Only been on the Mardi Gras and we did mostly specialty dining, chef's table, Emerils (lots of Emerils...LOL), Rudi's (didn't care for them), Steakhouse. Free stuff we enjoyed Street Eats, ChiBang (LOVED THIS), italian place, guys, Shaq's was OK (preferred the breakfast). Free we didn't care for MDR (tried twice), and HATED THE BUFFET AT GUYS PIG AND ANCHOR. LOVED ALL THE COMEDY SHOWS (WE WENT ALMOST EVERY NIGHT)!! Are there any cruise ships with that many comedy shows, it is our favorite!
This is only from a limited experience/perspective but overall Disney's my favorite because of their Broadway-quality shows, luxurious & spacious rooms, and though it's probably twice as much as Royal Caribbean (and RC's food is much better), the entertainment on Disney is unparalleled in my opinion. Also, all Disney rooms fall under the "refundable rate" umbrella. They're Concierge Lounge is an incredible getaway from the crowds & don't quote me on this but they have dedicated adult only areas (Cove Café comes to mind). Disney's food is a bit of a disappointment but the highlight is their plays (Aladdin, Cinderella, the Lion King musical, & Peter Pan!) I actually experienced a little depression after our last one because it wasn't long enough.
Agree 1000% Celebrity is Top-Notch!! But not for kids. Fine dining & buffet is unmatched. The experience has been relaxing & phenomenal at Celebrity Beyond. Even the older Celebrity Millineum was fantastic at Alaska.
Don't apologize for being cruise snobs! You're saying all the things that everyone really wants to hear when trying to choose a cruise, especially people who have never been on one. So many videos that say they're going to tell you what's good or bad don't really tell you anything because they're too afraid to say something that could be construed as negative. I appreciate hearing the good, the mediocre and the bad from someone who has been on so many cruises. So thank you for a very informative video!
@@rosannewelling805 I tend to agree on your observation . I thought it was just me , but I noticed that the food choices and menu of Princess cruise ships are not as good anymore compared to their menu and choices for the last 8 yrs . Year after year for the last 10 yrs , food choices had been declining in quality
Not being a sports fan and look forward to quiet times so Norwegian sounds about my speed. When my son was still young we took a Carnival cruise. He enjoyed it. There were places I enjoyed. The Atrium had a classical piano player next to the bar that was very relaxing to me. That was the only time I'd ever been on a non Navy cruise. I enjoyed the peaceful parts. Royal Caribbean just lost me but you've sold me on Norwegian. That sounds like my speed. I'm really not a partier. I'm the guy at the party who finds a seat against the wall and enjoys the music and atmosphere.
My wife was a guest entertainer for Holland America back in 2012-2013 and she sang at the BB Kings. Now she is a guest entertainer on the Celebrity Cruiseline. She does a Divas of Soul Show and an Aretha Franklin tribute show.
Loved Holland America Nieuw Statendam ! I am 60 and my kids are 31 and 34 and they loved it as well ! The Music Walk is fantastic! We don't need a water park or go carts . Great food and service !
I’m a fan of Holland America and Norwegian. I liked how on Holland America they serve you on the buffet so not everyone is touching the spoons. There food is great.
I have only cruised with Carnival. So many things I love about Carnival. The beds are so comfortable, the melting cake, the piano bar, the comedy club, bingo and trivia, live music. And now with Mardi Gras..... My new favorite ship!! And now I am platinum. FINALLY!!
Just booked our first cruise in 35 years after tons of research....being in our mid 60s, we quickly narrowed it down to HAL and Celebrity. Took HAL because the deal was better and the itinerary was something we would never fly to (Southern Caribbean--Curacao and Aruba). Nothing against others' tastes, but I don't need 4000+ people, water slides, and so on. Love food and music and relaxing and despise waiting on line and crowds. Hope it works out for us!
Same here, as soon as my daughter is grown I won't need the water slides. I'll be enjoying the peace and quiet of HAL and Celebrity then. I'll keep her lil loud behind on Royal, Princess, and NCL with the other families for now.
Celebrity is my favorite line. I’m not sure you gave it a fair shake. You also didn’t mention the age range of passengers on HAL. You should try the Celebrity Equinox. It is not the newest, but we have had some of our best cruises on her. The activities are fantastic and the food is amazing! We have taken close to 50 cruises and Celebrity is our top pick!
My favourite cruise line is Royal Caribbean! The food is great, nothing to complain about. The activity on the ship is fun too. They have activities that are unique, like rock climbing, surfing, ice skating and much more. Most of the activities are included in the price. The interior and exterior of the ship are nice and bring a welcoming, relaxing feeling. They have great shows at night. Most importantly, their staff are ALL very kind and friendly! I recently came off Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas and that was super!
My teens loved Holland America ships. There was the HAL club where they found other teens. While we required that they join us for dinner and port days, they loved the freedom they had to hang out with other teens on the ship. My son is still in contact with friends he made on a cruise in 2010.
HAL is our favorite cruise line and we are in our early 30s! Best food at sea. It’s elevated casual, kinda reminds me of being on a Hilton property. There’s less structure, rush, and busyness than other lines.
Have to say that I have seen sooo many different videos posted and you guys really are the mist Real! Not scripted or overly fancy. Just real, honest and funny! Love you guys. Harmony of the Seas in 44 days!
Our favorite is Celebrity Silhouette; we like the calm serene feel - no kids. We loved the shows, live musicians on the different decks. Several bars here and there with different vibes - something for everyone. We enjoyed the fine dining; try the French restaurant. Wow. Every night was a date night; whether we were in the main dining or in the aux restaurants. Spa was delightful, pools were relaxing too. It was a true vacation. They even had reading nooks to escape and read in peace. Don't miss the dinner with the captain night. Our captain happened to be from Greece, he said all captains are from Greece. I don't know if he was just being funny; or if this is a true fact. We would definitely recommend this ship. One other thing; the guests were amazing. We really got to know some of the other passengers. We are not seasoned cruisers; but EVERYONE we talked to had taken no less than 20 cruises...and most were a lot more than that. They all said this was one of their favorite ships. We felt lucky to have chosen the Caribbean sailing!
I spent a large portion of the 80's on two Coast Guard Cutters patrolling all through the Caribbean, so many short cruises never enticed me. Once my daughters were finished with college, though, I spent the spring of 2016 on a transatlantic cruise to France, then a Eurorail tour before another transatlantic back to Bayonne. Best vacation ever.
Thanks for all the great information! Carnival is a floating Denny's, great for the people who want to party. Norwegian is amazing if you can stay in the Haven. Royal Caribbean is great for family's, the Oasis class ships with the Aqua Theater Suite with Large Balcony was great and I love the central park in the middle of the ships! Holland America was great for an Alaskan cruise. Celebrity Cruise ships are beautiful and the food is great we had a wonderful time in the Galapagos Islands on the Flora. Princess was my least favorite. My favorite cruise line is still Wind Star but not for kids.
Yes, I’m a devoted Carnaval cruiser and you’re right the food sucks compared to pre-pandemic. The selection is about half at the buffet and it just looks like they took some food from the dining room that was left over and made dishes out of it. The saddest thing is, that’s exactly what it looks like.
It actually depends on who we’re traveling with and what we’re in the mood for, which cruise line we choose. If it’s just us two and we want to feel relaxed and pampered, we go HAL or Celebrity. If we’re traveling with a group and it’s more of a party atmosphere, we choose RCCL or NCL. Each line has different things to offer.
Our favorites are Princess, and Celebrity. Great shows, food, and service. We've tried Carnival 5 times, NCL twice. Our last cruise with Princess was last August to Alaska for 10 days. We're sticking with Princess, in fact we leave on Dec. 2nd on a 16 day Princess cruise from San Francisco going through the Panama Canal ending in Gal. TX.
I prefer NCL over RC. For me the food is better at NCL. But what really made it for us, is that at NCL there's food available until late at night. With RC I think everything closes like at 10pm. We travelled with teenagers, so you can see why that made a difference. Also the dinner arrangements were easier with NCL and the dress code was more informal. More smart casual. This worked out for us because we went on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise and we went on excursions. We would make our reservations when it suited us. We were a large group and as long as we did it with enough time and not last minute we didn't have any problems.
Just came back here to compliment you both how beautifully you work and converse together for the benefit of your audience. I was going to compliment you on this before leaving. Then I went to another site where the other hosts, another couple, started bickering with each other!!! Went immediately back here to express my thanks.
Not everyone likes sports. Or a sports bar. That’s why hubby and I love Viking cruise lines. It is oriented towards older passengers, no children under 18, lots of educational lectures, great shore excursions, exceptional foods and it also has expedition ships that are smaller. We took one to Antarctica complete with a 6 person submarine. Our last cruise was to Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. Hopefully our next Viking cruise will be to Alaska.
I'm a fan of Holland America and agree with the review that some may think they are an old fashioned line for old people. If you hate great food, wonderful crew, comfy clean cabins, classic atrium/large open pool decks, promenade deck layouts with multiple food, bar and entertainment venues then HA might not be for you. If you want a cruise ship with giant waterslides, an 11 story tall IMAX theater, go cart tracks or a 24/7 club scene you should probably choose another line. HAL knows who they are, and they do it very well.
You forgot to mention that on bigger ships you will also like to stand in line even if you reserved your seat for a show. HAL's theaters fit about 1/2 of the passengers not 1/3 or 1/4. So two shows allow most the passengers on HAL to attend.
Have done multiple cruises on HAL beginning with our first in 2007. Love it and still cruising with them. Took one cruise on Princess ( MIL paid for family group to go) was okay but not on par with HAL. If you want to sail on a floating town/mall/amusement park other cruise lines are for you but we are young and still book HAL. Can’t beat the food, music or service.
I have cruised from 2008-2017, 15 times with Princess, 4x with RC, 3x with Celebrity & 1x with NCL. The best was Princess!( friendly crews, tidy room, good food in restaurants & Buffet, fantanstic Shows and daily musics, good itenaries and excursion etc)
I have cruised on Celebrity, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Disney. I feel that a cruise should be a luxurious experience where the guests are pampered and the food and service are first rate. Celebrity checked those boxes for me. When traveling with children, Disney is the way to go. I traveled with children around Christmas time on the Anthem of the Seas and was disappointed to find that the kids area was overbooked and could not take my kids. On the Disney Fantasy, almost a full deck is a dedicated children's area and space is always available. The dining and service were top rate on the Fantasy. You rotated to a different themed dinning room each night and the wait staff rotated with you. The Disney shows and movies were of Broadway caliber. Cast Away Key, Disney's private island in the Bahamas, was spectacular. Getting back to Celebrity, it has two "formal" nights in a 7 day cruise. We have so few opportunities to dress up these days, it was refreshing to do it for a change.
We have young kids and so far no other cruise line has been able to top Disney. We just got off Carnival’s Mardi Gras last week and my 9 yo was bored. My 7 yo enjoyed this ship, but she still preferred Disney. We have tried RCCL but the kids club seemed to always be closed but it may be due to us being in Asia. I plan to try again soon. We have another Carnival cruise booked for my birthday and I think my girls will have a good time bc they will have other family members and friends there and then the next cruise booked is Disney. We may try Royal in between that. I’m not sure my 9 yo will be impressed with Royal bc there are no characters. That’s what she didn’t like but I also know she will grow out of that. They did enjoy the story time and parade plus we will do the green eggs and ham breakfast next time for her birthday. I did feel Carnival’s food on Mardi Gras wasn’t as good as Liberty. Maybe it was the layout but the buffet 👎🏽. Also, I was disappointed in no one enforcing hand washing/sanitizing before the buffet or dining which is unlike Disney or Royal.
