Different CruiseLines?

cruisinmama · August 2, 2005

I hope this won't stir anything bad up..But am curious what the real truth if there is one of what each line is really like?

Ok, I will put down what I have heard..and yes I understand you should go on the lines for yourself ...but some i may never get on...

But here is what we were told.. truth or not..but here goes:

Hal, more upgrade sailing..more adult sailing...as our tablemates put it...more sophisticated..

Carnival, more party ship...as I was told on another board..that .if I don't like to drink & party stay home.. :undecided:

RCI..more family geared.....can still be a party ship..

Princess...again more adult sailing....under HAL as far as quality

NCL...haven't heard to much about this line one comment was it does lack the luster of other ships..

Ok, Thats what i heard and again,I understand everyone is diff...as far as they see things...but is there a unwritten catergory about the Cruiselines

Now I didn't wear my flame-retardant clothes..hope I'll be ok... :wink:

JoeyandDavid · August 2, 2005

First let me start with the following disclaimer. All opinions expressed are that of Joey and David and does not reflect the opinion of anyone else!

Carnival Hal and Princess are all owned by Carnival Corporation, Very main stream and really not much difference IMHO since the acquisitions ( we have your money and good luck attitude).

We will no longer cruise any brand associated with Carnival.

End Disclaimer..

JohnG · August 2, 2005

Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruises lines are classified as mass market. They are designed to have an appeal to the widest cross section of people. Carnival had a reputation years ago as a party ship, but with their new large ships, they have similar passengers to other lines. The Fun Ship advertising doesn't help overcome the stereotype. Some of the best food I've eaten on over 20 cruises has been on Carnival. They have four dining times. They also have one of the best children's programs in Camp Carnival. Their ships all have water slides. Royal Caribbean has excellent physical plants in their ships, and IMHO mediocre food. They have facilities especially attractive to teens, e.g. rock climbing wall, inline skating, Johnny Rockets, skating rink, etc. They have two dining times. NCL differs from the other two in that they will soon have the newest fleet of ships. They offer Freestyle, which means you can dine anytime you like in any of the up to 10 different restaurants onboard. Never more than 4 of those have a cover charges. Dress is more casual, an formal nights are optional.

Costa and MSC are Italian-focused lines priced for the mass market. More smoking and non NorthAmerican passengers

Princess, Holland America, and Celebrity are classified as premium cruise lines, with Cunard in a niche of their own in premium lines. Interestingly, they are all owned by Carnival Corporation, except Celebrity, which is owned by Royal Caribbean. As premium lines, their food is kicked up a notch, often associated with well known chefs. The ships seem a bit more roomy, and a good space per passenger ratio. I don't feel crowded on them. They appeal to a middle aged and older crowd, because they cost a bit more. Age and spendable income do correlate. While HAL probably attracts the older crowd of the three, they have some of the most loyal passengers who sail on HAL over and over. Their newer ships with many balconies are attempting to appeal to more families and children. Princess has Personal Choice (anytime) and traditional dining with 2 seatings. Celebrity has two seatings. HAL has four seatings now, too.

Oceania fits in about here. Country club casual, affluent passengers, who travel or cruise frequently, and to distant locations. Many repeat passengers who love the pampering. Open seating dining

The luxury lines include Crystal, Raddison Seven Seas, Silverseas, are most expensive and all inclusive, carry less than 1000 passengers, and several include gratuities, wine with dinner, a stocked bar with 2 full sized bottles in each cabin, and high grade amenities. They passengers may be older, well traveled, and above average incomes. Cruises are often themed around art, tourism, or food and wine, with education programs Crystal has traditional dining while the other two are open seating. All have specialty restaurants.

The Yacht and Specialty lines include Seabourn and Windstar, both owned by Carnival Corporation, Seadream Yacht Club, and Star Clipper, typically 100-300 afluent passengers, and may have more non American passengers.

DaCruzNut · August 2, 2005

Having sailed most lines, more than once, here's my opinion:

Carnival-Definately "fun" ships, but they have toned down the old "animal House" image! They have made great strides in getting rid of teeny-boppers and attract more of a young couples/family crowd. Their food has improved vastly and is opnly a little behind Celebrity and Princess. Way ahead of Royal Caribbean and HAL.

