Do you cruise for destination or ship?

[KonkyWonky]

2 hours ago, Newleno said:

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)

 

For the most part we follow this.

 

We are far from seasoned cruisers having only cruised on NCL three times.  I was always adverse to cruising (seemed too stuffy and old fashioned), but after a few years of gentle persuasion from the better half I relented and we did our first cruise around the Western Med on the Epic.  I was adamant I wanted to do a big ship and given there is no outside cabin option on the Epic I wanted a balcony!  Flights to Barcelona are easy to come by from Scotland.  We loved the cruise and that settled my mind to promptly book.....

 

An oceanview on the Star around the Eastern Med, bit trickier to travel to Venice in comparison to Barcelona but it was on the bucket list (despite us both being early 40's).  This cruise confirmed I was ok on a 'smaller' ship but confirmed I appreciated many of the aspects of the mega ships.  In other words I liked cruising and size of ship doesn't really bother me overly if the price and itinerary are right, there are pros and cons to both.  So having confirmed I love cruising in general we booked.....

 

The Getaway around the Baltics in a balcony, this one didn't really hit the 'price' brief but the itinerary was one we liked.  Equally that couple of extra days onboard swung it for us, as well as the opportunity to visit Copenhagen prior to the cruise for a few nights and then an overnight stay in St Petersburg.  Both were great cities to visit, particularly St Petersburg.  Having grown up during the 'second cold war' it was an eye opener and by far the best destination we have visited on a cruise. 

 

So, given price was my first caveat and we have so far only sailed in balconies or outsides we decided to book an inside on the Epic around the Western Med for later this year!  We weren't really looking to book a cruise but we seen such a ridiculous price including the PBP and SDP it would be rude not to.  Plus we will do three nights in Barcelona prior to sailing this time.

 

 

[thistimeplease]

For us we pick a cruise based on destination first, price second and ship last.  We are open to different cruise lines so it gives us more options.

[Phaedrus78]

Price > destination > ship, but it's gotta be a ship I want to be on.  I like the big ships, but I wasn't into the Encore so much because my favorite area is Spice H20.  

 

I'd actually love to do the Southern Caribbean itinerary early next year on the Epic, but the cost of flights to San Juan are KILLING me.  It's got me considering going on a Celebrity Apex cruise instead, balcony rooms on that new ship look like a really good deal right now even though it'll be a set of Caribbean destinations we've already done.  

[CruiseMH]

Price and destination ...ship is not completely unimportant but if i like the price and the destination then i don`t care that much about the ship.

 

[arjay9]

Depends on what type of vacation I'm planning.  On my Alaskan cruise I didn't really care which ship I was on, it was the ports that I was on vacation for. However if it's a TA I'm planning (or just a relaxing getaway), it's the ship & sea days that I'm focusing on.   Spas also play a big part in my planning when it comes to solo trips, so chances are I'm never going to sail the Joy solo.

[MountainMermaid]

The combination of destination and price are the main factors.  Ship is starting to be consideration for me, but it remains a distant 3rd priority in my decision making.  I suspect that the more I cruise, the more likely I am to develop ship preferences and that might become a more important factor in the future. 

[Nola26]

3 hours 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.

I did a Southern Caribbean on the Dawn from San Juan as my second trip on the ship. I also won a bid from Inside to Balcony so that also made it "different".

 

Hopefully you will have a chance for the itinerary off the Epic.

[complawyer]

always by the destination or ports. while the price is always relatively important, the actual cruise ship (we just cruise with ncl) is actually the least of my criteria.

[4774Papa]

7 hours ago, nhtravels said:

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?  

DESTINATION,

The ship doesn't matter much, unless it is a ship that we prefer not cruising on.  The two that NCL has that we don't prefer are the Epic and the Star.  Still, if the deal and itinerary are the best, we would still go with one of them.

[spanishguy1970]

7 hours ago, nhtravels said:

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?  

i will say destination, in fact we have been to the some destinations with similar itinerary more than once just because we like the port.

[trivia addict]

No one has mentioned my first priority. The dates I am free. First I look at dates, then destination then price. Ship or cruise line makes no difference to me. I am happy just cruising!

[tallnthensome]

3 hours ago, Phaedrus78 said:

Price > destination > ship, but it's gotta be a ship I want to be on.  I like the big ships, but I wasn't into the Encore so much because my favorite area is Spice H20.  

 

I'd actually love to do the Southern Caribbean itinerary early next year on the Epic, but the cost of flights to San Juan are KILLING me.  It's got me considering going on a Celebrity Apex cruise instead, balcony rooms on that new ship look like a really good deal right now even though it'll be a set of Caribbean destinations we've already done.  

All of this ^^^^ I booked the new Celebrity Apex last month for 2022 for my family of four. Their spring break week ..... Balcony, two premium drink packages (no service charges), two unlimited WiFi packages, 2 prepaid grats and $300 OBC - $4079. I generally Cruise for destination, ship, then price ..... However NCL’s pricing has pushed me elsewhere as their future prices on their better ships can’t beat Celebrity’s deals on their Edge class ships and comparing apples to apples during the same cruising time now. 

