Do you cruise for destination or ship?

[nhtravels]

With an ever growing bucket list for travel, I'm in constant planning mode.  

 

When you are planning your cruise, do you choose based on the ship or are you more about the destination?  

[JamieLogical]

Is it a cop out to say "both"? In March I am sailing on the Bliss to FL/Bahamas, which is a terrible itinerary. But I am doing because it was very cheap and sails out of NYC, which is an easy port for me. In December, I sailed on the Bliss out of NYC to the Southern Caribbean and it was definitely NOT cheap, but I wanted to go to the Southern Caribbean, as I had never been there before. I ended up loving it so much that I am looking at Southern Caribbean sailings out of San Juan for next January and I will probably not be picky at all about the ship or even the cruise line, just the itinerary. At the end of August we are sailing to Alaska. In that case, we are taking our first Princess sailing, because it was significantly cheaper to sail on the Ruby Princess than the NCL Bliss for the same itinerary that same week. So cost is also a factor in our decision making.

[Peachypooh]

We cruise for the destination.That said, we look at the ships that are cruising where

we want to go and pick the one we feel most comfortable with. In our case any Jewell

class ship. 

[shof515]

because i am limited to sailing out of NYC (my home port) i cruise for the ship since the itinerary out of NYC is always terrible 

[JimR24]

Always destination for us.  I'm not saying we don't want to see different ships, it's just that we would sail the same ship to different places and not think twice about it.  

[Pauser]

I take both into consideration. First I look for an itinerary, but I've had itineraries change in the past, so I also look at the ship. We prefer the Jewel class ships or a similar size. I have no desire to sail on the giant ships. That would deter me from sailing even if I loved the itinerary. In that case I might look at other cruise lines.  

[Oakman58]

We cruise mainly for the destination. 

[geegee1]

I cruise out of convenience of a NY area home port.  While we've done the Port Canaveral/Bahamas one a bunch of times, we've also have done a 10 day to the Caribbean as well.  But if we didn't live so close to the port, we probably hardly ever take a cruise.

Edited February 10, 2020 by geegee1

[Bostonjetset]

I would say it's the destination about 75% of the time and the ship the other 25%.  For example, I love sailing on the Queen Mary 2 so have a 3rd transatlantic scheduled on her even though there are no ports.  Also, our upcoming Nieuw Statendam sailing has ports that aren't overly exciting but I really want to sail on that ship.  For a trip to Alaska, anywhere in Europe, or Bermuda I feel that the ship is not so important at all.

[Newleno]

We cruise 1 - price, 2 - destination, 3 - ship  (a good ship for us is one with wide open spaces where you can see and feel the sea all over the ship, jewel class are great for us)

[vpearlkc]

We cruise for port of departure. Most of our cruises have been out of New Orleans and to most of the same destinations.

[poffles]

I have to say 'generally' both.  I want a ship that I will like and is not older but the itinerary is not port specific but I want warmth.  I just love cruising!

 

For instance, I keep hearing people talk about Alaska and think 'am i missing something' and 'maybe i should I consider' but then being from Canada and having the wilderness and nature so close around me all the time ... AND the 4 seasons with the colder ones seeming longer than the rest ... I cannot convince myself enough to want to go there.

 

Cost all being equal (or lotto win), the itinerary would move up the scale a lot but the Caribbean has been my happy place ... I have done some Caribbean ports 5 times and I just think of it as another warm place with sun and sand and I am traveling on a cruise ship!  I have one booked in March out of NY for the first time ever and only because it was very very cheap and closer flight.  While I look forward to trying NCL again and on a newer big ship, I find myself not being as excited and I realize it's due to not sailing out of a warm place like Miami or FLL and also the waters may not be so friendly.  I keep having a pep talk with myself 🙂  It may be first and last time out of NY but I might be surprised.

[marktwothousand]

For Caribbean, or for ports I'm not that interested in, its all about the ship. I've been known to stay on board a whole cruise some times.

