Cruise Lines You Should Stay Far, Far Away From

This video delivers on a promise I made in the video about lines that I recommended to make a video of cruise lines avoid and think other cruisers should too

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00:00 Start
00:31 #1 Money Talks
02:57 #2 Who's The Boss
04:32 #3 Old Loves
05:38 #4 Price Of Change
07:07 #5 Not Your Style
09:04 #6 Lost in Translation
11:16 #7 Bad Reviews

[trevorspottiswood]

Having just disembarked from the MSC Grandiosa, I totally appreciate your comments. 6000 plus people on a very large vessel is not for me. Whilst I can appreciate the engineering prowess in building such a ship, the sheer volume of people was a nightmare at every stage. It was an experience that I will not repeat.

[admiralbeez]

I’ve cruised on Princess and Norwegian and thought this was nice. But then I sailed on Viking to the Baltic, and I was in love. Less than 800 passengers. No kids, no casinos, no photo hucksters, no art shows, no roaring music/parties by the pool. And no separate charges for drinks, desserts, special restaurants, etc.. everything is included. They even send a bus to pick you up at the airport, meeting you at the luggage pick-up. It was wonderful. I highly recommend Viking ocean cruises.

[voicesofmarshians]

I just got off of a Royal Caribbean cruise in Greece, and I absolutely loved it. It’s the 3rd time I’ve cruised with Royal Caribbean, admittedly for the first time in over a decade, and the thing I really like about that line is that they seem to be really good at appealing to the masses. You want something quiet? There’s the solarium, which is the adult only pool area. Like thrills? There’s the flow rider and the rock climbing wall and the Skypad on the Quantum-class ships. Want to do small activities? There’s scads of trivia events. Have kids? Adventure Ocean. Don’t have kids? Plenty of adult oriented activities. It’s got something for everyone, and that’s what I love about it.

[shelleycharlesworth]

I am now a senior but even when I was 50 I loved Holland America ! I don't mind other seniors on canes and walkers and wheelchairs! Makes me feel like a teenager! I went on one Carnival cruise when I was almost 60. It was the party-till-you-puke crowd ! Ugh!

[sunsetrescue]

My spouse and I have cruised 12 times with Carnival. The last one was this summer on the Mardi Gras. We took our grandson and his Mom. This was their first cruise. And they enjoyed it. The water park was a hit. We as a couple came away thinking.. Bigger isn’t better . We just got back from our first cruise with Celebrity on their Eclipse and WOW we loved it. Everything was better.. for us. The food and activities, the ships decor.. was a hit with us . We’ve came to the conclusion that Carnival is who we will sail with when we are taking younger family and friends and Celebrity is for us as a couple.. my best friend and I have a cruise booked for this November on a Carnival cruise and I’m kind of dreading it but she said she wants to try Celebrity with me.. I’ll make the best of it as I always do .🥰

[susancook]

We had the opportunity to sail with RC on its first post covid cruise from Long Beach. Short cruise with maybe 1/3 the usual number of guests. It was heaven! No crowded elevators, crew so welcoming to get back to work. A memorable once in a lifetime chance.

[bellati]

I'm with you. No kids. No loud partying. No drunks. And no belly flop contests! Lol. Enjoyed this video. Thanks.

[Smokeyham]

Thanks for the perspective. I really like your balanced approach and the concept that there are different lines that appeal to different types of travellers. Doing your research on CruiseCritic and other venues is really important to find the right line for the style of travel that best fits.

[johnstoutley]

We are all different, Gary, and it's good that there are different cruise ships for different types of people. We are seniors and we tend to agree with most of what you said here Thanks for the reassurance that we are doing the right thing.

[eshelly]

The absolute worse cruise we took was with Norwegian Cruise lines Breakaway. New York to Bermuda. One thing to consider is the passengers sometimes reflects the port it sails from. This was true on this cruise. Half of Brooklyn was on this boat. Loud, rude and inconsiderate. We befriended a couple from Nova Scotia snd they were just as upset as we were. We will never ever sail from New York ever again…

[roxanneonthemove]

My husband and I tend to like Holland America for some of the reasons you spoke of - we like the smaller ships, less amusement park atmosphere, and since there is less for kids to do and higher prices there tends to be less families with small children. When we took our adult kids to the Caribbean, we chose Carnival Cruises for the reason you stated, it had the more party atmosphere that was geared towards young adults. We all had a great time, had we went on HAL, our kids may have enjoyed as well. Researching cruise destinations, cruise lines and time of the cruise can make all the difference for cruise.

