New to Cruises-- Would like opinion on Cruise Lines and ships

[Sp00ky56]

What line and ship (if you want) would you recommend for a couple in their 60s and no kids.

 

What activities on board attract the least crowds? Thanks. Know there is a wealth of info out there!!!!:)

[cruising cockroach]

For you age bracket, Holland America.

[LHT28]

Oceania

[Sea Hag]

Princess. Plenty of people in your age bracket.

[paul929207]

The activities will vary by ship and even by sailing. They often include:

Port talks

trivia

bingo

Zumba

bridge, mah jongg and other games

wine tasting

art auction

etc.

[AroundTheWorld1]

Take a look at Azamara Journey/Quest...

 

 

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[JVilleGal]

Holland America! No rock climbing wall, belly flop beer chugging contests. Few children. Civilized, low key and lovely old school ships!

 

 

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[bunzini]

We are in our sixties and have cruises most all the cruise lines. All have their positives. I think itinerary and pricing are what I look at then go from there. That said, although I like them all, I really like Celebrity.

 

 

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[nyllrap]

We are in our 60's and still love Royal Caribbean.

[Kartgv]

Any of the cruise lines already mentioned would work fine for you - would recommend you avoid Carnival for its party atmosphere, but all the others can be an enjoyable experience. More important that the particular cruise line would be timing. If you'd rather avoid lots of kids and family activities, avoid school break times - summer and most of March/early April. Also avoid very short cruises, as they are usually party cruises. You might also want to avoid some of the newest 'mega ships' which some think are more like giant amusement parks. Decide first where you'd like to go, then check available cruises on one of the online cruise booking sites to see what's available that fits your criteria. Narrow it down to several, the come back and ask more questions!

 

Another option would be a local travel agent if you have one in your area that friends or family recommend. They can make some recommendations for you and take care of most of the details.

[navybankerteacher]

Holland America! No rock climbing wall, belly flop beer chugging contests. Few children. Civilized, low key and lovely old school ships!

 

 

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Agreed - Celebrity runs a close second, and Princess third. Royal Caribbean has good entertainment - but are simply too crowded and lack the service, food quality and ambience of HAL. Carnival is OK, but tend to be crowded - with partiers or children, depending on season and itinerary.

 

NCL seems inexpensive, but if you want decent food and service you have to eat at specialty restaurants - wiping out the apparent savings - also ships are over-crowded.

[Remm1024]

Celebrity or Royal Caribbean

 

 

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[Silver Sweethearts]

What line and ship (if you want) would you recommend for a couple in their 60s and no kids.

 

What activities on board attract the least crowds? Thanks. Know there is a wealth of info out there!!!!:)

 

If you want a less crowded, laid back atmosphere and your budget permits it, take a look at Seabourn, Silversea and Regent.

[easyboy]

HAL or Princess

 

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[bUU]

So basically you're back when you started, with all the cruise lines laid out in front of you to choose from, each with its own fans. I think the best advice for you is to pick your itinerary first based on what you want to do where you want to go what you'd like to see and then figure out what cruise lines offer that itinerary.

 

Incidentally we are a couple in our fifties and sixties with no kids and we're heading to the Western Caribbean on Carnival in several months.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[Cruise a holic]

I would recommend Celebrity. The solstice class is our favorite. The new Celebrity edge also looks amazing as we are booked on her. If you can, try sky suites or above, for added amenities and service. My second choice would be Royal caribbean, Oasis class ships. If you can, for added amenities Grand Suite and above. The service and food on these ships IMO is the best. Have tried most others, but for value and a great cruise experience try Celebrity or royal.

 

Carnival, princess, NCL or Disney are not on my best experience list. Oceanic and Regent too expensive for a nice cabin or suite.

[hubofhockey]

What line and ship (if you want) would you recommend for a couple in their 60s and no kids.

 

What activities on board attract the least crowds? Thanks. Know there is a wealth of info out there!!!!:)

 

What are you most interested in? Food, activities, itineraries, entertainment, guest lecturers? Without getting too specific, you will get the types of responses that you have received.

 

Here's my question. We are in our late 50s and would like to do a Southeast Asia itinerary (10-14 days) in a couple of years. We can't go in February or March. Best itinerary with overnights in ports are important. Guest lecturers would be nice, but not necessary. What cruise lines should we be looking at?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Princess because it has The Sanctuary, a peaceful adults only area with very comfortable sun loungers. It costs extra but is worth it IMHO.

 

I also prefer the entertainment on Princess, especially the entertainers around the ship in the early evenings (pre-dinner for us). Not too raucous.

 

We're in our 60s too.

[cb at sea]

AGE has nothing to do with it! We're in our 60's and like a bit livelier atmosphere! Kids have never bothered us, because if they aren't OUR kids...we ignore them!

 

Get some brochures from a travel agency...or order them (free) from the cruise lines you're interested in. It will give you a good "feel" for which line will suit you best!

[Aquahound]

What line and ship (if you want) would you recommend for a couple in their 60s and no kids.

 

What activities on board attract the least crowds? Thanks. Know there is a wealth of info out there!!!!:)

 

Based on the little bit of info you provided, I agree with the others....HAL, Celebrity and Princess most likely suit your tastes in the mass market lines. Of those lines, Celebrity has the most modern ships and HAL has the most traditional ships. Princess is nice all around, but they really don't stand out in anything particular. If you're willing to pay a little more, consider Oceania, Azamara or a luxury line.

 

I also whole heartedly agree with the recommendation to avoid Carnival.

[LHT28]

As you can see you get many different opinions

You need to decide if you want a larger ship with 3000+ pax or a smaller ship with 1000 or less

Then you can decide if you want water slides, rock climbing walls or just some nice quiet areas to relax

Lots of children onboard or few to none

 

Best to seek out a cruise specialist in your area so you can tell them what you are looking for in a cruise vacation

Enjoy whatever cruise you choose

[sail7seas]

HAL or Princess

 

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HAL, Princess, Celebrity. The demographics on these three lines are very s imilar.

[Turangi!]

SpOOky56,

 

 

 

 

 

Choosing a cruise or a cruise line is very subjective! It depends on a number of factors and there is no definitive answer! Like many of the Cruise Critic people we have a favourite, but what we like might be what you dislike! We have the “Bucket List” of places we want to go and if we find a cruise that fits our plans and price, we book it! So as many CCs have already suggested you have to be more specific what appeals to you for us to tell you where we think you might fit!

 

 

 

Perhaps you need to define your expectations and interests. So using a classic journalistic approach, you both have to figure out the 5 Ws and the H!

 

 

 

 

 

WHERE do you want to go? This is the most important question we answer when planning a trip!

 

 

 

WHEN do you want to go? High Season, Low Season This is important because it will change the demographics on a cruise and your overall experience, plus the prices will be different!

 

 

 

WHAT do you want to do when you get there? Will you be happy taking organized tours or do you just want to do everything on your own. WHERE will be a big factor in determining WHAT your cruise experience will be! On our first cruise our dinner companions were much younger and had very different budgets; one couple booked €$£ ship’s tours every day while the other couple barely had money for a local bus! We did a mix of ship’s tours, private tours and taking the local bus (in Malta), which seems to still be our cruising style!

 

 

 

WHO are you as travellers? Weighing your past experiences against what your expectations of the cruise experience will be also will influence WHERE AND WHAT! Seriously we have only done Rome in a day on a ship’s tour <What were we thinking?> compared to a glorious 6-day stay in Venice before a great cruise down the Dalmation Coast, where spending only a day in the various ports was perfect. Lesson learned that smaller ports are more enjoyable!

 

 

 

WHY are you considering a cruise to WHERE you want to go? CruiseCritic people can go on for pages about this!

 

 

 

HOW much do you want to spend? That may seem like an easy question to ask, but there are lots of variables and the adage “You get what you pay for” applies. I met a travel agent on a cruise who had a great story about begging a couple TO NOT BOOK for their first cruise, an extended cheap cruise to South America in an interior cabin! Turned out that it was a cruise from hell but the couple is still cruising, but now they listen to him!!!

 

 

 

 

 

HubOfHockey!

 

 

 

Look at the Celebrity Millenium’s SE Asia schedule in late November, early December. We did a B2B and had overnights in Bali, Singapore, Bangkok (port is 2 ½ hours from Bangkok so we stayed in Bangkok) and Hong Kong! Prices were better than the March cruise we had originally booked onboard! Before the

 

cruise we did 6 days in Cambodia, touring the Angkor Temples…a life experience!

 

 

 

Turangi!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Turangi!]

OOPS...somewhere my WHO got lost in cut in paste... or perhaps it is mt CC app?

 

Anyway for those of you who are counting...here's WHO of the 5Ws...

 

WHO are you as travellers? Weighing your past experiences against what your expectations of the cruise experience will be also will influence WHERE AND WHAT! Seriously we have only done Rome in a day on a ship’s tour <What were we thinking?> compared to a glorious 6-day stay in Venice before a great cruise down the Dalmation Coast, where spending only a day in the various ports was perfect. Lesson learned that smaller ports are more enjoyable!

 

 

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[Turangi!]

MISSING AGAIN???

 

WHO are you as travellers? Weighing your past experiences against what your expectations of the cruise experience will be also will influence WHERE AND WHAT! Seriously we have only done Rome in a day on a ship’s tour What were we thinking? compared to a glorious 6-day stay in Venice before a great cruise down the Dalmation Coast, where spending only a day in the various ports was perfect. Lesson learned that smaller ports are more enjoyable!

 

 

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