What are some good cruise companies?

Question

We want to take a cruise next year and I wanted to start looking at what's out there. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

If you have the money to spend for the top cruise lines try Crystal, Radisson, Cunard, Windstar, and Silver sea. These cruise lines are a cut above because they run smaller ships (like to 500 to 700 passengers) and have a higher staff to passenger ratio so you get top of the line service. They also have more amenities included in the much higher price, like all veranda/balcony cabins, tubs and shower bathroom, larger cabins, daily wine and champaign with meals, etc. These ships generally go to a port or two on a seven day cruise which are different from the normal. Prices for a 7 day cruise may start at $2500 to $3000 (vs about $1200 on the next tier of ships.). These ships tend to have a more sophisticated crowd and more formal dining.

Less Expensive

The first rule in getting less expensive cruises is book early. The second rule is go with the same cruise line multiple times. The third rule is shop around for specials. Some lines will offer specials on a date that does not usually sell out, like Christmas week. So don't lock yourself in to one particular week of the year; be flexible.

If you have not cruised before and don't know the ropes it may be beneficial for you to use an agent; the agent does not charge a fee but is paid by the cruise line. But, also, do some home work on cruise line, itineraries, and ships. Use the cruise line web sites to look at what's being offered. Try to have in mind some of what you want to do when you talk to an agent. If you feel comfortable doing it, you can do your own booking online, the price is the same and you can do everything you need right on the web sites. The sites usually have cruises listed for this year and next.

Now most cruises are done by lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, and Disney. Most of the ships for these lines are now 1500 to 2500 passenger ships. The ships are so big and things are so well managed that you really don't feel crowded on them. Prices on these ship can be as low as $800 a day for a 7 day inside cabin and about $1200 for a balcony cabin. Most of these lines go to the same places, they are just in port on different days. When you dock there may be one or two other ships there for the day and some days there may not be any where you go. You may also want to consider Cunard and the Queen Mary II. The ship is fantastic and the prices are comparable with RC, NCL and Princess.

The format and service on all of these is about the same. I have found that the food on Celebrity, Princess and RC is a cut above Disney and Carnival. Disney is for kids, and families with kids. It does have adults only areas on ship, but the kids are still there.. The will have lots of kids’ activities on the ships, but they will still be all over the hallways, elevators and dining facilities. Disney has good ship, but also lots of kids running around and micky, donald, minnie, goofie, etc all over the ship. Carnival is the fun ship, but their accommodations are not the best. They cater to a young crowd and first time cruisers. the Carnival is the party cruise line that most young folks and first time cruisers take (ages 20 to 35) who want to party, party, party.

Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Celebrity, and Norwegian tend to have people who have cruised many times and are in the 40 and over age group; a more reserved crowd. All of these may have some kids but not many. There are activities just for kids and staff who supervise them. The last cruise we took on Celebrity has about 7 or 8 kids all total. Also, ships going to the Caribbean tend to have more young folks than those going to Alaska, Panama, the Mediterranean, the Baltic, or South America. For something special and different, do a Hawaii cruise and stay a few days (before or after) and go see some more of the islands.

Ship Cabin Categories

I suggest that you go to the cruise line web sites and look at itineraries (what ports the ship will stop in), dates and prices. Remember that the cheapest cabins offered are the inside cabins, those without a window or porthole. Also look at and understand the price structure. The lowest priced cabins are INSIDE (no window/porthole), next are OUTSIDE with a window or porthole), next are VERANDA/BALCONY (your own private patio), then comes the jr and full suites, then the penthouses and owners' suites which are like apartments. The inside, outside and balcony cabins are generally the same size on each ship, but may vary by ship and cruise line. I suggest that you look at Veranda cabins they are hot and most ships these days tend to have many at a reasonable price (i.e., $1200 to $1500 for a 7-day.). Its been my experience that Princess and Royal Caribbean have the best ship and cabin decor. If its for a honeymoon or anniversary, or birthday be sure to tell them, they will do special stuff for that. Most 7-day cruises have two formal nights when you can wear your best stuff and get pictures taken.

