For those of you who have cruise other lines....:?

[pjacobi]

And it's a beautiful ship. That's the only good things I can say about NCL Hawaii.

PP, I really hope you have better service than we did. Waiting an hour between courses during dinner while hungry passengers are lined up out in the hall just isn't my idea of a good cruise!

Because of the Jones Act of 1920, NCL POA has basically a monopoly on Hawaii-Hawaii cruises. No competition means poor service!


-Paul

 

[jdb in AZ]

Because of the Jones Act of 1920, NCL POA has basically a monopoly on Hawaii-Hawaii cruises. No competition means poor service!


-Paul

We sailed the Hawaiian islands with America Hawaii cruises which unfortunately went out of business after 9/11. It was a classic ship, sister to the ship that was in the film "An Affair to Remember" with Deborah Kerr and Carrie Grant. Even tho the ship was old and the plumbing burped every night, the food and the service were SO much better than NCL Hawaii. Which makes us wonder how NCL Hawaii has lasted this long. Probably because of their monopoly on that itinerary.

 

[pigletto]

Looking into our first Disney cruise.

We have sailed with Celebrity many times, and Carnival once.
Celebrity was worlds above the Carnival experience. Kind of like comparing Pop to the Yacht and Beach club. So it depends what you are looking for.
Celebrity doesn't have a huge number of kids, but enough that we don't feel out of place. The service is spectacular, the food outstanding and the decor/overall feel of the ship is much nicer. Depending on the sailing it can be very expensive but does provide a very nice experience.

Carnival was fun, and I was young and single so all the of the drinking/partying was a great time. Not the atmosphere I am looking for now.
Disney looks like a great experience with unique entertainment, but we no longer have young children and I am not sure I want to pay so much more for a sailing that will likely be very full of young children. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not really where our focus is anymore.

I'd also like to give NCL and RC a try.

 

[kandekarleen]

We have sailed on the Carniaval Spirit and it was terrible!!!! Had to eat in the same resteraunt night after night(After 12 nights it gets to you).Sevice was ok but they put 5 of us a at table for 4. Even when there was extra tables they just gave us achair to put at the end of the bench seats. Whoever sat in the chair was always in the way becasue it was right by kitchen.
Kids club was never open. Only a couple hours at a time twice a day. Nothing to do. If you like Bingo they had plenty of that but not much else. Pools were always closed. We spent alot of time in our stateroom on that trip due to nothing going on, smoking was discusting and everywhere. Cast Members did nothing about it. One night they had a Hawaiian Party in the Selerium. We sat there for 5 min and couldn't take it our eyes were burning from the smoke. It could of been the time of year and it being a repo cruise but I know I will not take that ship on that itierary again!!!

 

[cruisinwithmaandpa]

Your kids will love Epic. One thing I did not like about Epic is the kids club hours - you have to pay if you want them to stay after 10. I also did not like that they will not feed the kids. Inconvenient for the nights we ate in the specialty restaurants and didn't want to take them with us.

Dom't have to worry about kids club, it's our sons wedding cruise

 

[ibouncetoo]

Glad I read this thread, as it makes me very happy about our choice to give Celebrity a try! We 'traded in' our Christmas 2013 Fantasy 7 day cruise (an itinerary we've already done) for a 14 day Celebrity Eclipse Christmas cruise. For $500 more we are going from an inside on DCL to a veranda on Celebrity AND getting an extra seven days and some exciting 'new to us' ports!

DCL cruise #14 is coming up for me on the Fantasy (at a good rate I booked a year ago) and I can't wait. All my DCL cruises except one have been with adults only and I've had a blast. Sill, really looking forward to trying Celebrity.

.

 

[FJS961]

I am now contemplating a Med cruise on Celebrity Silhoutte. Right now a cat 4a on one of the DCL 12 night Med cruises for the 5 of us is pricing out at ... wait for it ... 20 THOUSAND!!!

 

[Alexander]

It looks like you've already made up your mind.

Woody

That's not fair! I feel the same way as the OP about another line not living up to Disney, however, with ridiculous pricing, all the new OBB and CC changes, I am looking more and more to stray from Disney but afraid of what I might find.

 

[Alexander]

I am now contemplating a Med cruise on Celebrity Silhoutte. Right now a cat 4a on one of the DCL 12 night Med cruises for the 5 of us is pricing out at ... wait for it ... 20 THOUSAND!!!

