Mexican Riviera Near-luxury Cruise Line Recommendations?

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Hi All,

 

Some friends of ours who have never cruised expressed interest in doing a Mexican Riviera 7-day cruise with us sometime in the next two months. A bonus is they both speak fluent spanish, one is a professional English/Spanish translator.

 

Budget-wise, I don't think a luxury ship cruise is in the cards for them at this time, but I'd like suggestions for which mass-market lines would provide a near-luxury experience for them (and us...). None of us drink much, other than wine with dinner, so liquor cost is not an issue (we'll treat for some nice bottles a few nights).

 

Using the CruiseCritic "find a cruise" I see these lines offering Mexican Riviera 7-dayers in the time frame we are looking at.

 

Carnival

Holland America

Princess

NCL

Royal Carribean

 

Seems like the 7-day iteneraries are identical on these lines.

 

Your inputs would be appreciated (especially BILLP1!).

 

We have the choice of departing San Diego or Los Angeles, as we live halfway between.

 

We've suggested that our friends get a lower priced balcony cabin for their first cruise experience. We'll probably spring for an upgraded suite, maybe one with a dining table, etc., so we can host a few "parties".

 

Again, thanks for your comments/suggestions.

 

 

Rag

[quepaquete]

Hi All,

Carnival

Holland America

Princess

NCL

Royal Carribean

Rag

 

I wouldn't consider any line as luxury, but considering the options I would take the Dawn Princess out of San Diego -they have the best mini-suites- or Holland American's Ryndam, just because they are the smaller ship -still with 1900 passenger but it's less than the 3100 the others carry.:D

I think Princess or Holand America are good value for the money. Have not tried Royal Caribbean but I understand it's comparable to these lines.

 

Hope you find this helpful

[BILLP1]

We have found Princess to be the main stream cruise line that has worked for us. The open seating in the dining rooms is a plus for us though you can also dine at an early or late seating traditional dining room.

 

The speciality restaurants are decent and the ships are well maintained.

 

My choice would be Princess

 

For us it will be Regent Mariner on April 7. Ragnar , we will miss you and your wife this year...

[TedC]

I wouldn't consider any line as luxury, but considering the options I would take the Dawn Princess out of San Diego -they have the best mini-suites- or Holland American's Ryndam, just because they are the smaller ship -still with 1900 passenger but it's less than the 3100 the others carry.:D

I think Princess or Holand America are good value for the money. Have not tried Royal Caribbean but I understand it's comparable to these lines.

 

Hope you find this helpful

 

HAL is best of mass-market lines and Ryndam carries only 1258 pax (if two in each cabin) - far fewer than most other mass-market lines.

[Jim B]

If this is important to you the only cruise line you listed that has "open seating" and not assigned seating is NCL

For me that would be a big deal. I would want to sit where I want, when I want, and with who I want.

[traveller333]

Princess has "anytime dining" or whatever term they may call it. HAL and Princess are much nicer and classier than NCL. NCL is at the bottom of the barrel IMO.

[Iamboatman]

Of all the ships the HAL ship is by far the most intimate (if you can call it that) and provides a different experience than the other, larger, ships. I am not sure if the open seating is yet rolled out on the Ryndam, but HAL is instituting 3 options for dining on all it ships. It is one of the oldest ships in the fleet, but it does have a bit of style and was recently upgraded with the Signature improvements.

 

Note that the Royal Caribbean ship has very small cabins, though the suites are OK.

[DavidJ]

We sailed on the Oosterdam to the Mexican Riviera and liked it very much. The staff was excellent and we liked the cabins. The beds were the most confortable I have ever had on the sea. Room service was more limited on HAL and we were not impressed with the premium dining. We loved the casual restaurant and main dining was fine. Overall it was an excellent experience. It is is a nice affordable alternative to Regent. I liked the entertainment better on HAL. I am not sure what all the fuss is about being given a tab is. We used our pass freely and the total cost was considerably less than on Regent. We have sailed with Celebrity and I preferred HAL. It is interesting the comments about Princess. Friends of ours did not like them and it just seems too mass market for us. I must add I have not tried Princess.

 

Have a great trip!

[caviargal]

If this is important to you the only cruise line you listed that has "open seating" and not assigned seating is NCL

For me that would be a big deal. I would want to sit where I want, when I want, and with who I want.

 

HAL also offers open dining - As You Wish - and the Oosterdam is a fine ship. IMO, if I am cruising mass market, HAL is the very best option.

[Jim B]

I did not know that.

Thanks for telling me.

[Ms. J.]

Rag....

 

I have been on all the lines you mentioned, and prefer Celebrity to all of them. The service is wonderful. Regent and Seabourn are wonderful, but my next pick is Celebrity, then HAL. HAL is good because of the smaller ships. Good luck and let us kknow your decision. Jini

[Iamboatman]

Rag....