You also need to know is that the category designations DO NOT mean the same thing on all cruise lines. For example, a Cat "C" on a Carnival ship is NOT the same as a Cat "C" on a Norwegian ship. AND, a category "C" is not the same across all of the ships in a cruise line, with one exception. For example, a Cat "D" is not the same on all Royal Caribbean ships, except it will be the same just for those situations where a cruise lines builds two IDENTICAL SHIPS. Example, the RC's Jewel of the Seas is identical with their Brillance of the Seas. So any cat on either of these ships will be the same. Same with the NCL's Dream and its Wind ships. If you go to the cruise line web site and look at categories, they will generally have the square feet of each cabin type, and the balcony square feet, if it has one, listed also .

The shorter cruises are 4 or 5 days, and the normal ones are either 7 or 14 days. If you are leaving from Florida, consider driving to the port, either Miami or Ft Lauderdale. There is plentiful safe parking (I have done this many times) at both places that costs about $12 a day. Driving can save money over the cruise line "add-in" for airfare. We generally drive most of the way on one day from NC and stop about an hour or two from the port for the night. Then continue the short trip the next day to the port.

Freestyle Cruising

I do not recommend Norwegian because of their "freestyle" cruising. It means that you do not have to specify a dining option; don't have a table and waiter assigned to you. But it also means that you may be standing in line awaiting a table on some days (like we had to); not what you want on a cruise. The option to this being pushed on NCL is their optional dining which you must pay to use.

Hidden Costs

The hidden costs on a cruise are your tab for drinks (alcoholic and sodas),tours, and gratuity. Many ships now add the recommended gratuity to your onboard tab. The gratuity is about $10 to $12 a day per person. You can give more if you want. Tours can add hundreds to your final bill, depending upon how many stop the ship makes and what you want to do. Study the tours carefully; some places you may want to just go on your own.

My recommendation, study long and well and book early, even if you decide to go with an agent. Remember, it does not cost any more to use the agent. I have cruised many time and I now do my own online.

Answer 2

I really would suggest a Disney Cruise. There are many reasons why a Disney Cruise Lines are the best cruise lines sailing at sea now. On the Disney Cruise, there are so many things for you to do. There is a movie theatre, Buena Vista Theatre, that seats 300 people. There is also another theatre, Walt Disney Theatre, with 1000 seats in it that shows broadway style plays and movies. There are 3 pools the Mickey, Goofy, Adult pools. There are alot of hot tubs and a water slide. There are 3 main resturaunts that you rotate through your cruise. First, there is Parrot Cay, which has a Caribbean themed food style. Second, there is Animators Palate, which is just a mix of all your favorites. Finally, there is Lumiere's which is an elegant French themed resturaunt. There is also Topsiders Buffet and also their is an adult only Italian resturaunt called Palo. There is also 4 kids areas, the Oceaneer Club(ages 3-7), Oceaneer Lab(ages 8-12), The Stack (only for teens), and Ocean Quest (for all ages). There is also a sports deck called Disney's Wide World of Sports Deck, an arcade called Quarter Masters Arcade, and a gameshow area called Studio Sea. There is also an adult only area called Beat Street. It consists of 3 different adult areas. They are Sessions, Diversions, and Rockin' Bar D. i hope you have a great time on your Disney Cruise if you go on one.

Answer 3

It's a good idea to start in advance like this. This way you will be able to get better rates than waiting till next year. It is also more likely that agencies will have more group spaces available to save you money. I definitely recommend starting to plan the cruise as soon as you decide on the best line for you.

As far as best cruise, it really depends on what you are looking for. One of my favorite lines is Disney. Reasoning: The cruise ship is always spotless and they do a wonderful job of keeping it clean. The rooms are slightly larger than other lines, and trust me , on a cruise it makes a big difference. The shows are wonderful. If you have kids they will absolutely love the boat, it is probably the best line for families. The food has always been good. Finally, the staff. I have never experience service while travelling like I have on Disney, they go out of their way to make you comfortable and it is great. I think that Disney is a great option even if you aren't taking kids, it is just an all around great line. I feel, as do many others, that once you get off of a Disney cruise you will be spoiled. The price is very modest and affordable, but you feel more like you are on a luxury line.

