If not X...who??

[Danno]

After a great cruise on Century I'm already looking forward to next year...not so good!!

 

I want a non-mega ship, leaving from Florida, 9 or 10 day Fri-Mon, Southern Caribbean...not much available from X!! I've looked at other lines and I would seem to be giving up a lot, or they aren't really my style.

 

If we can't find something that fits we may take a year off...or go land based :( . I think I've been spoiled by our X experiences and don't really want to go to another line...maybe a clipper ship is in my future??

 

Any thoughts...

[kitty9]

I only cruise Crystal and X having abandoned all other lines because I'm spoiled, so I don't know what to tell you. If you want smaller ships with great food and service, Crystal is your best bet. You could also give Radisson a try, but they just aren't what I expected from a supposed luxury line.

[Leela]

Danno, I've been pondering this myself. I have two upcoming X cruises, one this May to Bermuda on Zenith, and one in April 2007 through the Panama Canal on Summit. But after that I ask myself...what? I don't think any of the "Big 7" (NCL, Carnival, Princess, HAL, X, Costa, RCCL) are the answer. I like smaller ships, expect great food and excellent service, and am frankly "over" the usual cruise itineraries out there.

 

Actually, I take that back about the "Big 7" -- I *might* be tempted by one of Princess's more exotic itineraries.

 

Regardless, I find myself being drawn to Oceania and SeaDream. Unfortunately, they're both a bit too pricey, but I could swing it with some careful planning. Especially since the other option under consideration is to take a Princess cruise in New Zealand, and adding the airfare to that puts the total price at what I'd spend on something closer to home on Oceania.

 

I really love Celebrity, though, because the value I get at the price point they offer is extremely satisfyng to me...perhaps in 2008 another option would be for Mom & I to take a Baltics cruise on Century. She was our first X ship, and is still my favorite. And I'm very intersted in seeing her post-revamp!

[Danno]

I would sail Century again in a heartbeat...but she's doing 4 and 5 day cruises next year :(. It's not worth all the grief of travelling for less than 9/10 days.

[kelmac]

After a great cruise on Century I'm already looking forward to next year...not so good!!

 

I want a non-mega ship, leaving from Florida, 9 or 10 day Fri-Mon, Southern Caribbean...not much available from X!! I've looked at other lines and I would seem to be giving up a lot, or they aren't really my style.

 

If we can't find something that fits we may take a year off...or go land based :( . I think I've been spoiled by our X experiences and don't really want to go to another line...maybe a clipper ship is in my future??

 

Any thoughts...

 

Hi Danno,

 

First let me say, I'm a huge Celebrity fan! (Elite) And yes, Celebrity's itineraries are getting too predictable and I'm looking else where. We just booked the Westerdam (little larger than the Century) for a unique cruise March, 25th, 2007. It's a week long cruise out of FLL, but it only makes three stops; HMC, Aruba and Curacao. Now that's a high speed cruise! At lease HAL is taking some risks and trying something different!:rolleyes: :)

I keep looking at my upcoming Millennium cruise, thinking that the itinerary is pretty lame!

In addition, the Volendam is doing 10 day cruises that same month: FLL--HMC--Aruba--Curacao--Panama Canal--Colon--Puerta Limon--FLL (ten day cruises)

 

Anyway, enjoy!

Kel

[richsea]

Danno - why not Zenith 10 night March 2007 out of Florida; she's perfect size & the rates are terrific! Or Connie 10 night in April 2007 out of Ft. Lauderdale? My personal choice would be the new Galaxy 10 nighters but she sails from San Juan.

 

If your'e thinking past April '07, you'll just have to wait until X publishes their new schedules.

[Leela]

Yeah, I'm holding out for the Summer 2008 schedules before I make a final decision. SO I guess I have about a year and a half to wait!! ;)

[lysolqn]

Although loyal X cruisers (25 X cruises, with three more booked before year's end), HAL's new Noordam is looking inviting. It's home port is NY (we live in NJ so it's home-based as far as we're concerned), it's offering longer cruises and it's hitting some ports X just doesn't go to. We tried HAL several years ago and were pleased, but have stayed loyal to X over the years. X's offerings are somewhat limited, especially during Alaska/Europe season and we may just give HAL another try.

