What Are The Big Cruise Lines?

I won a cruise on Royal Caribbean, from the company I worked for! It was definitely top drawer cruising! The food was great, the entertainment was awesome! Rooms were lovely! Roomed with my friend as I did not win two trips one for me and one for my husband, oh well! He stayed home to babysit our young toddler son!

I have only cruised with RC and MSC. I took Mariner of the Seas with RC and have cruised 3 times on Meraviglia with MSC. Just by the number of cruises, alone, you could figure that I enjoy MSC much more. I think the primary reason would be that I only travel solo. Even Mariner, being a smaller class ship, I felt like I got swallowed up behind all the crowds of people. Plus, when I cruised, it was much more of a party-like atmosphere which isn’t my scene at all. Also, I suppose it could be said for most cruise lines, but it felt like they just nickel and dime-d me to death. So, the cons I found on RC, for me, are turned into pros with MSC. Much more relaxed atmosphere, older crowd, purchasing packages are made much simpler, much more relaxed private island and I actually enjoy the food offerings. Plus, if you are a solo traveler, they don’t add as much of a supplemental charge like other cruise lines. I apologize for getting too long-winded. However, I have to disagree about the level of service on MSC. I have had nothing but top-notch service every time I’ve cruised with them.

We have been on about 50 cruises. Our favorite is NCL. We like the entertainment, freestyle dining, no formal wear (we’re on vacation, not at work), and price. Our least favorite was Royal (you had nowhere to eat between 3 and 5:30pm, cabin was so horrible, pressure by staff to give them a “10”, ship was dirty, never again. Princess was nice, no complaints except I got food poisoning from the food. Carnival was fine, a bit more of a drinking crowd than we like, but otherwise good. Fun activities. Holland America was good, but passengers were a bit too old for us and the entertainment was so bad that we ended up either in our cabin or doing jigsaw puzzles in the library as we were so bored, but staff was fine and food. We like the NCL itineraries. Celebrity prices seem to be too high for us. We get a good deal on NCL so we can afford more cruises

I have cruised MSC four times and have another booked in a month. Obviously I disagree with your view but all folks have different experiences. One thing we all should remember as we watch reviews. I don’t know how long ago you sailed with them but the entertainment and dining have really been focused on in the last year. All staff I have encountered are friendly but I do feel they are understaffed. The worst thing about MSC is their on land operations and dealing with customer service. Very hit and miss and easier just to get an agent to handle all. Bonus: very reasonable.

First cruise was to Alaka with Royal Caribbean. Too many people, too many art auctions, too many unsupervised children and the stops were mainly for passengers to buy jewelry at cruise line owned jewelry stores. It just wasn’t for me. Next was a Christmas market cruise down the Danube with Viking. Loved everything about it, but of course I am older and childfree so it worked for me. There is something for everyone in the cruise arena…you just have to find it.

I recently returned from a week-long cruise in RC and have cruised with them for many years. I absolutely think that they have the whole package as a cruise line (lots of activities for multi-generational families, entertainment, service, excursions, activities, wide selection of cabins, etc). I agree with you, however, that the only down side was the food which did not ‘wow’ me this me. I did feel it was mediocre (and I expected more) but hopefully they can improve on that. Great article and very informative by the way.

Loyal to Royal Caribbean! The food, the buffet, the specialty restaurants, entertainment, my privacy in our bedroom . The activities are fantastic for all ages even my shore excursions and activities on and outside the cruise ship, etc. we Pure Love traveling as a couple and also with the family. Very relaxing for vacations.

We are on three Virgin Voyages cruises Feb/March, 5 Celebrity over new years break. And tons of Royal prior to that. I think Celebrity is similar to princess but beats it in all categories, especially the Edge Class shows and food. Virgin is fun and trendy delicious but the shows are wonky, app stinks and its hard to get your bearings if you are 40+. Agree guys that royal oasis class or quantum class are the must try cruises for newbies to see what cruising can be. Great article as always. We have been in the carribean crusing so long and still haven’t bumped into you!

Excellent article. I’d like to say, though, that on Princess, although they do have their formal nights, we have never encountered a problem for not dressing up. We’ve cruised our longer cruises exclusively on Princess, and there has never been any pressure to dress up 🙂 Also, during school holidays, if they coincide with university Spring Break, even Princess ships can seem like a Carnival party ship (without the waterpark and rollercoaster). Thanks for all the great content you give us.

So much information. Thanks for putting this out. To be honest, I hadn’t looked at Virgin cruises as an option just because there are so many other cruise lines out there, and I didn’t know if they would be for me. After your article, I’ve been looking through their site, and am going to be keeping my eye on them as well. Any chance you will make another to compare Holland America, Celebrity, Silversea, and Azamara? Thanks for doing what you do! Happy Travels!

