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If you tend to pick a cruise line as a priority, please name 4 or 5 top
reasons why you pick a cruise line.

For me Celebrity

1. ship design (Horizon and Century class only)
2. ambiance
3. minimal announcements
4. traditional dining with dress codes
5. onboard service style


HAL

1. traditional dining with dress codes
2. pool design and deck areas on pre-Vista ships
3. opportunities for ballroom dancing
4. service style

RCI

1. electric feel (esp. Voyager ships)
2. fun elements
3. well defined
4. varied activities

Thinking of DELTA STEAMBOATS for steamboat paddlewheel feel, bed and
breakfast decor, opportunities for jazz, caliope. CRYSTAL for reported
high level of product delivery and consistency. CUNARD for its lineage
and tradition if it is at all detectable currently. P&O for British feel
and ship design (ORIANA and AURORA).

Ben

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Nice topic, Ben.

Princess

1. Personal Choice dining
2. fresh water pools
3. adult only swimming pool
4. few announcements
5. nice padded chaise lounges
6. more entertainment options than I can do
7. good selection of movies
8. quiet atmosphere
9. Movies Under The Stars (on some ships)


NCL

1. Freestyle dining
2. entertainment
3. macadamia nut cookies
4. relaxed atmosphere
5. nice bands, vocalists


Carnival

1. entertainment
2. their wonderful buffets
3. stand-up comedy
4. the best pizza at sea
5. their wonderful buffets
6. the best lobsters
7. did I mention the buffets?

Becca <-----enjoys every cruise...



Benjamin Smith wrote:

> If you tend to pick a cruise line as a priority, please name 4 or 5 top
> reasons why you pick a cruise line.
>
> For me Celebrity
>
> 1. ship design (Horizon and Century class only)
> 2. ambiance
> 3. minimal announcements
> 4. traditional dining with dress codes
> 5. onboard service style
>
>
> HAL
>
> 1. traditional dining with dress codes
> 2. pool design and deck areas on pre-Vista ships
> 3. opportunities for ballroom dancing
> 4. service style
>
> RCI
>
> 1. electric feel (esp. Voyager ships)
> 2. fun elements
> 3. well defined
> 4. varied activities
>
> Thinking of DELTA STEAMBOATS for steamboat paddlewheel feel, bed and
> breakfast decor, opportunities for jazz, caliope. CRYSTAL for reported
> high level of product delivery and consistency. CUNARD for its lineage
> and tradition if it is at all detectable currently. P&O for British feel
> and ship design (ORIANA and AURORA).
>
> Ben

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I would have to agree about Princess. First go around I took the advice
of a friend, plus information from my travel agent. I am glad that I
did. I very much like Princess. I like all the options below, although
I have yet to see a movie under the stars.

> Princess
>
> 1. Personal Choice dining
> 2. fresh water pools
> 3. adult only swimming pool
> 4. few announcements
> 5. nice padded chaise lounges
> 6. more entertainment options than I can do
> 7. good selection of movies
> 8. quiet atmosphere
> 9. Movies Under The Stars (on some ships)
Michael

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Benjamin Smith wrote:
> If you tend to pick a cruise line as a priority, please name 4 or 5
top
> reasons why you pick a cruise line.

HAL
1. traditional dining
2. quiet atmosphere
3. special touches like fresh flowers, yum yum man, NYTimes digest
delivered to the state room, unlimited beach towel availability (no
threat of being charged)
4. better food (my opinion) than CCL, RCL, NCL, on par w/ Celebrity and
Princess when I was on Sea in early 2001, pre-personal choice).

I do need to try another Celebrity cruise - maybe next March. Only one
was on Horizon to Bermuda which I don't think was representative of the
line, although I really enjoyed it.

Lee

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Benjamin Smith wrote:
> If you tend to pick a cruise line as a priority, please name 4 or 5
top
> reasons why you pick a cruise line.

HAL
1. traditional dining
2. quiet atmosphere
3. special touches like fresh flowers, fruit basked in cabin, bathtubs
in all cabins, yum yum man, NYTimes digest delivered to the state room,
unlimited beach towel availability (no threat of being charged)
4. better food (my opinion) than CCL, RCL, NCL, on par w/ Celebrity and
Princess when I was on Sea in early 2001, pre-personal choice).

I do need to try another Celebrity cruise - maybe next March. Only one
was on Horizon to Bermuda which I don't think was representative of the
line, although I really enjoyed it.

Lee

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On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:34:37 GMT, Benjamin Smith wrote:

> If you tend to pick a cruise line as a priority, please name 4 or 5 top
> reasons why you pick a cruise line.

I'm picky about ships especially eliminating most of the older ones. But
what drives me first is the itinerary. I'm not "into" food, I like new
places, and I prefer 10 days plus.

Once a certain itinerary has been chosen, then it's a double check to see
what ship it is, what age and then what cabin (balcony) can we get.

I really enjoy repositionings so the start/end points are a big piece of
the decision. Ending in NYC when they repositioned from Miami was a huge
plus since one way fares could be had cheap to both places.

Put me to sea on most of the ships built since around 2000 and I'm a happy
Chrissy. Give me an aft stern on a Fr. Poly 14 day cruise and you will
never see me again.

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mgrahm@trib.com wrote:

> I would have to agree about Princess. First go around I took the advice
> of a friend, plus information from my travel agent. I am glad that I
> did. I very much like Princess. I like all the options below, although
> I have yet to see a movie under the stars.

