I Put The 5 Leading First Class "Ship-In-Ships" To The Test

Name: I Put The 5 Leading First Class "Ship-In-Ships" To The Test | Humix Video
Uploaded: 2024-06-26T08:08:00+00:00
Duration: 14 min 28 s

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Although most cruise reviewers say there are five, there are strictly speaking only two cruise
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lines that truly have a ship within a ship, a fully self-contained world where passengers
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paying at least $500 per person per knife for a suite are given this special entry card
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to a door that lets them step out of the regular cruise ship and into an exclusive VIP, very
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important passenger one. Once in, they don't have to leave because it's got their suite with
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the butler bringing them treats and drinks, a bar lounge restaurants, front desk with concierge
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to sort out any issues, a pool deck with hot tubs. Now, of course, most do leave occasionally
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to eat in one of the regular cruise specialty restaurants, go to shows or perhaps head off
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on an excursion. But importantly, when they do, they get priority bookings, the best seats in the
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theatre set aside for them, they're fast-tracked and escorted to the front of any line by their
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butler, should they so wish. Now, on other ships, Whilst those same high, fair paying sweet guests have dedicated sweet guest venues, they're dotted
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around the ship, they're not all within one space, so they have to move around the ship to get to them
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But I'm going to include them in this review and you'll see why. Now I'm Gary Bembridge and I've stayed in all five of these spaces in the last 20 months
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and here's what I've found to be the best, the worst and why
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I'm going to start by talking about the two that are true ship within a ship first
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I'm going to start with MSC Cruises Yacht Club because this was this year's Cruise Critic
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Editor's Choice as the Best Suite Complex because they felt it provides a lot of luxury for not a lot of cost versus the others
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Now, I agree. One key pro of the Yacht Club is they are usually the lowest price of all the options
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And unlike the others, there are even some inside cabins alongside the range of suites
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making it even more affordable and accessible. Facilities are also a big pro and they feel up market
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The Top Sal Lounge is a popular social hub because it serves unlimited drinks and cocktails
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premium tea and coffees, snacks all day, fancy butler served afternoon tea and in the evenings
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has live music. The restaurant is attractive and on most of their ships, it has stunning
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views over the bow. It's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a varied and decent
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size menu which changes daily and it's all made in a dedicated lot to club kitchen
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Personally, I found they food good, but kind of more premium cruise line main dining room level
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not kind of a luxurious luxury cruise line level. The pool deck is really attractive
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it's got a plunge pool, hot tub bar, and even in formal dining venue, you can have breakfast
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and you can have lunch. The bulk of the sweets are a decent size and they're comfortable
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they're not as kind of memorable or fancy as some other lines that I'm going to come to
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I found a really big pro of MSC Yacht Club is all the inclusions, because the Faye includes drinks
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package, mini bar, Wi-Fi and access to spa facilities in the thermal suite. Of course, it has
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the usual things like priority check-in with the dedicated Yacht Club bag drop, which I really like
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an embarkation lounge before you board, priority lifts to get you to and from the Yacht Club. Now, in
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terms of the downsides, MSC Yacht Club is not for those seeking an adult-only or even an adult-focused
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option because MSC is definitely very family-focused and in holiday times there will be many
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in the Yacht Club. But of course, on the other hand, it makes it great for families who are seeking a premium experience on a family line
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The other thing I would say is emacy is a very busy, very crowded, boisterous line, there's
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lots of big nightly parties and while the Yacht Club offers some respite the Yacht Club itself is big it full it busy and I found it was not really enough to compensate for the full on nature of the line I not a big party crowds kind of high environment cruiser so MSC kind of wasn for me
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so that kind of made the yacht club less so. The other two ship within a ship is Norwegian cruise lines, the Haven
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Personally, I found this even more upmarket and feel than the Yacht Club, especially because
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it's evolved from the haven in ships like Breakaway and Encore, which was really focused around
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central courtyard to the newer prima class ships with big outside decks at the rear of the ship
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It really feels luxurious and plush and it's a very large space
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And that's also negative from people who aren't in the haven because they feel it's starting
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to take up too much of the ship. The bar, lounge, restaurant, concierge desk area, deck with bar, plunge pool, hot tubs, sauna
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steam room. They're all really, really stylish. Touches like there's a dedicated elevators to get you to and from the haven
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that adds to that luxurious experience. Another pro is the suites are stunning
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So overall, I found it way more luxurious in feel and design than the Yacht Club
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There are those some really big cons. Prices can be high, definitely as much as going on an ultra luxury cruise line
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in peak periods especially, but with less inclusions. Unless you get the free-at-see package
