Choosing between Cruise lines? Scared to make the wrong choice

[madtaj]

HI,

 

We have recently come back from a cruise on Voyager of the seas and absolutely Loved It!

 

We loved that it was a cruise with ages between 8 months & 85 and catered for everyone in between.

 

The only fault I could find was the pool deck was too slippery...no big deal we were just more careful.

 

Would love to go on another cruise and a lot of people (not our age though) raved about Princess lines. The Diamond in particular.

 

Can you all please tell me..does the princess cater for all age groups?

 

We are not party animals but if we wanted to stay up a little later is there any late entertainment?

 

Is the room service complimentary like Royal?

 

Do they have snacks complimentary like royal (the kids loved the promenade cafe)

 

How is the kids club, do they have a structured program?

 

Just do not want to book a cruise where children may not be as welcomed by other guests and someone advised me maybe to book Princess in school holidays to overcome this?

 

Any thoughts or advice please?

[silverwillow]

Princess is not for everyone it depends on you. We have done a few cruises on the Diamond and she is my favourite ship by far. We are not party animals though and like our own company most of the time. We cruise with our daughter and the Princess kids clubs are the best we have come across. In fact we usually have to drag her out of there she loves it so much. The programs are great and the kids club staff have always been lovely and friendly. You get a printout at the start of the cruise letting you know what activities they are running during the cruise.

The ship is beautiful and there are so many pools and public areas that it never feels overcrowded. Except when tendering and embarking ect. I would say the crowd is going to be a bit older than on Royal and the night life will probably reflect this but it will also depend on the friends you make on the ship. There are shows on and sometimes late night entertainment ie a comedy show or game show but we never went to the bars and nightclub late so not sure about them, we were always so knackered from our days and preferred to sleep and prepare for the next day of fun. The room service is free except I think pizza has a $3 service charge.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Princess has an Easter sale on at the moment. Seriously good prices, I think. I just saved around $1260 on my Christmas cruise. My TA was able to cancel my original booking and rebook me in the same cabin at the lower price.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Any thoughts or advice please?

 

While its always great to try new ships and cruise lines , you should also check out what, if any , "perks" you will get (or miss out on) from the Loyalty Programme , if you switch to another cruise line.

 

 

[MicCanberra]

For most of your issues/queries, Princess will be just like RCI. The biggest difference would be demographic and this is really dependent on the time of year (holiday periods), the itinerary and the length of the cruise.

E.g. A 10 night cruise to the pacific islands in school holidays will be a different demographic than a 28 night around Australia cruise outside of school holidays.

[dionex]

We have recently come back from a cruise on Voyager of the seas and absolutely Loved It!

 

Hi Madtaj we too just cruised on the Voyager and feel exactly the same way .. So wanting to do another cruise but scared it wont have the same things as the voyager .

I'm not sure as i have never cruised before this one but i think the feeling of the promenade made it feel like we were on more of a floating hotel than ship and i too am scared if i choose another liner that we will be disappointed but in saying that there are so many people on this forum who have cruised with many liners. we are trying to accommodate 3 teenagers as well as ourselves and we felt the voyager did that wonderfully. It would be nice though to try different locations and we were even thinking of repeating the same cruise as we loved the whole experience but having a variety of islands on the south pacific is limited with voyager. Let me know your thoughts as we are in the same mindset i think ..

 

thanks

[madtaj]

I will let you know dionex but I think the travel agent mentioned to me today voyager will be able to go to the smaller ports as they are adding something to the ship after the refurb to allow this?? I don't really understand it but maybe someone on this thread can elaborate?

 

Interesting about princess and I think I will look at her scheduling and if there is one in the school holidays I might book it...especially if its the diamond.

 

I would also put some thought into the Explorer of the seas as it is same class as voyager and would be nice maybe to try another ship in the fleet.

 

thanks for all your advice!

[Rule240]

Howdy,

 

Noticed no one posted any comments about Celebrity? Any reason? Thanks for the help

B:)b

[Miamia65]

Not sure how old your kids are but Royal Caribbean has a new sale where kids cruise for $25 per day - in the same cabin as adults as 3rd and 4th passenger. I did some searching and on same of the cruises the pricing indicates that the price for 3rd and 4th is the taxes only, ie. 12 nights to south pacific on rhapsody was $187 each.

 

I think royal caribbean does entertainment much better than the other lines, voyager is an awesome ship as are the smaller ones. We have been on oasis of the seas and she is an amazing ship. From what I have read they are "family friendly"

 

Other posters comment is important too, have you joined the Crown and Anchor society of royal, you get points per night for loyalty. Its easy to join via their website. All of the cruise lines have loyalty programs but if you stick with one line because you like them then your points accumulate with them faster.

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

I believe celebrity is very similar quality to princess.

 

I definitely think Prinny make kids welcome. We went over Christmas and had 450 kids on board. I only know his as it was announced. Had I not heard it it, I probably would have said 30 or so :D! That's how well they were catered for.

