Favorite cruise lines
 

Just wondering what everyone’s favorite cruise line is, and why.

Rollie

We like Princess.. They go where we want to go. We feel they're still a good value.

The give us onboard credit for being CCL shareholders and also give me onboard credit for being a veteran. Now that we're Elite in their loyalty program it's hard to go elsewhere..

Holland-America

Generally smaller ships, with more style and less "glass and glitz" than other lines

We have always sailed with Royal Caribbean as they have a wide variety of ships from huge to smaller. The important thing is to pick a cruise line and stick with it as the more you sail the more points you accumulate which translates to free stuff from drinks to wi-fi to onboard shopping and more.

Our favorite cruise line is Viking. Smaller ships (930 passengers), no children, free excursions, free internet, on deck movies with headphones, Free beer and wine at lunch and dinner, free specialty restaurants, and much more. The cost may be a little higher but with all the free stuff that makes it very affordable.

We will be going on a 29 day Viking cruise next June.

John

Viking river cruises are what we like. Long boats on the rivers of Europe. Small # of passengers and NO BUFFET!!! All meals are 5 🌟 (5-star) . Wine included with lunches and dinner. GREAT TRIPS!!

We prefer Princess.
We are at a stage of our lives where we have been most places to travel outside the USA.....hence the cruise itinerary is less important than the cruise and amenities.
We choose their generation of ships prior to the mega ships like Emerald Princess class.
Princess is one of the last to maintain a cigar lounge which is important to me. Secondly they have an adult area called The Sanctuary....it costs an additional $30-40 per day per person....provides reserved deep cushioned chaise lounges, separate crew members (non rotational), fruit and drinks, free tea time snacks and canapes......upper deck all the way forward, shaded while open, separate pool.

Eliminates the crush of the masses and finding a place to sit and relax.

We are almost Elite qualified and the perks keep us returning to Princess.

They do an excellent overall cruise experience with an excellent meal program......in our biased opinion!!

We prefer Celebrity but usually sail more with Princess because we like their itineries

Love Disney. Have been on many cruise lines but Disney's entertainment, food, double bath and cleanliness ,
makes Disney my favorite.

Do your own charters. Skip the big crowds and go where you want to go.

Norwegian, The Haven is worth every hundred dollars you'll spend. Saying it like that because every penny wouldn't come close.

Viking, the personal touch.

Been on over 100 cruises. Many different Cruise Lines, as of now we prefer Celebrity, best perks and great food and service.

Norwegian. Love the mini-suites, which cost just a little bit more than a standard balcony cabin. Plus they have their on-going "Free at Sea" program where you can get free drinks on board for the duration of the cruise, three free specialty restaurant meals, free Wi-Fi, and free shore excursions. If you like a couple cocktails a day, the free drink package is a big cost saver. Plus you get to try drinks you might never order (especially when they cost $12.00) - like frozen mango daquiri's (YUM). On our recent cruise in a min-suite we were allowed to select two of the free items. If you get a Haven Suite I think you get them all.

Experiences
 

We have used most of the lines, except for Carnival and Princess is are choosing. We are Platinum, on Royal and with Celebrity . Used Holland to go to Alaska and just used Princess to go 28 days to Tahiti via Hawaii twice and using them to take a 25 day trip through the Med to Greece, etc. We like most of their ships. They do allow you to do your own laundry plus some other good things. Holland America is good. Royal has become a little too commercial not that they all aren't.:ho:

Had a marvelous experience on Oceania on a Stockholm to Copenhagen cruise - smaller ships, good itineraries, very good restaurants.. afternoon tea, if you;re into that sort of thing ..
On a more basic (and affordable) level, have done princess and norwegian both in Europe and Caribbean ..they are mostly ala carte so you will have a much larger bill upon checkout ..

Looking to do an Alaskan cruise in near future .. Princess is in the lead for that trip (land sea packages).. but havent made a decision yet

We do Holland America and have been satisfied since our first cruise which was in 1996. Holland seems to cater to an older cruiser. We have been on 14 cruises with them. Also have gone on Celebrity which was okay but a lot more young folks. We did Norwegian once and never again.

I happen to really like Norwegian, I have taken over 60 cruses, as a professional travel blogger on Trip Advisor I have compared most cruses.

Only line to cruise on, though the new ships like MS Konigsdam are not stylish and stainless steel yellow walls with no rel art.

Favorite Cruise Line
 

:a040:Celebrity!!!!

cruise lines
 

Scenic river cruises 5 star meals unlimited wine and liquors selection all day not just at meals as well as fully stocked fridge in rooms. Wi fi everywhere including your room television. For a river cruise they are the best

Hal

We also like Viking for river cruises and smaller ships. Uniworld was supposed to be the best in this category, but our one trip with them was awful. Noisy air conditioner which kept us up all night, the elevator broke down and they did not fix it. We really liked Viking.

