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Poll: favorite cruise line?
Peter and I are going to start planning our trip for our 5 year anniversary (next July.) We really want to go on a cruise, since neither one of us has ever been on one before. Oh, and we're definitely going without kids lol So...
What is your favorite cruise line?
Where did you sail?
Did it have required formal nights or themed dinners or was it "freestyle"?
Are cruises "all-inclusive" (do you have to pay for meals and drinks or activities like shows and stuff?)
How often did you actually stay in your room (is it worth splurging on one with a balcony?)
Did you book your trip through the cruiseline's website or through a travel agent?
Anything else I should know about a cruise?
Thanks!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Poll: favorite cruise line?
We love cruising! I would say your first stop should be cruisecritic.com it is a super good webpage and will give you tons of helpful advice.
1. Royal comes first and then Princess
2. We have sailed all over the Caribbean and I went to Alaska with my rents. Our fav stops where St Thomas, Barbados and Antigua (which are considered East Carib, and South)
3. Most cruises have formal nights. The rest of the nights are a little more casual but you are not supposed to go in a tank top. When we are really trying to relax sometimes we will just eat at the buffet because then we can stay in our comfy clothes. Also some ships will let you order anything from the menu to your room (all room service is free) and that is nice if you have a balcony. Freestyle dinning with cruises means you eat when you want...not a set seating like 6 or 8pm.
4. They are all inclusive for food and like tea, coffee. They sell soda cards for unlimited, and some even sell alcoholic cards. They will have some nicer restaurants where you will have an up charge. Royal has things as cheap at Johnny Rockets which is like $3 per person more and it is whatever you want to eat (seriously you can get sick...it's so yum) and then they have a steak restaurant Chops? and it is something like $25 more per person. Oh and all the shows are included but some you need to get tickets for early in the day.
5. The room really depends on the kind of couple you are. I love sitting on a private balcony talking, playing tennis, reading my book or taking a nap. So it is super worth it. We usually leave the door open so we can hear the waves as we sleep. But on a really expensive cruise if I really was dying to go and we could not afford it I would take an outside window and just sleep in the room.
6. I use a travel agent
7. It is so much fun and worthwhile. But def check cruisecritic and ask here more questions
I love it. Josh and I have been on I think 6 since we have been together.
Beth
What is your favorite cruise line? Hands down NCL
Where did you sail? Eastern Carribean, Western Carribean, and Hawaii
Did it have required formal nights or themed dinners or was it "freestyle"? It was freestyle, they do have formal nights if you did want to go but not required.
Are cruises "all-inclusive" (do you have to pay for meals and drinks or activities like shows and stuff?) NCL has I believe like 14 different restaurants that you can eat at, some are free and some you have to pay a fee but they are all all-inclusive
How often did you actually stay in your room (is it worth splurging on one with a balcony?) It depends for Hawaii we splurged and got a balcony since it is your anniversary you may want to look at that option to enjoy the balcony together
Did you book your trip through the cruiseline's website or through a travel agent? We booked through their website
Anything else I should know about a cruise? They are extremely fun and relaxing.There is lots to do on-board so definetely check out the daily iteneraries for any activities you can join.
What is your favorite cruise line? I've only been on Carnival, a total of 4 times and loved each experience. However, I hear that Royal is nicer and fancier... Carnival is more for a younger crowd? (Thats what I've heard)
Where did you sail? Eastern and Western Carribean
Did it have required formal nights or themed dinners or was it "freestyle"? Depends how long you go for. A 1 week cruise has 2 formal nights and the rest is freestyle but they do some singing and dancing on the theme nights (you don't have to dress up thou, only for formal)
Are cruises "all-inclusive" (do you have to pay for meals and drinks or activities like shows and stuff?) meals and shows are included. You have to pay for drinks and the spa
How often did you actually stay in your room (is it worth splurging on one with a balcony?) Only on the days at sea if you wanna relax or take a nap... the balcony is nice and i would splurge to get it but you don't "have to".
Did you book your trip through the cruiseline's website or through a travel agent? The first two times I did it through Happy Holidays 8160 Coral Way, Miami, FL. Tel: 305-267-4004
Anything else I should know about a cruise? relax and enjoy it! its sooo much fun...
What is your favorite cruise line? By far Carnival. The food quality is much better, atmosphere, activities on board plus the night club is much much better. Carnival had so much going on, you seriously had to sit down and decide what you would be willing not to do. Royal honestly bored me, thank goodness for friends and NCL was nice but still boring. We just got back this past week and all our friends mentioned how there was hardly any fun things to do on the ship. We still had a blast but mainly because we all made it fun.
Where did you sail? Always in the Carribean
Did it have required formal nights or themed dinners or was it "freestyle"? All had formal nights excluding NCL that was freestyle dining.
Are cruises "all-inclusive" (do you have to pay for meals and drinks or activities like shows and stuff?) All-inclusive but excludes sodas and bar drinks. Now some specialty restaurants charge an additional fee.
How often did you actually stay in your room (is it worth splurging on one with a balcony?) Personally I always have to have a window or I feel locked up. A balcony doesn't really seem worth it when paying an additional $300 for the same size room with a balcony. Half of the time you are out on deck and exposed to open ocean so I find it kind of a waste of money, personally.
Did you book your trip through the cruiseline's website or through a travel agent? Usually prefer a cruiselines website and I keep a close eye on price drops and call to get boarding credits added. Most travel agents can offer like a $50 boarding credit but I've had some headaches with them in the past. Just personal choice I guess.
