Ranking the Ships You've Sailed - Favorite to Least-Favorite

[grand isle joe]

...the USS Constitution is still a U.S. commissioned ship stationed in Boston, Ma. .

[PhoneGoddess]

Crown Princess

Sapphire Princess

Ruby Princess

Caribbean Princess

Golden Princess

RC Voyager of the Seas

Carnival Triumph

Carnival Legend

Carnival Victory

Carnival Liberty

[marco]

Best: Home Lines "Oceanic"........ line and ship no longer sailing

 

Worst: NCL "Norwegian Gem"

[cruiseapril]

Have enjoyed all of the cruise ships we've been on- the best being HAL's Noordam.

[kike368]

Excellent question. We have been cruising for about forty years and the cruise industry has undergone massive changes in that time period. Our first cruise was on the Sunward II which was a 14,000 ton ship considered a normal size in those days. Our personal preference has changed for multiple reasons including changes in the cruise lines, our age, our ability to take longer cruises (60 days is nice for us now), budget and itinerary. So in the early days we wanted low cost cruises to the Caribbean. Now, we love doing long cruises so our taste has changed. When young our most cruises were with RCCL (now RCI). But in the past 15 years we have favored Celebrity, HAL, and Princess along with a few other smaller ship lines like Azamara.

 

These days we try to avoid anything shorter then 14 days and prefer cruises at least a month. Longer cruises have a totally different atmosphere then the typical 7 day cruise.

 

Hank

 

Hank you are my new idol! Lol. DW and I hope to be in a position to cruise extensively once she retires in 5 years and 30 day cruises sound like everything we are looking for. Makes my financial planner nuts every time I tell him we need an ever increasing cruise budget built into or retirement plan in- perpetuity.

[GolfMom321]

Best: Royal Princess Baltics & Russia

Runners Up: Royal Princess British Isles

MSC Splendida Western Med

Sovereign of the Seas Eastern Caribbean (first cruise, in 1989)

Regal Princess Eastern Caribbean

Caribbean Princess Canada & New England

Also Enjoyed: American Queen Ohio River

Disney Wonder Bahamas

HAL Masdaam Canada & New England

Star Princess Alaska (itinerary was better than the ship)

Majesty of the Seas (honeymoon in 1995)

Worst: Norwegian Gem Florida and Bahamas (FEE-style cruising, No thanks!)

 

Going back to RCI this fall, hoping the Behemoth of the Seas ships aren't too big for me. And giving NCL another chance, just for 2 days.

 

Princess is my favorite, hands down.

[lahlah57]

CRYSTAL SYMPHONY♡♡♡♡ PACIFIC & AUSTRALIA

 

AZAMARA QUEST♡♡♡ BRITISH ISLES

 

HOLLAND AMERICA NOORDAM♡♡ MEDITERRANEAN

 

PRINCESS PACIFIC♡♡ HOLY LAND

 

CARNIVAL???who cares♡ BAHAMAS

 

FAVORITE PORT.....HOLY LAND EVEN WHEN 17 YEAR OLDS CAME ON THE BUS POINTING MACHINE GUNS AT US AS WE WERE TO CROSS THE BORDER INTO ISRAEL THRU AN EXCURSION:eek:

WORST AND LAST CRUISE OF CARNIVALS. WAY TOO MANY OUT OF LINE KIDS.....:mad:

[moniquet]

I think you mis-typed something here. Ryndam is a Holland America ship, not RCI.

 

So I did, thanks for reminding me. We sailed from Tampa, had a senior moment:D

[jocap]

Favourite ships by far, and most cruises: Ventura and Aurora.

Least liked- ship only- Thomson Celebration, and Louis Perla.

BUT...the last two had amazing itineraries and we will go with those lines again.

[navybankerteacher]

Best was NCL Gem. Lots of fun and great staff and crew.

 

Worst: HAL Zaandam. Dark, depressing, worst food EVER, no AC in our cabin. Useless and unhelpful staff.

 

Lots in between.

 

So far, worst experiences on HAL dealing with staff when there have been issues. Best have been on RCI and Carnival. Gold star to Carnival for helping a group cruise that I was on - they helped several folks in the group and went above and beyond, long story, but the front desk staff were amazing.

 

Wow! - interesting. I find service on HAL to be uniformly superior to all other mass market lines - and that on NCL ships to be regularly the least satisfactory. And Marco, in his recent post, found Gem the worst. I guess there is no accounting for taste. We are sailing Gem in February -- only for the New York to Caribbean itinerary - the only reason we will try NCL after a number of not overly impressive experiences. It's too bad HAL gave up th New York run - I suppose they did not want to compete with NCL's bottom dollar pricing.

[Glaciers]

Best ship 1987 Our first, we were young.

Windjammer Polynesia

 

Best Ship

RCI’s Radiance Class ships

Great size and beautiful ships.

 

Best Cruise

Un-Cruise Safari Explore in Alaska

 

Most unique

QEII With stairwells that went nowhere

 

Not sure there’s been a worst but do agree with sun’s posting of the Zaandam. Old, dark and staff at the purser’s desk were horrible.

[CruisingSince2012]

My favorite itineraries were both in Alaska. On the Zaandam we did Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and Victoria and on the Golden Princess we did Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Victoria.

