Multiple cruises on older ships or the latest and greatest

[Overtyme]

It's only taken me 35 years to come up with this.

All of our recent cruises were on ships that came out < 2years before we sailed.

As a result, we've paid a premium for our cruise vacations.

It occurs to me that we could probably take several cruises in the same time frame if we don't go on the newest ships.

So the question is, would you rather go on the latest and greatest once, or go on several cruises on some of the older ships?

 

 

 

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[Clarea]

I'd rather go on more cruises on less expensive ships.

[gobo2]

As I've only been on Freedom class, I say the latter. Lol.

[Yorkvillain]

Definitely several cruises on older ships.

[royalcruz]

I love the Freedom class and Voyager class ships.

[kccrzr]

Unless schedules dictate otherwise, we usually cruise for the itinerary not the ship. That means we mostly cruise older ships. The notable exception was our Asia cruise on Ovation. So, we are usually on older ships but due to itinerary not price.

Edited January 10, 2017 by kccrzr

[GrayMaineCruiser]

Agree, would much rather be in a situation to do more cruises vs. less.

[Fouremco]

New ships and old ships don't normally sail the same itineraries, so it's hard to assess the impact of age on price. Given the identical cruise, however, I'd certainly take the older ship if cheaper.

 

In a 14 month period, I cruised on HAL's Maasdam (built 1993) and Koningsdam (built 2016) and cruising on the older ship was an excellent experience.

[mek]

I think that depends on why you cruise. Do you enjoy lots of activities and things to do or do you cruise for the ocean and enjoy the sea?

 

If you just like being on ship and relaxing, then does the age of the ship really matter? Even if you like lots of bells and whistles, there are many great ships that aren't brand new like Oasis OTS, NCL's Epic, that are very innovative with some great prices.

 

If you only cruise in the Caribbean, then depending on how frequently you cruise , the ship may be more important than the itinerary; however, if you go for more exotic itineraries, then the ship may only be a way to get from point A to point B and the ship is secondary to the places you will visit.

 

Try an "older" ship once and see how you like it. You can always go back to the latest and greatest if you discover that is what you really prefer.

[bunzini]

Definitely I would opt for more cruises. Honestly, they do a great job of keeping the shops updated and although you may not have all the bells and whistles, you still have a quality experience!

 

 

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[Tapi]

We've learned that newer doesn't necessarily translate into a better cruise. Looking at our most recent cruises, some of the best were on older ships. We sailed to Alaska on the 12 year old Westerdam, we sailed along the Pacific coast on the 15 year old Golden Princess and to the Bahamas on the 19 year old Enchantment of the Seas. Each one was a fantastic cruise. During that same time period we also sailed on the Allure of the Seas during her inaugural season, the Carnival Dream when she was 2 years old, and the MSC Divina when she was 3 years old. While all of these were also great cruises, they weren't as memorable as the ones on older ships.

 

So we mix and match based on several factors. But newest doesn't carry as much weigh as itinerary, cruise line, accommodations and price.

 

 

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Edited January 10, 2017 by Tapi

[lazydayz]

There are some great older ships out there. We love the Freedom class. Still lots to do and very well maintained. However, I draw the line at the Majesty. That ship is just too old, and small.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

It's only taken me 35 years to come up with this.

All of our recent cruises were on ships that came out < 2years before we sailed.

As a result, we've paid a premium for our cruise vacations.

It occurs to me that we could probably take several cruises in the same time frame if we don't go on the newest ships.

So the question is, would you rather go on the latest and greatest once, or go on several cruises on some of the older ships?

 

 

 

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# of cruises > age of the ship

[CanobieFan]

...we usually cruise for the itinerary not the ship....

Ding! Of the three cruises I've been on, they were all booked based off itineraries. And of the four I currently have paid for, only one was done not based on the itinerary but time available.... but that will still bring me somewhere I haven't been. (booked more on an impulse) and while I don't mind day at sea days. I'd much rather spend my time exploring ports and visiting places I've never been. I'm pretty much the first one off the boat and the last one back, ha.

