LOVE Princess, but hate my itinerary options, WWYD?

[nattie]

Lets start with that Princess is hands down my cruise line of choice. We have tried Royal, Carnival, NCL and they are just not on par (with NCL being the closest). We are almost elite (need 3 more cruises), but have seen out cruising options severely dwindle over past couple of years.

We are middle aged couple who works for a living and has a kid (6 yo) and we are not willing to fly to Europe or Asia and cant take 10+ days vacations (yet at least). So this leaves us with East Coast ports, i.e. Ft. Lauderdale, as NY options are laughable. I am not going to go into another lament on "oh why Princess hates families/people that work/east coasters", it is just what it is...

My question is what would you do in our situation? We just came back from a short B2B on Emerald (4 and 5 day, LOVED it) and I am looking to book next year's cruise. No options aside from tried and true eastern/western routes (been there done that, my DS doesnt even want to get off the ship in Princess Cays any more). I am seriously thinking of defecting to NCL for NY to San Juan cruise or trying something out of our home part (Baltimore). Thoughts?

[cruzsnooze]

Book what you're comfortable with. Look at all cruise lines and make a choice based on your criteria, what else can you do?

[towhee]

So why have you not considered the US west coast ports?

From Seattle you can go to Alaska on a 7 day cruise.

From San Francisco there's the California Coastal, a 7 day cruise.

From Los Angeles there are 3 to 7 day Mexico cruises and California Coastal cruises.

Edited February 23, 2016 by towhee

[arb18]

Grandeur out of Baltimore is aging and has a limited choice of sailings. Carnival...never done it. Just booked Celebrity out of Jersey to Bermuda for about the same cost as Grandeur for 2 extra nights. I have flown to San Juan for a Southern Caribbean Cruise and it was my favorite cruise.

[Captain Canuck]

have you done cruise to Canada...our dollar sucks at the moment so your money will go far up here....we did one out of Boston which hit Bar Harbor etc. Was really good. Quebec for a 6 year old is just one step up from Epcot but will give a taste of anther culture.

[kitkat343]

Our Princess cruise to Alaska was excellent. The Coral/Island can get close to the glaciers since they are Panamax ships. Kids also love Alaska so that would be great for your 6 year old. Have you also tried the 10 day panama canal partial transit? Those Princess cruises both had really fascinating itineraries.

 

Princess is our favorite cruise line, but we needed to take NCL to the Baltics. The food on NCL wasn't as strong as Princess, but the extra fee restaurants were quite good, so if you factor that extra cost in then NCL would be another option for you to find an itinerary that you would like (NCL's base price was cheaper than princess so it all balanced out in the end).

 

We don't love HAL as much as Princess, but it is a fairly similar line, and we sailed HAL a second time because I found an itinerary I really liked and we were happy.

 

RC also has a new ship in Bayonne, NJ; perhaps you can find an itinerary on that you might like?

 

Itinerary is most important for us, so we need to be flexible about which line we sail on. It's really just a question of what makes you happiest.

Edited February 23, 2016 by kitkat343

[nattie]

So why have you not considered the US west coast ports?

From Seattle you can go to Alaska on a 7 day cruise.

From San Francisco there's the California Coastal, a 7 day cruise.

From Los Angeles there are 3 to 7 day Mexico cruises and California Coastal cruises.

 

I am considering Seattle... Except I grew up in cold climate and HATE cold, so not too keen on Alaska. As for CA, may be... we have visited before, but never cruised.

[nattie]

Grandeur out of Baltimore is aging and has a limited choice of sailings. Carnival...never done it. Just booked Celebrity out of Jersey to Bermuda for about the same cost as Grandeur for 2 extra nights. I have flown to San Juan for a Southern Caribbean Cruise and it was my favorite cruise.

 

We did Caribbean Princess out of San Juan about 7 years ago, one of my fav cruises! Celebrity out of Jersey sounds good, would I like it (given that I like Princess)?

We did Carnival out of Baltimore and it was one of the worst cruises ever (demographics mostly).

[Colo Cruiser]

I am considering Seattle... Except I grew up in cold climate and HATE cold, so not too keen on Alaska. As for CA, may be... we have visited before, but never cruised.

 

 

 

I thought that too for many years until I took my first Alaska cruise. (why would I want to see more snow and ice?)

Now after 10 plus we are hooked. ;)

Edited February 23, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[nattie]

have you done cruise to Canada...our dollar sucks at the moment so your money will go far up here....we did one out of Boston which hit Bar Harbor etc. Was really good. Quebec for a 6 year old is just one step up from Epcot but will give a taste of anther culture.

 

We might try it. There is a 5 day out of NY in Oct. My DS actually liked Canada A LOT when we went to Niagara :)

[OCruisers]

Nattie, would you be interested in a Southern Caribbean cruise?

