Which is the best ship cruise?

Answer 1

This is certainly a subjective question and difficult to quantify based upon your preferences.

Many people choose cruising by their local proximity. For example, some of the largest cruise ships sail from the east coast of Florida and cover parts of the Bahamas, Caribbean, and Mexico.

Travellers in Australia often opt for a cruise departing from Sydney or Brisbane, which covers Tasmania, New Zealand, Fiji, and Papeete - capital of French Polynesia.

From the United Kingdom and Europe, cruising opportunities include Scandinavia, including the Fjords, Sailing around the Western Coast of Europe, calling at Bilbao Spain, and even continuing deep into the Mediterranean.

Sailing from places such as Greece, Italy, or Turkey may include Egypt, Israel, the Greek Islands, Cyprus, and Coastal France.

From Asia, Hong Kong serves as a prime cruising point, covering the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, etc.

The word 'Cruising' refers to boarding at one point, travelling to a number of destinations, but eventually returning to the point where you boarded.

The Word 'Sailing' refers to point-to-point travel, such as The QM2 from Southampton to New York, the Aurora from Hamburg to Sao Palo, etc.

If your query was meant to ask "what is the best cruise ship," this too is a subjective question.

There's an interesting phenomena which has arisen by the number of novice cruisers that bigger is supposed to be better. Lately, Cruise Lines such as the Carnival Group, P&O, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Lines have catered to this perception. However, most of the oversized liners are built with a flat bottom hull, thus making the liners not the best for Transatlantic and Transpacific travel.

The focus is on how many things can the liner place on board the ship, catering to a 'captured' audience. It's a reality that the enhancements become multiple profit centres, through the sale of anything ranging from jewellery, to enhanced dining experiences, to spa facilities, to souvenirs, and shore excursions.

Those liners attract passengers with substantially low fares, promises of upgrades, or on-board credit for soft-drinks. The working staff are paid what is considered less than slave wages with the expectation that they'll make up the difference in gratuities. Sadly, countries such as Australia not only do not tip, they find the practice particularly offensive. Consequently, an almost true-to-life mutiny can happen by staff who simply cannot support themselves or their families on such pitiful pay rates, often reaching as low as USD$60.00 per month.

Passengers are also led to believe that the price they pay will take care of all their wants. But with the enticement of finding you can have a steak dinner, or lobster by paying a substantial premium to dine in a specialist restaurant. Additionally, items such as soft-drinks, alcohol, spa activities, shore-excursions, and retail shops can make the 'cruise' become one of the most expensive holidays of a lifetime.

Post cruise, some passengers have described the experience as "like being locked into the world's largest prison, with no means of escape, and outside of your 'cell' your common area is a giant shopping centre that sells things you have no money to pay for. "

Luxury can be found, where virtually everything is already included and the ship caters to a more elite clientèle, where dinners are formal, with ladies and gentlemen dressing in cocktail dresses and Tuxedos, may be found on lines such as Silversea Cruises' Silver Wind, Cloud, or Shadow.

Cunard Lines, now owned by Carnival Cruises, offer a vast range of accommodation, ranging from minimal inside cabins, to luxurious multi-level suites, with vast verandas. The price you choose to pay dictates which dining room (and quality of food) you're entitled to. The masses of passengers dine in a single dining room - all at the same time, and are served by often-stressed waiters amidst a low roar of voices, irritating laughter, screaming babies, and obnoxious passengers who would be just as content to eat from a trough than a plate. Seating is at tables of six, eight, and even ten diners to a table. There are only a very few tables for two and are often pre-reserved for repeat passengers.

The next class, which would include accommodation perhaps with a porch, a small sofa and additional amenities in your cabin, dine in the luxurious Princess Grille. Dining is a la carte, unhurried and in a luxurious environment limited to around a dozen tables.

The highest class of First Class, where the finest cabins and suites have been purchased entitle dining in the Queen's Grille - the epitome of luxury, where only the finest, freshest meals are prepared upon ordering, complimentary champagne and where seating options include the most magnificent settings and window views ( the Britannia Restaurant has no windows at all)! Despite the extremely high prices the passengers pay for their journey, they remain subjected to the myriad of ancillary items for purchase on-board. (Spa services, gratuities for their private Butler, shopping, shore-excursions, international telephony costs, etc. This can add many thousands of pounds to the final cost, depending on the number of days on board.

The Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity also provide intimate, everything included, journeys on luxurious Butler assisted cruises. Their journeys cater almost exclusively to the wealthy and maintains an air of decorum and courtesy throughout the journey. The services, facilities, and destinations are designed for adults and not children, whereas with the behemoth ships offer children's clubs, children's parties, babysitting, and teen functions. Board a ship infested with hundreds of testosterone infused teenagers and you have a recipe for problems. The Crystal and Silversea lines eliminate this possibility.

You can even experience having what is as close as possible to having your own private yacht with SeaDream Yacht Club's SeaDream I or SeaDream II. The amenities if your suite include DVD players, mini-fridges, 24 hour housekeeping, all cocktails, activities, and even caviar on request. The 110 passenger yacht caters to the crème de la crème of society's world travellers. Anyone who doesn't live in a similar fashion may find themselves a bit lonely due to the challenges of finding common denominators to talk about.

Finally, there is a cruise ship for Aristocracy and Elite. The Hebridean Princess. This ship was awarded "Best for Royalty" by Cruise Critic's Editors' Picks Awards. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth noticed this with delight. The Queen celebrated her 80th birthday on board the Hebridean Princess. So much did she enjoy this intimate, refined cruise, sometimes described as a mini-country manor with sumptuous décor, that she took her second cruise in 2010. The ship only accommodates 49 passengers and has an almost precise one-to-one crew member to passenger ratio. 38 crew members cater to every demand and whim around the clock.