How do you pick your cruises?

[cocacola86]

My top picks for ships would be Anthem, Freedom and AOS more for the ports, Anthem for the dining options I didn't pick the Oasis class, although if the DW wants to go on it I have no problem, I think the Oasis would be more about the ship and its so huge.

[JimAOk1945]

What about cabin, what do you usually book, if you go out of SJ do you usually book an interior or OV cause there's more port days than sea days?

 

We always pick a cabin with a balcony, but we spend a lot of our free time on it.

 

My wife orders room service breakfast every day and we eat it on our balcony as long as the weather is agreeable. Most of the time it is. :D Also, she's into photography and enjoys taking sunset pictures, port sail in and sail away from our balcony.

 

It's just our preference. Some people will tell you they don't spend enough time in their room to justify the additional expense. It's something you might consider trying once for the experience.

[JimAOk1945]

My top picks for ships would be Anthem, Freedom and AOS more for the ports, Anthem for the dining options I didn't pick the Oasis class, although if the DW wants to go on it I have no problem, I think the Oasis would be more about the ship and its so huge.

We have cruised on the AOS once and are going again in December. It's a great ship and the itineraries are fantastic.

[Cuizer2]

Do you first go by ship, intenerarys,ports?

There's like 5 ships I like various ports although Allure, and FOS are almost the same except FOS goes to Coco Cay and Allure goes to Nassau. So any tips on how you base your decisions on?

 

When I first started I chose by itinerary (the area visited). Once I had seen most of the places I chose by ship (I've been on 27 cruises and only repeated two ships). Now I'm back to itinerary (visiting the islands I have not been to).

[cocacola86]

Were looking at the ABC and St Maarten

[missingyou]

We have always picked our cruises based on the departure port. Then we look at the ports being visited next. Being in Pennsylvania, it makes cruising easier if we stick to Baltimore and Cape Liberty as departure ports most of the time as it eliminates the air travel. But in 2013 for a holiday cruise we went out of Ft Lauderdale on the Legend solely based on the ports and it was the best decision ever. Aruba, Barbados, Grenada, Bonaire, Antigua and St. Maarten - best cruise ever!

[cocacola86]

Is it cheaper to book a balcony guarantee, and can you do it for AOS and what has your experience been like

[Clarea]

Is it cheaper to book a balcony guarantee, and can you do it for AOS and what has your experience been like

If guarantees are available (which they are not all the time), they are usually cheaper. However, I'd not do that on Adventure, because I would not want to get a balcony stateroom on deck 6.

[cocacola86]

What deck would be the best?

[Clarea]

What deck would be the best?

I like 7, 8, or 9. I don't like 6 because of the all metal balcony wall, and I don't like 10 because it's right under the pool deck and there's more potential for noise from above.

[Bowie MeMe]

Always ports are first unless it is a family cruise in Caribbean. Exotics are our favorites and new ports and departure/arrival cities that we can explore before. Ship is important -- I love the smaller ships but want good food and service. Do not want or need suites/butlers/even a balcony on most cruises. Last cruise was Bali to Osaka (most exotic or all our cruises maybe) Next is Independence from Ft. Lauderdale with teen granddaughter's family (huge ship Caribbean but lots of teen boys for the girl to giggle at:p) and after that maybe mid-size to include Greenland and Iceland and not booked yet but that is where we want to go. A cruise that is good ports and not too expensive is possible for winter too -- I'm a cruising snowbird addict!