Shep_Proudfoot

I am asking this question in this “neutral” area of the CC forums because I wanted to hear from a variety of opinions, rather than asking in a cruise line specific forum where the answers will largely reflect that cruise line’s fans’ opinions. 
 

In these post-Covid, inflationary times, which are anecdotally full of cutbacks, reduced food quality, surcharges, inconsistent service, hiked fares and exorbitant excursion charges, which cruise line(s) are still doing it “right”, or at least better than the competition? This could be maintaining good service, holding the line on food quality, staying a decent value, rolling out the best new or revitalized ships vs. the competition or anything else important to cruisers that you think is keeping a cruise line at the top of your consideration list.

Who do you think has responded to these trying times the best, and why?

On 5/29/2024 at 3:36 PM, DarrenM said:

Well I never thought this would happen but next years cruise is booked on Virgin.

 

A long story but celebrity seem to have reduced their sailings the med for summer 2025 with edge ships only doing 6 night cruises.

 

So it's goodbye celebrity and hello Virgin voyages.

 

Should I be worried?

My last two cruises were on Virgin (Valiant Lady on the Med) and Celebrity (Reflection in the Caribbean). I found Virgin to be over-hyped and underwhelming, despite the pricing much more reasonable than it is now.

Despite the Celebrity ship being a decade or so older, and with Celebrity’s overall product suffering from cutbacks, the onboard experience was nonetheless superior to VV in a great many ways, and it was really only the superb VV itinerary (with two overnights) vs. the cliched and tired Celebrity one that made the VV cruise the more memorable experience overall. 
 

I would not discourage anyone from giving VV a try, but it’s just not “all that”, at least for me. Your priorities and tastes likely differ however.

I can see IV working well for Norway or Alaska perhaps, but I simply can’t imagine a warm weather sea day in one of these cabins and being happy with it. Far too many compromises.

6 minutes ago, kleibo said:

We just got off the Beyond on Monday after a 10 day Southern Caribbean cruise.  Absolutely fantastic.  We stayed in a Porthole Veranda - 7123.  It was perfect for us. And yes, you can turn the chairs front to back.  🙂  

Thanks for this. Do you know, is this the only way to get a true balcony on E class without booking a suite? What is the cabin category called?

I am loathe to try IV as I pretty much know I’d hate it, but really want to try a newer ship without Retreat-level gouging. This might be the only way.

3 hours ago, barcelonauta said:

In our case Puerto Arenas ( Chile) stated in the final ncl printed itinerart as a dock port. They changed it into a dock port and at the end we missed it.If P.Atenas is a port likely to be missed , what is the point in changing it into a tender one? So in our cruise Stanley and Punta Arenas were likely tobe missed. So are other ports in other itineraries.... And it would be useful to know which ones before booking. For instance, Norwegian Spirit has an amazing Asian Christmas Itinerary but.. is really NCL intending to really honor all of them ? 

Agreed, some ports are way more prone to being missed than others. It would be awesome to have a central & public data repository (by line X port) of missed ports. Personally NCL is about the last line I’d trust to do all in their power to get into a port after my Hawaii experience with them.

In my experience across 14 cruises, there is about a ten percent chance a port will be dropped or replaced after booking but prior to sailing, or else missed unexpectedly once underway, usually due to weather. Tender ports increase the odds, but having a pier is no guarantee of not missing a port due to weather. 

One tip, always confirm the itinerary is still current on the line’s website when booking with a third party, as third parties may not be diligent in staying updated as things change. For example there is an Explora cruise I was considering until I realized St Barts was dropped, but some sites still have that port listed.

2 hours ago, deliver42 said:

All of the VLOGS i've seen on You Tube about Virgin have pretty much been the same. Food is excellent everywhere. Drinks are very weak, the beds are very low and hard, request a topper, which the have. The ships are beautiful, but the cabins are very sparse as far as art or anything. The service is very good, and they would all sail Virgin again. These are normal people that shared their experience, not the comped vloggers ot TA's.

Not a Vlogger but having very recently sailed VV I did not find either the food or service to be great, but rather incredibly inconsistent and, in balance, disappointing. I’d rate the service in the bottom half of all of my cruises and the food, while sometimes outstanding and often far superior to any other mainstream cruiselines’ included fare in my experience, to have the most quality issues of ANY cruise ever taken. Also “The Galley” is no match for even the cutback buffet on X. Not sure if I’d sail VV again but definitely it is not better than X overall to me.

