Looking for a better cruising experience

[Vanilla Custard]

We have cruised with P&O Pacific Dawn out of Brisbane

 

We were pleasantly surprised with the food and bar entertainment. The welcome on board was good.

 

We were disappointed with the room quality, the main shows, the facilities.

 

We have cruised with Carnival Spirit out of Sydney

 

We were pleasantly surprised with the room quality and main shows.

 

We were disappointed with the bar and lounge entertainment, the restaurant food (even in their steak restaurant), on board activities and "family styled approach". Theme nights were atrocious. The decor is hard to handle.

 

We are in our early 50's, childless (they are both adults now), enjoy the finer things in life, love shows and like a range of dining options.

 

We are now looking at Celebrity for our next cruise, possibly to Alaska but may do something locally.

 

How do the others rate based on what I have posted - Princess, Royal Caribbean etc

[Bodogbodog]

We are in our early 50's, childless (they are both adults now), enjoy the finer things in life, love shows and like a range of dining options.....How do the others rate based on what I have posted - Princess, Royal Caribbean etc

Us too :D

Let me throw you another option...

If you want to treat yourselves keep an eye out for discounted cruises on Crystal Cruises - depending on where you want to cruise they offer some good deals from time to time, including some originating in Sydney from time to time

They will offer a 6 star experience with all inclusive including gratuities and alcohol and a wide range or enrichment programmes

When comparing costs remember to factor in all the "extras" that are in all inclusive prices together with the quality of dining and shows etc

[fishtaco]

We have cruised with P&O Pacific Dawn out of Brisbane

 

We were pleasantly surprised with the food and bar entertainment. The welcome on board was good.

 

We were disappointed with the room quality, the main shows, the facilities.

 

We have cruised with Carnival Spirit out of Sydney

 

We were pleasantly surprised with the room quality and main shows.

 

We were disappointed with the bar and lounge entertainment, the restaurant food (even in their steak restaurant), on board activities and "family styled approach". Theme nights were atrocious. The decor is hard to handle.

 

We are in our early 50's, childless (they are both adults now), enjoy the finer things in life, love shows and like a range of dining options.

 

We are now looking at Celebrity for our next cruise, possibly to Alaska but may do something locally.

 

How do the others rate based on what I have posted - Princess, Royal Caribbean etc

 

I would try Royal:) We are in our early 50,s and childless lol Carnival USA is really good too.

 

P&O have great deck parties but RCI promenade parties on Voyager are better, Royal dinning is good too.

 

I would recommend the Voyager to anyone young and old.

[dancinman66]

Princess royal Hal and celebrity are all better than p&o and carnival

Celebrity I think you would live otherwise I'd suggest royal or princess

 

 

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[sayaguru]

I Loved Azamara but they are more expensive.

 

Given the same itinerary and price on Princess, RC or HAL I would book Princess or RC before HAL. Before I went on HAL I read that the food was better than Princess but I did not find this to be the case. I was happy with the service on all three. I was happy with the ships (I'm not one of those people that complain about dated decor or carpet). That doesn't affect my enjoyment. I'm more concerned with good food and service (THAT can wreck a cruise- although I got over it on MSC and still had a great time:D).

 

When I was going on Pacific Sun a few years ago downgraded my expectations because it was a cheaper cruise with a lower star rating. But I was pleasantly surprised. The food was great. The thing I noticed was the lack of lounges, bars etc (hence the lower star rating).

 

It's difficult to judge from forums as some people complain about everything and others see "their" favourite cruise line through rose coloured glasses.

 

Just try them all!!:D

Edited August 30, 2014 by sayaguru

[tuckysxr]

We live in Rocky and as you would realise cost of travel in Aust is a killer. To cruise on something other than the Dawn from Brisbane we have to sail ex Sydney, flight costs amount to half the cruise cost. We have sailed on Rhapsody and the Jewel out of Sydney.

 

Don't get me wrong we have enjoyed every cruise on P and O but it is the same same with shows and destinations.

 

But great news the other lines are coming to Brisbane so we are trying Princess at Xmas and Royals Legend of the seas in February 2016, more great selections and hopefully some bargains with the competition.

[fishtaco]

I Loved Azamara but they are more expensive.

