Help me choose a cruise line

[Smitty83]

I'm a first-time cruiser. I'm trying to find a line that matches me and my wife. I'm hoping that all of you (with vastly more experience) will help out.

 

Who we are:

Our ages average to 40. (There, see, I didn't reveal my wife's age. :rolleyes:)

We live in NJ - in a mixed white-collar/blue-collar suburb

Neither of us make 6 figures yet, but we're both close (call it upper middle class)

Both in technical careers (one engineer, one IT person)

No kids, two cats

Well-educated (3 Bachelor's degrees between us, plus we both read lots in many genres)

Not particularly athletic, but not averse to some exercise (hiking - good. Basketball - not very good. Weightlifting - right out)

Eclectic tastes - we have season tickets to both the opera and minor-league hockey and we both enjoy both

Semi-seasoned travelers - we've taken one big vacation every 2-3 years with the most adventurous being a week in London. My wife has traveled internationally for business more - mainly Europe and the Orient

Not looking to avoid kids or lots of seniors, but we'd like to see the demographics skew a little closer to us

We tend towards casual, but aren't afraid to dress up or down

 

We're looking at about 7 days to start. The brochures that we're requesting so far are mainly Caribbean and Europe.

 

If you have suggestions of lines to consider or other questions to answer, please sing out!

[eh2zed]

Smitty83, your profile info is pretty thorough.

In cruising there are different categories of cruise lines. Starting with Luxury, Premium, Standard and Budget. I would suggest you profile for a Premium or Standard cruise line. There are a few Premium lines but you will hear mostly about Holland America and Celebrity. They both have great food, service and amenities. HAL has an older demographic particularly on longer cruises, European and more exotic itineraries. Celebrity has a bit younger demographic.

Of the Standard lines I would recommend Princess or Royal Caribbean. Still good food and service but generally felt even by their owners to be a half star behind the Premiums. A bit younger demographic and a bit more night life.

I don't think you can go much wrong with any of these. I would also lean heavily on an itinerary you find attractive. That is very important to us. Price that too!! JMO

Good luck

[trish1c]

Sail out of NY or Bayonne. It's sooooo convenient. You can't really go wrong w/ any of the lines that sail from there.

 

Figure out when you want to go. Look at the iteneraries & pick which one looks most interesting to you.

[Happy ks]

I'd suggest Oceania, Azamara or Celebrity. If we could afford the first, we would definitely sail with them. Perhaps after the kids are grown!

[firefly333]

Instead of going with an expensive cruise line, Id go with a cheaper cruise line, but a more expensive category, balcony or suite. While you are working getting the time off is a premium, after you retire you may want to go on lots of cruises, depends on how much you like cruising. We are doing 3 or 4 a year already now that I have time to cruise.

 

Sure, I could afford to do a more expensive cruiseline, but Id rather save my money and go as often as possible.

[vmom]

I'd suggest Princess, RCCL or Celebrity and I would suggest avoiding summer months, Not only is it hot, but the cruises tend to be more geared to families. Spring is always a nice time to travel and the weather is good.

 

A caribbean cruise is more activity driven or more relaxation oriented where as a European cruise is more sight seeing oriented. Choose by how you want to spend you vacation time.

[dst]

By the sounds of it being in your early 40's I would recommend either RCCL, Princess or Carnival.

 

RCCL: Tends to be a bit more formal, food is great and the atmosphere less partying and a bit more relaxing. Service is wonderful.

 

Princess: Very relaxed and have an open/anytime dining option, which some people like. Your age will be about the same as RCCL with a little more evening activities. Don't care for the service...I think that is their weak link.

 

Carnival: Totally about relaxing, you can party at the pool, find a quiet spot. You have formal nights but they tend to be less formal than the other two lines mentioned. Definitely more of a younger crowd 25-45 - not to say older people don't take this line but definitely more towards an active crowd. Service is great, food good.

 

All three will offer about the same in cabins, and entertainment.

 

Personally I would cruise Carnival and opt for a balcony or a suite. Much more affordable than the other two lines. If you live in NJ you probably are seeking some sort of warm weather and I would recommend sailing out of Florida (Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Miami) and see some of the Caribbean; nothing is better than that beautiful blue water.

