Tropical cruises

Mrs H would like to go on a cruise this Jan/Feb. I would rather stick my face in a fan. Can anyone recommend any cruise companies that are adult only (preferably not 4500+ of them on board),non smoking,are not just all you can eat floating restaurants and carry out regular stops rather than 13 days sailing with one 3 hour stop at an unknown port. Mrs H has just come home armed with brochures but I am dreading being stuck on a dinner table with Stanley the scrap metal dealer and his wife Pammy stating how they are considerably richer than me and Dwaine and his huge gold necklace explaining to me how he likes to frequent dog fights whilst showing me his latest tatoo.
I would like to go as Mrs H has set her heart on one but I just wondered if anyone had been on any shall we say, more select cruises.

Can't help a lot. We cruise, but on the mainstream lines (Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Princess etc). Infact our next cruise is on one of the biggest cruise ships in the world [:0]

I must say that I have NEVER been stuck at a dinner table with "dinner table with Stanley the scrap metal dealer and his wife Pammy stating how they are considerably richer than me and Dwaine and his huge gold necklace explaining to me how he likes to frequent dog fights whilst showing me his latest tatoo.", but we generaly get a table for 2 (anti-social I know!) so avoid getting stuck with anyone... [8D]

Certainly most of the big international cruise lines, which we have sailed, seem to have few British cruisers. For some reason there ALWAYS seems to be a large group from Hull/Yorkshire on each of our cruises, but they tend to be pretty well-behaved and generally in their 50s plus.

We like the big ships because they have a lot to offer and we are very active (like the rock climbing and surfing etc). However I am increasingly seeing the alure of the ultra-luxury lines (i.e. less people, better food etc). Although a standard oceanview cabin will probably cost twice that of a very nice suite on Royal Caribbean, it could be worth it...

I don't think many cruiselines have "adult only" cruises. P&O do have a couple of "over 18" ships, but they also have a higher than average proportion of British people (who might well be self-made scrap metal millionaires...). HOWEVER most "ultra-luxury" lines tend to attract less families anyway - since they have less activities for kids and cost quite a lot more. Also if you cruise outside British and US school holidays, you will also get less children.

I haven't personal experience of these lines, but - if I was looking to book an ultra-luxury cruise (need to convince husband that bigger ships are not necessarily better first!) - I would look at these lines and see what itineraries fit my requirements:
- http://www.crystalcruises.com/home.aspx
- http://www.silversea.com/
- http://www.seabourn.com/
- http://www.rssc.co.uk/

One of the best cruise independent information websites is http://www.cruisecritic.com/ - their forums can be very useful too (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/index.php).

Good luck and happy cruising,
Boo

[Scrooge]

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/

I'll vouch for the "go on a smaller ship" for a cruise. I've been on one of Silversea's smaller two ships, Silver Cloud, and everything was top-notch. Perfect service, attentive staff and nothing was too much trouble. 212 crew on this ship to 296 passengers - think that says it all about the level of service.

James

[Scrooge]

Well one thing you have to remember is that you are also paying for that service...which is fine..but comparing a mass cruise balcony cabin for a week long cruise is around $800 pp where as SilverSea etc can easily go north of $2k pp...however it is in the grand plans..

Stanley the scrap metal dealer and his wife Pammy stating how they are considerably richer than me and Dwaine and his huge gold necklace explaining to me how he likes to frequent dog fights whilst showing me his latest tatoo.

You mean you don't want to cruise with Essex?;)

Sorry, couldn't resist[:I]

45.

Originally posted by Scrooge
Well one thing you have to remember is that you are also paying for that service...which is fine..but comparing a mass cruise balcony cabin for a week long cruise is around $800 pp where as SilverSea etc can easily go north of $2k pp...however it is in the grand plans..

And the rest... Looking at cruises this year, a week on an "ultra-luxury" cruiseline in a standard cabin (sometimes "oceanview", sometimes "balcony") was upwards of £2500 per person (cruise only).

Husband and I have an Owners Suite (614 sqr ft room with 209 sqr ft balcony) booked on a week's cruise on Royal Caribbean's "Liberty of the Seas" for £1320 per person (cruise only) next month. So more than twice as much (very nice) cabin for virtually half the price... of course you don't get the exclusivity or quite the quality of food/service that you get on the ultra-luxury lines. Not that either the food or the service are bad on Royal Caribbean...

Cruiselines are probably like airline classes:
- you get your "low cost lines" (like easycruise)
- you get your "economy class lines" (like Thomson, maybe Costa and Carnival etc)
- you get your "business class lines" (like Royal Caribbean, Princess, P&O, Hollan America, Celebrity...)
- you get your "first class lines" (like Silversea, Crystal, Seabourn, Regent...)
- then you get your "private charters" (http://www.masqueradeofsole.com/ - since I know who did the website for that one... even if it was done some time ago).

