What's the best cruise line?

[SantaAna,CA]

I think one of the reasons there are so many cruise lines is that there are so many different tastes! Some people like big ships with zillions of things to do at any given time. Others want a quieter experience.

 

I sailed on Holland America's Amsterdam to Alaska. Although I thought the ship beautiful, at 1800 people, that was just too big a crowd for me.

 

Went over to Seabourn and found a place I fit in perfectly. Only 208 passengers, max, no tipping, all inclusive, and very, very luxurious. I also love the formality of Seabourn and the excellence of their food and service. The passengers are all well traveled and very friendly, such interesting people. And, as a solo traveler, they go out of their way to make me feel included. For instance, extending dinner invitations every night to hosted tables in the dining room. And never a line for anything. I love Seabourn!

 

Jane

[WCAB]

Have traveled on most. My favorite is alwasy the one I'm on.

 

Carol

[trivial]

I'm helping my parents-in-law in deciding on their next cruise; their 3rd. Their first cruise was with Princess, which they seemed to really enjoy. Their second cruise was with HAL, but they found the other cruisers to be too old for their liking (they're in their mid-50s), and didn't like that there wasn't a whole lot to do on board. They don't want to cruise with HAL again.

 

They're considering Princess again, for a 10-14 day Caribbean cruise. I've looked at Celebrity and Royal Caribbean as well, but the one thing I've found with all of my research is this: there's no clear winner between the 3 of them; everyone likes something different.

 

That said, I wouldn't mind a few opinions. How does the food, service, and onboard activities of Celebrity and Royal Caribbean compare to Princess?

[Parsman]

Why not try British cruising on small, Norwegian-owned cruise ships? Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines sail the world from the UK and also have fly-cruises in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. They vary from mini-cruises of a day or two to world cruises of more than 100 days. They are quite a contrast to the mega-liners, have small numbers of passengers and great crews.

[Chelly]

From the view of a 60plus traveler, is the cruise experience different on a Carnival 16-day transatlantic cruise than on a Carnival 7-day Mexico or Caribbean?

[rimau]

We just got off our first Carnival cruise. I did find the average age was much younger that on Princess and the crowd was noticably noisier. Some of the shows did not start until 10:30 and other activities I would have been otherwise interested in doing also started quite late . Some nights there was an earlier show but not always. There were also a lot more young children. I was suprised at that because school has already started.

[Chelly]

We just got off our first Carnival cruise. I did find the average age was much younger that on Princess and the crowd was noticably noisier. Some of the shows did not start until 10:30 and other activities I would have been otherwise interested in doing also started quite late . Some nights there was an earlier show but not always. There were also a lot more young children. I was suprised at that because school has already started.

 

I am wondering the length of your cruise. Trying to find out if a longer, European cruise on Carnival would be quieter, with fewer young folks than a 7-day Caribbean/or Mexico.

[wizard-of-roz]

Absopositutely!!!!!! The longer the cruise the different the crowd!!!!:p

[Roz]

The passengers on my 12-day Hawaiian cruise on Carnival were about the same age as the passengers on HAL. Definitely, longer and more expensive cruises attract an older crowd and/or less of a party hearty crowd.

 

Roz

[2CrusinOldies]

We are both in our late 50's and have always had a wonderful time on Carnival. Depending on the month, there is not allot of "kids" or "older" people. We'll stay where we are!:D

[montana200024]

I am 55 and hubby 61, and we differ in opinions..

 

I like Carnival...for the price, it is the best...can't beat the food, always yummy, can't beat the friendliness, I just feel more at home on Carnival...

 

He likes RCCl...likes the atmosphere better, he just says all around it is better..

 

But it is something everyone should experience..try different lines...in 2010, we are going on Princess...so that will be a change..

[jdnaples]

I have been on Celebrity twice, carnival twice and RC once. By far the best mix of people in every way was on RC. The ship (Navigator of the seas) was beautiful two. My last cruise was my second time on the Celebrity Millenium and every one thought the service, food, entertainment was terrible. On passenger who had been on the Millenium three times, said it was the worst cruise she had been on. Celebrity turned off the air conditioning in the afternoon to save fuel ( it was in alaska, but still hot) and served a steak that would not pass Sizzler standards. When the waiter put it in front of me, the rest of the table started laughing.

 

I think Celebrity is living on it's old reputation, and I will never take them again. Ironically, the best cruise was on RC which is owned by the same company. It must be separately managed.

[*Luv2Cruz*]

We've been on several cruise lines and enjoyed them all!:D When we select a cruise we primarily look for our destination and a good price. As you can see by my previous cruises we love Bermuda and we're heading down for #4 next year with a CC Group, on NCL with the FreeStyle dining, which is great when being at port for three days!:cool:

[meaclasact2]

I think the answer would be "which ever cruise line meets your needs." We love NCL - we've been on 3 cruises with them and each one was wonderful.

 

I enjoy having a mixed crowd (as long as the children are well behaved and their parents instill good manners). I don't like to paint folks with too wide a brush - I've seen older (in their 80's) folks who are so terrific to be around - and then younger ones (anyone under 55) who complain constantly about the most minor of things.

[Greselda]

Hi Everyone!!!

 

We, too, are now Carnival people all the way!!! We have tried others....

 

Celebrity - good food, nice cabins, hard beds, great staff, but way to quiet for us....they roll up the "sidewalks" at 9pm!