Carnival. Their prices are usually the lowest, but the quality of the cruise is a lot lower than other lines. In my experience the food hasn't been very good, the ship needed cleaned up and renovated really bad and the service didn't compare to other lines. If you read reviews of Carnival ships, you will see a lot of people have had the same experience. They advertise as being the fun ship. This is true if you are in to partying, gambling, drinking, etc. But I really don't like this type of thing, so the atmosphere wasn't very appealing to me. Plus, the age range on board is pretty young. You will find lots of young families and also college aged kids. So if you are wanting to stay away from kids this may not be a good line. This also tend to be a line for families, but I really am not sure that this is the most appropriate line to take kids.

Royal Caribbean is a pretty good line. It kind of runs in the middle as far as price goes. They have lots of on-board activities and it is a lot of fun. I think this is a better option to take kids on than Carnival, but that is just my opinion. The average age tends to be a little bit older, but still a lot of fun and less partying. I think it is a great line. If you have kids it might be a better option than Disney, simply because they offer more choices for destinations. But if I had to choose between Disney and Royal Caribbean and destination really wasn't an option, I think I would go Disney hands down.

If you are wanting a little more sophisticated feel and a more luxurious line, than I would look into lines like Princess, Oceania, Crystal, Celebrity, etc. These are all really great lines. They cost more than some other lines, but the service and food and overall cruise is well worth it. But again, this is a little more sophisticated group of cruises. So the average age is going to be older.

If price doesn't matter, I would say either Oceania or Crystal. Both are fabulous cruises and they are wonderful. Here would be my order of preferance:

1). Crystal
2). Oceania
3). Princess
4). Disney
5). Holland America
6). Royal Caribbean
7). Norweigan
8). Carnival

I think that is all of them. I'm having a brain freeze right now..... Celebrity is also pretty good, I would throw that somewhere in the middle. Oceania and Crystal are great and the best if you are wanting a bigger cruise line and not if you wanting a more intimate, small cruise. Windjammer is one example of a small cruise line, but there are several out there that are really good.

For me, my preference is: Royal Caribbean for a small budget, Disney for a medium budget and maybe Oceania or Crystal for a bigger budget.

Answer 4

We cruise Royal Caribbean every year and will be leaving in six days for this years cruise. We prefer them because there aren't as many young children running around unsupervised,also my husband,myself,13 year old and 10 year old love the rock wall.A more relaxed environment and less of a SPRING BREAK party crowd.I don't mind people drinking I just don't want to watch funneling around the pool while my children are trying to swim and I really don't like the vomiting on the deck or in the pool after several hours of drinking in the hot sun and then someone thinks it's a good idea to eat and then take a swim !!!!LOL !!

Answer 5

I have gone on 2 cruises with Norwegian and have the 3rd already booked. You'll hear good and bad about all the cruise lines; they all have their good and bad points. I don't think I'll ever go on another vacation unless it's on a cruise. Wonderful experience!! I have found the best pricing on smartcruiser.com

Answer 6

For a couple not traveling with kids, I would recommend Celebrity. They are one of the more classy cruise lines but very reasonably priced. My husband and I went on one of their adult only cruises for our anniversary and we loved it.

A distant relative of my husband who is semi-retired is a cruise agent. He is a very nice older man who has been on many cruises. He is especially good at listening to what you want in a cruise and matching you up with a ship and destination that you will enjoy. He will also get you the best possible price. His web site is www.cruisingwithsam.com. He and his wife will be cruising until June 19, but in the meantime you can check out his web site and e-mail him if you like.

Happy cruising!

Answer 7

it just really depends if you have kids you might wont to try carnival or the disney cruise lines. if it is an older crowed royal caribbean, celebraty, the yachts of seaborn, cunard etc the prices very and these cruise lines have cruises all around the world.

Answer 8

Starcruise!!!!!!!!!!!!!