Celebrity-My favorite line! Best food at sea, and the only line that still brews fresh coffee instead of using liquid concentrate. Baked goods are fantastic! Service is, also, excellent.

Princess-Just a touch below Celebrity.

HAL-Not much to do but relax. Caters to a older crowd!

Royal Caribbean-Has the best ships at sea, but food, entertainment, etc are far below par! What a waste of terrific ships!

Costa-Never again!

NCL-Not the same since Star Cruises took them over. "Freestyle" doesn't work for them....

sailingrose · August 2, 2005

Not only is each line different but things like food, crew and ship size will also effect your sailings. I love the mid sized ships like RCI's Grandeur of the Seas and Princess's sun class.

I've heard that Carnival has improved but won't try them again.

I liked HAL but the atmosphere is just too slow for me.

Celebrity was nice however I think I'd like the bigger ships. Food was excellent!

Princess I've found to be on par with RCI but that was 5 years ago and I'm trying them again.

Never done NCL but would hate freestyle cruising.

RCI fits our family well but I prefer the ships that are smaller. I've found the food and the crew to be much better.

KeithnRita · August 2, 2005

We can only answer for the four lines we cruised. Remember, this is only our opinion and opinions are like a certain part of your anatomy--everybody has one!

Celebrity--Great food and service, is probably now our favorite based on our last cruise on HAL. Not as many kids or young adults on the two ships we've been on. Also, we got the best pricing on the Horizon as any other line we've cruised.

HAL--We considered them our favorite before our last cruise on the Zaandam, which was cruise number six on HAL. It was our first repeat ship and in the two year gap the service and the food slipped a great deal. Some of the small things they spoiled us with have disappeared. As far as the age thing, we only noticed an older group on the old Westerdam and on our Alaska cruise on the Statendam. Maybe we aren't noticing because we are of this same group!

Carnival--We had great cruises and very good food on our three Carnival cruises. The cabins have been very roomy. Our biggest complaint is that we always felt crowded in the lounges, bars, etc, and especially the pool area. The chair hogs seem to prefer Carnival.

RCI--Based on our one and only cruise on the Rhapsody of the Seas, we rate them the lowest mainly because of their food. It just wasn't very good. Our outside cabin was probably the smallest of all our cruises. The service was good and we did not feel crowded.

Our next one is NCL and we can only hope for the best. The only way we will know for sure is from first hand experience. :cool: :cool:

Tut · August 3, 2005

We've sailed on 4 different cruise lines:

Carnival - cruise was ok but a lot of "Adult" entertainment. Even the matinee comedy (ventriloquist) act was a little PG13 and a lot of the parents walked out with their children. We always go to the matinees because we find they're just as funny without the adult humor except this time. When it came time to fill out the form on what we liked/disliked about the cruise, we were told to "not let a small mistake influence our remarks". I'm sure they got a lot of complaints. Now that I've said that - the food was good and the other shows were terrific. Really hated the disembarkation because it took forever. They kept paging this family, who never seemed to show up, and wouldn't let us off the ship until they did (or until whatever problem they were having was resolved). Lots of smokers so not too pleasant. This was a few years ago so I'm hoping it's improved some because that's where we're going on our next cruise.

Big Red Boat - anyone remember that one? That was our very first cruise and everyone knows, the first time is always the best. We really enjoyed everything on that cruise and it had all the Looney Tunes characters so I got autographs and pictures of all of them. We took a second cruise with them but by then, Disney had their ships and they were on their way out. On the Carnival cruise, we saw both ships docked in Nassau and knew they weren't going anywhere. It was a little sad.

Royal Caribbean - lots of glitz on this cruise and lots of big time gamblers. It was very nice but they didn't have a lot to do or any food courts or things like that. It was ok but not one of the better ones.

Disney Wonder - lots of Disney ambiance but if you're going to do the parks before or after the cruise, it's not worth the extra money you pay. The food was ok and the shows were typical Disney but it was a little "over the top". I'm sure the families with small children really enjoy it but for just my hubby and I, we'll probably not do a Disney cruise again.

jtutak · August 3, 2005

From my perspective all the lines have strong & weak points. I think they all have excellent products. A lot of people knock NCL & Carnival but a lot of people must like them also. Different people like different things ,that is what makes the world go around. I have never found a cruise I didn't like!!!