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| Carnival Cruise Ships - Nassau, Bahamas - Copyright Andy Richards 2022 |
RECENTLY, I was reading online trying to keep up with new (to me anyway) developments on cruising. One concept I read struck me. There are 100's of cruise ships to choose from, and every one of them (even the "sister" ships within a class) have something (or things) different to discover, explore, and in most cases, enjoy. We consider ourselves "seasoned" cruisers, with more than 20 cruises under our belt. As I peruse different cruising sites, it is clear to me that we are still in the "sophomore" stage of our cruising. I have no idea how many total cruises we will have finally taken over our time on earth, but I know we will keep on doing it as long as we are able.
For us, it is more about the itinerary than the ship
THE NAME of this blog suggests to the reader that I have a "favorite." At the moment, all other things being equal, I would choose one of the newer class Celebrity Ship to cruise on. But that is certainly not a hard and fast position. And in keeping with my opening remarks, we will - I am certain - when circumstances present, cruise on other lines. For us, it is more about the itinerary than the ship. Having said that, there are some lines that, based on my research and anecdotal evidence, we will not even look at. We have no interest, for example in cruising on either Carnival or Costa (ironically, Carnival Corp. owns Princess, which we have no problem cruising on). Not trying to be elitist by any means. We know that there are cruisers and potential cruisers who would not be able to go on any cruise at all, if these so-called "budget" lines didn't exist. They are just not for us. Because of that, any useful information you may get here will not include them.
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| Top Deck; Celebrity Edge - Copyright Andy Richards 2019 |
THERE ARE cruise lines and then there are cruise lines. We generally cruise on a medium-capacity, relatively sedate, cruise ship that offers a relaxed, adult experience with a premium on visiting interesting ports of call around the world. Our usual experience is what we think is probably pretty common among the majority of cruise passengers in our demographic (60's, comfortable, but not "wealthy," reasonably good health, and retired). We personally don't book suites, or luxury "class" packages on the ships (though we know some who do). We do book more or less standard balcony rooms. We do generally buy the premium drink package, as we are cocktail drinkers, and we also like the higher end specialty coffee bars, and abundantly available water. We really haven't done any in-depth analysis on weather that is the most cost-effective approach (and we get that the packages are not for everyone). We just like not having to think about it. This is an area where the cruise line makes a difference. We understand that some lines (like Princess and Holland America) impose a limit on the number of drinks per day that are covered in the package. Celebrity doesn't (at least at this point). While that might make a difference, we are doubtful that we would reach that maximum (we surely haven't on our several Princess experiences).
SOME CRUISE lines focus on a younger audience: young adults, college students on "spring break," and even young children ("Disney"). Some are known for their party atmosphere, as well as entertainment activities like waterslides, rock walls, and go-kart tracks. There are more exclusive small-ship experiences that offer a "premium luxury experience" often with all-included meals and refreshments. I won't comment on them, as we have not done a cruise on any of them. It isn't likely (though anything is possible) that we will. If that is your thing, you will have to research elsewhere. 😊 There are also the very exclusive exploration cruises in exotic places like the Galapagos. We haven't done one and do not see it in our foreseeable future cruising. Our focus has been on the English-speaking cruise lines (for the entirely selfish reason that we speak - exclusively - English. We wish we spoke at least on other language). But be aware that some of the lines in Europe are not exclusively English language oriented (Mein Schiff comes to mind, for example).
It is difficult to really get a good "feel" for what a cruise is like before you do one. It is easy to have a preconceived perception
AS FAR as my research has uncovered, there is no "industry standard" classification of cruise lines. I do know that there are lines that offer a "premium" experience, and lines that offer "budget" cruises. And then there are a number of (probably most) others who are in between. Because there is no real "standard," cruise lines and passengers are free to refer to ships and lines in whatever way they wish. One person's luxury may be another's "pedestrian" (or worse). What a cruise line may call "luxury," or "premium" may not be what you consider luxury or premium to be. My best, most recent, example is our January 2023 cruise in South Africa aboard Norwegian Cruise Line - owned "Oceania." Oceania touts itself as a "premium luxury" cruise line. As I wrote in a recent blog, "Something New For Us," our own measure of Oceania is that it fell well below our thinking of what "luxury premium" standards should be - being on par with, or even slightly behind our own measuring stick: Celebrity. We also found it to be on par with or below the standards of Princess. Neither Celebrity nor Princess would be considered "luxury premium" lines by most people's standards.
