What is your favorite Cruise Line?

[Grey_Goose]

Hello fellow Cruisers!

Please vote and state the reasons why you chose.

[momofmeg]

I do not have a favorite line. I do have favorite cruises though. My favorite cruises are 3 of the 9 I have taken and they pretty much tie. The old Pacific Princess, Carnival Miracle and Disney Wonder. The nicest ship I have been on is a tie between Disney Wonder and HAL Statendam.

I love to go on different cruises and on different lines. I like variety no same-o same-o for me. My next booked cruise is a year away on RCCL Mariner of the Seas. Maybe this will be my new fav. we shall see. I guess if I post this time next year I can let you know.

I will say this. I was on Carnival Inspiration last Dec. In april I was on Carnival Miracle. Although this was the same cruiseline the experience was entirely different for me. Inspiration was okay and a good value and it was a decent cruise but everything on Miracle was tons better. I felt that way about Wonder too. Everything was great-yes it was a little more but well worth it.

[NCmom]

I voted for Disney. I've been on 5 DCL cruises, from 3 nights to 7 nights. I tried RCI to Alaska once.

In almost every area: food, entertainment, cabin size and amenities, staff, activities, DCL is hands down better. I had 5 negative encounters with crew on RCCL, including a guest services person who left me in tears. I've had none with any DCL staff.

[Chloe Girl]

Just for all the special little touches that make it a Disney cruise and ship...the Mickey cutouts in the lampshade for example...

V&M

[njmoms]

We've been on Norweigan, Carnival, HAL, and most recently Disney. Hands down our favorite is Disney, simply because we are Disney fanatics and this caters to both our favorite activities - Disney World and cruising. The food was really good, cabins were very large, activities were fun, and there was Disney stuff everywhere! Wish we could afford it more often.

[brn2crz]

Sorry Grey Goose..

But your poll has been "tampered" with....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=104617

Thats so sad....

[H82seaUgo]

Sorry Grey Goose..

But your poll has been "tampered" with....

Thats so sad....

Tampered with? Shouldn't all be allowed to vote? There's no coersion here. It's a legitimate vote.

Grey Goose put the poll on all the lines boards, from what I can see.

[MistyandShane]

Tampered with? Shouldn't all be allowed to vote? There's no coersion here. It's a legitimate vote.

Grey Goose put the poll on all the lines boards, from what I can see.I totally agree.Everyone should be able to vote.If we were not suppose to then they would have just put disney on the poll.
I voted Carnival,but that is the only cruise line we have been on so far.I would like to go on Disney sometime but I am not going to pay the outragous price right now.

[brn2crz]

It had nothing to do with everyone being able to vote...It has to do with (did anyone actually read the link? ) ...with someone posting on the Carnival board to come over here and "sway" this poll Which is exactly what he is asking folks to do...Not vote honestly.. ...So everyone obviously from that board,is just voting on this board for kicks....

Theres no way for theses polls to ever be even close to accurate,just because of the numbers of people that visit each board...But its still pretty sad for someone to sababtage if you will someones poll.If the OP of the Carnival post would have posted his request for everyone to vote on this poll,on all the boards...No Problem...

What ever...I just thought Grey Goose deserved a reason for why Carnival was so far ahead.

[steveaaaa]

Sorry Grey Goose..

But your poll has been "tampered" with....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=104617

Thats so sad....
Why? The posting was tampered with the second it was posted. When you post a question within the topic what result would one expect?
If you were in a Burger king and a question of which is better, BK,McD's, or Wendys what could you expect the answer to be? This was a question that was posted in the wrong place.
Steve

[guttermandave]

tampered with???....a vote is a vote..period...anyways...my tagline says it best....

[Host Mick]

If the poll is put up on the Disney board, it's natural that Disney will win. If the folks at the Carnival board want to throw the vote, it's going to happen. The Carnival board is very active.

That's the nature of unscientific polls.

The only way to get an even remotely accurate poll would be to pin it up on ALL boards but I don't know if I'm authorized to do that. Even then, I would be able to predict the order that the winners. It would roughly correspond to the amount of activity on each board.

