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Over 55s Which cruiseline is your favourite


Priya2
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My partner and I (me 54 and him 60) have only cruised once so far. We have our second booked for next year. Both with Celebrity. When cruising, we don't want to feel like we're in 'God's waiting room', but neither do we want a 'family atmosphere'. We have an intolerance to young children running around and squealing! We also like fairly high standards of comfort etc, without being in a position to shell out for premium prices.

 

Based upon limited experience and knowledge of what's on offer, Celebrity seems to fit the bill for us. RCL, despite offering discounts for over 55s, reads like it encourages families and, shock horror, appears to have water slides and gaudy colours :eek: HAL, I notice is popular, but I don't know enough about them. Princess? My impression is its considered to be on a par with Celebrity by many. I need to know more about P & O and Fred Olsen may be a little more down market.

 

So it would be great to hear from more experienced cruisers about favourite cruise lines, disliked cruise lines and why. All views and experiences welcome :)

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We are also Princess fans and cruise with Celebrity as well. We reached Platinum status with Princess and love the amenities this provides us with. Also we tend to do longer cruises and I try to pack light; therefore the self-serve laundries on Princess are a big draw for us. We have had laundry done on board by Celebrity, HAL and NCL, and they all wash and dry articles in HOT water. The clothing is clean, but not in great condition any more. As far as I am concerned, the biggest factor in deciding which line now is itinerary and price and they are often so close that it is things like this that help us to make up our minds. Right now we have 2 cruises planed for October. One is with celebrity and the other is with Princess.

Edited by gubby
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We are also Princess fans and cruise with Celebrity as well. We reached Platinum status with Princess and love the amenities this provides us with. Also we tend to do longer cruises and I try to pack light; therefore the self-serve laundries on Princess are a big draw for us. We have had laundry done on board by Celebrity, HAL and NCL, and they all wash and dry articles in HOT water. The clothing is clean, but not in great condition any more. As far as I am concerned, the biggest factor in deciding which line now is itinerary and price and they are often so close that it is things like this that help us to make up our minds. Right now we have 2 cruises planed for October. One is with celebrity and the other is with Princess.
Oooh! Self service laundry - good point. I would find that valuable!
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We are about to take our 16th cruise on RCCL. We love the ships, the new ones Oasis and Allure are amazing. It seems like they would be crowded with that many people but actually feel small. It is worth it to gain some status with a line. We are Diamond with RCCL and they really make it easy for us.

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QUOTE=Priya2;

OCruisers, may I ask what it is about Princess over Celebrity? QUOTE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Princess offers more activities (not wild & crazy things :rolleyes:) and especially love the bar/lounge entertainment in the evenings.

Important to us because we can sit around and read anytime we wish at home. ;)

 

Both have a very good passenger base ... but we honestly do so enjoy being around more from the UK on Princess. :)

 

Princess is always our choice for the Panama Canal because two of their ships -- Island & Coral -- were especially designed to do this.

 

Both are very nice cruise lines! You can't go wrong with either! :D

 

LuLu

~~~~

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QUOTE=Priya2;

OCruisers, may I ask what it is about Princess over Celebrity? QUOTE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Princess offers more activities (not wild & crazy things :rolleyes:) and especially love the bar/lounge entertainment in the evenings.

Important to us because we can sit around and read anytime we wish at home. ;)

 

Both have a very good passenger base ... but we honestly do so enjoy being around more from the UK on Princess. :)

 

Princess is always our choice for the Panama Canal because two of their ships -- Island & Coral -- were especially designed to do this.

 

Both are very nice cruise lines! You can't go wrong with either! :D

 

LuLu

~~~~

I fear I may start seeming like tooth ache, or the kid that keeps asking "but why . . .". However, since I'm seeking a real picture of different cruise lines . . . . . . what are the activites on on the Princess? :o
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Another cruise site has rated the cruise ships, and on a 6 star scale, Fred Olsen ships get 3-3.5 (good) and the P&O ships get 4 stars (very good). Celebrity ship get 4.5 to 5.5 and Princess gets 4.5-5 (5 is Excellent).

 

I have cruised Celebrity and like it very much. For me, the one downside is that they do not have self-serve laundrettes.

 

Nobody has mentioned Cunard. You can get a good standard of comfort and will find fewer children onboard.

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Another cruise site has rated the cruise ships, and on a 6 star scale, Fred Olsen ships get 3-3.5 (good) and the P&O ships get 4 stars (very good). Celebrity ship get 4.5 to 5.5 and Princess gets 4.5-5 (5 is Excellent).

 

I have cruised Celebrity and like it very much. For me, the one downside is that they do not have self-serve laundrettes.

 

Nobody has mentioned Cunard. You can get a good standard of comfort and will find fewer children onboard.

