Best cruises / cruise lines you have experienced

TigerMike · 10-09-06, 03:16

Wife and I are thinking of taking a cruise in 2007 as our big vacation, and I was curious of others experiences with destinations or cruise lines that you would recommend (or highly recommend / highly avoid)? I have been on a big cruise ship before and know that they can be a lot of fun, but the wife has not and I'd like to take her. I cruised Alaska on the Star Princess back in 1995 and that was my first and, so far, only real cruise to date. Since it's her first time, we are thinking of starting out with something basic, like an Eastern Carribean cruise or Southern Carribean cruise, before maybe trying something more extensive, like a Mediterranean or Trans-Atlantic. So far, after doing some research it seems Royal Carribean gets pretty good reviews and they do have many popular destinations in the Carribean. Are there any advantages, insider tips, perks to going with someone like Royal versus another line, like say Celebrity?

Anyhow, I'd love to hear others experiences, good and bad, with cruise destinations or cruise lines. If you have pics of your cruise that would be interesting to share also.

Here is a pic of the "old" Star Princess that we traveled with.

Regards,

Mike

Eliot Ness · 10-09-06, 04:09

The best cruise we've had to date (I've been on 7) was the Carnival Valor this past June. It was a seven-day Western Caribbean cruise that went to Grand Cayman, Isla Roatan, Belize, and Costa Maya. The year before we went on a seven-day Eastern Carribean cruise on the Carnival Victory that went to San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Marteen.

The best advice I can give is to check out the Cruise Critic forums. Not only will you get a ton of info about individual cruise lines/ships, but they have a Ports of Call forum where you can read reviews about different excursions/tours that are offered.

One difference in cruise ships today is they (the newer ships) have gotten much larger and offer a lot more balcony cabins. We think that a cruise offers the most "bang for your buck" and you can do as much or as little as you'd like on or off the ship.

The first picture is an isolated beach we found in Costa Maya (Mexico) and the second picture is our cabin balcony (both taken this past June).

SpoiledMan · 10-09-06, 04:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eliot Ness

The best cruise we've had to date (I've been on 7) was the Carnival Valor this past June. It was a seven-day Western Caribbean cruise that went to Grand Cayman, Isla Roatan, Belize, and Costa Maya. The year before we went on a seven-day Eastern Carribean cruise on the Carnival Victory that went to San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Marteen.

The best advice I can give is to check out the Cruise Critic forums. Not only will you get a ton of info about individual cruise lines/ships, but they have a Ports of Call forum where you can read reviews about different excursions/tours that are offered.

One difference in cruise ships today is they (the newer ships) have gotten much larger and offer a lot more balcony cabins. We think that a cruise offers the most "bang for your buck" and you can do as much or as little as you'd like on or off the ship.

Agreed on all accounts. We did the Carnival Pride in August of '04 with a balcony cabin and simply wont do it again without one. We are planning the Carnival Valor next summer and will book a balcony cabin no matter which ship we pick. My sisters cabin was inside and had no windows. Man did it ever feel like a shoe box!

JohnZ3MC · 10-10-06, 12:03

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America are higher end for the Alaska cruises and I know you won't be coming back this way, but trends often continue within cruise lines.
Norwegian with their 'relaxed cruising' tend to be much cheaper and attract a cheaper crowd.
I drive a SS bus and deal with cruise ship passengers on the Alaska runs, maybe even you in 95. I was bird-dogging a conversation between passengers while doing a shuttle service between the downtown and the dock a while ago. Three ships were in that evening and the people on the bus were comparing food from their ships.
RC and Celeb reported great food while the Norwegian Star couple mentioned their best meal was from a restaurant in Juneau. A trend I noticed was that most ship passengers wanted to be back to the ship for the midnight buffet, all except the Norwegian passengers. They wanted to eat twigs at the Butchart Gardens.
Ok, I'm joking about the twigs.
HAL passengers tended to be older than other ships so that's another consideration for young fellows.
Your caribbean idea sounds great.
-John C.

TigerMike · 10-10-06, 06:40

Thanks for the good insight guys. John, thanks for the forum link, I'll check that out and do more research/reading.

Looks like you all had a great time, and that's what it's all about!

I agree, I think part of the reason I am pushing a cruise to my wife, is the value part of it. For the price there is as much or as little as you want to do and being her first time, I think she'd really enjoy it.

Again, great stories and advice everyone. I enjoy reading and it is helpful.

Regards,

Mike

SpoiledMan · 10-10-06, 07:11

Mike, I should add that that was my wife's first cruise as well. She had a really good time and rewarded me well!

G35stilez · 10-10-06, 07:36

We had the worst cruise experience on the Norwegian Spirit last year...The worst.

PM me if you want to see my 7-page complaint letter.

TigerMike · 10-10-06, 09:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpoiledMan

She had a really good time and rewarded me well!

Haha, the mind reels at the possibilities!

(Runs to the booking agent for whatever cruise is available)

Quote:

Originally Posted by G35stilez

We had the worst cruise experience on the Norwegian Spirit last year...The worst.

PM me if you want to see my 7-page complaint letter.

Wow Sean, I can't imagine and sorry to hear about that. It completely sucks to have a vacation/trip ruined.

SpoiledMan · 10-10-06, 10:16

Sean, my kids doctor cruises 6-8 times per year. He told us a couple years back that NCL is among the worse things floating. Based on more than one experience with them he said that he will under no circustances "ride" with them again. Shoot me that letter when you get a chance. What did they do in response?

SpoiledMan · 10-10-06, 10:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigerMike

Haha, the mind reels at the possibilities!

(Runs to the booking agent for whatever cruise is available)

LOL!

D3mon · 10-10-06, 11:17

Just last Christmas took a cruise from Aruba (through the Panama Canal) right round to Acapulco on P&O's Arcadia. Fantastic holiday and unbelievable boat! 10/10
http://www.pocruises.com/arcadia/

sQuashed · 10-10-06, 02:35

Weve been on 1 Carnival cruise to Mexico and 3 Royal Carribbean Cruises. Royal Carribbean has been awesome to us. The only "problem" I had was when someone else with the same name as myself was on the Wanted Fugitive list, so when we got to port in Florida, the ATF and FBI detectives were pounding on my door at 6 am with guns drawn....that was quite a wild morning !!!! As soon as they saw me, they knew I wasnt the one they were looking for !! lolol