Least Important to You When Booking a Cruise?

[OCruisers]

What are some of the LEAST important things to you when booking a cruise?

 

People often discuss the Most important things to them when they book a cruise so it would be interesting to find out what some of your LEAST important are?

 

Here are a few of our LEAST Important when deciding on a cruise:

 

Who the CD (Cruise Director) will be.

Embarkation Booze/Drink Policy ... we can buy all we want on the ship.

Tender Ports on the Itinerary ... having to tender is fine with us.

 

Everyone has some least important things to them when booking a cruise.

What are some of yours?

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Keith1010]

How many ships will be in port.

 

Keith

[Nebr.cruiser]

The CD is not important to us either. Neither is the alcohol policy, as we mostly don't drink. We also don't care about the casino, specialty restaurants and dancing venues, spas, art auctions, most of the shops, the ship tours, the photographers and pool games.

 

But, I know that many people do like these things, and it is just fine. We all have different priorities and likes/dislikes. Luckily, no one forces you to do anything.

[cb at sea]

Ditto the CD or Captain....we don't care!

Ditto the "how many ships in port"....never understood that one!

 

Another one....what shape is the ship in?...So far, we've never sailed on a rust bucket!!!

[John Bull]

What are some of the LEAST important things to you when booking a cruise?

 

People often discuss the Most important things to them when they book a cruise so it would be interesting to find out what some of your LEAST important are?

 

Here are a few of our LEAST Important when deciding on a cruise:

 

Who the CD (Cruise Director) will be.

Embarkation Booze/Drink Policy ... we can buy all we want on the ship.

Tender Ports on the Itinerary ... having to tender is fine with us.

 

Everyone has some least important things to them when booking a cruise.

What are some of yours?

 

LuLu

~~~~

 

CD, captain, etc? Nah, though it can make a difference.

 

Drinks (and tips) policies & prices? Certainly we take into account the big differences between UK-orientated & US/Italian-orientated cruise lines when comparing cruise ticket prices.

 

Tenders? We don't take such a relaxed view - mainly because of the fairly-common disappointment of tendering ashore being cancelled due to sea conditions.

 

Speciality restaurants, gym, spa, shops, toys. & a whole host of little things.

 

JB :)

[TC1957]

Could nat care less who is CD or Captian. Most (if not all) CDs are the same and fairly cheesy :p Captain...get us to the port safely and on time, other than that he is just another person with stripes on his/her sleeve.

 

I prefer not to tender, but it isn't a deal breaker. Drink prices are irrelevant because we rarely drink. Besides, if I am watching pennies that closely I am probably taking a different type of vacation.

 

Number of ships in port and the size of the ship...eh, big deal. I don't take a cruise to shop so other than excursion crowding it does not matter. If a port routinely gets a lot of ships there are probably going to be enough options anyway. Now if there a several days of just cruising I want a bigger variety of options on the ship so in those cases "size does matter".

 

Only reason the condition of the ship may matter to me is because a new, or newly renovated ship, may have higher price tags. Very few, if any, cruise lines are going to put a piece of junk on the ocean...bad for business.

 

I do want a good fitness center that is large enough. We like to get in a morning workout before we start the day.

 

I only consider destination, time frame (dates) and price.

[Karysa]

Size of the cabin is not important to me.

[hansolosmom]

Wow good question! I've never thought about it before.

 

I'd almost say cruise line.

We always look at ports, then when, the embarkation point, by then it's usually narrowed down a specific voyage so I really don't have a choice.

 

Other than that when it comes to the ship itself, I don't care about Capt, officers, CD nor the specialty restaurants & gym/spa facilities.

[kcwingwalker]

Could nat care less who is CD or Captian. Most (if not all) CDs are the same and fairly cheesy :p Captain...get us to the port safely and on time, other than that he is just another person with stripes on his/her sleeve.

 

I prefer not to tender, but it isn't a deal breaker. Drink prices are irrelevant because we rarely drink. Besides, if I am watching pennies that closely I am probably taking a different type of vacation.

 

Number of ships in port and the size of the ship...eh, big deal. I don't take a cruise to shop so other than excursion crowding it does not matter. If a port routinely gets a lot of ships there are probably going to be enough options anyway. Now if there a several days of just cruising I want a bigger variety of options on the ship so in those cases "size does matter".

 

Only reason the condition of the ship may matter to me is because a new, or newly renovated ship, may have higher price tags. Very few, if any, cruise lines are going to put a piece of junk on the ocean...bad for business.

 

I do want a good fitness center that is large enough. We like to get in a morning workout before we start the day.

 

I only consider destination, time frame (dates) and price.

 

Agree!

[Bookish Angel]

Also, we don't care about sushi bars, lobster night, specialty dining, ship singers and dancers, spa services, photo packages, soda, coffee or wine selection as we don't drink those, bingo, ship shops, bars or desserts. Dining with the captain or officers is unimportant as is the use of loyalty lounges, concierge services, etc.

 

We do care about the age of a ship; neither of us like old-looking, tired decor, obvious rust, etc., as we like sleek, contemporary, minimalist design. A good running and walking track is a huge plus as are a ship's recent CDC rating and overall safety record. Having life jackets in our cabin is of very high importance.

Edited November 11, 2013 by Bookish Angel

[OCruisers]

Another one....what shape is the ship in?...So far, we've never sailed on a rust bucket!!!

 

:D ^^ Funny Above! ^^

 

And very true!

 

LuLu

~~~~

[hospvol]

The CD is not important to us.

