Which cruise line will you Never, Always and Try to cruise with and why?

[NMTraveller]

6 hours ago, m8zenblue said:

On our first cruise out of Fort Lauderdale on embarkation day we were docked next to a Carnival ship, we were on the Holland America Eurodam.

We are not that old, 60ish, lol.

But, the noise, loud music and drunks that we saw on that ship was ridiculous, and it was still hours from departing.

At that moment I swore I would never ever cruise with Carnival.

We would love to cruise on Disney one day with grandsons !

I would second the Carnival experience.  We were at a park and ride hotel.  We were going to an RCL cruise and there were others there for a Carnival cruise.  The Carnival cruisers were obviously and annoyingly drunk before getting on the ship.  We got a taste of Carnival without having to sail.

[curmudgeon98]

20 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

 

Azamara and Ociana are on iur bucket list but so often require flights at one end or the other

The "R-class" 650 passenger smaller ships of Azamara and Oceania would be somewhat challenging with a wheelchair (doable, but tight corridors and cabin spaces).  The larger 1200-passenger Oceania ships (Riviera and Marina) definitely have more room for getting around the ship.

[curmudgeon98]

28 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

 

double post

Edited April 8, 2021 by curmudgeon98
duplicate

[GUT2407]

24 minutes ago, curmudgeon98 said:

The "R-class" 650 passenger smaller ships of Azamara and Oceania would be somewhat challenging with a wheelchair (doable, but tight corridors and cabin spaces).  The larger 1200-passenger Oceania ships (Riviera and Marina) definitely have more room for getting around the ship.

I cruise Pacific Princess (another R class) with wheelchair with no major worries, but Riviera and Marina look great too.

[AstoriaPreppy]

Yikes!!

 

Remind me to never mention that I’ve been on multiple Carnival cruises if I run into most people from this thread while sailing Celebrity!

 

From the amount of dismissive pearl clutching, I wouldn’t want anyone feeling uncomfortable and calling security on me (before I inadvertently vomited everywhere in the martini bar). 😉

[Denny01]

27 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

Yikes!!

 

Remind me to never mention that I’ve been on multiple Carnival cruises if I run into most people from this thread while sailing Celebrity!

 

From the amount of dismissive pearl clutching, I wouldn’t want anyone feeling uncomfortable and calling security on me (before I inadvertently vomited everywhere in the martini bar). 😉

I don’t ‘clutch my pearls’, I clutch my Ascot!!.....you terrible, terrible Frat Boy!

 

Den

Edited April 8, 2021 by Denny01
Had to add another idiot joke!

[ChucktownSteve]

26 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

Yikes!!

 

Remind me to never mention that I’ve been on multiple Carnival cruises if I run into most people from this thread while sailing Celebrity!

 

From the amount of dismissive pearl clutching, I wouldn’t want anyone feeling uncomfortable and calling security on me (before I inadvertently vomited everywhere in the martini bar). 😉

 

I'm curious.  Do you relate more with the "typical" Carnival cruiser or Celebrity?  Your actions would probably be the basis for how you are perceived not which cruise line you previously sailed.

[Treasure Hunter]

6 hours ago, George C said:

Never again - NCL and Carnival 

always

rccl for entertainment 

celebrity for suite perks

msc - for their yacht club 

would try - almost anything 

 

Because we like when we can cruise out of New York in the winter, we tried both NCL Haven and Royal Caribbean Grand suite and NCL won. Both have great entertainment and Casino but the Haven restaurant was fabulous. Of course that applies to the newer NCL ships that have one.

[Treasure Hunter]

6 hours ago, George C said:

Never again - NCL and Carnival 

always

rccl for entertainment 

celebrity for suite perks

msc - for their yacht club 

would try - almost anything 

 

Because we like when we can cruise out of New York in the winter, we tried both NCL Haven and Royal Caribbean Grand suite and NCL won. Both have great entertainment and Casino but the Haven restaurant was fabulous. Of course that applies to the newer NCL ships that have one.

[AstoriaPreppy]

1 minute ago, ChucktownSteve said:

 

I'm curious.  Do you relate more with the "typical" Carnival cruiser or Celebrity?  Your actions would probably be the basis for how you are perceived not which cruise line you previously sailed.