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which is often included as a promotion, you're gonna need to buy a drinks package
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you have to pay for Wi-Fi, and on top of the daily auto add gratuities
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The butler then expects tips on top of that because they're not included in those add-on gratuities
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I also found the restaurant menus, unlike the Yacht Club, rather disappointing
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There's a very limited choice and they do not change. It's the same menu every day, so you can pretty much work your way through the entire menu on a cruise
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The main dining rooms have bigger and way more interesting menus, actually
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Although sometimes it varies by class of ship, but certainly when I was on the Viva
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there was no included tea and coffee or snacks in the lounge, no live music at night
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So with no included drinks either, while the lounge is really attractive, it did not act and become a
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social hub to meet and chat and meet people like it is on the yacht club
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The haven guests also have to pay, by the way, for all the added activities around the ship
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you know, the go-carts, crazy golf and so on. That's not included as part of the package
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Of course, to enjoy the haven, like MSC, you do need to like what Norwegian offers in this case
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in terms of its entertainment, its onboard experience. the size of the ship and the various add-ons. It's not as family-focused as MSC, but it's very popular with families
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And so again, don't think of this as an adult-only or focus space if you are seeking that
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It can be at times, but not always. But again, it makes it a great choice for families seeking that
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for more premium experience within a Norwegian ship because they then have the ability to tap into
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all the choice of dining, the bars, entertainment, and so on. Now, I do want to talk about those
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lines that don't have true ships within a ship, but come close because they have many of the
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same exclusive dedicated facilities even though they are scattered around the ship
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I want to talk first about Royal Caribbean and their Royal Sweet Class
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On the plus side to these, they do have many exclusive access facilities
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The key one is Coastal Kitchen and the Sweet Lounge and Bar Area, which on many ships overlooks
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the busy bustling pool deck. The Coastal Kitchen is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and has a pretty good menu
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which does change daily. The food was fine, but I felt the regular main dining room standard was the same, it wasn't
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really a luxury line feel, but of course the Coast kitchen is much less busy, it's much less
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rush Capacity those limited and reservations are acquired unlike the Yacht Club or the Haven You do have to make reservations to go there The lounge and the bar are a comfortable space that can be hard to get seats at times Because drinks aren included in the fair except of the highest grades
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they do though have a nightly happy hour from 5pm to 8 p.m. where they have snacks and
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complimentary drinks and it's really popular and it's a nice touch. The concierges are in the lounge
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and unlike the Yacht Club and the Haven, they actually email about a week before the cruise
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to see if they can help make dining reservations, show reservations, or any other help
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So that's a good pro. There is a suite only deck with a bar, but no pool or hot tub
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I actually found it a very noisy area. On the symphony of the seas, for example, it overlooks that busy pool deck, and you then
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have to leave the pool deck if you want to go for a swim. Only the very top grades get a butler, but there is priority embarkation, disembarkation
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getting off in port, reserved seating in the show for all the sweets, that is
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same kind of perks. So this leads me now to one of the downsides because the perks do vary a lot
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based on the type of suite. So for example, those in the C-grade suites only get some access to the
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coastal kitchen for dinner, Skygrade that I've booked a couple of times. You get one Wi-Fi
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connection, you get coastal kitchen for all the meals. But Star, they get a butler called the Royal Jeannie
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They get all specially dining. They get a drinks package, gratuities, way better seats in the theatre
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and so on. So there's real difference between the sweet perks. Having the spaces start around
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the ship is a downside because it takes some moving around these big ships to access and use them
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Often you have to wait for busy lifts, so it's not that cohesive. Like with all the others, again, it's not an alternative to a small luxury ship experience
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because you need to like big busy ships with lots going on, lots of families, lots of teens
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all sorts of attractions, big shows. And again, like all of these, how adult or family filled these sweet areas on Royal Caribbean will be
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depends a lot on the time of the year. All these ship within a ship that have spoken about so far have been on those big resort lines
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but they also feature on two of the lines that the industry classifies as premium lines
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lines which include Honour America, Princess, Virgin Voyages and these other two
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The first of those is Celebrity Cruises with The Retreat. In terms of the pros, Celebrity Cruises Retreat feels even more classy and even more sophisticated
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than all of those that are spoken about so far, that they do actually cost quite a bit more
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You're comparing an entry-level suite to the others, you're paying for a retreat often about $700 per person per day versus the circa $500 on the other
