Do you pick a cruise for itinerary or ship?

[mpoole3]

People will ask me where I'm going on my cruise and I almost never know the ports of call. They don't matter to me anymore, I just look for the deals now.

[Clarea]

People will ask me where I'm going on my cruise and I almost never know the ports of call. They don't matter to me anymore, I just look for the deals now.

We have a similar experience.:)

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Sometimes we book for ship, sometimes for itinerary, but mostly for price.

I think a number of us are moving more and more in that same direction with ya Bob.

[deliver42]

On the Oasis, it was definitely the ship. The itinerary was awful, as it is on both sides of the Carib. Same old, same old.Other than that, it is itinerary and price. Going on the Serenade next Dec. to the Southern Caribbean.

[iancal]

Both. We will not sail a preferred itinerary on a ship that we do not like. The opposite is true.

 

We have several cruise lines that we prefer. But, within those preferred cruise line fleets there are ships that we would and would not consider based upon personal preferences or ship condition/maintenance.

 

Lots of ships and cruise lines out there. This has never been a challenge for us. Especially since we do not limit ourselves to one cruise line.

[frisbeewife]

Since DH doesn't particularly care for cruising, it's definitely itinerary for us. I have to find someplace that he's willing to go and a time of year he's willing to go there and then find cruises that fit. After that it comes down to price, ship, cruise line, etc., but it's really driven by the itinerary.

 

Of course, the same thing applies to the land-based vacations we take too. Decide where and when we want to go and then price the flights/hotels/car rentals/activities/food, etc. - we just don't have to figure out as many details with a cruise which is nice for me since I do all the planning.

[JimAOk1945]

Never thought I would get this much response. Thanks to all of you. It appears to me that many folks start out with itinerary and after a few cruises lean more toward the ship? I think I want to see everywhere there is and once I have seen it then the ship will probably become more relevant.

 

I agree completely. Presently, we are cruising for the ports of call. There are several specific things on our bucket lists that we want to see.

 

After we have checked those off of our lists, then we will cruise for the pure joy of cruising. We absolutely love the experience and hope to continue it as long as possible.

 

Happy cruising to all. It's a great way to enjoy life!

Edited November 8, 2014 by JimAOk1945

[knittinggirl]

We book mostly for the itinerary, but most of the time in the Western Caribbean, it's the ship since we've done it so many times. Still we also go on the Western Caribbean for the Jamaica Blue Mountain, so I guess that's itinerary too.

[printingchick]

"But truly, I do want to understand why a true cruise fanatic would choose to cruise on one of the mega ships, strictly for the ship experience. I would really like someone to explain to me how the experience then differs from a LAND-BASED resort. "

 

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Yes, cruising on the Oasis can be like a land based resort - ONLY at a THIRD OF THE PRICE.

 

In other words cruising is a better value proposition - plus it can move out of bad weather - which an island can't.

 

At least that's why I changed to cruising after vacationing in Aruba for the past 20+ years.

 

 

Makes perfect sense given those reasons. Thank you!

[SamFritz]

Price and Itinerary are equally important. I've never been disappointed with a ship.

 

 

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[Blizzard54]

I look at overall price and ship, for now location does not matter too much.

 

When looking at the overall price getting to the ship changes the dynamic.

[davekathy]

For us it's the time of year, itinerary and price. Never been on a bad ship yet.

[orville99]

For us, it is whatever ship is within driving distance when we decide to cruise (we're within three-four hours driving distance of all five Florida ports), then how many days we have available. If there are multiple ships in port when those two come together, then we look at what best fits our budget. Since we rarely get off of a ship any more, itinerary doesn't matter much.

[screamin400]

For us the only real time we have an interest in cruising is Feb. That breaks up our long winter and gives us something to look forward to. When we get off the ship we know we are opening up our camp on May 1st so we then have something to look forward to. The older I get the longer winter gets. When I was a kid winter went 60 days now it goes 210 I swear :) Every year the flight back to Syracuse gets more depressing. Hopefully there will come a day where I never have to fly back to snow but for now I do :(. This work thing gets right in the way of having fun.