As travelers we love NCL. As travel agents, we have had many problems with different bookings for our clients and have found their system in general to be frustrating. BUT we love the ships so going to give them one more try. Thanks for the informative video!!
Just got back from 7 days on the new Carnival Celebration. When it comes to the food, the new ship has AMAZING food and tons of different options, best food i've ever ate on any vacation (im a foody and only stay at 5 star all inclusives). Food: 5/5 Drinks: 5/5 Entertainment: 5/5 Rooms: 4/5 (beds and pillows suck)
No need to apologize! You guys are saying exactly what we need to hear thanks for this video, we are currently looking into dipping our toes in the water of other cruise lines as we too started with carnival and I honestly love it but We just want to see what else is out there
I really loved this vlog. Such great information so well thought out. I haven't been in all the cruise lines yet so I can't say that I have a definite favorite. But so far I think I'm leaning towards celebrity but I haven't been on Norwegian, Holland America or a few others yet. Great job you guys!
We have just completed our 8th HAL cruise, My wife & I love the smaller ship size, rooms are great & comfy, food is amazing. Just got off our cruise last week, it was nice to see a good ratio of older & young.
Hmmm, just got back from HA. We found it to be a big bore. Nothing to do on sea days. Definitely recommend it if you like quiet, but if you want to have fun on the ship, skip it
I enjoyed hearing your opinion of the different cruise lines. We live in South Florida and have an emptiness also. We enjoy cruising, but feel comfortable with Royal Caribbean on carnival. This video is confirming that we are at a point where we can expand our horizons. Thanks for sharing.
I’m travelling on a 22 day cruise on the Konigsdam in a few weeks, I’m very excited! I’ve been on the Nieuw Amsterdam and the Zuiderdam, both were awesome. I agree HAL is underrated.
I loved Celebrity, especially the food, the live entertainment, there was a change of entertainmentcrew, so they had one cruise only artists, that were amazing. But most i loved the crew: they were so relaxed and friendly. Granted, the ship was only half full, but they took their time getting to know you, and allowing you to get to know them. Thats something i had not experienced before. The Eden and the rooftopgarden are amazing. I prefer all inclusive prices, its a lot easier. But in Europe, more and more cruises include more then before.
Our experience with Princess is the food is fantastic. I also love how loyal and happy the crew is. We also love the destinations Princess has to offer. We're pretty loyal to Princess, but also love Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.
Love NCL, by far my favorite cruise line. But really love the food on Holland America. Club Orange had amazing food, the buffet was top notch and the specialty dining was amazing!
Thank you for being so candid. I have been loyal to CCL since '72, although I've sailed many other lines. Last month I sailed the Sunshine for a short fast get away. I was shocked how lousy it had become. I'm not a foodie just good food fit to eat is fine. I can go on ,however I won't. In closing I'll say thank God I had packed some protein bars, and thank you CCL for the 2 pounds I lost in 4 days. Keep up the good work guys.
Great comments! I been on H.A.L twice. The Alaska trip was awesome but we spent over $5K each for a land/sea cruise but where treated like royality. I'm so glad we had a balcony on this sail! The Canada/New England last June wasn't so good but only cost about $700 so it was quite a different experience. Both trips had 90% seniors which for me being in my mid 60's was ok. There isn't much to do on board. There was a libary, people playing board games, bean bag toss and bingo. The theatre was tiny. The music triva in the crowsnest was fun. The T.V had about 12 channels.Most from H.A.L There was a sewer smell in the hallway for 3 days, and a uncomfortable bed, no heat for 2 days.It was in the 50's at night. No gifts I had ordered. ect ect. Yes the food was good. But desserts where tasteless and mushy. We got undercooked chicken once.The entertainment was very good. The BBC show and the comedian especailly! The dance shows got old quickly. If you go on H.A.L you go for the peace and quiet. And yes they have a proud heritage and a lot of class. I'm trying NCL next. There #1 on Google followed by R.C. I think R.C is doing everything right currently. I need to also try Princess. Carnival sounds like a fun time for that kind of crowd but that's not us. They seem to be less expensive also. Thanks for the video.
We went on NCL so many years ago, but when we went on a Princess ship in 2005, we were sold. We've had great experiences every time. The staff is friendly and helpful, the Medallion is great, you have the same wait staff that get to know your likes and dislikes quickly and treat you well, the food was great in every area (MDR, buffet, pool grill, International Cafe, Coffee & Cones, etc.), on three different ships, and the beds in the mini-suites are wonderful! It seems to us that NCL charges extra for every little thing so we won't be cruising with them again. Our children are grown so we don't need the Carnival, NCL, RCCL party scenes - those are better suited for our children's age/younger. We'll stick with Princess but someday, I would like to try HAL - been hearing lots of good things lately. Thanks for this video J & A - so helpful.
We are Princess Elite & just tried HAL to check it out. We kept saying, I like Princess better…except the food. It was amazing. Next month we’re back to Princess😬
... Princess lines ... your never really lost ...when you travel on a different ship ... NCL ... Each ship is different ... but wonderful ... you just gotta cruise them both ...
That medallion from Princess is just like what Disney World has at their resorts where it's your room key, your access for rides", the way to pay for food/drinks/snacks/souvenirs/pretty much everything. It is amazing. I'd love to hear your experience with Disney Cruises... Especially since you do have grandkids and adult children so can talk about experience for all.
We have cruised all the big lines as well, but now we've settled on NCL as our favorite. Love the food, the free at sea, the fact they will often throw in one free air, and they'll even book the pre-cruise hotel too! Latitudes Club is awesome too, and the perks add up quickly!
Ncl is me and my wife’s choice love the drink package specially dining entertainment always trying to find a good deal they have them out there you just have to find them for NCL
@@jimde196969 Agree... and some of the deals have been amazing! They are also good at decreasing the price if they go down after you have already booked the cruise.
NCL is our favorite too! The drink package is what keeps us booking with them haha but also the free specialty dining and the entertainment. We just got off the Bliss and booked it pretty much just for Six and Jersey Boys. They were spectacular!
We have cruise with Disney - Gold level and once with MSC (status matched). Love both, but cost wise, I would go with MSC for sure. The "richness" of the decor is top notch, the service was impeccable.
Yes, MSC is amazing. Sailed Divina Dec 12-16, 2022 and she was BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING shows, Ocean Cay was peaceful and relaxing, with only 1 ship (ours), so enjoyed the privacy of the private island bc our ship wasn't very full at all. Service was impeccable. Docked next to Seascape, who was on her 1st or 2nd inaugural sailings, and all I can say about Seascape is WOW! That's a BEAUTIFUL vessel, and all we could see was the outside. More pools and spas than a little bit, with front and back infinity pools, and maybe some glass infinity pools on the sides midship too. I'm a toss-up between MSC and Royal bc my husband favored Royal's Navigator of the Seas over MSC Divina, but I think it was mostly bc he KNOWS that ship...February 10-17 will be our THIRD sailing on Navigator since our first cruise EVER July 2022. I will say that between Carnival, Royal, and MSC, that Royal have the best offers so far. MULTIPLE emails for Complimentary Interior Stateroom after only playing under $100 in the casino, so we redeemed the 7 night LA, Cabo, Mazatlan, Puerto Rico SUPERBOWL and Valentine's Day cruise for only $274 total, plus $25 free play. Lowest price online is over $1,600 to book! Carnival offers so far all cost over $300 to book, BUT some come with some nice OBC or free play, like $500 OBC for a cruise that costs only $340 to book a 3 day Ensenada cruise... but Ensenada is boring and Miracle is old, Radiance food is horrible, and parking for Long Beach Carnival is higher and more complicated than Royal's port up the street. Both ports are local to us, so accepting offers out of those ports to build points makes sense for us.
4:12 Jay look Jay has some MOVES. He always says he doesn't want to dance w Dee but Jay ...ya gotta dance man ....u got this!!! U inspired me. I am gonna dance w my wife on our next cruise.
Virgin: wifi included, soft drinks included, gratuities included, all specialty dining included, exercise classes included, great TV options, hammock chair on the balcony, gelato included, no drinks package, no constant announcements, no kids
just returned from 10 days on Resilient Lady; only complaint would be the free wifi being slow but I was able to live with it before upgrading to a paid package. Food is all free except alcohol and extras like lobster; filet mignon and other steaks all free. Decent vegan options, but def had a cheat week there. Royal Carribean vegan options were disappointing - stuff at dining hall tasted like mush. one consistency. slop.
This is my first time watching your videos. My husband and I are starting to look at cruises to try out. I appreciate your honesty! it's going to really help us out in the future.
It's so interesting listening to Jason talk about the Edge. I felt exactly the same feeling he did. Went back a few months later, felt totally comfortable and LOVED it.
I just booked a Caribbean cruise with NCL. So excited!! First timers. I feel like with NCL they have more onboard activities and everyone says the food with NCL is the best so it was a easy decision.
We (in our mid 60's) are mostly Princess cruisers (sailed 9 times with them). We tried Carnival Panorama last month just to see if it was a good fit for us. We both left feeling that it missed more than hit. Next cruise is NCL in January (vloggers cruise) and I am pretty excited about it. In the summer of 2023, we are trying Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas. I liked how different their design of the ships is unique. Thanks for sharing your views!
Did a 14 night cruise on Ovation of the Seas in Star Class and loved it but the size of the ship was overwhelming. It took 14 days to explore the entire ship. Excellent food staff and shows. Wonderland and Izumi's were our favorite specialty restaurants and the Coastal Kitchen went above and beyond with personalized service. Booked Allure of the Seas in April out of Galveston hoping to recapture the magic we had on Ovation sailing from Sydney to Singapore. Booked NCL's Viva Oct 2023 Rome to Venice in the Haven just to see if it's as good as Star Class and I really want to drive the go karts. Hope we can try out some of the more premium Cruise Lines in the future but we are truly impressed with RCL's Star Class. Best seats in a very big house. We'll let you know how NCL's Haven stacks up next year!
Such an informative video. I loved how you pointed out the differences without being too negative towards one line over the other. I’ve done mostly Disney. We have been on RCCL but a long time ago 20 years ago. We did Carnival Vista and loved the Blue Iguana and all the speciality restaurants. We did not like main dining or the buffet. We also have been on NCL Pearl. We really enjoyed our Alaskan cruise on that ship because we got a forward facing room. With four us in a room we got the suite class which gave us access to their private dining room which we Loved. I loved all the specialty dining as well. I really need to try some other lines since we are empty nesters.
I didn't mind the food on Carnival, it was actually more 'available' than Royal Caribbean, especially on port days. RC only had 2 options on port days until after a certain time & the main buffet was only open at certain times where Carnival, you could find several options regardless of the time & if it was a port day & the buffet was open round the clock. We actually liked Carnival better than Royal Caribbean, although we'd also like to explore Norwegian. After watching this, Celebrity & Princess I don't think would be the option for our personalities, we want to have fun & I'm thinking the Carnival or Norwegian would be the better fit. The only reason we wouldn't go with Disney is because we wouldn't be taking small children.