Lots of different lines to appeal to different people.

If we can get a nice suite and a table for two (not normally a problem if you are in a suite) AND we manage to avoid most of the crowds, the "business class" cruising normally works out well for us . One day will get husband to try the ultra-luxury lines though...

Boo

[Scrooge]

I would argue that Carnival should not be in the economy part, having sailed on many lines the food, bed and in general the ship are better than say HAL.

We were on the Zuiderdam a couple of years ago in a CAT SA and to be honest I was totally underwhelmed.I was expecting a lot more for the $$$ paid and HAL just did not deliver.

A Cat 11 is about the same cabin on CCL and half the price.

Silver Sea is running around $3k right now for a one week sailing.
Crystal about $6k for a two week.
Seabourn $7.5K for an 18 day
SeaDream $3.7 for a one week.

BTW..I was on the SeaDream when it was the Sea Goddess...OMFG what a great cruise...

Also though they don't have balconies on the rooms they have Bali beds on the top deck, a friend told me that she fell asleep up there one night, she woke up to find one of the crew had placed a light blanket over her and was standing "guard"...when she woke up he raced of to get her some coffee and breakfast...I can think off worse ways to wake up...like a pile of bacon rolls sitting on a bar [:I]

If anyone is having issues getting these prices drop me a PM and I will give you my TA's email.

It is pretty well known that the cruise lines rip UK residents off badly when it comes to cruise [V][n]

Several years ago we went on a caribbean cruise on board the Star Clipper. This was the most amazing holiday I have ever been on and certainly meets all your criteria.

If you want to take a look, they are at http://www.starclippers.com

The cruise we were on left from Antigua and visited a different island every day - sailing every evening and overnight. Watersports kit (including diving gear, ski boat etc) is carried on board and with circa 170 passengers there was plenty to go round. Some days for lunch the crew did a bbq or buffet on the beach, others it was on board. Food was excellent, and dress code was relatively informal.

If you want to you can get as involved in sailing the ship as you want (helming, raising and lowering sails etc), and the bridge is permanently open to passengers.

If you want more info, feel free to PM me.

Regards

Ian

We're doing our first cruise next September and are trying out transatlantic on Cunard.

However, if you're looking for great prices, we found this great website and saved loads of money rather than booking through the cruiseline direct.

Hope this helps someone:

http://www.mycruisevalue.com/v3/index.asp

Originally posted by Scrooge
I would argue that Carnival should not be in the economy part, having sailed on many lines the food, bed and in general the ship are better than say HAL.

We were on the Zuiderdam a couple of years ago in a CAT SA and to be honest I was totally underwhelmed.I was expecting a lot more for the $$$ paid and HAL just did not deliver.

Fair enough... I agree that Carnival probably isn't economy economy, although for the most part it has a slight "reputation" for being less classy than others. I haven't cruised on Carnival, but have been in port with a Carnival Ship and the people flowing off by the hundred would make Paul H's Stanley look sophisticated... [:0]. It sort of put me off the line... [:?] (ok, maybe I am just a bit of a snob... [:#] ).

I was also on the HAL Zuiderdam a few years ago (2003) in a Category S (I think that they have now split the S - i.e. "true" suites - into SA and SB?). I agree with your disappointment: I couldn't really put my finger on it, but that ship/line didn't measure up to Princess/RCCL... The dining-room staff were great, everything else just wasn't quite up to the other lines. [:(]

The Sea Goddess sounds/sounded AMAZING! [8D]

Boo

We have been on celebrity a few times. Good food and every time we have requested it we have always been given a table for just the two of us at dinner (to avoid the scrap metal dealers). We have usually been the youngest on the ship (bar the occasional family).

The ships are typically a bit smaller than the peer group and a bit nicer (Celebrity is Royal Caribbeans next class up). They have also just launched a couple of more luxurious smaller ships called Azymuth class or something like that.

Itineraries are good and there are some pretty interesting panama canal, south america, australia type itineraries.

We are off to the galapagos islands with them at the end of the month. Very much looking forward to it!!!

Originally posted by oxmatt
The ships are typically a bit smaller than the peer group and a bit nicer (Celebrity is Royal Caribbeans next class up).

Not sure that I agree with that... not exactly a "next class up" just a different target audience.

Royal Caribbean are generally intended for families and the young and active (more kids things, rock climbing, mini golf, ice skating, surfing etc). Celebrity is generally intended for an older more sedate crowd (more lectures/deminstrations, probably better food). Of course, there are cross-overs.

I would probably prefer the okder crowd on Celebrity, but prefer the activities and cabins on RCCL.

Boo

[ChuckC]

Paul,
Think I have your answer. For those who swore they would never take a cruise (that would be me) Crystal Cruisescame to the rescue. Voted best cruise line twelve years running, Crystal definitely fits your "select" definition.

