Cruise Lines

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Mopsy

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I was on a Royal Carribean Cruise in 2008 and it was fantastic. It was around the Carribean and I couldn't recommend this cruise line high enough. I just want to know if anybody had any experience Costa Far East Cruises?
 
Costa can be very hit or miss depending the ship.

They have some great new ships, but their old ones are dire.
 
Mopsy said:
I was on a Royal Carribean Cruise in 2008 and it was fantastic. It was around the Carribean and I couldn't recommend this cruise line high enough. I just want to know if anybody had any experience Costa Far East Cruises?
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From friends of mine who travel a lot, Royal Carribbean are the gold standard. You may be disappointed with alternatives.
 
I just returned last week from a Far East Cruise using Royal Caribbean.

We boarded in Singapore and took in Phuket, Thailand, Langkawi and KL in Malaysia.

We were on the Legend of the Seas. Fabulous!

RCCL are also doing a lot of Asian cruises from Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taipei if thats any help to you.
 
My last cruise was on Costa Mediteranea. Beautiful ship, good food but most unfriendly. Officers and crew didn't acknowledge any passenger. Very aloof.
 
Have done 2 cruises myself. the first was a Med cruise on Royal Caribbean(RCI) Voyager of The Seas. Fantastic ship and service.
The 2nd was a Princess Cruise our of New York to the Caribbean. Would have been fantastic if we hadn't done a RCI cruise first. You couldnt compare the service. Also we much prefered the Med. Shorter flight and a lot more to do a the ports, also not as hot/humid.
From talking to others you cant realy go wrong if you stick with RCI , Celebrity or P&O. NCL are very good also and a little bit cheaper.
RCI would be my first choice also due to the wonderful facilities (ice rink, climbing walls. in-line skating etc) as we have kids.
If you have the funds go with Seabourn for pure luxury.
 
We find RCI the best. No complaints.
Have tried others and they are good too.
Only 1 i would warn people off and thats NCL. You feel like you are in a market with the constant bombardment of selling from the staff and the over-charging etc. Avoid NCL at all COSTS.
 
minion said:
Only 1 i would warn people off and thats NCL. You feel like you are in a market with the constant bombardment of selling from the staff and the over-charging etc. Avoid NCL at all COSTS.
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Right, now you have touched a nerve.

NCL are the best mainstream cruise line by far.

No formal dress code at dinner, no set dinner times, no been forced to eat with a table of strangers. The oldest ships is only 10 years old , and that only does 3/4 day trips.

I don't know what over-charging you are talking about , cruise fare for NCL is usually far cheaper than the an equivalent RCI cruise.

What's free on RCI that's not free on NCL ?


* No connection to NCL expect been a happy customer multiple times
 
No formal dress code at dinner, no set dinner times, no been forced to eat with a table of strangers


RCCL now offer that option of My Time Dining too.
 
Petermack said:
I'm just back from a RCCL cruise and the My Time Dining is only available to those who have pre-paid their gratuities. If you decide to dine after 7.00pm you are told to expect a 30-45min wait for a table.
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NCL had the same sort of issues when it was first introduced. The problems only really went away when they built new ships when this type of dining in mind.

Only one ship left from the tradition dining days now. That ship needed a major refit to get it working well.
 
We did a Costa cruise last May in the Med., Brilliant service, great ship, great experience but it did not cater for the British (or Irish), more in the line of Italian food, Italian announcers for bingo games, bands etc, Italian staff were great but most of the guest were Italian and were down right ignorant, blatantly jumping queues, pushing and shoving to get on buses etc.
When we booked a trip to Sorrento on a shore excursion, it was cancelled at short notice because there was not enough English speaking in the group. We were not told by Costa, but we volunteered to go with the French speaking group, the French guides could speak English and looked after us well.
 

Only ever been on on cruise in my life, that was with NCL to Alaska and I found them superb. We were never put under any pressure to buy anything we didn't want to, found it all very relaxed and easy going and if I ever did another cruise, I'd quite happily sail with them
 
Have travelled on RCI (3), Costa(1)and NCR freestyle(2). Thought NCR the best due to the many excellent restaurants on board but closely followed by RCI. Costa was poor in comparison to either of above but enjoyable all the same. Price wise for us RCI and NCR were similar when all charges were added in with Costa not too far behind. If you get the weather nothing as good as a cruise and suitable for all ages especially teenagers during school break.
 
Hi All,
My parents are going on a RCI Panama cruise next month, (first time cruisers) both are non drinkers.
What is the situation on board as regards water and soft drinks, please?

TIA.
 
SparkRite said:
Hi All,
My parents are going on a RCI Panama cruise next month, (first time cruisers) both are non drinkers.
What is the situation on board as regards water and soft drinks, please?

TIA.
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Tap water will be free, usually very good quality from the ships filters. Bottled water can be purchased , but won't be cheap.

Soft drinks can be purchased at the bars or you can buy an drink as much as you want 'soda card' for $48.50 (rate for 7 day cruise, that will be more less depending on cruise length).
 
The Panama Canal is amazing particularly when you look forward at the ocean ahead from up on high before coming down through the locks.The proximity of the jungle to the vessel's sides in some of the passage is spectacular to put it mildly & will be the highlight of this cruise.
Fruit drinks & colas out of a cooler (not bottled) are free as are coffees & ice creams from locations around the ship.
 
What about Thomson? Has anybody travelled with them and are they ok? I'm looking at cruising in Sept. RC is just so expensive. I know that they are wonderful cruises but it's a lot of money. Thomson seem a good deal cheaper. Anybody have experience with them? Thanks.
 
Thomson wouldn't generally be regarded as been in the top tier of mainstream cruise lines.

What dates are you looking at , and what is your budget ?
 
jhegarty said:
Thomson wouldn't generally be regarded as been in the top tier of mainstream cruise lines.

What dates are you looking at , and what is your budget ?
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Hi, firstly we're looking about the Med (want to see Ephesus/Kusadasi and some parts of Greece if poss) and for that reason we are looking at September-ish (so that the weather wouldn't be TOO warm but pleasant still). As regards budget, we had paid a total of c.1100 euro each for a week last year with Princess Cruises and thoroughly enjoyed it. That included balcony on a good level. We were hoping to get the same sort of value this time, given the economic climate. In fact, as far as I can tell, Cruise companies are ignoring the economic climate, and cruise prices have gone up! If I don't find what I want I think that I will take a chance and wait until the last minute and see what happens then. When we were with Princess last Aug/Sept there were a few people on the cruise who got their week for a good deal less than we paid because they waited until the last minute. Do you know something about the industry? Thank you.
 
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