Rare John&LaLa Posted June 27, 2019 #26 Share Posted June 27, 2019 2 minutes ago, davekathy said: Itinerary, cruise line and price Cruise line is a given for a lot of folks here. 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KmomChicago Posted June 27, 2019 #27 Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) Life is full of choices and some of them are more important at different times. March 2017: 1. Dates - had to be school holiday. 2. Price - spring break time frame was significantly cheaper than summer or Christmas. 3. Departure port within fairly easy drivable distance. 4/5. Itinerary and Ship were almost irrelevant once the other 3 factors fell into place. January 2018: 1. Dates - had to be when we would already be down in Florida visiting family but before we had to be back for school. 2. Price - had to be bargain basement as it was optional within a 2+ week road trip. Not really the reason for the trip. 3. Departure port - within reasonable drive from central Florida. 4/5. Same as above, itinerary and ship didn't really matter. March 2018: 1. Dates - again, school schedule. 2. Ship - DH itching to try Oasis class. 3. Itinerary - DH once did a six week construction job in San Juan and wanted to visit. 4. Price - still had to be reasonable or factors 1/2/3 would have been trumped. August 2019, upcoming: 1. Dates - you guessed it: school break time frame. 2. Itinerary - family did not want to go to the Caribbean in the hot summer. Thought Canada would be more comfortable and sounded interesting to them. 3. Departure Port - my mother, who will not fly, is coming on this one so a shorter drive was preferred over a longer drive. 4. Ship - all things equal, DH preferred the larger, newer Oasis of the Seas over the old banged up Carnival Triumph and Sensation. Adventure is smaller but still a large ship, very positively reviewed, seems to be in excellent, beautiful condition, has an indoor Royal Promenade which DH really likes, plus various RCI bells and whistles. 5. Price was somewhat less of a factor this round as my mom is treating us this time and set a more generous budget for better accommodations than I do normally. Edited June 27, 2019 by KmomChicago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kernow Posted June 27, 2019 #28 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Price, itinerary and ship (not necessarily RCL, could be one of several line that we like). Price does not mean the cheapest but what we consider the best value. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelblu Posted June 27, 2019 #29 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Not being from Fla., lately it's been port of departure since the airfare from my area is almost as much as the cruise fare. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuCruise Posted June 27, 2019 #30 Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) 1. Dates (kids off school and/or can get work time off) 2. Departure Port (Florida or New Jersey) 3. Ship 4. Price 5. Itinerary For the ship, its different considerations depending on who is coming. If its with our kids, then we would book a ship with lots of amenities (Oasis, Quantum, Freedom or Voyager class). If just DH and I, then we would consider the other classes as well. Edited June 27, 2019 by LuCruise 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kruise runner Posted June 27, 2019 #31 Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) Cruising We usually look first at Timing , Length of cruise nothing under 7 nights, Cruise lines, Ports of CALL and lastly Price. Since we cruise mostly the Caribbean in FEB The longer the better. Flying in from the great white north of Canada. We also have our favorite ports we like to sale from. And book the day before and the day after to extend our vacation time.So far it has worked well for us. Happy cruising. kruise runner Edited June 27, 2019 by kruise runner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judyrem Posted June 27, 2019 #32 Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) I was looking to cruise the last week of Sept and saw the Allure had a jr suite for less than I paid for a Harmony balcony. I saw the itinerary and thought it was ok but it had four days at sea and that is what I wanted on the big ships, plus it had Mamma Mia....sold! My next cruise is on HAL for my big birthday in November and I picked the ship for an aft view Vista suite and music theme. In Feb, I picked Adventure because of the ABC islands. I think the criteria changes for what I want at the time. Price is important, but so are other factors. BTW, I cruised the Mediterranean once and will not cruise Europe, I prefer land based trips there. I may try a Transatlantic cruise😉! Edited June 27, 2019 by Judyrem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRF Posted June 27, 2019 #33 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Ship, timing, price, and lastly, itinerary. We like cruising. As in, on the ship. We enjoy the ports, but no problem if we skip one, or get rained out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K1200S Posted June 27, 2019 #34 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Price itinerary ship in that order. Being retired dates don't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekathy Posted June 27, 2019 #35 Share Posted June 27, 2019 11 hours ago, John&LaLa said: Cruise line is a given for a lot of folks here. 😉 We switch back and forth from RC to Celebrity. So not a given for us. 