Over 55s Which cruiseline is your favourite

[nana&papagotosea]

We have been on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and Disney. Granted we did take our granddaughter with us on Disney, but we met many retired couple without kids on it! Disney would be our favorite (with a kid), the service and shows are outstanding. And they have the best ship stabilizers in the business. But by ourselves, definitely Princess! I think there were much more retirees on Celebrity, but we liked everything about Princess much better.

 

 

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[nana&papagotosea]

Oh, I forgot about Norwegian. Obviously it wasn't quite as memorable for us, lol.

 

 

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[yorkiemomjn]

My DH & I both love Oceania. Great food, great service, no photographers, country club casual dress code (no formal nights), very limited smoking areas and very rarely are there any children because there are no children programs. There was one child on our cruise in June.

[Going Coastal]

We sail on Celebrity most often, but also love the little R ships on Azamara and Oceania. It all depends on the itinerary.

 

 

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[fatbaldbloke]

We just love Celebrity & when we first sailed with them we were told by our dining friends that we had started with the best & we haven't tried anyone else. We now upgrade to Aqua & enjoy the Blue dining experience. We are both retired & in our early 60's.

 

We were however seduced by the constant bombardment from SAGA to try one of their cruises last year & we were as an age group very much in the minority. The only plus side was as a smaller ship we were able to sail up the Keel Canal.

Edited July 2, 2014 by fatbaldbloke

[pris993]

We are 67 and 80, been cruising for years, over 50 cruises on 9 different lines, some no longer around, i.e., Sitmar and Royal Cruise Line.

 

Presently we cruise Princess, Celebrity, Holland America and Cunard. We rotate between these lines depending on itineraries and price. Keeps it interesting.

[karska]

My first cruise was on Sitmar, inside cabin. Can't do that anymore, clostrphobic. Have done RCCL, NCL.. Nor my favs. Like Princess, dislike large movie screen by pool. Love Celebrity. Doing O in Sept

 

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[Gail & Marty sailing away]

To day it is Holland America..

[Ladysilver]

We are 60 and 66 and love Royal Caribbean and NCL. Wouldn't go on Carnival again if it was free. Once was quite enough. :)

[dorisis]

I've cruised mostly Regent (and its predecessors) for the past 15 years or so. I like the smaller ships and larger cabins, and the conviviality of the all-inclusive approach. However, they've recently started including excursions in the all-inclusive, which has driven the price up too high, overcrowded the excursions (which seem to be pretty uninspired anymore), and made me feel like I'm wasting money by going off on my own. So, I am going to be trying out Crystal later this year.

 

A few years ago I would also have said RSS but now that I am older and not as mobile as i once was, I hate to pay for excursions and drinks that I no longer can enjoy.

 

Princess gives us the best past passenger rewards and they allow us to combine onboard credits which also include a veteran's credit.We prefer their smaller ships but choose the itinerary before other factors.

[Porthopper101]

We are 70 and 58. We did four world cruises on Cunard. We love it! Did Alaska cruise on Hal last month. Love Alaska but dislike Hal. We will be doing 180 days world voyage on Insignia. We have read many great things on Oceania. Can not wait for next year to come.

 

Happy sailing

 

M

 

 

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[MarylandCruiseCouple]

When cruising, we don't want to feel like we're in 'God's waiting room', but neither do we want a 'family atmosphere'. We have an intolerance to young children running around and squealing! We also like fairly high standards of comfort etc, without being in a position to shell out for premium prices.

 

Can agree with the above. As empty-nesters we enjoy fellow travelers that are our age range (55ish). Like most people we can afford cruising but do not want to get hosed with outrageous pricing.

 

Based upon limited experience and knowledge of what's on offer, Celebrity seems to fit the bill for us. RCL, despite offering discounts for over 55s, reads like it encourages families and, shock horror, appears to have water slides and gaudy colours :eek: HAL, I notice is popular, but I don't know enough about them. Princess? My impression is its considered to be on a par with Celebrity by many. I need to know more about P & O and Fred Olsen may be a little more down market.

 

A July 27th cruise to Bermuda will be our first on Celebrity and we are hooing it meets our expectations as well. Agree with you on Royal. Cruised on HAL to Bermuda for our 30th anniversary and had the most wonderful cruise. Yes there was nothing to do after 9:00 PM and the buffet was jammed at 6:00 with the prune juice patrol , but the ship docked in Hamilton for three days (when ships still did that) and we had a great view of the harbor from our balcony (booked port side cabin just for that reason.) l think HAL might be the best for our age group.