The best part of this highly unscientific poll is that it stimulates some conversation on the relative merits of the various boards. WIth that being said, don't take it too seriously, have fun with it instead. Are there any polls on the Carnival board to mess with?

[minivanmama]

I love Disney because I did not feel "nickeled and dimed". I liked having soda with my meals at no extra charge. I also liked that I was not made to feel like a criminal when we came back with a six pack of coors light and a six pack of coke. We were screened through security with a smile. There is also a better quality of service. Well trained personnel. The best is the adult only pool. I like Carnival and NCL. Went on the NCL Dawn. Beautiful ship, just average service. I felt there crew was unfriendly and was unable to find warm toast at breakfast even in the dinning room. I did like freestyle dinning. I would enjoy free style dinning on Disney. I had a good time with all three cruise lines, it is all in your attitude.:)

[dkort]

dear minivanmama: i'm kind of confused when you talk about not being nickel and dimed on disney. aren't they already doing that to you with the price of the stateroom in advance compared to the other cruiselines? and what about different in cabin breakfasts determined solely by what category cabin you booked? carnival, princess and rccl offer the same everything to everybody regardless of your category. what i would really like to know is what do kids do on disney besides the kids camp? the pools are always overfilled beyond capacity. and the activities offered in the kids areas are really not that great compared to the other 3 i've mentioned above. i'm still asking what the draw is? character breakfasts and disney shows can be had at the parks at your leisure. and that's actually a better alternative since i wouldn't have to sit down to eat or watch a show in a seat that was sat in by a child with a wet bathing suit. not trying to be fascitious, just plain curious. thanks.

just curious.

[Host Mick]

Here's a few things that DCL provides that other cruise lines "nickel and dime":
Disney provides free soda, milk, coffee and tea 24/7 at the deck nine beverage station.
Disney doesn't charge for the Kids' Clubs. The clubs are also open during meals and they run until 0200.
Disney allows you to bring your own drinks aboard. Beer, wine, spirits soda, water everything.
It's not really a case of nickel and dime but Disney spent $15 million to build a wharf on Castaway Cay so that their guests don't have to tender in.

That's what I have off of the top of my head.

[minivanmama]

The beverage station was always open on the Disney Magic with coffee, tea, leomonade and ice tea, milk. At meals soda was free. That is a big plus. The sheep is very clean. The waiters are the same every night even though you dine at a different location. There are 3 pools that are open very early and stay open late. Again, I really enjoyed the adult only pool: no kids under 18, and no loud music. Parties were always at the Family pool (Goofy) that is where I would go at 4:00 for happy hour and live music. The adult pool was quiet and I could read. The staterooms are great. Even an inside cabin is spacious and I like the bunk bed idea. The split bathrooms are great for families. I also was notharrassed when bringing food and drink back with me on board in port. I did not buy liquor, I think they hold it for you until the last night.

[minivanmama]

Also, I almost forgot. We went on the Western Car. route with Disney. I liked the fact that disney stayed in Port late at Key West and Cozumel. If gave us time to really enjoy the Port. The Magic was the last ship out at all of these ports. And I must correct myself above. We brought back soda, beer, juice boxes but not food. You cannot bring food on or off any ship. That is the law.
Our inside cabin on the Magic was about to same size as our mini suite on the NCL Dawn. The larger staterooms on the Magic and the lack of a Casino, I believe, contribute to The Magic being higher priced. Also, the Dawn has surcharges for specialty restaraunts, which could be costly, the Magic just had a $5 cover for Palos. The poolside barbecues on the Dawn just blow away Disneys poolside grill. My husband I believe preferred as a Ship the Dawn over the Magic, the kids and I loved the Magic.

[SunFunCruiser]

Right now it is Disney because my son is so young. You can't beat Disney's kid's clubs.
I'm sure in a couple of years our prefrence will change.

[SunFunCruiser]

Here's a few things that DCL provides that other cruise lines "nickel and dime":
Disney provides free soda, milk, coffee and tea 24/7 at the deck nine beverage station.
Disney doesn't charge for the Kids' Clubs. The clubs are also open during meals and they run until 0200.
Disney allows you to bring your own drinks aboard. Beer, wine, spirits soda, water everything.
It's not really a case of nickel and dime but Disney spent $15 million to build a wharf on Castaway Cay so that their guests don't have to tender in.

