What's your favorite cruise line?

[hamster]

And why? Bonus points for your favorite cruise route, too.

We want to go on one someday, and I've read that each cruise line typically has it's own demographic. I really want to avoid the spring break crowd. We are young and heavy drinkers, but not partiers. We want good food, and some things to do while in board, but don't need much.

We saw a few cruise ships docked in Cabo and it was hordes of bad tourists. Phanny packs, rude, etc. Is that just par for the course, or will some lines be better than others?

[tripleshot]

Disney! Even if you don't have kids. There are a lot of adult only areas and it's not in-your-face Disney. The food, service, amenities are all top notch. We've got our fourth scheduled for June.

Eta: I really like that there's no casino, therefore no smoking to deal with. We'd like to try Royal Caribbean but I am very sensitive and allergic to cigarette smoke and the casinosare in  central locations. So the smoke can be smelled in many areas (at least that's whatever been told).

[h]

I have only tried three cruise lines--Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean, Regent Seven Seas in Tahiti, and Windstar in the Mediterranean (Greece, Croatia, Italy). The Regent Seven Seas was amazing, as was the itinerary, but it is definitely not MM. I would go again in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity, though. Windstar was cool, and we loved the itinerary, but the ship was almost too small (like 150 people) and the passengers skewed a lot older than us. There wasn't much to do on board.

We are doing a Disney cruise with our kids in March. I am looking forward to it, but I don't think I would want to go on a cruise with that many kids around if I were planning a kid-free vacation.

[Pom]

We like Holland America and Royal Caribbean. I'd also like to try Princess. My BF just retired as an officer from HAL so we probably won't go as much now. Mr. P likes cruises much more than I do. I don't like buffets and since we were in suites on our last few cruises, I won't go any other way. I suck like that. We also aren't big on the nightlife, drinking orgies so I'd never step foot on Carnival. It's ok if that's what your in to but not our scene at this age. We've done some great ports and I'd say the Eastern Caribbean is my favorite. Love Tortola, BVI and it was just fab. We loved the Sea Lion swim in Puerta Vuellarta and the Mexican Riviera. We do massages on crappy port days and stay on board and enjoy the ship. We would do Alaska and I'd like to do the Panama Canal for sure.

[rubytue]

We like NCL. Its like the 35-50-something cruise, and there are no fancy dress up nights.

But, there are going to be fanny pack wearing annoying folks on most any mass-market cruise. It's like wal-mart vs target vs kohl's vs Macy's. There are pluses and minuses to each, and you can find a fanny pack in all of them.

[hamster]

Pom doesn't Holland skew pretty old? I wouldn't go with them to, say, Alaska, but are they ok for the more tropical locations?

[Pom]

HAL's got olds, but honestly, we don't notice. It was about the same as Royal Caribbean as far as I could tell. We never do seatings in the main dining room/buffet. Since we've been going the suite route, we usually eat our meals in the Pinnacle (reserved for suite guests for breakfast-sit-down upscale dining room) and also the Neptune Lounge is always available with snacks, light meal stuff. We also have afternoon cocktails and snacks on our balcony and then dinner out at one of the upgraded dining rooms. As far as shows, they've all been decent-Elton John-type show/comedy/etc.. and the excursions have always been very good. Have you checked out cruisecritic.com?

ETA: Bar---We like to gamble, so we do most of drinking in the casino or on our own balcony.

[rubytue]

Our honeymoon was on HAL. We had a ball, but it was kinda newlywed (there were a dozen of us) and nearly dead (it was a 10-day cruise during the school year). That was an eastern Caribbean cruise. I must say the most memorable port stop was when our planned excursion was canceled and we were convicted by some olds to join a taxi tour with them. And they were the drinking, we are 60+ and no longer give a shit about being proper, types. It was so funny. Like the 75 year old man who turned down the step still back not the van after the topless beach stop, bc he was "going to pole vault back into the van."

