Your favorite Cruiseship

[dougnewmanatsea]

Just returned from the Sapphire strip mall, I mean Princess. My gosh...its a floating motel 6.

Ouch!

 

Given my past experience with Princess, I can only surmise that Motel Sixes are much nicer than I have imagined (never having stayed in one) ;) .

 

But seriously, while I vastly prefer HAL's ships themselves, Princess' food and service is generally quite good. Of course "generally" doesn't mean your experience was any good, but it was quite atypical. Most of the time, they are a quality operation.

 

I must agree with you though about the beds on Princess. They are terrible! Most cruise lines' beds used to be like that but these days virtually everyone has upgraded their bedding... But not Princess yet.

 

Carnival and Costa have both gotten "watered down" versions of HAL's bedding (actually, to be honest, the new Costa bedding looks identical to HAL's, though looks can be deceiving), so I imagine we will probably see it on Princess pretty soon. In the meantime though, that is definitely one area where they lag behind.

 

The other thing I object to strongly about Princess is their coffee which is even more abysmal than most other cruise lines', but that certainly isn't as important to me as bedding!

 

The absolute worst beds in my opinion used to be on Royal Caribbean. They just announced that they're finally replacing them; previously I'd always secretly imagined that they kept the old ones so that passengers wouldn't be able to sleep and would wind up heading back out to the bars and lounges after unsuccessfully attempting slumber ;) !

 

(This is after all a cruise line whose executives used to openly state that their cabins were tiny so as to discourage passengers from spending too much time in them, away from the public areas where they spend money!)

 

Anyhow, I digress, but while I'm not a fan of many of the trends of the cruise industry in the past few years, I must wholeheartedly endorse that of "luxury" bedding. This is something which has swept the hotel industry like wildfire in the past decade or so, and it seems to have swept through the cruise industry even faster! This is good, as if there was anything less comfortable than an average mass-market hotel bed, it was an average mass-market cruise ship bed...

[fridayeyes]

Ryndam. Infinity was gorgeous and classy, but Ryndam is cozy and friendly feeling.

 

Randy - what did you like about Volendam? I've been on the O-dam, and going on Veendam next week. O-dam was ok. I didn't like the layout. I'm hoping the Veendam will be more like Ryndam.

[dougnewmanatsea]

I'm hoping the Veendam will be more like Ryndam.

These two ships are absolutely identical except for color schemes and artwork.

[cruznon]

Doug,

You're correct about my experiences on a couple of smaller ships several years ago. I don't remember them clearly. After sailing on larger ships, the Galaxy experience was special, so I'm quite anxious to be on the Statendam--my first non-Vista class HAL ship.

['Dam' high seaser]

Without a doubt, my favorite HAL ship was the Rotterdam V, followed by the sisterships Nieuw Amsterdam/Noordam. My first cruise was on the Rotterdam in the late 70's--little did I realize at that time she really was one of the 'Grand Ladies' of her time!! Was lucky enough to have sailed on her at least a dozen or so times.... What an introduction to cruising................:D

I agree with zlato that the Ritz Carlton was quite impressive and one of my favorite public rooms as was the little bar off the Ritz Carlton (don't remember the name :confused: ) but used to spend many late nights there. It was a favorite gathering place of many of the guest musicians and entertainers and there was many a night that there would be informal jam sessions with musicians from all the different bands. :cool:

We had many Bon Voyage parties in the Ritz--back in the day when visitors were allowed to board prior to sailings...........

Today, I am content to sail on any old 'Dam' ship but do prefer the smaller ships-- Maasdam, Statendam, Zaandam

[RuthC]

...the little bar off the Ritz Carlton (don't remember the name :confused: )

It was the Tropic Bar. I closed it every single night (that I was aboard' date=' of course[/size']) from the time I found it until the final night of the final cruise. I was the last passenger to leave that bar.

[luv2cruise450]

We've enjoyed all the ships that we've been fortunate to have sailed on...but to date...I have to say that our favorite ship is the Amsterdam! We sailed with her for 18 wonderful days and did a transit thru the Panama Canal on board this gorgeous ship! IMHO her crew just seemed a notch above the rest! Perhaps one day we will sail with her again!

Happy sailings!

[Willsot]

Nostalgia and sentiment make the Nieuw Amsterdam (II, I think) my favorite.

I was a young boy and my father had business with Royal Dutch Shell. The initial adventure was my first airplane flight from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to New York. We then sailed (from New Jersey) to Rotterdam. I was awed by the size of the ship, the open sea, the meals, and getting to watch motion pictures in the theatre. My life-long love of travel began with that cruise in the 1950s.

[MeOhMy]

Crystal Harmony. But she is gone to wetter pastures. Well, greener ones.

[harveyb1]

After 16 cruises including one on the RotterdamV1 and one on the Westerdam, I'd say our favorite ship is the Serenade of the Seas. Even so, our next cruise will be on the Rotterdam next September. We have never had a bad cruise including the NCLA Pride of America last week, and we have greatly enjoyed every cruise. Jim

 

How did you like the Rotterdam V1.

We are thinking of taking it to the Med.

berba1@yahoo.com

[maxout]

How did you like the Rotterdam V1.

We are thinking of taking it to the Med.

berba1@yahoo.com

 

Considering this thread is 4 years old it's unlikely that the poster will return to answer your question.

[Hlitner]

System (or my computer) is acting up today. Previous attempts disappeared into cyberspace.

 

Tough choice, but I would say Royal Princess (now P&O's Artemis) is probably my favorite ship.

 

The former Westerdam, now a Costa ship, was a winner.

 

The former Sea Princess (originally Kungsholm, later Victoria, now Mona Lisa) was a beauty.

 

The original Oriana (now scrapped) will always be high on my list - my first two cruises were on her.

 

Of ships currently in service, I am partial to the former Renaissance R class ships, now in service with Oceania (3 ships) and Princess (soon to be 3 ships). I think Pulmantour and Delphin Lines have the other two.

 

I also like Princess' Sun class ships.

 

Isn't it wonderful we have so many choices (and good memories?)

 

Azamara (owned by Celebrity) has 2 of the Renaissance R ships (there were 8 built). They are the Journey and the Quest and are terrific.

 

Hank

[Randyk47]

Holy moly.....talk about a thread rising from the death! This has got to be close to a record. :) That said, the Rotterdam is a fine ship and we'd cruise on it again in a heart beat.

[KLG]

Paul Gaugin, cruising French Polynesia, while it was run by Regent. The ship is small and it was definitely the most fun we've ever had on a cruise ship. Good food, gorgeous scenery, three overnight stays in different ports, so you could do a land excursion and a water-based activity in the same port without being rushed. Loved that ship and that cruise.

 

We've done 18 cruises, about a third of them on smaller ships, and definitely prefer smaller ships with open seating. That said, we're sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam on Jan. 23, after a good experience on the Noordam last year. We liked the way HAL handles open seating; our last experience with it on Princess was a disaster.

 

Karen

[opa&oma]

My vote goes to Celebrity's Summit and to Celebrity in general.

[Taxguy77]

Royal Clipper