Yep! An 11C stateroom on DCL is the same price for two of us as a verandah stateroom AND airfare on Celebrity.

 

[FJS961]

Yep! An 11C stateroom on DCL is the same price for two of us as a verandah stateroom AND airfare on Celebrity.

It's pretty crazy

 

[bobbiwoz]

We've sailed Princess, RCCL, Carnival, Disney and a few smaller lines like American Hawaii Cruise. We have deposits for future cruises on Princess & RCCL, and 4 cruises presently booked on Disney. We didn't particularly like Carnival's future booking offer, so we didn't buy one in January when we were on the Legend, although we did like that cruise out of Tampa.

I really enjoy afternoon tea, & even lower priced Carnival has a good one. We enjoy hearing good piano music and relaxing. I do not enjoy the adult comedian shows at all on carnival, and 4 of the 5 family comedy shows we attended On the Legend this past winter were hilarious! We have never had bad experiences with rowdy people or drunks on any of our cruises. We have seen some of Carnival's cutbacks, I think the drinks were half price, not free, at the Captain's reception! However they were still free at the past guest reception. We probably like Princess the best. They have a free deli sort of area that had great salads & cheeses, (maybe pasteries) and we often enjoyed just a little snack there. We enjoy the "anytime" dining on both Princess & RCCL.

Well, Disney's pricing has stopped us from offering another family cruise with Disney, we are most likely going on Freedom of the Seas next year if the family wants a 7 night cruise. We have a $4000 difference in costs between that and the Fantasy, & we're not willing to pay it for a similar cruise, including stops at their private island. We've been to coco cay, & it's nice!

We don't drink pop, and don't have much of a bar tab.

Best wishes as you decide what to do!

Bobbi

 

[molly2kitt]

Hi, I have cruised, Holland, Princess, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and just did my first Disney Cruise.

IMHO Disney wins for Entertainment only - and only for the stage shows - they were really wonderful.

We were in an Inside 11A - 1 adult - two kids and it was the tiniest cabin I had ever been in - as well as the most expensive - but the kids had a great time. The food was not their best feature. Some people rave about their servers but we sure didn't get one of those.

I really feel the best food is Celebrity - they have great amenities on their ships and the staterooms are beautiful. I love the ships that have Thalassotherapy pools and to sail in Glacier Bay while watching the view from the Sauna and Dressing room is truly decadent. (once again IMO)

Holland has very good food too and excellent staff - nice rooms also with very comfy beds. However, older crowd and not a lot of evening entertainment. I have seen excellent "Holland American Idol" shows and great guest entertainers here too.

Princess has good food. Nice room - beds are not comfortable (IMO) ZUMBA! which I love and okay shows.

Royal Caribbean has nice rooms, great shows, some ships have ice rinks and climbing walls and the ice shows are really quite good. The food at the buffet is certainly not my cup of tea - but the dining rooms are OK. There is way more happening on the ship than you find on Princess or Holland.

Norwegian - I probably would not select again - the food was really bad but we did the Med in the summer so tons of kids - the ports were wonderful and as we were so tired it worked out fine.

I think that any cruise is better than being at home though and hope you really enjoy your holiday.

 

[NancyIL]

Hi, I have cruised, Holland, Princess, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and just did my first Disney Cruise.

IMHO Disney wins for Entertainment only - and only for the stage shows - they were really wonderful.

We were in an Inside 11A - 1 adult - two kids and it was the tiniest cabin I had ever been in - as well as the most expensive - but the kids had a great time. The food was not their best feature. Some people rave about their servers but we sure didn't get one of those.

I really feel the best food is Celebrity - they have great amenities on their ships and the staterooms are beautiful. I love the ships that have Thalassotherapy pools and to sail in Glacier Bay while watching the view from the Sauna and Dressing room is truly decadent. (once again IMO)

Holland has very good food too and excellent staff - nice rooms also with very comfy beds. However, older crowd and not a lot of evening entertainment. I have seen excellent "Holland American Idol" shows and great guest entertainers here too.

Princess has good food. Nice room - beds are not comfortable (IMO) ZUMBA! which I love and okay shows.

Royal Caribbean has nice rooms, great shows, some ships have ice rinks and climbing walls and the ice shows are really quite good. The food at the buffet is certainly not my cup of tea - but the dining rooms are OK. There is way more happening on the ship than you find on Princess or Holland.

