What Ship Would You Choose and Why? (Out of San Juan) Princ, Celebrity, Carnival, RC

[jresn02]

Adventure of the Seas

Caribbean Princess

Celebrity Summit

Carnival Victory

 

Looking to go Mid April. We are in our mid 30's and have been on Celebrity Infinity, Navigator of the seas, and a Few Carnival Boats. Never been on Princess. We have NOT been to the islands on any itenirary so really all of them will be new. So really comes down to the best ship. We like food so the ship with better choices and food would be best. Anyone been on these boats and can compare? The prices are within 200 bucks of each other so really I would take that out of the equation as we are happy with the prices.

[A Sixth?]

Starting next season, you can cross Princess off your list. They aren't returning to San Juan.. :(

 

They were the only "real" other choice for us.

 

You'll love the Summit.

 

 

 

[pete_coach]

Adventure of the Seas

Caribbean Princess

Celebrity Summit

Carnival Victory

 

Looking to go Mid April. We are in our mid 30's and have been on Celebrity Infinity, Navigator of the seas, and a Few Carnival Boats. Never been on Princess. We have NOT been to the islands on any itenirary so really all of them will be new. So really comes down to the best ship. We like food so the ship with better choices and food would be best. Anyone been on these boats and can compare? The prices are within 200 bucks of each other so really I would take that out of the equation as we are happy with the prices.

Sounds like the ships are not the question considering you have been on each cruise line offering. If it was us, I think we would be looking for the most interesting itinerary (for us). While the ship is important, it would be the destinations and the sights to see that will make the trip.

[jresn02]

the trip is for this april. Any of the ports recommend over others? I have never been on Princess so I posted this over there. I once was told the RCCL experienc was better than the Celebrity out of San Juan. Not sure if the ships are the same.

[Richjoxyz]

Never been on Princess so I wont include it below, but have sailed the Adventure, Victory and Millennium out of SJ.

 

We are sailing a B2B on the newly refurbished Summit on April 14th. (Great selection of ports, nice new ship.)

 

Our first choice for food is the Summit, food much better than Carnival or RCI (our opinion)

 

Nicest ship is Adventure and Summit, but we prefer the Celebrity experience. Voyager class ships are nice, but kind of like being at the mall. Celebrity ships are kind of like being at a fine hotel.

 

Best party scene is the Adventure or Victory.

 

Victory would be our last choice, but still a good choice. Great islands. We recently took this cruise on the Victory due to low price for balcony and had a great cruise. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

However, Celebrity is our first choice.

 

They are all good. Price and Islands are more important to us than the ship.

[Bridge Maven]

There is one thing to consider when taking a cruise out of San Juan. The majority of people booking their last minute cruise deals are usually people who live in Puerto Rico, and many of them don't speak English.

[librarylady19]

the trip is for this april. Any of the ports recommend over others? I have never been on Princess so I posted this over there. I once was told the RCCL experienc was better than the Celebrity out of San Juan. Not sure if the ships are the same.

 

I would recommend a cruise at stops in Dominica, such as Summit. We has a wonderful day there in December 2010 with the fantastic tour guide Levi Baron of Buumping Tours.

I have several albums of photos of various ports of call from that cruise, of you are interested:

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/librarylady19

 

And there is always good information on the ports of call boards.

Summit was just refurbished so I'm sure she is wonderful (though sadly we've heard little feedback yet from returning cruisers):confused:

[librarylady19]

There is one thing to consider when taking a cruise out of San Juan. The majority of people booking their last minute cruise deals are usually people who live in Puerto Rico, and many of them don't speak English.

 

How is this relevant, if it is even accurate?

[cruisinelsewhere]

I have only cruised out of PR on Celebrity (Galaxy twice...years ago and Summit 3/10). All three were fantastic! Well....they must have been since I continued going back;). The only thing that stopped me this time was the added expense of airfare as I can drive to Fort Lauderdale for my upcoming cruise. I would choose Summit in a heartbeat as she is newly refurbished.

[crisp1]

You really can't go wrong with any of the ships/ lines. One thing to consider is pre/post cruise.The Victory docks in Old San Juan. If you've never been there before, you shouldn't miss it. With the Victory if you catch an early flight you can drop off your bags and spend the day enjoying Old San Juan- or do it post cruise if you have a later flight- many tour operaters at the dock take you and your bags and give you a 3 hr tour with time to walk around and then drop you off at the airport.

Other than that- CCL and RCI are best for younger folks, with more going on at night- better live entertainment

Princess and Celebrity have better food and service. The Victory has a very port intensive itinerary. Dominica is an island not to be missed. St Lucia has the best snorkeling in the Eastern C. St Thomas is the most beautiful coming into port.

[angelsil]

How is this relevant, if it is even accurate?

 

From my experience it's accurate and relevant, depending on the experience you are looking for on a cruise. I suggest the OP read some of the reviews to better understand how the ship changes depending on the the passenger base.

 

We sailed AoS a few years ago. Our sailing was filled with around 60% local families. Many of whom had received heavily discounted cabins. The prevalent language onboard was definitely Spanish and the experience was very different from a cruise originating in Miami. All entertainment and dining was adjusted to cater to the majority PR passenger base, for example. There were also tons more kids than I'm used to finding in an October sailing and said kids had little-to-no parental supervision.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

There is one thing to consider when taking a cruise out of San Juan. The majority of people booking their last minute cruise deals are usually people who live in Puerto Rico, and many of them don't speak English.

