What is the best ship?

[ragethjj23]

We are thinking of maybe more sea days (as our first only has 1) and more entertainment on board.

[Essiesmom]

My feelings about any ship that I have been on is colored by itinerary, cabin, weather, food, dining companions...etc. Some of the 'best' cruises have not been on the 'best' ships. I agree that the Solstice class of Celebrity have some of the best ships, but we had better cabins on HAL and Princess...The retired QE2 and the QM2 were/are grand ships, but we have had better food on other lines...For us, there is no 'best'. EM

[sailinglisa]

Without you having even been on a cruise, it is hard to know what YOU want from a cruise, and even you won't know what you like on a cruise until you have actually taken one.

 

That being said, I love the Radiance class of ships on Royal Caribbean....they are in the range of 80,000 GRT and are ships that focus outward on the ocean, not inward to a promenade. These ships have a lot of glass that brings the ocean in to the ship. They don't have all the bells and whistles of the Voyager, Freedom or Oasis class ships - but those ships don't focus out to the ocean but in to the inside of the ship...and they have WAY too many passengers for my taste. It's like being in a land-locked resort and not seeing the water, and you really don't feel the motion of the ocean.

 

But, you don't even state in your op what YOU want from a cruise........and that makes it difficult for us to answer your question.

[Emmasoma]

We enjoyed Ocean Princess because of its size, not particulary anything about the actual ship. Also like the way Princess runs things. As someone else mentions its what you want out of a cruise. We don't gamble or go to many shows but enjoyed the fact that the staff got to know us as they rotated from main dining, breakfast, buffet. Also that with only about 600 we were on and off at ports quickly and could get to know other cruisers on the ship. If you like the ports best, the smaller ship can get to places the big ships can't. We were docked right downtown in St. Petersburg and in Amsterdam. Also able to go in Kiel canal. If you enjoy the activities ON the ship, you might like a larger one with more things to do. Never paid much attention to decor, more interested in ambience.

[SeagoingMom]

We are thinking of maybe more sea days (as our first only has 1) and more entertainment on board.

We love sea days! But different people want to do different things on sea days. We love to do things like relax and enjoy walking on a wide wraparound outside promenade deck, as well as finding cozy, quiet spots (such as empty lounges) to watch the sea go by and read or talk. For this, we found both Carnival Fascination (again, before more passenger cabins were added to her) and HAL Zuiderdam most to our liking. Fascination did not have a wraparound promenade deck, but the feeling of the ship was very "nautical," (which we like) with lots of brass and wood and lots of large windows with seating where one could enjoy the view. In contrast, Caribbean Princess, our most recent ship, though we enjoyed its wraparound promenade deck (though with stairs), when we went inside during the day, every window seemed to have curtains pulled across it, and there were long hallways with no windows at all. Sometimes I began to doubt I was on a ship! It was hard to find more than a few seats anywhere on board from which to see the sea. For example, in the library, all the comfy seating was on the far side of the room from the windows, and the views of the sea were blocked by computer tables!

 

On sea days we also look for quiet lounges with good bar service and various specials on drinks. Zuiderdam had two for one specials every day, and Caribbean Princess had "5 beers for the price of 4" specials, though their mixed drinks were quite pricey. Other activities we enjoyed: afternoon (free) sushi on Fascination, afternoon tea every day on CP, afternoon tea on sea days on Infinity, and both afternoon tea and Indonesian high tea several times on Zuiderdam. We enjoyed ballroom dance lessons on Infinity and Zuiderdam, (Princess had them, too) and then practiced our steps in the evenings to various dance bands. Infinity had the greatest number of dancing passengers, Princess next, then Zuiderdam, but we enjoyed dancing on Z'dam the most because we had several hours to dance after dinner, and we got to know the band members.

 

Of course, number of sea days is all about the itinerary -- we chose Caribbean Princess because it was one a rare 7 day W. CAribbean cruise with only 3 port stops and therefore 3 sea days. Most had 4 ports, 2 sea days. If you want sea days in order to use the water slide, ice skating rink, climbing wall, television studio, boxing ring, etc., you will be on a different ship than we will ever likely be on.