 

So it would be great to hear from more experienced cruisers about favourite cruise lines, disliked cruise lines and why. All views and experiences welcome :)

 

It may seem that I dissed Royal earlier in this post, but was not doing that. Was just agreeing with OP. The first cruise we went on was with Royal to Bermuda and it ranks as 3rd best on my list (after HAL to Bermuda and Princess to Alaska) as we were with four couples, all of us friends from childhood. 20 years later we still reminisce.

 

 

[FireStation46]

I like to see all age groups . I need not participate but I enjoy seeing kids, young adults and active adults ~ like me~ having a good time and sharing experiences. My last cruise I had great conversations with singles, just married, adults with younguns to teenagers , to older adults. Variety adds spice to life IMHO

[linda47]

I just read through all the posts and only a few people mentioned Azamara which surprises me. I've been on Carnival, RCL, HAL, Celebrity & Azamara. Although I would go on Carnival if it was free, I wouldn't pay for one. Did not have a great experience on HAL, especially with the food, but that was a long time ago. RCL is good but is geared more to families. Celebrity was my favorite and I would gladly sail on them again. I did love Aqua Class & the Blue restaurant.

 

But Azamara is, by far, my favorite. I've done 5 cruises on them, all on Quest. The crew is OUTSTANDING!!! From the Captain right down to the guys swabbing the deck. Very friendly and accessible. You are 'family' from the moment you step on board. You are remembered by the staff from cruise to cruise. It's never 'welcome aboard' but 'welcome home'. Food is excellent. Entertainment is good, but because of the small size of the ship, the theater area is small & big production shows really can't be done. That being said, they do a great job with what they have to work with and one of their shows "Voices" is excellent. Very different. They bring in a variety of entertainers who are also very good. Smoking is limited to a small area on the pool deck. And they do have a self service laundry which is free, including the soap.

 

I've looked at Oceana, but I find their prices to be much higher than Azamara. And Azamara includes gratuities and most beverages including bottled water, specialty coffees/teas and alcoholic drinks. So it may cost more, but it includes more. Their single supplement on most cruises is 125% which is much better than 200%. (And no, I don't work for Azamara.)

 

After being on the smaller ships, I can't see myself on one of the 5000 passenger ones.

[Knickearth]

I fear I may start seeming like tooth ache, or the kid that keeps asking "but why . . .". However, since I'm seeking a real picture of different cruise lines . . . . . . what are the activites on on the Princess? :o

 

having cruised over 30 times now on the likes of Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and one other line that no longer exists - we love Princess.

 

We are elite on Princess, so of course we love the little perks they give us. I guess the intangible item is the ambiance onboard the ships. Very friendly and very open.

 

One other consideration is that we tend to travel on 14 or more day trips and so there are never really any children on board of significance. The longer trips give us time to really get to know other people and it gives us time to utilize the specialty restaurants. That said, this is probably true of all cruise lines.

 

Hope this helps a bit. Knick

[BermudaStarz]

We too have over 30 cruises and about 8 lines. Our favorite is Royal Caribbean, of course we have only been sailing with them consistently over the past few years. Celebrity was also a huge favorite.

 

Our experience on Princess was awesome but it was 20 yrs ago - only disappointment was the food but I believed it was an unusual experience and not a major concern. We have family that I doubt would ever cruise anything BUT Princess!!

 

As far as children on Royal Caribbean? Never have experienced any problem with them = barely know they are there. You'd have to go look for them and maybe you would find them :p -

[Knickearth]

Hey there Bermuda Starz, glad to make your acquaintance.

 

We traveled twice on Royal Caribbean and both times had dining room problems. The second time was completely unforgiveable so we never went again on RC. Once on Norwegian was once too many times. Carnival trip had 1200 people on board and an announcement was made that 800 were under age 12. Ithink all 800 ran around with walkie talkies continually yelling into them

 

Have a dozen trips on Holland America, but in 2006 got turned off to that line and have since done Celebrity which I loved and Princess which is our favorite.

 

We are coming from California and getting onboard in Copenhagen.

[karska]

We also had a bad experience on royal Caribbean. Formal night and the next table had shorts and tee shirts. They could've gone to buffet but were allowed in mdr. Food mediocre. We love celebrity, princess was good until huge movie screen at pool etc etc. Doing Oceania in a month.

