinion. The ports you visit are a bonus. Like icing on the cake.

[Breezey]

We choose itinerary first and then research the ships. Last year we did a Med cruise, we knew we wanted a Greek isle intensive experience so we chose Princess. If we had chosen a ship first we would have gone Celebrity which offers better service and food (IMHO).

 

This year we decided to go to Hawaii. The very only reason we chose NCL (because trust me, I have not been impressed with any of the reviews of their service and food, particularly in Hawaii) is that we start and end in Hawaii without having to spend so many days at sea just to get to our destination and back. So our second week will be land based in Maui.

 

If you just want a great cruise experience, no matter the destination, I would research all the lines and their ship reviews to see if they offer what you are looking for, be it top quality service, food, entertainment, activities, etc, etc.

 

The research is half the fun.

[sweetpea-2]

thats a tough one since your on the ship everyday for about every meal etc........but the again itinerary is important also....guess it depends which is more important to you....as for me, if I am not happy with my ship it casts a shadow on the whole cruise :confused:

[TG2005]

Simply put are you a cruiser or a vacationer. A cruiser is there for the cruise experience and the vacationer is there for the scenery and the ship is just a floating hotel.

[Onessa]

I'm an iternary person. You'd have to pay me to do an itenerary where there were a lot of sea days - I like ports. Based upon that a HI cruise on any of the Pride ships would be my pick.

 

The negative posts about the Pride of ships seem to come down to the folks who cruise for the "cruise experence" vs those of us who cruise 'cause it is a fun way to get from one port to the next. If you are a "cruise experience" person do the Jewel. If you are a "cruise as a great method of transportation" person, do the POHi.

[newmexicoNita]

For us it would have to be itinerary, then ship and price. Again it depends on why we are cruising. Once in awhile it is just to get away, usually that will be a 5 night cruise and price would be our number 1 consideration. NMnita

[Toyz711]

it's been awhile since we cruised, but this time....port location (have family in seattle), sunday departure (hubby didn't want to lose saturday sales)...ship matters, but we were on the costa riveria toward the end of her sailing days...she was great (heard some people thought she was too old and small). heard people complaining about the stella solaris, they had been on the cruise 2 weeks before we were...we have no complaints. it's all in the mind of the beholder

the crew on the riveria was the best, very international, very entertaining. on the stella the ports were so busy we were too tired to enjoy much of the entertainment or activities on the ship. the crew was very polite and friendly.love the cruise experience, but it's not for everywhere.

[bound4somewhere]

A matter of personal preference really. I definately choose the itinerary first and prefer only 2 at sea days because I would rather see some islands than lounge about the ship. The ship is merely my transportation.

Good luck with your decision:) Well not to sound as though there is no consideration with the ship...it's just more important to me to have the best itinerary and then choose the cruiseline and ship.

 

Enjoy....Kathy

[bh2359]

It's itinerary first. The only time we picked a ship because of the ship was on the Norway.

 

We've traveled a lot so we pick where we'd like to go that's new and then see which lines go there. Then we pick the ship.

 

Someone stated that for Hawaii, the ship doesn't really matter and I sorta agree. However, if I planned a Hawaii cruise, I'd take the one that also goes to Fanning Island, just to experience that desolated spot.

 

Yes, food, activites, and such do differ from line to line but I don't think so much as to make one ship better than another when going to a specific destination.

 

Anyway, itinerary, price, line, ship, are our choices.

[judyf]

Leaving from NYC is also a huge consideration......I am reluctant to fly to a cruise in the future after experiencing the ease of departing from a port within driving distance from my home.

 

Ditto!!

[newmexicoNita]

it's been awhile since we cruised, but this time....port location (have family in seattle), sunday departure (hubby didn't want to lose saturday sales)...ship matters, but we were on the costa riveria toward the end of her sailing days...she was great (heard some people thought she was too old and small). heard people complaining about the stella solaris, they had been on the cruise 2 weeks before we were...we have no complaints. it's all in the mind of the beholder

the crew on the riveria was the best, very international, very entertaining. on the stella the ports were so busy we were too tired to enjoy much of the entertainment or activities on the ship. the crew was very polite and friendly.love the cruise experience, but it's not for everywhere.

Isn't it amazing how we all see differently: after 20 plus cruises I can say, the Riviera was our least favorite or close to it and we sailed her when she had first joined the Costa line, after being refurbished. I did like her looks, but that is wher it ended. NMNita

[Toyz711]

the staff we had was amazing. we still look back at the video of that trip where my hubby is laughing so hard he drops the camera...and we laugh again. plus we had the inside room that was extra big. hard to sit through the newly wed game after that one. even the bingo games were falling down funny. AND we don't drink!!

[newmexicoNita]

the staff we had was amazing. we still look back at the video of that trip where my hubby is laughing so hard he drops the camera...and we laugh again. plus we had the inside room that was extra big. hard to sit through the newly wed game after that one. even the bingo games were falling down funny. AND we don't drink!!

We cruised her in the mid 80s about 6 months after she was purchased by Costa: the service was really bad, the food average at best (liver and onions or meatloaf the first night) and non of the crew spoke English unless they found it convenient. There were a few things we really liked: our table mates were the best we have ever had, we could always get a lounge by the pool, by the pool, and he toga party was the most fun we have ever had on a cruise. There are very few cruises or vacations period that are all negative, but this wasn't the best for me. Of course it was our second cruise and the first usually is so wonderful that it takes a long time to find something else that measures up to it. NNnita

[Toyz711]

we were on her on her last cruise or her next to the last, before they moved her back across the pond. i remember it being very art deco and aged, the ports were ok, but the passenagers, crew, food and service made up for everything. my hubby has very fond memories of j.j., a cute, petite blonde from "down under" who had the cutest "wiggle, wiggle, wiggle". there is always something that can make a trip, if you want to find it.

on the solaris, every time i walked out of the room...one of the crew would run to push for the elevator and stand there to wish me a nice day.

then we had the pepsi thing, in athens we got our own pepsi. when we got back from the excursions (hot, very tired) the pepsi bottle would be cooling in the ice bucket.

to the point of the thread, i feel like each trip is different. to relax and unwind, it's the ship itself. the pampered feeling. for adventure, it's the excursions. for the pure joy of it..it's the price.