Which is more important...

[mikeblum]

and yes i realize that it may differ by the number of cruises you have taken...what is more importasnt in selecting a cruise...the ITINERARY or the SHIP..or neither...????...being that my wife and i have been to most of the ports of call in the caribbean the ship is the determining factor now...and we have been on 16 cruises...all except 3 on RCCL

[PattyG12]

I used to say the itinerary but now that we've been to most of the Caribbean I now say this ship, but also the friends I've met along the way while cruising.

[jst4fun715]

We are in the same "boat" as you. I still love the Caribbean ports, but anytime I can book something different now with a great itinerary, I will. But it sure helps to be on a ship you like that is doing that itinerary! For us, we love the Radiance class and have been able to do not only the Caribbean, but Alaska, the Panama Canal and the upcoming TA on that class.:)

[time4u2go]

Itinerary.

[bibbysnow]

The proximity of the embarkation port to our home. We have sailed on all ship classes and been to most ports.

 

We would like to see them sail to some new ports.

[Sky616]

Kind of dilemma for us right now with booking our next one when the schedules come out. I want to do the southern itinerary with the lesser visited islands such as Dominica, Grenada, etc on a smaller ship. Of course my son wants to do the Oasis or Allure. Whatever we do I'm sure we'll have a blast. Oasis or Allure looks fun for an adult too.

[ZoeyVictoria]

The schedule is our determining factor, for now. I live in Florida but still work, and enjoy the anticipation and planning almost as much the cruise itself, so I look for as many short cruises as possible. That will change after I retire, but it works for now.

[fischymom]

First consideration for us is dates, then I look for locations, and final consideration is value (C&A discounts, sales, etc). The ship to me is not going to be a huge factor in my choice. When I have more cruises under my belt and the destination is not so much a factor then I would assume the ship is going to have more value in my decisions, but not for now.

[lady_cruiser]

For us it isn't a matter of choice but if we want to cruise at all. We do not fly so our choices are either New Orleans or Galvston. Since we have two cockatiels and one cat it would hard and expensive to board them for no long than a week at a time so driving to Florida is out of the question.

[The Grumpus]

It goes back and forth for me. For a couple years it will be about the ships; then a few years it's about ports.

 

Then ships.

 

Then Ports.

 

Etc.

 

Etc...

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

It use to be itinerary, but now that we've "been there - done that" thing, now its just the ship.

 

Even more so now with no ship close to home, it almost comes down to what we can afford and just go!

 

***

[Debde]

Itinerary hands down.

I want to always travel to a place where I have never been. I don't cruise to cruise. I cruise to see as much as there is to see that cruising will take me to.

[bigque]

Kind of dilemma for us right now with booking our next one when the schedules come out. I want to do the southern itinerary with the lesser visited islands such as Dominica, Grenada, etc on a smaller ship. Of course my son wants to do the Oasis or Allure. Whatever we do I'm sure we'll have a blast. Oasis or Allure looks fun for an adult too.

 

I was waiting also, so I went ahead a booked a cruise on Celebrity with those ports you mentioned, before the type of cabin wanted was all booked up. Now if Royal comes out with something simular with the right ship I like, I might cancel the Celebrity cruise and book Royal. I kind of doubt it though because I've been looking to try something different!

[yogimax]

The sailing date, days involved and price.

[Aquahound]

and yes i realize that it may differ by the number of cruises you have taken...what is more importasnt in selecting a cruise...the ITINERARY or the SHIP..or neither...????...being that my wife and i have been to most of the ports of call in the caribbean the ship is the determining factor now...and we have been on 16 cruises...all except 3 on RCCL

 

Depends. My Oasis Class cruises, 3rd one coming up, are totally about the ship.

 

My upcoming Nieuw Amsterdam cruise is about the itinerary.

[hazeleyez3]

With the exception of the Allure next year, we cruise for the itinerary.

[KG1924]

We're still all about the ship. I love, love, love the Oasis class, but their itineraries are pretty blah! But whenever I start to think that way, I quickly remind myself that I'm pretty darn lucky to be "disappointed" to have to go Western Caribean again...I know way too many people that have never even stepped foot off of US soil! It is still paradise, right?

 

I think we'll focus on ships for the time being. Especially with RC coming out with a new class. But I still do want to go on a another Southern route and that would most likely be for the itinerary. I just wish flying to Puerto Rico didn't cost so much!!

[sredish]

Airfare to the ships home port is what dictates it for us. We're sort of limited here on the West Coast, so we tend to stick to Galveston for our Caribbean cruises as we can catch Southwest flights fairly cheap into Hobby. We would love to try Freedom or Allure/Oasis...but four plane tickets to Florida on top of the already premium room prices....ouch.

 

With that being said, we do wish a new itinerary would come to Galveston, but we're perfectly happy sailing the same places over and over. It's still exciting and new every time!

[Sequim88]

Itinerary - highly favoring repositionings that go to unusual ports.

 

Then size of ship more than specific ship. We are not doing transatlantic or Hawaii on smaller than Radiance class.

 

If bored with Caribbean do try Alaska, New England or a TA. Ou dream itinerary is round the end of South America but Baltic will probably be next cruise after upcoming TA.

 

Ports are a non-issue for us. Every port (except Arctic Ocean) is same 1,600+ miles away for us.

[SingingPixie]

For us right now cost and schedule come first, with the rest being a balance between ports and ship. We were looking for an inexpensive getaway without too many days off from work. That limited our options to pretty much the Western Caribbean. It would have been nice to visit places I haven't been before, but I like Belize and Cozumel (and there's plenty we'd enjoy doing in both of those places) so I was fine with going again. We picked Liberty over Jewel because of the ship.

[galavant3]

If we are in the Caribbean, the ship and the departure port. Otherwise, the itinerary. It goes back and forth for us also.

[sr4mjc]

Itinerary first, price, ship.

[skandls]

For a CRUISE the ship is more important - as a 'cruise' is not so expensive. And we have been to the Caribbean a number of times.

 

For a TRIP land or sea the ports or cities are what we go for. The 'trips' are bigger splurges so we can visit places around the world.

[louhun88]

For me it's the itinerary and as long as the ships sounds good and gets good reviews it fine! Also the cost is an important factor :)

[BillOh]

Good question and I'll enjoy the replies. I have half as many cruises as you, but the cruise I just took was a combo of both. I had never been on a Radiance class ship and never been to Costa Maya, this last cruise on Jewel took care of both. I'd consider going back to keywest, but would favor a 4 or 5 day cruise on a Voyager class ship over another 4 day on Majesty, but would happily do either. Once I get to Diamond, I may also consider a different itinerary on X as well, possibly also figure in a new departure port, which I also did on last cruise (Tampa)