If not disney, what other cruise line?

My family and I have always taken Disney cruises. But, our standard yearly cruise has gone up by over $4000 :eek: this year.

Obviously, I need to look at a different cruise line because the Disney prices are getting crazy, but never having gone on any of the other lines, I'm not sure what to go for. I would love some advice.

My boys will be 13 & 15 on this next cruise. They mostly just want to hang with kids their own age on the sports deck, so I think most lines will cover that as long as the line attracts families.

My husband and I have demanding jobs, so we just want quiet and to relax. On Disney, we spend a fair amount of time at the spa and in the adults only area. We are not big drinkers/party people, don't have an interest in a casino, and are perfectly happy seeing a movie or a show & then just going to bed, LOL. Boring, I know, but we both own our own businesses so we are used to working a lot. Being able to read a book on a lounger is heavenly all by itself. :D

Is there another line that is more reasonable than Disney is this year, has west coast sailings (just because that would be easier for us, but not mandatory), and still has good service & (hopefully) better food?

I would greatly appreciate any and all helpful advice from you all who have experienced several cruise lines. Thanks so much!

My family and I have always taken Disney cruises. But, our standard yearly cruise has gone up by over $4000 :eek: this year.

 

Obviously, I need to look at a different cruise line because the Disney prices are getting crazy, but never having gone on any of the other lines, I'm not sure what to go for. I would love some advice.

 

My boys will be 13 & 15 on this next cruise. They mostly just want to hang with kids their own age on the sports deck, so I think most lines will cover that as long as the line attracts families.

 

My husband and I have demanding jobs, so we just want quiet and to relax. On Disney, we spend a fair amount of time at the spa and in the adults only area. We are not big drinkers/party people, don't have an interest in a casino, and are perfectly happy seeing a movie or a show & then just going to bed, LOL. Boring, I know, but we both own our own businesses so we are used to working a lot. Being able to read a book on a lounger is heavenly all by itself. :D

 

Is there another line that is more reasonable than Disney is this year, has west coast sailings (just because that would be easier for us, but not mandatory), and still has good service & (hopefully) better food?

 

I would greatly appreciate any and all helpful advice from you all who have experienced several cruise lines. Thanks so much!

Well, from the west coast, you're pretty much limited to Carnival, Princess, and an occasional Holland America.

I'd suggest maybe Princess might be the best fit out of those.

My family and I have always taken Disney cruises. But, our standard yearly cruise has gone up by over $4000 :eek: this year.

 

Obviously, I need to look at a different cruise line because the Disney prices are getting crazy, but never having gone on any of the other lines, I'm not sure what to go for. I would love some advice.

 

My boys will be 13 & 15 on this next cruise. They mostly just want to hang with kids their own age on the sports deck, so I think most lines will cover that as long as the line attracts families.

 

My husband and I have demanding jobs, so we just want quiet and to relax. On Disney, we spend a fair amount of time at the spa and in the adults only area. We are not big drinkers/party people, don't have an interest in a casino, and are perfectly happy seeing a movie or a show & then just going to bed, LOL. Boring, I know, but we both own our own businesses so we are used to working a lot. Being able to read a book on a lounger is heavenly all by itself. :D

 

Is there another line that is more reasonable than Disney is this year, has west coast sailings (just because that would be easier for us, but not mandatory), and still has good service & (hopefully) better food?

 

I would greatly appreciate any and all helpful advice from you all who have experienced several cruise lines. Thanks so much!

Carnival may be a fit for those ages and what you're looking for, other than wanting better food. The service was great on the Dream, the food, not so much, and no mickey bars, or warm chocolate chip cookies, no magic either, But teens may not care about magic. I haven't traveled princess or holland (not at home port).

I did LOTS of relaxing, room service was great (fast), mdr was great service. No MDR for lunch (not ok with me), was my main complaint (I don't want to wait standing in line for food).

I just did a quick scan of West coast cruises 2016 and in addition to those Shmoo listed, I found Royal, Norwegian, and Celebrity. Did a search of Pacific Northwest and a second search of Alaska.

We did Celebrity. There were very few kids on board and my older teen felt that the only people "her age" were some of the entertainers. Everyone else at our dinner table was elderly. This was not a fit for teens. We did spend some time in a hot tub with a family including young kids. They were very pleased with the kid program.

