Up next in 10
As none of us want to waste our precious vacation time and money on anything but those cruise lines on top of their game, I've been diving into the latest cruise reviews, pouring over the thousands of comments and messages I get, and been cruising on many cruise lines to see which are hot - and which are not - right now. Based on all that here are the lines I think you may need think about carefully, and why.
Thanks to https://youtube.com/@FraserAtSea for allowing use of sine of his Costa Cruise footage. He is spending the year travelling / living on cruise ships !
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0:00
as none of us want to waste our precious
0:02
vacation time and money on anything but
0:04
those cruise lines on top of their game
0:07
I've been diving into the latest cruise
0:09
reviews pulling over the thousands of
0:11
comments and messages I get and I've
0:13
been cruising on many Cruise Lines
0:15
recently to see which are hot and which
0:19
are not right now but based on all of
0:21
that here are the lines I think you may
0:23
need to think about carefully and why
0:25
first off I found this a pretty Rocky
0:27
storm at sea right now driving many
0:30
passenger frustrations first of all many
0:32
lines are cutting back they're charging
0:34
for things that used to be included and
0:36
at the same time increasing charges
0:38
secondly ships are sailing Fuller than
0:42
ever before in many regions because
0:44
demand is high and it's stretching the
0:47
crew and testing passengers patience
0:49
because of all the lines and people
0:52
thirdly cruise lines are obsessed with
0:55
attracting new to cruise passengers
0:57
including families they're making that
0:58
really clear and then making their ships
1:00
and everything they do more appealing to
1:03
those so in some lines as you'll see
1:05
when I discuss it existing Cruisers are
1:08
seeing changes that don't really appeal
1:10
I certainly am and fourthly almost all
1:13
lines now have bigger ships post shut
1:16
down both from selling of smaller ones
1:19
and launching all the new ships which is
1:21
changing experience on many established
1:24
lines dramatically as you will see by
1:26
the way if you're new here welcome board
1:28
I'm Gary bembridge and I make it fun and
1:30
easy to discover plan and enjoy
1:32
incredible Cruise vacations here are the
1:35
seven Cruise Lines that's right seven
1:36
that I'm seeing or personally have a lot
1:39
of grumbles about let me start with
1:41
those in the mass Resort lines first the
1:44
cruise line that gets lots of the
1:46
grumbles is Costa Cruise lines of course
1:50
many English speaking Travelers are not
1:53
really actively looking at Costa Cruise
1:55
Lines because you know it's an
1:56
italian-centric line and so it's not on
1:59
many people's Radars however because
2:01
Carnival corporation which owns them
2:04
they've moved two of their ships
2:06
Venezia and ferenze to sell under the
2:09
carnival name is kind of Carnival Fun
2:11
Italian style Concepts out of the USA so
2:14
many people are reassessing Costa and
2:16
actually trying the original line
2:18
however
2:19
on that main Costa line most
2:21
English-speaking passengers found it a
2:24
bit alien uh because once on board they
2:26
found they're in the minority the lead
2:28
language General activities
2:29
announcements and so on is in Italian
2:31
and also because most passengers are you
2:35
know that they're meeting and mixing
2:36
with are Italian it's becoming much more
2:38
difficult
2:40
it also attends to attract families with
2:42
younger kids the food is so so because
2:44
it's a value line you know get really
2:45
good fares there are many more smokers
2:47
generally speaking and although its
2:49
newer ships are modern up to date it
2:50
really is a line that just doesn't seem
2:52
to resonate with Travelers used to a
2:55
much more American or British style of
2:57
cruising and we're seeing that in the
2:59
reviews which is why it has some of the
3:01
lowest ratings of any cruise line of any
3:05
grade because of you know most
3:07
English-speaking Travelers finding it a
3:09
little bit alien so one to be careful of
3:11
the next switch is also rated really low
3:13
right now for many of the same reasons
3:16
is MSC Cruisers however MSC Cruisers are
3:20
making a big push into many regions
3:22
beyond the European base including the
3:24
UK they have ships like Embassy virtuosa
3:27
and in North America where they're
3:29
selling out of Miami particularly with
3:31
many of their big new glitzy Mega ships
3:35
now many Travelers English-speaking
3:37
Travelers certainly have tried MSC
3:39
cruises because of their incredibly good
3:41
value they have a policy where kids
3:43
travel free which makes it extremely
3:45
appealing to families but many once on
3:48
board have not really liked the
3:49
experience now MSC cruises gets
3:52
criticism for a couple of reasons first
3:54
of all they tend to be really packed
3:57
partly driven by the kids traveling free
4:00
rules so many cabins certainly in
4:02
vacation time will have four or five
4:04
people in it
4:05
you know so for example on my MSC
4:07
virtuos the cruise earlier this year the
4:09
sailing after me which was entering the
4:12
school holidays had 6 000 people on
4:14
board
4:15