 

I recently got off the Zaandam's sister, the Volendam. In Juneau and Skagway, we had tons of fun doing HAL tours. We want to go back to Alaska now. I would not want to go back there on the Volendam though. It is always nice to see new ships.

[Cruzaholic41]

Wow! - interesting. I find service on HAL to be uniformly superior to all other mass market lines - and that on NCL ships to be regularly the least satisfactory.

 

I rank HAL among the best in terms of service, but I wouldn't go as far as to say uniformly superior. What I do agree on, is NCL is consistently the worst.

[Hlitner]

Best: Home Lines "Oceanic"........ line and ship no longer sailing

 

Worst: NCL "Norwegian Gem"

 

Oh My....but you are showing your age :). I actually remember that ship but for a crazy reason. My parents cruised on her when she was a new vessel in the mid-60s. It was a different era where cruises dressed elegantly on many nights, waiters served side dishes from silver serving bowls/platters, etc. When I think back to those olden days, Sitmar Lines comes quickly to mind with their wonderful Italian crew and food to die for (plenty probably did die from over indulging).

 

Hank

[marco]

Hlitner: You got that right!!!!!! Started cruising back then as a kid with my parents who got me hooked. That, and several TA's going to Italy to visit family on the Italian line during the 60's and 70's was a magical experience that will never be replicated on today's ships/lines. But the water is just as blue, the air just as clean and fresh, the sunsets just as magnificent and the sight of approaching land just as exhilarating......and those are the reasons we keep on sailing!

[BlueRiband]

Best: Queen Mary 2

Worst: any ship not named Queen Mary 2 :D

 

If I tried another ship I'd probably whine constantly about one thing or another not being "like QM2".:rolleyes:

[lamchops]

Best Itinerary Celebrity Century, W. Med & Malta

 

Worst Itinerary NCL Star, Pacific Coastal

Best Service NCL Pearl, Panama Canal

 

Worst Service Grand Princess, Trans-Atlantic

 

Best MDR Food MSC Magnifica, Northern Europe

 

Worst MDR Food NCL Star, Pacific Coastal

 

Best Buffet Celebrity Century, W. Med & Malta

 

Worst Buffet Sinorama Gold 8, Dream of China

 

Best Entertainment NCL Pearl, Panama Canal

 

Worst Entertainment Sinorama Gold 8, Dream of China

 

 

Ranking of Overall Vacation Experience:

1) Celebrity Century, W. Med & Malta was our 1st time to Europe

2) Sinorama Gold 8, Dream of China tour was with 4 friends & 2 sisters

3) MSC Magnifica, Northern Europe with a week in London & Paris

 

4) NCL Pearl, Panama Canal 19 days at sea and a week in Orlando

5) NCL Wind, Hawaii & Fanning Island rekindled our cruising spirit

 

6) RCL Rhapsody of the Seas, Alaska was a family trip with 2 teenagers

7) Grand Princess, Trans-Atlantic 6 days in London with 5 interesting ports

 

The Pacific Coastals are our home port getaways!

[Hawaiidan]

We have been on more then 60 different cruise ships and it is really impossible to rank them fairly. The problem is that our ships have varied from under 300 persons (and we are not counting the 20 person yacht cruise) to over 3200. But DW and I will always think fondly of the long gone Sun Viking. We also liked the Marco Polo when she was with Orient Lines. And the old Prinsendam remains one of our favorites. So you can probably tell that we like the smaller ships. As to larger ships we love the Celebrity Solstice class and RCI Radiance Class (although we no longer cruise on RCI because of other issues. And the Grand Class Princess ships are also among the vessels that we really enjoy.

 

Hank

Regent Seven Seas mariner 950

Oceania Marinea 1150

Regatta by Oceaina 650

Royal Viking Star when it was 750......

 

.sadly HAL tool a royal Viking Ship of 750 and destroyed its ambiance by adding almost 100 cabins and closing in every thing they could and went to merely, today a hyped mass market ship with huge inflated prices.

 

No ship over 1100 is listed because NONE were anything special...with the massive number of people, nickel-dine and poor food at Any of their places pay or included.. plus the poor value for what you pay.. just big las Vegas mall sand hotels with the same crowds of polite to overt rude.

 

Strange as it seems we like to cruise on the ocean on ships that feel and look like ships with fellow passengers who for them, just being at sea is enough.

 

Best trip: Regent Sydney to LA

Second Best: Oceaina Regatta..Alaska

Third Best HongKong to Bankok , Royal Viking

Fourth best..Tahiti to NY Oceaina Marina

 

worst EVERYTHING in mexico, south America and the zoo called the carribe

[Silver Sweethearts]

Regent Seven Seas mariner 950

Oceania Marinea 1150

Regatta by Oceaina 650

Royal Viking Star when it was 750......

 

No ship over 1100 is listed because NONE were anything special...with the massive number of people, nickel-dine and poor food at Any of their places pay or included.. plus the poor value for what you pay.. just big las Vegas mall sand hotels with the same crowds of polite to overt rude.

 

Just as a note, Oceania's Marina holds 1,250 passengers. Does this mean you liked or disliked the Marina??