There are plenty of tables for two in the dining room, the food is superb, the cabins spacious and the staff better than in many five-star hotels.

Now, for a warm weather cruise ... Crystal's "Serenity" departs Miami on January 4th and cruisesto British West Indies, Columbia, through the Panama Canal, Costa Rica and Mexico before arriving in LA.

VS to Miami and VS back to London from LA. Plus the Mrs. gets her cruise.

Voila!

Boo Boo - My point was more that RCCL seem to position Celebrity to be aspirational to Crystal etc (the first class lines in the above example) and Royal Caribbean in the upper end of the family cruise area so I don't think we disagree entirely. However the majority of travel agents I have seen tend to classify Celebrity as 5* and Royal Caribbean as 4* and the prices tend to follow a similar pattern. In a purely tongue in cheek gesture I checked the Royal Caribbean Annual Report and it states (it is in a pdf so I copied the text):

Royal Caribbean International operates the largest number of berths of any cruise line in the world, delivering the ÒwowÓ to 3 million guests per year in the contemporary and premium segments of the industry. Hallmarks of the brand include friendly and engaging service, state-of-the-art cruise ships, family programs, entertainment, health and fitness, and energizing onboard and shoreside activities designed for guests of all ages. Royal CaribbeanÕs current 20-ship fleet will be joined by Liberty of the Seas in 2007,
Independence of the Seasin 2008, and two Project Genesis ships in 2009 and 2010.

¥ Celebrity Cruises offers comfortably sophisticated, upscale cruise experiences with highly personalized service, authentic five-star dining, and extraordinary attention to detail. Celebrity is the top-rated premium cruise line by CondŽ Nast Traveler readers in the ÒWorldÕs Best Large ShipsÓ category of the February 2006 Cruise Poll. The current nine-ship fleet will be joined by Celebrity Solstice in 2008, Celebrity Equinoxin 2009, and Celebrity Eclipsein 2010.

But anyway, each to their own.

Possibly... Although I think it would have quite a way to go to get near a line like Crystal. As you say, it may well be "aspirational" and that is the direction that they are looking to move towards - perhaps especially with their newer ships... RCCL are going bigger and more amazing, Celebrity is maybe going a bit smaller and more intimate/exclusive.

I would be surprised that RCCL is ranked 4* by many travel agents: especially their newer ships, but even their smaller, older ships are not too shabby...

Interestingly, overall in 2006, RCCL comes out top of all larger ship cruise lines (http://www.cntraveller.co.uk/ReadersAwa ... ise_lines/) - although that is across a very wide set of criteria, so is - like most statistics - skewed one way or another. I don't think that RCCL would be for the OP, since he would prefer to avoid kids. We normally manage to avoid most kids on RCCL cruises, but there are definitely a LARGE proportion of familes on there...

If the OP has the budget, I would definitely look at Crystal and the other First Class cruiselines first. I am never quite sure about Cunard - think it would be very interesting (on one of their longer itineraries, but there is probably a risk of meeting quite a few of Stanley's rich, self-made contemporaries on it...)

Boo

As for HAL - I have been on them once and although I agree with the above comments I did think the fact that you could walk all the way around the ship (Zandaam I think) outside on the promenade deck and also go out onto the bows made it really good for visiting glacier bay in Alaska and the like.

[Scrooge]

CCL pretty much killed HAL, they turned what was a great cruise line into, well the next step up from Carnival.

I am going to be on the Carib Princess in 3 weeks time [^], it will be my first cruise with them since the take over, it will be interesting to see what has changed.

RCL...mmmm..issues issues issues...nothing at all wrong with them, hell I could cruise for next to nothing, be treated like a king by them but then I would get the 3rd degree from Dodge Island..so can't be naffed to deal with it.

Azamara is interesting..but they are using the old R class ships, the same as Oceania and Princess, the big thing for me is well, Oceania put a lot of money into refurbishing their ships while the others did not.

Also I am a friend of Frank Del Rio and talked to him a bit about Oceania a while back, he saw the big hole in the market for something below the Crystal cruise lines $$ but above Princess/Hal.

In the end you won't go wrong with anything from Oceania on up, take a look at cruise critic as someone said, I use the boards to gauge peoples feelings about ships.

Originally posted by Scrooge
RCL...mmmm..issues issues issues...nothing at all wrong with them, hell I could cruise for next to nothing, be treated like a king by them but then I would get the 3rd degree from Dodge Island..so can't be naffed to deal with it.

??? I don't get that at all (probably me being really obtuse [:I] ).

