BEST CRUISES
 

Has any one been on any cruises? which one's do you think are the best? ???

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

mackbeth:
I've cruised at least twice a year since I retired in mid-2002 and love it as a way of being truly pampered!

My favorite is Holland America. I've recently come home from my 5th cruise with them. They cater to us "old people!" Not that that means old geezers shuffling along on their walkers, or drooling into their soup! Just that they're into enjoying their retirement and loving the service. Staff on all HA ships is superior, friendly and helpful.

Example: on my first cruise, I "flirted" with a bar waitress in the top-of-the-ship Crows Nest bar. She learned my favorite drink and brought it without question every night!
Eleven months later, I cruised on a different HA ship out of San Diego. The wine steward for my dinner table was the same young lady. On the first night, she called me by name! [Made me wonder just how much "flirting" I had done, you can imagine!] ;D

I was on a Royal Caribbean ship last January, along with about 150 other Villagers. I found them very, very acceptable. A little bit more oriented toward a younger crowd (to me that means under 60), but not obtrusively so. I'd sail them again, given the right itinerary.

I've also done a four-night Carnival Cruise. They did a good job, too. But, they're after the 20- and 30-somethings, and offer some pretty wild around-the-pool happenings! [I am, frankly, not into "Hairy Chest" contests!] There were nearly 100 Villagers on this particular sailing and I think we pretty much agreed that Carnival is NOT the line we, as senior citizens, would normally choose!

I'm doing a Princess cruise over Thanksgiving and looking forward to it a lot. My years as a travel agent tell me that Princess will do a marvelous job, too. I shall see!

Steve

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

We just finished two trans Atlantic crossings on The Queen Mary 2. The experience is indescribable.

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

2004 we crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 South Hampton to NY. I agree. What an experience. Barb

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

Try Celebrity. We've tried several lines and have found Celebrity to be just a touch above the rest in service, ships and food. trying Holland America next. We hear they are also exceptional.

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

Does anyone have any experience with the Costa Cruise Line?

We have one scheduled for February, 45th high school reunion for both of us.

We've done Princess and NCL , just okay for NCL. Food was marginal on NCL, but the fact you could eat at anytime during the 3 meals was a plus.

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

Beady: We took a Costa Cruise last year to the Greek Islands & Croatia (out of Venice). They are an Italian line, which added to our whole Mediterrean experience. We loved it: the crew was wonderful, food great, nothing bad to say.

Costa Cruises were phenomenal ... we enjoyed every aspect of the cruise! We had an outside balcony .. cruising into Santorini and Mykenos .. absolute magic.

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

Thanks barefootatlast,

We are really excited about the group we are cruising with, now we know the cruise line is going to be great as well.

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

We love Celebrity both the Galaxy as well as the Millinieum class ship...plus they are comming out with a new ship next year slightly bigger than the M Class.

Alaska by far is the most awsome experience!!

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

We are Celebrity fans also. Alaska was magnificent (best ever scenery) and we also spent 11 days in the Carribean. We have a reservation for next year for a 14 day trip in the Med.

My wife finally retired the day before yesterday, so we no longer have to plan around her vacation schedule. So lots more cruising.

Have fun.

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

Best Cruises - this is a good question and there is no one correct answer. I will be as brief as I can be in response to this question.

The best cruise for someone is dependent on what they want from the cruise and what they want to experience. They need to decide if they want: to cruise on a small, mid-size or large ship, educational programs, entertainment, library, activities, amenities, traditional dining vs Anytime Dining, gym, spa service, and the list could go on. Once you know some or all of the answers to the above it will help you decide which cruise line you want to sail on.

One cruise line, Cunard, is different in many aspects than other cruise lines. The dining room you are assigned to and the areas that are open to you are dependent on the type of cabin you are in. You can not dine in a dining room that you are not assigned to unless you are going from a dining room where passengers paid more for there cabins to one where passengers paid less. This also holds true for which public areas are open to you.

I also would like to mention that the Cunard line is the only line where there is a planetarium on board, a library of nearly 8,000 books and formal Afternoon Tea. They also have more formal nights than most other cruise lines for the same period of sailing. If you do decide to sail with them it is best to take a transatlantic crossing going from London to NY as there are 25 hours in the day due to the different time zone changes.

There are also lines where the fares are higher than the main stream cruise lines - those are on smaller more intimate lines, and at times more and a deeper level of educational opportunities.

