What Cruise Line Do You Want to Try Next and Why?

[navybankerteacher]

35 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I appreciate your information.  One more reason why I would never consider sailing on one of their ships.  I did once many years ago before the name change of NCL:  Sunward II, a very good cruise and one that I have rated as being the best cruise for value that I have ever booked.  It seems the clientele has changed just as the cruise experience that was once offered.    

You are dating yourself:  Sunward ll was acquired from Cunard in 1977 by Norwegian - who then operated a quality cruise line.  Norwegian sold Sunward ll in 1991 -- well before they opted to go after the discount market, and obviously started cutting quality to enable cutting fares.  The only really good experience I had with Norwegian was on the Norway (formerly TS France).  I did keep trying them as some itineraries were very attractive, but as years went on they kept slipping.

[rkacruiser]

57 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

You are dating yourself:  Sunward ll was acquired from Cunard in 1977 by Norwegian - who then operated a quality cruise line.  Norwegian sold Sunward ll in 1991 -- well before they opted to go after the discount market,

 

Dating myself?  😄   I have no problem with doing so.  I am thankful that I am still able to do so!  

 

When I sailed on Sunward II, I was aware that she had been Cunard Adventurer.  Having been a former Cunard ship, that was one of the reasons I wanted to sail on her.  Thanks for confirming my memory of my Norwegian Caribbean Cruise Line experience as being an experience on what was then a quality cruise line.  

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I checked out (and posted on) that thread -- I'd say the folks in that forum are actively hostile toward dining with others! 😨  Quite a few aggressive remarks to say the least.

 

Yes, I read your post and the reactions to it. I tried not to judge the reactions to my original question, but I have to say posters were a lot more hostile to you than they were to me. (Although there were some that were at best passive/aggressive towards me for seeing their attitude as unfriendly.)

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Yes, I read your post and the reactions to it. I tried not to judge the reactions to my original question, but I have to say posters were a lot more hostile to you than they were to me. (Although there were some that were at best passive/aggressive towards me for seeing their attitude as unfriendly.)

It is hard to understand the negativity -- it seems to be more than a simple preference to dining only with people one knows:  more like a deep-seated opposition to interaction with others.   

[ilikeanswers]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Yes, I read your post and the reactions to it. I tried not to judge the reactions to my original question, but I have to say posters were a lot more hostile to you than they were to me. (Although there were some that were at best passive/aggressive towards me for seeing their attitude as unfriendly.)

 

I must be reading a different thread😳. Everyone is saying the posts are aggressive but I can only count two posters who appeared churlish to me😆.

[ilikeanswers]

10 hours ago, cruising cockroach said:

There are voyageurs.  The ship was repositioning after the austral summer Antarctic season.  No place to stop en route to Hanga Roa (that's why Europeans could not believe Polynesians not only found the place but apparently traded/acquired stuff (e.g., sweet ptatos) with South Americans and left (and acquired) DNA there.)  Many are content to sit on the ship and enjoy the fine food and wine (alcoholic drinks inc. non-fine wine complimentary).  I did the leg from Honolulu to the Sea of Japan side of Japan.  9 days to enjoy the ship without any nuisance stops. A fine bargain at ~$135 pp pd.

 

From Hanga Roa, the ship stopped at Pitcairn and a few other stops the Aranui goes to a couple of times a year.

 

If more people got to see those giant double hull canoes they would believe it. They were like floating villages😂. Agree that is a good price for a 9 day voyage. Nightmare for me but good for the sea day lovers. I would love to visit Pitcairn one day, did your cruise stay in port a couple of nights or was it just a one day visit?

 

8 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Aranui; Clipper; Viking; Hurtigrutin to AK.  Interesting ships which are small - as far as I am concerned and ship that is larger than ~1000 passengers is a monstrosity,   Interesting ports.  

 

DON

 

I loved my Aranui cruise. They make it into a whole cultural experience that was fascinating and educational. It helps that most of the staff are locals so they really have an intimate knowledge of French Polynesia.

[frantic36]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I checked out (and posted on) that thread -- I'd say the folks in that forum are actively hostile toward dining with others! 😨  Quite a few aggressive remarks to say the least.

 

 

 

I read the posts because I was curious. All I can say is Oh My 😔. Aggressive and defensive. Another reason for me to stay with smaller cruise lines.

 

I tried my first cruise line 11 years ago on a line similar to NCL for a short cruise and it was the same attitude as those on the thread. Everyone stuck within their own groups and didn't talk to others. Thankfully we tried a smaller ship after that and found people to be more welcoming. Otherwise we would have not tried cruising again. 

 

[ldubs]

On 11/12/2021 at 9:05 AM, ontheweb said:

Earlier today, I posted in the NCL section and asked if people wanted to meet others at dinner or dine alone. Basically, the responses were all we would rather just eat as a couple. The closest to I want to meet others at dinner was someone who said she liked that as a solo, but her husband would be with her on their next cruise (his first cruise), and his attitude was the exact opposite.

 

8 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I checked out (and posted on) that thread -- I'd say the folks in that forum are actively hostile toward dining with others! 😨  Quite a few aggressive remarks to say the least.

 

 

I suspect I'm not the only one who read that NCL thread our of curiosity.   Most of the posts were simply stating preferences to dine alone.   Unfortunately, some were over the top (way over the top I think).   I sure didn't see anything in your post to warrant that kind of response.   