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| Martini's Lounge - Oceania Nautica - Copyright Andy Richards 2023 |
CHOOSING A cruise line and ship will be driven by a number of factors. You need to think about what you are seeking. Is it a fun, entertainment-filled vacation in the sun? Will you have younger folks with you who will seek a different kind of entertainment than older adults may seek? Or do you want a quiet, more sophisticated, but relaxing atmosphere, or are you more interested in a constant "party" vibe? Is an exciting on shore itinerary important to you, or are you just seeking the onboard cruise experience? What is your budget? How much time do you have? All of these things will factor into your experience. There are many cruisers participating on various on-line spaces like Cruise Critic.com and the various Facebook Pages for cruises and cruise ships, that find the luxury "extras" important and worth paying a premium for. My wife and I like to think of ourselves as rather ordinary, and our tastes run to the "everyman" experience. We personally have no need for, or interest in being "pampered" with things like our own exclusive restaurants, lounges, pool areas or "butlers." Nor do we ever seek an exclusive area on the ship. We wouldn't enjoy those things. We like our mainline cabin (we generally do a balcony, not for status, but for the view and feeling of space). We like eating in the main dining areas (MDR) of the ship (where we are sometimes seated with strangers who we strike up a conversation with - and occasionally become friends with). We might splurge once or twice a cruise and eat in one of the upgrade restaurants. But for the most part we are happy with what the standard cruise packages offer. That's us. You may be different. Most ships within our criteria have atmosphere and itinerary offerings that allow for varied approaches. Maybe you prefer to dine alone or with just the members of your group. That is no problem for modern cruise ship dining rooms.
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| Royal Princess - Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
FOR OUR first ever cruise, back in 2010, we did Alaska's inside passage. Having never cruised, we knew nothing about cruise ship. I was given the "privilege" of choosing the ship for the 4 of us who would be cruising. I spent months before we booked, looking at different cruise lines and ships. Even with all the information available online, it is difficult to really get a good "feel" for what a cruise is like before you do one. It is easy to have a preconceived perception, and often, the huge variation between higher end and "bargain" lines and cruises can taint that thinking. I had a perception, for example, of a more "Carnival"-like atmosphere, with mainly mediocre buffet food. I was incorrect, of course. For our own personal "demographic," we were looking for something a little quieter, a bit classier than the "party atmosphere, and with decent amenities. I boiled it down to two cruise lines: Princess and Holland America (HAL). I liked what I saw in HAL. But ultimately a couple factors leaned us toward Princess. Again, much of the "research" results are anecdotal and opinion-based (like here :-) ), but it felt to me like Princess had a slightly more casual vibe, (and conversely, HAL, a more formal vibe). And perhaps more importantly, Princess has done a very good job of kind of "locking up" Alaska, with their dominant presence there. They have a huge terminal in Whittier, which is, I believe, exclusively used by Carnival Cruise Lines and its subsidiaries (Carnival owns both Princess and HAL, for those who didn't know). They also have their large and modern hotel at the entrance of Denali National Park, and extensive land-based touring in Alaska. Their "Cruise-tour" packages are probably their most popular Alaska experiences. I would probably lean toward Princess today, if we were going to cruise again in Alaska (though other cruise lines certainly provide a similar experience). I have often thought that, had we chosen HAL, our entire cruise experience over the next 15 years might have been very different. We had friends who did a very similar cruise on HAL and had good things to say.
YOU JUST might choose different ships/lines for different itineraries. That was certainly a consideration for Alaska, and from what I have read, it would probably still be a consideration if we were to cruise again in Alaska. In a like vein, one of our justifications for booking the South Africa cruise on Oceania is that it does not appear that the larger ships we normally sail on go there. If you read my blog about the South Africa cruise, you know I would not recommend doing it and I would not do it again under any normal circumstances. A big part of a cruise is finding an itinerary that lends itself to coastal stops. For the most part, the "action" in South Africa is inland and the way to do it - in my view - is on "safari." Land-based. But we didn't know, and you can see how that tempers ship and cruise line choices. I think cruising in the Indonesian Islands (something we may someday pursue) would have some of the same "smaller ship" considerations.
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| Diamond Princess - Skagway, Alaska - Copyright Andy Richards 2010 |
IN OUR 15 years of cruising, we have cruised on 5 different cruise lines. 60 percent of the time we have cruised on a Celebrity ship. 25% have been on Princess ships. The other 15% has been divided between Royal Caribbean, Holland America, and Oceania (owned by NCL). Full disclosure: my wife did "girlfriend" trips on both of the RC cruises, so I have never personally been on a Royal Caribbean ship. But having cruised together many times, we were able to compare notes, and I got good "intel" from her. As I mentioned at the outset, our sampling may be small. There are undoubtedly cruisers who have cruise more different lines than we have. But in our "wheelhouse," we think our sampling is good enough to give us some perspective on the cruise industry.
