Which cruise line should I choose?

[budisal]

I know cruise lines are subjective and we have been on three different ones. Our favourite is HAL. However, we are planning to do an 11-14 day Southern Caribbean cruise in Jan/Feb and are not thrilled with HAL's itineraries... we've already been to most of those ports before. We're thinking maybe Celebrity because we do enjoy HAL's service and standards. Anybody have any other suggestions that are within our HAL-type budget?

 

 

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[kjw869]

I know cruise lines are subjective and we have been on three different ones. Our favourite is HAL. However, we are planning to do an 11-14 day Southern Caribbean cruise in Jan/Feb and are not thrilled with HAL's itineraries... we've already been to most of those ports before. We're thinking maybe Celebrity because we do enjoy HAL's service and standards. Anybody have any other suggestions that are within our HAL-type budget?

 

 

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Hi, I'm not sure what you mean when you stated "We're thinking maybe Celebrity because we do enjoy HAL's service and standards."??

 

We have taken the Noordam twice on the 11-day Southern Caribbean cruise and love all the islands. Next year, the Noordam has dropped the port of call of Dominica and replaced it with St. Kitts. We are currently booked on the Westerdam and have thought of switching cruises because we have never been to St. Kitts. To us, all those windward islands are beautiful , as well as the Noordam, our favorite HAL ship. We have no desirte to try some other line or a larger cruise ship.

 

Whatever you choose, Happy Cruising!

[budisal]

Thanks. I think I'm going to go through those itineraries again. We truly love HAL. Maybe we're just spoiled because we've sailed the Eurodam a few times and are afraid to try another HAL ship for fear of being disappointed because they're older.

 

 

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Edited April 26, 2014 by budisal

[kjw869]

Thanks. I think I'm going to go through those itineraries again. We truly love HAL. Maybe we're just spoiled because we've sailed the Eurodam a few times and are afraid to try another HAL ship for fear of being disappointed because they're older.

 

 

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We've been on all the Vista and both Signature ships, many multiple times, but we really like the Noordam as so many other prolific HAL cruisers do. Many times I've read on these boards that it took the final build of the Vista (Noordam), to "get it right". Then they went back and put the Exploration's Café and Library back up by the Crow's Nest on the Signature ships.

 

We just got off the Noordam in February, and when we found out it was doing the Alaskan itinerary next year, we booked it as soon as we could. Don't worry about the age of the ship, the Eurodam launched in 2008 and the Noordam 2006. The only thing missing is the Tamarind, but we love the peace and quiet of the Exploration's Café and the library on the Promenade Deck.

[budisal]

Thanks for your help. I've been reading a number of Noordam reviews since I posted and am pretty pleased with what I've read. Looks like the Noordam in February. I liked the Tamarind, but I can live without it. The Lido had the best Thai I've ever eaten on embarkation day in Feb. 2013. Happy cruising.

 

 

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[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Celebrity is very nice But service staff Holland is # !

[sunsetbeachgal]

Princess has a couple of very nice ten day itineraries....ships are larger but we always have had good service...also if you haven't done Panama Canal that is a great cruise, also incorporating some of the Caribbean stops you might not have visited..

[OCruisers]

Either Princess or Celebrity should meet your needs. :)

LuLu

[iancal]

Like others have mentioned, we also very much like Celebrity and Princess.

 

We feel that the ship can be as or more important than the cruise line. We prefer not to cruise on some of the older ships for a variety of reasons. Maintenance being at the top of the list.

 

It also depends 'how' you book. Now that we are retired we tend to book closer to departure time. We narrow our choices down to a few ships and then select the best overall value based upon our personal preferences when our target price hits. This past Christmastime, it happened to be Celebrity. But it could have just as easily been HAL or Princess if the value was there on the day that we booked.

Edited April 26, 2014 by iancal

[rjrpar]

We just completed a 14 day So. Caribbean on Celebrity Eclipse, it was wonderful. Stopped at 8 ports and the ship is beautiful, a notch up from HAL

Would do it again next year but right now we are booked for 11 days on the new Quantom OTS.

[eandj]

I think you would be happy with Celebrity. Especially their S carib on one of the newer S class ships.

Princess also offers a change from HAL. But they don't offer too much on longer Carib cruises. They tend to do back to back our of Ft L which we don't like.

 

I think if you are "stuck" in the same cruiseline for a long time, that it is good to cruise another.. just to shop alternatives when itineraries become redundant on one's "go to" cruiseline. We are Celebrity regulars, but have moved to Princess and Hal on occasion when the itinerary is one we aren't offered on X.

[world~citizen]

Is Azamara a possibility?

[budisal]

Thanks to all of you who responded. There was lots of great info to digest. I have a bad habit of over-planning and tend to book my cruises much too early... consequently paying a higher price. However, in my defence, we live in Toronto Canada and have to be concerned about being able to coordinate our flight, so last minute cruises can pose some problems. I love the HAL cruises we've taken, but I'm not a fanatic. I will consider Celebrity for sure. Maybe we'll just wait and see what pops up. Like many of you, we too are retired, so there's a possibility of doing a cruise at any time. We are only held back by my wife's mom being in a long term care facility. My wife visits her every two days, so 10-11 days looks to be about the maximum we can do at this time.

Again, thanks to all of you. I love the CC forums.

 

 

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