This was a great and honest review. Thank you. I have only been on Celebrity Eclipse. I thought it was beautiful and classy. The seating areas were so lush, really felt like I was living the good life. Good to great shows and good to great food and drinks. We are going on the NCL Getaway next month, and I really love the Free at Sea idea , of having drinks, and speciality dining, and wifi included. All packaged and built in before hand. Thanks again.
I'm going on my first cruise ever in a few months and it just so happens to be odyssey of the seas so I am thrilled to know that's your favorite! made me even more excited than I already was!
We just cruised a few weeks ago on Celebrity, which was our third with that line but we’ve been on many cruises. I was surprised to be honest, Celebrity was generally disappointing. We’re returning to Holland America in a few weeks and I’m looking forward to it. HAL’s service and food has always surpassed the other lines for us. What works for one person won’t necessarily work for someone else so it largely comes down to general atmosphere preference, service expectations and entertainment options. I don’t like the big 4000 passenger plus ships. If I want to wait in line I’ll go to Disney.
GOTTA have a Sports Bar! Definitely! I'm cruising in October of this year (2024) which, as you know, is football season. I still need my fix of football despite being on a cruise! I absolutely love your opinions, comments, likes and dislikes of each cruise line. We want the real truth - not these videos that tell you everything's great. A ship can be great, but there's a lot of components that may or not be great, such as the food, the shows, the pool areas, the views, the service, etc. etc. And you guys covered most of it. Well done! I really enjoyed this video - so much so I "liked" it and subscribed! I'm glad you talked about Celebrity, because I'm going on the Eclipse. I'm older than you guys, so I think I will enjoy the more relaxed atmosphere as compared to party time / drink parties type of feel. I know that sounds like I'm a stick-in-the-mud, but at my age it comes with the territory. The pools and the views look fantastic. From what else I've seen, the bummer for me is that the shows are not up to par like the other cruises are. Also, this ship doesn't have that cool Magic Carpet feature, which is too bad. But since this is my very first cruise, I won't be saying "oh, I miss this feature" because I have nothing else to compare it too. Nevertheless, it's exciting to go on a cruise ship and enjoy the balcony. I think I look forward to that as much as anything!
I loved your reviews! Very informative. When I booked NCL even though they gave you the free at Sea they charged over $300 for taxes and gratuities. We will not drink $300 worth, I was hoping to get a specialty coffees but they said that was not included. So even though drinks are free they still cost $300
We book the Fee At Sea and skip the drink package. We don’t drink enough for the tips you have to pay. We do enjoy the buy one get one free air deal it can save you a lot of money and you can still arrive a day or two before your cruise to be on the safe side. If you don’t care for the other Free At Sea deals, just ask for the lowest price - the Sail Away price for your cabin level.
We just came back from spring break cruise with princess leaving from Galveston for 7 days, to puerta maya, Cozumel and Roatan. We stayed in a mini suite. We thought the food was 10/10 at the buffet, and 8 at dinning rooms. Although it was spring break it felt like the cruise was very organized and everyone was having fun in their own group. Our teenager had so much fun with all the activities they had for him, and we enjoyed the great shows and adult pools. The medallion was awesome, we could track each other, open our room, watch ay with it etc. very cool technology.
We love cruising. We enjoy watching people, especially kids. They bring joy to our hearts. As grandparents who are distant from our grandchildren, these young people continue to make us laugh with the things they do & say. We have cruise only with Carnival 9 times.
We have cruised Princess, Royal, and Carnival. First cruise was Princess, and you’re right, you never forget your first! We ruled out Carnival after one cruise. The clientele they attract is just not for us. We tried 2 Royal cruises and have now promised to never do another. We did an Allure of the Seas cruise to Alaska this past May and the food and service was absolutely horrible! We would however like to try NCL and Holland America. Until that happens, we will stick with Princess as we are never disappointed.
I was incorrect with the RCCL ship for our Alaska cruise. It was Ovation of the Seas that was so bad! Allure was actually a pretty nice ship and the service was WAY better than what we received on the Ovation.
Music Hall is the concert hall on Odyssey of the Seas. My favorite cruise line for us is RCCL, we are Loyal to Royal! We just reached the Diamond level and looking forward to our next RCCL cruise in March 2023 as Diamonds for the 1st time.
You need to try the Celebrity Beyond. Have been on the Edge and Apex but by far, Beyond is my favorite. My only cruise on RCL was on the Odyssey and that is a really fun ship. Going on the Discovery in December-last time on a Princess ship was a couple of years before the pandemic so I am looking forward to that. But overall, Celebrity is my favorite cruise line.
My husband and I have sailed on Carnival, Norwegian, Celebrity, Princess, and Holland America. Celebrity has a beautiful ship. We did not like Norwegian’s food. Our children are grown so we prefer not to sail on Carnival anymore. We have only sailed on Princess once, but really enjoyed it. We prefer sailing on Holland and sailed with them numerous times. The food and service are excellent! The music entertainment at night along the music walk is varied and outstanding! We took four of our grandchildren on our last Holland American cruise, and they loved the children’s club. They begged to go! We are trying Royal Caribbean next week. Thanks for your input on each line.
Just did my first cruise last week. We sailed on the Discovery Princess. I was very impressed. It was such a fun experience. Thank you for your review of different cruise lines. I really want to try NCL next!
Great video! The only thing I’ll mention that you surprisingly didn’t bring up at all is the dining schedule. We really, really enjoy the Freestyle Dining feature on NCL. We don’t enjoy being locked down to a set dinner schedule. We basically eat whenever we want to without having to participate in the buffet frenzy to do it. The buffets are nice, but seating is nearly always an issue for us.
Thank you. I am looking at cruises and it will be our first cruise. The one thing we wanted to absolutely avoid was being forced to eat at a specific time or a specific dress code. I don't want to be on a schedule while on vacation, as much as humanly possible -- and scheduled dining is a complete deal breaker for me. Thank you for mentioning this because I was thinking that perhaps all cruise lines did away with scheduled dining, but I guess not. Again, thanks so much!!
@@nik-mik-7332 so Royal gives you options. You can select My Time Dining and opt for either 5:30pm early Dining or 8pm late dining, OR u can choose Anytime Dining. The main difference is that My Time dining means you will have a reserved table and sit only with your party at a private table, and it will be the SAME table every day, and you will walk right in so long as you arrive within 30-45 minutes of your chosen dining time. Anytime dining means you can arrive at the MDR (main dining room) during any open dining hours and get seated upon availability. So you may have a slight wait, which with Carnival you will have anyway (check in on the app, then wait for notification that ur table is ready, THEN proceed to the dining room). Also you will be seated at any open table that will accommodate your those in your party, and you MAY be seated at a table with others (no biggie if u are ok with that). Video described the TASTE of the food per cruise line, which I agree, Carnival is the worst. Royal had a better MDR menu than Carnival, and all cruise lines have certain free entrees that are available daily such as salmon and a steak. Do yourself a favor and go to the MDR at least once, if not daily, AND utilize the all-inclusive. Try new things like Royal's escargot or desserts you have never tasted before. This is the time to experiment without risk or cost. If you don't like it, no harm, no foul. You may order multiple selections off all-inclusive menus at no cost. So you may order 2 appetizers and 2 entrees. Carnival and Royal are now charging fees for ordering too much though. Carnival just switched to charging after the 2nd entree (portions are very small fyi, so it makes sense that some people order 3), and Royal and Carnival are charging for more than 2 lobster tails, but I think Carnival is charging after the 1st tail. Cruises over 5 days have a free lobster tail night fyi. You may bring 1 bottle of champagne and 1 bottle of wine onboard both lines... each cruise line has their own rules and limits. Royal allows you to give your wine and/or champagne to the MDR to bring to your table upon request each time you dine, while keeping it cold in their refrigerator throughout your sailing. They simply charge a corkage fee for this service. Carnival will not allow you to bring bottled water, only cans (soda, water, juice), but Royal allows both cans and plastic bottles. Both have a 12 per stateroom max, to save you from purchasing non-alcoholic drink packages or for bottled water. The ship has free tap water stations and the water is drinkable and actually tastes better than most bottled water. Be sure to pack a water bottle/canister that has a screw top so you can fill it with ice and beverages to carry drinks with u onboard or at port that you can sit down and return to, without the beverage being open and exposed. Also BE SURE TO PACK a lanyard or preferably plastic cade with lanyard or clip to place your keycard in. You won't always wear pockets but you will ALWAYS have your keycard when you are out of the room, so this makes it easy to keep up with and hands-free. DON'T pack pool/beach towels....they are provided. Candles are not allowed and will be confiscated like TSA when u embark. Forgot to tell my mom that and she had a gift box for someone that included a candle, so it was taken. You CAN opt out of gratuities and tip in cash yourself. You just need to go to guest services on day 2 (when they show up on ur bill) and tell them to remove them. Lastly, if no wifi, once out to sea you cannot communicate with ur party. So if you and ur spouse get separated you will either be searching the ship for them, or you can pay $2/day on Royal to text each other within the app. Other lines may have this option too. MSC cruises do NOT have the app, except for I think 3 ships, and they are the only line I know of that will NOT allow you to bring beverages onboard. Hope that helps with ur decision for booking and packing!
@@nik-mik-7332 oh, and dress code for formal night is usually not enforced. It's optional. Shorts are ok in the MDR too. Flip flops for men and going shirtless or being obviously inappropriately dressed are the only things they enforce on Carnival, Royal, and MSC.
Agree about pool deck on ncl. Breakaway line. Couldn't even comfortably get in the pool on the getaway. No deck chairs available. Nice children's swimming area though. Everything else great.
Have done 3 cruises on NCL, food was fantastic (did mostly specialty dining), and always had a great time!, very few hiccups. This will be my first cruise on RC coming up. So far booking the cruise on the website and adding upgrades, excursions, food, talking to reps etc., was easier on NCL.
NCL has the most exotic cruise locations IMO and that what keeps me going back... Antarctica, Australia/New Zealand, the Indian Ocean islands, Fiji, Bora Bora and Southern Asia. Personally, I go on a cruise for location, not just for the ship and entertainment!
I've only cruised Norwegian and I don't feel like I should even try another line because of the great experiences I've had with them. I'm considering Royal Caribbean, but I'm not sure I want to unless I go on Odyssey of the sea! Great video and great insight thanks for sharing your views.
Thank you because as a first-time cruiser on NCL. I enjoyed and appreciated the honesty and information provided regarding all the cruise lines. It really helped me to understand the advantages and disadvantages of cruising.
