How do you choose: ship or itinerary?

[bajangoddess82]

For my typical planned cruises, I usually use this order:

1. Port

2. Ship

3. Itinerary

 

I live an hr away from Pt. Canaveral and it's not much further of a drive if I were to choose Port Tampa, but Pt. Canaveral has more of a choice for ships so it usually gets my vote :)

 

Driving down to Port Lauderdale or Miami is fun on the way down, but I'm not a fan of driving 3+ hrs after the cruise just to get home.

[lido deck larry]

Ship.. Length of cruise.. Departure port.. Itinerary.. Price

In that order. Cruise enough,

You'll hit all the ports eventually.

[cruzecontrol]

In order this is how I decide.

Price

Itinerary

Where the ship leaves from

Ship

 

This is the way I choose!:D

[skyeman27]

In order this is how I decide.

Price

Itinerary

Where the ship leaves from

Ship

That is how I do it also...

[momof4girls]

On my limited budget (hopefully that will change after kids leave home), I have to rely on driving to the ports. That leaves me both New Orleans and Galveston 11 hours from me. Unfortunately, both ports run the same itineraries so the only thing truly different is the ship. For now, we are just trying out the different ships that each port has to offer. We went on the Magic a couple years back. We are going on the Dream and the Triumph next year. Then we will give Freedom, Liberty, and the Breeze a run after that. Very excited for the Breeze as I've heard wonderful things, plus by then we will have cruised both her sister ships.

 

I have nothing against trying out different cruise lines, and I would like to do that, but only when flying to the ports is something we can do. I prefer cruising in the "off" months (usually cheaper too), and we will be able to do that more as the girls get older (when it's just hubby and myself on the cruises).

[MiffyLynx]

First we pick the port.

 

Then we narrow down the ship choices at that port, and then the ports.

[pamrose228]

I cruise either from South Florida or NYC. Thats the most important factor. Next itinerary since I absolutely refuse to go to the Bahamas again. Price is next and ship is last. I prefer going on ships I have not been on.

[Budget Queen]

Does any ship or itinerary stand out in your mind? IOW if you had to pick just one which one would it be?

 

I have to say I miss the Carnivale. :) My first cruise and, charming. No uniformity, was like a maze on some decks. :)

 

Itinerary-- New Zealand and South America are highlights, I greatly enjoy. I've sailed Alaska around 50 times, so one of my favorites that I never tire of. My husband likes the TransAtlantics which we do every year- me I'm bored silly.

 

The world is small and there are plenty of places to cruise. The Caribbean has to be super low give away prices for me to pick one up- which they have frequently. :)

Edited March 28, 2015 by Budget Queen

[NoDayButToday]

For us it goes:

 

Departure port

Itinerary

Ship

 

We live in Florida, so we only look at ports in Florida, priority to Port Canaveral and Tampa because they are closer, but definitely still open to Ft Lauderdale and Miami.

 

Then we look at itinerary. I always prioritize the ones that have ports I haven't been to, husband prioritizes good scuba diving ports.

 

Lastly we look at ships, I'm happy with most ships, but there are a couple I have no interest in sailing so those will get ruled out immediately, but thankfully those ships are doing itineraries I'm not particularly interested in.

 

I should also mention that we only sail Carnival now. Husband prefers the more casual atmosphere and will not dress up for dinner except for the 2 cruise elegant nights. He really doesn't want to go on any of the lines that require a clothing change for the main dining room.

[Seany527]

I'd have to say, the first factor would finding an itinerary I like and hope there is a decent ship that matches up with it. Home port would be the next factor, then followed by the dates of the sailing.

[carrieluvsgreg]

For us, it depends. We have several bucket list cruises we want to eventually take. But living in Florida has its perks. Sometimes we cruise just because it's super cheap, other times we need specific dates so it limits us. We prefer Caribbean over bahamas so itinerary plays into it. Ship does play a roll. We have grown fond of Dream class for many reasons. So I guess each cruise has been booked for specific reasons for that trip.

