sailing same or different ships? lines?

[m steve]

I usually sail on different ships and vary my lines as well as itineraries. To me that seems boring. Only once did we take the same ship a second time and it was a big letdown from the first. Food, shows, services all had declined a lot. Why take the same ship over and over again? I know some CCs fall in love with one ship or line.

[GloBug]

We've only been on 4 cruises, trying out the different lines. So far we've tried RCCL, Celebrity, Princess and NCL. When it was time to book our upcoming 5th cruise, we booked Celebrity AGAIN for Alaska AGAIN. We will be on the Millie, sister shiip to the Infinity. And we booked the same cabin, a corner aft cabin.

 

Why? We love the Celebrity way of doing business, we love the ships and we loved the stateroom. Hopefully, we won't find huge differences from our Celebrity voyage of '05!

[sandy toes]

I have sailed on RCL Majesty and Soverign and CCL Fascination and Paradise each several times because of the Mon-Fri sailings tht they offer. Frequently I just NEED to cruise and I have to work on Fri, Sat and Sun nights. So I sleep on the flight, and am pretty much just a body at work on Fri night when I return but I have a great time and do get some much needed R&R. Then there are the ships I just fall in love with...CCL Miracle, Celebrity Millennium, RCL Freedom...I just have to go again and again.

[Sanibel*Gal]

We did a Carnival cruise our first time, loved the cruise experience so much we were hooked! The next year we tried RCCL and that cruise was also great. Then someone suggested looking at Princess because of the affordability of balcony cabins. We booked the Grande, loved the balcony, ship, crew, dining options and have stayed with Princess ever since.:D The cruise line has met our expecations so we are happy cruisers!:)

 

However, we also check other cruise lines itineraries and would also like to try HAL & Celebrity in the future!!;)

[LHT28]

The only ship/cruise line we have booked more than once was Oceania...we are hard pressed to find another line that has a strict smoking policy and no formal nights

[CaptData]

I have sailed on Dawn Princess twice. Others once and several line. Right now I am sticking to RCCL The ships I go on are newer for ease of getting around (scooter0. There has been some slippage but not where it counts for me. It is still a good bargain for me to go cruising in winter. I have been on Princess, Hal, Celebrity and RCCL. I have been on Massdam (HAL), Dwn Princess, Navigator of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Summit. Maasdam was the worst one in my book as I ran into problems on it and felt like a second class citizen on it. I will try one of there newer ships later to see if it has changed.

[LHP]

I plan to sail them "all" (well, probably not NCL...great cruise line..just not my thing) before my final debarkation!!!

 

But we are dedicated to Carnival until our youngest son is out of the Club O2 age. Club O2 is the reason he cruises.....and Carnival has always done an amazing job with his special needs.

 

So until he is 18, Carnival it is!!!

 

After that...look out .....

[Sundagger]

The only ship/cruise line we have booked more than once was Oceania...we are hard pressed to find another line that has a strict smoking policy and no formal nights

 

You should take a look at Azamara - same dress code and smoking restrictions.

[sail7seas]

We have sailed Princess and Celebrity in the past about 4-5 times each. RCI once and never returned. We also sailed Carnival once, sort of but that is a long story. We have sailed HAL about 55 times and have five more HAL cruises booked.

 

We have sailed on Maasdam at least 17+ times and have three future cruises booked on her. We love that ship and her crew. Much of the crew remains the same contract to contract. Some come and some go but many stay. We never tire of Maasdam and HAL and other lines hold no interest for us at this time. Who knows in the future we may go elsewhere but have no plans to now.

 

[cruise_lover]

I've sailed on Carnival (September 2005) :( , NCL (January 2007) ;) and will be sailing on RCL (January 2008). Variety is the spice of life. :)

[Mekamax]

We've cruised the RCL Sovereign twice because the first time we were rerouted to the Western and wanted to try the Eastern we originally booked the next year.

 

We have since cruised the same ship twice on the same route (Celebration and Inspirtation) because the route was a local port and cheap.

 

We have sailed the Jubilee twice - once to Hawaii and then once on a 5 night out of a local port since the ship was moved to Texas.

