Thread: differences between cruise lines.

Just 15 days left til our next cruise and I am already looking at what cruise to book next. Trying to decide whether to book with Princess while we are on Princess, but since our only other experience was R.C. and we liked them too, I am not sure which cruiseline to book with next.
I know all lines will give a good vacation if we have a good attitude.
I asked in the TA forum whether the TA's try to match a cruiseline to their client or just book with their favorite. BTW Nice to know the TA's here listen to their clients.
So perhaps some of you can share what you perceive as the cruiseline personalities. I have some opinions already drawn for reading hours on several message boards but more imput would be good. I am not sure all my assumptions are correct. For instance, a lot of comedy or a more musical emphasis, contempory or older music in lounges, loud bold colors or softer colors and decor, the degree of formal on formal nights. and any other things that help define the personality of a line.

I of course will be looking at your opinion of the golden princess you are about to sail in 2 weeks .. we have the ship 2 weeks after your sailing on the 27th..

our first cruise was Carnival but that was like 6 years ago.... we have also tried Holland America and we had a great experience on the Ryndam but not so good on the Oosterdam ...
Our favorite line is Celebrity at this writing.. our last 4 cruises were aboard one of those vessels ..but as many lines try and etch out a niche for them-self in this global experience.. the first thing I would say is pick an approximate Itinerary and length and then see which lines travel when you want to go...Once you decide when and where it makes the discussion of WHO more exciting...

Have fun on the Golden and warn them we are a coming!! LOL

Guess you're just asking for our opinions, right?

Of the mass market cruise lines (think, we've been on most) we have four we normally we consider first. Just our opinion!

PRINCESS: To us the "Best All-Round"! Some cruise lines have areas that are better and worse ... but we can always count on Princess for a very enjoyable cruise experience. Possibly, this is because we have sailed on Princess most and have a comfort level that is hard to explain.

CELEBRITY: So glad we tried this cruise line -- Love It! Especially, we've always enjoyed our fellow passengers on Celebrity ships. Also, the food suits us very well.

HAL: Probably, our favorite for Port Intensive cruises. We enjoy going back to a quiet ship after an active day. Excellent Room Service which is nice for breakfast when leaving early on an excursion. (We're booked for 9/08 with HAL for a NE/Canada cruise.)

RCI: Sometimes, it's great to be on a ship with lots of activity and never a dull monent! For us, that's RCCL! (Our next cruise is a B2B with them in January.)

--> Note on COSTA: No problem! We just have not been able to find an itinerary in quite a few years that suits us.....

Enjoy your Princess cruise! Please do tell us how YOU liked it!

I like how LuLu presented her thoughts.

Princess: I pretty much agree with her on Princess. However I have not found anything any better than on Princess. Obviously my favorite as I have cruised her 8 out of 10 times.

Celebrity: Only cruised her once and found the ship nice but a bit dull, the dinner menu repetative and a bit boring. The fake flowers around the ship were dusty and our fingerprints remained the whole cruise.

RCI: Only cruised her once too. More of a younger crowd although there were some "old folks" too! Food wasn't as good as the other 2 and buffet wasn't open 24/7.

Basically I feel all 3 were pretty close. We were fortunate of have good service and very nice table mates on all 3 lines. I would like to try RCI again on one of her newer ships. Celebrity only if it was an itinarary I couldn't live without. We are in our early 60's and found both Princess and Celebrity's age group to be 40 and up....... RCI maybe 30 to 70. Just a guess.

Happy Cruising!

Thanks for your opinions that is exactly what I was looking for.
No worries, I'll warn them your coming but I better warn them I'm coming first; it won't take Princess long to know I am around! Don't get me wrong I am certainly not a pain and believe in treating others respectfully but both DH and I are very opinionated and bold. We don't walk into a room unnoticed very often. It takes all types to make the world go round and adds interest too! IMHO.
We already know the three places we are most interested in sailing (Hawaii, Alaska & New England/Canada). It seams almost every line does all of those itineraries. So the choice will be based more on the ship experience and personality.
We love to meet new people and experience new places. We are not really into drinking or gambling but love good music and shows. I'm still in my 40's but DH just turned 50, our kids are grown so we figure now is time for us to do what we want and enjoy life for awhile. We plan on making cruising our typical vacation plan even if it turns out that we can only manage a short one sometimes.

