BoiiMcFly

NCL's spas (especially on Epic and newer ships) are considerably better than the spas on Celebrity ships. They have dry sauna, sanarium, aromatherapy steam room, water circuit, hot tub, whirlpool, heated tile loungers, rain showers. If you pick Epic, I would suggest you actually consider getting 2 adjoining Studio cabins - this way you get extra space, and 2 bathrooms but even better, there is the Studio Lounge and concierge - all this very inexpensively! You can buy the spa pass online prior to sailing or alternatively purchase a Spa inside cabin which comes with 2 spa passes.

 

The Regal Princess also has a lovely spa and it is darker and more quiet but does not have as many amenities as the thermal suite on NCL Epic.

 

The Celebrity ships have a "spa pool" which just amounts to an indoor pool and a spa snack bar that anyone on the ship can go to. It's nothing like what is on Epic or Regal Princess.

 

I agree that the Celebrity ships are less crowded. The food in the MDR is generally better than NCL's but only slightly better than Princess' MDR. NCL is more about dining in a different restaurant every night - some of which cost extra. On Celebrity and Princess, there are specialty restaurants, but not as big of a thing as on NCL where even in the MDR you are seated with your own party - not at a group table with strangers ever. Some prefer the traditional style of dining so that they can meet people and make friends with them. Others prefer to dine with only their own party at all times like on NCL.

Solid info, thanks! What is your opinion on Freedom of the Seas?

NCL's spas (especially on Epic and newer ships) are considerably better than the spas on Celebrity ships. They have dry sauna, sanarium, aromatherapy steam room, water circuit, hot tub, whirlpool, heated tile loungers, rain showers. If you pick Epic, I would suggest you actually consider getting 2 adjoining Studio cabins - this way you get extra space, and 2 bathrooms but even better, there is the Studio Lounge and concierge - all this very inexpensively! You can buy the spa pass online prior to sailing or alternatively purchase a Spa inside cabin which comes with 2 spa passes.

 

The Regal Princess also has a lovely spa and it is darker and more quiet but does not have as many amenities as the thermal suite on NCL Epic.

 

The Celebrity ships have a "spa pool" which just amounts to an indoor pool and a spa snack bar that anyone on the ship can go to. It's nothing like what is on Epic or Regal Princess.

 

I agree that the Celebrity ships are less crowded. The food in the MDR is generally better than NCL's but only slightly better than Princess' MDR. NCL is more about dining in a different restaurant every night - some of which cost extra. On Celebrity and Princess, there are specialty restaurants, but not as big of a thing as on NCL where even in the MDR you are seated with your own party - not at a group table with strangers ever. Some prefer the traditional style of dining so that they can meet people and make friends with them. Others prefer to dine with only their own party at all times like on NCL.

Solid info, thanks.

Appreciate the answers. Our idea of luxury would be a celebrity cruise ship, we definitely don't need (or are able to afford) ultra luxury. We will be getting an inside stateroom, so we wanted to see which lines had the nicest/most spacious staterooms.

I am starting to think that the Freedom of the Seas seems like a good choice for a first transatlantic, looks like it has many things to do.

I do however love the design and layout of the celebrity ships, and they seem to have the best spas. They also seem less crowded.

The Norwegian Getaway looks fun as well, but that one starts at $1,400 per person.

Decisions, decisions...

Hey everyone!

So my wife and I want to go on our Transatlantic cruise soon. We are both 30 years old and enjoy a nice blend of solid entertainment and luxury. We are kids at heart, so we do enjoy activities as much as we do relaxing.

We have the options of sailing on the following ships:

Royal Caribbean:

Freedom of the Seas

Navigator of the Seas

NCL:

Norwegian Epic

Celebrity:

Eclipse

Silhouette

Reflection

Princess:

Regal

We have done research and watched videos of each ship, but we would like your opinion. What do you think has the best balance of quality, less crowded, decent staterooms, good entertainment, lots of activities, and overall wow factor. What would be the best ship to start off with?

Please remember it is a Repositioning/TA cruise, so we will have many consecutive sea days.

Thanks in advance!

I understand your concern. We were worried with our first TA too. What would we do on all those sea days? The next thing I knew, they had flown by.

 

That was long ago and we are looking forward to our upcoming cruise and, yes, we have 8 days at sea. We'll need them to rest up. Once we get to Europe, it's very port intensive ;).

 

Sea days aren't for everyone, but for us, we get into "cruise mode" and enjoy them. I'll take a TA over flying any day ;)

I think we will enjoy them very much as well. We need some time to just do nothing and relax from work. It will be a nice detox.

Sand on the ship. Like a little beach area with artifical palm trees and a beach bar. Would be nice. Celebrity has the grass which is pretty neat.

I think it depends on the itinerary, what is the longest stretch of sea days.

I have been on cruises that were much longer and still only had a maximum of 4 days at sea in one go. While a TA from Southampton to NYC has 6 sea days straight.

This would have 6-8 sea days straight. We haven't decided on the ship yet.

Well, I know I will tick off the Cunard purists here, but there really isn't a "design" for an ocean liner, any more than there is a "design" for a cruise ship. The ship is designed for its intended service, including the weather and climate in its intended service area. Hence, the QM2 is a passenger vessel designed for more frequent transatlantic crossings, in more extreme weather. Oasis of the Seas is a passenger vessel designed for seasonal cruising on the US East Coast, predominantly Caribbean service, but with forays into other areas, and still designed to withstand the "100 year storm".