Thank you. The ratings on such surveys are useful, but I particularly wanted to counsel the views of over 55s because, I guess our needs/wants are often different to young adults and families travelling with children.

 

May I ask, which is your favourite line and why?

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We have children over 55 so maybe we are too old to be on this thread. We are taking our 53rd cruise next month. We've found that cruising after school starts and not in the spring {spring break time} means very few or no kids are on board. We are working toward 4 Star Mariners on HAL and also think Princess and Celebrity are great. We have also found small {600-800 passengers} to mid-size ships to be more to our liking. We usually select the cruise that interests us most and fits our budget. So far we have never had a bad cruise, some have just been better than others. :)

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Way over 55 and we like almost all cruise ships but I guess i would rate then in this order:

1.Regent Seven Seas ...for the cabin sizes

2. Oceana's R class... for the service and no extra charges on many things.

3. Princess... for the Elite perks and because they allow us to combine all our OBCs. They also give an OBC to veterans.

4. Celebrity...good food and service . Happy hour for Elite with drinks and snacks.

5. Royal Caribbean...For conbining with Celebrity and Azamara to bust our past passenger status. and for their inovations to cruisisng ships.

6. Disney...for families with young children.

7. HAL,,,for traditional type cruising.

 

I could go on but I think you see we really like them all. There is something for everyone.

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Way over 55 and we like almost all cruise ships but I guess i would rate then in this order:

1.Regent Seven Seas ...for the cabin sizes

2. Oceana's R class... for the service and no extra charges on many things.

3. Princess... for the Elite perks and because they allow us to combine all our OBCs. They also give an OBC to veterans.

4. Celebrity...good food and service . Happy hour for Elite with drinks and snacks.

5. Royal Caribbean...For conbining with Celebrity and Azamara to bust our past passenger status. and for their inovations to cruisisng ships.

6. Disney...for families with young children.

7. HAL,,,for traditional type cruising.

 

I could go on but I think you see we really like them all. There is something for everyone.

Thank you Doris, such a useful little list :)
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We have cruised since 1994 and perfer two cruise lines. Princess Crusie Line has great Mini-Siutes with friendly staff and great dining. Holland America has larger staterooms, we perfer Cat SY (382 SF) and large balconies. There staff is also very friendly and great dining. We prefer original dining - second seating. Not a fan of specialty dining or open dining. We like the idea of having a set table with set couples and traditional service with the same waiter and assistant. Our next Cruise is with HAL on Noordam on 25 Nov 2013 (11 day Southern Caribbean)

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My partner and I (me 54 and him 60) have only cruised once so far. We have our second booked for next year. Both with Celebrity. When cruising, we don't want to feel like we're in 'God's waiting room', but neither do we want a 'family atmosphere'. We have an intolerance to young children running around and squealing! We also like fairly high standards of comfort etc, without being in a position to shell out for premium prices.

 

Based upon limited experience and knowledge of what's on offer, Celebrity seems to fit the bill for us. RCL, despite offering discounts for over 55s, reads like it encourages families and, shock horror, appears to have water slides and gaudy colours :eek: HAL, I notice is popular, but I don't know enough about them. Princess? My impression is its considered to be on a par with Celebrity by many. I need to know more about P & O and Fred Olsen may be a little more down market.

 

So it would be great to hear from more experienced cruisers about favourite cruise lines, disliked cruise lines and why. All views and experiences welcome :)

 

RCL's only waterslides are on a handful of ships and are very small. No gaudy colours either. You must be thinking of Carnival. ;) RCL does encourage families, but so do other mainstream lines. If you stick to lines that don't have kids clubs, like Oceania, Regent, Seabourn, Silverseas, you'll come across very few kids.

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We've sampled a few and are over 55 so I will give you our two cents.

 

My only child is grown so it is just my DW and I that usually cruise. We did several Christmas cruises in the Caribbean and really hated the rug rats from NYC and LI running underfoot so then we started cruising when school was in session, so that may be a factor.

 

When we started we went on Celebrity and thought it was beautiful with great everything, then moved to Princess and Norwegian and they were better yet, so for us that was more fun than jumping in at the top.

 

We moved up and I really enjoyed Crystal, for a few days, until we stopped in Acapulco and "the Mexico City guests" came on board. That ruined what seemed to be our best cruise. They were rude, loud, often sent a couple ahead with two-ways to call the rest of their bunch when the show or other lines started moving, they didn't follow the dress codes for dinner, bullied people around the pool area and really spoiled what started as a great adventure. To me the worst part is that it wasn't until the end that the ship finally toughened up and brought down some seasoned officers to set straight the rules and that they were to be followed. We will NEVER cruise Crystal again! Too bad because they had no kids underfoot.