 

That being said...For destination cruises, I absolutely will not go unless its a ship I like. (i.e. one with studios, a big one, newer). I would rather take a land-based vacation to a destination I'm interested in, if there are no good ships going there. I am all about NEW and BIG when it comes to the ships...forget any of the old small boats - not my thing.

[poffles]

11 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

For Caribbean, or for ports I'm not that interested in, its all about the ship. I've been known to stay on board a whole cruise some times.

 

That being said...For destination cruises, I absolutely will not go unless its a ship I like. (i.e. one with studios, a big one, newer). I would rather take a land-based vacation to a destination I'm interested in, if there are no good ships going there. I am all about NEW and BIG when it comes to the ships...forget any of the old small boats - not my thing.

Ditto Caribbean staying on board ... especially if one has been there few times over and one has the drink package on board.  

 

🍺🍹🚢

[Barb Nahoumi]

We cruise for the destination, and the port that it leaves from.  Boston is our go to port, because we don't have to fly to get there.  New York is reachable by bus or Amtrak.  No flying or driving.

[Two Wheels Only]

Ship has priority over itinerary. In some cases, the itinerary rotates from one week to the next so in those cases, I'll pick the better itinerary of the two.

[Nola26]

I often sail using a casino certificate that applies to a specific list of cruises. In that case I choose itinerary/departure port then ship. If I have been on a ship before I look for a new itinerary on her. Sometimes I can only sail during a given week; then my selection is based on availability, convenience and itinerary. A winter week in the Caribbean is better than a cold one in New England. 

 

We have booked 4 non certificate cruises.

Escape year one so ship driven. 

The others have been itinerary driven then ship (Mediterranean, Hawaii and Japan).

We will replace Japan based on itinerary as it's a birthday celebration trip.

 

Price or value is always a factor. 

[Laszlo]

For my wife and I the ship is for getting to point A to point B. We have sailed everything from the Sun, Gem, BA and Escape. Our next cruise is February 2021 on the Jade on an 11 day. Luckily the Jewel class ships are our favorite

[nhtravels]

There's so many places I want to see!  There's so many ships I'm looking forward to sailing!

 

They just don't always line up together.

 

I guess that means I just need double the trips!

[Petals22]

Currently for me it would be a combination of ease of getting to the port, the destination, the price and the size of the ship.  We prefer Jewel class or smaller ships but will go on the larger ships if those are the ones that are going from the port we want to leave from.  Price/amenities are possibly more important to me right now than the ports.  We recently moved to florida so looking forward to not having to fly to another city to board the ship.  We can easily drive to the florida ports.  Hoping we can cruise more often now.

[RedwingHockeyFan]

I pick Itinerary over ship.  For my next cruise there were three ships sailing the same itinerary so I eliminated the ship I had sailed on before then narrowed it down with price.

 

I want to try the 7 day Southern Caribbean itinerary but I have already sailed the Epic twice.

[JamieLogical]

1 minute ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

I pick Itinerary over ship.  For my next cruise there were three ships sailing the same itinerary so I eliminated the ship I had sailed on before then narrowed it down with price.

 

I want to try the 7 day Southern Caribbean itinerary but I have already sailed the Epic twice.

 

Which ship did you end up picking?

[RedwingHockeyFan]

Just now, JamieLogical said:

 

Which ship did you end up picking?

 

It was a 2021 Eastern Caribbean Itinerary and I picked the Joy over Escape (Been on it) and Bliss (Cost $100 more per person) 

[weltek]

First and foremost, the destination.

 

We definitely have our preferred ships, so that's always somewhat of a factor, and as we check off destinations, it will probably become more of a factor. For example, one more trip and I think we'll have hit every Caribbean and Mexico port Norwegian sails, so we'd pick a preferred ship next time if just sailing for warmth in January.  

[cruisekitty22]

It was destination. Now its ship.