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Fund the venues included with the retreat stunning, especially on the edge class ships where they've been built from scratch versus being retrofitted on the other classes
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For me, the highlight is the Lumini restaurant, which does have food from a dedicated kitchen that is definitely way more elevated and more sophisticated than you get in the main dining room
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and it comes closest to a luxury cruise line style. It's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner most days
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Now on the edge class ships, the large and stylish retreat lounge
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you know, concierge has drinks, snacks, afternoon tea, it has an outside space and then you head up a staircase to a decent-sized deck
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which has a bar, informal dining venue, plunge pool and hot tub. Lots of comfy spaces to lounge about
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But it does get kind of busy. And particularly in vacation time, I did find and do find that the kids and families
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can kind of take over the pool a bit, it can get a little bit crazy up there
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But the fair, by the way, does include premium drinks package, premium Wi-Fi
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and the higher grades get included special aid dining and a dedicated butler
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The lower grades now just get access to more kind of a butler style of service like a pool of butlers if you like So one of the cons of the retreat beyond the price Now one of the cons is the retreat differs dramatically based on the class of ships So the edge class edge apex beyond an ascent
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have the most kind of cohesive retreat experience that the restaurant is not within the overall
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space. On the other ships, the facilities are spread out across the ship and take some getting to
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get to. Celebrity also seems to be reducing the perks that they offer in the retreat. They took
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gratuities out, they've cut the included on-board credit from the treat package, you know, they've
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removed butlers for all of the sweet grades, so there's a sense of kind of cutting back
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dialing back on the experience. The other premium line offering sweet facilities close to a ship
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within a ship is Cunard with their grills, Queen Grill and Princess Grill. They have
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a dedicated Queen's School restaurant for those in suites and the Princess Girl Restaurant
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for those in mini-sweets. Even though Cunard has a reputation, for being the most class-based ship. It is one of all of these that I'm talking about that actually
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has the fewest and certainly the least extensive of all of the facilities compared to the others
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The main pro about going Kynod Grills is the dining experience. This is where they definitely
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place the most focus. I would say the restaurants do offer some of the best food at sea
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certainly within the premium category and definitely even better than on celebrity
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retreats, Lumini in my view. There are huge menu options, particularly in
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Queens Grill, where you can even go off menu if you want, you can have cav 여기에 for dinner
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as often as you want. The other big difference to all the others is that in both Queen's Grill
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and Princess Grill, while it's open-seated dining, you still get an allocated table for all your
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meals and you have the same serving staff. So you can build a really strong rapport with them
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They get to know you well and they definitely will tailor your experience. They do have a lounge
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with a bar and they do have a deck, but they're not particularly large or particularly impressive
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or particularly attractive. The decks have no pools and only on Queen Mary 2 does it actually
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even have a hot tub. In terms of cons, there are very few inclusions or added perks with things
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like drinks, Wi-Fi, gratuities, they're all extra. In Queen's squirrel, you do though get your
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mini bar stocked with two kinds of alcohol, which is included in the fair. Beyond the dining
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the perks and the facilities, in my view anyway, are not at the scale of those other lines
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that have covered. It's much lower key and it really is very much more focused about the dining
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and of course the bigger cabins. So which from these five is the best and which is the worst
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As there were only two true shipwomeners ships, I would say that while the best of those two
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overall for style is Norwegian Haven, the best value particularly if you're traveling with your family
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is the Yacht Club. They also, by the way, win on the overall experience of the lounge and the
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restaurant and again the number of inclusions. So they kind of win between those two
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Now once you take in all the other lines who have almost ship within ships, while the Yacht Club
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definitely stands up for the value. Personally, I think the retreat is the most luxurious and the
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closest to a luxury line experience. And since that's what these are trying to create for me
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that I feel is the best of the five. The worst of them, well, there's not a terrible one
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But overall in the rankings, I would actually put Royal Caribbean at the bottom because I think it lacks
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the real elevation and attention to detail that the others have. You know, there's no one big
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standout feature as handy as all their facilities are. I know many of you will have a view and you
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may disagree with some of these, so do leave a comment and let me know what you think and why
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But while you consider that, why not join me over in this playlist where I'm going to show you
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each of these ship within a ship in more detail. See you over there

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