sticking with one line/fleet vs. trying new ones

[DCguys]

We had a great first cruise two years ago. We went with Celebrity, it was a good match for us and now we know we like cruising. We're thinking of taking a longer cruise next and there's an itinerary (and a price) we like also on Celebrity. We tried the Eclipse last time and this trip would be on Solstice so they're from the same line of ships - virtually identical.

 

I know some people on these boards sail the same line or even the same ship over and over again, but I'm not sure we should. We really liked X, but I'm very curious about other lines.

 

What do you think? Why do you repeat or not?

[LHT28]

It is your money sail with any line you like :rolleyes:

 

If you stick with one line you will never know if other lines will suit you better

[elbodans]

i'm all for mixing it up when it comes to traveling. but you have to be ok with being disappointed--or getting used to something new. i sailed solo on NCL and loved it. i then sailed solo on royal caribbean and did not love it (to put it mildly) am i sad that i tried a new line? no. will i try a new line again? absolutely. but i'll also return to NCL. because i know i like it. and there's nothing wrong with that. heck, i know i like spaghetti--and that's why i eat it two or three times per month. ;-)

 

if only i could cruise two or three times per month!

[SCjason]

If you want to start getting the most for your money then it is better off to continue to sail with the same line because you begin to earn more perks for the more voyages. For example, after so many Princess cruises you get priority boarding, free Internet, free dry cleaning, etc. I agree with the previous post, don't be upset if you get disappointed. We tried Royal Caribbean once and were very unhappy and have never sailed them again, but on the other hand we have some very good friends who are Royal Caribbean fanatics. It also helps learning your way around if you stay with the same company. Most newer ships within the same company have the same design so you don't have to keep getting lost on every cruise. In the beginning, I would recommend trying each line and then when you find the one that you really like, stick with them because you will find out that each line caterers to a different group of people and you just need to find your niche.

[bob brown]

When I shop for a cruise, my first consideration is itinerary and then dates of sailing. Next will be difference in fares. If that still leaves me with a choice of lines, I will try them all. Once I have tried them all, I will develop favorites. Then in some cases, I may even have a choice of ships from the same line. Same practice--try them all until I have favorites.

Only after I have tried everything will I base my choice on building time to gain better perks in the loyalty program. To do otherwise, would mean missing out on the rich choices we have out there. While some are very happy to stay blindly loyal to one line, they really don't know what they are missing, and basing choices on what you read on line from others, is not always relevant to the way you would perceive it if actually experienced.

[simplelife]

Some people like doing the same thing again and again on vacation, and that is fine since that is what they like. DH and I like doing different things.WE have sailed with 3 different lines - Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Holland America, and different ships each time. We look for itineraries that offer something we have not done before.

Usually our work schedule and budget determine what we do - we search what's available on our given dates and price range and decide what sounds the most interesting, regardless of ship or line. We cruise about every 2 years (Hope to cruise more once we retire :)).

[Krazy Kruizers]

For years we sailed several different cruise lines at the same time. Then we tried HAL and for a number of years we have been pleased with them.

 

But now we have tired of them and their inconsistency in rules from one ship to another and how they treat some people better than others.

 

So we are looking to try another cruise line.

 

I see no problem with staying with a cruise line if you are happy with their product.

[EGG]

Some people like doing the same thing again and again on vacation, and that is fine since that is what they like. DH and I like doing different things. We look for itineraries that offer something we have not done before.

Usually our work schedule and budget determine what we do - we search what's available on our given dates and price range and decide what sounds the most interesting, regardless of ship or line.

 

We were hooked on Celebrity but they did not have some of the itineraries we were interested in. We love the entertainment at night and often found the production shows were repeated, often from ship to ship. We also like different embarkation ports since we like to fly in a day or two early and see a different city. We've since sailed on RCL, Princess, HAL, Cunard and Carnival. We love the mix of itineraries, ships food and entertainment. When we moved to RCL (which is now our favorite cruise line) we were able to get credit for our Celebrity cruises. I'm not sure they still do that. We also mix cruises that we book ahead with last minute cruises (usually an Oct. or Nov. cruise) when I see I have extra vacation time and you can get fantastic last minute deals.

 

Look at the cruise lines we've been on. We recently did a 15 day Cunard cruise to Hawaii. It was an entirely different experience than our other cruises. Much more formal and different activities. Loved the bridge game, lectures, beautiful ship. Not so keen on 15 days of formality. Not our favorite cruise but we loved it never the less and we have wonderful memories.

[uppitycats]

There are a lot of people who have the resources to cruise yearly, sometimes more than once a year, and indeed, over time you can build up "credits" with various lines for free things. For them it pays to stay with a single line.