I just did a quick scan of West coast cruises 2016 and in addition to those Shmoo listed' date=' I found Royal, Norwegian, and Celebrity. Did a search of Pacific Northwest and a second search of Alaska.

 

We did Celebrity. There were very few kids on board and my older teen felt that the only people "her age" were some of the entertainers. Everyone else at our dinner table was elderly. This was not a fit for teens. We did spend some time in a hot tub with a family including young kids. They were very pleased with the kid program.[/quote']

 

RCL, if a newer ship, may be better than Carnival, depending on your budget. We didn't enjoy our RCL cruise, but older ship, full of older people, it wasn't a good fit for us. though, I wouldn't be against trying another ship. My kid had fun (she's three, how can you NOT have fun?) the service on carnival was better, as was the pull out bed for dd (the one on RCL was impossible to sleep on, she woke way too much. On Carnival, no issues sleeping on the pull out sofa).

I would absolutely disagree with Princess for families with teenagers!

I would definitely suggest Royal, NCL or Carnival.

ex techie

Princess is a WONDERFUL choice for teen children and the total family! :)

LuLu

I would suggest NCL. It's less party scene than Carnival - relaxed "do what you want when you want" attitude with "anytime dining". The food is good but much better in the specialty restaurants. They have packages that include a specialty dining package where you can dine in a specialty restaurant every night to ensure the food is up to your expectations. NCL would be perfect for teenagers in my opinion - and the laid back kind of cruising you seem to be interested in. Do as little or as much as you want!

Let's keep in mind the OP is a Disney cruiser so is looking for something that would be as close as possible to Disney. :)

LuLu

Let's keep in mind the OP is a Disney cruiser so is looking for something that would be as close as possible to Disney. :)

 

LuLu

In what quantity though? Quality of service, a good amount of teens and activities for them, quiet and solace for mom and dad?

Lines such as RCI, NCL and Carnival all have more to offer from what I've read?

ex techie

I would suggest NCL. It's less party scene than Carnival - relaxed "do what you want when you want" attitude with "anytime dining".

We've been on 8 Carnival and 4 Disney cruises as well as HAL.

I don't know about NCL and can't comment on them but Carnival is not a party scene unless you look for those type events, (or as, with some lines, short three day cruises full of a younger crowd looking for a party break away from work, school, etc). We find that these party type events usually only last for for short periods around the main pool.

The cruise is just as "do what you want", no one forces you to participate in anything except the muster drill. You can also choose your time dining rather than a set meal time seating.

There are also venues designed specifically for entertaining teens if they so choose. Also, when they have the events at the pool you will see lots of young folk participating, particularly if there is dancing and music involved.

I would not suggest HAL for kids. Tends to be an older crowd and the youngsters would probably be a bit bored.

I would suggest RCCL.

Just not CC for safety issues. Another CC vessel, the Carnival Pride had a minor fire last night.

AKK

I would suggest RCCL.

 

Just not CC for safety issues. Another CC vessel' date=' the Carnival Pride had a minor fire last night.

 

 

AKK[/quote']

 

ANOTHER ONE? Wow, that is 2 this month on Carnival ships. Yes, they have a lot of ships, but they also have what seems like a significant number of fires.

 

What has always impressed me was their inability to lower their lifeboat (it got caught in their rigging) when they had a "man overboard" situation. The Disney Wonder, under the direction of Staff Captain Guus did their rescue for them. There are some great videos and comments of this little episode; the best are from the Carnival passengers comparing the two ships.

ANOTHER ONE? Wow' date=' that is 2 this month on Carnival ships. Yes, they have a lot of ships, but they also have what seems like a significant number of fires.

 

What has always impressed me was their inability to lower their lifeboat (it got caught in their rigging) when they had a "man overboard" situation. The Disney Wonder, under the direction of Staff Captain Guus did their rescue for them. There are some great videos and comments of this little episode; the best are from the Carnival passengers comparing the two ships.[/quote']

 

 

 

At least this one was minor and was put out and they are continuing the voyage.