Fund Raisers - if you and a group of your friends and/or family are going on a cruise you can turn it into a Fund Raising Cruise for your favorite cause or charity. It is fairly simple to do and there is no extra cost to the group. I am doing a Fund Raising cruise for the Alumni board that I serve on. For every cabin that we book the Scholarship Fund will receive $50.00. Remember this is at NO additional cost to the passenger. It is a win win situation as I see it and so does the group who are going.

Persons who experience ambulatory, visual, auditory, physical, on dialysis, or need oxygen, etc should not feel they can not go on a cruise or a tour. There are many opportunities and companies than can provide the services that you need. I am a member of various Professional Travel Organization - there is one organization called - SATH - where you can locate answers to your questions if you have any. If you would like you can email me.

I just realized how long this response is - so I better end here.

What ever you do and where ever you travel - have a wonderful time.

HB

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

I love to cruise! Have Princess booked for New Years and RCCL for an Alaska trip next July. Although, since I bought in TV and haven't really had time to enjoy it yet, that my crusing days will slow down.

Becky

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

Re: BEST CRUISES and passports?
 

Looks like I will need a passport now if I want to go on a cruise? http://cruises.about.com/b/a/196025.htm

Re: BEST CRUISES
 

Celebrity & Royal Caribbean especially when doing Alaska land and sea. The train and buses are new, you never touch your bags when going from bus to hotel.

On Celebrity you will not see too many children, in fact on some of their ships, some of their indoor pools do not allow children with or without parents. Adults only.

Celebrity I think caters to those 45 - Up (This is my all time favorite(

Royal Caribbean caters to a wide range of age, children are seen and not heard. They keep them quit busy and out of the way.......so if you are taking your grandchildren this would be my choice........both generations will enjoy. (I would not hesitate to take my grandchildren or even myself on this line)

Carnival is move vibrant, action packed, even their decor relects that. I think that is why they call themselves the fun ship...........If that is too much fun for you, see above.

Holland America is a great line, but be away they do cater to an older crowd. They feature world cruises and unusual itineraries. Do part of a world voyage or the whole thing. Highly skilled staff and medical facility. But so does Celebrity and RCCL

Try a 7-day cruise on Carnival, instead.
 

We are avid Carnival cruisers. We started late, around 3 years ago, and are now 63. We like the mix of ages on their cruises, but HATED the short cruise we went on. Those cruise, are very much geared for the younger, partying crowds. The 7 and 8 day cruises are on a different class of ship, most with a wonder supper club (for which there is a $30 surcharge, but it is wonderful, and talk about pampering). The newest ship, that will be going out of Cocoa Beach starting next year will be wonderful, the "Dream". We went out on its sister ship, last year, the Splendor, stayed in the SPA accomodations and had the time of our lives. As business was off, they called us on December 24th and bumped us into a SPA suite (we were in a SPA balcony), for an additional $100 per person. Carnival has been good for us. It's a big price point difference from the Holland America, with newer ships, and also a big difference from Royal Carribean also. We took the 8-day trip that goes down as far as St. Kitts two years ago, and the whole ship was Seniors, it seemed, and by the way, they were all partaking of the craziness on deck.

I just thought I would add my take on Carnival. We also plan to try other lines once we retire and have time to get good deals, but don't count Carnival out based on a 4 or 5 day trip.

Lee in Tampa

QUESTION...Why is this posting on the "Contractor and Services" ...would a better fit be on the Travel Board?

When we traveled with kids and grandkids we had great time on Carnival. We also had a good experience on a 21 day Carnival repositioning cruise traveling with friends. Started with Hawaiian Islands and then on to Vancouver and Alaska. Packing for the this trip was a challenge and air travel coming home was not fun.

We are hoping to go next year with kids again, and will try Royal Carribean for our first time. Have heard nice things about them for travel with families.

When traveling alone, we have enjoyed Norwegian, Celebrity and Princess but believe Holland America was the best for seniors.

Our least enjoyable cruises have been those that required air travel to or from ship in Europe. For my money, the way air travel has evolved, we will only take cruises in future that begin and end in Florida.

My thoughts EXACTLY! :agree:

And while we're at it, why not just start a new post since this one was last responded to in 2007? :confused: Now I might be getting a bit picky, but it's nice to see fresh topics started since things can and do change. :shrug:

Just an Opinion
 

We have taken 6 Transatlantic cruises on Royal Caribbean, plus a Med cruise and others. We also took a Holland America to Alaska. We have decided we would not take or use Royal Caribbean again as they have gone to nickle and dime the passengers for everything. A few years ago that was not the case. (example: it was also the case that before you ate there were always a hand sanitizer to prevent any infections. They no longer did that on our last transatlantic. They charged for almost everything as though it was extra) THere was just a significant reduction in all their service. We are Diamond on Royal Caribbean but even there they have taken away a lot of the things you received for being a loyal cruiser. They went from a pretty gool line to less than average. We would use Celebrity or Holland America for another cruise.

