How to Pick: Ship vs Itinerary vs ?

[jtntx34]

I find myself with a dilemma. I picked a cruise based on ship first, itinerary and departure port tied for 2nd. Pricing and length of cruise are also issues of course.

After the Key West vote last week, my metrics are skewed, and now I feel like I’m starting at square one again. The ship and port and length of cruise haven’t changed but that port may.

Myself, I don’t care. I’d be happy to be on the ship. I prefer sea days, so the ship is more important to me. My travel partner this time is my mom who prefers port says, so itinerary is most important to her.

Although I agree about the itinerary she prefers being more interesting, I do not think I’d prefer that ship, and changing cruises means adding a flight vs driving.

So, I am comparing a 6 day cruise out of Galveston on Wonder to a 7 day cruise out of Port Canaveral on Fantasy.

We also discussed a 4 day on the Dream so that we could add park days and travel in spring vs winter.

So, if all other factors like price and length of cruise could be equal, which would you prioritize first: itinerary, port, or ship? (I put them alphabetically ).

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I find myself with a dilemma. I picked a cruise based on ship first, itinerary and departure port tied for 2nd. Pricing and length of cruise are also issues of course.

After the Key West vote last week, my metrics are skewed, and now I feel like I’m starting at square one again. The ship and port and length of cruise haven’t changed but that port may.

Myself, I don’t care. I’d be happy to be on the ship. I prefer sea days, so the ship is more important to me. My travel partner this time is my mom who prefers port says, so itinerary is most important to her.

Although I agree about the itinerary she prefers being more interesting, I do not think I’d prefer that ship, and changing cruises means adding a flight vs driving.

So, I am comparing a 6 day cruise out of Galveston on Wonder to a 7 day cruise out of Port Canaveral on Fantasy.

We also discussed a 4 day on the Dream so that we could add park days and travel in spring vs winter.

So, if all other factors like price and length of cruise could be equal, which would you prioritize first: itinerary, port, or ship? (I put them alphabetically ).

As you note, such priorities are personally driven.

For us, generally, itinerary comes first. Then dates. Departure port, ship, (and cost) are usually last to be considered.

 

[AquaDame]

So, if all other factors like price and length of cruise could be equal, which would you prioritize first: itinerary, port, or ship? (I put them alphabetically ).

For us itinerary, then ship, then port. At the end of the day the ships are similar in more ways than not. We live in Oregon, so any itinerary has us taking a flight so departure port doesn't matter much.

 

[DCLDVC1]

For us it's date, ship, itinerary.

 

[Karin1984]

Only when you are working to complete the fleet, then the ship truly matters. In general, the ships are very similar in what they offer. I do not believe that your experience on one ship will be much better or worse than on the other.

To me, as I have to fly from Europe, I would go with dates first, itinerary/departure port second, ship third.

 

[starvenger]

For me, it might really depend on region. In the Caribbean, the ports tend to blend in with one another, so the ship becomes more important to me. I'm not really beholden to any particular ship (I prefer RCG's Oasis class, but I can be convinced to go on just about any cruise ship provided the on board amenities are to my liking).

However, the priorities change in the Europe. I love exploring European cities, and while I haven't been on a cruise out there (I have done a bus tour), I'd suspect that this would be no different. So a smaller ship, with less amenities, becomes a more viable option because I'm not really spending as much time aboard the ship.

 

[EllinK]

1. itinerary
2. date
3. length of cruise
4. port

Our favs are European summer cruises but every year we jump at one additional cruise that departs from the west coast because driving is a lot easier and cheaper than flying.

 

[RamblingMad]

Depends on what you plan to do on the ship versus the possible excursions. I find the on ship activities dull in comparison to the excursions.

 

[KashasMom]

With Disney, the ships (to me) are pretty similar so my choice would be 1) date because we can only sail around school schedule and 2) itinerary. (If we're sailing Royal Caribbean, ship would be second after date since we only like the Oasis class ships.)

 

[pumpkinqueen93]

Here's what I do when searching

1. Date
2. Departure port
3. Length
4. Ship
5. Itinerary

To me itinerary and ship isn't the most important as I would like to experience all different kinds of itinerary and all the different ships. I'm recently new to DCL as 2019 was my first one. Date is the most important to me. I want to pick a time where I know I won't be too busy. As I work at a theme park my busy season is summer. However I don't want to travel in the winter when there's risk of snow storms. Departure port is next for me. I picked NY for the first cruise that I am planning myself just because it saves on money with flights since I'm just a 2 hour drive away. Hoping with the addition of the Wish that maybe Wonder or Dream, or even Wish would be added to leaving out of NY so I can easily get on one of them.

 

[o&smom]

Itinerary, dates, ship

 

[bobbiwoz]

We would say itinerary, except for DCL. There we enjoy the Halloween and Christmas cruises, so dates are important for those.

Also, DVC Member Cruises are a priority for me. If DH isn’t interested, I try to find a friend. In 2019, I did West Cost with DH and Bermuda with friends. (Also did WBTA DCL with DH)

 

[belle032]

Depends. In the Caribbean? Ship, Itinerary, Dates. We have pretty flexible schedules and no kids, so we prefer to cruise in winter, but can use our vacation time as we please.

Places like Europe or another port intensive sailing? Itinerary, dates, ship.

 

[RamblingMad]

We would say itinerary, except for DCL. There we enjoy the Halloween and Christmas cruises, so dates are important for those.

Also, DVC Member Cruises are a priority for me. If DH isn’t interested, I try to find a friend. In 2019, I did West Cost with DH and Bermuda with friends. (Also did WBTA DCL with DH)

I did like my Christmas cruise. Nice seeing the lobby decorated.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Itinerary first, which knocks out a bunch of options, because I don't have any interest in Bahamas or Caribbean sailings. Then Dates, then Port.

 

[MomOTwins]

Date first—have to plan around work and school, but also it is important for me not to travel in times where the weather is an issue—e.g. peak hurricane season, too cold to swim for beach itineraries or other factors like going to Alaska too early before things open for the season

Then PRICE—it varies SO much on DCL cruise that at the wrong time of year you can pay more for a 4-night than 7-night at another time of year.

Itinerary next. Departure port is important because I need to have a plan to get to the port—a port with direct flights is much more desirable to me than a bunch of connections. Also if going to caribbean I want to be sure to visit CC. frankly, other than travel considerations the itineraries don’t matter much to me—I’ve enjoyed repeat cruises.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Today: our priorities are the itinerary, dates, ship, ports, then price.
2022: ship (Disney Wish), dates, itinerary, ports, and price

 

[starry_solo]

Ship, dates, itinerary

 

[KashasMom]

Itinerary first, which knocks out a bunch of options, because I don't have any interest in Bahamas or Caribbean sailings. Then Dates, then Port.

I'm really hoping that once Wish is sailing, DCL will finally have some exciting ports! Their itineraries are severely lacking.

 

[anjuan]

Dates are always first importance with us. The last 3 cruises have been itineraries. However, since we're wanting to go back to the Caribbean ships have become more important since we're likely to spend more time on them. But a new priority is also to do some of the holiday cruises since we've heard so many good things about them.