 

 

 

 

 

I have seen those videos on the cc vessel and the Wonder. The Wonder boat did a great job. DCL does have a reputation for a lot of training and skilled ships crew.

 

AKK

No, not another one. Just that some folks like to make mountains out of mole hills, usually trying for personal gain. Contrary to what that well known ambulance chaser lawyer and others chicken little's posted on line, there was no fire, it was smoke from a mechanical issue on a diesel generator that set off the fire suppression system, as it should. The cruise was not affected in any way and continued as scheduled.

From Carnival: At approximately 1:15am this morning, the Carnival Pride experienced a mechanical failure of one of its diesel generators which triggered the automated fire suppression system. CCTV footage has confirmed that there was not an actual fire, only smoke. At no time did the ship lose power and the vessel is currently continuing on its itinerary which involves a seven-day cruise from Baltimore that departed Sunday. The ship is currently in Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas for its regularly scheduled port visit there. There were no injuries to guests or crew and all safety, hotel and other operational systems are fully functional.

[quote=Tonka's Skipper;47780048

I have seen those videos on the cc vessel and the Wonder. The Wonder boat did a great job. DCL does have a reputation for a lot of training and skilled ships crew.

AKK

What always struck me was that if they couldn't lower ONE lifeboat in a reasonably controlled situation, what would happen if they ever had to evacuate the ship. But I guess we learned that answer with the Costa Concordia. Yes, the Carnival corporation owns both Carnival and Costa cruise lines as well as several others.

Disney practices lifeboat and "man overboard" drills regularly. I remember when my server was grumpy because he had to be the "man" while at Castaway Cay and he didn't want to get wet.

No, not another one. Just that some folks like to make mountains out of mole hills, usually trying for personal gain. Contrary to what that well known ambulance chaser lawyer and others chicken little's posted on line, there was no fire, it was smoke from a mechanical issue on a diesel generator that set off the fire suppression system, as it should. The cruise was not affected in any way and continued as scheduled.

 

From Carnival: At approximately 1:15am this morning, the Carnival Pride experienced a mechanical failure of one of its diesel generators which triggered the automated fire suppression system. CCTV footage has confirmed that there was not an actual fire, only smoke. At no time did the ship lose power and the vessel is currently continuing on its itinerary which involves a seven-day cruise from Baltimore that departed Sunday. The ship is currently in Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas for its regularly scheduled port visit there. There were no injuries to guests or crew and all safety, hotel and other operational systems are fully functional.

That's what Carnival said happened and the CCTV they made *available* shows a lot of smoke. Whether there was more fire and heat......who knows....I don't trust Carnival, but in fairness I said is was minor to the point they continued the voyage.

However the numbers keep climbing.

AKK

What always struck me was that if they couldn't lower ONE lifeboat in a reasonably controlled situation' date=' what would happen if they ever had to evacuate the ship. But I guess we learned that answer with the Costa Concordia. Yes, the Carnival corporation owns both Carnival and Costa cruise lines as well as several others.

 

Disney practices lifeboat and "man overboard" drills regularly. I remember when my server was grumpy because he had to be the "man" while at Castaway Cay and he didn't want to get wet.[/quote']

 

 

All the vessel have to do required drills by SOLAS and IMO and USCG regulations.

 

Moki, I do not have anything to back this up, but my Sailors gut tightens up every time I see those larger and larger cruise ships out there and what would happen if they really had to abandon ship. Especially in a rough sea.

 

AKK

All lines run drills, etc, its mandated by SOLAS among others. Panic can do many things to a person, especially if they are a fairly new crewmember.

That said, with regards to the topic at hand, it depends on your priority...

If you are looking for gee-wow factors (rock climbing walls, flowriders, etc) look at the newer RCCL and NCL ships. Tradeoff is a bit of a drop in personal service. That said, I have had better wait service on NCL and RCCL than on Disney (Disney stewards have always seemed better). Food being subjective, won't compare those. NCL and RCCL are also the ones who have shows comparable to disney quality although aimed to a more mature audience (Rock of Ages on the Breakaway was raunchier than on broadway). Teens will probably prefer this.

If you are more focused on service comparability, I would say Princess or Celebrity. Neither of these have the extensive teen/kid facilities that Disney does, but if all they want to do is hang out, just make sure there are kids of that age on board (On an October panama canal cruise on Princess there were 4 kids. Total.). They also have some more creative itineraries than others. Also, their entertainment is not of the same grade.

