Did we get spoiled on 1st cruise?

[khfadpi]

We took our first cruise last summer on the Caribbean Princess. (we had never cruised before because my husband got sea-sick on a deepsea fishing trip 20 years ago and dreaded that feeling again). We finally talked him into going. And we loved it. The patch kept him nausea free all week. Now as we plan for another cruise, will we be disappointed in another cruiseline? Our 1st was wonderful and our teenagers had a ball, no complaints whatsoever. Do we stick with Princess, is anything better on another ship? HELP!!

[Druke I]

Tough question.

 

My wife and I prefer Princess mainly because of their great variety of itineraries and ships.

 

There are other cruise lines out there that are cheaper, but they don't fit our needs/wishes.

 

There are also others that are more expensive, but we find Princess suits us best - which of course is a gross generalization - but it works for us.

[sue d. miller]

My favorite is Princess too, but the only way to answer, would be for you to try other lines!! All of us are looking for certain things that we know will give us a great cruise!! But it is tough to make a generalization. :)

[khfadpi]

I did alot of research before we made the reservations last year. Princess sounded the best to me. Plus it was a new ship and had plenty for the kids to do. I guess I picked a good one. Maybe we'll do the Western on CP this time.

[Toto2Kansas]

I think it would be very hard to beat what the Caribbean Princess offers, especially for teens. I am sure you and hubby would love many of the ships sailing but to keep the teens busy, that is an entirely different story.

If you loved the Caribbean Princess, every cruise you sail from now on you will probably compare to that ship. If you would like to try a different line, I would try for one of the mega ships on maybe RCI. It would give the teens enough to keep them busy and compare to the CP in what it offers for you and your DH.

[iluvcruzin]

Variety is the spice of life. Personally, I find there is a difference between the ships moreso than the cruiseline. It all depends on what is a priority to you. If price is.. they are about all competitive in pricing. However, it seems Princess does have good deals during spring break if that's what you are looking for.

 

I've been on most lines. With teenagers, you can't go wrong with Princess, or RCCL. Carnival isn't bad either but will have more of a blend of children ages. I've sailed NCL & HAL also but would recommend avoiding HAL with families. It's just too sleepy of a line for those who like lots of activities.

[mozfoz]

We've been on several cruise and our first cruise always seems to stand out as the best. Maybe it was because it was the first, maybe it was because of the ship, or maybe it was because time fades the negatives. We enjoyed RCCL in the past, most recently last year on the EOS and our kids loved it. While we sail Sat. on the CP, I am looking forward our first time with Princess.

[roe2ship]

I did alot of research before we made the reservations last year. Princess sounded the best to me. Plus it was a new ship and had plenty for the kids to do. I guess I picked a good one. Maybe we'll do the Western on CP this time.

Kim, I know what you mean, but I also like that there is a large variety of lines/ships. The CP was our first cruise without our kids. We are actually going again (western this time) for a couple of reasons, one being my youngest will be 3 at the time of the cruise and PC is a huge factor on choosing Princess again when cruising with children. The other is I feel as though I want the children's first cruise to be on the same exact ship as was for us. But it is too early in the game to be set on one line, IMO. I have already booked our following cruise in 2006 and trying RCL as they may have a slight edge on children's programs /activities. Good luck in whatever you choose.

[regnig]

Although the saying "Variety is the spice of life" may be true, so is

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

[CruiseFever]

We took our first cruise last summer on the Caribbean Princess. (we had never cruised before because my husband got sea-sick on a deepsea fishing trip 20 years ago and dreaded that feeling again). We finally talked him into going. And we loved it. The patch kept him nausea free all week. Now as we plan for another cruise, will we be disappointed in another cruiseline? Our 1st was wonderful and our teenagers had a ball, no complaints whatsoever. Do we stick with Princess, is anything better on another ship? HELP!!

Well one thing is probably for sure; you're probably spoiled as far as vacations in general go and there might be no turning back. Gone might be the days when a weekend in Vegas or another land vacation to someplace wonderful will do. We've visited islands where somebody has said, "I'd like to come back here for a week" and we could but we never do.

 

As far as beating the Caribbean Princess goes, as noted above she's a really tough act to follow. You can find ships with more glitz like a Voyager class Royal Caribbean ship, rock climbing wall and all. You can find ships with a quieter ambiance, lots of them, on a more expensive line. There are ships where the "fun" takes center stage ala Carnival. You can even find ships where, believe it or not, it is professed that the food is better as with Celebrity.

 

After our sailing on the Caribbean Princess right after you last summer I thought about those lines, even had some plans to sail some of them that I'd not sailed before. But what I ended up doing was booking the Caribbean Princess three more times in the future, two of them along with many of the people we'd met on the summer cruise.

 

For us, the Caribbean Princess has it all.

 

I think the only viable other ship to book could possibly be the Diamond or Sapphire, cut of the same hybird cloth, but sailing to destinations that do not interest us right now.

 

I'm really bad about this too.

 

We've sailed the Carnival Victory three times mainly due to one Maitre D' who took the time to get to know us. We sailed the Carnival Legend twice because we liked the layout of the ship.

 

Why would we NOT want to repeat the marvelous experience we had on the Caribbean Princess?

 

That's the answer I have for you.

 

You had an awesome time, do it again!

[PescadoAmarillo]

I vote for variety. How do you know if the cruise line(s) you've already tried are the best fit for you unless you try them all (and I'm referring to the mass market cruise lines here)? We are actively looking for a Holland America and Carnival cruise to add to our resumes, but, based on what we've been on so far, we know that Celebrity is our favorite for transatlantic cruises with lots of sea days, Royal Caribbean is our favorite for Alaska or the Caribbean, Princess is our favorite for exotic and varied itineraries and Norwegian is probably not going to rank as our first choice in any category. None of them are bad, all of them are great in different ways. But it took several cruises for us to reach those conclusions, and we're going to keep up the investigative work until we've tried several ships on all of them.

[rsjc]

First off I have not sailed Princess yet. (Going on the Grand Princess March 5th) So I ‘m not going to pound Princess on you. I’m sure if you loved your first cruise as I did you will love your next. We have been on the old Commodore Cruise Line Once (First Cruise loved it) Carnival 3 times (Destiny, Imagination, And Pride), NCL (Norway) one time and Disney Wonder One time. Loved them all. Before I can decide which one I like the best I’m going to try Royal Caribbean (Voyager Class) And Celebrity (Millennium Class) too…

 

What I would recommend is to find the itinerary and departure port that best fits you and your family. Then find the best ship that you can (Newer and Big) in that area and give it a shot. The Port of Galveston is 40 miles from my house so I drove down to Galveston last Saturday to see the Grand Princess for the first time. I saw her Saturday and said to myself “ I have got to go on that ship” Sunday I was booked… So if I just stick to one cruise line every time, then the next time I’m in Cozumel or where ever and I see six other cruise ship sitting there I want leave myself wondering what it would be like on that cruise ship/line. Each cruise line appears to have some awesome ships….

 

I’m sure you are like us, that first cruise was all it took.

[cruiserforlife]

Princess makes you feel at home and for us,everytime we return it's just like the first time.

[Doug&Nadine]

Kim, it sounds you like you really enjoyed your first cruise on Princess. The question I frequently ask myself is: Why go shopping for disappointment? I'm not saying that you should never try anything new, for after all that is how you found out that you liked cruising Princess, but if you find a product that you like, kick back and enjoy your good fortune. Happy Cruising!