 

As for entertainment -- we enjoyed the variety and quality of the entertainment on Zuiderdam (southern Caribbean 10-night cruise) very much. We felt Zuiderdam had by far the best live musical options thoughout the ship -- a wonderful string quartet, a pleasant solo singer with guitar. In the theater in the evening they had family-friendly shows (not that we traveled with children, but we hate vulgarity and off-color stuff), and things like a fabulous steel drum band which they picked up on one of the islands and let off on another -- a true local band, and very talented. We are also a big fan of the Captain's Welcome show, which was great on both Infinity and Zuiderdam, but in our view, terrible on Caribbean Princess, where it occurred in the Piazza (central part of the ship) instead of the theater, and folks had to stand around trying to get a view. It was very awkward. For us, way too much entertainment (mostly loud) occurred in the Piazza on Caribbean Princess -- it was very distracting and hard to avoid. We were used to lively daytime entertainment being centered around the Lido pool (on Infinity, Fascination, maybe Zuiderdam?) which was easy for us to avoid, as we don't use the Lido pool. Other sorts of daytime entertainment and activities (like movies, cooking demonstrations, trivia, etc.) were also to be found in various rooms and lounges on all these ships, but except for CP, these activities did not disturb the peace of the public areas. On Caribbean Princess, we mostly retired to our cabin because there was little peace to be found in the public areas, especially the Piazza, during the day or night -- it had a very "circus" atmosphere. The only entertainment we participated in on CP was an afternoon movie in the theater. CP's theater seemed very small and cramped to us. The evening's illusionist show, also in the theater, was so loud we could not stay to watch.

 

Caribbean Princess had a lovely warm, quiet, adults-only outdoor spa pool which we would like to have used, but the weather was not good on our cruise, so we never did. Infinity had its indoor thalassotherapy (warm, bubbly) adults-only pool which we loved!

 

We loved our Zuiderdam cruise the best of all four of our cruises, and intend to cruise with HAL again as soon as we can. We seem a good fit for the HAL product (assuming it is the same on another ship with another itinerary...) Until HAL disappoints us, we will probably stick with them, although we are tempted to try Royal Caribbean just because the product seems so different. Celebrity has not been able to tempt us back yet -- perhaps they will some day, but we have no reason to choose Celebrity over HAl at this point. We certainly may sail on Fascination again just because its home port (Jacksonville) is convenient for us, and the ship sails the Caribbean all summer. We would probably not sail with Princess again unless HAL really disappoints us.

 

We have no interest in ships much larger than 2500 pax, and prefer around 2000. The 3000+ on Caribbean Princess was too many for us.

[travelnap]

I think the best cruise ship is the one I happen to be on or will be sailing on soon. As long as I am at sea, I know that I will enjoy myself. I prefer the mid size ships so that is where I am usually found when at sea. That said, I don't cruise for the ship, as the itinerary is more important to me. A day at sea is always better than a day at work and I enjoy my job.

[lady_cruiser]

Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. I can't give you just one reason but it is the ship that we loved cruising on twice a year while it was in Galveston.

[donaldsc]

Lewis R French.

 

DON

[GrrlMeetsWrrld]

Every line has its own personality, and that is something you should consider, along with the itinerary. Our first cruise was with Royal Caribbean, and I'm glad that was our introduction to cruising. We were on the Grandeur, and it was a great combination of old school elegance and fun night life. RCCL Explorer was fun, too, but a little too big for our taste. HAL Zuiderdam had a great Panama Canal itinerary with outstanding food and service, but was very sedate. We are mid-50s to 60s. I think we'll appreciate HAL more in about 15 years. Celebrity Solstice in the Meditteranean was like a dream come true and is my personal favorite. Right now, we are enjoying NCL ships, mostly for the overall combination of itineraries and really fun shows and night life. We did Pride of America in Hawaii, which I thought was a downright ugly ship, but oh the fun we had! NCL Gem in the Caribbean was equally pleasant crew, service, food and fun. We're scheduled for a third NCL cruise to Alaska soon. We kinda think of NCL as upbeat and active like Carnival, but not quite so wild and crazy. We are not hard partyers but we do like good entertainment. I admit that I've not been on Carnival so I'm sure you're gonna hear from their fans, too. Whatever line you patronize, if you board the ship with a positive attitude and get out and try some activities and excursions, you will have a great time!

 

 

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Edited April 28, 2014 by GrrlMeetsWrrld

[Aquahound]

Regardless of line, what ship was the best you have been on and why? My wife and I will be going on our first cruise with carnival on the valor. We choose this cruise for its itinerary (San juan, st. Thomas, st kitts, barbados, st lucia, st. Maarten) and want our next to be more because of the ship. Thanks!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic. As you can see, some people are more willing to lecture you on your question, rather than just answer it with their opinions. ;)

 

My opinion....the best ships I have sailed are the Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. I'm a fan of the big ships and I have yet to cruise a ship that can match the entertainment, activities and dining options offered on those 2 ships. When it comes to cruising for the ship rather than the itierary, I don't think anything can touch Oasis Class. Good luck on your choice.

[Harry and Lucille]

The one that I am on. At least until the next time. :D

 

Harry