 

Hope that helps, its a tough decision the first time but the one thing for sure is that you will want to cruise again :)

[98Charlie]

We've cruised Carnival, Celebrity, NCL, Princess & RCCL. From the info you have provided I don't see how you could have a bad time on any of those cruise lines. If you can enjoy hockey one night and opera the next there will be something for you on most cruises.

 

Itinerary may be your first real choice. If you are looking to relax a 7 or 8 night cruise with 3 ports may be right. OTOH if you want to see as much as possible a 5 port cruise may be the ticket.

 

From there I would consider ship size. The smaller ships allow you to get to know more of the crew and passengers. Larger ships have more services & entertainment venues.

 

Going from there I would suggest looking at the times you have available to travel and compare costs between the lines & ships.

 

JMHO,

 

Charlie

[Smitty83]

Thanks to all who have replied so far (and I still want to hear others!).

 

I notice that most of you didn't mention NCL. Any reason?

[KS&JW]

Thanks to all who have replied so far (and I still want to hear others!).

 

I notice that most of you didn't mention NCL. Any reason?

 

We prefer to sail on Oceania. They cost more, but are worth it for us as they have a strict smoking policy, very few children, interesting itineraries and a wonderful small ship.

 

Too me, NCL is too much of a "Value" cruise line.

 

Like anything, only you can decide what things are worth spending more money on and where to spend a little less.

[98Charlie]

Thanks to all who have replied so far (and I still want to hear others!).

 

I notice that most of you didn't mention NCL. Any reason?

 

My DH, 98Charlie, did mention in his post that we have cruised NCL as well as other cruise lines.

 

We enjoy NCL along with the other lines we have cruised. Each line and each ship has something different to offer. It's a lot like Forrest Gump and his box of chocolates.

 

We will be sailing our 3rd cruise on NCL Star the end of this month, two cruises to Mexican Riviera and 1 to Alaska last year. The lines Freestyle Dining allows us the option to eat when we want to at dinner with no set seating time or table. That option works well for us on itineraries where we plan to be in port as late as possible and don't want to rush back to the ship to meet a set dining time.

 

We also like the fact that the larger NCL ships offer many more dining rooms with varied menus and serving styles as many of the other cruise lines.

 

We are sailing NCL Sun out of New Orleans in November. Love the itinerary, the embarkation port city and the dining options offered on the Sun.

 

Not everyone is going to enjoy the Freestyle dining concept just as not everyone enjoys having a set seating time with set dining partners on other cruise lines. NCL offers a more laid back dress code than other lines which suits some people better than others.

 

Food quality is a variable that is different to each person's taste buds. For us, NCL offers a good cruise experience to ports we want to see in a style we want to cruise at times.

 

That being said, we still enjoy our cruises on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Carnival where dress codes are a bit more stringent and dinner seating times are more formal.

 

Dianne

[Smitty83]

My DH, 98Charlie, did mention in his post that we have cruised NCL as well as other cruise lines.

 

That's why I said "most". ;)

[trish1c]

Thanks to all who have replied so far (and I still want to hear others!).

 

I notice that most of you didn't mention NCL. Any reason?

 

 

I love NCL! Freestyle is the best way to cruse IMO. Many people hate it & claim the service on NCL is bad. I've never had a problem & have always been treated well.

Right now the main route of NYC is boring, though. It basically goes to Florida. yawn

[98Charlie]

I love NCL! Freestyle is the best way to cruse IMO. Many people hate it & claim the service on NCL is bad. I've never had a problem & have always been treated well.

Right now the main route of NYC is boring, though. It basically goes to Florida. yawn

 

 

We've cruised NCL 7 times so far since Nov/2003 and have cruises 8 & 9 booked with the company for Sept. and Nov of this year.

 

Only dining room service we felt was below par on our 7 cruises was on the Wind out of Houston a few years ago. Service was notably slow, however the food was great. Had the worse cabin steward we have had on 18 cruises on NCL Sea. Service wasn't up to what we felt was good, however we didn't let it spoil our cruise or turn us off from the cruise line.

 

Many people rave about Royal Caribbean. We have had some of our least favorite meals on that line and had some real questions about the sanity of the head chef on the Legend of the Seas a few years ago. However, those experiences would not keep us from cruising Royal Caribbean again in the future.

