Cruise ship opinions- Page 2

[ashley0139]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 9:19pm

Cruises! Yay!

In terms of food, if you're not willing to pay for the REALLY upscale like Crystal, I think your best bet is Celebrity. I have been on a few of those and every time the food was amazing. In addition, they are very accomadating to any special wishes/restrictions you may have with your food. Also, Celebrity caters to a little bit of a more mature crowd. I have to say that the food on Royal Caribbean, I feel, has deteriorated in the past few years. It is still very good, and most of the RCL ships have more to do than some of the others. Princess is a great line, but I also feel their food has gone downhill. I have never been impressed with Norwegian in any form, in terms of food, service, and entertainment.

I think that Royal Caribbean usually has the best entertainment. Also, it depends on whether you are looking for a production show or a specialty show (i.e. comedian or solo singer) as Royal Caribbean usually has fewer production shows than Celebrity or Princess. Royal Caribbean has the best casino, IMO. The Casino Royale is very large and has all kinds of games on every ship. I have never been on Carnival, but I have heard it is more of the party ship. I have also never sailed Holland America. And as was already mentioned on here, Disney is obviously out of the question. No casino even.

I hope this helps you in some way. I love cruises and I'm jealous!

[bythesword84]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 9:20pm

Are you kidding? the Disney Cruise I went on was amazing. I mean yes, of course there were kids around but I didn't even notice them as a distraction.

The only other cruise I've been on was in Greece not out of the US so it probably doesn't apply here.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 9:23pm

No casino? *crosses Disney off the list* If not for penny slots and blackjack, I don't know how I'd spend my time!

I would LOVE to go on Crystal some day. I think a lot of the price goes towards the unlimited alcohol, though, which I can't tolerate (physically, I mean, not morally). Have you found that RCL's food has deteriorated post-9/11? I took one pre-9/11 and it was excellent, but my parents were just on RCL in December and said the quality's gone down. I found the same for Carnival.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 9:30pm

You know, I really can't remember if it was post 9/11 or not. I hadn't actually thought about that. I was also on RCL in December and found that the food quality had deteriorated. It's too bad, because I think they have great service and entertainment, but food is so much a part of a cruise.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:18pm

Bringing this back up for two reasons:

1. I was totally wrong about Holland-America. I talked to our cruise consultant yesterday and she said Holland-America is top-of-the-line, and I must have been thinking of Norweigan being the one with bad food. She says Holland-America's food is excellent.

2. Has anyone done a South American cruise? After watching "March Of The Penguins", I'm itching for a trip to Antarctica in a couple of years, and it seems like the only one that goes down there starts in Argentina, stops in Antarctica, and ends in Chile. Sounds like fun!

Updated On: 3/16/06 at 08:18 PM

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:26pm

Your cruise consultant is right- Holland-America's food is amazing. I went on one of their cruises to Alaska this summer and it was great.

[Craig]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:34pm

Had an AMAZING Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean's "Navigator of the Seas". Entertainment was great, accomodations were quite sizeable, staff was terrific and the boat is HUGE - complete with rock climbing wall, a few pools, spa, ice skating rink, movie theater, I think 6 restaurants, tons of bars... one of the largest on the seas (I think #2)

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:54pm

Come on the Norwegian Star and I'll make sure you have a great time.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:55pm

TheaterAddict, which Alaskan itinerary did you take? My first cruise was to - I think - the inside passage (Skagway, Ketchican, Juneau, etc.). I wasn't too crazy about the destination, but I took Celebrity and had a ball on the ship!

Craig, did you do Eastern Carribean? I think my parents took RC's "Navigator" last month to the Eastern, and they couldn't stop raving about the ship and the ports of call! Sadly, when I met up with them, we all went on a Western Caribbean cruise with Carnival, and were completely disappointed.

[kate2]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:57pm

Royal Caribbean is excellent

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:58pm

Stay away from Carnival...it's a crappy rip off

[Craig]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 9:06pm

Yup - eastern caribbean

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 9:10pm

Howdy, TD! How goes it? Are you still working on a ship? How are you finding it now? I took Carnival Elation to the Mexican Riviera in...2000? Or early 2001, and it was mediocre-to-somewhat good. Then I took Carnival Valor in December and was so disappointed. The quality has dropped even further, which is really saying something!

I'd say RC is my favorite in terms of on-board comfort and entertainment, but I seem to remember Celebrity having fantastic food (Michel LeRoux was actually on board with us to Alaska!). I suppose my next trip will be on Holland-America. Is Norweigan bad all over, or just food-wise?