 

 

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[SMSACE6]

So my husband and I haven't gone on our first cruise yet, but I'm already thinking about future cruises! :D For our upcoming cruise, we didn't pick the itinerary or the ship. Or even the dates or the specific cruiseline. We are sailing with a group, so it had to be that specific cruise. Although I do think that as long as we have a good experience, we will most likely stick with Carnival for future cruises in order to get the rewards.

 

But I'm wondering: for those of you that go on many cruises, what criteria do you have when picking one? Do you look for a specific cruise ship because of what it offers, or do you pick a specific itinerary because of places you want to see?

 

I would think that for most it would be the latter, but honestly, now that I have seen the pictures of the sky bikes that they are going to have on the Vista, I would honestly consider booking a cruise on that ship no matter where it's going. They look like so much fun!!!

 

Also, does anyone have a specific favorite Carnival ship? I'm wondering which one is most popular.

 

 

Well, sometimes it is just like you, because friends or family are going on a cruise and I wish to join, and that alone is enough of a draw to book a cruise.

 

But when I cruise solo, which I now most often do; I will pick a cruise based on itinerary, and price, and then which port it leaves from, and how easily I think I can get there (means air flight for me), also when these cruises fit into my work vacation time, and then somewhat also important is the ship. All of this is not necessarily in order:D But all these issues do influence.

 

Sometimes I have been impulsive and booked a cruise that I wanted to do, only to find that it would cost me a fortune to get to the departure port by airlines, and also to spend a pre cruise stay in hotel, plus transportation to cruise port. Cost is a big issue for me, and when I have been impulsive, I have often been disappointed and had to cancel. So what I suggest to research all aspects and take your time before picking a cruise.

 

Know where/what port you want to sail from, pick an interesting itinerary, research the ships and amenities, and sometimes it is scary to make a choice, but then go with it, and go with an open mind, and gather experience.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise, whichever and wherever you choose to go.

[bakersdozen12]

Wow, these replies have been fascinating and very insightful! It's nice to hear all sorts of different opinions. My initial thought was that if we liked Carnival, we would stick with it, but now I'm not so sure. I live in NH, so pretty much any cruise we do we will have to fly to. Although there is a Boston to Bermuda cruise that I wouldn't mind doing through Norwegian. It stays in port for three days (two overnights), which seems like a plus too given that we wouldn't have to rush back to the boat on a couple days. The main plus would be that we could just get dropped off at port so no parking or flights to pay for. So we'll see. I might just start researching Norwegian a bit to see what the reviews are for that cruise, rather than limiting myself to Carnival.

Edited March 29, 2015 by bakersdozen12

[seashell4274]

Port

Intenary

Ship

 

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[cincicruisers]

budget Queen will u adopt me so I can cruise all the time?? 😊

[Warm Breezes]

So my husband and I haven't gone on our first cruise yet, but I'm already thinking about future cruises! :D For our upcoming cruise, we didn't pick the itinerary or the ship. Or even the dates or the specific cruiseline. We are sailing with a group, so it had to be that specific cruise. Although I do think that as long as we have a good experience, we will most likely stick with Carnival for future cruises in order to get the rewards.

 

But I'm wondering: for those of you that go on many cruises, what criteria do you have when picking one? Do you look for a specific cruise ship because of what it offers, or do you pick a specific itinerary because of places you want to see?

 

I would think that for most it would be the latter, but honestly, now that I have seen the pictures of the sky bikes that they are going to have on the Vista, I would honestly consider booking a cruise on that ship no matter where it's going. They look like so much fun!!!

 

Also, does anyone have a specific favorite Carnival ship? I'm wondering which one is most popular.

 

We usually have a specific time frame we need to work with so the first thing we do is look at ships that fit into our timeline. Notice I said ship, we will cruise any cruise line if it meets what we want out of our cruise at a price we are willing to pay. When looking at what ships fit our timeline we narrow down further if we have a specific embarkation port or itinerary we would like to sail. We make a list of those and start comparing what the ships have to offer vs the cost of those cruises. This is how we have done most cruises. Having said that we have sailed Disney when our kids were younger to get the Disney experience and we chose NCL Epic over RCCL Oasis when we wanted to try a larger, newer ship that wasn't CCL after we had just gotten done with 3 CCL cruises in a row and wanted a change up. So basically we decide when we can go and then what we want out of our vacation and then find the ship that best fits our wants at the price we are willing to pay for those wants.

