What cruise line do you recommend?

Question

I'm looking for a cruise that has hassle-free booking and a clean, sophisticated ship. I've never been on one, do they really tell you specific times to eat/swim etc.? I want to send my parents on a cruise in the Caribbean and am willing to pay around $600 a piece - I would like to hear your experiences!

Answer 1

I would recommend that you send your parents on NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line). They have a very elegant set-up and cater towards an older crowd. The ship will not be filled to the brim with families and 20-somethings, which can be the case with Carnival and RCL. The also offer freestyle cruising, which means that you can choose when you would like to eat and where. The last NCL cruise i went on had something like 7 or 8 restaurants to choose from. The also do not have a dress code like many other cruise lines. You can choose to get dressed up or stay casual. The cruise is very laid back and the ships are beautiful

Answer 2

I have been on more than 15 cruises on 4 different cruise lines, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess.  Lately I have booked my cruises right on line with no problem and when I have had a question I just called the number given on line and have gotten quick and great responses.  So online booking is quick, easy and also allows you to complete all of the paperwork for the passengers right on the cruise line web site.   Here's what I suggest/recommend:

Most cruises are done by  Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, and Disney. Most of the ships for these lines are now 1500 to 2500 passenger ships.  The ships are big but things are so well managed that you really don't feel crowded on them.  Prices on these ship can be as low as $800  for a 7 day inside cabin and about $1200 for a balcony cabin.  If you are looking to spend just $^00 each then you probably need to think about them doing a 4 or 5 day cruise.

The first rule in getting less expensive cruises is book early.  The second  rule is shop around for specials. Most cruise lines have their specials and discounts shown right on their home web page.  I know that RC has their listed as "Hot Sails".  Third,  don't lock yourself in to one particular week of the year; be flexible and go on the date when the specials are offered.

If you have not cruised before and don't know the ropes it may be beneficial for you to use an agent; the agent does not charge a fee but is paid by the cruise line.  But, also, do some home work on cruise line, itineraries, and ships.  Use the cruise line web sites to look at what's being offered.  Try to have in mind some of  what you want to do when you talk to an agent.  If you feel comfortable doing it, you can do your own booking online, the price is the same and you can do everything you need right on the web sites.  The sites usually have cruises listed for this year and next. I booked my last four cruises completely online, including making payments and booking port tours.

Carnival is the fun ship, they are low priced,they are the party cruise line that most young folks and first time cruisers take  (ages 20 to 35) who want to party, party, party.  If that’s what you are looking for then Carnival is the one for you.  I would suggest that you not even consider Disney if your parents do not want to be around a lot of kids.  

Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland America,  Celebrity, and Norwegian tend to have people who have cruised many times and are in the 40 and over age group; a more reserved crowd.  All of these cruise lines  may also have some kids but not many. However, on these lines there are activities just for kids of different ages and staff persons assigned to supervise them most of the day.   Holland America is the cruise line that typically has the oldest passengers, i.e.,60's and over.  But, like I said, all of these lines do have some kids and/or families with kids.

As I said above most cruise ships have 1500 to 300 passengers these days and so meals can be a big concern.  However, normally for breakfast there are 3 options, go to the formal dining room, go to the buffet (most people do this) or order the free room service (we do this often).  The same applies to lunch (and snacks).  For the dinner meal in the formal dining room they typically have two dinner seatings.  The first is at 6:00 PM and the second is at 8:00 PM.  All of the cruise lines, except Norwegian and Princess use this system.  Princess has what they call Personal Choice cruising which simply means that when you book you can pick from the 6 or 8 PM dinner seating times, or you can just decide to go whenever you want.  

Norwegian cruise lines has freestyle cruising which really applies only to the dinner meal also.  Freestyle Cruising  means that you do not have to specify a dining option when you book your cruise and thus don't have a table and waiter assigned to you. "FREESTYLE" means you can go to dinner in the main dining room, or any other alternative restaurant, any time of the evening after 6:00 PM..  But you will have to reserve a time in the alternate restaurants.  It also means that you don't have to "dress up" for dinner, but just go "sports casual".  But it also means that you may be standing in line awaiting a table on some days (like we had to do a couple times); not what you want on a cruise.  Since you go when you want, you rarely get the same waiter and so never really get to know your waiter and he/she never learns what you prefer as is done on “traditional” cruise lines.

