How Do You Decide? Ship? Ports? Both?

[jackinthebox422]

Since mostr people have an idea of the Caribbean, pick the ship then the ports.

 

In the Med - its all PORTS PORTS PORTS< Then ship -

 

Compare the ammenities ofthe ship, ports of call and excursions then pick - east / west/ or south. Time of year and price can be factored in as well.

 

Have a great cruise

[STARFISH*4]

first i look at what cruises are available for the times we can take a cruise, then price--if we have taken the cruise before i look at another itinerary

til i am satisfied with when and where...the ship pretty much doesnt matter at this point--if it did we wouldnt be doing the SUN 3 years in a row!

[Jeebs]

Itinerary (ports) and price are our main criteria.

Second is cruise line if more than one cruise line is doing the same itinerary for the same price (hasn't happened yet).

 

Only after that would be look at what ship if two ships from the same cruise line are doing the same itinerary. In that case, dates would factor in as would airfare.

 

In your example we'd choose Miami departure simply because we can get a flight there easier than to Tampa.

 

It was the ease of flying into Miami that pushed us over today. We can fly non-stop into there which makes life a lot simpler.

 

Booked a SF category aft penthouse today! Excited to have plans for another cruise!

[mitsugirly]

Last year, we chose based on the ship (the Epic was being built and with all the entertainment and everything to do on there, we knew that was what we were doing!), then decided either the western or eastern.

 

This time, since we did the eastern last year, we knew we wanted to do the western this September. I knew exactly which ports I wanted to visit for sure (Roatan, Cozumel) and which ones I DID NOT want to visit (Jamaica). I didn't really have much of a choice for the only date we are available to cruise, so we HAD to book the Spirit out of New Orleans. I'm happy with the decision though. I hear a lot of good things about the ship.

 

Next year, we want to do Bermuda...so which ever ship that will be going out of there, we will take. :D

[Ms belp]

We choose our ports first. We want to see as much of this world as we can before we can't.

[Lovely_Star]

1. Time

2. Price

3. Ports

4. Ship

[mbcormier]

I go with ports first than ship.

[Barb Nahoumi]

Another consideration is the cruiseline and it's policies. Do you want traditional or freestyle? Would you prefer a line that caters to families, or not.

 

I once thought that a ship was a ship, but that is not the case. Each ship has its own characteristics, and amenities do vary somewhat.

 

The length of a cruise is important to me. I would never consider anything shorter than 7 days. Too much of a tease.

[Dolphins]

1. Home Port- We only sail out of New York, no more flying for us

 

2. Season- We prefer a long mid-winter cruise to the Caribbean. We are delighted that NCL will be offering 12 day cruises out of New York in January 2013.

 

3. Itinerary- October cruises to Bermuda or fall foliage in Canada/New england.

 

4. For a tranquil cruise experience, never sail during school holiday periods.

 

5- Ship- Any NCL ship will do, they all give us outstanding Platinum service.

[ussenterprise]

As DW and I are not the wealthiest people on the planet, we look at price both of the cruise and airfare and also factor in a nights hotel and meals since we like to fly in to the port city the day before the cruise. After that, it's ports - have we been there before? Did we like it? If not, would we mind just relaxing on the boat that day? We also look at the excursions. What do they offer? Is there something we've never done before but always wanted to? Then we look at ship. Is it newer or older? I can kick back and relax, but DW has to be constantly entertained so what are the on board amenities? We love our balconies, so we have to make sure they have plenty for us to choose from. We compare lines, factor everything in and go with the best deal. For example:

 

On our NCL Gem cruise a couple weeks ago, we picked mostly because of price. None of the other cruise lines could touch the price on a comparable 7 day cruise and the airfare to NYC was way cheaper than to anywhere in FL - probably because it was spring break. One of the ports was Port Canaveral and I had never been to Kennedy Space Center and am glad I got to go because I got to see a shuttle on the pad! The other ports didn't really matter because we just wanted to be warm for a couple days, which we were. The Gem is a newer boat and had plenty of things to do for DW and lots of cabin options. We also wanted to try the freestyle experience and compare it the traditional cruises. We ended up having a great time as always and have no problem factoring NCL in to future cruise plans.

[Ask4Jay]

We were looking for our ninth trans Atlantic cruise, either to Europe in spring or from Europe in the fall of 2012. Next consideration is the affordability of an AFT cabin, which usually means NCL. We prefer the smaller ships of Azamara and Oceania with 700 pax each, but they have priced themselves out of our budget. So NCL it is. Next year we have a choice of three ships, two to Barcelona and the Sun to Copenhagen. Love the Sun, had our very first cruise on her. Aft cabin was available, so we booked. There ain't too much sightseeing on the Atlantic, which is fine with us. We have done our share of travel when I was in the airline business. Now it's time to enjoy the ride – at sea level, not at 30,000 ft. 13 days at sea with only two stops. Can it get any better? Yes, 15 days at sea.

[cherbear4000]

First I decide when, then where, then the ship. For example this summer

i knew I wanted to cruise in July. Then I decided I wanted to do a 7 day to

Bermuda. Then out of the 7 day cruises to Bermuda offered July 2011, I like the Gem the best.

[gopherhockey]

I first select a general area... Caribbean, Med, etc.

 

I key in on the ship quite a bit. We enjoy new boats and tend to book on ships that are no more than 2 years old. Its fun to experience new boats.. for us its as fun as experiencing new places.

 

We've been to the Carib plenty of times so itinerary there doesn't much matter... in fact we sometimes stay on the ship when everyone else is doing their thing so we can actually get a poolside chair and enjoy the facilities.

 

For Europe, its a ton about ports. Our next is going to be Baltic and while I'd LOVE to take something like the Celebrity Eclipse, Princess has a better itinerary. Their smoking policy and the age of the ship might make us select the Eclipse anyway though. I hate the thought of throwing away thousands of dollars only to have to be in a cabin that smells bad.