[newmexicoNita]

Danno, I've been pondering this myself. I have two upcoming X cruises, one this May to Bermuda on Zenith, and one in April 2007 through the Panama Canal on Summit. But after that I ask myself...what? I don't think any of the "Big 7" (NCL, Carnival, Princess, HAL, X, Costa, RCCL) are the answer. I like smaller ships, expect great food and excellent service, and am frankly "over" the usual cruise itineraries out there.

 

Actually, I take that back about the "Big 7" -- I *might* be tempted by one of Princess's more exotic itineraries.

 

Regardless, I find myself being drawn to Oceania and SeaDream. Unfortunately, they're both a bit too pricey, but I could swing it with some careful planning. Especially since the other option under consideration is to take a Princess cruise in New Zealand, and adding the airfare to that puts the total price at what I'd spend on something closer to home on Oceania.

 

I really love Celebrity, though, because the value I get at the price point they offer is extremely satisfyng to me...perhaps in 2008 another option would be for Mom & I to take a Baltics cruise on Century. She was our first X ship, and is still my favorite. And I'm very intersted in seeing her post-revamp!

I have a client that did SeaDream over Thanksgiving, he is a 4 or 5 times a year cruiser, has gone on everything from NCL, to river boat cruises, Radisoon, etc. He absolutely loved SeaDream. He is one of those super clients that never complains about much and loves all cruising, but never have I heard him rave as much as he did after returning from the SeaDream. NMNita

[CGTNORMANDIE]

I feel your pain Danno. We have tried RCI and Princess and still like Celebrity better. There are just not many alternatives...evrything is mega ship and mass marketing. 7 day cruises just don't cut it for us either. I wish I had an answer...but I don't. MSC LIRICA and OPERA are the only alternatives I can find right now. Let us know if you come up with something.

 

ROSS

[Tatka]

We are going wild and trying everything ...

 

Unfortunately we had to cancel our cruise on smaller NCL ship and book on Caribbean Princess... I am still shocked over the number of people on Carnival Liberty (my only complaint though) and not very happy with number of people on Car Princess, but we didn't have a choice.:( had to book something quickly for the summer with only one week available.

 

Danno ... are you over Canada loss?

[wvufan]

Hi Danno,

 

Haven't checked the schedules (will do so on board in a few weeks) but would a b2b on Zenith work out? Or, maybe a repo cruise like the Zenith this October.

 

Sometimes the repos from Europe have a pretty good price and go to or from the Caribbean. I have seen some over time with air thrown in. Put your TA to work!

 

Bring back the Horizon!!!!

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[nparmelee]

Oceania has some Southern Caribbean 9-14 day cruises in the fall 2006 and winter 2007. We're trying them in June. Smaller ships so they can hit some more interesting ports.

[reklawr]

Hey Danno,

I know its not Florida, but have you looked at Galaxy out of San Juan?

11 night sailings in Feb, Mar, or April 2007.

 

It's a great itinerary.

[CruisinMK]

That one looks great!

I'm a little burned out on the Caribbean, but if I was to do it again I would definitely do one of the southern carribean cruises starting from San Juan. I did one once but it was only 7 days.

 

I notice HAL often seems to have more interesting itineraries, that's the reason I ended up picking them a couple times. I like them but activity on board can be lacking.

[Danno]

Hey Danno,

I know its not Florida, but have you looked at Galaxy out of San Juan?

11 night sailings in Feb, Mar, or April 2007.

 

It's a great itinerary.

 

I know I'm being really fussy but I need a 9 or 10 day that leaves Fri/Sat and returns the following weekend (one week off work!!)...and it is a great intinerary on a very nice ship.

[Druke I]

They might not have a cruise to fit your desires (needs) but:

 

We tried Oceania's Regatta into the Baltic last August and thoroughly enjoyed the small ship; 30,277 GRT, 680 PAX. They have excellent food - we thought much better than Celebrity, at least in the main dining room and specialty restaurants - food about the same in Lido.

