Is Your First Cruiseline Still Your Favorite?

On 5/4/2010 1:18 PM, Sandy wrote:
Becca,
Let's see, I guess our last NCL cruise was in 2004. It was on The Sun. To
be honest, I wasn't crazy about the lay out of the ship. Also, there were a
few other things that have put it at the bottom of my list.

We love RCI, everything about it, itinerary, service, food and
accommodations.

Our next cruise is 12/6/10. This will just be a 5 nighter out of
Jacksonville with our daughter and her family. I believe it is the
Carnival Fascination. It is one of the smaller ships but one we really
like. It will be our grand daughters, Emerald 4 and Amethyst 3's first
cruise and we wanted to make it a short one to see how they do.

Sandy


Sandy, I hope your granddaughters enjoy their cruise on the
Fascination. It was a good idea to try a shorter cruise, just to see
how they will like it. I have a feeling they are going to love it.

Becca

Becca,
I'l let you know how it goes.
Sandy
"Becca" wrote in message
...
On 5/4/2010 1:18 PM, Sandy wrote:
Becca,
Let's see, I guess our last NCL cruise was in 2004. It was on The Sun.
To
be honest, I wasn't crazy about the lay out of the ship. Also, there
were a
few other things that have put it at the bottom of my list.

We love RCI, everything about it, itinerary, service, food and
accommodations.

Our next cruise is 12/6/10. This will just be a 5 nighter out of
Jacksonville with our daughter and her family. I believe it is the
Carnival Fascination. It is one of the smaller ships but one we really
like. It will be our grand daughters, Emerald 4 and Amethyst 3's first
cruise and we wanted to make it a short one to see how they do.

Sandy


Sandy, I hope your granddaughters enjoy their cruise on the Fascination.
It was a good idea to try a shorter cruise, just to see how they will like
it. I have a feeling they are going to love it.

Becca

On May 3, 1:35*pm, "Mark (SF)" wrote:
How about you - do you still find yourself favoring the lines you
first cruised on?

Going strictly by numbers, NCL would appear to be my favorite cruise
line. But digging deeper you'd predictably see that most of my NCL
cruises were taken on one particular ship - s/s Norway. I've sailed
aboard other NCL ships but haven't repeated on any of them, nor have I
sailed NCL since 2005 (and I've taken a lot of cruises since 2005).

As time goes by and I sail more of the cruise lines I can say I don't
really have a favorite line any more. Each line is really good at some
aspects that other lines aren't. Having said that there are 2 lines
that I've gravitated to most recently that I used to avoid: Royal
Caribbean and Celebrity. I was very impressed by Celebrity Solstice.
However, I've seen a steep decline in overall quality on RCI in just 2
years so I'm starting to gravitate to other options. For instance just
this week I was deciding between 2 equally desirable (but totally
different) itineraries. One was RCI the other was MSC. I chose MSC
because of the ship (Poesia) and wanting to try something different.
MSC gets rather mixed reviews but sifting through the noise I relate
more to the people who have written the positive reviews in terms of
where they travel and how often.

Basically I now book based on a few factors but it's usually how
intriguing or new the adventure will be rather than focusing on any
specific line. Below is a ranking (in order) of how I see the lines
stacking up and how I'd favor them when deciding one cruise over
another - but keep in mind that I feel there's not a huge difference
between the lines ranked one above or below.

1. Azamara (This is an expectation. Actual first experience happens
*very* soon.)
2. Celebrity
3. Princess
4. RCI
5. HAL
6. NCL
7. Carnival

I expect that MSC will fall somewhere toward the top of the above list
(sailing round-trip NYC this fall).

I've never sailed the following (but hope to in the future):

1. Oceania
2. Seabourn
3. Viking River
4. Silversea
5. Cunard (I have sailed with them 6 times, but not since '93 on QE2
and figure if I book with them now it would be as if I'm sailing them
for the first time)

Warren

In article
,
Warren wrote:

1. Azamara (This is an expectation. Actual first experience happens
*very* soon.)
2. Celebrity
3. Princess
4. RCI
5. HAL
6. NCL
7. Carnival

Princess has been dropping on my list. Used to be my favorite but now
it is behind Celebrity and RCI. The only saving grace of Princess is
that they have the best itineraries. Azamara, been on the Journey and
there is a lot to like. Cunard a lot to like too. But they are both
more niche type cruise lines. Having only gone once on each I don't
want to make either of them my favorite. And because Cunard has dress
up every night I don't care to cruise on it often. Azamara on the other
hand has no dress up nights and that was great.

I also rate NCL and Carnival at the bottom and will only do them when
the Viking group books them.

--
Charles

First 2 "cruises" were on the Baltic Shipping Company ferry
"Konstantin Simonov", neither of which exist any more. They were
"cruising Soviet style" with really horrific cabins and food, lol.
But you know what, we had a blast. It was so sad and funny you just
had to laugh. And I got to stroll around the Hermitage unattended on
multiple occasions. All good.

