My family and I are thinking about going on a cruise next summer, what cruise line would you suggest?

Question

We are thinking about Noreigion Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Lines, or Princess Cruise Lines. What would you reccomend?

Answer 1

Depends on what your needs are. If you have children, then Disney would probably work for you. If you are an older couple, then maybe Royal or Norwegian. If you don't want to have specific eating times and like the free style dining, then you want a more lenient line. Royal does have 2 seating times where you eat at the same table, same people each night. But there is also the Wind Jammer where you can eat at around the clock and not have to worry.
I am not too familiar with Princess. We are loyal to Royal, we were just on the Radiance of the Seas in March and next May we are going on the Mariner. We really like Royal as they cater to all age levels and there are a ton of things to do onboard with great ports of call.

Answer 2

Without a doubt, go with Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean offers so much more than Carnival, Norwegian, and Disney, and it is much better suited for people of all ages. Disney's decent and good, but if you don't want your life to be surrounded by Disney characters for the entire trip, Disney is obviously not the right option. Carnival's bad, bad, bad, and not just for one reason. First, it only has people of two age groups. On Carnival, you'll run into retired couples looking for a relaxing vacation, and a bunch of barely-old-enough-to-drink partiers who stay up all night drinking and making a racket. Also, Carnival is notorious for its terrible service. It seems as if the employees couldn't care less about it being your vacation, and them alone can ruin the trip. The problem with Norwegian is that the food isn't great, and the Freestyle dining thing can get to be a bit of a pain. They offer dining without seating charts, but sometimes, it's really hard to find a seat for a meal, and it's quite often that the wait for food will get backed up, sometimes even for hours. And to cover all the bases, Celebrity is probably too upscale for what you want and Holland America is another upscale and boring-for-young-people cruise line. Now to Royal Caribbean... Royal Caribbean has some of the best food of any cruise line. The employees are polite and courteous, and they will attend to your every need. The rooms are kept tidy, and the are cleaned well (which is key) every day. Royal Caribbean has entertaining shows, fun activities, and best of all, they have the most innovative and revolutionary ships in the world. FlowRider, a surfing simulation, is a revolutionary new concept found only on Royal Caribbean's Freedom Class ships (Freedom of the Seas, and soon to be Independence of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas). Every Royal Caribbean ship has a rock climbing wall, bars and clubs for people of all ages, teen to adult, swimming pools, a theater, a breathtaking Grand Centrum, a library, a spa, and many other things. Whether you want to relax or you want to have fun and be active, Royal Caribbean is the cruise line for you. Each ship is different, but they're all great. Get Out There!

Answer 3

Well I have been on over 30 cruises and I can tell you from experience, cruises are the best way to travel...basically everything is included and you don't have to pay for food every meal, and you get to see the world....

I have never been on norwegian cruises, and heard many different things about it..I heard that the free style dinner is a pain, and then others say it was great, but i guess it depends on your specific cruise...

Here are some link to help you:

ncl.com

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=73

http://vacationstogo.com/cruise_lines/norwegian_cruise_line.cfm

I have been on several Royal Carribean cruises and I this is my favorite cruise line...the ships have a lot more to do then most others, and is around the same price...there are rockwalls, ice skating rinks, inline skating, and much more than make Royal Carribean an excellent cruie lines, and my personal favorite:

rccl.com

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=32

http://vacationstogo.com/cruise_lines/royal_caribbean_cruises.cfm

I have been on a couple carnival cruises before and I strongly dislike this line...its not as much adventureous as the others...there is a lot more of the late night parting and even more; drinking...carnival has the most over board passengers than any other cruiseline...i also think that it doesn't go to as many exciting places as the others..its a bit more expensive than the others and doesnt offer as much...but if you want a party ship, then carnival is perfect for you:

carnivalcruiseline.com

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=8

http://vacationstogo.com/cruise_lines/carnival_cruises.cfm

My opinion is the princess cruises are way over priced...again they dont offer as much, and cost way too much...the food and service is just good to average and i think that it should be much more because you may a lot of money...

http://www.princess.com/

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=28

http://vacationstogo.com/cruise_lines/princess_cruises.cfm

I would also reccomend celebrity cruise line because it gives amazing service and food...although there is a rock wall or skating rink onboard, there is still so much to do on the ship...they treat you as guests not customers...the pool side games, the spectacular shows as night, and the places you visit are amazing...its not expenisve at all, you get better service than you pay for:

celebritycruiseline.com

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=9

http://vacationstogo.com/cruise_lines/celebrity_cruises.cfm

Now to book all of these cruises, I reccomend vacationstogo.com ...it such an organized site, and the rates are great...also when you book ur cruise at one price, and then see on another site that the rates have goine down...it will give you the money that you would save if you booked now...