The Movies Under The Stars was fun. I watched the movie right after
dinner, but people around me were eating popcorn, fruit, pizza. You can
order a drink if you want one.

AFAIK, Movies Under The Stars is avaialable on Caribbean Princess, Grand
Princess and Sea Princess. They showed movies all day too. I had lunch
while I watched Grease.

Becca <------loves cruising on Princess...

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"Becca" <becca@hal-pc.org> wrote in message
news:3aqgt8F6ehbddU1@individual.net...
> Nice topic, Ben.

I agree

HAL

1) Itineraries always go where I want them to go. (I'm serious here, though
we like HAL, we thought trying a different line would be nice, but when it
comes down to finding a ship that hits the ports we want on the weeks we are
available HAL ends up being our only option.)
2) Suites are reasonable price for size, and allow 4.
3) Free laundry in the suites.
4) Nice concerierges services and snacks in the suite lounge.
5) Bread pudding.

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Thus spake Becca <becca@hal-pc.org> :

>mgrahm@trib.com wrote:
>
>> I would have to agree about Princess. First go around I took the advice
>> of a friend, plus information from my travel agent. I am glad that I
>> did. I very much like Princess. I like all the options below, although
>> I have yet to see a movie under the stars.
>
>The Movies Under The Stars was fun. I watched the movie right after
>dinner, but people around me were eating popcorn, fruit, pizza. You can
>order a drink if you want one.
>
>AFAIK, Movies Under The Stars is avaialable on Caribbean Princess, Grand
>Princess and Sea Princess. They showed movies all day too. I had lunch
>while I watched Grease.

Consider the subtle humor in what you just wrote. :-)

>
>Becca <------loves cruising on Princess...

--
dillon

Women should be obscene and not absurd.

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Thus spake Becca <becca@hal-pc.org> :

>mgrahm@trib.com wrote:
>
>> I would have to agree about Princess. First go around I took the advice
>> of a friend, plus information from my travel agent. I am glad that I
>> did. I very much like Princess. I like all the options below, although
>> I have yet to see a movie under the stars.
>
>The Movies Under The Stars was fun. I watched the movie right after
>dinner, but people around me were eating popcorn, fruit, pizza. You can
>order a drink if you want one.
>
>AFAIK, Movies Under The Stars is avaialable on Caribbean Princess, Grand
>Princess and Sea Princess. They showed movies all day too. I had lunch
>while I watched Grease.

Consider the subtle humor in what you just wrote. :-)

>
>Becca <------loves cruising on Princess...

--
dillon

Women should be obscene and not absurd.

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Cabin size & if it has lots of drawers & closet space & large shower
or tub!
Space under bed to store luggage!
Elect. outlets for razor,batt.chargers, photo printer,safe,good tv with
input jacks for video camera, adjustable a.c. ,
Movie theatre ,laundromat , steak or roast beef or chicken on menu every
night,cabin stewards who speak (at least) a little english , faster
elevators , shorter lines for every thing , more deck chairs , more
(new) ports in carib. , less jugglers & more dancing girls, no beer
belly contest , casinos that let you actually win some times , more
variety on tours !

BILL

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LeeNY wrote:

> Benjamin Smith wrote:
>
>>If you tend to pick a cruise line as a priority, please name 4 or 5
>
> top
>
>>reasons why you pick a cruise line.
>
>
> HAL
> 1. traditional dining
> 2. quiet atmosphere
> 3. special touches like fresh flowers, yum yum man, NYTimes digest
> delivered to the state room, unlimited beach towel availability (no
> threat of being charged)
> 4. better food (my opinion) than CCL, RCL, NCL, on par w/ Celebrity and
> Princess when I was on Sea in early 2001, pre-personal choice).
>
> I do need to try another Celebrity cruise - maybe next March. Only one
> was on Horizon to Bermuda which I don't think was representative of the
> line, although I really enjoyed it.
>

The Horizon should be representative of Celebrity in terms of service,
food quality, and ambiance in social venues. While people may love the
decor and amenities of the new ships, Celebrity received its highest
ratings for food and service on the Horizon and Zenith and their lowest
on the Millennium ships (except for specialty restaurants). But, that
was in the early 90s when Horizon and Zenith received these ratings, not
lately.

At this point, I think the Century class ships are best representative
of what Celebrity was envisioned to be by Chandris. The newer Millennium
ships are more a hybrid of RCI/Celebrity style, and represents where the
line may be going and ideas of Celebrity's RCI-picked management.

HAL continues to change directions. The Statendam and Rotterdam class
represents a HAL that many of the current loyal fans are reasonably in
line with what they think HAL should be. The newer Vista ships are for a
new generation of trying HAL cruisers, and I'm not sure they are as well
defined as the cruiser's who enjoyed the medium sized Statendam and
Rotterdam ships.

I like the new generation of RCI and NCL ships. I'm not sure about
Princess ships. I don't care for the newest generations of HAL or
Celebrity ships, for HAL too large, IMO, for Celebrity, lacking a
certain feel and inefficient use of space.

Ben S.


> Lee
>

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Dillon Pyron wrote:

> Thus spake Becca <becca@hal-pc.org> :

>>AFAIK, Movies Under The Stars is avaialable on Caribbean Princess, Grand
>>Princess and Sea Princess. They showed movies all day too. I had lunch
>>while I watched Grease.
>
>
> Consider the subtle humor in what you just wrote. :-)

Doh! OK, I get it. Too funny.

Becca <-----still laughing...

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