Our first cruise was on Holland (New England and Canada), and we definitely agree with you that the food was fabulous. It was a smaller ship with an intimate feel, yet we never felt crowded. The excursions were well orchestrated and the shows were enjoyable. We would go with them again, but somehow we just haven't yet. We have also done one cruise on Royal Caribbean (to the eastern Caribbean, pre-pandemic), and while we enjoyed it, we would never go back with them unless we had little kids with us - it's all about the young'uns on RC! The shows were great, but we didn't like the food as much, and we hated how many extra charges and upcharges there were. Also, RC excursions were a nightmare - totally unorganized, and I hated that! For us, it's Princess we keep going back to! We've been to Alaska several times on Princess, as well as the UK, and we are getting ready to go on our first cruise since COVID, which will be Princess to the western Caribbean. We have always felt we could get what we wanted without much in the way of upcharges, and we love the new Princess Plus pricing option. We feel comfortable with the layout of the ships. The food is not quite as fabulous as Holland, but it's still great, and there are options to please all three of the generations that are going on our upcoming cruise. There's enough to do on Princess for the teens, but it's not too wild for the grandparents! The excursions are always well organized and the shows and other entertainment options enjoyable. This will be our first Medallion cruise, and we are super excited about that new experience!
You do not sound like snobs at all. I absolutely love love your videos. I love hearing the truth about cruise lines. Which ones are better? Which ones aren't? You guys are the best!
We have traveled on Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess. As retired old folks we love Princess. We love the kick back relaxed environment on Princess. My hubby as an avid casino groupie, likes the casino on Princess ships.
I’m from Lafayette and have never been on a cruise yet, even though near two ports. Your pros and cons were great for me to make my final choice. Thanks, y’all!
I absolutely adore the Solerium area of the Oasis ships from RC. I have never been disappointed with the food in the included areas and we do not bother with specialty restaurants. We have never been disappointed with the entertainment either. “We will Rock You” on the Anthem of the Seas was one of the best productions I have seen. I also loved the wine choices and the variety of coffees. I hated the Carnival cruise we went on, but I am not a party animal.
This was a very fair assessment of each line. It does depend on the specific ship. Especially, for the quality of the food. On Royal Caribbean, in Europe, I was served a raw lamb shank, I do not mean a braised piece. It never was touched by any heat. It was the worst food ever. We had traveled with RC numerous times. Two other times had bad experiences, we stopped traveling with them. We were Diamond level. We have been traveling with Carnival and now are Diamond level there. Food and shows are weak, on just about every ship. We're Sapphire on NCL, found everything, has above average on every ship. They seem to be the most consistent. My favorite line is Princess and my wife's is Celebrity. Loved the Artsy Fartsy phrase!!!
Loved your video. But you forgot one important thing about Princess and medallion. The best part of it is that the staff can find you wherever you are on the ship and deliver cocktails off your drink package and food directly to your lounge chair at a pool or anywhere else in the ship including in your state room. I loved that!
I just wrapped up my first cruise on Harmony Of The Seas, and it was awesome. I'd love to try others too. Not really feeling Carnival. I love upscale vibes, great customer service, and amazing food. Now I'm hooked on cruise vids, especially pier runners. Thanks for this informative vid!
Wife and I took an Alaska cruise on Princess couple years ago during NBA finals. We spent every night in the sports bar and met other cruisers and meet up each time and that was the best part of the trip!
I've been on more Carnival cruises than any other cruise line. I'm a Vegetarian, so I'm ok with the buffet and The Deli. The desserts are a bit disappointing though.😔 Royal Caribbean's food, wasn't good to me and I preferred MSC. Guess it depends on taste!☺️ Entertainment is ALWAYS Hit or Miss.Thanks for sharing YOUR opinions!!😁 Love you guys!😉
Trying to plan a cruise for our honeymoon. He likes lots of activities but I prefer to just chill and relax, so we figured it would be a best of both worlds scenario. This helps narrow it down to make sure we will both have the experience we want
Absolutely loved this video. great honest thoughts on each one. I have been on three different cruise lines so far. My first was Royal Caribbean, then MSC, and then Carnival just this year for my first time. Carnival definitely brings the fun. Royal was cool as it was my very first cruise experience and got me hooked. But MSC is my favorite. The ships are gorgeous the food is great if you step outside the "American" box. The only thing I dislike about MSC it the Customer Service before the Cruise, and Guest Services on the ship. I LOATHE MSC Guest Services.
Just came back from a cruise on Sky Princess....here's my review (only one other cruise 15 yrs ago....) Food- really good...ate at buffet mostly. Activities- not much Shows- AMAZING!!!! Broadway quality. Rooms- we had a standard balcony and it was spacious and the bed was memory foam and SOOO comfy! Tech- the medallion tech was amazing and convenient. Smokers area- was pleasantly surprised that there was a mini deck at the rear of ship that was dedicated to smokers with a covered area, many patio couches, lounge chairs, etc. I had fully expected to be huddling in a small corner somewhere. There are other areas onboard too, but this mini aft deck was close to my room! Future plans- booking Royal Carib Oasis for the end of the year!
One thing I'm surprised you didn't talk about more is relative sizes. I prefer smaller (under 2500 people) ships. A lot of the main line ships you rave about are more mega size ships, and frankly the size of those ships needs to be addressed. At the very least explained to those of use who hate crowds.
You assume those ships have crowd issues and they don’t. More people but spread out in a huge ship. I prefer the mega ships just for the ease of finding a peaceful spot when I wish or the many, many venues for entertainment.
@@kated2847 that is sort of my point. I see the mega ships and frankly, they scare me off. And I don't think I am alone in this. I just would like to see a few videos that touch on the issues caused by size and how they are addressed. And maybe compare that to the smaller (2,000 to 2,500 passenger ships). There are pluses and minuses that a lot of us aren't fully aware of. For example, I've watched a bunch of videos on the big ships and see things like how you need to pre book everything from dining to shows just because the theaters aren't big enough to seat everyone. I see that as a minus on the big ships. As a plus, they do tend to offer far more food and entertainment choices. A compare and contrast would be helpful. I guess what I am saying is that I would like the issue addressed. Both things like you mention and the benefits that a bigger ship offers. But, I want to hear the negatives too,such as how it affects port days.
We have only done 2 cruises...Disney with our daughter 10 years ago. And just did NCL Mediterranean...was SO fantastic...the port stops, the food, the entertainment, the service...all just so amazing! We loved the freestyle dining on the Norwegian, especially compared to Disney, where you ate at a certain time, when they told you and you went with the same people...did not like that. We also really like the unlimited beverage package... was such a great value! The rooms were so cozy, comfy bed and really nice shower. Loved our shore excursions in Greece, Malta and Italy and always so nice to come back to our cozy cabin, have a nice meal and meet our friends at "Maltings" our muster point. Would not hesitate to cruise with NCL again.
Omg! This was one of the first cruise videos that I sat and watched the whole thing. You guys do a great job getting to the point and explaining everything! Thank you! I’m a beginner cruiser … so of course I’ve only been on Carnival, but after watching this video, I think we’re gonna venture into NCL. ❤😂 Also would love to know when is the best time to book a cruise?
I feel like I've been missing out all these years! I'm going on my 1st cruise in 2 months on Celebrity. Everyone else has been on multiple cruises! I'm 69. Good thing I didn't wait any longer.
Hi just found you..Great job giving tons of info in a reasonable time slot. I've been on 14 cruises my first was in early 70's on HAL 10 days to Southern Caribbean. Absolutely the best experience ever. This was when the food was superb and you ate for probably 2 hours. Also sat at table for 6 and although we were different ages, us 22 then 35 then 50's we all became the best friends and the next year got together in Toronto (the 50s couple) We traveled from Mass. And other couple was from Baltimore. This doesn't happen 😕 anymore with a the changes Cruiselines are making. Our other spectacular cruise was with Celebrity from Rome 12 days ending in Barcelona. We had a mini suite with a tub, which I need for mobility issues..and our own Butler. It was a 40th Anniversary cruise and we were totally spoiled. I've been on 5 Princess cruises..Discovery been the most recent and it was amazing. I'm a solo traveler now since hubby passed 6 yrs ago. I Really wish cruise lines wouldn't punish solos by making us pay double bc it makes it harder to cruise especially when flying 2000 miles to get to a good port. Anyways loved your review and take another princess cruise and be sure to eat at Sabatinis..Tatiana is super great at her job. Tell her Nancy sent you. Thank you.
Which is your favorite... and why?
Only been on the Mardi Gras and we did mostly specialty dining, chef's table, Emerils (lots of Emerils...LOL), Rudi's (didn't care for them), Steakhouse. Free stuff we enjoyed Street Eats, ChiBang (LOVED THIS), italian place, guys, Shaq's was OK (preferred the breakfast). Free we didn't care for MDR (tried twice), and HATED THE BUFFET AT GUYS PIG AND ANCHOR. LOVED ALL THE COMEDY SHOWS (WE WENT ALMOST EVERY NIGHT)!! Are there any cruise ships with that many comedy shows, it is our favorite!
This is only from a limited experience/perspective but overall Disney's my favorite because of their Broadway-quality shows, luxurious & spacious rooms, and though it's probably twice as much as Royal Caribbean (and RC's food is much better), the entertainment on Disney is unparalleled in my opinion. Also, all Disney rooms fall under the "refundable rate" umbrella. They're Concierge Lounge is an incredible getaway from the crowds & don't quote me on this but they have dedicated adult only areas (Cove Café comes to mind). Disney's food is a bit of a disappointment but the highlight is their plays (Aladdin, Cinderella, the Lion King musical, & Peter Pan!) I actually experienced a little depression after our last one because it wasn't long enough.
Our favorite is still Disney. Love the magic of Disney and the service is unparalleled
I think the one big area you forgot to mention on Royal is the adults only solarium,
@@takeshikaga7211 agree! And that’s traveling without children
The best is Celebrity, best food, best suites, best pools, best shows, it is heaven on earth Specially Ascent and Edge
Agree 1000% Celebrity is Top-Notch!! But not for kids. Fine dining & buffet is unmatched. The experience has been relaxing & phenomenal at Celebrity Beyond. Even the older Celebrity Millineum was fantastic at Alaska.
The Celebrity staff spoils you like crazy and treats you like royalty. Our room attendant would sprint to open our room. Truly amazing!!
@@bbt9592 yes, even old Millineum is awesome, probably my fav
Don't apologize for being cruise snobs! You're saying all the things that everyone really wants to hear when trying to choose a cruise, especially people who have never been on one. So many videos that say they're going to tell you what's good or bad don't really tell you anything because they're too afraid to say something that could be construed as negative. I appreciate hearing the good, the mediocre and the bad from someone who has been on so many cruises. So thank you for a very informative video!
I agree..We❤you guys! DONT ever change! You've helped me and my wife so much, we're extremely thankful for your advice and great personalities.
Um...carnival food options are the best
We just did a 28 princess..tslk about boring food
@@rosannewelling805yeah I agree. I actually LOVED carnival 🎡 food and choices.
@@rosannewelling805 I tend to agree on your observation . I thought it was just me , but I noticed that the food choices and menu of Princess cruise ships are not as good anymore compared to their menu and choices for the last 8 yrs . Year after year for the last 10 yrs , food choices had been declining in quality
Video Timeline -
Carnival Cruise: 0:45
Norwegian Cruise: 5:47
Royal Caribbean 13:31
Holland America 22:24
Celebrity 27:28
Princess 34:18
Thank you 🙏🏻🐨🦘
@@florence2095ml b kb1 lb1 BBK BBK BBK VLDL b b lo NV m
mvp
THANK YOU 🙌🏽
You are a god among men. Thank you
Not being a sports fan and look forward to quiet times so Norwegian sounds about my speed.