That's what I have off of the top of my head.


I defense of other cruiselines that don't offer those things, Disney costs us a lot more to sail then most of our other cruises. I would rather pay for a few more sodas or coffees then an average of $1500.00 per 7 day cruise for three. Our Valor Cruise is $2500.00 compared to the Magic's $3950.00 for the same category and the Magic is in low season!
The kid's clubs are open until midnight on the first and last day and 1:00am the other nights. we take full advantage! LOL
I do think they have it all over any other cruiseline as far as kid's clubs, tendering and disembarkment.

[SunFunCruiser]

dear minivanmama: what i would really like to know is what do kids do on disney besides the kids camp? the pools are always overfilled beyond capacity. and the activities offered in the kids areas are really not that great compared to the other 3 i've mentioned above. i'm still asking what the draw is? character breakfasts and disney shows can be had at the parks at your leisure. and that's actually a better alternative since i wouldn't have to sit down to eat or watch a show in a seat that was sat in by a child with a wet bathing suit. not trying to be fascitious, just plain curious. thanks.

just curious.

The shows on the ship are kid friendly, they also have a movie theatre. The restaurants are kid friendly as well. The private island is easy to get on and off and also has a family beach with lots for the kids to do as well as a kid's club on the island. I have never had a problem getting seats at any show or movie. They have a fun Bingo, putt putt golf in the lobby, family game shows and a few other sceduled activities during the day.
And the biggest draw for us is thet the kid's absolutely love the kids club, which leaves us plenty of time to enjoy our cruise too. When we sail other cruiselines my son doesn't want to stay in the club at night like on DCL.

[Host Mick]

Right now it is Disney because my son is so young. You can't beat Disney's kid's clubs.
I'm sure in a couple of years our prefrence will change.

I'm over 40 and my preference hasn't changed. Go figure.

[sailin~away]

Definately DISNEY!! We have been on NCL and Carnival and Disney....Hands down Disney! Several reasons..We love the atmosphere and the friendliness and the quality you get, especially with the shows. We are non smokers and I expect to be around smoke in a bar when me and hubby go out at night, but HATE it at the pool even in the little elevators especially with the kids! Disney keeps smoke very under control. It is very true you get what you pay for and even though Disney can be more expensive it is worth it! I would cruise an inside standard room on Disney any day even if I could get a suite on Carnival for the same price.

Can't wait...4th Disney cruise....Feb. 12th!

[SunFunCruiser]

[QUOTE=sailin~away] We are non smokers and I expect to be around smoke in a bar when me and hubby go out at night, but HATE it at the pool even in the little elevators especially with the kids! Disney keeps smoke very under control. QUOTE]


I don't know about you but, after just returning from a Disney cruise I can tell you there was a lot of smoke! Wavebands was full of smoke and that was about the only happening club going on!
The pools, with exception of the very crowded Mickey pool were very smoky. Deck 4, where the really nice cushioned lounge chairs are that I was relaxing on, people kept leaving the theatre to come out & smoke!
I loved Carnivals Paradise where it WAS non smoking. It's sad they did away with it.

[Gammie]

We have sailed Carnival, Royal Carribbean, Disney and the Day Cruise on the Discovery to Grand Bahama Island!

I have to say that I enjoyed all of them but Carnival gets my vote.

We did Disney during Hurricane Francis and Disney did a remarkable Job trying to please considering everything. The hurricane is not the reason I voted for Carnival.

Anytime I get the opportunity to cruise I'm going!

[dc&bc]

Carnival is the only line that I've traveled...And I thought it was wonderful.

[chrisnsteph]

I think Disney is great if you have a family. Personally, we absolutely love it and will be going on our fourth one in 2007 when they have new itineraries. Sure, you can see characters and shows at the parks, but you can do that AND have the benefit of cruising at the same time. I've read many posts from people complaining about the kids, and the shows and basically everything that Disney is known and loved for. These people are best served by maybe cruising without children on a different cruise line, or maybe these are the people that leave the kids at home while they cruise, I don't know. DCL isn't for everyone, the same goes for every other cruise line. When our kids are older, we would love to experience what other cruise lines have to offer, but for now, we love the Magic, our kids love it, the staff is wonderful and friendly, the ship is gorgeous and we are very happy to stick with them for the time being.