It is a more sedate line. We stopped cruising other lines 10 years ago and only cruise HAL now.

50-60 music in lounges with DJ in Crows nest every night at 11 PM. On Vista CLass ships the have a disco.

Don't want to say older crowd but a more mature sedate crown. Good mix of ages lately and as the cruises get longer and the ports more exotic the age tends to rise as they have the time to trave.

Just our opinion

Ruth & Jim

I've only been on Carnival and Princess, so I only can talk about them. Definitely, wait until you get a feel for Princess before deciding to book a "future cruise". Fortunately, you don't need to decide on which ship or which itinerary while doing so.

I pretty much agree with the posts already made about the different cruise lines and what they have to offer.

Everyone has their own opinions and what one person likes, another may not. Celebrity and Holland are comparable and both offer a little more upscale cruise than RCCL and Princess. They both have very good food with the balance going to HAL because of their wonderful beds - best in the industry in my opinion. Both lean a little more to the older demographics and offer a more refined elegance without the high price.

As for RCCL and Princess, both are very comparable with RCCL offering more amenities on their ships and Princess has a step up in food quality.

We've not been to Hawaii yet, but have been to Alaska - just got back 3 weeks ago from a 2-week cruise tour, and Canada/New England - in fact we just got back from there today after a 9-night cruise from Baltimore! Absolutely loved Alaska and we were very pleasantly surprised with our Canada/New England cruise - it was wonderful and I definitely recommend it as a cruise to take. Holland has the biggest presence in Alaska with Princess second - both offering a wonderful experience.

As for whether to book your next cruise while on your current cruise; this is always an excellent idea if you plan to cruise the same cruise line. Most will offer a reduced deposit as well as onboard credit. Some will allow you up to three years to actually book the exact cruise you want, so don't feel like you have to pick a date and itinerary when booking. These bookings are also credited to your Travel Agent/Cruise Specialist, so they will still be able to assist you with your cruise.

As for matching the client with the cruise line, a good TA/CS won't make recommendations or steer you towards any particular cruise line. Their job is to provide you with good information and help you make the necessary decisions. The reason is that as I mentioned above, everyone has their opinions and what one person may like, another may hate. Plus, there may be incentives encouraging a TA/CS to book one cruise line over another. But you're doing all the right things - read all the reviews and get opinions from everyone. Then make a decision based on what you feel is right for you. And then just have a positive attitude and you will have a wonderful time.

Pete

Originally Posted by Cruise Planner

Celebrity and Holland are comparable and both offer a little more upscale cruise than RCCL and Princess.
As for RCCL and Princess, both are very comparable with RCCL offering more amenities on their ships and Princess has a step up in food quality.

have a wonderful time.

Pete

Pete I always enjoy reading your observations... I was a bit surprised that you put HAL and Celebrity in the "same" class .. and RCCL and Princess comparible...

When we mentioned to others about our interest in princess (on other boards in addition to this one) most told me that Princess and Celebrity were more of a match..

Thanks for another look...

Originally Posted by JoeyandDavid

Pete I always enjoy reading your observations... I was a bit surprised that you put HAL and Celebrity in the "same" class .. and RCCL and Princess comparible...

When we mentioned to others about our interest in princess (on other boards in addition to this one) most told me that Princess and Celebrity were more of a match..

Thanks for another look...

Well, as I mentioned, everything is subjective - what one person will look at, another will look at it differently.

The reason I put RCCL and Princess as comparable is that these two are in the middle of the quality scale - they offer something for everyone and cater mainly to families and have a younger demographic.

The reason I put Celebrity and HAL as comparable is that they both mainly cater to an older demographic and have less in the way of amenities for families when compared to Princess and RCCL. As I mentioned, Celebrity and HAL offer a more refined elegance in their ships and service.

Don't know if you knew this, but Celebrity is the upscale product of RCCL, whereas HAL is the upscale product of Carnival, who also owns Princess.

Having sailed on all of these, I could point out slight differences and why I prefer one over the other, but that would simply be my personal opinion and how I perceive them. But those opinions would be that of a 57 year old Cruise Specialist with 29 cruises under his belt and are definitely going to vary from what others feel about them.

Bottom line, it's really fun trying them all and finding one that best suits your lifestyle so that you have a wonderful time. And after all, isn't that why we love cruising so much?? lol

Pete