Trojan Man

So I'm trying to plan my next vacation and I'm leaning towards a cruise. I've been on Carnival and will never do it again. I've also been on Royal Caribbean and that was nicer, but not perfect.

I know that there are "ultra-premium" lines out there like Seabourn, Crystal, and Radisson, but they are too much for my budget right now.

I wanted to get your opinions on what of the "cheaper" lines are best (I am deliberatly excluding Carnival & Disney):

Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Princess, Celebrity, Norwegian.

TIA

RWO

Royal Caribbean gets my vote. I took the kids on one last summer, the new boats with the rock climbing wall, ice skating, etc. It was GREAT! Best cruise I've been on by far (I've been on 6 or 7...).

Roy

chris walrod

Did you intentionally omit Carnival?

kimballt

Check out Sivlersea. They have been voted the best small crusie line each of the last 5 years. The cruises are all-inclusive amd the ships hold around 250 passengers.

kauai_diver

I know you ruled out Crystal but my wife, son he's 4, and myself took a ~12 day cruise to Alaska from San Francisco on Crystal Harmony. Everything totalled to about 10K. Keep in mind EVERYTHING is paid for on the ship except alcoholic beverages, and me being the lush I am made our bill about 10.5k Tipping is optional, in fact the traven agent said you DO NOT have to tip unless you feel its totally warranted. And they have a great nanny service when you feel like staying out late to go dancing or something.

The service is impeccable, made us feel like we were royalty. The crew to passenger ratio is something like 3 to 1. The ship was flawless and spotless, it looked like a brand new ship but was about 10 years old.

You may just want to check out the pricing... we got the 3rd cabin size from the smallest and it had a beautiful large window and was a decent sized room. Granted you could probably get a cabin with a small balcony on Norwegian for the same price. But we heard so many good stories about Crystal we gave it a try, and we fell in love.

Only downside, since this was both of our first cruises, we are forever spoiled and cannot downgrade if we ever cruise again!

BuddyG

Just got back from the Carribean on the Golden Princess and it was awesome! We were on the Grand Princess 2 years ago so we obviously liked it enough to do it again!

Very nice boat, lots to do get a mini suite it has it's own balconey which is nice! Personal Choice dining is the way to go also.

Ian964

I just got back from the a 7 day cruise on holland america, it was really nice. Service was awesome, boat was great. No complaints

docjackson1

alot of right answers. i just got home a few days ago from being on the navigator of the seas (rccl)=spectacular boat. i have also been on the grand princess-another great boat.

rmrmd1956

We did a Mediterranean cruise on the Grand Princess in 2001. Awesome experience right down our personal butler! Planning a March Caribbean cruise on the 'Adventure of the Seas'.

Trojan Man

In response to everyone who voted "none of the above" on my poll: what are you smoking....I did not ask what the best cruise line in the world is, I asked which of the selected lines is the best. How do you come up with "none of the above" from that question???

To Chris Walrod: Yes, as my 1st post stated I am intentionally leaving out Carnival & Disney, both of which very much cater to young party people and kids, respectively. I cruised on Carnival about 9 years ago and unless something has drastically changed, I'll never do it again.

To Dekard: I very much appreciate the feedback, but whoa! $10K for a cruise vacation?? I was looking to spend around $3K for the 2 of us. I happen to subscribe to the Crystal newsletter, and I can't figure out why your cruise was so expensive. The average fare for "early booking" is around $2K - $3K per person unless you're in the really fancy suites.

It seems like everyone liked Royal Caribbean (which I've been on) and Princess (which I have not yet been on).

Thanks everyone for all your feedback!!

ignacio

cruises suck--there's nowhere to drive!