When my son was still young we took a Carnival cruise. He enjoyed it. There were places I enjoyed. The Atrium had a classical piano player next to the bar that was very relaxing to me. That was the only time I'd ever been on a non Navy cruise. I enjoyed the peaceful parts.
Royal Caribbean just lost me but you've sold me on Norwegian. That sounds like my speed. I'm really not a partier. I'm the guy at the party who finds a seat against the wall and enjoys the music and atmosphere.
My wife was a guest entertainer for Holland America back in 2012-2013 and she sang at the BB Kings. Now she is a guest entertainer on the Celebrity Cruiseline. She does a Divas of Soul Show and an Aretha Franklin tribute show.
Loved Holland America Nieuw Statendam ! I am 60 and my kids are 31 and 34 and they loved it as well ! The Music Walk is fantastic! We don't need a water park or go carts . Great food and service !
I’m a fan of Holland America and Norwegian. I liked how on Holland America they serve you on the buffet so not everyone is touching the spoons. There food is great.
This has been some of the most helpful information in my cruise quest. Thank you SO MUCH for your candor, energy, and Jason's hilarious commentary!
I have only cruised with Carnival. So many things I love about Carnival. The beds are so comfortable, the melting cake, the piano bar, the comedy club, bingo and trivia, live music. And now with Mardi Gras.....
My new favorite ship!!
And now I am platinum. FINALLY!!
Loved the Mardi Gras, I went during Halloween, soooo much fun and Kendall Fire 🔥 need I say more
I also love their piano bar!! :)
I have been on four lines -- and totally Carnival has COMFY beds!
The perks that we get from carnival make it almost impossible to go to another line.
I am Platinum with Carnival as well, never sailing with them again, unless they make major changes. They have gone way down hill lately.
Just booked our first cruise in 35 years after tons of research....being in our mid 60s, we quickly narrowed it down to HAL and Celebrity. Took HAL because the deal was better and the itinerary was something we would never fly to (Southern Caribbean--Curacao and Aruba). Nothing against others' tastes, but I don't need 4000+ people, water slides, and so on. Love food and music and relaxing and despise waiting on line and crowds. Hope it works out for us!
We are doing a similar itinerary on HAL this spring, enjoy!!
Same here, as soon as my daughter is grown I won't need the water slides. I'll be enjoying the peace and quiet of HAL and Celebrity then. I'll keep her lil loud behind on Royal, Princess, and NCL with the other families for now.
Celebrity is my favorite line. I’m not sure you gave it a fair shake. You also didn’t mention the age range of passengers on HAL. You should try the Celebrity Equinox. It is not the newest, but we have had some of our best cruises on her. The activities are fantastic and the food is amazing! We have taken close to 50 cruises and Celebrity is our top pick!
I only cruise celebrity Cruise it's a Great Choice..... and I'm 61 years of age And I Love it!!!!
You will love Curacao😍
My favourite cruise line is Royal Caribbean! The food is great, nothing to complain about. The activity on the ship is fun too. They have activities that are unique, like rock climbing, surfing, ice skating and much more. Most of the activities are included in the price. The interior and exterior of the ship are nice and bring a welcoming, relaxing feeling. They have great shows at night. Most importantly, their staff are ALL very kind and friendly!
I recently came off Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas and that was super!
😊😊😊😊😊
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P
I plan to go on my first cruise with them. You mind telling me what all is included in the ticket price?
@@sidneyshaw9205 I made a full video covering that on my channel, check it out and it’ll be helpful!
My teens loved Holland America ships. There was the HAL club where they found other teens. While we required that they join us for dinner and port days, they loved the freedom they had to hang out with other teens on the ship. My son is still in contact with friends he made on a cruise in 2010.
HAL is our favorite cruise line and we are in our early 30s! Best food at sea. It’s elevated casual, kinda reminds me of being on a Hilton property. There’s less structure, rush, and busyness than other lines.
Which Lines have you cruised? Im trying to decide btwn virgin and Royal
HAL is my favorite. The comfy beds, great food and understated elegance make them my favorite.
Have to say that I have seen sooo many different videos posted and you guys really are the mist Real! Not scripted or overly fancy. Just real, honest and funny! Love you guys. Harmony of the Seas in 44 days!
Well thank you! 😊👍
Our favorite is Celebrity Silhouette; we like the calm serene feel - no kids. We loved the shows, live musicians on the different decks. Several bars here and there with different vibes - something for everyone. We enjoyed the fine dining; try the French restaurant. Wow. Every night was a date night; whether we were in the main dining or in the aux restaurants. Spa was delightful, pools were relaxing too. It was a true vacation. They even had reading nooks to escape and read in peace. Don't miss the dinner with the captain night. Our captain happened to be from Greece, he said all captains are from Greece. I don't know if he was just being funny; or if this is a true fact. We would definitely recommend this ship. One other thing; the guests were amazing. We really got to know some of the other passengers. We are not seasoned cruisers; but EVERYONE we talked to had taken no less than 20 cruises...and most were a lot more than that. They all said this was one of their favorite ships. We felt lucky to have chosen the Caribbean sailing!
I spent a large portion of the 80's on two Coast Guard Cutters patrolling all through the Caribbean, so many short cruises never enticed me. Once my daughters were finished with college, though, I spent the spring of 2016 on a transatlantic cruise to France, then a Eurorail tour before another transatlantic back to Bayonne. Best vacation ever.
Thanks for all the great information! Carnival is a floating Denny's, great for the people who want to party. Norwegian is amazing if you can stay in the Haven. Royal Caribbean is great for family's, the Oasis class ships with the Aqua Theater Suite with Large Balcony was great and I love the central park in the middle of the ships! Holland America was great for an Alaskan cruise. Celebrity Cruise ships are beautiful and the food is great we had a wonderful time in the Galapagos Islands on the Flora. Princess was my least favorite. My favorite cruise line is still Wind Star but not for kids.
I love Central Park on the Royal ships, too, along with ice skating & aqua shows
Yes, I’m a devoted Carnaval cruiser and you’re right the food sucks compared to pre-pandemic. The selection is about half at the buffet and it just looks like they took some food from the dining room that was left over and made dishes out of it. The saddest thing is, that’s exactly what it looks like.
I don’t like carnival at all. I appreciate great food, second rate food-blah
You guys are just delightful! I feel like you're sitting in my living room talking to me. Keep up the great work!! Keep on Cruisin'!!
It actually depends on who we’re traveling with and what we’re in the mood for, which cruise line we choose. If it’s just us two and we want to feel relaxed and pampered, we go HAL or Celebrity. If we’re traveling with a group and it’s more of a party atmosphere, we choose RCCL or NCL. Each line has different things to offer.
Yes, that is a great take on how to chose!
I like HAL and Celebrity the best so far especially when you are trying to avoid big parties and crowds!
Our favorites are Princess, and Celebrity. Great shows, food, and service. We've tried Carnival 5 times, NCL twice. Our last cruise with Princess was last August to Alaska for 10 days. We're sticking with Princess, in fact we leave on Dec. 2nd on a 16 day Princess cruise from San Francisco going through the Panama Canal ending in Gal. TX.
I prefer NCL over RC. For me the food is better at NCL. But what really made it for us, is that at NCL there's food available until late at night. With RC I think everything closes like at 10pm. We travelled with teenagers, so you can see why that made a difference. Also the dinner arrangements were easier with NCL and the dress code was more informal. More smart casual. This worked out for us because we went on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise and we went on excursions. We would make our reservations when it suited us. We were a large group and as long as we did it with enough time and not last minute we didn't have any problems.
Just came back here to compliment you both how beautifully you work and converse together for the benefit of your audience. I was going to compliment you on this before leaving. Then I went to another site where the other hosts, another couple, started bickering with each other!!! Went immediately back here to express my thanks.
Not everyone likes sports. Or a sports bar. That’s why hubby and I love Viking cruise lines. It is oriented towards older passengers, no children under 18, lots of educational lectures, great shore excursions, exceptional foods and it also has expedition ships that are smaller. We took one to Antarctica complete with a 6 person submarine. Our last cruise was to Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. Hopefully our next Viking cruise will be to Alaska.
Wow! Bravehearts!
After well over 80 cruises I feel Norwegian is the best of Royal and Carnival combined and have some of the best incentives for sailing with them!
NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE IS SIMPLY THE BEST TO ALL OF THEM...👍💪
Agree
norwegian seems more expensive like they will say 50% off but the base price is like $2000 lol
Norwegian is more for the older generation. Like 50 and over.
We have been on 35 cruises and NCL is the best for us. We are going on the NCL Prima on December 16, 2022 on their brand new ship. Can't wait!
I'm a fan of Holland America and agree with the review that some may think they are an old fashioned line for old people. If you hate great food, wonderful crew, comfy clean cabins, classic atrium/large open pool decks, promenade deck layouts with multiple food, bar and entertainment venues then HA might not be for you. If you want a cruise ship with giant waterslides, an 11 story tall IMAX theater, go cart tracks or a 24/7 club scene you should probably choose another line. HAL knows who they are, and they do it very well.
You forgot to mention that on bigger ships you will also like to stand in line even if you reserved your seat for a show. HAL's theaters fit about 1/2 of the passengers not 1/3 or 1/4. So two shows allow most the passengers on HAL to attend.
Have done multiple cruises on HAL beginning with our first in 2007. Love it and still cruising with them. Took one cruise on Princess ( MIL paid for family group to go) was okay but not on par with HAL. If you want to sail on a floating town/mall/amusement park other cruise lines are for you but we are young and still book HAL. Can’t beat the food, music or service.
HAL Zuiderdam, my first love for cruise ship.
@@norayancey4282😅
Well said!!
I have cruised from 2008-2017, 15 times with Princess, 4x with RC, 3x with Celebrity & 1x with NCL. The best was Princess!( friendly crews, tidy room, good food in restaurants & Buffet, fantanstic Shows and daily musics, good itenaries and excursion etc)
I love princess too
23 Cruises? Wow. I'm going on one in 2 months and it's my first! I'm 69 years old... boy, did I literally "miss the boat"!
I have cruised on Celebrity, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Disney. I feel that a cruise should be a luxurious experience where the guests are pampered and the food and service are first rate. Celebrity checked those boxes for me. When traveling with children, Disney is the way to go. I traveled with children around Christmas time on the Anthem of the Seas and was disappointed to find that the kids area was overbooked and could not take my kids. On the Disney Fantasy, almost a full deck is a dedicated children's area and space is always available. The dining and service were top rate on the Fantasy. You rotated to a different themed dinning room each night and the wait staff rotated with you. The Disney shows and movies were of Broadway caliber. Cast Away Key, Disney's private island in the Bahamas, was spectacular. Getting back to Celebrity, it has two "formal" nights in a 7 day cruise. We have so few opportunities to dress up these days, it was refreshing to do it for a change.