 

I did read somewhere here that swimming pools are a big deciding factor for kids. Ie if they are wade in or climb in!

Edited April 18, 2014 by Cruise_me_Crazy

[Tara Jane]

I have done Dawn Princess and Pacific Pearl with my 8 and now 9 year old granddaughter. She loved kids club on the dawn but absolutely LOVED LOVED and LOVED it on the Pearl.

I actually felt there was a lot more variety food wise for kids on the pearl than dawn princess. Sorry I can't comment on kids club on royal Caribbean as I haven't taken her on RC. My personal preference is Celebrity, then Royal Caribbean, p and O, then the dawn princess. I have purchased next cruise coupons for both celebrity and RC. and am very happy with both lines, they are actually owned by the same parent company. More kids seem to go RC over celebrity.

[MicCanberra]

Love X, it is my cruise line of choice but Itinerary comes first for us. It is very similar to Princess as well. The demographics change with the length, itinerary and timing of the cruise.:D

[Rule240]

Love X, it is my cruise line of choice but Itinerary comes first for us. It is very similar to Princess as well. The demographics change with the length, itinerary and timing of the cruise.:D

Love X also, especially Blu. Have you been, or planning OZ/NZ cruise? Any help or suggestions? We're currently booked SYD-AKL on 12-4-15. Yes, I plan far ahead.

Though sometime if we just wanna get away will pick weekend cruise from Long Beach on Carnival. Just relax on our balcony, rarely leaving cabin.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Rule240
Add a sentence

[Rule240]

:( Sorry - forgot 2 say thanks. From your handle, do u live in Australia? Any shore excursion help is appreciated. We (wife, sister and brother in law) plan to arrive in SYD 3-4 days b 4 cruise, and stay in AKL 2-3 days post cruise.

B:)b

[MicCanberra]

:( Sorry - forgot 2 say thanks. From your handle, do u live in Australia? Any shore excursion help is appreciated. We (wife, sister and brother in law) plan to arrive in SYD 3-4 days b 4 cruise, and stay in AKL 2-3 days post cruise.

B:)b

 

Yes, I live in Australia in Canberra (3 hours drive south of Sydney).

I suggest you take a ferry from Circular Quay (right near the OPT cruise terminal) to Manly, a great day out and an iconic beach.

A trip to the Blue Mountains (train can work for this as well) Circular Quay station to Katoomba and see a lot of Sydney's suburbs along the way. Tours are readily available and would also take in some animal parks for Koalas and Roos.

Al walk around Sydney with the art gallery or museums, shopping or a ferry to Taronga Park Zoo can make for a nice visit.

 

In Auckland, there is a ferry across the bay to Devonport which is a nice little town or a walk to the gardens at thre top of the city but the NZers will be able to answer this better than I.:D

[Royalty X]

I will let you know dionex but I think the travel agent mentioned to me today voyager will be able to go to the smaller ports as they are adding something to the ship after the refurb to allow this?? I don't really understand it but maybe someone on this thread can elaborate?

 

 

 

Interesting about princess and I think I will look at her scheduling and if there is one in the school holidays I might book it...especially if its the diamond.

 

 

 

I would also put some thought into the Explorer of the seas as it is same class as voyager and would be nice maybe to try another ship in the fleet.

 

 

 

thanks for all your advice!

Up until the dry dock in October this year, Voyager is only able to visit ports where she can pull alongside due to her not having any tender boats. Tender boats will be installed during the dry dock, so she'll be able to visit smaller ports where she can drop anchor and tender people ashore.

[Rule240]

Yes, I live in Australia in Canberra (3 hours drive south of Sydney).

I suggest you take a ferry from Circular Quay (right near the OPT cruise terminal) to Manly, a great day out and an iconic beach.

A trip to the Blue Mountains (train can work for this as well) Circular Quay station to Katoomba and see a lot of Sydney's suburbs along the way. Tours are readily available and would also take in some animal parks for Koalas and Roos.

Al walk around Sydney with the art gallery or museums, shopping or a ferry to Taronga Park Zoo can make for a nice visit.

 

In Auckland, there is a ferry across the bay to Devonport which is a nice little town or a walk to the gardens at thre top of the city but the NZers will be able to answer this better than I.:D

 

Mic or Michael--hope that's your name

Thanks a gazillion for your help. Much appreciated. We also plan a tour of the opera house. Bridge walk is just a bit too much. Some have mobility issues. For me, I would like, along with my zip lining and jet ski.

Anytime you come to the USA, give me a shout (holla). Though we're a much bigger country, I traveled extensively for my job.

Good Day and Best regards from Southern California -- half way between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara

B:)b

[Flipper133]

Love X also, especially Blu. Have you been, or planning OZ/NZ cruise? Any help or suggestions? We're currently booked SYD-AKL on 12-4-15. Yes, I plan far ahead.