[caulder60]

We are going on the adventure in Feb. with a very busy itinerary. 5 ports in the Southern Caribbean. We are ready to book the Carnival Dream for the following Feb. as it goes to the rest of the Southern Caribbean. We also took a look at the Oasis class ships. I know there is no comparison of ships but there also in no comparison of itinerary. I wish the Oasis could get a good itinerary. So do you book ship or itinerary? I am leaning toward the itinerary but not sure. Opinions please.

 

We book on price, then itinerary. Our least favorite is Royal Caribbean but if the price and itinerary is great then we go. We go every January.

[caulder60]

For us the only real time we have an interest in cruising is Feb. That breaks up our long winter and gives us something to look forward to. When we get off the ship we know we are opening up our camp on May 1st so we then have something to look forward to. The older I get the longer winter gets. When I was a kid winter went 60 days now it goes 210 I swear :) Every year the flight back to Syracuse gets more depressing. Hopefully there will come a day where I never have to fly back to snow but for now I do :(. This work thing gets right in the way of having fun.

 

 

That's exactly why we go every January. It breaks up the winter. We love it. Sunny, fun, nice people.

[read52]

We got into cruising about 8 years ago after my husband was sick for two years. I thought traveling would be out of the question for the rest of our lives because of his neurological problems. But actually it is the best way to travel for us ( unpack once, no driving, all details taken care of and a medical unit close by). Some cruises have been the departure port, some the ship, some the price of the cruise, and others cruises where it was going.

[screamin400]

Seeing as I have gotten some folks in here that are regulars I have another question. I am going to do a balcony. Where on the ship would you recommend? Usually I am mid ship on the highest deck I can get on. Am I missing out? I believe most activities are nearer the back but walking with no kids is not a problem. More to the front and up higher? Don't think I am too interested in a aft-view balcony as I do not want to see where we have been as much as where we are going. Thoughts?

[knittinggirl]

For us it's the time of year, itinerary and price. Never been on a bad ship yet.

We didn't care much for the Navigator. Right after dry dock and adding 77 rooms. Seemed the only place to hide from the crowds was our JS.

[screamin400]

We didn't care much for the Navigator. Right after dry dock and adding 77 rooms. Seemed the only place to hide from the crowds was our JS.

 

Wow adding that many rooms at 2 persons a room or more adds a lot of people and takes out a lot of square footage. Sounds like a bad combination.

[IWORK2CRUISE]

To me and just to me the Oasis ships have the poorest itinerary of all ships. It would be a no brainer if they went somewhere a little better. Do I take a ship to somewhere that I don't really want to go to experience the awesomeness of an Oasis ship?

 

That kind of sums it up.

We mostly like the opportunity to visit different ports. New ports, if possible.

Ships the size of Oasis and Allure (maybe Quantum and Anthem?) can only visit larger docking ports. Thus, the ship becomes the destination.

 

We truly enjoyed our one cruise on Oasis. There were very many lovely areas to visit and explore on the ship. It was a little different than other ships.

We had already been on a traditional Western Caribbean route so no new stops.

 

In my dreams, Royal would bring back smaller ships that would allow us to visit some of the Caribbean Islands that we have not been to.

[JimAOk1945]

Seeing as I have gotten some folks in here that are regulars I have another question. I am going to do a balcony. Where on the ship would you recommend? Usually I am mid ship on the highest deck I can get on. Am I missing out? I believe most activities are nearer the back but walking with no kids is not a problem. More to the front and up higher? Don't think I am too interested in a aft-view balcony as I do not want to see where we have been as much as where we are going. Thoughts?

 

We like being midship and we always book a room with a balcony.

 

I see that you are going on the Adventure of the Seas on your next cruise. We really enjoyed the ship and ports of call.

 

You might enjoy seeing a slideshow my wife made for her website with pictures she took of our room, around the ship, and our shore excursions. I'll insert a link below.

 

Adventure of the Seas Southern Caribbean Cruise

 

Happy cruising!

[runner2013]

For me its price, but i'm' going as a single so the supplement is factor. Next is the port, then the itinerary and ship..

[Raring to go]

For us it is strictly itinerary. I have no allegiance to any cruise line; I have enjoyed all of the lines on which I have cruised, and would cruise again on any of them if they were going somewhere I wanted to go.

[readytolose]

At this point we are cruising because of the ship. I don't even care where it goes. We do have plans for the future for a Mediterranean cruise. That one will be about the itinerary.