versus a double occupancy of 4500 that I
4:18
had which already was feeling crowded so
4:20
that 1 500 additional passengers were
4:23
all kids so this has then a knock-on
4:26
effect leading to customer service
4:28
tended to be pretty poor and off hand
4:30
long lines for events long waiting times
4:32
to get served with drinks at specialty
4:35
restaurants and shows you know often
4:37
booked out at all the popular times and
4:39
even it could be quite you know hard to
4:41
find places to sit in the evenings in
4:43
the bars which is kind of a knock-on
4:45
effect of being so busy
4:47
now as a service and approaches more
4:49
European too I think that's why we see
4:51
many particularly North American guests
4:53
find and criticize the service of being
4:55
a little bit more aloof it's engaging
4:57
less bubbly versus more U.S Centric
5:00
lines there's a kind of a difference in
5:01
philosophy there the food overall gets
5:03
rated at best as okay I found it not
5:06
particularly amazing it's okay
5:08
particularly for the fair now they do
5:10
have the yacht club which is their more
5:13
premium ship within a ship with
5:15
dedicated concierge a Lounge Bar a deck
5:18
and a restaurant now this gets better
5:21
ratings because it's probably the best
5:23
value Suites in the category probably
5:25
the ships themselves get good reviews
5:28
for being very beautiful
5:30
but you know and people aren't paying a
5:33
lot of money so critics are perhaps not
5:34
factoring in kind of the value for money
5:37
so much which is why it gets rated much
5:39
lower but it is a line overall the
5:42
passengers rate lows so proceed with
5:44
caution another Cruise Line I need to
5:46
mention which is an AB to Juggernaut and
5:48
the biggest cruise line in terms of
5:50
number of passengers carried is Carnival
5:53
a carnival is getting very mixed reviews
5:56
at the moment and I did debate whether
5:59
to include it in this list because I
6:01
suspect there is a different reason for
6:04
the poor reviews at this particular time
6:07
now these are Big Fun ships they're
6:10
boisterous they're Rowdy and they are
6:12
for people who want to have a great
6:15
party a buzzing atmosphere they have a
6:18
really loyal following who absolutely
6:20
adore all of that and so looking at the
6:22
critics I felt that most of the poor
6:24
reviews are from passengers that are
6:26
probably going on the line but it's not
6:29
best suited for them because a lot of
6:31
the criticisms are around the ships
6:32
being too busy too boisterous too rowdy
6:35
you know the entertainment program not
6:38
being what they're looking for the
6:40
overall people though do like the value
6:43
they're like the food they're like the
6:44
service they love the new ships like the
6:46
Mardi Gras so I have included Carnival
6:49
in my list because I think it reminds
6:52
all of us and including me that going on
6:55
a cruise line that is right for us even
6:57
if a line like Carnival is a cheaper
7:00
option it's really essential to choose
7:02
the right Cruise Line when picking our
7:04
cruise and I think that's why we're
7:05
seeing mixed reviews at the moment I was
7:08
also surprised to see Norwegian Cruise
7:10
Line which generally has really good
7:12
reviews getting fewer good reviews at
7:15
the moment now this seems I think to be
7:17
mostly focused on three issues that are
7:19
really annoying passengers right now
7:21
first they have made some very public
7:23
Cuts in service like moving to once a
7:26
day cabin service and cutting the
7:28
numbers of cab institutes all at the
7:30
same time while increasing gratuities
7:32
they've also started to cut back on some
7:34
of the Production shows that they are
7:36
known and loved for so they've cut
7:38
they've actually cut seven of the big
7:41
well-known kind of brand Broadway shows
7:43
on nine of the ships including shows
7:45
like six Footloose kinky so something
7:48
they were really known and loved for
7:50
secondly they seem to be getting more
7:52
criticism for nickel and diming than
7:54
ever before but Norwegian though has
7:57
always been a line that has charged for
8:00
the many choices they give you lots of
8:02
choices and everything you kind of have
8:03
an extra charge so that reaction could
8:06
be you know more a reaction to some of
8:07
the public cutbacks so people are just
8:09
noticing it and focusing in on on that
8:11
whole thing much more
8:13
the third reason I think particularly
8:15
with the introduction of new ship's
8:17
Prima and Viva I'm seeing lots of
8:19
critics complain about the amount of
8:21
space taken up by the Haven which is
8:23
their premium suite only area you know
8:25
restaurant pool deck lounge and so on
8:27
only for people in The Haven and this
8:30
means it closes increasingly larger
8:33
parts of these ships to regular guests
8:35
so there's much more criticism of
8:37
Norwegian at the moment which which may
8:39
even out as some of these changes kind
8:41
of bed in but bear in mind very mixed
8:43
reviews on Norwegian at the moment
8:45
Cruise Line closer to my home that's
8:47
getting a very poor wrap these days is p
8:50
and O cruises I must admit this is a
8:52
line I find knock rates generally
8:55
speaking at the moment now I think a lot
8:57
of the criticism and poor ratings
8:59
including mine though is partly because