 

We are going on another of their ships, Nautica, Istanbul to Singapore via the Suez Canal this November.

 

No formal dress aboard - "country club casual" fine for dining rooms.

 

They have a lot of two-for-one pricing with air included specials available.

[CruisinMK]

I hope they give you a naval escort past the pirates cove at Somalia. :)

 

That sounds like a wonderful voyage.

[Druke I]

Well, I'm not too concerned about Somalian Pirates.

 

I've sailed Indonesian waters, where they have some real tough pirates!

 

If we worried about all the "what if's", we'd never leave the relative safety of our bedrooms!

[usha]

What about a b2b on Century? The Zenith 10 nighter might also be just the thing. Actually, I'm sort of surprised you didn't come home with another cruise already BOOKED!:)

[northerncruszr]

Wow, hands down I'd pick the Star Clipper over a land based vacation. If you can't find an X cruise, you could do a 7 day (Sat to Sat), they sail from St. Maarten, stop at neat islands and with a 2 night resort stay on the end in St. Maarten before you come home....there is your 9 days.

 

Windjammer cruises are great but now after many X cruises I think I would prefer the elegance of the Star Clipper. Maybe you could even take the wheel!

ml

[Bruin Steve]

Like Nadine and Michael (Druke), we're opting to give Oceania a shot...

We're taking our year off from X and cruising this July on Oceania's Nautica--We're doing an Eastern Mediterranean Istanbul to Venice route...

 

Smaller ship than we're accustomed to with X: 30,000 gross tons, 680 passengers...

 

The price works out to only about 10% higher than Celebrity, though look out for the high cost on their pre- and post-cruise hotel packages and such...

(We're not quite mentally prepared to jump up in price to Crystal/Radisson/Seabourn, etc., but Oceania's prices are still in the "reasonable" range--not at first glance, but when you factor in "2 for 1" and "Free Airfare" and other gimmicks, it's only a slight increase over Celebrity)...

 

They seem to get very high marks for Food and Service...

And the main reason for trying them, for us, was some different and unique itineraries...

[cruiselover20]

We really like X and will be going on the Summit to Hawaii in April. However, we are going on the Golden Princess from the US to South America January 2007. We have done Celebrity twice to South America, but this one is a little more interesting and since we are doing a back to back, it will be about 32 days.

 

I wish X would get more interesting destinations. Have not been on Princess, but booked a mini-suite, so we should be fine.

 

NCL Seaward 1981 Caribbean

Sitmar Fairwind 1983 Caribbean

Holland American 1986 Caribbean

Celebrity Zenith 1993 Caribbean

Celebrity Zenith 1994 Caribbean

RCCL

Windstar Windsong 1997 Tahiti

NCL Crown 1998 South America

NCL Norway 2000 Transatlantic

RCCL Legend of the Seas 2001 Australia to Singapore

Cunard Caronia 2002 Southampton to Canary Islands

Celebrity Zenith 2003 South America

Royal Clipper 2004 B to B Deep Caribbean

Oceania Regatta 2004 Transatlantic

Celebrity Infinity 2005 South America

Celebrity Xpedition 2005 Galapagos

Clipper Odyssey 2005 New Caledonia to Melbourne (do not recommend this ship)

Upcoming:

Celebrity Summit 2006 Hawaii

Golden Princess Jan 2007 South America and Antarctica

[Lois R]

What about a b2b on Century? The Zenith 10 nighter might also be just the thing. Actually, I'm sort of surprised you didn't come home with another cruise already BOOKED!:)

 

I was really thinking the same thing. I know you are really

partial to X. Now, I am not sure how important the ports are to you

so maybe you don't want to be on her B2B?

 

But that would be an alternative for you.....

You asked for thoughts;)

[SANDY BEACH]

Not sure if you consider Constellation a Mega ship. Less than 2000 passengeres. In my book, it isn't. Look at March 2, 2007, Friday, Southern Caribbean. We're booked on this one and from what I have read, everone seems to think it is the best Southern cruise available from Celebrity. Good luck. Hope you find the perfect cruise.