Caribbean Princess has some 8 day cruises (in the January/February 2017 time frame) roundtrip out of Ft. Lauderdale which go to all three of the ABC islands -- Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao. No stops at Princess Cays or elsewhere in the Bahamas. :)

 

LuLu

[Captain Canuck]

October is good...might get to see the fall colours

 

forgot about Anthem of the Seas...the ship is almost a destination in itself...have not been on it but have done Oasis and Allure.

[GUT2407]

Try celebrity.

[arb18]

We did Caribbean Princess out of San Juan about 7 years ago, one of my fav cruises! Celebrity out of Jersey sounds good, would I like it (given that I like Princess)?

We did Carnival out of Baltimore and it was one of the worst cruises ever (demographics

 

I haven't been on Celebrity yet. It is booked for July. I'm going to take a chance. The price was right, I've never been to Bermuda and my mom won't fly so our options are limited. I'm going on my first cruise since 2008 on the Regal Princess in March and cannot wait.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Re: Princess' itinerary choices -

 

Exactly why you'll see in my signature that I'm cruising with Celebrity. ;) Gotta go where the itineraries are.

[jasbo49]

If I were on the East Coast, I'd be thinking hard about either Celebrity or Holland America to Bermuda.

 

Jim

[Flafun888]

I am considering Seattle... Except I grew up in cold climate and HATE cold, so not too keen on Alaska. As for CA, may be... we have visited before, but never cruised.

 

Just did the 7 day Princess CA coastal cruise last fall - soooo wonderful! (For perspective, I live 45 min from 2 FL ports and both my DH and I HATE flying. Shorter flights aren't too bad, but we try to avoid anything longer than 3-4 hrs. So you can imagine how reluctant I was to fly cross country for a cruise when I can take my pick of sailings in my own backyard. Almost cancelled before final payment. But I was so glad I did it.) Great itinerary and touring CA by cruise ship is bliss. Now I want to go again. :eek:

 

Celebrity is a great line by the way...so if any sailings from them appeal and you like Princess, you'll probably like them too.

Edited February 23, 2016 by Flafun888

[Captain Canuck]

repositioning cruises in the fall when they take the ships from Seattle and Vancouver down to LA for the winter can be really cheap. also a nice way to visit San Francisco

[MCC retired]

Let's face it , Princess does have many itineraries but some , ex :Caribbean , are stagnant and could use a shake up .

[TracieABD]

Also, you could do the Panama Canal. You can round trip out of FLL for 10 days. Lots of new ports on that cruise!

[sunsetbeachgal]

Have you considered a California Coastal cruise? Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge is awesome, and we loved the ports!

[AZ Stan (FKA Stan in Chicago)]

Lets start with that Princess is hands down my cruise line of choice. We have tried Royal, Carnival, NCL and they are just not on par (with NCL being the closest). We are almost elite (need 3 more cruises), but have seen out cruising options severely dwindle over past couple of years.

We are middle aged couple who works for a living and has a kid (6 yo) and we are not willing to fly to Europe or Asia and cant take 10+ days vacations (yet at least). So this leaves us with East Coast ports, i.e. Ft. Lauderdale, as NY options are laughable. I am not going to go into another lament on "oh why Princess hates families/people that work/east coasters", it is just what it is...

My question is what would you do in our situation? We just came back from a short B2B on Emerald (4 and 5 day, LOVED it) and I am looking to book next year's cruise. No options aside from tried and true eastern/western routes (been there done that, my DS doesnt even want to get off the ship in Princess Cays any more). I am seriously thinking of defecting to NCL for NY to San Juan cruise or trying something out of our home part (Baltimore). Thoughts?

 

In my opinion, as well as experience, I'd either try something on Celebrity from the East Coast, or fly to LA and do a marvelous 7 day California Coastal. Either one would probably make you happy. We are Elite on both Princess and Celebrity, and love to sail on whichever is doing what we want to do at the time. The M and S class ships on Celebrity are beautiful, somewhat brighter and more modern than Princess. Princess is more classic cruiseship.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Being that close to Elite, I'd hate to see you miss out by switching lines. At the same time, itinerary is important. My ideas to help you stick with Princess are...10 day Mexican Riviera, several different unusual Caribbean itineraries offered, partial transit Panama Canal, CA Coastal, or Canada New England. Let us know what you decide.

[Cruisin' Chick]

If you take the Alaskan cruise between June and August, you may actually get some really nice weather. Fly to Seattle at least the day before and have a fun time in Seattle...then do the RT Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Victoria, then back to Seattle, as you won't be doing a cruisetour. Your child may enjoy seeing all the wildlife while cruising the glaciers.

[Shelly97060]

Have you considered a California Coastal cruise? Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge is awesome, and we loved the ports!

 

I second this suggestion!