Do you pick a cruise for itinerary or ship?

[meganj]

We book for itinerary and price although I will book quantum and oasis one day no matter what the itinerary is!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[FOXTROT]

Yes. If we have not sailed on a ship we will pick the new ship. We will also pick a favorite cruise. If none of these strike our fancy we pick a Radiance class ship & try for room 1100. We will also wait for 1100.:rolleyes:

[tlatrice]

You are in the same boat as myself. Two cruises so far one ready for Feb. Two ships, one i loved and one I hated. I think I am all about the itinerary until I have seen almost everything and then may lean more toward the ship.

 

Which ship did you hate?

[sanditoes4]

I pick a cruise because it's a cruise & to get out of MN in the middle of the winter!! If you made me decide it would be by price. I really don't care where I go (they all have beaches and more beautiful sights than snow) or which ship it is (except the superships I really have no desire to try one) because they all have a pool deck and bar!

 

I'm sure you get my point, and now that I am back in the "real" work world I get to start browsing again at awesome prices!! :)

[Irene7]

For a one stop cruise like Bermuda, it would be the itinerary. We do not care what ship we are on and consider it a destination cruise. For the Bahamas or Caribbean, it has always been the ship.

[Folk Singer]

Both. :):)

[screamin400]

Which ship did you hate?

 

Carnival Paradise.

[dsvd79]

itinerary and price.

 

I like to try a new place everytime I cruise.

[Ashland]

Always the itinerary...only once (in over 20 cruises) has it been for the ship and that was for Oasis.

[Folk Singer]

Which ship did you hate?

 

 

there isn't one I dislike.

[Onessa]

Itinerary - exclusively

[davekathy]

We didn't care much for the Navigator. Right after dry dock and adding 77 rooms. Seemed the only place to hide from the crowds was our JS.

 

Bummer for you. For us that wouldn't have been an issue.

[Folk Singer]

Bummer for you. For us that wouldn't have been an issue.

 

 

Nous Aussi.:)

[mugtech]

Itinerary,cruise line, ship and price . In that order. We also have departure port preferences.

 

AND; we prefer smaller ships.

ditto

[Rocketlady]

I prefer the ship. We don't even get off the ship most of the time now. It is too

expensive for such a short time on land.

[cruisevv]

Price and perks. No matter what itinerary or ship I choose I make sure to get something (pre-paid gratuities, free spa treatment) + OBC.

[cruisingsince94]

Ship and price mostly. We do not have the income to do some of the places we would like to do.

[RocketMan275]

Honestly, except for one thing, we'd be pleased if the ship just sailed around in circles. We hardly venture more than 200 yards from the ship when we do get off to get a few t-shirts for the grand kids. The lone exception is this. We do love port days since we have the ship to ourselves. Our selection criteria is which cruise line has the suites with the best balconies with a preference for aft.

Edited April 29, 2015 by RocketMan275

[American Bear]

We are going on the adventure in Feb. with a very busy itinerary. 5 ports in the Southern Caribbean. We are ready to book the Carnival Dream for the following Feb. as it goes to the rest of the Southern Caribbean. We also took a look at the Oasis class ships. I know there is no comparison of ships but there also in no comparison of itinerary. I wish the Oasis could get a good itinerary. So do you book ship or itinerary? I am leaning toward the itinerary but not sure. Opinions please.

 

 

After 25 plus years, here's our opinions,,

RCL will almost never be your first pick with itinerary, or price.

RCL's best itinerary is out of San Juan, 5 ports on a 7 day cruise.

RCL has the largest ships with the most diverse activities on board offered.

RCL's Broadway shows on the larger ships are arguably the best at sea.

RCL's loyalty program at higher levels offers the most benes..

 

Carnival, NCL, and MSC are usually less expensive, the cabins are larger, and they usually have more port stops in their itinerary.

 

Carnival, we'd suggest only ships with the new 2.0 upgrades. Worth it!

Carnival also offers a San Juan cruise with 5 ports in 7 days, from 10-30% less then RCL.

Carnival is usually the least expensive cruise in a comparable mkt..

Carnival allows you to pre-purchase liquor for your cabin saving your bar bill.

Carnival has the most activities on sea days.

 

NCL features my time dining, a large number of extra pay restaurants, and a large assortment of very good entertainment on the below listed ships, 'Pearl, Dawn, Getaway, Breakaway'and new in Nov. the 'Escape'.

NCL loyalty club gives extra pt. per day when cruise booked more then 9 months out.

Upscale cruisers can book the Haven, NCL's ship within a ship that offers over the top service.

 

MSC Divina, (and in 2017 the new Seaside Class) is beautiful, refined European cruising. Everything done at relaxed, easy going pace, you want speed, look elsewhere.

Other then RCL's Broadway shows, the Divina has the best entertainment in the Caribbean, best buffet, best pizza, and usually the best sales on balconies.

MSC has drink voucher pkges. that make their drinks cost about 1/2 of other cruise lines.

MSC's loyalty club is the easiest to move up. The top level gets 20% the best price of all future cruises.

Upscale cruisers can book the Yacht Club, MSC's ship within a ship that offers over the top service.

[Grandma Nomad]

Itinerary every time. There are too many places in the world to see to keep repeating cruises. We love to cruise so we don't have to keep unpacking each night but the ports are our greatest interest. As most flights for us are between 9 and 23 hours we like to include a bit of land touring and also a cruise. We have sailed on most cruise lines and each has its own plus points.

[John&LaLa]

Queue up the first extinguishers, flames are about to begin!

 

But truly, I do want to understand why a true cruise fanatic would choose to cruise on one of the mega ships, strictly for the ship experience. I would really like someone to explain to me how the experience then differs from a LAND-BASED resort. I have friends who have cruised on the large ships and...even if they LOVE LOVE LOVE it...they comment that glimpsing the ocean is NOT as easy as it is on other ships. And it seems like we all agree that the itineraries are awful.

 

Admittedly, this is my own opinion, but isn't seeing the ocean surrounding you all the time part of the attraction of a cruise versus a land-based vacation? I haven't experienced a balcony yet, but I can tell you that I woke up nearly every hour on the hour during the first night of my last cruise, just to look out the window at the sea. (It was calling!)

 

If you want big entertainment opportunities, great food, and a variety of fun attractions, you could get all that and far grander accommodations in Vegas. (Nothing against Vegas; I've visited twice and loved it.) But you don't see the ocean in Vegas and you spend the entire vacation in ONE place. Kind of like if you sail on a mega ship and never disembark.

 

I know this with inflame many who will let me know why I'm totally wrong in no uncertain terms. But that is really not my intent. Honestly, I just don't get the point.

 

Looks like the ocean to me.

[Summerknight]

Intinerary & price (including, all costs of travel to the embark port)

 

Absolutely agree!

 

We do not cruise to see or experience the ship. The more ports the better. Love waking up somewhere new every morning.

[ryano]

Honestly, except for one thing, we'd be pleased if the ship just sailed around in circles. We hardly venture more than 200 yards from the ship when we do get off to get a few t-shirts for the grand kids. The lone exception is this. We do love port days since we have the ship to ourselves. .

 

I agree 100%. Same here :)

[SPacificbound]

Definitely itinerary.

[Sitzmark]

Price and ship, having been on only one cruise and on a boat that has a lot of entertainment options compared to most I found it boring. If there are any days at sea then there needs to be something to do besides sitting and staring at some buffet line. It seems the smaller the boat, the less options there are to pass the time.

 

Not a lot of point in worrying about the itinerary since you won't be in any one spot long enough to get any true sense of what it is like to go there. When I look at the excursions, it seems like a lot of ports have many nearly identical ones.