 

There are a lot of people who prefer to dine alone and NCL's freestyle apparently supports that.   I guess it should be no surprise that it would attract those folks.   Seems there is a cruise line for all preferences.  

 

Now that I think about it, over time there has definitely been an increase in the number of two-tops on Princess, RCI, and Celebrity.   I suspect this isn't happening without there being an increased demand for them.   

[ontheweb]

I guess I got quite a few people to read that thread that normally do not read the NCL section of cruisecritic.🤣 (I only started reading it again after several years since we have a cruise booked for 2023 on the not yet built Prima that just had an itinerary too good to pass up.)

 

I tried to understand those who posted with such defensiveness about not eating with others. I did think some, but definitely not all, were really over the top with their attitudes. I don't want to go further with any comments because I was asking for their reactions and therefore should not complain when I received honest answers.

[cruisemom42]

9 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I must be reading a different thread😳. Everyone is saying the posts are aggressive but I can only count two posters who appeared churlish to me😆.

 

5 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I suspect I'm not the only one who read that NCL thread our of curiosity.   Most of the posts were simply stating preferences to dine alone.   Unfortunately, some were over the top (way over the top I think).   I sure didn't see anything in your post to warrant that kind of response.   

 

 

Some posts that were over the top have been removed.

[navybankerteacher]

28 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

Some posts that were over the top have been removed.

Agreed — going back makes it seem a lot calmer;  but it is impossible to now point out the angry ones which have been removed.

[ontheweb]

32 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

Some posts that were over the top have been removed.

Thanks, I did not realize that. And since I started the thread, I was watching it carefully. or at least I thought I was.

[ilikeanswers]

43 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Some posts that were over the top have been removed.

 

I had another look and it seems those churlish posts I saw are now gone so it does seem the thread is being edited.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I had another look and it seems those churlish posts I saw are now gone so it does seem the thread is being edited.

I also looked again, and it seemed to me that the posts that "lectured" @cruisemom42 were deleted.

[ldubs]

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

Some posts that were over the top have been removed.

 

Oh boy.  What I saw was bad enough.  The Mod's have a tough job.  

[GUT2407]

We have cruised with most of the “mainstream lines” Princess, Celebrity, NCL, P&O, RCCL, Cunard, Carnival. We are limited to Australia round trips (basically Syd-Syd) as neither are allowed to fly due to various health issues, doctors say I shouldn’t do trips outside Aus/NZ region, there went out Hawaii cruise.

 

To be totally honest I’d say you will notice as much difference between two ships from any of those lines as any two ships from two different lines, maybe with the exception of Cunard which is hard to judge as our cruise was just a couple of days out of a world cruise, about 80-90% were on much longer segments and to a degree we felt like interlopers so it is perhaps unfair to include them in any comparison. It is probably more a question for us of when (fitting in with work schedules) - and itinerary. Though should the chance arrive would love to try Silverseas.

[navybankerteacher]

I think there are substantial differences between certain pairings:  Celebrity and Carnival, for example;  and NCL and any other line have very distinct differences.   

[cruising cockroach]

On 11/14/2021 at 7:34 PM, ilikeanswers said:

 

If more people got to see those giant double hull canoes they would believe it. They were like floating villages😂. Agree that is a good price for a 9 day voyage. Nightmare for me but good for the sea day lovers. I would love to visit Pitcairn one day, did your cruise stay in port a couple of nights or was it just a one day visit?

 

Didn't go on any of those two preceding cruises.  More money than we wanted to spend.  I seem to recall that the ship arrived in Hanga Roa on Day 1 to disembark pax and embark joining ones, allowed the continuing pax and joining ones to tour that day and the day after, so staying a least a night or two.

 

On 11/14/2021 at 7:34 PM, ilikeanswers said:

 

I loved my Aranui cruise. They make it into a whole cultural experience that was fascinating and educational. It helps that most of the staff are locals so they really have an intimate knowledge of French Polynesia.

 

The Ponant cruised carried a biligual (or actually trilingual, Marquesian polynesian, French and English speaking) speaker.

 

He actually sailed on a pirogue between Hawaii and French Polynesia.  The Polynesian used stars to navigate N-S and E-W around the Pacific.

[ilikeanswers]

7 hours ago, cruising cockroach said:

The Ponant cruised carried a biligual (or actually trilingual, Marquesian polynesian, French and English speaking) speaker.

 

They told us that Marquesans have a strong emphasis on education. They started a program to encourage children to become teachers so they could come back to the archipelago to run bilingual schools. That way they could combine culture and language whilst also fufiling the requirements of the French Polynesian school system. They said the Marquesas was the first archipelago in FP to achieve 100% literacy rates. Now they have highest rates going into tertiary education. No wonder Marquesans are high achievers😄. When we visited three years ago the did say they are now adding English to their ciriculum.

7 hours ago, cruising cockroach said:

He actually sailed on a pirogue between Hawaii and French Polynesia.  The Polynesian used stars to navigate N-S and E-W around the Pacific.

 

They told us a bit about Wayfinding. I found it particularly interesting how they read the waves and swells. Who knew you could literally feel your way around the ocean. It always makes me think how close we came to losing a huge chunk of human history. Thank goodness there were people like Mau Pialiug and Nainoa Thompson to revive it and preserve it🤗.