[Pom]

Dec 21, 2014 11:52:38 GMT -5 rubytue said:

Our honeymoon was on HAL. We had a ball, but it was kinda newlywed (there were a dozen of us) and nearly dead (it was a 10-day cruise during the school year). That was an eastern Caribbean cruise. I must say the most memorable port stop was when our planned excursion was canceled and we were convicted by some olds to join a taxi tour with them. And they were the drinking, we are 60+ and no longer give a shit about being proper, types. It was so funny. Like the 75 year old man who turned down the step still back not the van after the topless beach stop, bc he was "going to pole vault back into the van."

We did our honeymoon on HAL-Eastern Caribbean too!  We loved it.  The more active excursions---I went snorkeling and Mr. P went bone-fishing were less "packed".  Paradise Island-private was very fun.

[ssmjlm]

I've done 2 Princess, 1 RC, and 1 Carnival. Well I've done 2 more on a line that is gone now.

Princess is what we prefer. We've done S. Caribbean and Alaska on Princess and loved both itineraries.

[mainelyfoolish]

I've only done Celebrity and Princess. I would do both again. Celebrity I think was a little nicer with a little better food, but I was happy with Princess, too.

[arch01]

We have been on Carnival and RCCL and far prefer RCCL.

[ewall]

Celebrity! Overall great experience, demographic skews slightly younger, not too many families w/ kids. Norwegian was nice as well, but more old people. Cranky old people who think they shouldn't have to wait their turn because they're old. Figuring out Norwegian's dinner scheduling was somewhat problematic for the first day or two.

Royal Caribbean was awesome, but I went in college so we partied hard. I'd be worried about too many kids or families, especially on their larger ships. Carnival was the worst. We did not enjoy the staff or the other passengers.

[starryfish]

I have done 5 on royal Caribbean and 7 on carnival. I like both. We prefer to go when school is in session so there is not 1000+ kids running around. I LOVE carnivals new upgrades on some of their boats

[IrishBelle]

We did 1 cruise on Celebrity and I would love to go again. The food was really good and the service was excellent. The crowd was a good mix of young and old. We aren't heavy drinkers and aren't in to the party that some other cruise lines (ie. Carnival) offer.

[Susie]

Dec 21, 2014 11:29:23 GMT -5 hamster said:

Pom doesn't Holland skew pretty old? I wouldn't go with them to, say, Alaska, but are they ok for the more tropical locations?

That's kind of the opposite of our logic, so guess I don't quite follow.  We went on HAL to Alaska because I wanted to be up early every day to see the scenery and do activities that maxed out our time in port, so I didn't want to be sleeping in or hungover, and didn't have an interest in a party scene.  I did, however still want good food, which HAL had.  We had the late dinner seating (8pm I think?), a drink after dinner, and then I was ready for bed... so being with the olds was NBD.  I probably wouldn't go on HAL in the Caribbean though because I would go to the Caribbean for totally different things (mostly sun and partying).

Truth be told though, I'm unlikely to go on a cruise in the Caribbean on any line so there's that.  The Alaska cruise was kind of a one-off thing, as a way to see a place that you can't get to by land.

[hamster]

Susie my thought was that Alaska cruises are already generally older anyway, so picking the old persons cruise and old persons cruise line would be a bit much. If it's a young persons cruise destination on an old persons cruise line, it's probably more of a happy medium. I'm just looking to avoid the frat party regardless of my destination.

[pamela]

Dec 21, 2014 10:42:48 GMT -5 h said:

I have only tried three cruise lines--Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean, Regent Seven Seas in Tahiti, and Windstar in the Mediterranean (Greece, Croatia, Italy). The Regent Seven Seas was amazing, as was the itinerary, but it is definitely not MM. I would go again in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity, though. Windstar was cool, and we loved the itinerary, but the ship was almost too small (like 150 people) and the passengers skewed a lot older than us. There wasn't much to do on board.