 

It's all about the box of chocolates.:D

 

Dianne

[nyc1234]

Having cruised on NCL, Princess, and Carnival, I think Princess is probably the best one for food. NCL and Princess both have freestyle dining, which mean you can dine whenever you want, and with whoever you want. There are some activities that are only available during certain time of the day, and you can plan your dining accordingly with these two cruise lines. Carnival has traditional dining setting and that means everyone is ordering food at the same time, which might make the food not as hot as they should.

 

My sister likes NCL because the dancing classes were plentiful on NCL, not so on Carnival. The free full service ice-cream bar on NCL Spirit was wonderful, and they also have a free cafe onboard with wonderful barbecue wings. Regardless of which one you choose, I am sure you will have a great time.

[98Charlie]

Having cruised on NCL, Princess, and Carnival, I think Princess is probably the best one for food. QUOTE]

 

 

and here we go again with personal tastes. Having cruised NCL, Princess and Carnival several times each, I would have to say that Carnival has the best food.:D

 

Everyone has their own favorites. That's what makes cruising such a viable vacation option for so many people these days.

 

Dianne

[Happy ks]

Instead of going with an expensive cruise line, Id go with a cheaper cruise line, but a more expensive category, balcony or suite. While you are working getting the time off is a premium, after you retire you may want to go on lots of cruises, depends on how much you like cruising. We are doing 3 or 4 a year already now that I have time to cruise.

 

Sure, I could afford to do a more expensive cruiseline, but Id rather save my money and go as often as possible.

 

No, No, No :) :) Upgrade your cruise ship, not your cabin. If you merely upgrade your cabin, you will still get the same service as the lower categories, perhaps a few perks thrown in. But nothing like the whole cruise being upgraded.

 

Since the OP has already stated they are upper middle class, have no kids etc... why not start out with a nicer line!

 

I've cruised NCL and for what it is, it's fine, we know what to expect. But, it's not nearly as nice as a Celebrity cruise. RCI is nice, but caters to families, as does Princess and Carnival.

 

If I were in the same place as the OP, I'd go to a nicer line, cruise with adults (mostly) and hopefully go to different ports than the mega liners of today.

[KS&JW]

No, No, No :) :) Upgrade your cruise ship, not your cabin. If you merely upgrade your cabin, you will still get the same service as the lower categories, perhaps a few perks thrown in. But nothing like the whole cruise being upgraded.

 

 

I agree 100%

[vbmom87]

I'm a first-time cruiser. I'm trying to find a line that matches me and my wife. I'm hoping that all of you (with vastly more experience) will help out.

 

If you have suggestions of lines to consider or other questions to answer, please sing out!

 

We are planning our first cruise ever to Alaska. I just reserved the book:

"Frommers Alaska Cruises and Ports of Call 2007." This book is wonderful. It spells out a lot of information about the cruiselines. I would think that Frommer's has one for whatever area you are choosing to cruise. I highly recommend this book. I also suggest reading a lot on these boards, especially wherever your destination will be. It seems like some cruiselines do better in some countries than others. The book also has great information on the ports. I have also heard that the Fodor's books are good. I will reserve that one next. Happy Planning!!!

[megr1125]

Hey neighbor (I'm not too far from Hamilton! used to work at QB Mall-ick)

 

Regardless of which line you choose, cruising is addictive! We have only sailed RC (me, 29 again and mom 39 again-LOL :D) but we really like what they offer.

 

There are lots and lots of things to do...but you can do nothing too! Food isn't gourmet but perfectly fine. If you go hungry you are much too picky!

 

I agree that sailing out of Bayonne is WONDERFUL! No hassle, no airfare and it's really neat to sail out past Lady Libety and under the Verrazano bridge.

 

We've done SO Carib (Aruba, Curacao, St Martin, St Thomas -from San Juan) Western Carib (sort of-we were diverted due to hurricane wilma so we did Jamaica, Labadee and San Juan), Bermuda from HOME and Alaska.

 

We like RC's Voyager class ships because, in our opinion, they didn't seem as crowded as the smaller radiance class ships.

 

As for cabins...since I paid for 3 of them, I popped for Junior Suites on 2 and a balcony on the shorter cruise to Bermuda. Then we had a JS to Alaska. We really like the extra room and the balcony in the Junior Suites. The balcony cabin wasn't bad but the one bed was against the window. Mom tends to spend more time than most people in the cabin and on the balcony that's why we like the larger rooms. Many people don't mind smaller inside cabins-they cost less, thus people can cruise more often! It's all a matter of personal preference!

 

hope that helps a little