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| Holland America |
I HAVE mentioned here before that we think that a 2,000 - 2,500 passenger ship is our own personal "sweet spot." We know people who feel that is much too large, and prefer the smaller, more intimate ships. We also know a few that like the rollicking, party atmosphere some of the Carnival ships, and of the megaships like Royal's Icon of The Seas, which holds nearly 3 times that number of passengers. On the
"small ship" experience, in December 2023, we spent a little over a week on the Oceania Nautica, which has a guest capacity of only about 1/3 of our "sweet spot" size (670 max.). As you might expect, everything (and I mean everything) was proportionately smaller. You can see my more specific review of our time on the Nautica here. There were definitely pros and cons to this cruise ship. Our particular cruise had only about 400 people. I wonder if it might have felt more crowded at capacity. It was fun, though, to experience a new and different ship and experience. And every line does certain things differently. For some of the people we have met aboard ships over the years, the Nautica's diminutive size and "laid back," traditional atmosphere would be just right. We have met some very "seasoned" cruisers who in some cases have done 3 or more times the number of cruises we have. They are often older and tend to cruise more for the ship atmosphere. They often even rarely leave the ship. I think a ship like Nautica is probably ideal for cruisers like that - but probably only if they do a "premium" type package. We had a "standard" balcony package. That does not give access to the fitness center, steam room, etc. (though I think they could be accessed by paying an additional charge). The rooms (especially the bathroom) were very small. They were nice, but nothing more opulent than what we are accustomed to on Celebrity or Princess Ships. The food was very good. The decor was elegant, and the ship clean and tidy. The bar, wait, and entertainment staff were as good as any we have ever experienced, with one very notable exception (the cruise director was arrogant, and in our view completely derelict in his responsibility in at least one major occasion, but that could occur on any ship anywhere, so it really isn't commentary on Oceania as a cruise line). Their boarding process was the second worse we have experienced in our 20-plus cruises, and by and large, the administrative staff were mediocre at best - unhelpful at worst. Given those factors, and the fact that the cost to us was more than double our usual cost, we find it difficult to "grant" Oceania the "premium/luxury" status. Interestingly, Oceania is owned by the same parent company as NCL, which we think would probably offer a similar experience to Princess, HAL, and Celebrity. We know some folks who have cruised on NCL and they have liked it, by and large.
We think of Celebrity, Princess, HAL (and probably NCL) as similar in class and experience
YOU CERTAINLY should identify a category of cruise that you want. Are you wanting a "party" cruise atmosphere with (most likely) a warm weather destination? Do you want lots of young people, bars, "clubs," and the like? Do you want more of a family atmosphere? Or, like us, would you prefer a more mature (35 - 75) demographic, with a slower pace, more "elegant" style and setting and more "sedate" amenities? This is important, because it is the onboard portion of the trip, which will be the majority of your time. All cruise ships will have a theater and shows. But they often differ greatly in their food offerings, the cabin amenities, the pool areas, etc. They can range from raucous (think Carnival), to understated and elegant (think upscale or premium lines like Oceania, or even more upscale Viking, Azamara, Silversea, etc.). Another major factor, of course, is your budget. Cruises like the latter mentioned tend to be much more expensive than cruises on Carnival, Costa, and other "budget" lines. The more "mainstream" cruises like Princess, Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and MSC are more costly than the budget lines, but generally significantly less than the "premium" lines. There is much variability within these categories, and ironically, some of the so-called premium lines really don't offer as much "bang for your buck" as the mid-lines do. Something to factor in when considering this aspect of your choices.
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| Ruby Princess - Caribbean - Copyright Andy Richards 2012 |
WE THINK of Celebrity, Princess, HAL (and probably NCL) as similar in class and experience. Most of their ships these days come within our plus or minus 2.000 passenger personal criteria. They mostly offer pretty nice amenities in their more or less standard cruise levels (balcony stateroom, MDR setup, and maybe a drink package). The rooms are generous sized (including the bathrooms), clean and modern (there is the occasional long-in-the-tooth ship, but most lines systematically upgrade every few years). The food is good to sometimes excellent. Staff is friendly and helpful, with an eye (outwardly at least) to making sure you have a good experience as passengers. The entertainment is generally very good. In our experience, Princess seems to have a slight edge in this area - at least when it comes to their theatre-type productions. Both Princess and HAL ships seem to put more of a premium on smaller, more intimate music venues. Princess has it's "Crooner's" lounge, and a couple others (depending on the ship), and HAL features a couple specialty music venues featuring rock and roll and jazz and blues. In our experience, all the in-house musicians, as well as most that are contracted for a particular cruise are excellent and very professional.
