How do I find a new cruise line? Please help

We've been regulars on one cruse line for a while now. For nothing other than variety, we'd love to try another line. We're really mid tier passengers, in that we don't want to spend a bundle, but don't want bargain basement either.

Can you tell me why I should pick your cruise line? Please give specifics like: entertainment, food, service, rooms, décor. etc...

I've looked and can't find a single source to compare.

Thanks for your input!!!!!

If you have enjoyed your cruises, you may already have found what you want.

You might want to list what you did not like about your line, and then ask questions on the chat rooms for other lines. For starters: if you sailed HAL and were bored, or felt everyone was older, check livelier ones such as Royal Caribbean or NCL. If you did not like the party atmosphere, check Celebrity or HAL. If you preferred a more traditional atmosphere, check Cunard or HAL. If you did not like any formality check Norwegian.

After ruling out lines you doubt you would like - start asking people on dedicated threads what they did like about the line in question.

Opinions are just a person's thoughts on the subject, in this case cruise lines. You will find that all the obvious choices have their supporters. I am eliminating the luxury lines.

Of the others, my preference is Princess, but we like their itineraries. Much of the year they do not have a ship in the Caribbean. That is fine with us. We have sailed all over the world with them.

If you have enjoyed your cruises, you may already have found what you want.

 

You might want to list what you did not like about your line, and then ask questions on the chat rooms for other lines. For starters: if you sailed HAL and were bored, or felt everyone was older, check livelier ones such as Royal Caribbean or NCL. If you did not like the party atmosphere, check Celebrity or HAL. If you preferred a more traditional atmosphere, check Cunard or HAL. If you did not like any formality check Norwegian.

 

After ruling out lines you doubt you would like - start asking people on dedicated threads what they did like about the line in question.

I don't want to effect anyone's answers. It's intentionally a very open question. We all know why we cruise a specific line. I hoping to see if it's mostly a comfort level, or real differences. It's not to say comfort isn't a valid criteria. It's just to determine how different the mid tier lines really are.

Opinions are just a person's thoughts on the subject, in this case cruise lines. You will find that all the obvious choices have their supporters. I am eliminating the luxury lines.

 

Of the others, my preference is Princess, but we like their itineraries. Much of the year they do not have a ship in the Caribbean. That is fine with us. We have sailed all over the world with them.

Thanks! Itinerary is very important. We've cruised to many ports. Once we've been somewhere as few times, we'd rather just stay on the ship. It really does impact how we spend our vacation.

Cruise Critic is a terrific research tool.

Read some reviews. Check some threads.

Cruise Critic is a terrific research tool.

Read some reviews. Check some threads.

luddite,

That's exactly why I asked this specific question. There must be 100 threads out there, that talk to this question. None contain enough info to attempt to summarize it. Can we consolidate it, so someone can go to a thread and see what folks like about the cruise lines. Why hasn't anyone gotten the info in one spot before?.

People have different wants & needs

We are willing to pay more to sail on a small ship (less than 1300 pax) with very few children, no formal nights, very limited smoking areas

We prefer longer cruises 14+ days works for us

I do not think our favourite line would fit your criteria

Princess does sound nice... have not sailed with them since 2006 so cannot comment on their current cruise experience

Only you can decide what works for you

If you say what you do not like about your current line or even what you do like about it

I do not think it will skew the opinions of others

Enjoy whatever cruise you choose

Why hasn't anyone gotten the info in one spot before?.

That would be like trying round up a herd of feral cats ;)

Everyone has a different opinion on what is "best"

I don't want to effect anyone's answers. It's intentionally a very open question. We all know why we cruise a specific line. I hoping to see if it's mostly a comfort level, or real differences. It's not to say comfort isn't a valid criteria. It's just to determine how different the mid tier lines really are.

All of the mass market cruise lines are more similar than different. I don't think anyone can guide you with such vagueness. Perhaps if you told us your cruise history, desired ports of call, length of cruise and time of year we could better answer your question.

When you want a change, think itinerary. Then find a ship that goes there. If it'son a different line, that's good. Variety is the spice of life. that's why there are so many choices. EM

Start with when and where you want to go. There are several websites that report the ships' ports of call.

Can you tell me why I should pick your cruise line? Please give specifics like: entertainment, food, service, rooms, décor. etc...

Please tell us which of the above things are of most importance to you.

Seems you've been a NCL cruiser so also, please tell us what you've liked best about NCL.

LuLu

I agree with the others who suggest being a bit more specific with what you liked or you didn't like about the ships and cruises you've been on. It really is difficult for any of us to talk about what we like when it may be something irrelevant to you. For example, with Lulu checking on your cruise history and coming up with the fact that you've sailed on NCL, I would doubt if some of my observations would help you because my hubby and I absolutely hated our experience with flexible dining and from that and other things I've read about NCL, I don't think that's a cruise line I would want to try.

Many things about cruising is very subjective from food to entertainment. There's even much disagreement about ship decor from time to time.

We have cruised 2 times this year. The way we chose our cruiseline the first time was the ship. We were going to the Caribbean and didn't care for the ports much and wanted a ship with lots to do so we pick Royal Caribbeans Freedom of the Seas. We sailed this one with all 4 kids.

