Who has taken a non-Disney cruise?

[Cantw8]

The family and I cruised Disney two years ago and LOVED it. When I told my mother and aunt had much fun we had, they wanted to try a cruise. My aunt does not want Disney because she wants to be able to gamble. We were thinking a 4 night cruise, maybe southern Carribean in July. Anybody have any suggestions? Tell me your non-Disney experiences.

 

[kcashner]

We did 2 non-Disney cruises before DCL existed. Since then, we have done 9 DCL cruises. Does that tell you anything?

We want to do Alaska, and have intentionally put it off for a few years to see whether DCL does something with that route (it's been rumored since pre-9/11)

For gambling, how about the 4 day to Nassau. She can gamble at Atlantis....and do bingo on DCL.

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

It would be a hard find to go 4 days to southern. Most sountern's start in Puerto Rico and go at least 7. You may be able to find one out of Aruba, but I doubt it. If you are looking for a 4 day, you'll need to sail out of a US port (most likely).

I have sailed on 12 cruises (non-disney) and LOVEd them all. NCL, RCCL, Dolphin, Aloha Pacific, CCL, Windjammer. Each different, yet the same. Each company has their plusses and minus's. We've never had a bad cruise and I'm sure which ever you choose you will enjoy.

With Grandma aboard, I'd stay away from Carnival. Can get loud, rowdy and crowded. Celebrity is supposed to be nice, but haven't had the pleasure...YET! I'd say take a look at the itinerary if that is important to you. If gambling is, then look at the ship with the larget casino. If Rest and relaxation are your thing, look into an itinerary with a lot of sea days.

There are sooooooomany opinions out there, the only way to know what you like is to give it a try.

Mrsfuzzmo

 

[jkovick]

DH and I have sailed on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean as well as DCL. DCL was by far our favorite. I would choose RCCL over Carnival as RCCL was more laid back and understated than the "neon glitz" feel of the Carnival Ships. Neither Carnival or RCCL have the quality of shows and programming that DCL does, however we did think that food was better on RCCL.

 

[awatt]

I agree with Mmrsfuzzmo,there's no such thing as a bad cruise and each line has something to offer. You need to narrow your choices a little by thinking about what itinerary you'd like and which line fits best with your personality/needs for this particular trip.

I have sailed RCCL and loved it every time. IMHO RCCL has the best service of the 3 lines I've been on. Sailed teh NCL Dawn last summer too and loved it because the ship is so gorgeous, and their freestyle concept worked great for us as a family with small children,but felt we did not sacrifice elegance to accomadate the kids. We just got back from the Magic and had a great trip,largely because the kids had a blast being immersed in the Disney theme adn it was so much fun to watch them soak up the magic.

I will sail all three again,and which line i choose will epend on what we are in the mood for that particular trip.

Try cruisecritic.com. There are message boards and reviews there that may help you. Also,you will find some unbiased opinions about the other lines there,whereas on this board the obvious bias is DCL.

 

[SeaSpray]

DH and I fell in love with cruising aboard Royal Caribbean's Nordic Empress, last summer. As of this summer, 2004, Royal Caribbean will have 2 of their ships leaving from their new port in Bayonne, NJ. It'll be their newly refurbished Nordic Empress which will be doing alternating 8 night and 6 night cruises to Bermuda, and alternating 9 night cruise to the caribbean and 5 night to Canada on their huge Voyager of the Seas. We're doing a 7 night Disney cruise with our sons this summer, but we're going to book the 9 night caribbean cruise on RCI's Voyager for summer 2005 I also highly recommend www.cruiscritic.com for researching other cruise lines, and they have an extensive board for the various ports, around the world.