Can you recommend a river in France that is the most scenic and includes wine country?

I agree. Disney far exceeds my expectations while cruising. The food, service, and entertainment is excellent. I have cruised Holland America, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival. I have heard Princess is a great way to cruise. Haven't done a Vicking, but it is on my list. Least favorite was Carnival. Tried it twice..no more. All the others were great cruises.

We love Viking, smaller ships . You are not confined to a "specific seating time" at meal time. They include free excursions every day, free wine and beer at mealtimes and offer not only river cruises but ocean cruises as well. We leave on a 15 day Ocean cruise in April.

We prefer Windstar...small ships, only 150 to 300 passengers depending upon the ship... they anchor in ports that the large cruise ships aren't able to (if you've ever disembarked for the day with 3 other huge ships in port you'll appreciate this)...service and quarters are great, food is outstanding. Informal dress code. Not a cruise line for anyone traveling with children though. We've sailed on Windstar 8 times and planning our 9th with them.

Favorite Cruise line
 

We are fans of Princess. We like the variety of things to do and somedays do not get off the ship even in port. We have been on just about every ship a prefer the larger ones. We have just booked two cruises on their newest ship that will be added to their fleet.

Celebrity, Regent, Oceania, Viking Ocean Cruises and Sea Dream Yacht Club. All great in our opinion. Regent used to be Raddison Cruise lines.

#1 Celebrity, best staterooms and dining rooms
#2 Disney, especially for the young ones. They cater to kids.
#3 Princess, staterooms are older but clean. They make booking changes without consulting the passenger(s)

For river cruises, Grand Circle.

Our favorite is Princess. We are almost Elite Members. The service has always been great, entertainment is excellent, food is above average, and we like the option of dining anytime we want, as opposed to being restricted to early or late seating.

Favorite Cruiseline
 

We love Oceania. The food is really good and the beds are comfortable. We love cruises and can't pass up a good special. Below is what I like about the different lines...
Wind Star cruises... Swimming off the back of the ship and the island picnics
Carnival Cruises ... The comedy clubs. We are at the comedy club every night. The price on Carnival is a good value. During the day with the money we ave on the cruise we buy a day pass at an all inclusive and enjoy the resort.
Regent... Very large staterooms with large bathroom. Included tours in every port.
Viking ... All cabins have a balcony. They have an amazing tea. The basement of the ship has a spa with a thalasso pool included in your fair. The beds are a little too hard for me but I love the heated floors in the cabin's bathroom and the tweeting bird sounds in the public restrooms.
Seabourn - Great cabins, love the caviar, very comfortable.
Crystal- Cabins are comfortable, great entertainment, enjoy the waterfall when you walk on the ship and the plant wall. Delicious specialty dining but not on par with Oceania's dining.
RCL and NCL were ok. Hal was ok too. I have not been on a bad cruise. There is always something to like on a cruise.

We must be the exception. We cruise on Carnival exclusively. We are Platinum status and enjoy our perks.

We don’t take 3 day cruises, those attract the rowdy on any cruise line.

We have been to Bora Bora, Tahiti, Figi, Moorea, Sydney, on our favorite 17 day cruise from Hi.

I understand that several other lines are wonderful too. But we know Carnival and which ships to sail and enjoy the Stockholders Credit each time we sail.

I think we would enjoy any cruise line other than Royal Caribbean. The 6,000 passenger ships would definitely not be my choice!

Cruising is a wonderful way to get away and be pampered! If fact we leave for another cruise on Sunday! Bon Voyage!!

Do not like cruises. It’s nothing but a floating food bar where you can gain 20 lbs

We have sailed on Princes, Celebrity, Norwegian (NCL), Carnival, MSC, and Royal Caribbean. But we keep going back to Royal Caribbean. Try several and then choose one and stay with it.

We tend to prefer the smaller ships. Our favorite cruise line is Oceania, primarily because of ship size, few sea days, great ports, great food and wonderful guest speakers. The restaurant staff actually gets to know you and greets you by name. We recently sailed on Seaborn, and although the ship was comparable and in some ways better than Oceania, the food on the ship we were on was not that great and that was confirmed by other guests who had sailed their other ships. We had also heard that Holland America does a good job and we will check them out next February in Asia.

:agree:


While I can see why some people might really enjoy the cruise experience, personally not being a 'foodie,' much of a drinker and prefer to explore on my own and not as part of a large group...a cruise has never really appealed to me. :shrug:

Although I enjoy cruises I have heard it said that "Cruises are for the newly wed, the over fed and the nearly dead.".

...never had a bad experience on NCL...enjoy...