[Boris-n-Natasha]

I guess we buck the trend on how we go about deciding. We use the following:

 

1. Dates, we know when we want to cruise and that is the most important

2. Departure port, we prefer driving to the port so closer is better

3. Ports of Call/Price next - will pay more if it is someplace we have never been

 

The ship doesn't have too much sway - we really like the Fantasy class ships, but like the dining option larger ships have - like a serenity deck, so Conquest again only if all our other blocks are checked.

[v3cruiser]

1. Port- living in midwest, we have to fly to port so travel to port cost is big and hotel.

2. Itinerary/Cost of cruise - still exploring, hopefullynCarnival we keep doing journeys cruises!

3. Ship - anything but a Fantasy class.

Edited March 29, 2015 by v3cruiser

[RCmommy]

A new cruiser chiming in - only one under our belt, with our first on Carnival coming up soon!

 

I am on a mission to see as much of the world as I possibly can. A cruise ship is a vessel to help me. I look at it this way, on one trip I can see 3, 4 maybe more places while on a land vacation only one (primarily)

 

Despite, living in Canada, we got to see two other Provinces on our first cruise that would be too expensive to visit for a week on a land vacation price. (plus three bonus stops in the US)

 

It is very hard to say which is more important when choosing. I would say Ports are first, but if there was an awesome ship I wanted to sail on and it goes somewhere I have never been I would base a vacation from that ship. Price is always a factor. I want a good vacation at a good price. As much as I would love to sail on Disney, Princess, even RCI, they cost more and spending more means no other vacation for that year. Therefore making it harder for me to conquer my world visiting mission!! :D

 

I read a lot of reviews, but I have noticed that with cruising it is very subjective. So, I take the good and bad with a grain of salt and make the decision to experience it myself firsthand. At no point, do I want a cruiseline, resort brand, airline, etc responsible for my happiness on a trip. I go in with a positive attitude and it has yet to fail me.

 

We also travel with our kids. So, the ship needs to have enough things to keep them happy and busy - just like we look for in a different style of vacation.

 

Home port of course is also important. I would love to do an Med or Alaska cruise but the flights are much more. If I can leave from a home port we can drive to, with a decent ship which has what WE want and to places we want to see, that would be my top choice. That would be a whole lot easier if we lived in Florida!

[iheartmarshall]

So far I've only been on one cruise with two more coming up, one in December and one in April 2016. I'll really only reference the December one here since the April '16 one is a group cruise that I didn't personally choose.

 

When choosing our first cruise last year, DH and I looked at itineraries on different cruise lines and decided that Carnival was our best price/port combination during a time frame that we could go. We were on the Conquest and although she's a bit outdated and lacks some amenities people seem to love (like Serenity), we loved her. And this year, when booking our second cruise, we again went for the itinerary/price/time combination and ended up booking the Conquest again. While I would like to experience other ships in Carnival's fleet, I don't mind cruising on her again because we booked for the ports -- not the ship.

 

Of course, that may change as we continue to cruise but for now our trend has been itinerary first, ship second.

[OCruisers]

Have to admit that both are of equal importance to us. ;)

 

LuLu

[WECRUISE4US]

Well, for our next cruise in October we booked air first, then hotels for before and after the cruise, and then booked the cruise. Itinerary was not considered. We just enjoy cruising. The date is more important as I always try to be on a ship for my wife's birthday in October. And then we try to take a end of the winter cruise in late February/early March. Just returned from Carnival Breeze on March 8th and it is a very nice ship. Did the Carnival Dream in October and enjoyed this ship too. To be honest, the only ship we did not care for was the Carnival Destiny which is now the Carnival Sunshine. And as you can see that hasn't stopped us from going.:):) Enjoy your cruise!!!

[The_Geek]

We pick by date, then ship, and lastly itinerary

[CraftyScribbles]

Just returned from my first cruise. I think I'll pick itinerary over ship for now.