[Kokanee]

Voted Disney

Just returned from a Carnival cruise and was very disappointed (for many reasons) . Did not feel pampered at all. The Disney cruise ship just makes you feel special.:)

[SunFunCruiser]

Voted Disney

Just returned from a Carnival cruise and was very disappointed (for many reasons) . Did not feel pampered at all. The Disney cruise ship just makes you feel special.:)

which Carnival ship was it?
That was the one thing on DCL, we didn't feel like we were pampered at all.
I do think Disney is a special kind of ship though, it's sort of an extension of Disneyworld or land.

[Kokanee]

which was supposed to be better than the Holiday that we went on 13 years ago.
There were many reasons, chips in the wine glass, chips in the saucer, a hole in one of our towels, they also screwed up our friends we travelled with excursion. Many more little things but little things add up to alot. Not what I expected.....

[mikeymars]

Being a Disney Vacation Club member, I don't have to compete with anyone here to wave the 'I'm a hard core Disney fan" flag, and we are at Disney properties almost every year.

However, when it comes to cruising, I voted Carnival above.

Why?

One word:

VALUE.

DCL charges an enormous premium for the "differentiation" they offer. And exactly what is that differentiation?

Theme.

Not dining (yes Virginia, better food and service is readily available on many other mid-market lines - including Carnival. A meal in one of the specialty dining clubs on that line beats anything we had at Palos).

Not entertainment (the shows on the Magic were full of…cute, textbook Disney theming, but behind that one smells…cost-cutting. As example, NO live orchestra as part of the performances in the main showroom!??!? For heavens sake, even Carnival has that!)

Not itineraries (in a two ship line, what is offered is not only limited but very, very generic. Or stated differently, experienced cruisers looking for "something different" need not apply.)

I'm not diminishing DCL. It’s a class act, and because of those who really love it -- who tend to be cruise neophytes with kids who aren't counting pennies -- the line is succeeding (DCL has one of the highest percentages of repeat cruisers of any line).

However, for those without bottomless bank accounts and/or who have tasted other wine and for all who are more focused on "vacation ROI," other options are more attractive.

Which is why Carnival, RCCL, Princess et al aren’t losing sleep over DCL.

[SunFunCruiser]

Mikey Mars

Great post, and so true.

[kacey1289]

any cruise is better than a day at work!

[kidoctr]

So far, we've only been on Holland America, Norwegian, Celebrity, and Royal Carribean. Of those, our favorite was Holland America.

[momofmeg]

This is on the "Questions asked" section of cruisecritic also. What I noticed is Carnival is the one people hate worse-people feel Disney is too expensive-most were not impressed with NCL that had cruised that line-there were a couple of snobs who only cruise the more expensive lines like Crystal- but it basially tied between Princess, RCCL and Celebrity.


I still plan to cruise different lines because that is what I LIKE. I sometimes want to do a small ship for the intimincy, sometimes I want to do the bigger nicer ships that have more recreation choices but no matter what line I am on I will have a good time. I still hope too to try other lines I have not been on yet in the future and hopefully I will do a Disney cruise again also.

[MrsBoo]

I've sailed 2x on Royal and 5x on Carnival. Royal gets my vote for atmosphere, onboard activities, food and general friendliness, although debarkation needs major improvement unless they've changed procedure in the last several years. I've finally talked hubby into a Royal to Panama Canal in Oct. Wouldn't you know they switched departure from San Diego to Ensenada after we booked and are charging a $79pp transfer fee :mad: BOO HISS. Felt like cancelling but didn't want them to sell my cabin for a much higher price. Guess we'll have to eat an additional $79 each worth of food to get our money's worth.

Carnival gets my vote for customer service and price. Any problems we had they did everything possible to make things right. 4x the food was good, last time there was too much weird foreign stuff for buffet lunch, food never hot enough in the dining room, and wait staff was slow and had to be prompted for coffee & water. Weren't as friendly as what we were used to.