Hope that your Princess Cruise is great - haven't cruised them since 2002, but had a lovely couple of cruises with them (Grand Princess. [y]

Personally I am not so keen on Princess' "anytime dining": great in principle (being able to get a table for as many as you want or a table for two, at whatever time you want), but I found that you didn't get a chance to build a good relationship (and so get excellent service) from your dining-room servers... If I did Princess again, I would go and see the Maitre'D on the first night and arrange to have the same table for 2 (and so same servers) at the same time (probablky 7.30pm) each night. Apparently they are happy to do that and I think that it would make the dining room experience a lot better.

Oceania is becoming more and more intriguing... [:?]. Will have a good look into that at some point

Boo

[Scrooge]

My father was senior management with RCL, I still stay in touch with the powers that be there.

We are traveling with friends, so it will be a table for 6 and yes you are right about the "relationship"...on our last Carnival cruise, though having a major problem, the wait staff were amazing.

Originally posted by Scrooge
My father was senior management with RCL, I still stay in touch with the powers that be there.

Ah! Sounds like an interesting job . Can see why you might be a bit reluctant to go on that line then... Shame, it is a great cruiseline in many ways [y]. Am off on the Liberty of the Seas towards the end of next month...

Originally posted by Scrooge
We are traveling with friends, so it will be a table for 6 and yes you are right about the "relationship"...on our last Carnival cruise, though having a major problem, the wait staff were amazing.

If you are on anytime dining, might be worth considering reserving the same table for 6 each night then... I am sure that Princess Dining-room staff are great, but if they don't serve the same people each night, then many probably don't put 110% effort in (that we have always experienced with traditional dining on all cruiselines so far...).

Have a great time

Boo

Wow Paul. Sounds like you have a deeply rooted preconception of cruising. We'll have to start by bashing that one out of you;)

First of all I can't stress enough how important it is to do your homework on the cruiselines and itinerary. There are a great variety out there from the good value right up to the expensive with all in between. Work out what YOU want out of a cruise and decide on one that suits YOU. Some cater for families, some are less kid friendly. Some have set dining and others have freestyle dining. Dress code might be a consideration and there are more formal lines and those which are not so strict. Boo has mentioned Cruise Critic. That's a great source of information on all the cruiselines. There are a huge number of posts from all four corners of the cruising spectrum. Go and read it if you haven't already and post a question.

If you are going to try one of the mass market lines, the type of experience you have can not only be dictated by the line you choose, but on where you go, at what time of the year and how long for. In January or February I am guessing you are looking at the Caribbean. That will be outside of Spring Break and you won't find many families away for a 12 night cruise so it should be relatively kid free. Some people bash Carnival because of their "party" reputation, but the truth is they offer a good value product and if you keep away from their shorter cruises on their older ships you stand a good chance of having a great time.

That brings me onto another point. For me it's not only the cruise line I would look at, but the particular ship you are going on. For instance I am not keen to try one of the larger Royal Caribbean ships like Navigator or Adventure of the Seas or the truly huge Freedom Class, but I would like to try the smaller Radiance, Brilliance, Jewel of the Seas etc. They seem a nice size and I understand they are really beautiful ships. These are the sort of details you can drill down to on Cruise Critic.

As for my own experience I have been on Celebrity a number of times and love them. I like the more formal dress code and assigned seating and have been fortunate to meet some truly wonderful people at our table. I have avoided the "considerably richer than yow" brigade or any other brigade come to that. There are surely some around, but I have never met them. You can of course still have a smaller table to yourselves if you want, but these tend to be at a premium on Celebrity. I also like the idea that they don't have any announcements on board, which is unusual for a mass market line. I have also been very impressed with the service onboard.

There really is something for everyone out there matching all budgets and lifestyles. You can do as much or as little as you want, spending a day exploring places you never thought you would go to or just lazing by the pool or having a massage.

If you go and don't enjoy it, then it's either because you haven't researched the trip enough or probably that cruising just isn't for you. Good luck with that research and if you decide on taking a cruise, enjoy. I love them. Next one in about three weeks[8D]

Phil

Boo, meant to say, enjoy Liberty. The FlowRider and that whirlpool look awesome[8D]

Phil

Don't want a big ship? Don't want the standard cookie-cutter trip? How about a trip with a company teamed with National Geographic, where the food is good but not five-star gourmet, the trip comes with some adventure (easy adventure if you'd prefer), and not-to-be-missed memories to go with the destinations?

Try Lindblad Expeditions if you want something different. They're eco-conscious, have very good guest lecturers, and are a total 180 from the standard mind-numbing cruise. [y]

Originally posted by philadam
Boo, meant to say, enjoy Liberty. The FlowRider and that whirlpool look awesome[8D]

Thanks, I tried a flowrider in Dubai (at the Wild Wadi Waterpark) a couple of weeks ago and was surprisingly quite good at it (beginners luck maybe, either that or the Pilates is paying off... ). So I am really looking forward to trying the one on Liberty. Am currently looking to find a "rash vest" (technical term) to buy - to save my bikini top going in a seperate direction from my body... [:I]

Boo