Moonlighting with other cruise lines

[dx052]

4 hours ago, Fogfog said:

@dx052 Did you see the B2B2B comparison on the Celebrity page? A recent cruiser compared MSC, X and a third--I think Princess. May provide some insight

Great call! made for a good read

[PROCRUISE]

Have cruised with: CCL, HAL, Princess, RCCL, X, Windstar, NCL, and Viking Ocean.

I seem to come back to X because I like the general environment and pleasant fellow passengers and probably because I'm a "senior" and like a more laid back, relaxing atmosphere. However, some of the other lines have very interesting itineraries and prices too. If I had ongoing sources of endless income I would, without question, cruise more often with Viking Ocean.

Regardless, it is great that we all have choices when it comes to cruising. Hope you enjoy your next cruise. I will be boarding the Reflection on 2/18 for 11 nights of pure relaxation mixed in with fun too!

[Reel Love]

3 hours ago, davekathy said:

When we cruise with RC we do not and will not cruise on their mega ships (Allure and Oasis). Too big and do not like the idea of prescheduling/reserving  entertainment. Not mandatory but assures you a seat at the different shows. We like that we don't have to do that on Celebrity. On RC we cruise their Freedom, Voyager and Radiance  class ships. The Radiance class ships are our favorite RC class. We like Celebrity's M & S class ships. Perfect sizes. The Freedom and Voyager class ships are bigger than the Radiance class so they also have the Royal Promenade deck. Not a must but a nice change of scenery and offerings . As far as we are concerned the staterooms and food are equal. Same with staff.  We are easily pleased and always finding a good variety of selections of food we like on both RC and Celebrity.  We always eat all our meals in the MDR and in the evening do My Time Dining (MTD) on RC and Select Dining (SD) on Celebrity with reservations. We like that RC has Quest (late night adult theme event) once per cruise and on the Freedom and Voyager class ships they also have an ice rink for an ice production show (once per cruise). We enjoy the different perks that RC offers for their top tier cruisers. No complaints about Celebrity's top tier perks. Again some differences between the two, but variety is good. One thing we do not like about RC is they allow smoking in their casinos. We aren't gamblers but the smoke floats out of the casino and into the public areas around it and also up to the Royal Promenade deck. A lot of smokers use the casino as a smoking lounge. Kudos to Celebrity for no longer allowing any indoor smoking.  If we had to pick between  RC and Celebrity that would be a very difficult choice but we would choose Celebrity. Glad we don't have to choose one or the other.  One of the big reason we like about Celebrity is less kids. With all that said we are doing a B2B cruise on RCs Freedom Of The Seas 3 and 10 March 2019 and can't wait. 

Thank you so much for your reply.  It was very informative and helpful!!!  Have a fantastic time on your B2B!!!! 😊

Edited February 2, 2019 by Reel Love
Added info

[davekathy]

5 minutes ago, Reel Love said:

Thank you so much for your reply.  It was very informative and helpful!!!  Have a fantastic time on your B2B!!!! 😊

You're welcome. 

[villauk]

11 hours ago, chemmo said:

We did the Fjords in April/May, it was fantastic, I would recommend.

 

We looked at the 7 night Edge itinerary for the Autumn and did consider but we could book an 11 night post Revolution Equinox (both RS) for significantly less and it is a better itinerary....I am sure we will try the Edge at some stage, we have been following the reviews, look forward to reading your comments.

 

Whilst I am aware and understand the negative feelings of some about the ship within a ship concept for us it does work. We enjoy having a big ship to explore but then value the extra perks and pampering we get in a suite room. When we were younger and our cruises were all about the destinations we would not have wanted or valued those things but now....

 

 

You make a good point, Chemmo, regarding cruising for the destinations when you were younger. We still cruise for the itineraries and so can’t see the value in paying the extortionate rates of Edge in the Med for 7 nights when we can cruise on other lines for half the price and double the length. I know we’ve both been discussing this since the last X Med deployment was released and it appears we still have the same feelings. Can’t see us booking Edge or Apex to stay in an IV  - we love our own proper balcony too much.

[jkgourmet]

If the OP is booking suites and penthouses on X, then suggesting/comparing NCL Haven, MSC Yacht Club, Oceania, etc is reasonable.  HOWEVER, if the OP is like us and sails in the cheap seats (inside and OV and upgrade fairy balcony cabins - by choice not financial restrictions), those comments aren't particularly helpful.  Since the OP doesn't really say what *sort* of passenger they are, I'll add my comments. 

 

Over the last 30 years, we've sailed on 7 different cruise lines, maybe 30 cruises:  Celebrity, Princess, HAL, MSC, NCL, Carnival, and RCCL. 

 

• We will never sail on Carnival or RCCL again.  Too many younger, party animals on the former, too many kids on the latter. 
• We would sail all of the others given the right price and the right itinerary.  Each had strong and weak points, and they offer different products. 
• On Celebrity, we pay for an OV that includes the alcohol package as a perk.  Sometimes there is OBC included.  Our TA offers free gratuity on most Celebrity sailings.  Every single time I compare the TOTAL price of our cruise on Celebrity with HAL, MSC,  NCL or Princess, the cost is lower on X - usually considerably less.   Hence, for the foreseeable future, we're sailing on Celebrity.  
• If one doesn't drink alcohol or always sails in high cost cabins, the math would be decidedly different.  And in that case, we'd be looking at Oceania and  Azamara.

[chemmo]

25 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

You make a good point, Chemmo, regarding cruising for the destinations when you were younger. We still cruise for the itineraries and so can’t see the value in paying the extortionate rates of Edge in the Med for 7 nights when we can cruise on other lines for half the price and double the length. I know we’ve both been discussing this since the last X Med deployment was released and it appears we still have the same feelings. Can’t see us booking Edge or Apex to stay in an IV  - we love our own proper balcony too much.

 

You are exactly where we were 15/20 years ago re wanting to see everything we could and giving our son the widest ‘education’ in terms of destinations and culture we could.

 

Absolutely no regrets as I am sure you won’t with your family. On our last cruise in the Mediterranean last September we loved revisiting some of our favourite ports including Santorini, Rhodes and Valletta...However, our site seeing now has to be limited to our (increasing) physical limitations...As we have aged we do value a decent balcony more...

 

At the present pricing for the Mediterranean (and no S class options)  we will either consider other cruise lines or more likely other holiday types. For example, last year we thoroughly enjoyed a rural country break in a countryside Mediterranean villa....

 

Enjoy your sight seeing family adventures whilst you can! If you ‘compromise’ on another line I honestly don’t think it matters where you are presently at....