 

We can't. So we first shop for itinerary, then price, and do comparison shopping, just like we do for anything else. If we find a good itinerary at a good price, then we look at the cruise line offering it. Of the cruise lines we've tried so far we have a favorite, and one we try to avoid, but if our other criteria "dictated" that we try them again, we would.

[isujim]

We used to sail RCCL exclusively and decided about 3 years ago to see what else was out there. We are glad we did. Some are in to perks but we aren't. We are D+ on RCCL and really can't even tell you all that comes with that.

 

We enjoy Princess and HAL and would not be afraid to try something else. At the end of the day, they are all pretty much the same basic cruise. Some do things better than the others. RCCL can't be beat for entertainment, but that isn't as important to us anymore after all the cruises we have taken.

 

Branch out.........there are some great itineraries out there that you may never experience if you stay with one line.

 

I certainly understand staying with one line...........but we decided to mix it up and are glad we did.

[mrsfuzzmo]

We have about 18 cruises under out belts and I think the most on any one line is 3. We like to choose by the ports, then the price, then the ship/line. Sure we could have stuck to one line all those cruises, but we have no interest in dry-cleaning or free internet, etc., so no biggie for us. We like the variety both in the cruise ships and the itineraries. It's fun to compare. We've always had a wonderful time on our cruises and are the kind of travelers that know not everything is going to be perfect, and we've had some awesome vacations on the high seas!

 

Next one in 11 days.....on Princess. One of the only lines we haven't sailed on yet!

[mizLORInj]

I like to try different ships and different lines. Do I like some better than others? Yes, but I still sail all of them. I like variety.

[okgirl]

We've only sailed on Carnival and we are Milestone, so obviously we like the product. We sail for the experience on the ship, we're not really excursion people so that is one reason we've never strayed.

 

I know what to expect on Carnival and I'm rarely disappointed.

 

But now we live 9+ hours to the closest cruise port so we are considering cruising based on price. We still don't care about the itinerary having been all over the caribbean 25+ times.

 

I'm just a bit leary and would have to do a lot of research on the corporations other brands (so we could at least get past guest pricing) before I would jump ship so to speak.

 

I would rule out Disney due to the number of kids and I don't think they have a Casino. And I would probably rule out RCCL based on there being too many extra charge places and they do seem to treat passengers in different categories differently from what I've read and I don't agree with that.

[Friend100]

I have done 4 cruises, on 4 different ships with 3 different cruiselines. I will not rule out any ship/line.

[navybankerteacher]

Assuming that itinerary is at least almost as important as shipboard amenities, you should always be open to considering different lines. Of course, you may find that some lines have attributes which you really appreciate, so you should tend to stay with them; just as you may find that some lines seem to be less appealing, so you should avoid them unless they are they are the only ones offering a particularly desireable itinerary.

 

Since you will never know until you try, you should check out different lines whenever everything else is equal. Paying attention to what people post on these boards - and who they are -(taking the more extreme positives and negatives with a grain of salt) is a way of starting the selection process. If you are in your twenties, you want to listen more to what younger cruisers have to say - and if you are in your seventies, you probably should not pay much attention to what the college crowd thinks make a cruise line great.

[Talisker92]

I have over 40 cruises under my belt (not bragging), and have sailed many different lines from NCL to Silverseas and Regent. Like many, I look at the itinerary first then the cost.

For my wife and I, (our tastes only) we have stuck with Princess lately.

IMO, the perks when you get to Elite are great. Internet, laundry, boarding and tender priority,minibar setup are very nice. My wife just got Platinum and now she has her own internet minutes.

[Putterdude]

The advantage of continued sailing with one cruise line is advancement in their loyalty program which can be very useful. We have sailed a lot with Princess and have enjoyed them but have also done a couple of cruises with Celebrity which we really have enjoyed and one with HAL which was a complete disaster and we won't be back. From what we have read and learned from speaking with people I doubt we would be a fit on Carnival, NCL or RCL. But I think the bottom line is try other lines, find a couple that you enjoy and then start focusing on itineraries and value.

[weltek]

Since you've only done one cruise, consider yourself still on the free market and try different lines! We've done five on one line that we really enjoy and feel "roped in" with the line's loyalty program. Now we hate to switch lines because we won't earn points or discounts, silly as that might be. Yet, we also hate having nothing to compare our line to and are always tempted to try another, but end up back with our line. So, carpe diem! Try something new!

[Warm Breezes]

When we cruise, we are often looking for different things out of our vacations. Normally our vacation time is set in stone so whatever we pick has to fit into our vacation time. A couple of times we have wanted to sail a certain itinerary (Canada) or from a certain port (NY for sight seeing/Rockettes for DD and Tampa to visit DGM). A couple times we have wanted to sail a certain ship (Disney Wonder-for land/sea vacation & Disney Magic and NCL Epic). Once we get those requirements set, we search for the ship/sailing that meets those requirements and fits into our budget for that trip. Cruiseline never enters into the picture unless we have a FCC that needs to be used.