I’m am slightly surprised at the very 80s characterization of Carnival passengers as randy drunks, especially from people who have never been on a Carnival ship.
 

From my experience onboard Carnival, their passenger base is social and ready for a fun vacation. I understand this can be off-putting to passengers who don’t want to meet strangers, but it’s not the free for all it’s often characterized as. I’ve seen much more drunken insanity onboard NCL since they’ve included the beverage package on all sailings. 

[ridge4]

Never - 

• Mega sized floating amusement parks on any line. 
• Carnival (just too young for us)
• NCL (bad MDR experiences long ago, and the ships are ugly!)
• Cunard (dress code)

Always -

• Celebrity, but that is changing with AI, looking elsewhere.  We do have Xpedition booked for November 2021, crossing fingers. 
• Princess
• Royal, but only if the itinerary is a really good fit and the smaller ships

Try -

• Oceania, booked for fall of 2022
• Azamara
• HAL

Other upscale lines are beyond our budget. 

[KWW88]

1 hour ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

I’m am slightly surprised at the very 80s characterization of Carnival passengers as randy drunks, especially from people who have never been on a Carnival ship.
 

From my experience onboard Carnival, their passenger base is social and ready for a fun vacation. I understand this can be off-putting to passengers who don’t want to meet strangers, but it’s not the free for all it’s often characterized as. I’ve seen much more drunken insanity onboard NCL since they’ve included the beverage package on all sailings. 

I have been on, so my observation what it was for me, very Animal House(ish) and I was on in 2007

[upwarduk]

On 4/6/2021 at 5:40 PM, chromered7 said:

Never. Azamara. Very friendly staff and good service but you can pay over the odds for that.

I suspect that CelebrityCruises are now in the same price bracket as Azamara, since going on to AI.
Reason:

Azamara left RCG, so Celebrity are now giving the service that Azamara once gave to the group.

Looked recently at Celebrity pricing V Royal, Princess & P&O for round Britain 🇬🇧 cruises in summer 2021, Celebrity is easily top. Can’t compare Azamara, as there are no Coastal itineraries (yet).

[ChucktownSteve]

5 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

I’m am slightly surprised at the very 80s characterization of Carnival passengers as randy drunks, especially from people who have never been on a Carnival ship.
 

From my experience onboard Carnival, their passenger base is social and ready for a fun vacation. I understand this can be off-putting to passengers who don’t want to meet strangers, but it’s not the free for all it’s often characterized as. I’ve seen much more drunken insanity onboard NCL since they’ve included the beverage package on all sailings. 

 

After Carnival began offering their drinks package, a few years later didn't they have to institute a 15 alcoholic drinks limit per 24 hour period?  I am not aware of any other cruise lines having to limit consumption.

 

I remember partying once like that while at college.  However I learned my lesson. Ha.  I stick with my Carnival decision based upon my two cruises.  Both were short cruises which perhaps attracts a different caliber clientele. Present company excluded. 😉

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[chromered7]

I was hoping with this thread that , if possible, we could avoid Covid and just share personal perspective’s. I realise Covid and Vaccines are going to shape how cruises are going to look in the future and are we necessarily going to like it? 

[Alushar]

Great thread really enjoyed reading it.

 

We are relative newcomers and in awe, and jealous of some posting here! We've done 8 cruises, a Nile Cruise (that counts as a river cruise yes?) our first cruise was on NCL and then 6 on X with another 3 booked on X for later this year and next (rolled over on lift and shift etc from last and this year).

 

So

 

Always - X it just suits us and even the new AI does as we always bought Premium Bev and WiFi so prices aren't too scary at moment.

 

Never- Everything I read says Carnival wouldn't suit us and there are probably a couple of others eg Costa, Virgin

 

Maybe - all the others Princess, HAL, Cunard, Regent, Viking, Oceania, MSC, RCL but we'd have to drag ourselves away from X first which will probably need a couple of poor cruises or the unavailability of X.

[AstoriaPreppy]

3 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

After Carnival began offering their drinks package, a few years later didn't they have to institute a 15 alcoholic drinks limit per 24 hour period?  I am not aware of any other cruise lines having to limit consumption.

