Comparisons between cruise lines

Hi,

We are relatively new to cruising, and to date have been with Cunard and more recently P&O.

We were thinking what other cruise lines are out there, and I was wondering if there is anything which describes the various pros and cons of the cruise lines?

There is a book by Douglas Ward called Berlitz Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships that is updated every year. Well, sometimes he misses some updates...And he skews to the luxury lines, but it would give you an idea of the key points of each line.

https://www.amazon.com/Berlitz-Cruising-Cruise-Ships-Guide/dp/1780049781

There are other similar books out there. But just reading on the forums here for the various lines will give you some idea of what cruising is like on them. EM

Condé Nast Traveler "best of ..." lists are terrific.

If you took P&O and Cunard out of Southampton, and are looking to take a different line from there, in the summer season you'll find Princess, NCL, RCI, Fred Olsen...often a Celebrity, MSC, and then there's Saga, but you have to be 50 before you can go on her ( brand new ship next year). Costa and Aida call in the port, but I don't know if it's just for the day and passengers have embarked elsewhere.

If you want Celebrity this year, she's sailing from Dublin...not sure if there's one in S'ton.

At small ports round the country, there's Fred Olsen, Cruise and Maritime and Marella, which was Thomson. They are all smaller and older ships than Cunard.

I am guessing you are British?

Celebrity have sailings from the UK...they may suit you.

Yes British. We do like sailing from the U.K.

We are over 50 (just).

So, comparisons with cruise lines fron the U.K.,

Yes British. We do like sailing from the U.K.

 

 

 

We are over 50 (just).

 

 

 

So, comparisons with cruise lines fron the U.K.,

Many Brits on Oceania.

A good travel agent could be very helpful to you. ;)

Thanks all.

Will have to get research head on!

There is a book by Douglas Ward called Berlitz Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships that is updated every year. Well, sometimes he misses some updates...And he skews to the luxury lines, but it would give you an idea of the key points of each line.

https://www.amazon.com/Berlitz-Cruising-Cruise-Ships-Guide/dp/1780049781

 

There are other similar books out there. But just reading on the forums here for the various lines will give you some idea of what cruising is like on them. EM

Thanks for this. Book ordered and was delivered yesterday. Absolutely fantastic book!

Hi,

 

We are relatively new to cruising, and to date have been with Cunard and more recently P&O.

 

We were thinking what other cruise lines are out there, and I was wondering if there is anything which describes the various pros and cons of the cruise lines?

There is a whole website devoted to that. It is called Cruisecritic. :halo:

I’ve not cruises Cunard or P&O. We typically stick with norwegian and celebrity, and have done carnival

1. Carnival probably won’t make your list because their sister line costa does Europe while they do the Caribbean. The best thing about them is that they are cheap.

2. Norwegian is great for casual cruisers. No dress code for most of the restaurants. No dress up nights. No traditional dining. Much more like being at home and going to whichever restaurant you like whenever you get hungry. They also are usually running promotions where the beverage package and/or specialty dining can be included for the price of the gratuities. Norwegian has the best entertainment of the lines we have been on.

3. Celebrity likes to pretend that they are more upscale than the others. Whether or not they are is debatable. They also include promotions like the beverage package or free gratuities (but they don’t ask you to pay gratuities on the beverage package). I find their food a bit better than the others but don’t like their entertainment as much.

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We are contrarian and disagree with many of the posts. Doug Ward's book puts a somewhat optimistic spin on each cruise line although we do enjoy his point of view. Most "good" travel agents do not cruise very much and their knowledge is often limited to what they read and hear. In fact, if you meet a Travel Agent ask them about their personal cruise experience :). So what to do?

Cruise Critic does have pretty decent descriptions of each cruise line, all the ships, and also has many published personal reviews. The various cruise line blogs here on CC should give anyone a good idea of both the pros and cons of cruise lines/ships based on many different points of view.

But here is my own point of view. The Mass Market Lines (Cunard, HAL, Princess, Costa, Carnival, RCI, Celebrity, P&O, MSC, etc.) have all been undergoing changes as they keep tweaking their product to reduce costs, increase profits, and fill berths. Folks that give you their point of view based on what happened 2 or 3 years ago (or longer) are generally to be ignored since much of their info is outdated. And now there are sometimes huge differences between different ships of the same cruise line. Consider MSC who has somewhat "Americanized" two of their vessels which spend much of their time in the US Market. or HAL where you have everything from an aging small vessel (Prinsendam) to much larger modern new ships such as the Koningsdam.

So my advice is become a CC regular, read the various posts, ship reviews, editor's reviews, etc. And if you have any specific questions, go ahead and post them on CC under the appropriate topic.

Hank

We have had very enjoyable cruises on HAL, Princess, Celebrity, NCL, Carnival, and Crystal. We have never been disappointed. Perhaps because we selected on the basis on ship/itinerary and we were cognizant that each cruise line and ship has it's differences. We did not not spend our time comparing, we spent it enjoying and discovering some of the small differences.

We would cruise on any of them again but not on all ships in each cruise line. The one constant is that the ship experience on all of the mass market lines is inconsistency. A combination of cutbacks, changes, and on some cruise lines delayed routine maintenance. So we do not think that one mass market cruise line is better than another. It comes down to your personal preference and very much the luck of the draw for the specific ship, cruise line, itinerary, and sailing date that you happen to select.

I suspect that some traditional cruisers have a difficult time getting over the fact that cruises are very affordable. They moan about the cutbacks or the trend away from formal but they are very adept at picking up those cruise bargains/sales/upsells whenever they are offered. Heck, today you can book a seven day Alaska on HAL or Princess for $400. Plus tax of course. Cruising is no longer a mark of social status or wealth.

Hi,

 

We are relatively new to cruising, and to date have been with Cunard and more recently P&O.

 

We were thinking what other cruise lines are out there, and I was wondering if there is anything which describes the various pros and cons of the cruise lines?

ummmmmm

I think you are at one of the most probable places for that info .....

'cept ya gots to read a bit.

I'll give you one hint tho

the smaller the pass' load, the better the service ......

small ship cruising is better

small ship cruising IMO is under 1000 pass .... but under 500 is yet another step up

Have to smile at the previous wise post. While many cruisers (especially younger cruisers) love the huge mega ships, the reality is that all of the Ultra Luxury lines use much smaller vessels. A good compromise is Crystal which has medium size ships and still maintains very high standards. But Ultra luxury comes at a cost which can often be in the $1000+ Per passenger day range. Consider that Crystal lovers often need to enter a lottery to get the prized large suites on their world cruise...despite the cost that far exceeds $100,000!

Hank

Is there another biggest ship besides the RCL Allure?