 

Without detailed construction plans, and naval architectural analysis, I can't say that one is "stronger" than the other, but it has been reported that certain areas of the QM2 have been stiffened to resist stronger wave action. As I noted in your other thread, much of the "more steel" was a conscious decision by Cunard to use steel in the superstructure as opposed to lightweight alloys.

 

Certain other aspects, like the height of the promenade deck (lifeboat embarkation deck) and subsequently the height of lifeboat stowage have been exempted for the QM2 to keep anticipated damage down for its intended service in the North Atlantic in adverse weather.

 

As to ship construction quality, that is based on the classification societies, and their rules for ship construction. These societies (ABS, Lloyds Register, Germanischer Lloyd, DNV, and others) act as insurance underwriters for the shipping companies, essentially using their professional bond to guarantee that the ship is seaworthy, and meets all international standards. Class surveyors are present in the shipyards during the entire time a ship is being built, and witness hundreds of thousands of feet of welding, check thousands of sheets of material specs, and certify most of the welders and pipefitters involved in the construction of the ship. Class rules tend to be very similar in goal, but have differences in approach.

Very interesting, thanks!

I've read that Queen Mary 2 is built as an ocean liner, so she was more expensive and has a stronger hull and more steel.

But what about the other cruise ships? (Carnival, RC, Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity, etc.)

Are most of them built the same, or are some of higher quality than others? Are there any other cruise ships that stand out like QM2? And I am referring more to the hull and structure of the ship, not the amenities and decor.

Some great responses so far, thanks for all the info. It always interesting to hear stories from fellow cruisers.

How many consecutive sea days will you have. I can take maybe 2 or 3 consecutive sea days until I get bored out of my skull and am ready to jump overboard and swim to the nearest land. To make it even worse, on my last cruise with sea days, my Kindle died. Sea days w/o a Kindle is a fate worse than death.

 

That said, we know people who absolutely love sea days and the more the merrier. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

DON

We would have 8 consecutive sea days. I would prefer to start off with like 3-4 sea days, but who knows, maybe we will love them. I do enjoy days of doing nothing every once in a while.

OHHH MY !! What a delicious hamburger !! One of the best, I've had on a RCL ship ! When we tried it the price was something like $4.98 w/fries and all you could eat. Of course, they're quite large and eating two doubles, well, let's just say, you won't be looking forward to anything to eat for awhile :)

 

MAC

Looking forward to some delicious burgers in the middle of the ocean! I was kinda hoping it'd be free, but $4.98 for all you can eat isn't a bad deal. :D

Well, you kind of set your marker pretty high. Probably only a QE2 suite can get any better.:D

 

Burt

Yes I know, it was a very nice ship and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We were in the third class and had a small room with bunk beds. Do cruise ships still have rooms with bunk beds?

Our very first cruise ever, was a 15 night Panama Canal. We feel a 7 night cruise is about the shortest we'd prefer. Generally we cruise 7-10 night cruises, some longer. We did a 10 night Med B2B with a 14 night TransAtlantic, and that's been our longest ocean cruise so far.

 

Only issue I had was along about day 18-20 I got tired of having to pick something from the menu to eat every night. I just wanted a McDonald's burger, thank you.

Great info thanks. Yes, I understand. I see the Freedom class ships offer Johnny Rockets?! That's definitely a plus.

Our first cruise was 22 days from Vancouver BC to Fort Lauderdale.

We chose due wanting to see the canal and trying it. Loved it and haven't stopped since.

That's awesome. Starting with a 22 day cruise is a brave move, glad to see you made the right decision.

Any ship with fewer than 2,000 passengers is likely to be better in my eyes than one carrying more --- and immeasurably better than one carrying more than 3,000.

What is it you dislike about larger ships? Do they get too crowded?

I would not recommend a long TA for a first cruise. There are few ports of call and a lot of sea days that may be long for a first timer. I would suggest a seven night with about 3 ports of call for your first experience.

Ok thanks. I have to get across the ocean but don't enjoy flying. I guess I could look into QM2 since she only needs 7 days to cross the Atlantic.

Oh my goodness. I was on a 15 day cruise to Hawaii over thanksgiving. Due to ship problems we were all flown home from Honolulu. I got home 2 days early and was I glad. 10 days is my max. I had a 15 day TA booked for April and I cancelled it as soon as I got home. Not everyone will agree with me.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry to hear you had problems on your cruise. If you don't mind me asking, why is 10 days your max? What do you start to dislike?

As many of you know, I am a newbie when it comes to cruising. Would a 14 day TA be too long to begin with? I have seen many experienced cruisers point out that they get fed up after about 7-10 days. Will 2 weeks be overwhelming?

From my limited experience, I'd say Freedom of the Seas. But we'll see how I feel about that next week when I get off Harmony :D

Oh lucky you! Let me know. Would love to set foot on Harmony one day.

I have only been on the Queen Elizabeth 2, so that is my favorite thus far :D.

I don't know. With so many ships out there I just thought it would be fun to try a new one.

I would try the Epic, seems like it has a lot to do on board! I am considering the Epic for my transatlantic cruise. I think the main complaint is the room layout and sink in room.

A Japanese garden with a waterfall would be nice.

+1. It would be the equivalent of someone being being allowed to pick any car in the world and having them pick a Yugo.

 

DON

I would definitely not say the Harmony of the Seas is the equivalent of a Yugo. I would say it is closer to a Hummer or Escalade. Some people want pure luxury, other people prefer activities and more family oriented entertainment. Neither one is better than the other, just different choices and that's all.

How about press a button and the window opens:eek::cool::eek:

lmao, probably better to leave that feature off the remote and seal the windows. :D