Mexican Riviera which cruise line

[Shawns6t6gto]

My wife and I are going on another cruise on March 29 or 30th on the mexican riviera. We just did our last cruise with princess and we would give it a 7/10. We can either go RCI, Norwegien, Carnival or Princess. I did a carnival cruise 10 years ago and it was good. We did a 14 day western and eastern Carribean of the Carribien Princess. Dining room meals were great , buffet sucked, Princess run tours sucked as we did better by booking ourself. I have used this board before and it has been awesome so any help I would be gratefull.

 

Shawn

[melika091900]

we liked NCL because of the itenerary,, but the freestyle dining was hard for us, i like traditional more

what are you looking for ??? more laid back? no set dining times ? no formal nights? if so then NCL is great for that,

 

if you like the more traditional i would go with carnival

 

weve never been on RCCL or princess so i cant really compare them, but we booked carnival and got some great past guest rates .

 

good luck deciding, any other questions please email me anytime

 

Melissa

[blindrid]

We did the NCL Star and enjoyed it. Ship is a little older but it worked fine.

[newmexicoNita]

My wife and I are going on another cruise on March 29 or 30th on the mexican riviera. We just did our last cruise with princess and we would give it a 7/10. We can either go RCI, Norwegien, Carnival or Princess. I did a carnival cruise 10 years ago and it was good. We did a 14 day western and eastern Carribean of the Carribien Princess. Dining room meals were great , buffet sucked, Princess run tours sucked as we did better by booking ourself. I have used this board before and it has been awesome so any help I would be gratefull.

 

Shawn

Shawn, it really depends on what you want to see and do. The advantage of NCL is the extra day for about the same amount of money. that being said I happen to be one of those that thinks all mass marketed lines are very similar in today's age. I do want to remind you of one thing: March (especially the end) will still be spring break for many. The week after Easter can be almost as busy as the weeks before, so be prepared for masses of kids. I don't know if things have changed in the past few years: Calif kids used to get spring break the week prior to Easter, if that is still the case all the kids will be back in school as Easter is as early this year as it can be.

 

Most of the ships that said the Mexican Riv will be a little older than those in the Caribbean.

 

Nita

[eandj]

I think I heard that one of the newer Roy. Carib ships is moving to the Riiera, but that may be later in 2008. I would definitely do RCCL over NCL. NCL has a nice itinerary, however, I like the atmosphere on RCCL. Better service and food imo. The ship they are using now is a beauty, but doesn't have the climbing walls, ice skating etc, if that's what you want. Actually without those things, you might find the ship less child populated...if that's what you want.

[newmexicoNita]

I think I heard that one of the newer Roy. Carib ships is moving to the Riiera, but that may be later in 2008. I would definitely do RCCL over NCL. NCL has a nice itinerary, however, I like the atmosphere on RCCL. Better service and food imo. The ship they are using now is a beauty, but doesn't have the climbing walls, ice skating etc, if that's what you want. Actually without those things, you might find the ship less child populated...if that's what you want.

both RCI and Carnival will be bringing newer ships to the West Coast in 2009, but not right now: RCI will introduce the Mariner and Carnival the Splender. Right now the 4 ships, doing 7 day Mexican Riv are:

 

Carnival Pride launched in 2002

NCL Star 2002

Golden Princes 2001

Visions of the Sea 1998

 

with the exception of the Visions i wouldn't consider any of them older, but certainly not like the newer ships introduced in the past 2 or 3 years, that's for sure.

 

Nita

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

What are you really looking for in a cruise of the Mexican Riviera? Partying all day and all night, or wanting to see some very beautiful places, or experience a Mexico that is rapidly changing from a relatively poor country to a prosperous country?

 

I say this because there are other cruise options to Carnival, NCL, Princess and RCCl. HAL, for example, has 10 day cruises from San Diego to the Mexican Riviera that include La Paz, Loreto and Los Mochis, that are very ineresting cities on the Sea of Cortez. This cruise is for travelers, that is, people who are interested in seeing new places.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

Fred

[Shawns6t6gto]

To all that have answered. Thanks. we only have 7 days . My wife is a teacher and Easter is early this year March 23. So I am hoping everyone is comming off easter break. We just want to relax for a week as we enjoy our days at sea as much as in port. The mexican Riv works for us because we are western canada and getting to LA or San Diego works for us. Is RCL better than Princess? We are on the Carribean Princess in may it was nice but is was no better than Carnival( Sailed in 1998).

Thanks for every ones help so far.

 

 

Shawn

[newmexicoNita]

To all that have answered. Thanks. we only have 7 days . My wife is a teacher and Easter is early this year March 23. So I am hoping everyone is comming off easter break. We just want to relax for a week as we enjoy our days at sea as much as in port. The mexican Riv works for us because we are western canada and getting to LA or San Diego works for us. Is RCL better than Princess? We are on the Carribean Princess in may it was nice but is was no better than Carnival( Sailed in 1998).

Thanks for every ones help so far.

 

 

Shawn

this is a question that will get zillions of answers: My humble opinion, all mass marketed lines are about the same, from Carnival to Celebrity. I still put HAL a little above the others. Again my opinion only.

 

Nita

[Shawns6t6gto]

Thanks