Same, Celebrity is awesome then I expand to another ship for the kids
We have young kids and so far no other cruise line has been able to top Disney. We just got off Carnival’s Mardi Gras last week and my 9 yo was bored. My 7 yo enjoyed this ship, but she still preferred Disney. We have tried RCCL but the kids club seemed to always be closed but it may be due to us being in Asia. I plan to try again soon. We have another Carnival cruise booked for my birthday and I think my girls will have a good time bc they will have other family members and friends there and then the next cruise booked is Disney. We may try Royal in between that. I’m not sure my 9 yo will be impressed with Royal bc there are no characters. That’s what she didn’t like but I also know she will grow out of that. They did enjoy the story time and parade plus we will do the green eggs and ham breakfast next time for her birthday. I did feel Carnival’s food on Mardi Gras wasn’t as good as Liberty. Maybe it was the layout but the buffet 👎🏽. Also, I was disappointed in no one enforcing hand washing/sanitizing before the buffet or dining which is unlike Disney or Royal.
Has much as Disney charges compared to other lines for the same cruises each person should have their own private maid/butler.
Mucho much carnival is great
Would you recommend Royal for a solo traveler ?
As travelers we love NCL. As travel agents, we have had many problems with different bookings for our clients and have found their system in general to be frustrating. BUT we love the ships so going to give them one more try. Thanks for the informative video!!
Just got back from 7 days on the new Carnival Celebration. When it comes to the food, the new ship has AMAZING food and tons of different options, best food i've ever ate on any vacation (im a foody and only stay at 5 star all inclusives).
Food: 5/5
Drinks: 5/5
Entertainment: 5/5
Rooms: 4/5 (beds and pillows suck)
No need to apologize! You guys are saying exactly what we need to hear thanks for this video, we are currently looking into dipping our toes in the water of other cruise lines as we too started with carnival and I honestly love it but We just want to see what else is out there
I think Holland America is underrated. There has been a lot of positive feedback about their recent ships and cruises (Koningsdam looks beautiful).
I really loved this vlog. Such great information so well thought out. I haven't been in all the cruise lines yet so I can't say that I have a definite favorite. But so far I think I'm leaning towards celebrity but I haven't been on Norwegian, Holland America or a few others yet. Great job you guys!
We have just completed our 8th HAL cruise, My wife & I love the smaller ship size, rooms are great & comfy, food is amazing. Just got off our cruise last week, it was nice to see a good ratio of older & young.
Hmmm, just got back from HA. We found it to be a big bore. Nothing to do on sea days. Definitely recommend it if you like quiet, but if you want to have fun on the ship, skip it
I enjoyed hearing your opinion of the different cruise lines. We live in South Florida and have an emptiness also. We enjoy cruising, but feel comfortable with Royal Caribbean on carnival. This video is confirming that we are at a point where we can expand our horizons. Thanks for sharing.
I’m travelling on a 22 day cruise on the Konigsdam in a few weeks, I’m very excited! I’ve been on the Nieuw Amsterdam and the Zuiderdam, both were awesome. I agree HAL is underrated.
I know it's been about a year or so, but I absolutely love your hair like this. Just BEAUTIFUL!
I loved Celebrity, especially the food, the live entertainment, there was a change of entertainmentcrew, so they had one cruise only artists, that were amazing. But most i loved the crew: they were so relaxed and friendly. Granted, the ship was only half full, but they took their time getting to know you, and allowing you to get to know them. Thats something i had not experienced before. The Eden and the rooftopgarden are amazing. I prefer all inclusive prices, its a lot easier. But in Europe, more and more cruises include more then before.
My first Celebrity Summit..Oct 31st 5 days love the experience..enjoy it...
Our experience with Princess is the food is fantastic. I also love how loyal and happy the crew is. We also love the destinations Princess has to offer. We're pretty loyal to Princess, but also love Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.
Love NCL, by far my favorite cruise line. But really love the food on Holland America. Club Orange had amazing food, the buffet was top notch and the specialty dining was amazing!
The food was soooo good!!
The last Carnival cruise we were on, the ship was being painted in almost every port we stopped in.
Thank you for being so candid. I have been loyal to CCL since '72, although I've sailed many other lines. Last month I sailed the Sunshine for a short fast get away. I was shocked how lousy it had become. I'm not a foodie just good food fit to eat is fine. I can go on ,however I won't. In closing I'll say thank God I had packed some protein bars, and thank you CCL for the 2 pounds I lost in 4 days. Keep up the good work guys.
Awe... What a shame!! 🏋
Oh I really hate to hear that! Our very first cruise is going to be on the Sunshine in February.
Great comments! I been on H.A.L twice. The Alaska trip was awesome but we spent over $5K each for a land/sea cruise but where treated like royality. I'm so glad we had a balcony on this sail! The Canada/New England last June wasn't so good but only cost about $700 so it was quite a different experience. Both trips had 90% seniors which for me being in my mid 60's was ok. There isn't much to do on board. There was a libary, people playing board games, bean bag toss and bingo. The theatre was tiny. The music triva in the crowsnest was fun. The T.V had about 12 channels.Most from H.A.L There was a sewer smell in the hallway for 3 days, and a uncomfortable bed, no heat for 2 days.It was in the 50's at night. No gifts I had ordered. ect ect. Yes the food was good. But desserts where tasteless and mushy. We got undercooked chicken once.The entertainment was very good. The BBC show and the comedian especailly! The dance shows got old quickly. If you go on H.A.L you go for the peace and quiet. And yes they have a proud heritage and a lot of class. I'm trying NCL next. There #1 on Google followed by R.C. I think R.C is doing everything right currently. I need to also try Princess. Carnival sounds like a fun time for that kind of crowd but that's not us. They seem to be less expensive also. Thanks for the video.
We went on NCL so many years ago, but when we went on a Princess ship in 2005, we were sold. We've had great experiences every time. The staff is friendly and helpful, the Medallion is great, you have the same wait staff that get to know your likes and dislikes quickly and treat you well, the food was great in every area (MDR, buffet, pool grill, International Cafe, Coffee & Cones, etc.), on three different ships, and the beds in the mini-suites are wonderful! It seems to us that NCL charges extra for every little thing so we won't be cruising with them again. Our children are grown so we don't need the Carnival, NCL, RCCL party scenes - those are better suited for our children's age/younger. We'll stick with Princess but someday, I would like to try HAL - been hearing lots of good things lately. Thanks for this video J & A - so helpful.
We are Princess Elite & just tried HAL to check it out. We kept saying, I like Princess better…except the food. It was amazing. Next month we’re back to Princess😬
... Princess lines ... your never really lost ...when you travel on a different ship ... NCL ... Each ship is different ... but wonderful ... you just gotta cruise them both ...
That medallion from Princess is just like what Disney World has at their resorts where it's your room key, your access for rides", the way to pay for food/drinks/snacks/souvenirs/pretty much everything. It is amazing. I'd love to hear your experience with Disney Cruises... Especially since you do have grandkids and adult children so can talk about experience for all.
We have cruised all the big lines as well, but now we've settled on NCL as our favorite. Love the food, the free at sea, the fact they will often throw in one free air, and they'll even book the pre-cruise hotel too! Latitudes Club is awesome too, and the perks add up quickly!
Same for my husband and I.
Ncl is me and my wife’s choice love the drink package specially dining entertainment always trying to find a good deal they have them out there you just have to find them for NCL
@@jimde196969 Agree... and some of the deals have been amazing! They are also good at decreasing the price if they go down after you have already booked the cruise.
NCL is our favorite too! The drink package is what keeps us booking with them haha but also the free specialty dining and the entertainment. We just got off the Bliss and booked it pretty much just for Six and Jersey Boys. They were spectacular!
Yessss!! Going on one next week! Has been our favorite for a few years now.
This is a great video! I watch a lot of cruising videos but this is the best breakdown that I have seen! 👏🥰We are going to book our first cruise soon.
We have cruise with Disney - Gold level and once with MSC (status matched). Love both, but cost wise, I would go with MSC for sure. The "richness" of the decor is top notch, the service was impeccable.
Yes, MSC is amazing. Sailed Divina Dec 12-16, 2022 and she was BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING shows, Ocean Cay was peaceful and relaxing, with only 1 ship (ours), so enjoyed the privacy of the private island bc our ship wasn't very full at all. Service was impeccable. Docked next to Seascape, who was on her 1st or 2nd inaugural sailings, and all I can say about Seascape is WOW! That's a BEAUTIFUL vessel, and all we could see was the outside. More pools and spas than a little bit, with front and back infinity pools, and maybe some glass infinity pools on the sides midship too. I'm a toss-up between MSC and Royal bc my husband favored Royal's Navigator of the Seas over MSC Divina, but I think it was mostly bc he KNOWS that ship...February 10-17 will be our THIRD sailing on Navigator since our first cruise EVER July 2022. I will say that between Carnival, Royal, and MSC, that Royal have the best offers so far. MULTIPLE emails for Complimentary Interior Stateroom after only playing under $100 in the casino, so we redeemed the 7 night LA, Cabo, Mazatlan, Puerto Rico SUPERBOWL and Valentine's Day cruise for only $274 total, plus $25 free play. Lowest price online is over $1,600 to book! Carnival offers so far all cost over $300 to book, BUT some come with some nice OBC or free play, like $500 OBC for a cruise that costs only $340 to book a 3 day Ensenada cruise... but Ensenada is boring and Miracle is old, Radiance food is horrible, and parking for Long Beach Carnival is higher and more complicated than Royal's port up the street. Both ports are local to us, so accepting offers out of those ports to build points makes sense for us.
I just booked on Davina for March & looking forward to it!
Will all cruise lines match status? We are platinum and our friends are diamond with carnival and would love to try other cruise lines
4:12 Jay look Jay has some MOVES. He always says he doesn't want to dance w Dee but Jay ...ya gotta dance man ....u got this!!! U inspired me. I am gonna dance w my wife on our next cruise.
Virgin: wifi included, soft drinks included, gratuities included, all specialty dining included, exercise classes included, great TV options, hammock chair on the balcony, gelato included, no drinks package, no constant announcements, no kids
I have heard that Virgin is across the board best.. but more expensive.
Virgin is also one of the most expensive cruise lines overall. 😬 Virgin and Viking are very pricey but you do get some nice perks.
But shows are raunchy. No need for that. Why can't they be clean?
just returned from 10 days on Resilient Lady; only complaint would be the free wifi being slow but I was able to live with it before upgrading to a paid package. Food is all free except alcohol and extras like lobster; filet mignon and other steaks all free. Decent vegan options, but def had a cheat week there. Royal Carribean vegan options were disappointing - stuff at dining hall tasted like mush. one consistency. slop.
This is my first time watching your videos. My husband and I are starting to look at cruises to try out. I appreciate your honesty! it's going to really help us out in the future.
We took a Holland American cruise to Alaska . It was an awesome experience with great food
Thank you for being honest. You'er giving an overall view which helps to decide what line to take. Kudos❤
It's so interesting listening to Jason talk about the Edge. I felt exactly the same feeling he did. Went back a few months later, felt totally comfortable and LOVED it.
I just booked a Caribbean cruise with NCL. So excited!! First timers. I feel like with NCL they have more onboard activities and everyone says the food with NCL is the best so it was a easy decision.
