What is your favorite mass market cruise line

[TahoeBob]

What is your favorite mass market cruise line?

I voted for other just because the correct choice for me was not listed.

 

My favorite mass market cruise line is the one I am booked on next!

[Bridge Maven]

There have been a few changes as additional people voted. As of this moment, the cruise lines with the most votes are:

 

1. Royal Caribbean

2. Princess

3. Carnival

4. Holland America

5. Celebrity

6 Norwegian

7. Costa

[jocap]

The best cruise ship is the next one we're on! So-that's P&O next (used to own Princess and very similar-same team of designers and interchangable ships), then Thomson, then NCL. But if I could choose another, we'd always look at NCL first-jocap.

[tiyana4]

We like variety!

 

With that said, we are not partial to any one particular cruise line. We tend to look at itinerary first, price second, then the ship, and lastly port accessibility (Port Canaveral, Galveston and other hard to access ports are generally dismissed). There is something different about each cruise line that attracts us:

• Princess tends to have a more elegant atmosphere with a high service level. When we want to dress up, this is where we go.
  
• Carnival has the best nightlife and midnight buffets. If we are looking to let our hair down, this is the place to go.
  
• We love RCI's Voyager class ships, not so much the larger ships. Royal Caribbean's larger ships & onboard amenities tend to attract more families with kids.
  
• NCL has the best Suite Perks, complete with Butler and concierge. We also love the freestyle concept (although other lines are beginning to imitate it with MyTime or Anytime Dining.)
  

We would like to sail on each mass market line at least once (with 1 or 2 exceptions) including Disney's new ships once they are complete. So for us, no favorite line.

[cruizer2d]

I've been on Princess 5 times--the 6th will be Jan.2010, RCCL 2x, Carnival 1x. We love the way Princess treats us and all that they have to offer. We really weren't that impressed w/ RCCL and, truthfully, I'd love to try the newer Carnival ships, but none of my friends or family will go w/ me!! They want to stick w/ Princess.

[Host Kewlguy]

Royal Caribbean is our favorite. They treat their Diamond Plus passengers extremely well and have the best, most exciting ships. We also like NCL depending on the price and itinerary. "Freestyle Cruising" is a nice change of pace.

[MLBFan24]

Royal Caribbean is my fav, the demographic of the ship is what I prefer

 

I've also sailed with Princess, Disney, HAL, and Carnival

[Bridge Maven]

Royal Caribbean still has the most votes, with Princess in second place.

 

Carnival and Celebrity are tied for third place.

[Denny01]

Royal Caribbean still has the most votes, with Princess in second place.

 

Carnival and Celebrity are tied for third place.

 

Around the turn, it's RCL well in the lead, followed by Princess, but hold on, Celebrity has nudged Carnival for Show. It'll be a close race. Everybody hold onto your tickets!!

 

Edit - no, Carnival has pulled up with Celebrity, they are nose to nose!!!

Futher Edit, Carnival is pulling ahead of Carnival with a strong run on the inside.

 

Fun to watch!

 

Denny

[Bridge Maven]

Royal Caribbean is still number one, by a large margin, and Princess is still number two. However, Carnival now has a lot more votes than Celebrity and is number three while Celebrity is number four. Holland America is very close to Celebrity but has a few less votes.

[Bridge Maven]

This is mind boggling. There are now twice as many votes for Celebrity as there were this morning. Consequently, Celebrity has jumped from number four to number two.

[GoUODucks]

Disney!!!

[MEGADAN]

Disney!!!

[kelmac]

With Celebrity's new Solstice class ship, it's going to be very difficult for the others to compete! I've cruised 34 times, and the Solstice was the best of the lot!!:rolleyes::)

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[Happy ks]

We've cruised RCI more than any other line, but do look forward to choosing other lines in the future. Out of 4 cruises booked for the next 2 years (we do plan well in advance ;)) 3 are on RCI and one Princess.

 

We're looking forward to cruising on Princess, especially the itinerary. A 7 night repo from LA to Vancouver with some great port stops.

 

We've also been talking of trying HAL. I always read about the older pax on HAL, but in reality it doesn't really mean much to me who the other pax are.

 

We did cruise Carnival once and probably won't cruise with them again, NCL a couple times, eh. QM2, way too expensive and to us just about the same food/service you get on any other mass market line. Disney was very nice, far more elegant than what many people assume it to be. Celebrity was very nice and we will certainly cruise with them again if the right itinerary comes up.

 

I've only had one cruise I didn't like out of 16 so far, not bad ;)

[Bridge Maven]

Updated poll results

1. Royal Caribbean
2. Celebrity*
3. Princess*
4. Carnival
5. Holland America
6. MSC
7. Costa

* Celebrity and Princess are very close.

BTW - I didn't include Disney or Oceania in this poll because they are considered to be in a category that is between mass market and luxury cruise lines which is reflected in their higher prices.

[Bridge Maven]

Updated poll results

1. Royal Caribbean
2. Celebrity*
3. Princess*
4. Carnival
5. Holland America
6. Norwegian
7. MSC
8. Costa

* Celebrity and Princess are very close.

BTW - I didn't include Disney or Oceania in this poll because they are considered to be in a category that is between mass market and luxury cruise lines which is reflected in their higher prices.