9:01
this is a cruise line that's actively
9:04
changing from being a very traditional
9:06
Cruise Line focused on couples over 50
9:09
with very formal nights very classic
9:11
daily program and they're revolving into
9:13
a mega ship with more family kind of
9:16
Cruise Line approach it's really
9:19
shifting its focus into attracting
9:21
families it's also you know much more
9:24
confusing as a line it's much less
9:25
consistent which I think is fueling
9:27
these very mixed and poor reviews it's
9:30
got a wide range of ships ranging from
9:31
these very large modern Iona arvia which
9:35
is the same ship as the same ships as
9:37
Carnival Mardi Gras to much smaller
9:40
ships like Aurora and Arcadia which are
9:42
you know smaller adult only ships it has
9:45
very different entertainment very
9:46
different venues very different daily
9:47
program so I think looking at it a big
9:50
part of the complaint is people who used
9:52
to love piano for what it was you know
9:55
couples very classic lots of dressing up
9:57
they're not enjoying it because it's
9:58
becoming something very different now
10:00
first time Cruisers and families like in
10:03
fact my own sister-in-law who went on
10:04
the first time cruising on piano was way
10:07
more enthusiastic about it so again if
10:10
you're considering Pinot check if the
10:12
evolving line and piano is right for you
10:16
which brings me to another well-known
10:18
line that seems to be suffering from the
10:20
same issues Princess Cruises is a line
10:23
that I personally have not been that
10:24
positive about in the last couple of
10:27
years because I think it's lost a lot of
10:28
momentum particularly in relation to the
10:30
food which is I think not really up to
10:32
speed and again looking at the reviews
10:34
we see that however they are definitely
10:36
making changes they've introduced the
10:37
new culinary Council led by Rudy
10:40
soderman who reinvigorated with great
10:42
success Holland America food over the
10:44
last couple of years now princess is
10:46
getting very very mixed reviews for two
10:49
other reasons though first of all
10:51
they've taken many things that were
10:53
included in the base fair to now paid
10:56
for in their princess plus add-ons and
10:58
this can cost from 75.50 pounds a day
11:01
and upwards so things like the amazing
11:04
previously included pizzas you now have
11:07
to pay for unless you buy the princess
11:09
plus other things like you know certain
11:11
desserts ordering drinks and snacks
11:13
where you base sitting and so on you now
11:15
have to pay for all of that with an
11:18
add-on
11:18
the second reason they're getting poor
11:20
reviews is I think probably the same
11:22
issue as piano cruises they're going
11:24
down a similar path they're launching
11:26
way bigger ships like Sky princess
11:28
Discovery princess and these have 3600
11:32
or more passengers they're getting rid
11:34
or got rid of many of their smaller
11:36
ships during the pandemic so again it's
11:38
a very different experience and with
11:41
that they are focusing on attracting
11:43
more families more new to Crews so for
11:45
the traditional princess traveler these
11:48
are really big changes which is why I
11:50
think we've seen some of those more
11:52
negative reviews because it's evolving
11:55
from what people knew and loved however
11:58
if you look at the reviews from
11:59
multi-generational Travelers and
12:00
families we are seeing a much more
12:03
positive situation so again something to
12:06
consider if you're thinking of Princess
12:08
which of those camps do you fall in one
12:10
of the cruise lines that I do have to
12:12
put in here as it is getting very mixed
12:15
to poor reviews now but I think we'll
12:17
improve is Azamara ASMR result during
12:20
the cruise shut down by Royal Caribbean
12:22
and its new owners clearly struggled uh
12:24
you know quite a bit when it first came
12:26
back up and and running again
12:29
I went on Asmara not long after cruising
12:32
we started up with the new owners and it
12:34
was very under par versus what it used
12:36
to be it was not really performing as it
12:39
was there were cutbacks food was okay so
12:41
it was very mixed then they have had
12:44
many issues with their I.T as they
12:46
shifted onto their own systems with lots
12:49
of things going wrong from that you know
12:51
you know if you booked excursions and
12:53
other add-ons it wasn't showing up on
12:55
board and so on lots of kind of errors
12:57
were kind of thrown up so it was a
12:59
little bit chaotic however although it's
13:02
got a lot of negative reviews it does I
13:04
think seem to be on the Chain so I'm
13:06
seeing more and more kind of positive
13:08
reviews so it's definitely one to keep
13:09
watching because it could be that
13:11
they're finding their feet but certainly
13:13
at the moment it's very mixed those are
13:15
the ones not doing so well if you'd like
13:17
to know which lines are sailing high and
13:19
getting really strong reviews then draw
13:21
me over in this video where I start with
13:22
a line that has beaten all the
13:24
doomsayers to be among the best right
13:27
now much so many people surprised
13:28
including my see you over there
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