My husband and I are planning on cruising for the first time in January and I was just wondering if anyone suggest one cruise line over another. We were interested in rccl, ncl, princess, carnival or holland. If some one could just give us a little run down on each line it would be greatly appreciated. We just want to make sure we do not end up on a really quite ship. Thanks

Mell, of the cruise lines you mentioned, I think Holland America will be the quietest, since it tends to attract the oldest passenger. Holland America will also have the fewest children or young families for the same reason.

Carnival will be the most lively but may not have service as personalized as Royal Caribbean or Princess. Some folks will swear food is better on one cruise line or another, but since opinions about food are so subjective, I think you can assume food quality will be more or less the same on all the lines you mentioned.

It may all boil down to which cruise line has the itinerary you like the best.

Since you are a first time cruiser, it would be a really good idea to work with an experienced travel agent who can go into more depth about which of the cruise lines would best suit your own ideas about the perfect vacation.

Sandy

Sandy, you think Carnival will be much more lively than RC? I thought that, at this point, they offered a very similar experience?

Mike-

They are close but the edge still goes to Carnival. But when we were on the Mariner, you would have been hard pressed to be able to tell the difference based totally on the activity.

It probably depends a bunch on the actual ship you pick. There are ships on both lines that are a little more sedate.

I agree with most of the responders on this thread, that Carnival is pretty loud. When we were on the Escasty, our cabin was across from a high school touring choir who was performing at one of the ports. I never saw their chaparone, just to give you an idea. There was definitely a lot of mischevious behavior on that cruise.

NCL is more quiet, but still lots of kids on board. Celebrity usually doesn't have any kids, so that would be worth looking into.



MamaofEnS

quote:

Sandy, you think Carnival will be much more lively than RC?

I think Carnival still has more bars onboard than Royal Caribbean, so it may be a little more "lively." I could be wrong, though.

Sandy