Thread: Preferences on the different cruise lines.

Originally Posted by numike

I would agree with all things being equal. Crystal and Regent are not all inclusive including tiip and they do have their own marina. It doesn't seem like you have sailed on Seabourn

Regent is now all-inclusive. Crystal will be next year, 2012.

I must be the only one that prefer MSC, that is until I can afford to cruise with Crystal and her competition. The decor all around is beautiful, even in your cabin. I've heard complaint about their food, and I've heard good things about their food. My taste buds tell me their food is very good, so I don't care about the nay sayers opinions.

HAL, is a great cruise line if you want a very restful cruise. I think they should have Princess Cruise Lines motto, "Escape Completely". The ship(we were on the Eurodam) was dead by 11 PM. Most of the seniors(there were a large number of them) were either in bed or in the Casino. Service is wonderful on this line, very friendly Filippino and Indonesian crew members.

Princess is a great cruise line but the cabins are small, even on their newest ships. You have to step up to at least a Mini-Suite and even that is small compared to a Mini-Suite on a Carnival ship.

Celebrity I've only cruised with on a short duration cruise and it was great.

Azamara Club Cruises is fantastic. I won this cruise, hence the reason it was extremely affordable, lol. Only drawback with this line is the ships are old and the cabins are very small, but service, food and entertainment are fabulous.

Carnival is a very good product, affordable and fun. Better experience are on the newer ships, although with the right crowd on your sailing, the older ships are not bad.

Costa is the Carnival Cruise Lines of Europe, and Europe's #1 cruise line. They are very much like Carnival, but with an Italian flair. Love Toga Night, a.k.a Roman Bacahanal, which takes place on the last night of the cruise on Caribbean sailings Only.

Royal Caribbean is similar to Carnival in terms of the "Fun" aspect, but more pricey, and with more elegance to their ships interior decor. Their ships are larger giving you more to do at sea

Originally Posted by cruisin' chick

Carnival: the negatives are the PA announcements and the over the top pool games; like the availability of food and non-hoity toity atmosphere

Princess: just feels comfy; less PA announcements, less emphasis on pool games that are crazy, also like the 24-buffet so you're not dependent on room service if you get hungry at non-meal times. Negative: no lemonade, no free sodas at dinner time.

Since my first post on this thread, we have gone on another Princess cruise and loved it! There's now free lemonade, even though you have to request it. We had our first experience with Movies Under the Stars, even though on this cruise, the weather just wasn't nice enough during the two weeks so we just watched two movies outside (we felt like we might get blown away on one of those nights). There was free popcorn offered and free softserve ice cream.

Our favorite new feature we encountered was the International Cafe. Not an enclosed eatery, but a display case full of yummy stuff to eat, available all day. The best chocolate chip cookies, ever! I didn't try the breakfast items nor the sandwiches, but I'm sure those who did enjoyed.

The best thing was the sea day activities. We love sea days and this cruise was mostly days out on the ocean during the two weeks. I think if anyone complained of boredom, they are extremely hard to please. I learned how to make two different types of leis (Leialoha, a native of the Big Island, teaches a third type too), took the hula classes, and even participated in the hula/uke passenger show on the last night. You couldn't be on this cruise and NOT know you were going to Hawaii.

Some people may complain the beds are too hard, but my hubby prefers them that way (so I had to get used to them).

Oh, I forgot: this was the first time we didn't have assigned seating, and we didn't like anytime dining at all. Even my hubby said a few weeks after we got back that traditional dining is one thing that makes cruising unique compared to a land vacation. Plus we felt rushed, and the service seemed disorganized.

Patty, I have to agree with you. Anytime (or whatever it is called) on HAL gave us the same feeling. One reason why it appears disorganized is that everyone is in a different stage of the eating process- some people are just getting seated, some people are midway through their main course. It just gives a different feel to the eating experience.

Plus, eating no longer becomes an event in itself but is instead something you just have to do to get to the next event.

On Princess we have totally enjoyed Anytime Dining! We've never felt rushed ... almost the opposite. No orders were taken until the table had been seated so all at the table were served at the same time.

Sorry, Lulu. I meant surrounding tables. Even HAL was not so barbaric to sit people at the same table at different times.

Originally Posted by LuLu

On Princess we have totally enjoyed Anytime Dining! We've never felt rushed ... almost the opposite. No orders were taken until the table had been seated so all at the table were served at the same time.

A couple of times that we were seated, at least one couple had their order already taken. So both times the service seemed a little off as we were on a different course.

Even when everyone's orders were taken, we got the impression that the servers were pushing it. And amazingly it wasn't a full ship (about 200 passengers, a little under 10 per cent, didn't make it onboard).

Good idea Mystery Gal!

I have not cruised yet, but my sister and BIL honeymooned on the Grand Princess. When I asked her what her favorite things about it are she said, "Food and service." So I am expecting the best food and hospitality ever next year!

Carnival - younger, livlier crowd, great value, surprisingly good food, good entertainment, late nite activities, larger cabins, too many announcements
HAL - Good service, Good Food, less noisy around pool area, quieter music, longer cruises, different ports of call, tote, comfortable beds
RCCL - good entertainment, Crown & Anchor Saving Crertificates
NCL - 1st to do Freestyle cruising, e-coupon book, 24-hour dining venue on some ships
Hurtigrutin - Many ports of call in Norway on each cruise, everything is expensive to buy onboard, announcements in different languages, too many day trippers, not all staterooms have TVs, great seafood, a very different experience
Costa- Took it long ago & didn't like the so called Italian food. I am willing to try it again once they improve safety measures.
Uniworld - River cruises, a little more expensive than other companies, wine/beer included at lunch & dinner, good service & food, excursions included in price