My bride and I have cruised many times and on various lines. I totally agree with Hancle on air travel - we try very hard to find cruises that start/end in Florida now. That is not always possible but it sure can be a deal breaker for us.

We also agree 100% with REH7380 on the nickle and dime crap prevalent on so many cruise lines today. Not too long ago we used NCL for a cruise. The dining room food was not really bad but it sure had gone downhill and they way they were pushing passengers to use the "specialty" restaurants that charge for a meal, plus the very skimpy selection of dishes in the main dining rooms, led us to believe they were purposefully trying to force passengers to go to the premier restaurants and pay for meals.

I like soft drinks and especially do not like getting coffee, milk, tea, etc., as part of my fare but having to pay for a 7-Up or Coke, especially at a meal. It seems most cruise lines now charge extra for soft drinks - a prime example of them nickle and dimeing us to death!

Now many cruise lines charge extra for specialty coffee such as a Cappuccino or Latte. Holland American has coffee machines that dispense those coffees gratis (or at least as part of your cruise fare and not at an extra charge). To the rest, that want to sell you a "coffee card", I say adieu.

I also think the tipping policy has adversely impacted service. When I used to hand my tip directly to the waiter or cabin steward, they knew where it was coming from and why. Now, most cruise lines add tips to your on-board charge account automatically and you have to take action to reduce, increase or change the charge. Especially in the dining rooms, I have noticed that the level of service has gone downhill rapidly due to the individual waiters/assistant waiters not being held personally responsible for the service they provide. This decrease in service has been so pervasive that on the last two cruises we took, I made it a point to visit the Pursers Office and reduce my dining room tip by an amount equivalent to three days (out of a seven day cruise) tips and I told them exactly why I was doing it too - poor dining room service!

We have done somewhere over 20 cruises and will be on a Transatlantic cruise in 2 1/2 weeks. We rate Holland America and Celebrity tops, RCL and Princess are mid pack and Carnival is our least favorite.

BTW Cunard does not describe the QM2 as a cruise ship but rather as a Ocean Liner, yes there is a difference.

MelZ

Totally agree with you on the QM2...the Transatlantic is a "Crossing" not a "Cruise".

What ship are you doing your "Crossing" on in 2 weeks??

Alternative
 

We found a great alternative to the latest being ripped off on some of the cruises. We rented a Villa in Tuscany for $700 for the week. It had a kitchen, little living room, bedroom and a patio that overlooked olive trees with horses that came to the fence in the evening. We could drive all over Tuscany, (one of the garden spots of the world). The cost for airfare, Villa and rental car did not reach the level of a cruise when you put all the added cost on the cruise. We rented a car in Paris and drove to Tuscany which was our excursion and it was terrific. We found that the price of the cruises ended up to be about 40% of the total cost of getting to the ship, excursions, tips, added fees on the cruise and if a transatlantic air fare to return home. This may not be for some but it is the alternative we found for seeing the world.

Thanks for the info on Holland America. We have cruised Carnival a couple of times and thought we would give HA a try. Not unhappy with Carnival,just wanted to see what else is out there. Al

Celebrity Constellation

We start in London, go to Normandy, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Nova Scotia and disembark in NJ.

WE just did the Summit (14 days) in November 2008 from Barcelona to Venice and are hoping to do the Panama Canal on ether the Millineum or Infinity this fall. Love the"M" class ships of Celebrity...but would also not mind trying the new Solsice (sp)Class.

You need to post a report on your return on the travel board....your ports of call sound great!!

Have a safe trip!

Med Cruise: Athens to Barcelona
Baltic Cruise: Harwick to St. Petersburg

Depends on what you like - we are "jammers" having sailed on Barefoot Wimdjammer many times - laid back, less people, unique islands, casual dress - tshirts/shorts. Going in Janiary on Islamd a windjammers out of St Lucia to St Martin - 24 people on board

Check it out

I agree!
 

:agree:

I agree with almost everything you said above, as we are going to try our first Holland America cruise in November. Dead on about Carnival. I don't care for it after 2 tries. If you are looking for a quick 3 or 4 day cruise, you can't beat the prices on Carnival to Key West and Cozumel.

I enjoyed Royal Caribbean very much and can't wait for our Holland America cruise next. :MOJE_whot:

-KB