Thread: Who to cruise with?

Hi

Thought I'd pick your collective brains and seek your help.

We cruised NCL in March this year from the Med to the Canaries and loved it. In particular we loved the Freestyle dining but to be honest ended up on most occasions in the Grand Pacific main dining room. Not a fan of buffets but its okay for lunch but wouldn't consider one for dinner - and we do like to dine when we want.

We're planning to do the Caribbean next year and really think we ought to see what other cruise ships are out there but will we be disappointed????

So we're looking for your help.

Here's the brief.

We're out to look for the warmth and sun
We're travelling from the UK.
We like the big ships
Dinner - we like choice and prefer to eat when we want
Dressing for dinner - we do not want a black tie formal cruise.
Could try those that have one or two formal nights that we could avoid and eat else where providing the dining option is good.
We like freedom, choice and doing our own thing.
Any ships you would recommend? Like all things in life we expect there may be a compromise which we're happy to consider.
Thanks for your time.

Have you thought about P&O's Ventura? She might be a bit too formal for you, but could be worth a look. The big advantage is being a UK ship, the currency onboard is the British pound.

Royal Caribbean and Princess both might be great choices for you to look into. Both now have the anytime dining options. And they both have some very large ships.

If you want a big ship - try the new Oasis. I personally think it's kind of pricey but then you can step down to Freedom Class on Royal Caribbean which is still a large ship. They have mytime dining and there may be one or 2 nights formal but their buffets are an alternative and not as cheesy as I found NCL buffet to be. Also room service is a nice touch especially if you have a balcony.

Thanks for the useful tips I'll check them all out.
I'm sure to be back with questions!

Thanks

If I had to make a recommendation for the Caribbean, taking all of your criteria into consideration, I would recommend any of the Grand Class Princess ships, the largest Princess offers. Princess does offer Personal Choice Dining, and if you want to opt out of the formal dinners, they have a very nice buffet area, you could eat in the supper club or as someone else suggested, order dinner on your balcony.

If you do this class of ship, look for the category BB cabins on the Caribe deck. The balconies are twice the size (9 x 10), half covered, half open and the perfect venue for abalcony dinner under the stars Personally, I love the Caribbean Princess.

I would have to side with Princess on this one, too. They have more of the informality that you want. Of course, if you liked NCL you might want to try them again.

The Princess option mentioned does sound attractive and we'd be a happywith room service on the balcony on a couple of nights. Somehing we hadn't considered before and its seems so sensible so thanks.
We're sailing NCL again next month and that will really be the test if to see if we still love the informal set up but with so much choice.

Thanks everyone

First and foremost, keep in mind that, like bellybuttons, every has an opinion. And what one person likes another will hate. For every client I have that loves Carnival, I have others who refuse to sail on them. The same can be said with all of the cruise lines. Because of this, I always tell people to stay away from people or agents who recommend one cruise or another. That's their opinion and it's based on how they see things, not how you see them. The best possible thing an agent can do is to provide you as much information as you can handle so you can make an informed decision as to what is right for you based on your lifestyle, your budget, and requirements. So do your research, make your decision, and be happy in your choice.

With that said, most of cruise lines now offer a choice between personal choice/freestyle/anytime dining and traditional dining (main or late seating). They are trying to provide as many options as possible for their passengers..

And with the exception of NCL, all the mass market cruise lines (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, etc.) have 2 formal nights during a 7-night cruise. None of these are formal all the time and even during the formal nights, there are altenative options so you don't have to dress if you don't want to.

As for recommending ships, this hold true for what I said earlier about recommending. Each cruise line has some ships that are better than others, it really depends on what you're looking for; size, amenities, itinerary, etc.

So the best advice is talk to an agent who specializes in cruises and has been on the various cruise lines who can provide unbiased information to you. If they start 'recommending' one cruise line over another or one ship over another, find another agent. Once you've gotten your basic information, then research reviews and ratings on the various websites.

The best thing is that there is something out there for everyone and the fun is trying them all till you find the best one for you. We've been on 33 cruises on most of the cruise lines and many different ships, and we can honestly say we've never really had a bad cruise. Yes, some are better than others, but it is what you make of it. If you want to have a great time, you will. If you let the small things bother you, then you'll force yourself to have a miserable time.

So go out there, find a cruise you really want to try to destinations you really want to see, and go for it! You'll have a great adventure.

Pete