[CarolynK]

I voted "other" just because the only 2 lines we've tried are HAL and DCL, and I just CAN'T vote for DCL. My reasons for not voting DCL are the same as all other posters who have stated what they don't like about DCL.
We are trying Princess for the first time this summer, Alaskan cruise. We want to like it better than HAL, because HAL just hasn't been the same since we first cruised them 12 years ago....we're looking for something different.

[momofmeg]

I've sailed 2x on Royal and 5x on Carnival. Royal gets my vote for atmosphere, onboard activities, food and general friendliness, although debarkation needs major improvement unless they've changed procedure in the last several years. I've finally talked hubby into a Royal to Panama Canal in Oct. Wouldn't you know they switched departure from San Diego to Ensenada after we booked and are charging a $79pp transfer fee :mad: BOO HISS. Felt like cancelling but didn't want them to sell my cabin for a much higher price. Guess we'll have to eat an additional $79 each worth of food to get our money's worth.

Carnival gets my vote for customer service and price. Any problems we had they did everything possible to make things right. 4x the food was good, last time there was too much weird foreign stuff for buffet lunch, food never hot enough in the dining room, and wait staff was slow and had to be prompted for coffee & water. Weren't as friendly as what we were used to.


I am a little pis%^&sed at RCCL too. They are so popular now that they do not give any customer service as THEY KNOW if we cancel they can sell our berth to someone else for more money.

We booked Mariner of the Seas for Oct. 23. last Sept. We picked that week because it was later in hurricane season- so safer and our friend could not go after Nov. 1 as she is a manager in retail. That week we were scheduled to go to Jamaica along with Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Labadee.

Well in Jan. -4 months after we booked -we received notice that instead of Labadee and Jamacia it was now Coco Cay and Costa Maya. (Berthing porblems) Now I did not mind the Labadee change to coco Cay -but I felt Costa Maya was a poor substitute for Jamacia.

We tried to change to the Oct. 9 sailing-so we could still do Jamaica-it was going to cost us $100 MORE for a cheaper stateroom (we had atruim-this was an inside) I felt this really unfair of them-yes I understood the price of the cruise had went up-but I also knew they would- as you said-sell my stateroom for more money. I could not see why they could not give us at least an even exchange-after all we would be in a cheaper stateroom-but RCCL did not give a FLIP. The sad part is- when we booked back in Sept.- there was maybe $20 differance in cost of the 2 sailings-not enougth to affect which we picked. As I said we felt the later sailing would be safer as it would be a little later in hurricane season. If it wasn't for our friend we would have picked a Dec. sailing.

Anyway I AM NOT happy. We are still doing the cruise but I will say this-these voyager class ships really better be something-if not-this is the LAST RCCL cruise I will ever do.

[judyzoo]

Holland America. Everyone (well, almost everyone) is attentive, and they make you feel pampered.

[tam-tam]

I've been on Carnival 7 times and Princess once. After sailing Princess DH and I went back to Carnival because we preferred the more balanced mix of clientele.

When planning other cruises I always investigate RC and Celebrity, but book Carnival every time. As other posters have stated, other cruise lines may offer "free" sodas but those freebies are paid for up front in the cost of the vacation. As someone who does not drink soda, that's not a selling point for me. Now, if they start offering free wine, that's another story altogether. ;-)

I have always gotten excellent service on Carnival and do not think that the service on Princess was any better. The Carnival staff are always professional and fun.

[mcboo]

Seabourn all the way. Pure pampering, all-inclusive and all suites. What could be better?
mcboo:):):)

[bags6490]

We still vote for Disney! We just got off the Princess ship Caribbean Princess (which is beautiful and huge!) but just still saw stuff that would never pass on Disney (like severely scratched rails in the elevators). Will definitely take the kids on Disney cruise instead of a Princess cruise (much better children's program on Disney).

[deborahjo]

Carnival has my vote hands down. The major reason is the size of their cabins. Where else can you get an inside cabin with 187 sq ft. I hate the thought of a smaller cabin.