 

RCCL - poor food, nice cabins, ok beds, great staff, but way too many children and those kind of activities....don't get us wrong, we have 6 kids and 8 grandchildren and we love them.....but it is now our time!

 

Princess - great food, wonderful cabins, good beds, excellent staff, and they are the closest we have found to Carnival, so we will probably cruise with them again if the proper opportunity presents itself.

 

Carnival - great food, unbelieveably comfortable beds, huge cabins, great rates for past military, terrific staff, and as much or as little as you want to do! We love to dance and we have been known to even dance off the elevators as the doors open.......

 

We tend to cruise for the cruise, and therefore do not put ourselves in long lines, either for eating or getting off the ship at ports, and we have always met wonderful tablemates at dinner, and still cruise and RV with some of them....for years :)

 

I guess one of the things that I have noticed on Carnival, is their attention paid to some of the passengers that may be a little confused, or have a disability, or are somewhat overwhelmed.......I have seen countless acts of kindness from the Carnival staff and that is what has stayed with us.

 

BTW, we are both almost 62 and we are spending our kids inheritence:D:D

 

Enjoy:p

 

Rick and Janine

[Williebill]

We've been on HAL and found the passenger group to be really older. What's another good line?

 

I have never had a bad cruise other than my first on the Carnival Mardi Gras. I would have to say that HAL has been my favorite cruise up to now.

[momofmeg]

Len,

 

How old are you, and how old do you estimate the passengers on HAL to be? The reason I'm asking is that HAL is my favorite line, and I've sailing them since I was 48. I found the clientele to vary according to destination, time of year, and length of cruise.

 

Roz

 

My caribbean cruise on HAL Westerdam this past spring I was the "old gal" at 53. That cruise was mostly 30 somethings by far. However my Statendam Alaska cruise in May 2001, 65 would have been young, at 46 I was one of the "young ones." LOL! I suppose it simply depends on who happened to book the same cruise as you.

[NYCRUISR]

RCCL gets my vote.

 

I agree with you on RCCL.

[NYCRUISR]

RCCL gets my vote.

 

 

Did I double post.......sorry about that.:p

[Kinkacruiser]

Hi All,

In our small Australian Market, we don't have the large choice available to most cruisers in USA and Europe. P&O is the family and younger person's cruiseline (part line) and Princess is for the over 50's mainly.

We are Princess fans most definitely. Hopefully we will have an opportunity to cruise with other lines as they do pop in to Sydney from time to time.

Regards,

Anna

[HNI]

When we were in our early 50's we went on two Carnival cruises (Elation and Ecstasy). We were among the oldest passengers. The cabins were large and the bars had great dance bands. We are not smokers and I am asthmatic. There were numerous areas of both ships which were smoke infested. We then booked HAL (Ryndam and Zaandam). As we waited to board we were amazed to find numerous passengers in walkers and wheelchairs. Some had oxygen tanks. At the dance venues the passengers did ballroom dancing! We thought it was quite odd.

 

Our next venture was Princess. Now in our early 60's we enjoyed the demographics of our fellow passengers. Princess has a tremendous enrichment program of classes and lectures. Socially we fit in well. However the cabins were small, the beds hard and no plus sized person can fit in their showers.

 

Next was RCCL. It was a huge ship with a "main street" promenade. It had few encrichment programs and the library was sparse. Since school was almost over we had 200 kids aboard. The next week 600+ would be on board. They have a huge children's program. If you want to avoid kids do not come during vacations. For families this is the ship. I am even tempted to bring my grandson. The cabins were small but the beds were soft. Such a huge ship also sails very smoothly. Very few smoking areas which was a plus.

 

Our next cruise will be HAL (Oosterdamn). I prefer a smaller ship than Mariner of the Seas. I assume I will be again with an older crowd. However I am getting older. I hear HAL ships have a morgue.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

we think carnival and Love B2B

[*Luv2Cruz*]

The best cruise line is the one you had your last cruise on and the one you're taking next!;) I Luv2Cruz!:cool:

[comoxvalley21]

This is such a difficult question....the best answer is probably "it depends"

 

Princess-the worst food...but among the best food on next cruises.

Carnival- party party party.....but ii was a short cruise

HAL- the oldest and most infirm....but one of the liveliest & funniest groups

RCL- poor service....but fabulous service on the next two cruises

NCL- second class....but great prices

 

I firmly believe that the main factor to having a great time on a cruise is your attitude. You are responsible for yourself having a good time....Do your research but know that opinions vary from line to line; ship to ship; passenger to passenger. Ulimately if you plan to enjoy yourself you will no matter what (barring catastrophes of course)

 

Enjoy your cruise

[uppitycats]

We have been on Carnival twice, the first a short cruise which we hated. We were convinced to try a longer cruise, "the atmosphere is different!" It wasn't. We hate the gaudiness, glitzy-ness, "cheap Las Vegas" atmosphere of the decor, the ever-loud announcements all the time, the false heartiness and "I'm your best friend" behavior of crew and other passengers.

 

We've gone on to cruise on Princess, and on NCL, and like both of them, for different reasons. Princess for the ambiance, the afternoon teas; NCL for the casual freestyle dining, casual dress, laid back atmosphere. I'm researching for another cruise now, and found this board, so will spend time reading through all the responses. We're 62 and 67; I use a wheelchair (and I didn't find Carnival's staff any more or less helpful than staff I encountered on either Princess or NCL). We're open to other cruise lines...but never Carnival again.