Help Me Choose Next Cruise Line

[kentuckysailor]

I love cruising! And want to plan my next cruise. Most of my cruises have been on HAL and I have been very pleased with Holland. Have been to several European countries, to South American, and the Caribbean. I am now traveling solo, and trying to decide if I should try other lines. I am thinking about the Norway trips and prefer 9 to 14 nights. The food is way too important to me so bad meals would be a real spoiler. Quality over quantity. Input much appreciated.

[kentuckysailor]

I forgot to say: I think that solo cruising is better on smaller ships so as to see the same people and get to know them. Also, I am not averse to a more luxury cruise, albeit more expensive. Or a river cruise.

[orchestrapal]

I forgot to say: I think that solo cruising is better on smaller ships so as to see the same people and get to know them. Also, I am not averse to a more luxury cruise, albeit more expensive. Or a river cruise.

 

Oceania is our favorite for it's smaller ships and fantastic food and service.

They do not ,however, encourage singles by charging the same for two in a cabin as for one. You probably would enjoy the almost kid and smoke free surroundings so you may want to look for a travel companion to enjoy O with you.

[Cruise4Sunshine]

I love cruising! And want to plan my next cruise. Most of my cruises have been on HAL and I have been very pleased with Holland. Have been to several European countries, to South American, and the Caribbean. I am now traveling solo, and trying to decide if I should try other lines. I am thinking about the Norway trips and prefer 9 to 14 nights. The food is way too important to me so bad meals would be a real spoiler. Quality over quantity. Input much appreciated.

 

 

 

How about HAL Asia? Or Kiel Canal and Baltics? I'm thinking about both of those, and I think we were on the Iberia together.

 

Mary

Seattle

[iancal]

We select based on a combination of ship, itinerary, price, and cruise line. Not married to any one cruise line but we do have preferences. There are so many great ships and great cruise lines out there.

Edited January 4, 2015 by iancal

[D-Ville Guy]

My wife and I just booked the new Carnival Vista Oct.11 2016 leaving Athens Greece for 10 days ending in Barcelona Spain. It looked interesting so we booked it. Traveling with 4 more couples all in our mid 60's to mid 70's.

[cruising maniac]

Have you thought about giving Celebrity a try? The food is good, the ships are beautiful, the service is exceptional.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Stay with Holland ...

[OCruisers]

If you have been happy with HAL, there is no real reason to change.

Princess and Celebrity would be other good choices. :)

LuLu

[Ecugrad]

I forgot to say: I think that solo cruising is better on smaller ships so as to see the same people and get to know them. Also, I am not averse to a more luxury cruise, albeit more expensive. Or a river cruise.

 

We've sailed several times with Un-Cruise Adventures. I can't speak highly enough of the crews and the overall experience. Their boats carry between 20 or so and 88 passengers. Passenger to crew ratios are about 2.5/1

[dorisis]

If you really enjoy HAL...Why change? I enjoy Oceania smaller ships, but for solo, I would choose European river cruises. They have the best single rates. NCL does not have good food in my opinion. They do have some ships with single cabins.

[Cruisercl]

I am also a solo cruiser; my next two solo cruises are the Baltics and the Canary Islands.

IMO food is subjective so it is a personal decision and taste. That said, I have had what I consider bad food on every cruise line I have cruised with............but, most importantly, I have also had what I consider great food on every cruise line I have cruised with. So far I have cruised with HAL, Carnival, Princess, NCL, RCL and Celebrity. ;)

 

I look for places I have not been before but I also look at my price range; my time of year to cruise is flexible so I do have an advantage there. I am also open to trying different cruise lines.

 

My bucket list includes a world cruise and EU & USA river cruises.

 

Just my input. :D

 

Happy and safe cruising all!!!

Edited March 7, 2015 by Cruisercl

[Cruising Golfer]

If it isn't broke, don't fix it... Stick with what makes you happy!!!

Just enjoy and keep cruising... :cool:

[mjjden]

From what I have seen, the new HAL ship Koningsdam has single cabins.

[mjjden]

From what I have heard, the new HAL ship, Koningsdam has single cabins.

[Faith77]

Over the last few years I've cruised mostly HAL and Princess. I'm not married to any one cruise line and I'm usually happy to try something new. Five years ago I did a Russia river cruise. I think river cruises are a good choice for solos. But they are usually a high cost choice.

 

I suggest you check out the solo board on cruise critic. It has a thread with solo deals and criteria solo cruisers use to get good deals. I like doing my HAL cruises during holiday time--I think there were less kids/families then on other lines. I like Princess because there is more entertainment choices day and night. When I did my roundtrip Hawaii cruise I chose Princess because there were lots of sea days. Faith

[Okiguy]

HAL does have some single cabins on their ships. We enjoy Princess and have cruised on HAL and Celebrity. You should look at Transatlantic cruises which are done when children are still in school so they have more adults on board and are in the 16-17 day range. We have not cruised HAL for several years, but we felt that we would never be old enough to cruise HAL! More walkers and electric carts thanany other cruise line we've seen. Inquire with other cruise lines about single cabins.

[wishIweretravelling]

Check out Crystal. Their single supplements tend to be reasonable, and their rates inclusive of things like tips and beverages (alcoholic and not). Their ships are a bit larger than the other luxury lines--about 1,000 pax--but on the one cruise I've tried with them so far, I found it quite easy to meet people, and to keep seeing them once we met.

[janeyzee]

My wife and I just booked the new Carnival Vista Oct.11 2016 leaving Athens Greece for 10 days ending in Barcelona Spain. It looked interesting so we booked it. Traveling with 4 more couples all in our mid 60's to mid 70's.

 

That ship certainly looks interesting. I'd be willing to try it even though Carnival isn't our first choice. We like Royal Caribbean, trying Celebrity this year.