 

And we sailed the Elation twice once in Mexican Riviera and once when it was put in a local port.

 

So there are many reasons to sail the same ship. Also we have sailed the same route many times because having a local port close makes for a cheap cruise getaway when you are stressed... :) :eek: Debbie

[ninkb]

We cruisers do have differing ideas of what we want. DH and I choose our sailings because of itinerary and price. We're not party animals so HAL is great - has never disappointed us the 5 times we've sailed with them. Tried Princess, and will be trying NCL and X soon. The Celebrity B2B is practically the same itinerary both legs, but a few changes, and is a nice way to get a 3 wk. winter vacation with very little hassle.

 

Both HAL and Princess had excellent presenters to prepare us for the ports of call on the cruise. What a great way to learn, as well as to relax. Doesn't matter that the ports are not all new.

 

Anyway you do it, cruising is GREAT!!!

 

:):):) ninkb

[LHP]

We have sailed Princess and Celebrity in the past about 4-5 times each. RCI once and never returned. We also sailed Carnival once, sort of but that is a long story. We have sailed HAL about 55 times and have five more HAL cruises booked.

 

We have sailed on Maasdam at least 17+ times and have three future cruises booked on her. We love that ship and her crew. Much of the crew remains the same contract to contract. Some come and some go but many stay. We never tire of Maasdam and HAL and other lines hold no interest for us at this time. Who knows in the future we may go elsewhere but have no plans to now.

 

 

There is an old saying "if it ain't broke...don't fix it"!! :)

[hajekfam]

We have cruised Celebrity exclusively since 1992 and love it. We have done the transatlantic Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale 3 times already on the same ship and are doing our fourth this year.

To us the cruise itself (ship and amenities) is the vacation destination. We would rather go dancing at night than to a show so nothing really gets old or repetitive to us. As far as the ports go, if there is something that we want to see or do, we get off the ship - otherwise we stay aboard. In fact, the captain announcing missing a port due to weather is good news to us!

[cruiselover57]

I usually sail on different ships and vary my lines as well as itineraries. To me that seems boring. Only once did we take the same ship a second time and it was a big letdown from the first. Food, shows, services all had declined a lot. Why take the same ship over and over again? I know some CCs fall in love with one ship or line.

 

Hi Steve,

 

One could say I'm a cruise-a-holic! I've been cruising since 1972 and have probably been on almost every major cruise line and some now defunct cruise lines (RCI, Sitmar-now Princess, Karras, Royal, Epirotiki, Carnival, Celebrity, HAL, NCL, Costa). I think I've named almost all of them anyway! We choose a ship based on the time we want to go (# of days) and sometimes destination really doesn't matter - more important for us is the # of days. We really like the longer cruises (14 days or more). We try to look for good deals but can't always go off-season because our son is in school and always comes with us. Although I'm a Diamond member on RCI, one doesn't seem to get the same perks on Celebrity - even with Elite status (same as Diamond). Nevertheless, we've chosen to sail on the Summit to Hawaii again for 15 days at Xmas (we did this same cruise 2 years ago) for these reasons: 1) # of days, time off and 2) we're going to know some people on board that we met last year. Princess had a similar itinerary and even lowered their prices but Celebrity had one more above them - they offered a 2-day special for Californians only - outside cabins for the price of an outside. I don't even think it was advertised. I just happened to see it on cheapcruises and told my travel agent to get me that upgrade which didn't cost me the extra $2660!

 

Anyway, if you want to know anything about any cruises, you can E-mail me at cruiselover57@yhaoo.com.