 

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[Knickearth]

Karska, I mean really bad dining room experience on RC. lol

 

Had new waitress and new assist. waiter. Both barely spoke or understood english. Nightly, our food arrived "cold". We complained to matre d and to the rest. mgr. Only excuses given to us such as the order is placed in kitchen and then they have to get at the end of the line to pick it up and that is why it isn't hot. Guess what RC, that's a poorly run dining room.

 

Our coffee was in carafes they placed in a cabinet near the table. Unfortunately, by the time we were having coffee at the end of the meal, that too was cold coffee.

 

always left a bad taste in my mouth the entire experience. But I loved the ship.

[Knickearth]

Where in NJ? I use to live in Teaneck, Bergenfield and then Dumont before moving to California

[BermudaStarz]

Hey there Bermuda Starz, glad to make your acquaintance.

 

We traveled twice on Royal Caribbean and both times had dining room problems. The second time was completely unforgiveable so we never went again on RC. Once on Norwegian was once too many times. Carnival trip had 1200 people on board and an announcement was made that 800 were under age 12. Ithink all 800 ran around with walkie talkies continually yelling into them

 

Have a dozen trips on Holland America, but in 2006 got turned off to that line and have since done Celebrity which I loved and Princess which is our favorite.

 

We are coming from California and getting onboard in Copenhagen.

 

Oh my - that is quite a list of disappointing experiences - that cruise with all those kids would truly be a nightmare. I guess we are fortunate - even our 25th Anniv was on Disney and not a problem. Glad to hear you have had wonderful cruises with HAL and Princess - maybe I will convince DH that we should cruise Princess with my 'addicted' cousins - that would be awesome.

 

Congrats on the Copenhagen trip - that should be amazing!!

[Cam6959]

Everyone has their favorite line and itinerary.

Mine is Royal Caribbean. One thing is I did the Allure and Oasis and will not do them again, too many people, no matter what anyone says yes on the promenade and in Central Park and the Boardwalk it was crowded. But more crowded are the elevators. The rest of the ship I agree does not feel like there are that many people on board. :)

As most have said it all depends on time of year and length of cruise when it comes to children.

RCCL became my favorite cruise line when I went on my 2nd cruise with them 3rd cruise overall. I went on the Navigator of the Seas and after a horrific day trying to make the cruise due to bad weather the Captain of the Navigator had held the ship for us and others delayed. We were the last people on the ship and one of the officers grabbed my hand pulled me on board and said welcome aboard as the ramp was pulled away. The Captain then sent us a bottle of wine and on the card said Glad you could make it! Then when we were on board my husband had several crew members say his name and they remembered us from our first sailing on the Grandeur.

So everyone has a reason why that cruise line works for them and why it is a favorite. The crew on RCCL have always taken good care of my husband and I, so yes they are my favorite crew there are too many stories to tell why they are my favorite but I always look forward to going on a cruise and seeing the crew on RCCL ships.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We like Holland for the long ones..

[mjjden]

We have not cruised a lot but have enjoyed all. We did Mediterranean- Carnival Magic the first week in Sept. There were 90 kids on board, the week before there have been 1000. So as many have said, cruise when school is in session.

 

We are 59 and 64, and due to husband's health are not big partiers. We like HAL Any Time Dining, because we meet new people each night, and plan our dinner time around return from port and if we want to do early or late show. We enjoy going to the piano bar and singing along.Happy Hour from 4-5 in the Crow's Nest is good 2 for 1 or second for $1 with snacks is a nice way to unwind after a day in port. HAL does have a lot of older folks but we have found a cruise is what you make it.

 

We are open to trying other cruise lines, but look to price and itinerary and have found HAL has provided what we wanted.

[islandatsea]

Princess is the cruise line we usually cruise on now. We still do once in a while cruise Carnival. Never have had a bad experience with any cruise I have been on, thinking about 30 cruises total so far between all the cruise lines. Cruised on Holland America one time so far and enjoyed them.

 

If anyone remembers the Dolphin Cruise Line, that is the first time I ever stepped onboard a ship. Even though the ships were built in the 1950's & was about 25,000 gross tons, truly a good time. Except one time the air conditioning broke on the Oceanbreeze if I remember the name of the ship correctly & had no a/c for an entire day........... talk about hot temperatures inside on a cruise ship.

Edited September 7, 2014 by islandatsea