We are doing a Disney cruise with our kids in March. I am looking forward to it, but I don't think I would want to go on a cruise with that many kids around if I were planning a kid-free vacation.

I've been really tempted by the Windstar brochures we've been getting, especially for Med/Turkey. DH really wants to do that area and a small ship sounds like a good idea for that. But we'd likely have to go without DS because they certainly don't sound kid friendly. I'm okay with not a lot of things to do on board, I think.

[babsbunny]

Only cruise ever was Disney with a friend (neither of us have kids). Not MM compared to Princess and Carnival. Only 1 queen bed so I slept on the futon couch (and yes as a 30+ yr old). Kids were in daycare all day so only saw them at shows and character greetings (less kids at 8pm dinner seating). Service was great and Castaway Cay is awesome (saw a group of women 50-60 on a girls' trip). Great part for me was being able to take alcohol on board in my carry on (6 cans plus flask). They don't even bat an eye and just ask that you consume it in your room, which I loved having a drink or two on the balcony. I hate paying for overpriced drinks. Room has a split bath (one with toilet and sink, one with sink and shower) which was helpful for traveling with a friend. We were on the smaller Wonder and got the generic spa pass $90 each for the 4 nights. In general, I like themes so all the little Disney elements everywhere was really cool.

For the Caribbean, I prefer traveling to specific islands for 4-5 nights. Lots of deals in September, LOL.

[h]

Dec 21, 2014 14:55:35 GMT -5 pamela said:

Dec 21, 2014 10:42:48 GMT -5 h said:

I have only tried three cruise lines--Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean, Regent Seven Seas in Tahiti, and Windstar in the Mediterranean (Greece, Croatia, Italy). The Regent Seven Seas was amazing, as was the itinerary, but it is definitely not MM. I would go again in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity, though. Windstar was cool, and we loved the itinerary, but the ship was almost too small (like 150 people) and the passengers skewed a lot older than us. There wasn't much to do on board.

We are doing a Disney cruise with our kids in March. I am looking forward to it, but I don't think I would want to go on a cruise with that many kids around if I were planning a kid-free vacation.

I've been really tempted by the Windstar brochures we've been getting, especially for Med/Turkey. DH really wants to do that area and a small ship sounds like a good idea for that. But we'd likely have to go without DS because they certainly don't sound kid friendly. I'm okay with not a lot of things to do on board, I think.

It was awesome in that they have great itineraries, and it doesn't have that huge cruise ship feel. We went to a couple Greek islands that I think would have been a pain to get to otherwise. It is more like being on a really big yacht. The people were lovely and generally an interesting, well-traveled bunch, albeit older than us. There was a tiny spa, a tiny pool, a library, a bar, and one restaurant on board. That was about it. So time on board was mostly spent relaxing with a book or a cocktail. The food was great. There were no seating assignments or dress up nights, which was nice. It was all very relaxed. When the ship was anchored, you could swim or wind surf off the back of the boat, which was super fun. We would totally go again-- just expect a very different atmosphere and feel than the big cruise lines.

You are right that it would definitely not be a kid-friendly trip. I don't think there was a single kid on the boat. Maybe a teenager or two, but definitely no children.

[Nonny]

Both of the cruises we've done were on Celebrity, which has really good food IMO, and has at least one awesome alcohol deal per day (my favorite was 6 mini, but strong, margaritas).

But both times we picked itineraries that skew old -- Alaska, and the Panama Canal. The canal cruise was 2.5 weeks and skewed so old, that one night a couple that were probably in their 50s were with us in an elevator, and said, "Finally! Young people like us!" (Our group was in our early 30s.) There were lines of mobility scooters parked in the dining hall each night.