Bed is hard, cabins sparse/cheaply done and drinks are weak for sure.

2 hours ago, George C said:

Is that 600 per person or for cabin?

That is per cabin. Rumor is it is going down to $500 soon.

Bah. Last two cruises were on Celebrity and VV, and despite all of Celebrity’s cutbacks and things it has never done well to begin with (entertainment comes to mind) I still found the Reflection superior to Valiant Lady in most ways (service, embarkment, public spaces, cabin, food as long as avoiding the Celebrity MDR) despite Reflection being a decade older.
 

VV is more hype than substance.

I gave the cabin attendant and favorite bartender small cash gratuities. The way I view it, I generally tip a bit more than the recommended amount on other cruise lines so doing that was the equivalent on VV. 

33 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

Personally I actually think that Pink Agave feels fancier that the Wake, but in a less stuffy way! 

Interesting. I found Pink Agave to feel “cruise ship faux fancy”, relying primarily on simply being dark, whereas The Wake’s decor felt fresh and refined, but not overly stuffy. 

Tons of shorts at dinner and all the time. Huge reason why many people book VV. Apart from The Wake none of the dining venues are particularly nice or formal seeming anyway.  

16 hours ago, Lustate said:

Another point... Its an hour. An Hour. Thats all. 

With the planning of shore time, this would hardly be noticed. Get a map, work out the essentials and stick to them. It won't take a moment joy from your trip. 

it’s three hours in total. But I get your point and will get over it. Just tired of every single trip post-Covid having similar annoyances and feel like travelers these days exist somewhere between indifference and outright contempt in the eyes of the conveyors. 
 

4 hours ago, Rothko1 said:

 

You mean that wasn't the floor show entertainment?

A bit more entertaining than the typical cruise nightly show. 

On 7/20/2023 at 6:29 PM, CineGraphic said:

 

There's a few folks out there that insist the decision was made to save money. They have no idea that times can be changed for something as simple as mandatory slower speeds due to things like whale migration. A few years ago, we had to miss an entire port, (Saguenay, Quebec) due to this very reason.

80% plus chance it’s money. Don’t kid yourself. The distances to travel to the next ports are absolutely tiny.

Just heard 9/3 sailing has last day in Ibiza leaving at 5:00 instead of 6:00 and last day in Palma leaving at 5:00 instead of 7:00. Website.

Seems like nobody in the travel industry is even slightly capable of keeping their word anymore, or remotely interested in doing so.

On this ship and itinerary in September so really appreciate the thorough review! 
 

Did you do any excursions or have a favorite or least favorite port?
 

Been to five of these ports. I would favor option 2 slightly, but no bad pick here either way so no need to overthink it…just do a little research on things to do/shore excursions and go with whatever one you start to feel a pull towards.

OK, thank you both for the intel, good to know! 

I received $100 onboard credit when I booked. I was planning to put toward shore excursions but there does not seem to be an option to do so now that pre-booking is open.
 

Is there a way to do this without waiting until the cruise, when the good ones may be sold out? Don’t really have any use for the credit on anything else.

On my last Celebrity cruise this winter I experienced very, very little boorish behavior. In contrast, my first Celebrity cruise nearly two decades ago featured numerous folks far more trashy than anyone I’ve ever seen on Carnival. Seems more like luck of the draw to me, not some menacing trend.

I typically rank Celebrity at the top when I am first searching for a cruise, but often eliminate them over pedestrian, boring itineraries and IVs.

On 2/15/2023 at 3:43 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

If you seriously ask be sure to mention that CC/AQ (non-suite) lovers have no choice in room type other than to have an IV

Yep that’s me and that is why I will likely never sail E class. When S-class ships “age out” will Celebrity fall entirely off the list for consideration?

13 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

if Z, i think it's the squishy, if A, its the not (and also an ambulatory cabin so may be oriented a bit differently).  you can check your reservation on the website/app to see what room you've been assigned.  you can also have your TA change your cabin to a different one on 11 or another deck if you want the roomy 3 person version.

Looks like it’s A so ambulatory. May have to change that out…thanks!