 

Given the same itinerary and price on Princess, RC or HAL I would book Princess or RC before HAL. Before I went on HAL I read that the food was better than Princess but I did not find this to be the case. I was happy with the service on all three. I was happy with the ships (I'm not one of those people that complain about dated decor or carpet). That doesn't affect my enjoyment. I'm more concerned with good food and service (THAT can wreck a cruise- although I got over it on MSC and still had a great time:D).

 

When I was going on Pacific Sun a few years ago downgraded my expectations because it was a cheaper cruise with a lower star rating. But I was pleasantly surprised. The food was great. The thing I noticed was the lack of lounges, bars etc (hence the lower star rating).

 

It's difficult to judge from forums as some people complain about everything and others see "their" favourite cruise line through rose coloured glasses.

 

Just try them all!!:D

 

When I was on the pacific sun a few years ago the head chef was from the Queen Mary and doing a short stint on P&O, the food was excellent, we did the galley tour and he said although the ship was a "Dinosaur" in the galley he would not skimp on food presentation or quality although it was a huge challenge for both him and the staff:cool:

[Vanilla Custard]

(I'm not one of those people that complain about dated decor or carpet). That doesn't affect my enjoyment.

 

After going on the Spirit, we would never sail on that type of ship again. The decor is "interesting" but the darkness and aged styling really makes it an unpleasant place to be. Mainly why we spent so much time on deck.

 

It was enough to have a major impact on us and not in a positive way.

 

We still had a great time but we much prefer light and airy interiors and less of the ornate and dated look. Some of the styling was just bizarre.

 

I'm sure it suits many people and certainly with a family of kids, and the low pricing, We can understand why it is popular.

 

Just not for us (plus we are over the Sth Pacific island hopping.

 

From the responses sounds like Celebrity, Royal and Princess are worth a look so will see what is on offer for 2015. Crystal appears to be too much at the "other end" for what we want. We still enjoy a relaxed cruise.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

A better cruise experience?

I have enjoyed , as you have said above, all my cruises. Some have better than others. Why?

I think it comes down to one main factor and that is quite simply the number of people on board.

Don't get me wrong....the mass market style of cruising is great for what it offers. The more people on a ship the less it costs to cruise. We can cruise today for a fraction of what it cost when I started cruising.

The smaller ships do cost more but also excel in a better cruising experience, ie no queues for shows, tenders ,buffet etc .

Cruise lines such as Oceania , Azamara, Crystal, Regent ,Seaborne etc are worth checking out as are the smaller Princess and HAL ships.

Look at the number of passengers each ship carries to get an idea.

My favorites have been Pacific and Tahitian (now Ocean Princess) and upmarket Regent, but only when on a very good sale price.:D

 

 

[Miamia65]

We have cruised with P&O Pacific Dawn out of Brisbane

 

We were pleasantly surprised with the food and bar entertainment. The welcome on board was good.

 

We were disappointed with the room quality, the main shows, the facilities.

 

We have cruised with Carnival Spirit out of Sydney

 

We were pleasantly surprised with the room quality and main shows.

 

We were disappointed with the bar and lounge entertainment, the restaurant food (even in their steak restaurant), on board activities and "family styled approach". Theme nights were atrocious. The decor is hard to handle.

 

We are in our early 50's, childless (they are both adults now), enjoy the finer things in life, love shows and like a range of dining options.

 

We are now looking at Celebrity for our next cruise, possibly to Alaska but may do something locally.

 

How do the others rate based on what I have posted - Princess, Royal Caribbean etc

 

Vanilla custard - love your screen name!

 

Have a look at Royal Caribbean, we have cruised on Rhapsody out of sydney and on Oasis of the Seas to the Caribbean. Will be cruising on Voyager in November from Singapore to Sydney right after she has been in dry dock for 5 weeks, expect the ship to be spruced up and new speciality restaurants. The Royal experience is great, food is great, entertainment is great, lots more activities. The experience, no matter what ship we've been on is exactly the same. A lot of the ships have been upgraded especially the ones that are here in Australia.

 

The only downside is that Royal is only here for half of the year, generally September to April.

[woodyren]

We have only cruised 4 times and we chose 4 different cruise lines. I avoided P&O as research alone was enough to deduce that they offered less than the others. Carnival was only chosen as it was cheaper to see if their style was comparable. My ranking would be;

 

Celebrity>RCCL>>NCL>>>>>>>Carnival.*

 

We look for value and Celebrity offered an almost faultless product for the price we paid IMO. If you get the beverage package as a perk that is an even better deal.