Also if you would like to read reviews about basically anything and everything, check out cruisecritic.com ...it is very helpful

I hope that I helped you, and if you have any further questions, feel free to send me a message = ]

Answer 4

I was on a Carnival Cruise two weeks ago. The intial reaction was too many kids (but that would be ok if you had children!) But after the boarding and what not, the kids disappeared to the pools or the programs designed for them. Carnival really does have something for everyone. The staff on a Carnival Cruise is AMAZING. Our steward remembered our name the first day and our waiters in the dining room were so much fun. I would go again.

My parents have gone on a Royal Caribbean cruise and absolutely loved it as well.

Answer 5

Disney Cruise Lines!!! They are best! Nightly live shows with pyrotechnics! Each age group has activties to do all day long and through part of the night. I was 16 when I went with my parents! I loved it! Glow in the dark vollyball, the teen club with a non alcholic bar and videa games. Check it out they have one of the biggest ships so you do bot have to constantly be around people... also you can stay at disney before hand and get discounted rates! It is a really great family trip for all ages.... adults there are lounges adult comedy shows and much more..... Also you go to disneys privet island !!!! The food is really good as far as cruises go. The resturants are themed wonderfully.... you can meet the charcters. My parents took their 2nd cruise on Carnival this summer they HATED IT! They waited in huge lines like cattle the food was awful. If you want romantic even for a few hours this is not the way to go..... The activities were rediculasly expensive and lame! I am sorry but go with Disney you wont be sorry I promise! :)

Answer 6

There is no one best cruise for everyone!

The best thing you could do is work with a cruise specialist to help you choose and plan it. You do not pay any more than booking direct with cruise line, may pay less if they have group space but most important, a cruise specialist will be able to make the suggestions that are right for you. That's what they are trained to do and that's why they are cruise specialists!

It depends on who is going, time of year, destination, budget, and lifestyle you are used to and when the person asks these questions, answer honestly so they can give you the best advice of cruise line, and ship.

I wouldn't even put my name on this one. My advice is for you, not to generate business. Not only am I one but I handle the recruiting of new agents for our major national agency. The expertise you will get is worth working with a professional who makes their living on repeat business. People do not come back if you do them wrong.

Answer 7

Avoid Norwegian Cruise Line like the plague! My husband and a bunch of others got food poisoning and we all ended up quarantined for 24 hours, soda is a rip off, the food is awful and they had to fumigate our room for bedbugs after I got bit 4 times (they store the bedspreads under the bed we later found out...) and we got nothing for our trouble. The staff gets automatic tips (billed to your account daily) so they have nothing to work for - the service is awful and the entertainment is kind of a joke - you can see a high school play and get better value. Don't waste your money.

Answer 8

I have been on over 15 cruises in the past few years and have been on NCL, Princess and Royal Caribbean many times. I have also been on a Celebrity ship, but never a Carnival ship.

The very best cruise lines are the very expensive ones like Radisson, Silverseas, Crystal and Windstar. Cruises on these lines start at around $4,000. to $5,000. The ships are smaller than the next tier of cruise lines but they offer more amenities and better service.

Some people will tell you to go on Carnival because it is the lowest priced cruise line. I say don't go for a basic cruise line when you can get and have a much better cruise by paying just a little more. If you are in the 20 to 35 age group and like to party, party, party then Carnival may be perfect for you.

The cruise lines that I recommend are Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity and Norwegian, pretty much in that order. I have been on many cruises on these lines and know first hand that you will have great accommodations, food services and a great time. Cruises on these lines can be as low as $700 to $800 for an inside cabin for a 7-day cruise. There is generally a good mix of people of all age groups on these cruise lines, particularly to the Caribbean. Cruises to Panama, the Baltic area, the Mediterranean, and cruises that are more than 7 or 8 days generally have more older people. Holland America is a good cruise line but it tends to have THE oldest cruisers. In my opinion Royal Caribbean is the best family oriented cruise line, unless you have very young children who would want to be around Disney characters.