We (in our mid 60's) are mostly Princess cruisers (sailed 9 times with them). We tried Carnival Panorama last month just to see if it was a good fit for us. We both left feeling that it missed more than hit. Next cruise is NCL in January (vloggers cruise) and I am pretty excited about it. In the summer of 2023, we are trying Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas. I liked how different their design of the ships is unique. Thanks for sharing your views!
Did a 14 night cruise on Ovation of the Seas in Star Class and loved it but the size of the ship was overwhelming. It took 14 days to explore the entire ship. Excellent food staff and shows. Wonderland and Izumi's were our favorite specialty restaurants and the Coastal Kitchen went above and beyond with personalized service. Booked Allure of the Seas in April out of Galveston hoping to recapture the magic we had on Ovation sailing from Sydney to Singapore. Booked NCL's Viva Oct 2023 Rome to Venice in the Haven just to see if it's as good as Star Class and I really want to drive the go karts. Hope we can try out some of the more premium Cruise Lines in the future but we are truly impressed with RCL's Star Class. Best seats in a very big house. We'll let you know how NCL's Haven stacks up next year!
Such an informative video. I loved how you pointed out the differences without being too negative towards one line over the other. I’ve done mostly Disney. We have been on RCCL but a long time ago 20 years ago. We did Carnival Vista and loved the Blue Iguana and all the speciality restaurants. We did not like main dining or the buffet. We also have been on NCL Pearl. We really enjoyed our Alaskan cruise on that ship because we got a forward facing room. With four us in a room we got the suite class which gave us access to their private dining room which we Loved. I loved all the specialty dining as well. I really need to try some other lines since we are empty nesters.
Good video breakdown...each cruise line brings something to the "table". Carnival = Best Comedians shows, RCL = Best Ships, NCL=Best Entertainment.
Very good analogy!
I didn't mind the food on Carnival, it was actually more 'available' than Royal Caribbean, especially on port days. RC only had 2 options on port days until after a certain time & the main buffet was only open at certain times where Carnival, you could find several options regardless of the time & if it was a port day & the buffet was open round the clock. We actually liked Carnival better than Royal Caribbean, although we'd also like to explore Norwegian. After watching this, Celebrity & Princess I don't think would be the option for our personalities, we want to have fun & I'm thinking the Carnival or Norwegian would be the better fit. The only reason we wouldn't go with Disney is because we wouldn't be taking small children.
disney is for all ages but to be fair it IS expensive even for a cruise!
This was super helpful as I'm planning my very first cruise with my family. I'm super excited and y'all were fun to watch. Take care!
This was a great and honest review. Thank you. I have only been on Celebrity Eclipse. I thought it was beautiful and classy. The seating areas were so lush, really felt like I was living the good life. Good to great shows and good to great food and drinks. We are going on the NCL Getaway next month, and I really love the Free at Sea idea , of having drinks, and speciality dining, and wifi included. All packaged and built in before hand. Thanks again.
I'm going on my first cruise ever in a few months and it just so happens to be odyssey of the seas so I am thrilled to know that's your favorite! made me even more excited than I already was!
How was it?
We just cruised a few weeks ago on Celebrity, which was our third with that line but we’ve been on many cruises. I was surprised to be honest, Celebrity was generally disappointing. We’re returning to Holland America in a few weeks and I’m looking forward to it. HAL’s service and food has always surpassed the other lines for us. What works for one person won’t necessarily work for someone else so it largely comes down to general atmosphere preference, service expectations and entertainment options. I don’t like the big 4000 passenger plus ships. If I want to wait in line I’ll go to Disney.
GOTTA have a Sports Bar! Definitely! I'm cruising in October of this year (2024) which, as you know, is football season. I still need my fix of football despite being on a cruise! I absolutely love your opinions, comments, likes and dislikes of each cruise line. We want the real truth - not these videos that tell you everything's great. A ship can be great, but there's a lot of components that may or not be great, such as the food, the shows, the pool areas, the views, the service, etc. etc. And you guys covered most of it. Well done! I really enjoyed this video - so much so I "liked" it and subscribed!
I'm glad you talked about Celebrity, because I'm going on the Eclipse. I'm older than you guys, so I think I will enjoy the more relaxed atmosphere as compared to party time / drink parties type of feel. I know that sounds like I'm a stick-in-the-mud, but at my age it comes with the territory. The pools and the views look fantastic. From what else I've seen, the bummer for me is that the shows are not up to par like the other cruises are. Also, this ship doesn't have that cool Magic Carpet feature, which is too bad. But since this is my very first cruise, I won't be saying "oh, I miss this feature" because I have nothing else to compare it too. Nevertheless, it's exciting to go on a cruise ship and enjoy the balcony. I think I look forward to that as much as anything!
I LOVE your honesty...LOVE you guys
I m cruising with Royal Caribbean May 2023 to Alaska ...my 1st cruise ..very excited.
I loved your reviews! Very informative. When I booked NCL even though they gave you the free at Sea they charged over $300 for taxes and gratuities. We will not drink $300 worth, I was hoping to get a specialty coffees but they said that was not included. So even though drinks are free they still cost $300
You can book without the free at sea and avoid the gratuity. You will miss out on the free dining and wifi as well though.
We book the Fee At Sea and skip the drink package. We don’t drink enough for the tips you have to pay. We do enjoy the buy one get one free air deal it can save you a lot of money and you can still arrive a day or two before your cruise to be on the safe side. If you don’t care for the other Free At Sea deals, just ask for the lowest price - the Sail Away price for your cabin level.
We just came back from spring break cruise with princess leaving from Galveston for 7 days, to puerta maya, Cozumel and Roatan.
We stayed in a mini suite. We thought the food was 10/10 at the buffet, and 8 at dinning rooms.
Although it was spring break it felt like the cruise was very organized and everyone was having fun in their own group. Our teenager had so much fun with all the activities they had for him, and we enjoyed the great shows and adult pools.
The medallion was awesome, we could track each other, open our room, watch ay with it etc. very cool technology.
I’m so glad you made this video. We’ve only done carnival but I’m interested in hearing what the other companies have to offer
We love cruising. We enjoy watching people, especially kids. They bring joy to our hearts. As grandparents who are distant from our grandchildren, these young people continue to make us laugh with the things they do & say. We have cruise only with Carnival 9 times.
We have cruised Princess, Royal, and Carnival. First cruise was Princess, and you’re right, you never forget your first! We ruled out Carnival after one cruise. The clientele they attract is just not for us. We tried 2 Royal cruises and have now promised to never do another. We did an Allure of the Seas cruise to Alaska this past May and the food and service was absolutely horrible! We would however like to try NCL and Holland America. Until that happens, we will stick with Princess as we are never disappointed.
Holland to Alaska is number one for my parents. We tried it once and was impressed with the cruise director and entertainment!
We love Princess cruises!
I was incorrect with the RCCL ship for our Alaska cruise. It was Ovation of the Seas that was so bad! Allure was actually a pretty nice ship and the service was WAY better than what we received on the Ovation.
I didn’t like carnival either-kids running wild-they jumped on me in the pool! I’d never go on another! And the food was blah
Music Hall is the concert hall on Odyssey of the Seas. My favorite cruise line for us is RCCL, we are Loyal to Royal! We just reached the Diamond level and looking forward to our next RCCL cruise in March 2023 as Diamonds for the 1st time.
You need to try the Celebrity Beyond. Have been on the Edge and Apex but by far, Beyond is my favorite. My only cruise on RCL was on the Odyssey and that is a really fun ship. Going on the Discovery in December-last time on a Princess ship was a couple of years before the pandemic so I am looking forward to that. But overall, Celebrity is my favorite cruise line.
My husband and I have sailed on Carnival, Norwegian, Celebrity, Princess, and Holland America. Celebrity has a beautiful ship. We did not like Norwegian’s food. Our children are grown so we prefer not to sail on Carnival anymore. We have only sailed on Princess once, but really enjoyed it. We prefer sailing on Holland and sailed with them numerous times. The food and service are excellent! The music entertainment at night along the music walk is varied and outstanding! We took four of our grandchildren on our last Holland American cruise, and they loved the children’s club. They begged to go! We are trying Royal Caribbean next week. Thanks for your input on each line.
Just did my first cruise last week. We sailed on the Discovery Princess. I was very impressed. It was such a fun experience. Thank you for your review of different cruise lines. I really want to try NCL next!
You guys nailed it great job my favorite cruise line is Norwegian
Great video! The only thing I’ll mention that you surprisingly didn’t bring up at all is the dining schedule. We really, really enjoy the Freestyle Dining feature on NCL. We don’t enjoy being locked down to a set dinner schedule. We basically eat whenever we want to without having to participate in the buffet frenzy to do it. The buffets are nice, but seating is nearly always an issue for us.
Thank you. I am looking at cruises and it will be our first cruise. The one thing we wanted to absolutely avoid was being forced to eat at a specific time or a specific dress code. I don't want to be on a schedule while on vacation, as much as humanly possible -- and scheduled dining is a complete deal breaker for me. Thank you for mentioning this because I was thinking that perhaps all cruise lines did away with scheduled dining, but I guess not. Again, thanks so much!!
@@nik-mik-7332 so Royal gives you options. You can select My Time Dining and opt for either 5:30pm early Dining or 8pm late dining, OR u can choose Anytime Dining. The main difference is that My Time dining means you will have a reserved table and sit only with your party at a private table, and it will be the SAME table every day, and you will walk right in so long as you arrive within 30-45 minutes of your chosen dining time. Anytime dining means you can arrive at the MDR (main dining room) during any open dining hours and get seated upon availability. So you may have a slight wait, which with Carnival you will have anyway (check in on the app, then wait for notification that ur table is ready, THEN proceed to the dining room). Also you will be seated at any open table that will accommodate your those in your party, and you MAY be seated at a table with others (no biggie if u are ok with that). Video described the TASTE of the food per cruise line, which I agree, Carnival is the worst. Royal had a better MDR menu than Carnival, and all cruise lines have certain free entrees that are available daily such as salmon and a steak. Do yourself a favor and go to the MDR at least once, if not daily, AND utilize the all-inclusive. Try new things like Royal's escargot or desserts you have never tasted before. This is the time to experiment without risk or cost. If you don't like it, no harm, no foul. You may order multiple selections off all-inclusive menus at no cost. So you may order 2 appetizers and 2 entrees. Carnival and Royal are now charging fees for ordering too much though. Carnival just switched to charging after the 2nd entree (portions are very small fyi, so it makes sense that some people order 3), and Royal and Carnival are charging for more than 2 lobster tails, but I think Carnival is charging after the 1st tail. Cruises over 5 days have a free lobster tail night fyi. You may bring 1 bottle of champagne and 1 bottle of wine onboard both lines... each cruise line has their own rules and limits. Royal allows you to give your wine and/or champagne to the MDR to bring to your table upon request each time you dine, while keeping it cold in their refrigerator throughout your sailing. They simply charge a corkage fee for this service. Carnival will not allow you to bring bottled water, only cans (soda, water, juice), but Royal allows both cans and plastic bottles. Both have a 12 per stateroom max, to save you from purchasing non-alcoholic drink packages or for bottled water. The ship has free tap water stations and the water is drinkable and actually tastes better than most bottled water. Be sure to pack a water bottle/canister that has a screw top so you can fill it with ice and beverages to carry drinks with u onboard or at port that you can sit down and return to, without the beverage being open and exposed. Also BE SURE TO PACK a lanyard or preferably plastic cade with lanyard or clip to place your keycard in. You won't always wear pockets but you will ALWAYS have your keycard when you are out of the room, so this makes it easy to keep up with and hands-free. DON'T pack pool/beach towels....they are provided. Candles are not allowed and will be confiscated like TSA when u embark. Forgot to tell my mom that and she had a gift box for someone that included a candle, so it was taken. You CAN opt out of gratuities and tip in cash yourself. You just need to go to guest services on day 2 (when they show up on ur bill) and tell them to remove them. Lastly, if no wifi, once out to sea you cannot communicate with ur party. So if you and ur spouse get separated you will either be searching the ship for them, or you can pay $2/day on Royal to text each other within the app. Other lines may have this option too. MSC cruises do NOT have the app, except for I think 3 ships, and they are the only line I know of that will NOT allow you to bring beverages onboard. Hope that helps with ur decision for booking and packing!