Though sometime if we just wanna get away will pick weekend cruise from Long Beach on Carnival. Just relax on our balcony, rarely leaving cabin.

 

Hi Bob

 

I understand your need to plan well ahead...I'm a bit the same.

 

We are cruising on Solstice on the Auckland-Sydney route in December this year. 4th time we have done the NZ cruise and we love it, and never tire of seeing all the sights.

 

BTW... one small suggestion. When posting on a site pertinent to OZ/NZ make sure you are clear with your dates. Down here we put the day first followed by the month...you guys do the opposite. Sometimes gets confusing... I am guessing you are sailing 4th Dec 2015 ...not 12th April 2015 :D

 

Any help you want with your plans, just ask...plenty of time to do your research..and you could do worse than a visit to our Roll Call where there has been a healthy and very useful exchange of ideas.

 

cheers

[fishtaco]

HI,

 

We have recently come back from a cruise on Voyager of the seas and absolutely Loved It!

 

We loved that it was a cruise with ages between 8 months & 85 and catered for everyone in between.

 

The only fault I could find was the pool deck was too slippery...no big deal we were just more careful.

 

Would love to go on another cruise and a lot of people (not our age though) raved about Princess lines. The Diamond in particular.

 

Can you all please tell me..does the princess cater for all age groups?

 

We are not party animals but if we wanted to stay up a little later is there any late entertainment?

 

Is the room service complimentary like Royal?

 

Do they have snacks complimentary like royal (the kids loved the promenade cafe)

 

How is the kids club, do they have a structured program?

 

Just do not want to book a cruise where children may not be as welcomed by other guests and someone advised me maybe to book Princess in school holidays to overcome this?

 

Any thoughts or advice please?

 

You may be disappointed in the actual size of some of the other ships Verses Voyager.

 

There will be no promenade as you know it on voyager, and no big parades, smaller ships can feel a lot more crowded in some places onboard.

 

Its hard to compare a Voyager cruise to other Australian cruises in my opinion because of the shear size of voyager and most other ships will give a different cruise experience especially to those who had their first ever cruising experience on Voyager:)

[MicCanberra]

Mic or Michael--hope that's your name

Thanks a gazillion for your help. Much appreciated. We also plan a tour of the opera house. Bridge walk is just a bit too much. Some have mobility issues. For me, I would like, along with my zip lining and jet ski.

Anytime you come to the USA, give me a shout (holla). Though we're a much bigger country, I traveled extensively for my job.

Good Day and Best regards from Southern California -- half way between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara

B:)b

No worries. We frequent the states regularly.:D

[madtaj]

You may be disappointed in the actual size of some of the other ships Verses Voyager.

 

There will be no promenade as you know it on voyager, and no big parades, smaller ships can feel a lot more crowded in some places onboard.

 

Its hard to compare a Voyager cruise to other Australian cruises in my opinion because of the shear size of voyager and most other ships will give a different cruise experience especially to those who had their first ever cruising experience on Voyager:)

 

Yes that's the problems we were first time cruisers thinking we started at the top of the line size wise.....might look at princess diamond though as see her itinerary.

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

Yes that's the problems we were first time cruisers thinking we started at the top of the line size wise.....might look at princess diamond though as see her itinerary.

 

Madtaj. I think the good news is, if you enjoyed cruising, then regardless which line / ship you end up on, you will enjoy it! :)

[MicCanberra]

Madtaj. I think the good news is, if you enjoyed cruising, then regardless which line / ship you end up on, you will enjoy it! :)

Totally Agree, I haven't found a cruise line / ship that has delivered a bad cruise. Obviously, some have been better than others but they have all been good cruises.:D

[cruisin-m]

Totally Agree, I haven't found a cruise line / ship that has delivered a bad cruise. Obviously, some have been better than others but they have all been good cruises.:D

 

Second this, no matter what cruise line you choose you will have an enjoyable time :cool: Have tried all the cruise lines out of Australia and have never had anything other than a great cruise regardless of which.

 

Everyone will tell you one is better than the other, but it's honestly best not to listen (my favourite cruises are on ships that other have warned me against, and least favourites on some of the most highly spoke of) we all just have our preferences and different lines do things differently. What you love, might not be so important to me.

 

At the end of the day though, all cruise lines offer a VERY similar core product.

[MicCanberra]

Second this, no matter what cruise line you choose you will have an enjoyable time :cool: Have tried all the cruise lines out of Australia and have never had anything other than a great cruise regardless of which.

 

Everyone will tell you one is better than the other, but it's honestly best not to listen (my favourite cruises are on ships that other have warned me against, and least favourites on some of the most highly spoke of) we all just have our preferences and different lines do things differently. What you love, might not be so important to me.

 

At the end of the day though, all cruise lines offer a VERY similar core product.

 

Attitude goes along way to enjoyment and of course that helps with meeting new friends on the cruise as well.:D