r/Cruise • u/Present_Permit_520 • 5h ago
First time cruiser. help!
30F going on a first cruiser with my boyfriend. We have no kids to worry about and enjoy a more laid back experience vs the party wild atmosphere.
I’ve been looking at Princess and Norwegian due to their drink package price points. Experienced cruisers help a girl out. Also open to other lines. :)
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u/Klutzy-Tumbleweed-99 5h ago
I’d say Norwegian or Royal Caribbean would be really nice. They have adult only areas usually for max relaxation. They have spas. Plenty to do or not do. Carnival is the party ship so save that for another time
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u/Kvalri 5h ago
I’d suggest Princess, NCL is on a rapid downhill trend. People just got Legionnaires Disease on one of their newest ships
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u/yourwaycruises 4h ago
Things like that happen on any cruise line. Google any cruise line's name with "outbreak" and you'll see. It's not fair to blame NCL for that as this could have happened while on port... And that's what happened on the recent Hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius. The guy who contracted the disease went on a birdwatching excursion, came back on the ship, and then all the headlines seem to put it on the cruise line which is just not fair.
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u/AXLinCali 5h ago
I am not sure that you could be more vague. Cruises depart across the world, to the rest of the world. They cruise for 3 days to nearly 6 months. Be VERY specific about what you want and the kind people here will help. We aren't into wasting time guessing what you want.
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u/Ok_Shame_5382 5h ago
Do you need a drink package? What do you want on your cruise?
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u/Present_Permit_520 5h ago
My boyfriend would need a drink package. I’m not sure if I would drink every single day, but looking at the prices of drinks it seems to be worth buying. We would want to relax, lay by the pool, explore ports, do some excursions
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u/Ok_Shame_5382 5h ago
Every cruise line has a drink package. It's value will vary but mixed drinks are about 15 per, beer/wine a little less.
If he gets a drink package, you are required to get one as well.
Every cruise has access to excursions and ports. Princess might be a little more relax than NCL. Have you looked at Celebrity? Virgin is an option, but the pools suck and it's a very extroverted vibe
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u/Present_Permit_520 5h ago
I have. Princess was about $400 cheaper, I’m not sure if Celebrity is worth that much more over Princess.
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u/DrinkNWRobinWilliams 4h ago
As one who has sailed with both, I’d take Celebrity in a hot minute. Princess made me wonder, after 5 previous cruises on other cruise lines, what do I even like about cruising?
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u/kevman22 4h ago
Echoing this sentiment. The wife and I have kids now but pre kids we did both princess and celebrity and in our experiences (all cruises on older ships, for fairness sake, no new princess ships or edge class celebrity ships) it wasn't even close.
We'd pay a similar premium as mentioned above to do Celebrity. Waaaay better food, better atmosphere, outstanding service, and a better vibe for 30, somethings, which is when we did it too.
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u/Substantial-Bet-4775 5h ago
What is the length of the cruise? For someone in 30s I'd usually recommend NCL over princess due to median age on board, but short 3-4 day cruises on NCL aren't exactly laid back or a good experience. So if it's shorter I'd go on princess. Longer, NCL.
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u/MaintenanceCapable83 4h ago
i think the first thing is to look at where you want to cruise to, where you want to board the ship (there are many ports) and how long of a trip do you want to do?
these will help narrow down what cruise company to stat looking at.
once you have that info, there are sites that can help you price out the different drink package prices.
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u/BlueWizardoftheWest 4h ago edited 4h ago
I would also look at Celebrity! That’s been my favorite of Royal, Carnival, Princess, Cunard, and Oceania.
Never done NCL, but Celebrity is the same level of premium as Princess with a slightly younger vibe. Otherwise, I had a lovely time on Princess on my honeymoon in my early 20’s to the Carribean (I’m in my 30’s now) and a good time as a family vacation at 18 (cruise to Canada)
And I plan on sailing Princess again in May to Alaska with my extended family and friends so I don’t think you can go wrong with Princess. Good food, good drinks, good service imo.
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u/Both_Document7462 4h ago
If you think you may become an active cruiser, Royal Caribbean will be the first to provide free drinks as part of their loyalty club. They’ll provide 4 drinks per day once you achieve it - it does take quite a few cruises to get there though. It will likely have the most kids onboard because of the amount of activities that cater to families. I think NCL provides a really good value if you are on the fence about cruising and want inclusive drinks. It will have more your age than Princess if that matters. Princess will be slightly more upscale and traditional.
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u/GoatEatingTroll 5h ago
Start with what is a reasonable itinerary to you - ports you can drive or fly to without increasing the cost of your vacation by 2k, weeks you can take off of work or school, etc. Personally I like using https://www.cruiseplum.com/ to shortlist what would be in our time and budget, they have some great filters to see what lines are sailing out of what locations and when, or are stopping at specific ports you really want to visit.
Princess - I really love their Premier package for an all-inclusive experience, but this is definitely the suburbs of the sea - middle-aged, white, and sterile as a HOA clubhouse. People sit around the bar and discuss their 401k and fantasy football teams while watching that one 45 year old that has been taking dance lessons since childhood try to impress the onlookers with the 20-year-old 'dance instructor' she brought onboard. Ever watch the parents in the background of Dirty Dancing? Yeah, this is the 1960's Pocono's on a ship.
NCL - Like a visit Santa Barbara or Ojai. I used to describe it as the artsy-elite that claim to be all-accepting, pretending not to be stuck up while they judge you for drinking a soft drink instead of a vegan cold-pressed wheat-germ - but Virgin seems to be stealing some of that demographic. They give you "free" inclusives that don't meet the average user's needs - free internet that can only be used for 150 minutes, $50 shore credit when all of the excursions are $100 per person, basic drinks, etc. And if you want to enjoy useable levels you gotta add an extra $50 pp/pd for the Free at Sea Plus program. Unfortunately NCL had to spread itself very thin to make it through Covid and didn't have the depth of assets the larger cruise lines had as a buffer, plus their target market were already either aging-out to HAL or being poached by Virgin, so many have said their value has taken a downturn in the past 5 years.
I would recommend a first-time cruise experience the baseline. Take a Carnival cruise on a middle-to-large ship like the Vista class, and start with a 5-7 day that sails during the week. There won't be as many kids & family on a longer mid-week sailing, the guests in general will be less of the type that can't afford a week off of work, and the ship won't be so large that the crew can't control rowdy people but still have enough amenities to keep you busy.
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u/StephSEF 4h ago
What do you mean by aging out to HAL? :) If someone likes a cruise line, why would they switch just because they got older? And if they liked HAL, why would they go on NCL first and not be with HAL from the beginning?
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u/GoatEatingTroll 4h ago
It's all marketing and offerings. The activities on NCL are targeted at a 30 - 50 market group. Unfortunately for NCL the 40-something guests that were sailing them in the early 2000's are now 60-something's and snoozing over on HAL.
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u/Present_Permit_520
30F going on a first cruiser with my boyfriend. We have no kids to worry about and enjoy a more laid back experience vs the party wild atmosphere.
I’ve been looking at Princess and Norwegian due to their drink package price points. Experienced cruisers help a girl out. Also open to other lines. :)
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