Which cruiseline is best for European trip?

Show all answers

TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

I have been on two Mediterranean cruise among the approximately 20 cruises I have been on. I have also been on Royal Caribbean, NCL, Princess and Celebrity cruise lines. So here's what my opinion is.

If you want to be waited on "hand and foot" and you have been on Princess, then you DO NOT want to go on Norwegian. We just did a western Med cruise on the new NCL Gem ship this past Oct/Nov. The ship was in my opinion for a new ship not very well decorated; it was OK but not as pretty as the 3 Princess ship I have been on or the 7 or 8 RC ships I have been on.

The NCL's "freestyle" cruising means that you do not have to pick a dinner seating time and you can just go whenever you want to. But there are hassles with that because you can end up standing in line at the main dining room door waiting for a table. The line was so long on our cruise that they were actually handing out buzzers like in restaurants to let you know when a table is ready. I am a person who likes traditional cruising where I have a table assigned to me and a waiter whom in the course of my week or two I get to know and the waiter and assistant get to know what I like. On NCL you will have a different table and wait staff each day. You can make reservations in the main dining room so your wait is shorter, or if you get there at opening there hardly any wait, but they would only let us reserve for two days at a time, so that because another hassle.

Then at the end of the cruise you are charged $10 a person per day for gratuities and that money goes into a pot that all share. So there is really no incentive for wait staffs to go overboard to serve you. That's my opinion and the opinion I have heard from others.

I actually rate Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Princess very close in terms of service, food, shows, and the comfort and beauty of their ships. However, I did find that Celebrity was just a cut above the other two. I have also think that Royal Caribbean has the better activities on its ships. Things like (on certain ships) the rock climbing wall, roller blading, ice skating, an ice show that is fantastic, a solarium with pool and hot tubs as well as an outdoor pool, and great cabins.

All three cruise lines that you were given by your agent will have the same basic fun activities/night life for you; shows every evening, a variety of bars and lounges, a disco that starts late in the evening, and a mix of fun people in the age range of perhaps 35 and up. There will be a few younger people and families with kids but not many.

If you decide to go on NCL you will probably enjoy the cruise, but in my opinion you will enjoy it more on Celebrity, RC, or Princess.

Crunchy

My family and I went on a trip on the mediterranian along the Millenium which is ran by Celebrity and it was great. Everything about the trip was awesome and it was a great overall experience. I highly recommend going on this trip.

DCDARLING

I agree with what the other guy said, if you fell in love with Princess then you will NOT like NCL-they are an okay cruise line, but there is a reason they are cheaper than anyone else:
In my personal opinion I would choose this itenerary:

Emerald princess July 11th--I'm doing it in Sept and CANNOT wait!

ITINERARY

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Fri Jul 11 Barcelona, Spain 10:00pm
Sat Jul 12 Marseille, France 8:30am 6:00pm
Sun Jul 13 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm
Mon Jul 14 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm
Tue Jul 15 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm
Wed Jul 16 At Sea
Thu Jul 17 Mykonos, Greece 7:00am 2:00pm
Fri Jul 18 Istanbul, Turkey 8:00am 6:00pm
Sat Jul 19 Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey Noon 7:00pm
Sun Jul 20 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 6:00am 5:30pm
Mon Jul 21 At Sea
Tue Jul 22 Venice, Italy 1:00pm
Wed Jul 23 Venice, Italy Disembark

Good LUCK!

Dart Swinger

Go with Princess or Royal Caribbean.

DO NOT EVER CRUISE WITH NORWEIGIAN! They can't suck enough!

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: