Best ship and itinerary you have cruised

[Mike981]

Our first cruise on Celebrity Mercury in 2000. It was our honeymoon ten years removed and my first vacation. Couldn't tell you the itinerary. It was just...magical.

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We "hear ya" but do not completely agree.  You are certainly right about the size of ships and also the trend to make the ship the destination (which feeds the "maximize onboard revenue" business plan).  But we would submit that there is room in the market for all kinds of cruises.  We will sometimes book a larger ship (such as with MSC) with the intent of spending most of the port time onboard (our record is staying onboard for 8 out of 9 ports).  We primarily do that in the Caribbean where we do see the ship as the destination and an alternative to booking an AI.  But there are also plenty of smaller vessels doing interesting itineraries, although economies of scale (and fuel costs) are driving up the costs of these voyages (many of which are in the luxury cruise market).  We like to book all kinds of cruises because variety is why we still love every cruise....even after more than forty years of frequent cruising.

 

Hank

Obviously, I won't disagree with the statement that there is room in the market for all kinds of cruises. But, we are not interested in amusement parks; we have always picked our cruises with the ports in mind.

 

Our first two cruises were with Royal Caribbean on the Splendour of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas. And I thought we would be staying with that line. And then they started to build their huge ships, and we went to other lines. I have no desire now to sail with them. The only way I would even consider them would be with one of their not largest ships out of NY (where we do not have to fly to) and with ice skating (since DW is very into figure skating).  

 

The one huge ship we have sailed on was the NCL Epic. It was doing an itinerary that was a must for us that summer. I have to admit we  very much enjoyed the entertainment. But I have never been on a ship that was as unfriendly. DW thought it was because we were in Europe, but about half of our cruises have been in Europe, and we have otherwise never experienced anything like this. Once we were asked if we would like a table for 2 or a larger table, and opted to eat with others. We were taken to a table and then waited and waited and waited with no one joining. We finally said we would take the table for 2 as it seemed no other passengers wanted to meet strangers. The one time we did dine with others was at the Cirq d' Soleil dinner. And one woman was very talkative. It was our second night while the other couple had got on at a different port and it was their last night. My DW theorized she had never before on the cruise had a chance to talk to anyone else other than her husband.

 

We have found that on the smallest ships such as the former Ocean Princess or Carnival Fascination, not only have we been able to bond with other passengers but have also been able to get to really meet crew members.

[screwsmcernst]

My favorite itinerary to date was the Dutch Antilles (Cayman Islands, Columbia, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao).  It also happened to be on my current favorite ship, Celebrity Reflection.  We have quite a few more cruises on our bucket list to choose from, but for now, ABC's is my favorite.  😃

[BarbinMich]

23 hours ago, flamomo said:

Since you are apparently a Princess fan …. I know I am …. have you tried the Pacific Princess, Princess' only remaining small ship, with about 670 passengers? There used to be 3 of the little ladies, as one of the Captains referred to them, but two have been sold off to other cruise lines, and I worry about how much longer the Pacific will stay with the fleet. 

I too love TAs and all of those wonderful Med and European ports you mentioned. We'll be back on the Pacific Princess in a month for a couple of weeks, and then again late in the Fall for a nice long TA itinerary, starting in Venice.

Unfortunately, we're not able to cruise anymore due to my DH's health.  So I "cruise" vicariously by keeping up with the CC boards.  We've always liked the bigger ships, but maybe someday I'll try a small ship.

[smd8z]

Thank you for all the replies! I love reading everyone's responses. And now I have a list of ships and itineraries I really want to try!

[KmomChicago]

I can’t even begin to compare any other ship with Oasis of the Seas. For us the promise of the ultimate mega ship was completely fulfilled. However even then we missed a couple little things from our voyages on old banged up Carnival ships (Hub App for texting, self service laundry and Guy’s Burger Joint, more fun attitude of the activities crew).

 

My favorite itineraries include private islands. Many years ago on Big Red Boat they contracted with what is now Blue Lagoon Island near Nassau as a private port day and it was idyllic and largely unspoiled but even then featured the standard beach BBQ and water toy rentals. It is probably my most perfect cruise destination memory ever. Disney’s Castaway Cay was wonderful and RC’s Labadee just last year exceeded my expectations and reminded me of the others.

 

The best ship is the one I’m on, really!

[Sancho_proudfoot]

Favourite ship has to be Independence. When we first sailed on her she was brand sparkling new, straight from the builders AND it was our first sea cruise.

 

Itinerary: thats a toughie! Far east - Singapore, Bangkok, Sianhoukville, Saigon, Na Trang, Da Nang, and 3 days in Hong Kong.... or maybe Baltic:

Amsterdam, Skagen, Aarhus, Tallinn,St Petersburg,Helsinki, Stockholm, Warnemunde (Berlin) Copenhagen

 

Or maybe Panama Canal full transit, Fort Lauderdale to San Diego...

 

I cant choose!