@@nik-mik-7332 oh, and dress code for formal night is usually not enforced. It's optional. Shorts are ok in the MDR too. Flip flops for men and going shirtless or being obviously inappropriately dressed are the only things they enforce on Carnival, Royal, and MSC.
Agree about pool deck on ncl. Breakaway line. Couldn't even comfortably get in the pool on the getaway. No deck chairs available. Nice children's swimming area though. Everything else great.
Have done 3 cruises on NCL, food was fantastic (did mostly specialty dining), and always had a great time!, very few hiccups. This will be my first cruise on RC coming up. So far booking the cruise on the website and adding upgrades, excursions, food, talking to reps etc., was easier on NCL.
NCL has the most exotic cruise locations IMO and that what keeps me going back... Antarctica, Australia/New Zealand, the Indian Ocean islands, Fiji, Bora Bora and Southern Asia. Personally, I go on a cruise for location, not just for the ship and entertainment!
I've only cruised Norwegian and I don't feel like I should even try another line because of the great experiences I've had with them. I'm considering Royal Caribbean, but I'm not sure I want to unless I go on Odyssey of the sea! Great video and great insight thanks for sharing your views.
... once you have enjoyed the best ... why change ? ...
@@willgaukler8979 great question. I may never change!!!
Thank you because as a first-time cruiser on NCL. I enjoyed and appreciated the honesty and information provided regarding all the cruise lines. It really helped me to understand the advantages and disadvantages of cruising.
Our first cruise was on Holland (New England and Canada), and we definitely agree with you that the food was fabulous. It was a smaller ship with an intimate feel, yet we never felt crowded. The excursions were well orchestrated and the shows were enjoyable. We would go with them again, but somehow we just haven't yet. We have also done one cruise on Royal Caribbean (to the eastern Caribbean, pre-pandemic), and while we enjoyed it, we would never go back with them unless we had little kids with us - it's all about the young'uns on RC! The shows were great, but we didn't like the food as much, and we hated how many extra charges and upcharges there were. Also, RC excursions were a nightmare - totally unorganized, and I hated that! For us, it's Princess we keep going back to! We've been to Alaska several times on Princess, as well as the UK, and we are getting ready to go on our first cruise since COVID, which will be Princess to the western Caribbean. We have always felt we could get what we wanted without much in the way of upcharges, and we love the new Princess Plus pricing option. We feel comfortable with the layout of the ships. The food is not quite as fabulous as Holland, but it's still great, and there are options to please all three of the generations that are going on our upcoming cruise. There's enough to do on Princess for the teens, but it's not too wild for the grandparents! The excursions are always well organized and the shows and other entertainment options enjoyable. This will be our first Medallion cruise, and we are super excited about that new experience!
You do not sound like snobs at all. I absolutely love love your videos. I love hearing the truth about cruise lines. Which ones are better? Which ones aren't? You guys are the best!
We have traveled on Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess. As retired old folks we love Princess. We love the kick back relaxed environment on Princess. My hubby as an avid casino groupie, likes the casino on Princess ships.
I’m from Lafayette and have never been on a cruise yet, even though near two ports. Your pros and cons were great for me to make my final choice. Thanks, y’all!
I absolutely adore the Solerium area of the Oasis ships from RC. I have never been disappointed with the food in the included areas and we do not bother with specialty restaurants. We have never been disappointed with the entertainment either. “We will Rock You” on the Anthem of the Seas was one of the best productions I have seen. I also loved the wine choices and the variety of coffees. I hated the Carnival cruise we went on, but I am not a party animal.
This was a very fair assessment of each line. It does depend on the specific ship. Especially, for the quality of the food. On Royal Caribbean, in Europe, I was served a raw lamb shank, I do not mean a braised piece. It never was touched by any heat. It was the worst food ever. We had traveled with RC numerous times. Two other times had bad experiences, we stopped traveling with them. We were Diamond level. We have been traveling with Carnival and now are Diamond level there. Food and shows are weak, on just about every ship. We're Sapphire on NCL, found everything, has above average on every ship. They seem to be the most consistent. My favorite line is Princess and my wife's is Celebrity. Loved the Artsy Fartsy phrase!!!
Loved your video. But you forgot one important thing about Princess and medallion. The best part of it is that the staff can find you wherever you are on the ship and deliver cocktails off your drink package and food directly to your lounge chair at a pool or anywhere else in the ship including in your state room. I loved that!
They Did indeed mention That.
I just wrapped up my first cruise on Harmony Of The Seas, and it was awesome. I'd love to try others too. Not really feeling Carnival. I love upscale vibes, great customer service, and amazing food. Now I'm hooked on cruise vids, especially pier runners. Thanks for this informative vid!
Wife and I took an Alaska cruise on Princess couple years ago during NBA finals. We spent every night in the sports bar and met other cruisers and meet up each time and that was the best part of the trip!
I've been on more Carnival cruises than any other cruise line. I'm a Vegetarian, so I'm ok with the buffet and The Deli. The desserts are a bit disappointing though.😔 Royal Caribbean's food, wasn't good to me and I preferred MSC. Guess it depends on taste!☺️ Entertainment is ALWAYS Hit or Miss.Thanks for sharing YOUR opinions!!😁 Love you guys!😉
Msc has amazing food options. But they don't have food all night. I heard other cruise lines do.
Trying to plan a cruise for our honeymoon. He likes lots of activities but I prefer to just chill and relax, so we figured it would be a best of both worlds scenario. This helps narrow it down to make sure we will both have the experience we want
Absolutely loved this video. great honest thoughts on each one. I have been on three different cruise lines so far. My first was Royal Caribbean, then MSC, and then Carnival just this year for my first time. Carnival definitely brings the fun. Royal was cool as it was my very first cruise experience and got me hooked. But MSC is my favorite. The ships are gorgeous the food is great if you step outside the "American" box. The only thing I dislike about MSC it the Customer Service before the Cruise, and Guest Services on the ship. I LOATHE MSC Guest Services.
AGREE MSC, have done all the others AND their private island is beautiful, fun and all day long.
Just came back from a cruise on Sky Princess....here's my review (only one other cruise 15 yrs ago....) Food- really good...ate at buffet mostly. Activities- not much Shows- AMAZING!!!! Broadway quality. Rooms- we had a standard balcony and it was spacious and the bed was memory foam and SOOO comfy! Tech- the medallion tech was amazing and convenient. Smokers area- was pleasantly surprised that there was a mini deck at the rear of ship that was dedicated to smokers with a covered area, many patio couches, lounge chairs, etc. I had fully expected to be huddling in a small corner somewhere. There are other areas onboard too, but this mini aft deck was close to my room! Future plans- booking Royal Carib Oasis for the end of the year!
Tamarind on HAL is the best specialty dining experience I’ve had on a ship.
I’ve only done one cruise~ Royal Caribbean. Back in 2006/7. Loved it ~ went with a group of friends.
One thing I'm surprised you didn't talk about more is relative sizes. I prefer smaller (under 2500 people) ships. A lot of the main line ships you rave about are more mega size ships, and frankly the size of those ships needs to be addressed. At the very least explained to those of use who hate crowds.
You assume those ships have crowd issues and they don’t. More people but spread out in a huge ship. I prefer the mega ships just for the ease of finding a peaceful spot when I wish or the many, many venues for entertainment.
@@kated2847 that is sort of my point. I see the mega ships and frankly, they scare me off. And I don't think I am alone in this. I just would like to see a few videos that touch on the issues caused by size and how they are addressed. And maybe compare that to the smaller (2,000 to 2,500 passenger ships). There are pluses and minuses that a lot of us aren't fully aware of.
For example, I've watched a bunch of videos on the big ships and see things like how you need to pre book everything from dining to shows just because the theaters aren't big enough to seat everyone. I see that as a minus on the big ships. As a plus, they do tend to offer far more food and entertainment choices. A compare and contrast would be helpful. I guess what I am saying is that I would like the issue addressed. Both things like you mention and the benefits that a bigger ship offers. But, I want to hear the negatives too,such as how it affects port days.
We have only done 2 cruises...Disney with our daughter 10 years ago. And just did NCL Mediterranean...was SO fantastic...the port stops, the food, the entertainment, the service...all just so amazing! We loved the freestyle dining on the Norwegian, especially compared to Disney, where you ate at a certain time, when they told you and you went with the same people...did not like that. We also really like the unlimited beverage package... was such a great value! The rooms were so cozy, comfy bed and really nice shower. Loved our shore excursions in Greece, Malta and Italy and always so nice to come back to our cozy cabin, have a nice meal and meet our friends at "Maltings" our muster point. Would not hesitate to cruise with NCL again.
Omg! This was one of the first cruise videos that I sat and watched the whole thing. You guys do a great job getting to the point and explaining everything! Thank you!
I’m a beginner cruiser … so of course I’ve only been on Carnival, but after watching this video, I think we’re gonna venture into NCL. ❤😂
Also would love to know when is the best time to book a cruise?
I feel like I've been missing out all these years! I'm going on my 1st cruise in 2 months on Celebrity. Everyone else has been on multiple cruises! I'm 69. Good thing I didn't wait any longer.
Hi just found you..Great job giving tons of info in a reasonable time slot.
I've been on 14 cruises my first was in early 70's on HAL 10 days to Southern Caribbean. Absolutely the best experience ever. This was when the food was superb and you ate for probably 2 hours. Also sat at table for 6 and although we were different ages, us 22 then 35 then 50's we all became the best friends and the next year got together in Toronto (the 50s couple) We traveled from Mass. And other couple was from Baltimore.
This doesn't happen 😕 anymore with a the changes Cruiselines are making. Our other spectacular cruise was with Celebrity from Rome 12 days ending in Barcelona. We had a mini suite with a tub, which I need for mobility issues..and our own Butler. It was a 40th Anniversary cruise and we were totally spoiled.
I've been on 5 Princess cruises..Discovery been the most recent and it was amazing. I'm a solo traveler now since hubby passed 6 yrs ago. I Really wish cruise lines wouldn't punish solos by making us pay double bc it makes it harder to cruise especially when flying 2000 miles to get to a good port.
Anyways loved your review and take another princess cruise and be sure to eat at Sabatinis..Tatiana is super great at her job. Tell her Nancy sent you. Thank you.