All of these cruise lines have programs, staff and some even have areas, just for kids. So you don't have to go on just Disney to have activities for kids and staff people to supervise them. All of them will have staff for kids of different age groups so your toddler will be with other toddlers and your teens can be with other teens.

You can find an inexpensive cruise online if you just take the time to look, and know where to look. I always suggest looking on the cruise line web sites rather than cruise wholesalers and travel agent sites. The cruise lines' web sites have all of the information you will want or need and you can reserve and make payments directly to them online. That's how I have booked my last few cruises.

Many cruise lines offer the same cruise and sometimes a cruise line will have a different price for each time that cruise departs. So the first thing you should do when shopping and planning is be very flexible on your dates. You will get a good deal if you go when the "deal" is available, which may not necessarily be on your anniversary date. Second, book early. Forget all of what you heard about waiting until the last minute to get one of the cabins that has not been sold. there may not be any last minute bargains and what do you do if your dates come and there's no cruise space available.

So shop around. Here's an example of how the same cruise can be a different price on different dates:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis...

Scroll down the page. Look at the prices for Sept 07 and then look at how much lower they are for Sept 08.

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis...

Note the different prices for the same cruise and how some dates are called "Hot ", meaning the prices are the cheapest on those dates.

You may also want to look at some of the other Yahoo Answer's questions and answers in the cruise travel section to see what other information may be helpful to you.

So for the best cruise line for you consider what age group you want to be with, where you want to cruise to, and how long a cruise you want. Then pick between Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, Norwegian, Disney, Holland America, and Carnival lines, pretty much in that order.

Again my top recommendation is Royal Caribbean on one of its new ships Freedom of the Seas or Liberty of the Seas. Identical ships that do Caribbean itineraries. Here's what I wrote for someone else about the Freedom which we went on last November.

The ship holds over 3,000 passengers but we completed boarding in about 30 minutes from the curb to our cabin. It would have gone faster if they had been ready at a couple spots. We were slowed mainly by one person looking at all of the "Set Sail" passes as we entered the terminal. Then they were slow in setting up a second security desk to take security photos for the cruise cards. After that it was a breeze.

I loved the balcony cabin we had. It was roomy and had plenty of space for clothes; bags go under the bed. They announced to us that the beds on the Freedom will be cruise line wide; its was a great pillowtop bed and was very comfortable in comparison to beds on other ships. There was a flat panel HDTV in the room, a safe, and a shower stall with a sliding door. Our room included a love seat and coffee table.

The ship has a mall area down its middle with shops on both sides, including a barber shop, coffee shop, and a place where you can get free food 24/7. That's in addition to the 24/7 free room service.

The ship has some features that other ships don't have. The rock climbing wall is on many RC ships. But the new "flow rider" is unique to RC's Freedom and Liberty of the Seas ships. It is a place where you can go surfing on a boogie board right on the back of the ship. It works great, although I didn't try it. There is stadium seating for people to watch or sit while awaiting their turn. The ship also has an ice skating rink and during the week there are two days when there is a free ice show that is great, kinda like the Ice Capades. The ship also has a full sized basketball court and mini-golf. I cannot remember if it also had the roller blade track but it certainly has the ice skating.

This ship is great for kids and families with kids. On the pool deck there is one area called the H2O Zone which is essentially a small water park for kids; but us big kids can play there too. It has water cannons, a small lazy river, a pool, and falling water all over. Kids will love it. Then the middle of the ship has another pool where everyone can get wet or use a hot tub. Then up further there is an adults only area called the Solarium with a pool and two hot tubs that extend over the sides of the ship. These tubs are huge, can hold maybe 12 people and you can look over the side of the tub at the ocean.

The ship has THE best gymnasium I have ever seen on a cruise ship. All of the latest equipment, including weight machines, rowers, steppers, treadmills and each has its own TV screen so you can watch TV while you workout. It also has a boxing ring and some other new high tech stuff.

Answer 9

It all depends what you would like to do and visit.
I would suggest to check out the www.onevacationclub.com - there is a lot of info about cruises - all major cruise lines represented and the prices are affordable without compromise on quality. the travel consultants are very knowledgeable.

Answer 10

Royal and Celebrity are the same company and their cruise ships seem cleaner and more organized than the others. Main thing is to pick a good destination. Bermuda is of brittish rule, has a very low crime rate, nice beaches and pleanty to do.