What Is Your Favorite Cruise Line and Why?

[nyllrap]

I have only been on three lines - Royal Caribbean (12 cruises), Norwegian (5), and one Carnival. Royal is my favorite, am ok with Norwegian, and didn't like Carnival, although it may have been the ship. I am 8 nights away from diamond status on Royal, with a 7 day cruise booked for September. After I become diamond, I want to try Celebrity, as that line will honor your Royal status. Maybe one day I will give some other lines a try.

[Warm Breezes]

So far we have been on 4 lines. We first sailed on Disney and loved the Disney experience with our then 4 and 7 year old...so much so we sailed them again 3 years later on our 2nd cruise. We loved the entertainment, the cabin size and layout, Castaway Cay, and Palo. We did not like the price.

 

We then sailed on Carnival and have since sailed on them 8 more times with number 10 booked. We like the price, MDR food, comedy club, anytime dining, and room size. The entertainment is the main area where Carnival does not keep up with the other lines.

 

On our 5th cruise we tried NCL. We like freestyle dining, casual dress code, entertainment, O Sheehan/Blue Lagoon, and the buffet. NCLs down fall for us is the rom size and the MDR food.

 

On our 11th cruise we tried Princess. This was our least favorite cruise mainly because the demographics were about 15 to 20 years older than we were and we had the worst service in the MDR of any of our cruises. So much so that we didn't return to the MDR after trying it 2x. Food is subjective, but on this cruise we found the food either really, really good or we hated it...no in between like mostly we found on CCL and NCL. Entertainment was good...better than Carnival, similar to NCL.

 

Cruise line is not a deciding factor for us when choosing a cruise unless we have a FCC to use. Other factors always come first and we look at the ships offering the other factors and narrow it done from there based on the importance of those other factors.

 

 

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[TruckerDave]

US Navy....they paid me to go and travel. ;p

 

ok, there was no pool or bar and the nightly entertainment wasn't very good but there were no chair hogs or screaming kids to deal with either. The casino was ok (if you knew where to look ;) ) and the food wasn't bad. (picky eaters quickly expanded their tastes or vending machine for dinner). :D

[cmurchake]

NCL.....price has been better with UBP.....freestyle.....Waterfront deck

[navybankerteacher]

US Navy....they paid me to go and travel. ;p

 

ok, there was no pool or bar and the nightly entertainment wasn't very good but there were no chair hogs or screaming kids to deal with either. The casino was ok (if you knew where to look ;) ) and the food wasn't bad. (picky eaters quickly expanded their tastes or vending machine for dinner). :D

 

Good points - but where they really fell down was on sailaway - the special sea and anchor detail never involved frou-frou drinks with paper parasols.

[flyingv4me]

I've only cruises Celebrity, but will be expanding to other lines due to the deterioration of their product. It is interesting to read everyone's comments, and to see the reasons for your choices. It shows the changing dynamics of both passengers tastes and cruise line product.

 

Interesting thread.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

I've been on most of the usual lines except MSC & Costa & prefer NCL, mostly for their studio cabins catering to solo passengers.

Carnival comes a close 2nd for their fun atmosphere & RCL 3rd for their ship layouts.

We've recently discovered Thomson/TUI & like them for their all inclusive fares.

Any cruise is a great one for me!;)

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[TruckerDave]

Good points - but where they really fell down was on sailaway - the special sea and anchor detail never involved frou-frou drinks with paper parasols.

 

 

Especially if you were a snipe. :cool:

[DaKa2002]

Mine - Oceania for Food and Service

DW - Celebrity for Blu (Aqua Class)

 

Second place is Disney - price is major disadvantage for us and the limited itineraries. However, Remy is absolutely our top restaurant at sea; Palo is darn good too!

 

Then we have in order Azamara, HAL, Royal, Princess.

 

We have not yet tried Viking, NCL, Carnival, and many others.

 

As for our one and only river cruise, the Uniworld river cruise on the Rhine and Main was incredible for food, service, and scenery.

[navybankerteacher]

Especially if you were a snipe. :cool:

 

Of course they had "inside jobs" - unlike Deck - who too often had to do the "attention to port/starboard" bit, in the rain, when passing.

[sparks1093]

US Navy....they paid me to go and travel. ;p

 

ok, there was no pool or bar and the nightly entertainment wasn't very good but there were no chair hogs or screaming kids to deal with either. The casino was ok (if you knew where to look ;) ) and the food wasn't bad. (picky eaters quickly expanded their tastes or vending machine for dinner). :D

 

Plus we had the lovely midnight buffet known as mid-rats with that lovely coffee:').

 

As for cruise lines I haven't developed a favorite yet since finances and work schedules still dictate our choices.

[navybankerteacher]

Plus we had the lovely midnight buffet known as mid-rats with that lovely coffee:').

 

As for cruise lines I haven't developed a favorite yet since finances and work schedules still dictate our choices.

 

"Mid-rats" - evening meal left-overs, with boiler sludge coffee. The urns were only cleaned just before breakfast, so the late night last batch was always memorable.

[thefamilyqueen]

I've cruised Princess, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. All have good points and all have bad points. My favorite cruise was the inaugural cruise in 2006 on the Crown Princess. Being the first to cruise on a ship was a great experience.

 

 

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[CanobieFan]

I've only been on Royal, but I wouldn't be against trying any other line based on the itinerary. Although having seen a bunch of their ships in passing, I would avoid Carnival unless it was one of their new ships.

[Lois R]

Celebrity was my cruise line of choice for many years but recently I have branched out and am still doing that..........

I took my first River Cruise last year........it was OUTSTANDING:D.........and later this summer I am taking a cruise

on SIlversea sailing from Barcelona to Rome:D........now, I am turning 60 in March and am still trying to figure out what

to do.........want something really special:)

 

As for Celebrity, I have a deposit down for one cruise on a brand new ship (she is not even built yet) but decided to put

a deposit down on the the new EDGE.........figured since I sailed all their other ships, I would give this new one a try;)

*that will be in 2019.

 

OH, The original poster was asking WHY? Because I always felt the food and service were excellent and I always felt

very welcomed...........they were always my "Go To" cruise line.

[CruiseLady88]

I've only cruises Celebrity, but will be expanding to other lines due to the deterioration of their product. It is interesting to read everyone's comments, and to see the reasons for your choices. It shows the changing dynamics of both passengers tastes and cruise line product.

 

 

 

Interesting thread.

 

 

I agree. When I tried Eclipse 5 years ago, food was top-notch matching the 5.5 star rating. This past May, I tried Reflection and the food was just ok. The MDR lobster was rubbery and salty, the worst lobster I ever had on a cruise ship.

 

The room staff cleaning our stateroom was excellent! The MDR server was hit and miss. In the morning when I met him in the buffet, he always smiled and talked to me. But in the evening during dinner time, he was not kind and missed my order twice. I think the workload from morning till evening has drained his smile during dinner time.

 

I will try Cunard Queen Mary 2 for next cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[jocap]

We've enjoyed all our cruises, but I suspect we won't hurry back to RCI; the line we which suits us at the moment is P&O, but we have a soft spot for Thomson and Louis/Celestyal. I suspect our next line, Fred Olsen will also be a match. :)