 

Laurie

[cruiselover57]

Hi Steve,

 

One could say I'm a cruise-a-holic! I've been cruising since 1972 and have probably been on almost every major cruise line and some now defunct cruise lines (RCI, Sitmar-now Princess, Karras, Royal, Epirotiki, Carnival, Celebrity, HAL, NCL, Costa). I think I've named almost all of them anyway! We choose a ship based on the time we want to go (# of days) and sometimes destination really doesn't matter - more important for us is the # of days. We really like the longer cruises (14 days or more). We try to look for good deals but can't always go off-season because our son is in school and always comes with us. Although I'm a Diamond member on RCI, one doesn't seem to get the same perks on Celebrity - even with Elite status (same as Diamond). Nevertheless, we've chosen to sail on the Summit to Hawaii again for 15 days at Xmas (we did this same cruise 2 years ago) for these reasons: 1) # of days, time off and 2) we're going to know some people on board that we met last year. Princess had a similar itinerary and even lowered their prices but Celebrity had one more above them - they offered a 2-day special for Californians only - outside cabins for the price of an outside. I don't even think it was advertised. I just happened to see it on cheapcruises and told my travel agent to get me that upgrade which didn't cost me the extra $2660!

 

Anyway, if you want to know anything about any cruises, you can E-mail me at cruiselover57@yhaoo.com.

 

Laurie

 

Correction: Outside cabins for the price of an inside! That's what I meant to say!

[montana200024]

we started doing B2b , and next cruise will be our 4th b2b..

we have sailed RCCL Explorer of the Seas twice,

and now we are going on the Carnival Valor again..this will be the second b2b on the Valor..why do we pick these ships..we like them..i would do another b2b on the Liberty also..:D

[LHT28]

You should take a look at Azamara - same dress code and smoking restrictions.

Maybe when they get their act together....then again Oceania is about the same price so we will stick with them for now.

[lddam]

I guess you could say our method is kind of "bass-ackwards." We decide where we would like to go and what we would like to see, and then the research begins to find a company that has an itinerary to match that criteria. We've never been able to achieve a 100% alignment, but we've always enjoyed the trip so I guess this process works for us. So far, we've been on Premier, Regency, MSC, Carnival (5 times), Royal Olympic, Celebrity (2 times), HAL, and NCL.

 

Most recently, we've been on 2 European river cruises, and a third river cruise is booked for 5/08. My wife likes port-intensive itineraries, and hence the recent experiences of river cruising. As for me, put me on a boat, ... any boat, ... going anywhere, ... any time, ... on any waterway, ... and I'm as happy as a clam.

 

Dave of...

[newmexicoNita]

I usually sail on different ships and vary my lines as well as itineraries. To me that seems boring. Only once did we take the same ship a second time and it was a big letdown from the first. Food, shows, services all had declined a lot. Why take the same ship over and over again? I know some CCs fall in love with one ship or line.

Pretty much agree with you, there are exceptions but I like the variety. As for being let down, I don't think it is always a decline, but a memory of the first time and nothing is ever as good as the first time. I know the more we cruise the less glow there is. do we still love it? Sure, but it isn't like 30 years ago.

 

Nita

[chrisbd1]

My first NCL two cruises were on the same ship, different itinararies. Because of the port intensive nature of my first cruise, I didn't get to learn much about the ship. The second time on the Jewel I saw and did things I hadn't done the first time. I'm taking a similar trip on a different ship and look forward to earning about another ship and am doing different excursions this time. I'm keeping it fresh :D .

 

I love NCL and am planning my next cruise based on the ports and cost for NCL. I ADORE freestyle dining and the thought of fixed dining and formal night scares me. I'm not, by nature, a social person and meeting new people fills me with a little bit of anxiety, especially at dinner. I've had one cruise with that and didn't care for it. I'm a low mantainance person and have found my comfort zone.

[Jim_Iain]

We have sailed exclusively on one line and have been on the same ship 5 times. What can I say... we like the product.

[cruiserbryce]

we have never repeated a ship but really do enjoy the experience on RC. This weekend will be our 3rd cruise with that line, and we have planned our 4th and 5th already...only one repeat ship planned in 7 cruises

[Jeepgirl42]

We sailed the same ship (RCCL) and same itinerary twice - the 2nd time we brought our neice and nephew with us (they were living with us at the time) so they could experience it. It was not as much fun the 2nd time (for us, although the kids had a blast) because it was identical to the first cruise - same entertainment, same ports, we even did a couple of the same excursions..... but we still had a great time, it was a cruise after all! :)

This time we are taking a new ship, and different itinerary, although still going to the Mexican Riviera... looking forward to comparing this ship to the other one!