[GUT2407]

I prefer smaller ships, which with the move to bigger being better, means I also prefer the older ships.

[KuffMUp]

Definitely go with more on the older ships. TheFreedom class is a bit big to me and I prefer the smaller ships.

[SPacificbound]

More cruises, we don't need to go on the latest and "greatest".

[vacationlover_mn]

DH doesn't get a ton of vacation, and we like to spend some of our vacation at the cabin, so we would prefer newer ship/less cruises. But, we also are trying to not book the same ship twice, so that's another thing we look at :)

 

 

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[leono1]

i wanted go on harmony this year, but the same cruise around the same time on the allure is £274 cheaper so the allure it is!! :D:D

[molly361]

More cruises!!!!

[debshomespun]

More cruises is better. We look for availability, itinerary, and price. We have done many of the older ships and had some great cruises. They have all been good, just some are better than others. We don't need all the bells and whistles to have a great cruise.

[PRgymnast]

More cruises for sure!

[drrich2]

Tough one, and it varies over time. We have a 3 year old daughter, so cruises with her were 1st on Adventure (booked before I realized it didn't have a nursery at the time, and daughter was 10 months old), then Oasis and Allure, both of which have a nursery and a huge unsupervised (except by parents) play room, and the Boardwalk offers a carousel and various fake building structures to climb around in. The Dreamworks character experience was appreciated. And at her age, she wouldn't know much difference between St. Thomas and Timbuktu. So this ship matters.

 

I'm in my latter 40's. At least so far I haven't tried the rock climbing wall or flow rider. Central Park is a serene way to walk back & forth on the ship, and the Boardwalk nice, too. Love the Royal Promenade; I've only done one cruise without one, and missed it. We usually don't hit many specialty restaurants, though I bought that 'package of 5' for our next cruise (Lord willing and providing).

 

Some people post against Oasis class on the grounds they 'want to feel like they're on a ship' and on Oasis class you could spend the week not realizing you are. I saw on the big ships, you've got a choice. You can hang out where you can watch the ocean, or go 'stroll down main street,' so to speak. I like the variety.

 

That said, to me Voyager class are still huge ships. For that matter, the Celebrity Constellation, smallest I've been on, was still a whopper.

 

The main itinerary-based, less expensive 'value' Royal Caribbean cruises that caught my eye from time to time were Caribbean cruises aboard Vision of the Seas. Looks like a great value. But I'd miss the Royal Promenade, and to a lesser extent Central Park.

 

Our little girl would miss the Oasis-class water park up top (next cruise she won't be confined to the baby's splash zone).

 

Royal Caribbean broke their traditional makeup by introducing new features in a line, and retroactively during dry dock refurb.s. So, Adventure and Liberty now have water slides (neither did when I was on them), Harmony has from the start, but Oasis and Allure don't.

 

Richard.

 

P.S.: Question for original poster: Why did you historically go for 'latest and greatest?' Because it was new? Bigger? More specialty restaurants? Neighborhoods? Flow riders?

[John&LaLa]

When you only have 10 vacation days a year, how do you go on more cruises?

 

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[Rogueperson]

Older ships, more trips if possible. Think about it this way. Only the super mainline cruises have new ships ever year or two. a 5 year old ship to them, is a used ship, but in that range, there are plenty of choices.

 

The newest Disney ship is 2012, but they're considered one of the best. If you take that into your mind, just because the Royal Caribbean ship didn't come recently, its not worthy of consideration?

 

I was recently on the Anthem. 2nd newest ship (or is it 3rd now?). I liked that cruise, but it was nowhere near my Grandeur cruise which i consider my best cruise out of 16. Grandeur clearly doesn't have the bells and whistles of the Anthem, but in every single category, it blew my Anthem cruise out of the water.

 

Just because its the newest, its not necessarily the best. In fact, newer ships may have flaws that have not been worked out (Dynamic dining anyone?).