[Denny01]

It's fun seeing the lineup of popularly voted cruise lines, but along with the actual votes by cc posters, we should remember how many ships, and therefore how many potential cruisers and therefore voters each line has:

Updated poll results
1. Royal Caribbean - 22 ships
2. Celebrity - 8 (1 more coming in this Aug)
3. Princess - 18
4. Carnival - 21
5. Holland America - 15
6. Norwegian - 12
7. MSC - 11
8. Costa - 15

MSC and Costa are at a disadvantage being more European-focused, and Celebrity seems to be doing very well for a smaller cruise line in comparison with lines it is competing (and beating).

So as to be above-board with pointing out Celebrity is doing well for a 'smaller' cruise line, I voted for Celebrity. But love RCL and Princess also. Never cruised HAL or NCL yet and enjoyed Carnival when cruised with a big party group from home. Love any cruising, but use Celebrity as my starting point and go with another cruise line only if there is a major overriding reason.

Denny

[Bridge Maven]

[quote name='Denny01']It's fun seeing the lineup of popularly voted cruise lines, but along with the actual votes by cc posters, we should remember how many ships, and therefore how many potential cruisers and therefore voters each line has:

Updated poll results
1. Royal Caribbean - 22 ships
2. Celebrity - 8 (1 more coming in this Aug)
3. Princess - 18
4. Carnival - 21
5. Holland America - 15
6. Norwegian - 12
7. MSC - 11
8. Costa - 15

MSC and Costa are at a disadvantage being more European-focused, and Celebrity seems to be doing very well for a smaller cruise line in comparison with lines it is competing (and beating).

So as to be above-board with pointing out Celebrity is doing well for a 'smaller' cruise line, I voted for Celebrity. But love RCL and Princess also. Never cruised HAL or NCL yet and enjoyed Carnival when cruised with a big party group from home. Love any cruising, but use Celebrity as my starting point and go with another cruise line only if there is a major overriding reason.

Denny[/QUOTE]

In looking at the number of ships per cruise line I noticed something else that is quite interesting.

You would think that the cruise line with the most ships would have the lowest prices because they have more berths to fill. Yet almost every time I am planning a cruise and compare similar itineraries on Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America, and Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, which has the most ships, turns out to be the most expensive option. Similarly Holland America, which has twice as many ships as Celebrity, is usually a lot more expensive than Celebrity. Even though Royal Caribbean is my favorite cruise line we have been on a lot more Celebrity Cruises because it offers a good alternative for a lot less money.

[Aquahound]

[quote name='Denny01']It's fun seeing the lineup of popularly voted cruise lines, but along with the actual votes by cc posters, we should remember how many ships, and therefore how many potential cruisers and therefore voters each line has:

Updated poll results
1. Royal Caribbean - 22 ships
[/quote]

[quote name='Bridge Maven']
You would think that the cruise line with the most ships would have the lowest prices because they have more berths to fill. [/quote]

Just a quick correction....RCI is only sailing 20 ships currently. The other 2 are under construction.

[Bridge Maven]

[quote name='05mak05']We've sailed on Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Royal Caribbean is first, Princess a close second while Celebrity trails way behind. (We were on the Galaxy and the Millenium. Much depends on the ship, I know.)[/QUOTE]

I find it interesting that Celebrity is supposed to be a step above Royal Caribbean (its sister cruise line) but there are so many people who prefer Royal Caribbean to Celebrity.

[kelmac]

[quote name='Bridge Maven']I find it interesting that Celebrity is supposed to be a step above Royal Caribbean (its sister cruise line) but there are so many people who prefer Royal Caribbean to Celebrity.[/quote]

This is because most people who have responded to this poll have only cruised on a couple of different lines. If you have only cruised on NCL, Carnival and RCI why would you vote for Costa, Holland America or Celebrity?
If you had a sample of people who have cruised both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity multiple times things would be very different. I've cruised RCI five times with another cruise with them coming up in October and I've cruised Celebrity 13 times. Royal Caribbean has wonderful ships and great onboard entertainment options, but the food is very mediocre. For this reason, Celebrity gets my vote.
My brother has kids, so RCI is a better fit for him. Everyone has different needs.
I've never cruised on Carnival, so I don't know where to fit them in compared to the other lines.
From my perspective (only lines I have personally cruised) I would rate them in this order:

#1 -- Celebrity
#2 -- Holland America
#3 -- Princess
#4 -- Royal Caribbean
#5 -- NCL

Enjoy!
Kel:)

[jocap]

As kelmac says, everyone has different needs, so the great Carnival company, with over 80 ships, runs its lines according to these needs- if you're Italian, they have Costa; German- Aida; British- P&O etc. The same with RCI and its off shoots like Pulmantor. It's fun to try the lines and see which suit you, but the important thing is that there's a cruise line somewhere out there that's just right for YOU! Enjoy finding out- jocap.

[Bridge Maven]

Royal Caribbean still has the most votes with a significant lead over the cruise line that is currently in second place.

[Bridge Maven]

[quote name='jocap']As kelmac says, everyone has different needs, so the great Carnival company, with over 80 ships, runs its lines according to these needs- if you're Italian, they have Costa; German- Aida; British- P&O etc. The same with RCI and its off shoots like Pulmantor. It's fun to try the lines and see which suit you, but the important thing is that there's a cruise line somewhere out there that's just right for YOU! Enjoy finding out- jocap.[/QUOTE]

Speaking of Italian - my favorite cruise line was the defunct Italian Line and we are not Italian. Not only was their food excellent but they had Italian dishes that were very unique and difficult to find elsewhere. The level of service we experienced on Italian Line has never been duplicated but I realize that was a different era of cruising.