Only cruised once so far, obviously Marella are super budget because not many mention them at all, we found them great perhaps we are easy to please plus we appreciated the all inclusive package!! Looking forward to our next one, will see who with later in the year. Thank you for your information 😁👍

I have never been on a cruise before but I am looking for my first cruise next year. Looking around I think NCL ticks my boxes. A blend between cost and activities/destinations seems really good plus I am looking at a Euro cruise for our first go out. I don’t fancy going all the way to the US and not enjoy it.

I have to disagree with you regarding some of your remarks regarding MSC. I was on the MSC Virtuosa back in November and absolutely loved it. All the staff were so pleasant. The entertainment was brilliant – the paid shows I would strongly recommend. Food was fab – you might find that they do a lot of Italian food as it’s an Italian company. Bearing in mind that on our cruise not only did we have people embark and disembark in the UK, but in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France. So it is important and fair that announcements are made in several languages

I know someone who booked a Virgin Cruise and went all on their own. A paramedic who had a bad time during the pandemic booked this and was worried going alone would be so, so awkward. It wasn’t! He had a great time, just relaxing, jogging and exercising, taking the fresh air, enjoying the Bahamas and Cozumel. I honestly, was surprised. It seems like these Virgin cruises would be okay if you just want to go on your own to relax.

Ben awesome article I primarily sail Carnival but am a bit intrigued with MSC especially that they offer a loyalty match. Not planning on doing them til we hit Platinum with CCL so maybe sometime next year might try them out especially since they are opening up a port in Galveston which is our primary cruise port. Also hopefully by then they will adjust their dinning menu to a more western friendly one. I mean I’m all for the Mediterranean type foods and such but a mix of American/ Western entree’s and more hot not cold foods would make it more appealing to me.

Ben great job, it was very insightful and informative. I’m gonna watch again and take notes. Also all the hidden costs,threw me. I thought all I need to cover was tips $$, drink packages and spa visits. Boy was I deft. Thank u for doing this u answered many questions from a person whose been there. I just started perusal ur articles u guys r hilarious. Respectfully Cookie Kirkland 🤗

Thank you for this article! It wasn’t long at all, I loved the dissection of pros and cons, plus the recommendations for what demographic would most enjoy each cruise line. I will definitely heed your suggestion to start my cruising journey on a royal carribean. Once again thanks, you earned yourself a new subscriber 🙂

We did a taster cruise on Royal Caribbean. We had missed out on a Christmas cruise to France due to heavy snow on the day we were due to travel and we found a two day cruise to France on the Independence a couple of months later. It was great and we would love to sail with them again. We did have a cruise booked with Princess but it was cancelled during the pandemic. We are sailing with MSC for the third time in the Spring but our favourite lines are Cunard and P&O. As older cruisers Virgin does not hold any appeal for us.

One con of RC is customer service. They treat you like should be grateful for sailing with them. We went on the Adventure of the Seas and each time we asked for help, whether it was an issue with our room(missing blankets for sofabed) or billing issues (guest services) we were treated like we were bothering them. The food quality is so so and if you sail an older ship, you have a totally different experience than anyone who sails their oasis or quantum class ships. None of the extra restaurants exist on the older ships, little or no water slides, and less amenities. We had a problem with my daughter’s suitcase with the handle missing when we disembarked and when we brought it up to the port representative, we were literally interrogated about whether or not it was broken after we left the ship, how do we know they did it, and why didn’t we report it before we went through customs. Once we asked for a manager we were asked to fill out a claim form and we were called back, we were again interrogated about the suitcase and had to prove that royal damaged it. So after 3 months, royal finally sent us a check for $50 to get a new suitcase for our daughter. This was a July 2019 sailing. So, we decided to try again and again we treated like they are doing us a favor for letting us contact them about planning a group cruise. We called and got information about setting up a group and the available cabins only to call back when were ready to pay, to have another rep complain about the prior rep not knowing what they were doing.

Very good article, we don’t do Carnival, have had various bad experiences on them. Gave them 3 chances and the third one was the worse. (Mardi Gras) had to eat in specialty dining because we couldn’t eat the MDR food. We love good food and wine so we do Princess, Celebrity and Royal, we always say, you get what you pay for. Have not done MSC and we are not willing to go to have to complaint afterwards!

My family and I went on a Carnival cruise last year out of TX. The paid food was not worth it unless it was in the main hall. Wifi was descent but wasn’t always available. The crowd was also older and a bit boring. I was told the better ports are out of New Orleans and Miami. Looking forward to sailing again on the new ships and to different ports.

Great article, and as someone who is looking at booking the first cruise next year I’m actually none the wiser in all honesty. There are so many that were not mentioned so it is difficult to make a choice. I’ll have to keep researching but at the moment I’m still not sure if cruising is for us. There never seems to be enough space for the amount of people. Thanks for the great article though.