I've only gone on one cruise and it was on Princess and I loved them!
Went to Alaska. Left out of Vancouver and did the northbound route to Whittier. 7 days. We also did 7 days on our own after the cruise exploring Alaska.
They did have formal nights, 2 of them I believe, but we chose not to participate b/c we didn't feel like taking up space in our bags packing formal clothes. So we had dinner in the casual places that night. As for dinners, there were 2 dining rooms and you choose ahead of time if you want to be in the one where you have and assigned table and eating time or in the other dining room where it's like any restaurant, you go at whatever time you want and can be seated alone. Both serve the same food, it's just what kind of "experience" you want. We went with the 2nd option and I would do that again. There were also a few restaurants on board the ship that were not "all-inclusive" you did have to pay additional money to eat there, one was a steak house, I can';t remember the others , but we never did that.
We stayed in our room somewhat but that was the cruise we were on. One of the "stops" on the Alaska cruise is glacier bay national park, it's not an actual port where you get off the ship, but you cruise the glaciers for a day, so we did hang out in our room on the balcony for a little while and also watched from the top deck. I think it's worth splurging on the balcony, I loved being able to sit out there and relax.
We booked through an agent, a friend if MelBs is an agent and she was awesome!
Hey Jenny, my dad is a travel agent and I used to work for a cruise line, so you can ask me pretty much anything. I've been on over 50 cruises!
My favorite is Alaska (going for the 5th time this summer). I've also been all over Europe and the Caribbean. I saw you mentioned a New England cruise - my parents did that one a year or two ago and LOVED it! I was so jealous, I wanted to go. Obviously the best time to go is fall so you can see fall foliage.
My favorite cruise line is probably Princess. Royal Caribbean is a great line, too. I've also been on Celebrity many times so if you have any questions about them, let me know.
All cruise lines have at least one formal night, but you can always go eat up in the casual dining. There are also specialty restaurants which might cost a little extra.
You only pay for guided tours in the ports, and alcohol/soda. You can get a soda pass for the cruise if you want.
I only get outside cabins/balconies. I don't spend a TON of time in my room, but when I'm there, I enjoy having the view.
I always book through my dad: https://www.youragentpeter.com FYI prices are the same regardless of cruise line website vs agent, but agents can get you better deals on things like tours & shipboard credits because of their stature with the cruise line and the company they work with. My dad has been an agent for over 25 years owning his own business, now works for America's Vacation Center (a division of American Express) and is his company's #1 top seller so he always gets me the absolute best deals!
My Blog: SIREN.ORG!
What is your favorite cruise line? I've sailed Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Holland America. Overall, I liked HA better, only because it was more luxurious (rooms had better amenities, food was slightly better); but there was some downsides, like less entertainment.
Where did you sail? Europe
Did it have required formal nights or themed dinners or was it "freestyle"? There were several formal nights, but if you weren't interested in dining at the restaurant, all ships offer a buffet style dinner at their casual dinning hall.
Are cruises "all-inclusive" (do you have to pay for meals and drinks or activities like shows and stuff?) For all the cruise lines I've mentioned, all food is inclusive, unless you visit a speciality restaurant (i.e., speciality steakhouse, where they have a flat $20/pp). As for drinks, all alcohol and soda, and speciality coffees require payment. Entertainment has always been free. However, excursions to the islands/ports do have fees.
How often did you actually stay in your room (is it worth splurging on one with a balcony?) I think a window room is just fine, unless you have a lot of days at sea. We went on a 12 day cruise through Europe, and we had a window and we didn't feel cramped at all... then again, we only had 2 days at sea, so time in room was just for sleep and getting ready for next activity.
Did you book your trip through the cruiseline's website or through a travel agent? We have booked directly through the ship's company, only because we have known someone that works there and have provided us w/ friends & family discount. Since you are booking w/ a lot of time, I'd aska round to see who works where and ask to see if they can extend their discount... some $ can be saved!
Anything else I should know about a cruise?
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" -- Jimmy Buffett
What is your favorite cruise line? Royal Caribbean - Food and shows are better and I think that in general the service is better. Princess was really nice but it was a much older crowd. I do think Carnival has more to offer for people who want to party.
Where did you sail? Europe (France and Italy) and all over the Caribbean.
Did it have required formal nights or themed dinners or was it "freestyle"? I've sailed on Carnival, RC and Princess and all had at leas one formal night for cruises longer than 7 days - but they also had the casual dining option at another dining room, so you didn't have to dress up if you didn't want to.
Are cruises "all-inclusive" (do you have to pay for meals and drinks or activities like shows and stuff?) On all three of those lines, the meals and some drinks were inclusive. You had the option to buy a fountain soda card at the beginning of the cruise which was usually something like $25-50 bucks depending on the length of the cruise for unlimited sodas.
How often did you actually stay in your room (is it worth splurging on one with a balcony?) We only stayed in a room with a balcony on our Europe cruise and omg - I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much without it. When you're cruising to places with beautiful vistas, the balcony is a MUST. We spent sooo much time just sitting there with drinks and hanging out.
Did you book your trip through the cruiseline's website or through a travel agent? Travel agent
Anything else I should know about a cruise? Cruises with lots of ports are more expensive - I don't think it's worth it - I looove spending time just exploring the ship and hanging out by the pool, playing mini-golf or basketball, enjoying spa services or watching shows. There are tons of things to do on-board.