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Help me experienced cruisers please!

cruisingcouple83

By cruisingcouple83,
in Ask a Cruise Question

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Nic6318

Nic6318

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Hi

Welcome to cruise critic.

 

Your question is very broad.

 

Were you happy with your experience on a Carnival ship, or are you looking for something different?

 

Generally the first thought in picking a ship is deciding where you want to go. Then you figure out when you want to go. That's the start. Then you can see which ships will be going where you want to go when you want to go there. That eliminates a lot of ships.

 

Then it's just a decision on how much you want to spend. The actual accommodations you opt for will be a determining factor in cost.

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marco

marco

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As far as ports, you just have to compare different sailings and different itineraries and decide based on where you want to go based on what interests you the most. Keep in mind, a cruise to Alaska, the Caribbean Europe, Asia are so different from each other, it all depends on what interests you. They all offer "beautiful itineraries", though totally different from each other.    As far as "great food'...that's so subjective I''ll be that if you get  20 replies you'll get 20 different recommendations for lines or ships, but my favorite for food, of the "mainstream" lines would be Celebrity.

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mom says Excellent Advice! Rare

mom says

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Since your wish list for both ships and itineraries is so vague, I think you should find a cruise specialist TA who can spend time with you learning your likes and dislikes and refining your cruise wish list. They can also discuss budget to get you the best fit for your pocketbook.

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Aquahound

Aquahound

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2 hours ago, cruisingcouple83 said:

Hi! I'm new to cruising and just got back from a cruise on the Carnival Valor. I'm really into great food and beautiful ports. Which ships would you reccomend?

 

1 hour ago, cruisingcouple83 said:

It was pretty good! Scarlet Steakhouse had seriously the best french onion soup I've ever had in my life. The lava cake in the Lincoln dining room was very good as well, as were most of the soups and fish.

 

If I'm to be totally honest, if you found the food on Carnival to be pretty good, I think you'll be happy on pretty much any line.

 

Any line except one.  I don't recommend NCL.  Consistently the worst meals I've ever had on cruises.

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cruisingcouple83

cruisingcouple83

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14 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

 

If I'm to be totally honest, if you found the food on Carnival to be pretty good, I think you'll be happy on pretty much any line.

 

Any line except one.  I don't recommend NCL.  Consistently the worst meals I've ever had on cruises.

Is that Norwegian?

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wheezedr

wheezedr

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3 hours ago, cruisingcouple83 said:

Hi! I'm new to cruising and just got back from a cruise on the Carnival Valor. I'm really into great food and beautiful ports. Which ships would you reccomend?

Really a very broad question.  We have cruised for beauty, Alaska and the Fjords of Norway.  We have cruised for culture, the Mediterranean and the Baltic’s.  We have cruised just to get away, the “x” time to Mexico or the Caribbean.  As others note, food is very subjective.  We never starve, but no ship can match the top end restaurants I can visit nearby in San Francisco or the wine country.  Think about where and when you want to go.  For us we use itinerary more than ship as our driving factor.   Our next trip is to Antarctica but that would not be among my first suggestions for a relative newbie

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George C

George C

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If you are into food I would pick one of the larger rccl cruises and then get the unlimited specialty package which lets you eat all dinners and some lunch’s in specialty restaurants, larger ships have a really nice choice of restaurants. 

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cruisingcouple83

cruisingcouple83

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31 minutes ago, George C said:

If you are into food I would pick one of the larger rccl cruises and then get the unlimited specialty package which lets you eat all dinners and some lunch’s in specialty restaurants, larger ships have a really nice choice of restaurants. 

Thanks! I will look into that line!!

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Tapi Great Review Rare

Tapi

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3 hours ago, cruisingcouple83 said:

It was pretty good! Scarlet Steakhouse had seriously the best french onion soup I've ever had in my life.

To give credit where credit is due, Carnival may be a budget cruise line, and their main dining room food may be mass market, but they do their steakhouses right. I’ve tried it on both the Carnival Liberty and the Carnival Dream and both were excellent, from quality and taste of their steaks, to memorable side dishes, to excellent service, rivaling upscale steakhouses I’ve been on land. 
 

 

 

 

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clo

clo

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2 hours ago, Tapi said:

To give credit where credit is due, Carnival may be a budget cruise line, and their main dining room food may be mass market, but they do their steakhouses right. I’ve tried it on both the Carnival Liberty and the Carnival Dream and both were excellent, from quality and taste of their steaks, to memorable side dishes, to excellent service, rivaling upscale steakhouses I’ve been on land. 
 

 

 

 

So are those included in your fare or more?  If more, how much more please?  TIA.

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SRF

SRF

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11 hours ago, Nic6318 said:

Generally the first thought in picking a ship is deciding where you want to go. Then you figure out when you want to go. That's the start. Then you can see which ships will be going where you want to go when you want to go there. That eliminates a lot of ships.

 

Not everyone works that way.

 

I see when I can go, and the duration of the cruise (prefer longer ones, shortest one so far has been 8 nights).

 

I really don't care WHERE we go.

 

And I would pick based on things like food, but while I enjoy very good food, I am OK with decent food.

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cruisingcouple83

cruisingcouple83

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17 hours ago, JennyB1977 said:

Food is subjective. I consider Ruth Chris a good steak, not a great steak. Could you provide some reference? For the ports, you simply want beauty? You're not interested in history, activities (e.g. snorkeling)? Are we talking Caribbean, Alaska, anywhere?

I'm pretty eclectic. I love places with a lot of history, I love diving and snorkeling, hiking, horseback riding, and also just laying around. I like going anywhere. In my non cruise travels I've loved the adventures in South Korea the same as laying on a beach in Hawaii. I'm pretty open to travel anywhere. 

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cruznjan

cruznjan

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22 hours ago, cruisingcouple83 said:

Hi! I'm new to cruising and just got back from a cruise on the Carnival Valor. I'm really into great food and beautiful ports. Which ships would you reccomend?

Decide where you want to go and look at which ships go there.

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ldubs

ldubs

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23 hours ago, cruisingcouple83 said:

Hi! I'm new to cruising and just got back from a cruise on the Carnival Valor. I'm really into great food and beautiful ports. Which ships would you reccomend?

 

Based on your comments I think you would enjoy Royal Caribbean or Celebrity -- Italy including Adriatic ports.  

 

 

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