 

I would try to book one of the Solstice class. Royal Caribbean were also very good and close behind Celebrity. We have since booked again on both. We are 50-60 years old and enjoy to be active on board. We found the more modern ships provided better options to us.

 

*We still had a great time but the others just offered so much more.

Edited August 31, 2014 by woodyren

[The_Big_M]

A better cruise experience?

I have enjoyed , as you have said above, all my cruises. Some have better than others. Why?

I think it comes down to one main factor and that is quite simply the number of people on board.

 

I agree that is a big factor.

 

I've been on the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships after they bumped up the number of pax on board, and the difference is significant.

 

It's a double whammy as well; not only are there more pax, but to add them they take away public spaces to convert to cabins or other revenue raisers (usually specialty restaurants). Unfortunately, in none of these cases have I found the refurbishment an improvement. It degrades the experience, although they always put in some headline feature as part of the refurbishment to move the focus on to that as a positive change.

[xxpinksaltxx]

We have sailed both Carnival (spirit) amd Celebrity. We love Celebrity, they are a good fit for us. We have cruised with them twice now, and have another two booked. We find the food, amenities, bar service, staterooms etc of high value. Entertainment (shows) is good, but not great. I would say they cater for a middle age/ older crowd (however we are in our 20s and still enjoy them). Prices are good and if you book when they have a promo you can get a free alcholic package too.

 

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[oskarNZ]

A better cruise experience?

I have enjoyed , as you have said above, all my cruises. Some have better than others. Why?

I think it comes down to one main factor and that is quite simply the number of people on board.

 

I agree with this. While my cruise count is still quite low, I have cruised once before on a very crowded ship and it did affect the overall experience.

 

However, I also think there is another main factor worth considering and that's the Ports. I would be very tempted to opt for a lower class ship if I thought the itinerary was better.

 

The worst ship I have cruised on so far is the Costa Victoria, but I count that week as one of my all time favourite travel experiences. 7 ports in 7 days and I loved every single one of them.

 

As far as the ship itself goes, my favourite experience to date has been the Disney Fantasy. I chose it because of my son, but in retrospect, both my husband and I would happily cruise Disney again even if our son wasn't travelling with us. The adult only areas are beautiful and very peaceful. The standard cabins are huge (comparatively), the shows are first class, and the specialty restaurant (Palo) served up the best meal we have ever eaten.

 

I'm trying Celebrity in a week, so will be able to comment on them soon.

[VK3DQ]

HI

 

My suggestion would be Celebrity's Solstice

 

Which I think is just what your after..

 

Certainly this is we what found after we cruised on Rhapsody Of The Seas , which was a nice ship in all respects but we wanted to more adult and less family orientated cruise .

 

 

Regards

John

[bazzaw]

I've never been on a cruise ship that I haven't enjoyed !!! -- and why wouldn't i?? --after all, it is merely a coincidence of birth that I don't live in a cave in Afghanistan!!

 

As a man (and an ex-sailor), cruise ships are female to me -- and like women, they are basically all the same, except that they are all different. Which one you like and which one you choose is up to you - and they may be two different ones!!!

 

Barry

[MicCanberra]

We have cruised with P&O Pacific Dawn out of Brisbane

 

We were pleasantly surprised with the food and bar entertainment. The welcome on board was good.

 

We were disappointed with the room quality, the main shows, the facilities.

 

We have cruised with Carnival Spirit out of Sydney

 

We were pleasantly surprised with the room quality and main shows.

 

We were disappointed with the bar and lounge entertainment, the restaurant food (even in their steak restaurant), on board activities and "family styled approach". Theme nights were atrocious. The decor is hard to handle.

 

We are in our early 50's, childless (they are both adults now), enjoy the finer things in life, love shows and like a range of dining options.

 

We are now looking at Celebrity for our next cruise, possibly to Alaska but may do something locally.

 

How do the others rate based on what I have posted - Princess, Royal Caribbean etc

 

I have not ever had a bad cruise, but I would rate some better than others, and sometimes it is the ship and the service that sets them apart. Celebrity, and Princess will be a step up from P&O (and probably carnival as well) but the prices can probably give you a great indication of what to expect. The Solstice is a fantastic ship as is the Diamond princess and their sister ships.:D