 

We cruised Tahiti when Regent still ran the Paul Gauguin. Nice crew, great service and food, weak entertainment, but still a nice sailing. Other than the cost this was a nice adventure. Not being serious drinkers the all inclusive just isn't a deal to us. Really nice with no kids.

 

We have now sailed twice on Oceania and so far it is the best in our judgement. Food is great, staff is outstanding, guests aren't a stuffed shirt tuxedo crowd, smaller or larger ships are nice, entertainment is less than we saw on the mass market lines, we are booked for cruise #3 with them in September and expect another great sailing. Again we cruise when school is in session so it is mainly an adult crowd.

 

Honestly to us it is hard to beat cruising so enjoy whatever you pick.

Edited by barnstormer
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My partner and I (me 54 and him 60) have only cruised once so far. We have our second booked for next year. Both with Celebrity. When cruising, we don't want to feel like we're in 'God's waiting room', but neither do we want a 'family atmosphere'. We have an intolerance to young children running around and squealing! We also like fairly high standards of comfort etc, without being in a position to shell out for premium prices.

 

Based upon limited experience and knowledge of what's on offer, Celebrity seems to fit the bill for us. RCL, despite offering discounts for over 55s, reads like it encourages families and, shock horror, appears to have water slides and gaudy colours :eek: HAL, I notice is popular, but I don't know enough about them. Princess? My impression is its considered to be on a par with Celebrity by many. I need to know more about P & O and Fred Olsen may be a little more down market.

 

So it would be great to hear from more experienced cruisers about favourite cruise lines, disliked cruise lines and why. All views and experiences welcome :)

 

If we had the budget for it we would always cruise Oceania, especially their three older ships which are smaller.

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I have cruised Hal, Celbrity, Princess, RC, Disney, Seabourn and Azamara.

Seabourn and Azamara are tied for first for me.

 

I usually travel single, and they treat single people well - everyone well, usually no kids (maybe the captains, but they were little, and well behaved) They have guest speakers, friendly staff, great food, and port trips are planned well to get the most for you for your time in port.

lots of included things, so you did not feel you had to keep paying for things. Have met great people on both lines.

 

Disney was fine for family, as was the Allure, but not for me as a single grandma over 55.

 

Have not tried Crystal, NCL or Cunard yet - still time to try them someday if the iterary is right at the right time!

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...

Seabourn and Azamara are tied for first for me.

 

I usually travel single, ....

 

Have not tried Crystal, NCL or Cunard yet - still time to try them someday if the iterary is right at the right time!

 

If you liked Seabourn, you will like Crystal, especially if you travel single. Crystal's single rates are some of the best at sea. Cunard Grills are fantastic, but very costly for a single.

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We are both in our 60's and so far have only cruised with Disney and Princess. We have enjoyed both lines for different reasons.

 

Disney, well, we're lifelong Disney fans, what can I say? I remember coming home from Kindergarten, running to the living room to watch Mickey Mouse Club on our black & white TV with my Mickey ears, Mouseketeer tee shirt, and little denim skirt on. I never had much of a chance to experience Disney until DH & I came to FL about 15 yrs ago for the first time and I can honestly say that it brought out the kid in both of us! As far as the ships go, we love the cabins for their size, the dividing curtain, the split bath, and the variety of cabin amenities among other reasons. We also love the Disney entertainment, and the overall décor of the ships themselves, and that magical touch of Disney pixie dust that just might show up anywhere. We do cruise off season, so there are not quite as many kids aboard. That said, almost all of the kids are delightful! While smoking on Disney ships has not been too much of a problem for us, we are happy that Disney will soon be tightening up it's smoking policy even more with smoking no longer allowed on balconies. Too bad it doesn't start until after our cruise at the end of the month.

 

We tried Princess for the first time this past spring because our friends came back from their Princess cruise absolutely glowing about it. We really liked the itinerary, the fact that it was a more adult oriented ship, and were very pleasantly surprised by the entertainment. While we do enjoy meeting families with kids on our Disney cruises, we really enjoyed meeting a lot of couples closer to our own age on this cruise. If you were to ask my DH what he liked best about our Princess cruise he would definitely say it was the people we met on that cruise. The smoking policy was a big plus for Princess, but soon they will be pretty much the same, once the Disney ban on smoking on balconies goes into effect.

 

All that said, I'm already planning future cruises on both lines. We also want to try the Oasis or the Allure, and I have a few other plans up my sleeve that DH doesn't know about yet. ;)

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We love Oceania for the following reasons: Dress code-country club casual (no formal nights) DH rarely ever wears a sports coat- very few or no children- no photographers - very limited smoking - excellent service - excellent food

Sounds good. I'll look into it :)

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