[Craig]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 9:17pm

Tiff - if you're a meat or seafood eater - go RC and go on the navigator of the seas. Aside from the amazing food in the main dining room, they have a steak/seafood restaurant that only costs $20 per meal that is easily 5 star. P.s. that $20 entitles you to as many entrees as you want along with everything else that comes with it.

Also, having done a bunch of cruises - I think that ship had the best food overall - and most diverse selection - heck there's even a johnny rockets on board

There's also a full blown mall. I'm telling you - it's nuts!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 10:17pm

Yes, I'm still working on the ship. I'm on dry land for the next couple of weeks as the ship is in dry dock.

As far as the food goes, the buffet sucks, but the individual places are good.

[Broadway_Baby]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 10:27pm

Diva! Honey! How are you?

[Broadway_Baby]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 10:40pm

I've been on 6 Royal Caribbean ships (5 Voyager Class, 1 Radiance Class) and have been throughly impressed with each one. The entertainment is always great, and you'll never run out of stuff to do! One note regarding food: I used to avoid the dining room for lunch, and would go to the Windjammer Cafe' simply for convenince. However, I have recently discovered that lunches in the dining room are both delicious and extremely
quick. Personally, I like it much better than the food served at the Windjammer.

Also, the resturant Craig was referring to is 'Chop's' and is definitely worth your $20!


P.S- Holland-America is for the walker and oxygen tank crowd. Yes, it's known for it's elegance and fine dining, but if your 70 years old on HAL, you're a youngin'.

Updated On: 3/16/06 at 10:40 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 10:46pm

Hey BB,

I'm doing great. The ship is in dry dock so I have a few weeks on dry land.

[Popular]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 11:29pm

Enjoy drydock!!! I never got that lucky when I worked onboard.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 11:30pm

P.S- Holland-America is for the walker and oxygen tank crowd. Yes, it's known for it's elegance and fine dining, but if your 70 years old on HAL, you're a youngin'.


LMAO! I'll keep that in mind. I think they're the only ones who hit Antarctica on their South American cruises though, so I may need to mingle with them!

On "Navigator", was there an Italian restaurant called "Portofino"? My parents were raving about it. (BTW, I am definitely a meat and seafood eater. That's another plus for RC!)

Anyone going on a repositioning cruise this spring/summer?

TD, what company are you working for now? Is it 6- or 9-month contracts?

[Broadway_Baby]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 11:35pm

Yes, I believe that Portofino's is on Navigator (as well as on the other Voyager Class Ships). I just can't remember if it's in addition to Chops, or instead of it...

Updated On: 3/16/06 at 11:35 PM

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 11:38pm

Don't diss Windjammer. They make NO pretensions towards elegant cuisine.( Or accomodations either) Homestyle cooking really. I always descrbe Windjammer as "summer camp for grownups".
Windstar has a good rep as kinda between Windjammer's sailing and Crustals upscale elegance.

[Billboard Girl]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 11:40pm

On "Navigator", was there an Italian restaurant called "Portofino"? My parents were raving about it. (BTW, I am definitely a meat and seafood eater. That's another plus for RC!)

Navigator has both an Italian restaurant (Portofino) and a steakhouse (Chops). My family went on Navigator about 3 years ago and had a great time.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 11:41pm

I *think* it's in addition, but I could be wrong.

I was disappointed that (but I could understand why) Carnival doesn't open up sit-down dining for lunch, except for at-sea days. The buffets weren't terrible, but I thought the a la carte meals were much better.

Windjammer is good for the reasons you mentioned; it really depends what you're looking for. For dinner, I'd much rather do sit-down dining, and I look forward to the formal nights for that reason, while I understand that a lot of people would rather kick back at Windjammer in shorts and sandals.

What really shocked me was the correlation between the number of empty tables on the last night of seating, and the higher number of people at the buffet on that same night. Stiffing on the tips? *tsk tsk*


ETA: Sabrelady, are you talking about Windjammer cruise line or Windjammer Cafe on Royal Caribbean? I think we were referring to the latter. I was looking into Crystal cruises, and picked up a brochure for Oceania. Anyone have any feedback on Oceania?

Updated On: 3/16/06 at 11:41 PM

[Broadway_Baby]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 11:44pm

I don't think I've ever skipped an evening meal in the dining room to go to the Windjammer.

Formal dining is one of the things I enjoy most about cruising.