[msmerymac]

I've done Alaska on Royal Caribbean and I think Alaska skews older in general. Mexico and the Caribbean skew younger/party crowd. My dad loves Royal Caribbean, and has been to the Caribbean 4-5 times in the larger ships (oasis class) and thought it was great with 6000 people on board, I imagine there's a variety of travelers and a lot to do. His favorite port was San Juan, but the USVI are nice. Alaska and Baja California are the only places i've been, and the ships are smaller (around 2000). I think RC is okay. Nothing bad I can say, but it doesn't come across as high end, if that makes sense. Food was mediocre and there are always a lot if up charges, but amenities were fine, the ship was clean and the service was good.

I want To go on a New England/ Canada cruise. And a Viking River cruise, but probably when I'm 65.

[Susie]

Dec 21, 2014 14:54:06 GMT -5 hamster said:

Susie my thought was that Alaska cruises are already generally older anyway, so picking the old persons cruise and old persons cruise line would be a bit much. If it's a young persons cruise destination on an old persons cruise line, it's probably more of a happy medium. I'm just looking to avoid the frat party regardless of my destination.

I think you're starting to go out on the over generalization limb with that theory -- I'll grant that HAL has a rep (probably deservedly) in general for appealing to the older set, but I'm not sure Alaska is an "old" destination, or that HAL in Alaska = (old)*(old) = extra old.  I mean, it's not the 18-21 set, but I don't think it's OLD old.  It's... adults.  Or maybe I'm just prematurely extra old, since I enjoyed that trip and did not feel like that much of an outlier.  Who knows.  We went ice climbing, mountain biking, halibut fishing, etc., so it did not feel geriatric to me.  What you pick for excursions changes your experience of a cruise so much.  But anyway, if you really want to pick a vacay I'd look a little deeper at both destinations and cruise lines than just "oh it's old."

[larzhope]

We've been on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity several times and both have been great experiences. Neither had the "party" feel. We tend to cruise while kids are in school because we want a more kid-free vacation. We've been all over the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, and to Alaska. We will be doing Hawaiian cruise in May.

[crashgizmo]

We've done Holland America (Eastern Carribean) and Norwegian (Pacific Coastal).

HAL had much better service and food but it was an extremely older crowd on our cruise. We are not partyers, but having the bars close up at 10pm was a bit much. However, there were also no kids, so that was nice for us. The Norwegian cruise was a younger crowd with more lively nightlife, but tons of kids at the pool which made it harder to relax.

I would do either cruise line again. My parents have been on a Regent cruise and will no longer cruise on any other line.

[tres3]

I've only ever been on Cunard but I've liked it.

[vigurl]

Dec 21, 2014 10:49:15 GMT -5 rubytue said:

But, there are going to be fanny pack wearing annoying folks on most any mass-market cruise. It's like wal-mart vs target vs kohl's vs Macy's. There are pluses and minuses to each, and you can find a fanny pack in all of them.

This^.  Also it is not the just the line...its the ship.  For example I like carnival for the value but if I am looking to have a more upscale experience I sail the newest ship on the line when I sail.  The newest is always the most expensive.  Also the longer the duration of the cruise, the more expensive it is the more upscale the clientele. 

[cinco]

We've done Celebrity and Carnival. Both pre-kids. I would absolutely do another Celebrity or Disney w/ kids.

[mpc]

Dec 21, 2014 11:29:23 GMT -5 hamster said:

Pom doesn't Holland skew pretty old? I wouldn't go with them to, say, Alaska, but are they ok for the more tropical locations?

Pom Susie

We did HAL in Alaska and it was all old people. Literally. I think there were fewer than 10 guests on the boat under the age of 50, and our group was 6 of those. The staff even remarked how that particular week was more skewed than normal. Obviously it didn't affect things in port. The only times we noticed it were if we wanted to go to the bar and have a drink after dinner, everything was completely dead. And every recognized us cause we really stood out in the crowd. It was still a fun time, and I imagine for most trips it doesn't end up quite that unbalanced. 

[Deleted]

I have only been on one cruise on Celebrity (E. Caribbean) and we LOVED it. The food was so good and service was excellent. It was an older crowd but we didn't care.