I like the larger ships on Royal. I liked NCL Epic a lot (haven't sailed on any other NCL ships). I also enjoyed Princess.

I'm on Royal right now and will write a report when I get home. I compared Disney to NCL and Princess on my blog here:

http://thebookofholly.wordpress.com

If you are able to do a suite on NCL that may be the closest to Disney service standards. NCL also usually has very good entertainment. You would need to go with mostly up-charge restaurants on NCL though as the main dining rooms are pretty lacking.

I would suggest RCCL.

 

Just not CC for safety issues. Another CC vessel' date=' the Carnival Pride had a minor fire last night.

 

 

AKK[/quote']

 

Again?!?

 

 

No, not another one. Just that some folks like to make mountains out of mole hills, usually trying for personal gain. Contrary to what that well known ambulance chaser lawyer and others chicken little's posted on line, there was no fire, it was smoke from a mechanical issue on a diesel generator that set off the fire suppression system, as it should. The cruise was not affected in any way and continued as scheduled.

 

From Carnival: At approximately 1:15am this morning, the Carnival Pride experienced a mechanical failure of one of its diesel generators which triggered the automated fire suppression system. CCTV footage has confirmed that there was not an actual fire, only smoke. At no time did the ship lose power and the vessel is currently continuing on its itinerary which involves a seven-day cruise from Baltimore that departed Sunday. The ship is currently in Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas for its regularly scheduled port visit there. There were no injuries to guests or crew and all safety, hotel and other operational systems are fully functional.

 

Well just because it didn't get to the stage of a full blown fire doesn't mean there aren't serious maintenance issues on Carnival ships!

 

I would have thought after the Liberty incident they would be checking and double checking the maintenance and condition of all of the engines and generators.

 

I'm glad it hasn't interrupted their journey, but I am seriously concerned with the training, competence and intelligence of some of their engineering staff.

 

Skip to 7:11 when the fire really gets going,

7:31 when an engineer in white coveralls turns up and starts flicking WATER onto an ELECTRICAL fire whilst standing in WATER!

SERIOUSLY?

 

7:52 and an officer (with common sense) arrives with a CO2 extinguisher and dowses the fire.

 

No sprinklers go off until 8:00 minutes!

 

ex techie

In this case it appears it was simply a small leak on one of the diesel generators and sprayed a tiny bit of non-flammable fluid onto a hot engine casing producing the smoke which triggered the fire suppression system which triggered a full response.

These kind of things are more common than you think, but since the Splendor the systems are set so sensitive that pretty much any fault makes for a full incident now.

The only person pushing it is the cruiselawnews ambulance chaser.

The

Again?!?

 

 

 

 

Well just because it didn't get to the stage of a full blown fire doesn't mean there aren't serious maintenance issues on Carnival ships!

 

I would have thought after the Liberty incident they would be checking and double checking the maintenance and condition of all of the engines and generators.

 

I'm glad it hasn't interrupted their journey, but I am seriously concerned with the training, competence and intelligence of some of their engineering staff.

 

Skip to 7:11 when the fire really gets going,

7:31 when an engineer in white coveralls turns up and starts flicking WATER onto an ELECTRICAL fire whilst standing in WATER!

SERIOUSLY?

 

7:52 and an officer (with common sense) arrives with a CO2 extinguisher and dowses the fire.

 

No sprinklers go off until 8:00 minutes!

 

ex techie

Princess is a WONDERFUL choice for teen children and the total family! :)

 

LuLu

I agree with LuLu. I have booked many families similar to yours on Princess ships and they have all loved it.

In this case it appears it was simply a small leak on one of the diesel generators and sprayed a tiny bit of non-flammable fluid onto a hot engine casing producing the smoke which triggered the fire suppression system which triggered a full response.

 

These kind of things are more common than you think, but since the Splendor the systems are set so sensitive that pretty much any fault makes for a full incident now.

 

The only person pushing it is the cruiselawnews ambulance chaser.

 

The

Where have you read that it was s small leak, tiny bit of a non-flammable fluid?

ex techie