Multiple cruises on older ships or the latest and greatest

[Clarea]

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

Retire.

[rafinmd]

Let me turn this upside down. I'd rather do fewer cruises on ships that feel like ships and go interesting places than more cruises on floating amusement parks.

 

I also prefer a Centrum over a Royal Promenade.

 

Roy

[sandebeach]

My hubby's motto is "New ship, or new itinerary" But for me, I am just happy when I am on a cruise ship, so older ships and shorter itineraries are more cost-effective for multiple cruises. However, I have to admit, I have LOVED it when we have splurged for some pricier cabins!

[John&LaLa]

Retire.

Thnx, I'll have to try that. 😁

 

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[H2Oregon]

We have been on 20+ cruises and select our cruises based on itinerary. Love ships with all the bells and whistles but try to avoid repeating ports.

 

Probably my favorite cruise was on the old Holland American Noordam. She was a smaller old ship, she vibrated at certain speeds and didn't have many amenities. We did a repositioning cruise from Rome to Copenhagen. Cruise was 14 days with great ports and a sea day every third day. Probably won't find an itinerary like this on the new ships.

 

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[Tapi]

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

 

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With a bit of creativity. Find some cruises that touch a holiday, requiring less vacation days. Also opt for a 5 day that begins on a Saturday. Although not quite as long as a 7 day cruise, they are close enough. Finally, opt for a 4 nighter over a weekend. Once again, not as long as a weeklong cruise, but long enough to alleviate some of the cruising blues. The 4 night Western Caribbean to Key West and Cozumel is a great choice. The only one that I don't care for are the 3 nighters which I consider way too short.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Overtyme]

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?

 

 

Sorry for the delayed response.

Historically I've always gone for the latest and greatest because (sad to say), it's been quite a few years between cruises, compared to when I was a kid and on my grandparents dime, practically every year.

With that, quite a bit of innovation has come with each class.

So, for example, for our honeymoon in 2003 (CRAP!) we went on Adventure. Navigator (same class) was newer by a year, but I think that we felt that they were the same class and Adventure had a better itinerary.

We booked the Serenade of the Seas in 2005 because we were in Puerto Rico for a wedding anyway, but also because it was the newest class.

We knew it would be smaller, but there were new features including what I believe was the start of specialty restaurants (only two from what I recall).

In 2011, we took our then 3 1/2 yr old daughter on Allure, which was only a few months old.

I have to say that the things that made this attractive to us were all about the ship, and nothing to do with the ports.

We knew that it would be a hassle to take a 3 yr old on and off, so we didn't bother worrying about where we were going.

The bon-voyage aquatheater show with Dreamworks characters was perfect!

She had a blast in the newly, super big, Adventure Ocean.

Taylor Swift performed on our cruise (a cool bonus), and the performances which included Chicago, were top-notch.

Our next cruise was this past June/July and was a no-brainer.

We live in New York and Anthem was pretty new (at least it was the newest class).

We added to our family, so not paying a ton in airfare was a nice bonus.

It was the latest ship (okay - missed that cut-off by a month or two) and 90 minutes to the port.

She was beautiful, and we liked the rotational dining format with the same waiter.

We also loved that it was greater than 7 days.

Turns out that we likes Allure much better in terms of what it offered the younger one, but the now 9 year old loved surfing and iFly.

We missed the pool/splash area which was lacking on this ship.

I could do with/without the NorthStar.

Anyway, I guess where i'm at is that we wont be on another cruise for about 6 years.

By then, Icon of the Seas will have launched and i'm sure it will offer a whole new group of features.

With that will come a lot more money.

But, our favorite class, Oasis class, should come without the premium or Anthem (if its still in NJ will have probably gone through refurb/drydock and probably will get water slides and other features by then and will also come at a lesser price than Icon Class will.

By now, you've probably figured that I have spent way too much time thinking about this, or that I definitely have first world problems.

But this has been the trend so far for me - newer (at a premium) over older.

But as I get older, the considerations have changed for me and i'm thinking that for us, somewhere between convenience and features is our answer.

But on our next cruise, well have a 15 yr old and a 9 year old. Ports will probably matter a lot. Maybe A European Cruise? [emoji12]

 

 

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Edited January 31, 2017 by Overtyme