What would you say your favorite Cruise Line is and why? (Cost, amenities, ports, etc.)?

Question

I just got back from my first cruise ever...and LOVED it. Think I am addicted now. It was the Carnival Glory. I understand Carnival owns a bunch of cruise lines...even Cunard (QM2). We only picked Carnival because of price. Although they nickel and dime you for about everything (epescially PICTURES) once you are on the ship. I know, I didn't have to buy, but some of them came out so nice, I couldn't resist! But nevertheless, our "Sail and Sign" cards ONLY?? had a balance of around $800 to pay after we were done with the cruise (it was a 7 night Western Carribean). Hiccup...guess I had a few too many drinks, LOL!

Answer 1

Definetely Norwegian Cruise Lines.  They have a way that makes your cruise fun while being elegant at the same time.  On Royal Caribbean, I feel that you have to be proper at all times.  Same with Princess.  But Norwegian has a way that makes you feel at home, with an elegant atmosphere.  They are also very luxurious.  The food is great, prices are low.  You can't go wrong with NCL.   Drinks on the ship cost money except for water, coffee, hot chocolate, milk, or iced tea.  They have a deal where you pay $45 and get all you can drink soda.  I'm not sure about alcoholic beverages though.  But I would recommend going on a ship built after 2001.  The Norwegian Star/Sun or newer.  All older ships weren't designed for Freestyle Cruising (allows you to do what you want when you want) so they had to be refurbished and so the space is a little bit cramped.

Answer 2

DISNEY cuz there is something for everyone in the family and they are very friendly and the ships are very clean anw well-kept. Also, only the disney ships can go to Castaway Cay, their private Bahamian island!

Answer 3

I like Carnival the best.  I really prefer the price.  I don't drink, or gamble, so it does not cost us significantly extra.  We just got back from a five day Western Caribbean, and our sail and sign account was only $231.  This was with $200 gratuities for four people.  I am not really interested in all of the extras the RCL offers.  I am just looking for the best value for my famile.  I would rather save the money to spend at the ports we visit.

Answer 4

Have been on Carnival and Princess (which is owned by Carnival).  Princess was much nicer. What I really liked, however, were the pools had FRESH water in them.  On the Carnival boats, they use salt water, which the kids hated. No wonder the pools were empty on Carnival, yet always full on Princess.

Both nickle & dime you, but that's expected.

Answer 5

I am going on Carnival next cruise.  I have also been on Royal Caribbean and Princess.  So far Royal Caribbean is my favorite.  Next time try them.  I think the service is better on RC because they don't include the tips daily.  You tip on your own in the end so I think the employees have a greater incentive to please you.  Also I think their ships are very well maintained.   Another eason I like them is because it seems like their drinks are a little less expensive, and they don't nickel and dime as much as Princess.  I think Carnival and Princess are owned by the same company, so Carnival is probably similar to Princess on this.  The other thing I like about Royal Caribbean is their deck plans.  The Lido deck(where the pool is) was a much more open concept than Princess, so it felt less cramped.

If I were you, I would just try RC next.  It is probably worth the extra 50-100 bucks per person.  On the other hand, a cruise is always going to be fun.

By the way, if your sun and sail cards were 800.00 total for the two of you, you didn't do bad.  I think anywhere beteween 600.00- 1000.00 is pretty conservative and normal.  That is one thing I don't like about a cruise is the worry about that account...

Hope this helped!

Answer 6

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.  Welcome to the ranks of cruise addicts - once you've tried it you won't want to do any other vacation.

You are correct that Carnival's parent company owns a lot of different cruise lines - Holland-America, Princess, Carnival, Cunard - but each markets to a different segment of passengers.  Many people choose Carnival for their first cruise because they see the ads on TV and the initial price is great, however, you are correct that you're nickel-and-dimed on board just about all cruise lines, but there are some that are all inclusive.  If you don't try another cruise line you'll think Carnival is the greatest and that's what they're hoping, but in the world of travel, Carnival is considered to be on the low end of cruise lines.  NCL is a bit better (although they're dealing with a lot of service issues right now) but everyone is correct that Royal Caribbean is probably the best line in this category.