Norwegian - I probably would not select again - the food was really bad but we did the Med in the summer so tons of kids - the ports were wonderful and as we were so tired it worked out fine.

I think that any cruise is better than being at home though and hope you really enjoy your holiday.

I agree with your assessment of the cruise lines other than NCL - which I haven't sailed. However, Celebrity doesn't go to Glacier Bay.

 

[molly2kitt]

Celebrity Millenium did go to Glacier Bay when I cruised it May 2009. I do not know if it goes there at the present time.

I have been on the Millenium and Summit and they both have the thalassotherapy pools and wonderful showers and saunas.

Of course, these could always be removed in a renovation but I hope not.

 

[justmestace]

The adult Serenity deck are is lovely and peaceful. If you go on a ship that has it, you'll love it. All the Carnival ships have an adult only pool and area, but the ones with Serenity are great.

I've cruised on Carnival Destiny, Spirit, and Splendor. They are three different class ships and I enjoyed them all. I'm not sure when you're planning this trip for, but Destiny is going in for a huge overhaul and will re-emerge as Carnival Sunshine.

Just got off the one year old Carnival Magic on Sunday, and it does NOT have an adult-only pool. I was pretty bummed, but afternoons on port days....after coming back from our excursions....the aft pool was nearly deserted, so all was good.

I agree completely with your assessment. I've done 3 Carnival cruises, and am going on the Splendor in a couple of weeks, one Princess, 3 Norwegian, and 12 Disney, and have had a great time on all of them. Caribbean Princess was my least favorite.

It is what you make it!

 

[TXDCLfan]

Just got off the one year old Carnival Magic on Sunday, and it does NOT have an adult-only pool. I was pretty bummed, but afternoons on port days....after coming back from our excursions....the aft pool was nearly deserted, so all was good.

I agree completely with your assessment. I've done 3 Carnival cruises, and am going on the Splendor in a couple of weeks, one Princess, 3 Norwegian, and 12 Disney, and have had a great time on all of them. Caribbean Princess was my least favorite.

It is what you make it!

It may have changed but I think that the pool on deck 10 aft was the adult pool I thought that they had metal sighns on stands saying adults only???

 

[NancyIL]

Celebrity Millenium did go to Glacier Bay when I cruised it May 2009. I do not know if it goes there at the present time.

I have been on the Millenium and Summit and they both have the thalassotherapy pools and wonderful showers and saunas.

Of course, these could always be removed in a renovation but I hope not.

Interesting, because Celebrity and Royal Caribbean normally don't have Glacier Bay permits. You were indeed fortunate!

 

[Ginamarie]

Glad I read this thread, as it makes me very happy about our choice to give Celebrity a try! We 'traded in' our Christmas 2013 Fantasy 7 day cruise (an itinerary we've already done) for a 14 day Celebrity Eclipse Christmas cruise. For $500 more we are going from an inside on DCL to a veranda on Celebrity AND getting an extra seven days and some exciting 'new to us' ports!

DCL cruise #14 is coming up for me on the Fantasy (at a good rate I booked a year ago) and I can't wait. All my DCL cruises except one have been with adults only and I've had a blast. Sill, really looking forward to trying Celebrity.

.

Jackie- the switch from a 7 day Fantasy cruise to 14 nights on Celebrity seems like a no brainer to me. I LOVE DCL, but I'll always take 14 nights over 7.

We're just back from 4 nights on Carnival, and it wasn't nearly long enough (that was as long as DH and I could get away by ourselves though, and 4 nights is still better than 0)

 

[justmestace]

It may have changed but I think that the pool on deck 10 aft was the adult pool I thought that they had metal sighns on stands saying adults only???

Nope. No signs, nothing posted in the Fun Times, and lots of kids in both the pool and the hot tubs. Well, not LOTS, but always quite a few. I think there weren't a lot because of the water slides and the big splash area....thankfully those kept the kids from being totally overwhelming.

 

[justmestace]

One thing I found REALLY interesting about the Carnival cruise, they are VERY specific about what can and cannot be worn in the dining rooms.
They actually list things like "no shorts, cut offs, sleeveless shirts on men...etc" and it isn't just a "suggestion". We saw a man have to leave the Steakhouse and go put on nicer clothes. I've never seen anyone turned away like that on Disney. I think they're too afraid of offending someone.....even if that one person's clothes offend many others around him or her.

On formal night, I saw more tuxes and gowns than I've seen on several of my last Disney cruises.