 

Generally, the captain is not important. Although I will say that Tony Yeoman was out all time favorite.

[taglovestocruise]

The more we cruise the less we care about where it goes or how long it takes to get there.

[ducklite]

The CD, Captain, pretty much any member of the crew just doesn't matter to us.

 

The entertainment, as long as there is a lounge with either just background music that isn't rap, disco, or loud, or a passable band that isn't so,loud that you can't have a conversation over them.

 

Bingo, casino, deck parties, etc.

 

None of those things matter to us.

 

 

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[14Terry]

Who the CD & captain are, we could care less.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[SantaFeFan]

I don't care if there are a couple of spots of rust on the ship - it's in an ocean environment, fer crying out loud, and rust is inevitable. Some people get all bent out of shape if they spot any flaw at all - a flake of rust, a tiny stain on the carpet, a small scratch in the woodwork - even going to the trouble of taking photos of these "horrendous" spots to post proof of how awful their cruise was. Me, I'd rather take photos of the attractive areas of the ship, or of people having fun. If I wanted to dwell on the negative, I'd certainly not spend thousands of dollars to do it.

[SantaFeFan]

Having life jackets in our cabin is of very high importance.

 

All cruise ships are required to have life jackets in every stateroom, so that is a non issue. However, considering how little time you will be spending in your room, chances are that you won't be using those life jackets, but instead using the life jackets given to you at your muster station. You should NEVER return to your room in an emergency if you are't there already. Instead go straight to your muster station for further instructions. If you are in your room at the time of an emergency, such as in the middle of the night, then yes, grab that life jacket and bring it with you to the muster station. This will speed things up for the officials who will be guiding you.

Edited November 12, 2013 by SantaFeFan

[ducklite]

I don't care if there are a couple of spots of rust on the ship - it's in an ocean environment, fer crying out loud, and rust is inevitable. Some people get all bent out of shape if they spot any flaw at all - a flake of rust, a tiny stain on the carpet, a small scratch in the woodwork - even going to the trouble of taking photos of these "horrendous" spots to post proof of how awful their cruise was. Me, I'd rather take photos of the attractive areas of the ship, or of people having fun. If I wanted to dwell on the negative, I'd certainly not spend thousands of dollars to do it.

 

I think it depends on how bad the situation is. Small stains, scratches, these are wear and tear. But when plumbing isn't working repeatedly, when the TV is broken and no replacement is available, when a room reeks of smoke on a ship that doesn't allow smoking in cabins, when carpet is soaking wet, when a mattress is so bad that there is a visible sag in the bed, the list goes on--in these type of cases I think a cruiser is justified in complaining and expecting either the situation to be rectified or compensation that doesn't require them to spend money on another cruise to be tendered.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[SantaFeFan]

I think it depends on how bad the situation is. Small stains, scratches, these are wear and tear. But when plumbing isn't working repeatedly, when the TV is broken and no replacement is available, when a room reeks of smoke on a ship that doesn't allow smoking in cabins, when carpet is soaking wet, when a mattress is so bad that there is a visible sag in the bed, the list goes on--in these type of cases I think a cruiser is justified in complaining and expecting either the situation to be rectified or compensation that doesn't require them to spend money on another cruise to be tendered..

 

I wasn't talking about serious maintenance issues, but minor blemishes. No need to explain to me that more serious problems need to be attended to. I'm not that naive. Since that is the way you want to go with this, I'll happily play along by including even more serious situations than the ones you mentioned. To paraphrase you:

 

"But if the ship has run aground, is dead in the water, is on fire, is capsized, is sinking, the list goes on--in these types of cases I think a cruiser is justified in complaining and expecting either the situation to be rectified or compensation that doesn't require them to spend money on another cruise to be tendered.." :D;):p

Edited November 12, 2013 by SantaFeFan

[Lerin]

Due to work schedules and living very far from any port, we generally only have a small window of time in which to cruise.

Because of this our options are quite limited and we often only have 1 cruise in which to chose from.

 

Most/least important don't matter. When you only have 1 choice, then that is it!

[Scrapnana]

Least important...

 

spas

gyms

drink packages

wine policy

officers

[griffy116]

Least important:

CD

gym

Specialty Restaurants

Tender v Dock

Kids Club (no children)

 

We have a limited window to travel so we always decide where, give a look at the itinerary and prices, ship and cruise line. We prefer the larger ships.

[LA_CA_GAL]

I have never concerned myself with food and menus.

 

Never gone hungry on a cruise and have always found the food just fine.

[Gunner22aa]

The time of the year that we cruise. Just pick a destination appropriate to the season.

[printingchick]

Least important...

 

• spas
  
• specialty restaurants
  
• casino
  
• kid's clubs (my kids are grown)
  
• captain
  
• theme-park style attractions, like bumper cars, zip-lines etc. RCL is my favorite cruise line, but I would never choose a ship based on these features.
  

 

I usually don't think to check until AFTER I've booked, but how many ships are in port IS important, more-so at some ports than others. Smaller islands can't really comfortably accommodate HUGE onslaughts of tourists at one time.

 

Also, I book too early to know who the CD will be, but it does matter to me...it's just not decision influencing.

 

Docking versus tender is also VERY important to me and I do consider that when booking. I feel passengers lose too much time in port when having to tender back and forth.

 

I don't use the casino, so I would never rule out a cruise line that didn't have one. I also don't patronize the specialty restaurants, so those aren't important to me. Maybe they will be at some point in the future when I have a larger travel budget, but I'm perfectly satisfied with the MDR experience and would prefer to spend that specialty food money elsewhere.