😏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookish Angel Posted June 27, 2019 #36 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Itinerary, date, ship, price - in that order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vidsmart Posted June 27, 2019 #37 Share Posted June 27, 2019 We tend to book based first on the ship. That thinking really paid off Christmas: took 7 comprised of grandkids, millennials and grandparents. Itinerary was fairly mediocre: left out of NY, with planned stops in FL (supposedly Disney area but not really); Coco Cay (pre-dock, and Perfect Day); and Nassau (ho-hum, been there a zillion times.) It got even worse when on Christmas morning we were told we had to skip Coco Cay due to winds preventing tendering. Sounds like a bummer. But everyone found the cruise to be an unforgettable experience. Sure, part of that was the family reunion aspect of it, but it was helped tremendously by there being so much to do on Anthem of the Seas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenf22 Posted June 27, 2019 #38 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Itinerary. The ship is a floating hotel for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORKY_Q Posted June 27, 2019 #39 Share Posted June 27, 2019 We are retired and live on the East coast of Florida so: 1. Port 2. Ship Price does somewhat come into the equation, but we can somewhat adjust that with cabin choice. Sea ya!😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cft8 Posted June 27, 2019 #40 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Itinerary, ship, price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseguy1016 Posted June 27, 2019 #41 Share Posted June 27, 2019 We always start with the itinerary. We decide first where/when we want to go. After that we look at the ship and the cost equally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drrich2 Posted June 27, 2019 #42 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Multi-factorial with the weight of a balance of factors deciding, and the weighting has changed over time. We've been blessed to go on several Royal Cruises and 1 Celebrity cruise; we're 2 7-day cruises from Diamond Status (barely!) and like the RC product, so naturally I pick that brand. Due to work, 7-day trips are optimal, so Caribbean region. We have a 6-year old kid, so big ships with plenty of space indoor & out and a range of activities are a big deal (Voyager class or higher - for the Royal Promenade, and Oasis class preferred - for the Boardwalk neighborhood and topside water play area). A departure port that's cheap to fly to (e.g.: Fort Lauderdale, with Southwest Airlines 'wanna-get-away' fares, 2 free checked bags/person) is a big deal. Gotta be budget - inside stateroom! When you bring a 3rd person, I notice room costs shoot up! Early in our cruising, itinerary was big. We had no kid and I wanted to hit a large number of islands over time. We did the Celebrity cruise as an 11-night 'Ultimate Caribbean' cruise, and hit a number of new spots (including Colon, Panama and Cartagena, Columbia). Over time, having hit most of the mainstream Caribbean islands (east, west & south), itinerary became less important than the ship. I want out kid to be 'well-traveled,' but at this point she's visited enough islands that just having fun on the ship is a bigger draw. So for us, right now, after region, available dates and price narrow it down, pick an RC ship, Voyager class or larger but prefer Oasis, and then try for a good itinerary. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverbeenhere Posted June 27, 2019 #43 Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) Captain. Edited June 27, 2019 by neverbeenhere Just because no one said it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverbeenhere Posted June 27, 2019 #44 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Dates Departure Port Ship Price Itinerary Crew we know onboard Yes, I co-oped LuCruise's list, however Our's is in no particular order. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanF65 Posted June 27, 2019 #45 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Itenerary Departure port / Departure airport to get to port Price Date, will take different date /port for price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBE4 Posted June 27, 2019 #46 Share Posted June 27, 2019 4 hours ago, neverbeenhere said: Captain. Ha! Followed by DL Concierge, Activities Director and Cruise Director? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sizzlechest Posted June 28, 2019 #47 Share Posted June 28, 2019 Ship then itinerary. Keep in mind I leave from NY/NJ so itinerary for 7 day cruise is going to be either Florida/Nassau Bahamas or Bermuda. 8-10 day cruises are also pretty cookie cutter. Unless we're talking about private islands, the itinerary is going to be repetitive for a veteran cruiser, so less important. Ships can matter maybe more than cruise line. A small ship on NCL is a very different experience than with a bigger new ship. Can't speak to RCL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seville2Cabo Posted June 28, 2019 #48 Share Posted June 28, 2019 95% Itinerary, 5% ship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
time4u2go Posted June 28, 2019 #49 Share Posted June 28, 2019 (edited) Itinerary. We vacation to see different places. Edited June 28, 2019 by time4u2go 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUEST71919 Posted June 28, 2019 #50 Share Posted June 28, 2019 1. Combo of price (better, value) and dates (e.g., I have learned that I don’t want to travel to the new England and Canada route in mid-September, but the first week of June is perfect for me to visit Alaska). 2. Quality of and preferences (prefer small to mid-sized 75% of the time) regarding the ship. 3. Itinerary (variety and balance are important to us). #2 and #3 are at various times switched. It’s a bit like juggling 🤹🏻♀️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now