 

IMHO choosing based on cruiseline unnecessarily limits your choices. How will you ever know if you like something if you don't try it. In my experience all ships have their own advantages and disadvantages you just need to weigh those against what you want out of a vacation and choose the best ship that meets your needs. If that ends up being X again then go and enjoy your cruise. If by chance another ship from another line meets your needs, then don't feel bad about trying something different. Choices are a wonderful thing :D.

 

For our next cruise, we are looking at Alaska next summer. We also want to sail to/from Seattle and have the itinerary go through Glacier Bay. We are looking at ships that do this and will still meet our budget and have on-board activities that we enjoy. We are still investigating what will best meet our needs. Cruiseline does not come into the picture at all because that would restrict our choices in one area where they don't need to be restricted.

 

Have fun no matter what you choose.

[michmike]

I think the answer to your question (at least for me) has to do w/ how often you are able to cruise. We'been cruising for 11 yrs, but mostly just one a year. We tried HAL on our 2nd cruise (after 1st on Celebrity) and have been comfortable there and so we stay. If we had the resources and time to go 4-5 times a year I guess I'd be much more inclined to experiment.

 

But for now, I'd rather not take a chance on being disappointed when I only get one shot at it a year. Booked on HAL again this ocming Dec.

[celle]

We had a great first cruise two years ago. We went with Celebrity, it was a good match for us and now we know we like cruising. We're thinking of taking a longer cruise next and there's an itinerary (and a price) we like also on Celebrity. We tried the Eclipse last time and this trip would be on Solstice so they're from the same line of ships - virtually identical.

 

I know some people on these boards sail the same line or even the same ship over and over again, but I'm not sure we should. We really liked X, but I'm very curious about other lines.

 

What do you think? Why do you repeat or not?

 

We tend to choose cruises for the itinerary first, and then for the cruise line.

So far, we've had 72 days on Royal Caribbean, 27 days on HAL (31 more booked) and 42 on Celebrity (14 more booked).

 

Since we have Diamond status on Royal, we also get Elite status on Celebrity, so we get the benefits of the loyalty program on 2 lines - and we're working on that for HAL.

 

We like all 3 lines we have cruised with so far. They are all good, with minor differences that do not matter much to us. We'd still cruise with another line, if the itinerary was absolutely stunning and it was not offered by the lines we have cruised so far.

[boogs]

My wife and I are non-smokers, and have been all our lives. We prefer balcony rooms, and enjoy spending much time on our balcony. We once cruised on a popular cruise line that allowed smoking in staterooms and on balconies, and in many public areas. We ended up spending much of our time avoiding our balcony and several public areas to avoid the almost constant smell of cigarette smoke. We even smelled cigarette smoke in the hallway outside our room. We felt more like prisoners than vacationers.

 

We then found Celebrity with their very restrictive smoking policy. We are now able to sit on our balcony anytime we choose without being driven inside, and every public indoor area is available to us smoke free, as is most outside public areas. For this reason we have pretty much settled on Celebrity for our cruise line of choice, and rarely look to other lines. Plus, they are a pretty good fit for us, with excellent ships, service, amenities, and itineraries.

 

Bottom line, figure out what is important to you and decide on which lines provide those features, and then focus on them for you maximum enjoyment. For us, we would never consider a line that allows smoking on balconies. That is a deal breaker for us.

[PrincessE]

We like, no love, Princess. It's just the line for us. Everything from the decor, to the vibe, to the staff, to the cabin size, quality of food, ports visited...Princess works for us.

 

If you find a winner...stick with it. If X makes your bunny jump...then I say stay with X!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It depends on how often you cruise ...

[jocap]

Be brave and jump! Even on our least favourite ship, we still managed to have a wonderful time, because we'd chosen mainly for the itinerary, sailing to Venice. It's itinerary all the way, then ship, then price.

The little Louis Cruise ships are elderly and small, but who cares when they can squeeze about 5 Greek Isles and an overnight in Istanbul into a week's cruise?

If I'm on a cruise with lots of sea days, then I prefer a vast ship with multiple activities- and an indoor pool-

There's a ship leaving the the N of UK soon....old, and small- but she's going to the Faroes, Norway and Iceland for a very reasonable price- am I tempted? You bet!;)

If you really want the hotel bit first- then, from what I've seen, most of the popular lines are much the same, and sell on their distinctive little points...a Flow rider, or silver service, or no dressing for dinner....:confused:.

If it's seeing the world- then there's a mass of ships big and small out there.....:)

Jo.