Holland-America, Princess, and Celebrity are up a step.  Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean, but these are different types of ships..Next level up is Oceania and Cunard (QM2. & QE2)

SilverSea, Regent, Seabourn, Crystal, and SeaDream are luxury lines that are all inclusive on board, so the only extra thing you pay for are shore excursions. But just because they're luxury ships doesn't mean you can't afford them.  They're probably not party ships like Carnival or RC, but I will recommend SeaDream.  Its a different kind of cruise, very casual, all-inclusive and their Caribbean cruises are sometimes very affordable (depending on when you can go) www.seadream.com.

Answer 7

I have only been on one. An Alaskan cruise through Carnival. It was awesome. I had to be rolled off though from all the eating and drinking :)

Answer 8

I actually just got back from a cruise myself.... when you said you were on the Carnival Glory I thought we may have even bumped into each other! But I was in the Eastern Carribean and you were in the Western. My boyfriend and I go on a cruise every year, and this year we choose Princess Cruise Lines, having already been on Carnival, and Royal Carribbean in previous years. When we were in St.Thomas ( Virgin Islands ) and St Maarten, The Carnival Glory was also in port, so thats what made me think we may have seen each other somewhere. Usually the ships rotate between the Eastern and Western itteneraries, so we were at opposite sides at the time.

   Anyway, our latest cruise was fabulous, and our carnival cruise was great, but ROYAL CARIBBEAN WAS THE BEST!!! We loved Royal Caribbeans (RCI) "Mariner of the Seas" so much that we went on it 2 years in a row, once to the East and once to the West. I urge you very strongly to go online to the RCI website and look at their Voyager Class ships.... you will be amazed! I hate to say it, because I love ANY kind of cruise, but after being on RC, I don't know if we could ever go back to Carnival! We had a great time and everything, but Carnival didn't have a Rock Climbing Wall on the top deck, an ice skating rink with an AMAZING show twice a week, a mini golf course, 2 beautiful 3 tiered dining rooms, parades everynight on the Promenade deck, an area that looks like a wing on a shopping mall, Ben and Jerrys ice cream, and not to mention the ship was simply beautifully decorated everywhere. There was this one spot on deck 14 or so, where you could see all the way down to deck 6 and it just looked amazing. The price is a liitle more than Carnival, but I think it is totally worth it. The casino is HUGE and the drinks were all very strong and didn't have a whole bunch of mixer or sweet and sour in them.

     We paid $1,395.00 for the two of us, for a 7 night cruise - bottom line price ( with taxes, port fees, gov't fees ). I beleive we paid about $1,040.00 for the same length of time on Carnival, bottom line price. Plus the earlier you book the better, just look around online and call some of your local travel agents. Usually when you look around you can find a company that offers shipboard credit, a 2 night hotel stay, 2-5 catergory upgrades, and other cool stuff for booking with them during a certain time frame.

   I know I rambled on... sorry! But I LOVE cruises too.... and just so you know, I've been on 10 cruises now, and they all nickel and dime you to death. The formal pictures on Princess were $22 a peice!!!! But I too, had to get some because they turned out wonderful. Let me know what you think of RCIs website! Look at the Mariner and all the stuff it has on board.... you may want to look at the Freedom of the Seas, it is their newest ship, and it even has a surf machine on it. Since the Freedom is so new  (I think it may even be bigger than the QM2 ) it is a little more expenisive. Let me know what you think!

[e-mail]

Answer 9

It depends on what you like...

to boil it down..

if you like a "younger" crowd...a Little more action rather and luxury..I'd suggest Royal and Carnival, in that order.

If you prefer a more "up scale" or "refined" experience...I recommend Celebrity.

I found this site which has some good reviews. One thing I like about it is that you can see the profile of the people that submitted the review so you can see if the reviewer is experienced or the same age as you. this site also verifies that the reviewer was an actual customer and not someone that is an employee of the company or something. Some sites I just do not trust.

this is for Royal and Carnival

http://www.cruisesonly.com/reviews/Maste...

this is for all ships

http://www.cruisesonly.com/reviews/maste...

Answer 10

I have been on about a dozen cruises and my favorite is now Royal CAribbean.  I have been on NCL, Princess and Celebrity but I like RC best because of price, food, service and their ships are fantastic.