[RichardGaskellSings]

Gary, for Greenland and the Canadian Arctic my wife and I have enjoyed Adventure Canada cruises. They get you out on the land in remote places and have community people travel with you on the ship for more enrichment. The landings change depending on ice conditions so it is truly an adventure. It is a small ship - our last trip around Baffin Island and over to Greenland had 170-ish passengers.

[nunagoras]

Congrats to the wonderful thought provoking video. As a Master on Philosophy myself as my main University training formation, it's easy to understand I hugely enjoy thought provoking videos of all kinds, even the very rare ones on my favorite hobby that is cruising, like this is. So very well done. It might to be noted that you're not disregarding any cruise line, just noting some facts that are indeed facts, and in summary giving each other some general recommendation on what one should do BEFORE one books a cruise. To sum it up:

1. Understand if your cruise line of choice is financially doing well, or at least if it has their chances; in other words, if sad line is risky or not.
2. Give a new entrant on the market, or someone with a new boss the needed time to set up their product.
3. Adapt your expectations to the real product you can purchase on your budget.
4. Follow the ones with similar interests - and language - as you.
5. Don't think your long time favorite is the unique option.
6. Even if you decide you'd go on a different thing, go with an open mind.
7. Pay attention to the details.

If one follows these recommendations, one can to find their best cruise fit, even if that is trully opposite from my own ones. Nothing is perfect as said, but there are no bad cruise lines by itself. Simply they serve different market segments in some ways, pretty much all of them following their market segment standards. Let me to give my industry standards comparison matching European hotel segments to cruise lines (sometimes you may have a superior product on an lower level ship with the suite concepts like MSC Yacht club, or NCL Haven, but I'll let it alone for another day):

4* (mainstream) - Carnival, Costa, MSC, RCI, NCL
4*+ (upper mainstream or Premium) - Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, Virgin, Cunard
5* (Mid luxury) - Viking, Oceania, Explora (soon to be), Azamara
5*+ (Full luxury) - Regent, Seaburn, Silversea, Happag-Lloyd, Crystal (soon to be with new owners)

In conclusion: Do your homework and you'll be happy! Oh, yeah; and pretty much all of us go on cruises for holiday, but very few will go there to make professional reviews like this channel ones!

Many thanks!

[ibdonsie]

We have cruises Norwegian 3 times. Last was Breakaway out of New York. It was a great cruise up the New England coast. We've never had a bad experience with NCL

[eighthof]

We went on Holland for an Alaska cruise July 2022. It was as close to perfection as we had hoped it would be. With few children, an excellent atmosphere and music for mature adults, destinations to learn some history, crew members that were fantastic, and a buffet that you can only dream about, I wouldn't consider another cruise line. But of course that's my opinion. Maybe you want lots of partying action. Then Holland is probably not for you.

[Cheezitnator]

My spouse and I really loved our Virgin cruise. No kids, excellent food, personable crew, ship isn't super large, most things onboard are included in your cabin price, and you have a good mix of activities for whether you want to be active and party or if you just want to relax and have some tea and champagne. Book early enough and you can get a rockstar suite for the same price as a balcony room would be if you waited. There are even some secret shows and surprises that can happen around the ship. Found a weird bathroom tucked away in the corner that has a giant ceiling to floor window in front of the toilet so you can watch the sea while you do your business. Lol

[sharonstockman]

I’m a senior but have the exact opposite opinion of the larger ships. I love the Oasis class ships of Royal. They are so easy to navigate that it makes it fun especially with a husband who has dementia. As long as we are on an Oasis class ship he does not get lost so it works for us.

[sanoush]

I agree 100% with you about Costa cruise line. It was surprisingly, the worst experience I had on a cruise. I thought it would fun to engage with another culture, but boy was I wrong. Most passengers were unfriendly & downright rude to the few English speaking passengers. I could go on...

[brigidconroy]

Gary, your vlogs are always great, BUT this one is a must watch for anyone wishing to cruise for the first time

[blisteringherb]

“Once you’ve had a so-so experience, it’s best to move on.” That’s great advice. My last couple trips on NCL were disappointing, but I was unsure if I was being too hasty. After hearing this I’ll probably continue to steer clear of them.