 

I have been on all the lines you mentioned, and prefer Celebrity to all of them. The service is wonderful. Regent and Seabourn are wonderful, but my next pick is Celebrity, then HAL. HAL is good because of the smaller ships. Good luck and let us kknow your decision. Jini

 

I totally agree. I think Celebrity is far superior to HAL...Only problem is it wasn't one of the OP's choices to comment about.:)

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Hi All,

 

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll post back whe we select a cruise.

 

BILLP, I'm sitting here at the Grand Hyatt (in town on business) in San Diego, looking out at the bay and the lights of the Coronado bridge and it really set me to thinking about the cruise last March, that was really a great time!

 

By the way, the weather down here in San Diego is absolutely beautiful today, warm and sunny. Had lunch on the bay view patio of a seafood place today, on the company nickle :D Too bad I have to work indoors all day...

[Iamboatman]

Just wait until later tonight when the train goes by. I stayed there last spring and that train knocked me out of bed each night at about 1 AM and ten 2AM...and I was on one of the upper floors. :eek:

[caviargal]

I totally agree. I think Celebrity is far superior to HAL...Only problem is it wasn't one of the OP's choices to comment about.:)

 

I respectfully disagree based on my recent experiences on both.

 

IME, Celebrity is quite remiss on maintenance. My cruise on Mercury was a great disappointment as the ship was downright shabby. Soft goods were in poor condition, sink in bathroom was cracked, shower moldy (we asked them to change curtain and re-clean), elevators worked sporadically, A'C was broken in Martini Bar. Our carpet was blue and faded, curtains orange and faded. Beds were like cots. This was 2 years ago. Service was mediocre except in main dining room.

 

I was then on Century after her refurb. Food in the dining room was mediocre as was service. Ship felt very crowded. Our room steward was one of the worst we ever had and Concierge Class was totally forgettable. There were 11 of us and all came away totally underwhelmed.

 

Before these two cruises, I really enjoyed Celebrity but the decline in their product is IMO significant. OTOH, I had been away from HAL for more than 20 years and was quite impressed when I went back in 2005 on a Vista Class ship.

 

My 4 HAL cruises over the past 25 months have all been very good. Their suites are delightful, service gracious, bedding fabulous, room service the same for all categories (unlike X) and the food was better than X by a wide margin. And the ships never felt crowded.

 

One man's trash is another's treasure.;)

[Iamboatman]

I wouldn't call it my "trash":eek: . My experiences on Celebrity - even in recent past - have been very good to excellent. Regardless, there is no excuse for inconsistency or lack of maintenance. The last time I was on the Mercury was, I believe, 2003 and she seem fine then...but that is almost 5 years ago. I haven't heard your sort of complaints from my clients, though.

 

I can also understand how a bad room steward can affect your cruise. Last April I was on the QM2 in Princess Grill and my steward was the worst I have ever had. Comparing him to my last Celebrity steward and butler would be like comparing caviar (couldn't resist) to fish bait.

 

As I said, I think HAL is a good product overall regardless.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Fortunately, I'm on the opposite side of the building from the tracks. Have been some loud helicopters though.

 

Hotel is nice, room decent (but older and out of date), but the room service chow is mediocre at best. Not sure I would stay here if paying for it myself, there's probably something better nearby (I see a huge Marriot out my window).

 

Main issue is that despite the only smoking floor being three floors above me, I'm getting a fair amount of smoke smell coming in from somewhere. I think I'll tell our travel department to book me only in totally non-smoking hotels from now on.

[Iamboatman]

See I was in the "new" building. So I guess you get peace and quiet in an old room and new furnishings and the train in the new rooms. Not a great choice. A walk along the docks is nice, though.

[gazuccio]

Personal Preference aside, the majority of rankings has HAL higher rated than Celebrity. You will love th4e Ryndham and it will be the closest thing to a luxoury oyu will get in a mass market fleet. Check out all the various rankings and come to your own decision.

[Iamboatman]

Oh, let's not go down the poll/ranking thing again!:eek: The actual experiences here are so much more helpful and informative.

[Host Dan]

I've sailed both HAL and Celebrity. Each time I have traveled in suite accomodation. The concierge service and free laundry was a plus on HAL, and the butler service and suite was great on Celebrity. As long as you travel on one of the newer ships both lines have to offer, you can't rreally go wrong with either one. (IMHO)

 

Host Dan

[quepaquete]

I've sailed both HAL and Celebrity. Each time I have traveled in suite accomodation. The concierge service and free laundry was a plus on HAL, and the butler service and suite was great on Celebrity. As long as you travel on one of the newer ships both lines have to offer, you can't rreally go wrong with either one. (IMHO)

 

Host Dan

Unfortunately, Celebrity is not an option for a Mexican Riviera cruise as per OP.