15 drinks a day is Carnival corporate policy, not line-specific. All Carnival-owned brands that offer alcohol packages have a 15 drink per day limit: Princess, Holland America, Carnival and Cunard.

 

Royal, Celebrity and NCL are the mass-market lines popular in the US that allow unlimited drinks on their beverage packages. Out of those, NCL is the only line that allows you to get two beverages per transaction... they do it for convenience and to decrease pressure on the bar staff, but people get messy quickly. 
 

[HxFx]

9 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

I’m am slightly surprised at the very 80s characterization of Carnival passengers as randy drunks, especially from people who have never been on a Carnival ship.
 

From my experience onboard Carnival, their passenger base is social and ready for a fun vacation. I understand this can be off-putting to passengers who don’t want to meet strangers, but it’s not the free for all it’s often characterized as. I’ve seen much more drunken insanity onboard NCL since they’ve included the beverage package on all sailings. 

I agree. I am very limited in my cruise experience but have done Celebrity and Carnival. I didn't really notice that much difference in behavior. The Carnival was a 4 day so you would think it would have been even more of a party ship. My friend that wanted us to go with her on the Carnival cruise has status which is why she picked it. She hardly drinks at all. I haven't been to the nightclubs on either so maybe that's why.

 

We got to the Carnival ship around noon and there was no crazy party congo line or anything. I have to admit I was kinda expecting that based on their reputation so maybe they have cleaned it up over the last few years (I went in 2019). I just didn't like the rundown ship and thought the food was better with Celebrity (other than Guy's!). The one thing I preferred on Carnival is that I was not constantly being approached to buy any specialty dining. Of course that may only have been because I was on an older ship that doesn't really have that, perhaps the newer ships get that experience as well.

 

I thought all of the major lines had drink limitations?

[Big_G]

I would never rule out a cruise line. We've been splitting between Royal and Celebrity but have also sailed Carnival and Princess and enjoyed them as well. 

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, HxFx said:

Oh well, a non-COVID thread was nice while it lasted!

Sorry to ruin your day!😀

[George C]

11 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Because we like when we can cruise out of New York in the winter, we tried both NCL Haven and Royal Caribbean Grand suite and NCL won. Both have great entertainment and Casino but the Haven restaurant was fabulous. Of course that applies to the newer NCL ships that have one.

Love sailing out of New York, I have heard good things about Haven. Celebrity suite restaurant Luminae is excellent.

[The Yorkshire Cruiser]

Never: my outlook is never say never but AIDA has never appealed to me. Perhaps its memories of sunbed fights at Spanish all-inclusives from my childhood. 

 

Always: Celebrity: would happily cruise anywhere in the world with Celebrity and be confident of having a great experience.

 

Try: I've booked my first Oceania cruise and Iooking forward to seeing what they have to offer.

[Fouremco]

Never: While there are a number of cruise lines we would probably never book, and don't even look at when researching cruises, we've never  blacklisted any.

 

Always: Celebrity and HAL. RCI when booking a family cruise with kids and grandkids.

 

Try: Princess. We had a cruise booked with them for last June, so we are still looking for our initial experience.

[AstoriaPreppy]

14 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Because we like when we can cruise out of New York in the winter, we tried both NCL Haven and Royal Caribbean Grand suite and NCL won. Both have great entertainment and Casino but the Haven restaurant was fabulous.

We've ended up on NCL a bunch because of the Manhattan cruise port and winter cruises. Unfortunately, our one time in the Haven was a bit of a bust, with a total dud of a butler.

I wish Celebrity would run 10-11 day cruises in the winter out of Bayonne. 

Edited April 8, 2021 by AstoriaPreppy

[Tatka]

15 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I would second the Carnival experience.  We were at a park and ride hotel.  We were going to an RCL cruise and there were others there for a Carnival cruise.  The Carnival cruisers were obviously and annoyingly drunk before getting on the ship.  We got a taste of Carnival without having to sail.

 

   Out of 3 times we actually have not seen any drunk guests on Carnival. Surprisingly we did see some on Celebrity. However we encountered too many riff raffs on Carnival, horrible decor, very primitive entertainment and food on Carnival. Celebrity is a different world in our observations.