I have been on many Norwegian ships and at one time NCL was my favorite cruise line.  However, after NCL  instituted the "Freestyle Cruising", I do not care for their cruises and do not recommend them, especially for people who have been on  a number of cruises and prefer traditional cruising. The option to traditional dining being pushed on NCL is their optional dining restaurants. However, these dining options can cost $10 to $20 a person for dinner each night.  This is not what you want after paying for a cruise which is supposed to be all inclusive. The optional restaurants are very nice, including French, Chinese/Sushi, Tex-Mex, Italian, and steak house restaurants. But who wants to go pay to eat on a cruise ship where all the meals are supposed to be included. We always skipped the optional restaurants and just got to the main dining early. That worked fine, except on "at sea" days when everyone wanted to go eat early.  We later found that we could reserve a time in the main dining room, but we still got a different table and waiter for dinner each night.

My favorite cruise line is Royal Caribbean and that is the one that I have cruised on the most (NCL is next most).  But I think your parents would enjoy any of the ones I mentioned except Disney and Carnival.

Answer 3

DO NOT book on Carnival...bad experience..tacky ship ( decorations were horrid!)...yes, you sign up for early or late seating for dinner... pool so crowded you couldn't get a chair, shows were so-so..I didn't like it one bit...our ports-of-call were Mexico (Cozumel), Ocho Rios Jamaica, and Grand Caymans...the first two were DIRTY and nothing much to do that didn't cost a ton of money, and though the Caymans were beautiful it was EXPENSIVE...I mean REALLY expensive...( at a local restaurant, breakfast of a bagel and orange juice was almost $10...outrageous!)...

I would go with one of the more sophisticated cruise ships like maybe Royal Carribean...and research your ports-of-call, and go somewhere really interesting and less "tourist-y"...

If you "like" flash and trash Vegas-Style, it would be the cruise for you...if not, choose another...

Answer 4

Royal Caribbean

Answer 5

Holland America tends to favor older pax. Slower pace, smaller ships, almost no kids.  In the process of introducing open dining for those who want it.

Answer 6

Well the booking being hastle free is more a question of gettting a good travel agent (or good website for booking).

how long is this cruise to the carribean?  is it a 7 day?

if it is it might be a little more than 600.00 apiece.



go to cruise critic.com and just read some of the stories.

that will give you an idea of what people like and who is a good TA. to go with.

see

cruisecritic.com

cruiseclues.com

cruisereview.com

princess.com

rcci.com

hollandamerica.com

good luck.

Answer 7

We have traveled on Royal Caribean twice. It was the best. You do have specific eating times, but you can also eat from the various resturants around the ship. The swimming thing, I've never heard of. They do have 2 formal nights on a 7 seven cruise, where you have to really dress up. The spas are wonderful, a little pricey, the gym is state of the art, the shows are good, excursions are good. Food is excellent. You will probably get a broom closet for 600 a piece because even the rooms with no windows are more expensive then that. I booked ours through www.vacationstogo.com. They were much cheaper then actually going through the cruise company. Good Luck in your search, they will have a fabulous time.

Answer 8

I've been on 3 cruises-2 were on Royal Caribbean and 1 was on Carnival. If you're booking a cruise for your parents, go with RC. Carnival is more for 20-somethings who like to party. RC is very elegant. No, they don't tell you what time to swim. And I wouldn't say they tell you what time to eat either. Although if you plan on eating in the formal dining room, yes they will give you a time because the dining room only fits a certain amount of people. I believe there are two times that people can be assigned. If your parents choose not to eat in the formal dining room, they can eat wherever they want at whatever time they want.

Go with RC. They'll LOVE it!

(Edit: Here's a little more info on RC if you're interested.

-The food is wonderful.

-The shows are incredible.

-There's a few different pools to choose from. They play music throughout the day by the pools. You can sip on some fruity drinks while lounging. It definitely makes you feel like you're on vacation.

-The staff are so-so. They're all from different countries so I had some trouble communicating with some people.

-Ice cream available at all times. Yum!

-Lovely promenade. Great little stores and beautiful art.

-Truthfully, compared to my Carnival trip, the people on RC are more sophisticated. If your parents like to dress up, RC is for them. I was shocked after seeing people wear shorts and t-shirts to the formal dining room on Carnival. Tacky.

-In terms of ports of call, my favorite was Labadee, Hispaniola. The area where you dock is owned by RC and it's surrounded by water so you won't have a ton of locals swimming with you. Just RCers. And there's trampolines and other "toys" you can rent to use in the water. They have sort of a bamboo hut type thing where they grill hamburgers and they have fresh salad and other yummy foods. They also have their very own drink called a "Labadoozie". It's fruity and best of all, it's free.

Hope this helps.

Answer 9

Royal Caribbean would be your best bet - although for $600 per person you aren't going to get a great cabin.  Probably just an inside.  

You do have specific dining times-  but if you choose to eat at one of the specialty restaurants or in the buffet you can eat whenever you like.  

As far as swimming - as long as the pool is open - you can swim anytime you want.  They do however, normally close it during the evening hours.