"amenities" can be very important
ONCE YOU have gotten a handle on the type of cruise you want to do, the single most important factor for us has always been the itinerary. Cruises can primarily be divided into two categories. The first (and perhaps best known and most popular over the years) is the "vacation" cruise, usually in a warm weather destination. For citizens of the American Continent (U.S. and Canada primarily), this is probably most often the Caribbean. For Europeans, in addition to the Caribbean, places like the south of Portugal, parts of Greece and other places in the Mediterranean are also popular. These cruises are generally of shorter duration (a week or less) and often happen in the Caribbean during the cold winter months for North Americans. The second category is the adventure or travel cruise. We are most familiar with cruises in Europe including numerous trips to the Mediterranean, as well as trips into the North Sea, Irish Sea, English Channel, and the Baltic Ocean Other adventure trips include various destinations around North America, like the Atlantic Coast, mainly from New York North to places like Bar Harbor, Maine, and on up into the Canadian Provinces (all the way into the St. Lawrence and down to Montreal and Quebec City). The west coast also has some popular cruises from San Diego to Vancouver. And of course, the Alaskan "Inside" passage is extremely popular in season. Finally (and we haven't really done any of this) there cruises in the Pacific to and around Hawaii, the Polynesian Islands, and Japan (where we are scheduled to cruise for 12 days in April 2024).
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| Celebrity Apex - Iceland - 2023 |
THESE DAYS, probably because we live in Florida, we do the latter "adventure" type cruises more often. We do still do Caribbean cruises. But they are less frequent, and generally are more about the atmosphere of the sunny, warm weather cruise ship than the destination. On December 30, 2023, for a 7-day cruise. We had been to all but one of our 3 stops multiple times. We got off the ship, mostly to do some walking around and bar - hopping more than any industrious itinerary. We did hire a spur-of-the-moment driver to give us a tour of our stop in Tortola, BVI (the one we had not yet been to). We were with some old, close friends who we have cruised together with several times - but not recently, so all 4 of us are looking forward to getting away, warm, sunny weather and some time on the ship more than anything.
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| Celebrity Apex - Sunset on the Caribbean - Copyright Andy Richards 2023 |
WHEN IT comes to the "adventure" cruises, the itinerary becomes all-important. If Princess (or perhaps HAL in the future, after we experience it) offers what we think is a better itinerary, we will not hesitate to book on those cruise lines.
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| Cigar Smoking Area - Celebrity Edge Class Ships - Copyright Andy Richards 2019 |
FOR SOME, "amenities" can be very important. You may want to think about things that we might take for granted in our everyday lives. If you, or a member of your traveling party has a handicap, accessibility may be an important consideration. Virtually all of the newer ships are pretty well set up for this. Some of the older, and smaller ship may not be as good (though all have to meet minimum standards). For example, from my personal observation, the larger Princess and Celebrity ships have a hoist-chair in at least one of their pools. All ships have elevators. Most cruise lines pay at least lip-service to special dietary needs. Some are better than others, but I have frequently read some commentary online that suggests that some do it better than others. It is worth doing some research if you have special dietary needs - or have significant food allergies. One area that is "near and dear to me" is the way the cruise line (and sometimes individual ships) handle smoking policies. I know of only one (European) cruise line that still allows smoking on individual balconies. The rest allow it in specifically designated areas only. I certainly appreciate that non-smokers are in the majority (in the U.S. at least) and that many find the odors created noxious. I am not (nor have I ever been) a cigarette smoker. But I do enjoy a nice, hand-rolled cigar. I am completely behind the cruise policies to restrict smoking to specific areas (though I think the occasionally "militant" stance some non-smokers take are sometimes over-the-top). Some do this better than others. In my personal experience, the most accommodating line has been Celebrity - particularly on their larger, newer (Edge Class) ships. There is also a distinction between cigarette and cigar smoking (although ironically, I have heard it said many times by non-smokers that they prefer the smell of cigar and pipe smoke to cigarette smoke). The Nautica, for example had two smoking areas, but only one of them allowed cigar smoking. Some have felt less "welcoming" than others. Again, Celebrity is among the most cigar-friendly cruise lines in my experience. Do you want to gamble? Every ship I have been on has had a casino. On the very small ships, it might be more apt to refer to it as a "card room." On the larger ships, they resemble an on-land casino (albeit smaller by a magnitude). It may be worth looking at the size and quality of the onboard casino.
I HOPE this has given some insight on choosing your cruise line/ship. Bon Voyage!