The third cruise was on the Celebrity Galaxy. Love at first sight.
Quite possibly still my favorite ship having sailed on it 3
times...and of course, that's the ship they sell off from the fleet!
Dang Celebrity! I would have dumped the Mercury. Oh well. So yes,
I'd say Celebrity is still my favorite, although it has changed, some
for the better, some for the worse. I liked the Solstice overall, and
I love breakfast and lunch in the Aqua Spa Cafe....a must! But I
dislike the entire "entertainment deck", where the entire back half is
for pay restaurants, with the big picture windows in the back which
very much were not in the main dining room any more! And....no actual
entertainment on the entertainment deck! lol.... With the lack of an
aft stairwell etc made me think of the RCCL Serenade of the Seas type
ship, which is nice, but...not my favorite design by any means. Ships
are meant to be "strolled" to some extent...checking stuff and people
out! One of my favorite pastimes, so the lack of an aft stairwell
etc. makes it somewhat impossible without a whole lot of looping
around. Still, the Eclipse was drop dead gorgeous in places too
though and the open plan worked in the buffet area for sure, although
I still don't get the grass thing up top! I did like the tippy top
sun area with the wicker loungers! Worth the trip to the top! And
amazingly not a "for pay" area.

I also like HAL for some reason. I think...it's so quiet and
relaxing! They are very good for an "itinerary" based type cruise.
Don't love them in the caribbean by any means. A little TOO boring!
But, lot's of room out on the deck chairs generally....although
looking at the made-over Veendam to Bermuda...don't like what they've
done by taking out the aft pool. Oh well, still may sail her this
summer to Bermuda anyhow!

After that it kind of trails off....oddly enough I really like Costa,
which I equate with (1) it's a hoot being around all the euros and
other folks (2) nobody is wackier than the italians and (3) its so
cheap I can swing a balcony or suite easy sailing solo in the
caribbean and if it takes me somewhere I want to scuba dive all the
better! The Costa Mediterranea will always have a special place in my
heart. Best pool decks on any ship I've ever been on....so spacious
and uncrowded! Very nicely laid out, based on Carnival "Spirit Class"
ship. Unfortunately on the Carnival Legend (same basic design) people
were floating their buckets of beer in the water. Not so
attractive.

I also like and appreciate Princess. Like George said, not a standout
in any area that I can think of, but they do seem to do everything
quite nicely. Can't go wrong with that I think, and GOOD gyms on
their newer ships for sure! Any ship that has a Smith machine is a
winner in my book (see also the Celebrity Solstice...stand out gym as
well!) I also very much like the International Cafe thing in the
atrium with tasty sandwiches, salads, and treats, as well as the
Movies Under The Stars, a nice alternative to gambling and/or drinking
all night, lol.

Have sailed Carnival and RCCL as well...not rushing to go back
particularly but like a good deal when I see one, sometimes.

Would like to do a 14-day transatlantic on WindStar with no stops!

Ok that's it.

Jeff

NIce topic Mark

I have been on many 45 cruise with # 46 and 47 booked

My first Cruise was on Britanis Chandris Cruise Lines

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oMQhqLhqGs

Very nostalgic U tube... But what a great Cruise Line that is now
Celebrity

I have been on Disney, Princess, HAL, Royal Caribbean,
Celebrity,Carnival, NCl, Premier, Regal Oh gee I must have missed a
few but I think that the BEST ships for innovation and all around are
by far Royal Caribbean

best Food and service was HAL

beautiful Nostalgic looking ship Disney

Great for couples Celebrity
Best bang for the Buck Carnival

Least nighttime activity HAL

best Crew HAL so polite and kind
Best food HAL

a bit Uptight Celebrity
beautiful Ships Celebrity

My least fave Crew- PRINCESS and Celebrity
Food going down the tubes Princess

Great shows & Entertainment ROYAL CARIBBEAN

These are JUST my OPINIONS...

But I love those Days of Britanis & regal Empress How FUN were they!

Susie
www.Cruiseoutlets.com
856 853 9515

Yes, for many service reasons my first cruises on Norwegian Amarican
Line, Sweedish American Line, Royal Viking Line, Matson Lines, etc are
not replaceable long after they are out of business, but the harware has
sure improved!

Gadget

Yes, for many service reasons my first cruises on Norwegian Amarican
Line, Sweedish American Line, Royal Viking Line, Matson Lines, etc are
not replaceable long after they are out of business, but the harware has
sure improved!

Gadget

I think alot of it depends on your itinerary and your needs at the
time. For instance, if it were just me and my husband, I would
definitely go with Celebrity, possibly Royal Caribbean (it's my
favorite). If I'm traveling with my ADHD teenage son, it's one of the
larger Royal Caribbean ships. If it were a 'girlfriends' cruise I'd
probably go with Princess or Carnival.