The second cruise we booked based mostly on Itinerary but also because amenities and price. For 1100 per person for an Oceanview (only Wifey and I this time) on NCL star we were able to cruise through the fjords of Norway and had 375 obc and Ultimate Dining and the thermal spa for the week. We loved the ports and it was a great trip.

We have now booked a 3rd cruise again based on not just price but the amenities for the price...a family haven suite for the same cost as all of us (with the 4 kids) getting a basic family ocean view on each of the other cruise lines. It was a little more than Carnival but we got 300obc with dining credits and free internet (and excursion credits we most likely won't use) Our travel agent was amazed at how cheap it was for 6 of us to stay in a haven suite.

Wifey loves (well we all do) the larger RCI ships because of the layout of the space and all the programs they have. I'm not loyal to any line but I think I would choose based on the Itinerary and Ports first but if we just wanted to get out from a nearby port without flying then it would be based on the ship and of course value for the dollar spent.

If it was just wifey and I we would probably be up for one of the all inclusive upscale lines that visit different ports. With the family all going its going to be based on having the most fun for the dollar.

-Sean

What is mid tier to the OP? The 'premium' lines Celebrity Cunard? The upscale but not luxury lines - Oceania and Azamara.

We have gotten to the place where we book by price, itinerary, ship, amenities and what we want to do. If we want a not too expensive cruise we like lots of entertainment and things to do = Royal Caribbean's newer ships. If we want port intensive then we opt for open dining and accessibility to the ports (smaller ships can often get closer to the big city).

So for our 'travel' cruises not 'cruise' cruises we tend to Oceania as it is nice to come back from a day of touring to a relaxing decent meal (no flames please - we live in California and like our food). If we could afford it I would be happy to cruise on one of the lux all inclusion lines when we want tot see the ports.

We have a Celebrity cruise booked for Carnaval in Rio 2016. I would have preferred Oceania but they have group bookings for their cruises to Rio at that time of year.

If I find a bargain on a lux line where I want to go - we will be booked right away.

That would be like trying round up a herd of feral cats ;)

 

Everyone has a different opinion on what is "best"

Ha! Ha! So true!

What is important to me may not matter to the original poster. Wants and needs are important factors:confused:

I tried RCCL, Carnival, Costa and NCL. NCL was consistently the best fit especially when we traveled as a family. Then DH and I tried Celebrity. Now Celebrity is our favorite. To me its the whole package ship, food, entertainment and fellow passengers that are more similar than different to us. Hope that helps you out.

I can only speak from my experience on the 4 cruises I have gone on. For me it was the company I was with and itinerary that were deciding factors. I sailed NCL with a large group 5 day pacific coastal my first cruise and my favorite. The entertainment, dining choices activities and port of call made it my favorite. Second cruise was a 4 day pacific coastal with 4 gals celebrating a birthday on HAL. we were the babies on board. (30-50yrs) and thus we named this the Snooze Cruise. Only 3 choices for dining food Delish entertainment mediocre. Third another group cruise on Celebrity. Great time alaska 7 day round trip. Great food good entertainment though again, not a lot of choice. Lastly I did a 4 day Alaska Sampler on Princess with my mom and sis. Fabulous entertainment, food was great only one port. It really boils down to what YOU like in cruising. I had more fun with the large group we travel with but they chose the cruise line. NCL is still my top. HAL least and the other 2 were a tie.

When we were looking to find a new cruise line, I went to the book store and found a book by a well known author F...he writes travel guides as reviews. I read the section on cruises. He describes the type of atmosphere and passengers on each of the major lines, From there it was very easy to tell where were best fit, good luck

You want us to suggest a cruise line for you based on the large amount of information you have given about yourselves. Do you really expect that considering that we do not know you or anything about you, our suggestions will be of any use to you. There are lots of books written on the different cruise lines. There is also a lot of information on different cruise lines in the review section of CC. I suggest that you can do a lot of your own research.

DON

I see you have made many posts on the NCL board..

If NCL is your thing I would suggest Carnival or Royal if you want something similar.

If you are looking to try something different there is Celebrity/Pricness and for a more continental flavour there is Costa and MSC. MSC is really going for the US market so you may get a great deal.

It's not just reviews and message boards on Cruise Critic, there are lots of useful articles as well.

Have you tried this one ? How to pick a Cruise Line

luddite,

That's exactly why I asked this specific question. There must be 100 threads out there, that talk to this question. None contain enough info to attempt to summarize it. Can we consolidate it, so someone can go to a thread and see what folks like about the cruise lines. Why hasn't anyone gotten the info in one spot before?.

That's why you need to do some research. No single thread can serve your needs. Including this one.

I think the OPs thread title is misleading. The question asked in the OPs first post was "Why should I pick your cruiseline?"

Of course there are tons of threads on CC about the goods and bads from each cruiseline. Anyone can find just about anything if they spend enough time searching.

But what I think what the OP is looking for is what makes it special to you?

For example - I love the larger RCI ships. They are well designed and have lots of things to do and places to sit and hang out. But when it comes to food the NCL specialty restaurants and Ultimate Dining plan are fantastic.

After everything I've read about the Cunard lines, I don't think I'd ever try them but I'd be very curious to hear what Host Hattie loves about Cunard and why she enjoys sailing with them.

I think he's looking for personal experience with cruiselines more than anything else. I enjoy reading threads like this that are not tied to one cruiseline and are more geared to stories and experiences shared by fellow cruisers.

-Sean