Competition is the name of the game one co builds bigger another co has to be the biggest barges on steroids they are freight boxes stacked up high as they can get them they are slow traveling in the water. The Anthem of the Seas came close to the Atlantic floor and the hotel rooms had major damage. These huge cruise ships not built to take on Atlantic storms they are built for fun and carnival rides. These ships are built for calm tropical seas.

I have to agree, great review! I absolutely love Royal Caribbean, especially the Oasis class and bigger. The food in the main dinning was miles above Carnival and after sailing on the Norwegian Encore, we’ll never cheat on Royal again. Norwegian encore was dismal, the main dinning was disgusting 3 nights of mediocre food, bad service, and waited over 45 mins for the main courses. The saving grace of that ship was the burgers and wings at the Local and the thermal suite spa package was heaven! We did notice the lack of turn down service, no towel animals, and felt kinda nickle and dimed, the internet was horrible, and over all disappointed with the service but the ship was nice enough. The inside just felt cramped. I do feel they were just under staffed. Still hands down best food and entertainment we have had was on RC Allure and Harmony, really looking forward to the Icon next year!

Thanks Ben, this was very helpful. A popular cruise ship in Australia is P&O. They have some very good specials and I get the impression they may be a bit of a budget cruise line but have you sailed with them at all? We’ve only been on RC’s Ovation to NZ but are looking forward to trying some other cruise lines in the near future 😊

Hubby and I are 60 years old but cool, upbeat types and mobile. We want to cruise, but REALLY cant deal with kids but Virgin seems to be a bit much for our first cruise. Not sure where to turn. there doesn’t seem to be a adult cruise line for the “OLDER BUT NOT OLD” folks like us. Any ideas? It doesn’t have to be budget.

We just came from cruising on Ruby Princess this past week and I disagree with the pros. It was a fun cruise but it definitely was not luxury at all. My previous cruise with Carnival was more luxurious than this. It was fun don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think Princess will be on my repeat line for cruising.

My wife and older im 60 and she is 50. So don’t like loud music, we don’t need water slides, zip lines. We like the shows and the ports and see the world. We don’t like the mega ships. The more people the more problems. We have been on celebrity cruise ships. They’re not perfect but the food is decent the service is good. But there is room for improvement. Ive been on the Apex, Equinox and the infinity in April. I will not go on the carnival because of the fights and problems with passengers. Poor security, mediocre food. Some of my family went on the cardinal cruise and they were very disappointed.it wasn’t bad just underwhelmed. Passengers are rude, disrespectful, cutting in line. The cliental is poor.its a budget cruise.

First time on Norweigan. The ‘ESCAPE’ ported out of Miami, left on 7/30/23-8/6/23. We went to the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, and Tortola. Very disappointed, and i will not be back. Terrible overall customer service. My best meal was eating at an Irish Pub on board; consisting of chicken wings, pretzel bites and the fish and chips..OVER priced, under serviced, not clean, over crowded, terrible food, and many on board do not understand what you are asking…. Many people i talked to, were equally disappointed and didn’t understand what happened on this trip, as they said they cruised often with NCL. If you went to complain at guest services, you got the same answer of ‘ I sent a report to corporate in Miami, and i haven’t heard back yet, it usually takes 24-48 hours. I also do want to mention that NCL’s WATERFALL EXPERIENCE is a complete scam. DO NOT GO ON THIS TRIP, unless you are an adventure enthusiast; as a mud runner, or any other rugged run or climb. It was supposed to be a 4 hour excursion, which turned into an all day trip to hell. 8;45am – 3;15pm. You hike up a mountain, then wait to go into a river that is about 8-10 feet wide in some parts, wider in others, surrounded by walls of the mountain. The water was light green and it was great to cool off. One of the problems before entering it, was that we had to wait 2 hours on line in the heat, with our life vests and helmets on. Oh YES, i forgot to mention that they have you sign many waivers before you go on this waterfall experience.

Hi Guys, seen all your articles but my latest 8 day cruise on Quantum was such a disappointment. So many negative changes to some of the most important reasons I enjoy cruising. Food quality well down, no more Lobster night, their excellent bread rolls lunch/dinner gone. Chilled butter gone replaced with runny warm butter in a plastic packet, yuuk! Breakfast choice in Dining room pathetic, not even baked beans available. Entertainment really awful, only two second rate shows in theatre. Over $90pp for a speciality restaurant! List goes on. Of course the choice is mine and I have now gone back to Princess and booked a cruise later this year. Also thrown in a last minute 7 day on Carnival Luminosa just for the hell of it. Never sail on Quantum again. Too crowded with seating in bars no where near sufficient. Simply lacked that feeling of special. RC on a cash grab and ruining the quality, such a shame and just as I qualify for Diamond status with free drinks etc!