Edited February 10, 2020 by tallnthensome

[DarkJedi]

Destination first, then ship.

 

For us the ship serves as a taxi service and place to sleep. We do want some amenities, but don't need much on the ship.

 

We are all about port time and seeing new places/doing new things. Our next cruise in March we will be diving in every single port. Then we will decide which islands to go back to to spend a few days diving and sight seeing.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1) Joining others, do you have family, friends or a group that you'd like to join on the cruise?

2) Timing including weather/seasons, do you have the ability to be away for this amount of time?

3) Embarkment and Disembarkment ports, do they work for you?  (If you live in Miami, are you willing to pay fly 18 hours to fly to Singapore?)

4) "Cabin" cost; does the cost, cabin category and expected perks meet your budget expectations?

5)  Port days vs sea days ratio, you can often find similar itineraries with the only difference being ports replaced by seas days

 

Only then can you get into the Destination vs Ship debate......

[TravellingLiz]

Destination and then a combination of what works with my travel dates, ship and price

[Biffire]

Definitely a combination of factors.

Dates, I am still working and try to avoid hurricane season.

Price is always a consideration for us.

Port of embarkation, if I use NYC I avoid airfare, but very limited choices from there.

Ports of call, although I have repeated several based on above factors.

 

My next cruise is on the Dawn, out of Tampa, because I had to go to Florida for a wedding, doing the Western route, which we have done previously.

 

 

 

 

[Magiemae41]

Always destination.  We usually do very minimal sea days, and we have always liked all the ships, so no worries.  That being said however, I would think twice about doing a balcony room on the Epic again.  I really disliked the bathroom set up.  Of course if that was the only ship going to someplace we wanted to see, I'd live with it. 😊

 

Mae

[FranknBeans]

In winter we cruise for sunny destinations and rarely leave the ship because we've been to them so many times, we just want to relax and enjoy the sun and quietness of the ship while everyone is off.

 

For Europe and other  destinations its about the ports.

[LMADAMS91]

Usually destination, occasionally ship but has to be a destination that I want to visit (so kind of both but destination is USUALLY the deciding factor.)

[Gershep]

Destination

[April42749]

It used to be mainly destination, but, honestly, after a while the ports all look the same. 

Now it's 95% ship because you'll always have different entertainment, different gyms, different stores and different dining venues.

We only sail out of NYC...March, NCL Bliss; July, Carnival Radiance and Oct, MSC Meraviglia.

[tallnthensome]

Why would people continue to sail out of the same port all the time for convenience taking  you to the same ports over and over again? That seems pretty awful to me if all the ports look the same after being there so many times. I’ve never understood that approach. Why not save some money and fly to a different port in order to get somewhere you have never been? I’d never sail out of a local port so many times just for convenience if it meant I had to do basically the same cruise over and over and over ......

[reeinaz]

I'm new to cruising, so nearly all ports and ships are new to me. But I think I'm basing my bookings mainly on the ship. I booked my 1st cruise completely on impulse with no research on ship or destination and loved it. Turns out it was a pretty basic ship (Carnival Valor) to a pretty basic destination (Cozumel). Since discovering this site, I've been all about the research. My 1st booked NCL cruise was the Escape to the Baltics in October 2021. But I have since booked the Escape to Bermuda in April and am less thrilled about the Baltics cruise. In fact, I'm strongly considering ditching that one in favor of a Virgin cruise to the mediterranean. Yeah it's the mediterranean, but I would probably still be considering it even if it was just to the Bahamas. I have conflicting cruises booked on the Bliss and an MSC ship but will probably take the MSC one, even though I want to try the Bliss, because MSC will be such a different experience. I'm booked on the Encore but switched from Bermuda to a Canada itinerary because it was cheaper and I cared more about being on that ship than where it was going.

[HowardK]

On 2/10/2020 at 6:01 PM, trivia addict said:

No one has mentioned my first priority. The dates I am free. First I look at dates, then destination then price. Ship or cruise line makes no difference to me. I am happy just cruising!

Same with me- goes with dates; and then convenience. I prefer going from NYC these days. In fact, I am the King of Pier 88!!

[HowardK]

2 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

Why would people continue to sail out of the same port all the time for convenience taking  you to the same ports over and over again? That seems pretty awful to me if all the ports look the same after being there so many times. I’ve never understood that approach. Why not save some money and fly to a different port in order to get somewhere you have never been? I’d never sail out of a local port so many times just for convenience if it meant I had to do basically the same cruise over and over and over ......

Good point- but I have some sort of tunnel vision; I like being able to take the bus to NYC and stay over- I did do Canada and New England for the first time and might do it again. Eventually I will fly to Seattle for Alaska.