 

Wasn't my experience on Summit last year. Maybe there were few last minute bookings. From the thread title, all the ships in question sail out of San Juan, anyway, making this a moot point.

 

How is this relevant, if it is even accurate?

 

I've seen threads in the past that have indicated that cruises wherein there were a great many last-minute bookings by Puerto Rican residents have been unpleasant because (reportedly) they tend to insist on Spanish being used for various shipboard functions, and there's a higher incidence of people who have never cruised before, tend to come from a rougher class of people who would generally not be able to afford to cruise, and therefore may not be as cultured and well-mannered as you'd typically find on a cruise, much less a Celebrity cruise.

 

I don't support those conclusions, I'm just passing on what the relevance might be. For some, right or wrong, those details could be important in making their decision, were it the deciding factor in sailing out of San Juan or Fort Lauderdale. Such reports gave me momentary pause when we were booking out of San Juan, but we decided to go with the flow-- when in Rome, and all that. (I assume when we sail from Civitavecchia (someday:)), English will not be the primary language on board-- we'll deal with it.) We encountered no such issues, but YMMV.

[Dizney]

We sailed Adventure of the Seas several years ago. Yes, there were a lot of local folks. It was not a problem and we loved the ship. Lots of activities. As others have posted, the itinerary is probably most important.

We personally would not do Carnival...been there once, won't go again. :D

[Bridge Maven]

How is this relevant, if it is even accurate?

 

Library Lady - It can be very relevant to someone who doesn't speak Spanish and would have a problem taking a cruise with a significant number of passengers who don't speak English.

 

Of course demographics vary from cruise to cruise so this situation doesn't exist on every cruise that leaves from San Juan, but it is a very common situation on cruises that leave from San Juan.

 

When people take a cruise in Europe, they expect to be sailing with passengers from other countries who don't speak English and that is part of the experience of "traveling". At the same time, since San Juan is a territory of the US and the itineraries aren't that different from other Caribbean cruises, many people overlook this fact.

 

The reason why this situation is so common is twofold. Last minute bargain rates provide a unique opportunity for people in Puerto Rico, who normally couldn't afford a cruise to take one, while as the cheap as the cruise fare may be it is usually too difficult to get a good price on an airfare ticket to attract people from other areas that close to the cruise date.

 

BTW - I took Spanish in college, and have read a number of books in Spanish, so the language issue would not pose a problem for me. However, I know many people who normally love cruises, but took one cruise that left from San Juan and will never do it again.

[austinlw]

I assume when we sail from Civitavecchia (someday:)), English will not be the primary language on board-- we'll deal with it.)

 

Just FYI - We were on Celebrity Equinox out of Civitavecchia this past Oct. English was the primary language. Most folks on board were American or British, many Japanese, some Germans, French, etc.

[leonardofan]

Getting back to the original question, if food is a major criterion, Celebrity wins, hands down. Princess is high quality, but boring (like your grandma would make if she had the time and, access to quality ingredients).For service generally, crew to passenger ratio is 2:1 on Celebrity, around 3:1 on the others--they couldn't give you personalized service if they wanted to.

[Bridge Maven]

I'd like to respond to the posts which imply that it was inappropriate for me to post about the disadvantages of taking a cruise that leaves from San Juan when the OP asked about specific ships. By asking which ship is best for a cruise from San Juan, it is obvious that the OP has not made reservations yet While that person may still want to take one from this San Juan, I felt it was appropriate to share why a Caribbean cruise that leaves from a different port will probably be more enjoyable.

 

Granted a number of people on this board loved their cruises from San Juan but I know many people in real life who will never sail from San Juan again, based on their experience.

 

Another thing to consider is that Celebrity may have a dress code but if most people on a particular cruise don't follow it, there is no way it will be enforced.

[Lois R]

Summit. Why? Because I love her.:)

[richsea]

Since you've cruised on the Navigator & Infinity, you can assume that Adventure & Summitt will be the pretty much the same as their respective sisters. Princess offeres a closer experience to Celebrity than the others, & you've sailed Carnival so if you want to try a different line, then you might like to try Princess.

What a great problem you have!!!

Although you didn't ask about sailing from San Juan, there have been some who seem to advise against it, & I would like to add that we've sailed form San Juan 7 times & have NEVER noticed any difference in the passengers on any of our sailings. San Juan is our favorite Port to Sail out of.

[olemissreb]

We sailed AOS 2 years ago with our kids for Spring Break and loved it. Being that it was Spring Break for many, there were a lot of kids on board. If you are looking for a romantic get-away, this may not fit the bill. There are a lot of activities and I wanted to do them all (the 70's and 80's dance parties were the best!) and because of that I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation.

 

We sailed the Connie (Summit sister) 7 years ago and really loved that! It was our 20th Anniversary so we wanted something a little more subdued and we got it. We splurged on a suite and our butler was outstanding. Even with X cancelling 2 of our 3 tours we still had the best time dancing during the sailaway, dancing at the disco, watching tablemates make fools of themselves singing karaoke!

 

If it were just the DH and I, I would choose Celebrity hands down. If we had the kids with us again? Royal Caribbean. (Of course we're taking the kids to Alaska next year and will probably be on the Millie so we'll see how the kids like Celebrity.)

[miched]

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You have been on RCCL, X and Carnival. Which one do you prefer out of those 3. After you narrow that down then compare it to Princess.

 

 

You are comparing too many different styles of crusing.

 

If it just comes down to food you have to be the judge and since you have been on 3 of the lines you have to know what one you like best.

 

 

 

 

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