How many Cruise lines ?

[Portsmouth]

In October 2013 ....a new topic by david63 had the title " How many cruise lines have you sailed with ? "
So I thought maybe its time to ask the question again just over 11 years later.

During my time cruising I've had to make a choice about
Loyalty and the rewards & benefits that you get from staying loyal to one cruise line
or
Variety with the fun of trying out different cruise lines and enjoying having a mixture of different experiences.

I went with Variety and have been cruising with several different cruise lines but one of the reasons I could go with so many is my choice of stateroom ( often oceanview occasionally balcony if the price was right ) and 5 or 7 day cruises which helped reduce my costs. My one regret is that I have not sailed on any of the upmarket cruiselines like Silversea, Oceania, Azamara, Viking etc as they are above my budget. I have since upgraded to balcony really due to Covid and wanting access to fresh air.

So here is my list of Cruise Lines I have sailed with including ones that are no longer with us.

Thomson Cruises, Island cruises, Pullmantur ( Spanish ) Croisiers de France ( French ) = no longer with us

Carnival, Costa, Princess, MSC, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Fred Olsen, Norwegian, Ambassador, P&O, Cunard and Marella

That's 16 different cruise lines ....
some of you will have not cruised on as many different cruise lines but will have loyalty rewards that sadly I have missed out on

So how many cruise lines have you been on and what ones are they ?

[Onelife]

Hi Portsmouth, just my observation having been on this cruise forum and the old P&O forum for longer than I can remember… it has only been the last few years that I have witnessed more discussion about cruising with any other cruise lines other than P&O.

It has however been some ten years since we last cruised but even then I noticed the changes afoot to that of our previous 5 cruises with P&O.
We did have a three-day cruise on what resembled a smoke churning tin can but I can’t remember the cruise line…it was actually a nice experience as we managed to cram in most of the tourist destinations in Israel.

[Portsmouth]

Last night when I made this post I might of had a glass of wine too many which might have made thinking skills a bit blurry

Taking a closer look, I realize now that it might look like the forum Newbie is trying to boast on how many different lines he's been on.

That was not my intention...and I apologize if you think that's what it was....I think the wine was controlling my thought process
Just thought after 11 years it might be interesting to know if some of you folks had cruised on some other cruise lines & what they were.
So.....in the words of the song......it's not about me ....it's all about you

[Onelife]

Last night when I made this post I might of had a glass of wine too many which might have made thinking skills a bit blurry

Taking a closer look, I realize now that it might look like the forum Newbie is trying to boast on how many different lines he's been on.

That was not my intention...and I apologize if you think that's what it was....I think the wine was controlling my thought process
Just thought after 11 years it might be interesting to know if some of you folks had cruised on some other cruise lines & what they were.
So.....in the words of the song......it's not about me ....it's all about you

Funny you should mention that Portsmouth because I had PM’s from Stephen, Sir Merv and Foxy late last night saying “who hell does he think he is, coming on here boasting about his cruises”

Hope that puts your mind at rest

P.s you only need to start worrying when you come on here boasting about country estates, deer parks and vintage cars…however, in my case it’s all true.

[Stephen]

Can’t stand a big head

[screwy]

First cruise was in 2000 with Thomson on the Topaz ex SS Gt Britain.? Cruise and Stay from Dom Rep. Followed in 2001 with Airtours on the Carousel,, Canaries,, Cape Verde and Madeira.

Nothing till 2012 when we started with P&O and never ventured to anyone else.

[Ray B]

Interesting Portsmouth, I have mainly cruised with P & O, and over the years have been well satisfied with the cruising holidays we've had sailing with them. In someways, it's a shame to watch a cruise line which over the years has given us so much pleasure, gradually loosing it's identity under the Carnival Corporation.
Having said that we have cruised with three cruise lines in total, StarLauro Cruises who were then taken over and started the MSC cruise line. We sailed on the MS Monterey. Then P & O and Ambassador .
For half a point each, we did a few sailings on Brittany cruise ferry, Bretagne, to Santander from Plymouth.
Also P & O cruise ferry Pride of Bilbao, Portsmouth to Bilbao during 1980/90s

[Ray B]

Can’t stand a big head

That's not the way to get an invite to Keith's wine and cheese party's with dainty triangle sandwiches with the crusts cut off.

[Onelife]

Can’t stand a big head

That's not the way to get an invite to Keith's wine and cheese party's with dainty triangle sandwiches with the crusts cut off.

Just decide between yourselves who’s bringing the cheese and wine and I’ll supply the crusts

[Mervyn and Trish]

The majority of our cruising has been with P&O, thus achieving Caribbean loyalty status. That also gave us Elite status on Princess through a reciprocal deal, on which we have done 2 cruises. We also have 5 on Cunard and 1 each on RCI, Celebrity and Saga.

[CaroleF]

We like others on this site have cruised almost entirely with P&O. We achieved Baltic level loyalty but now I'm down to Caribbean as since my husband died in 2020 I've only been on one 4 night cruise. We also had three cruises with Fred Olsen, our first cruise in 2003 which was a fly cruise to the Caribbean then one around the British Isles about 6 years or so ago plus one other of, I think 5 nights, about 10 years ago. We also went on one Cunard cruise of 5 nights which we were very disappointed with but I think we were unlucky. The same as Ray related, we too stayed with P&O because we were very satisfied with the product. We enjoyed the amount for formality, we really enjoyed the sociability of Club Dining and met many interesting people over the years.

Now P&O seem to be changing direction so it may be that if I'm going to continue cruising, only from Southampton, no fly cruises anymore, I may have to look at Saga or maybe even try Cunard again.

[Stephen]

Mine are listed under my user name, purely for my own interest.

I couldn’t care less how many cruises anyone has done………I’ll still talk to you

[Mervyn and Trish]

How many do I need to pretend to be on to stop you?

(Onelife told me to say).

[Stephen]

How many do I need to pretend to be on to stop you?

(Onelife told me to say).

Thanks pal

[barney]

First cruise was on the Sitmar Line
Castell Felice
Google that

[towny44]

We have sampled a few cruise lines, but most of our early ones were on Princess, their prices were always competitive and they had lots of varied itineraries so no real need to shop around. But since we have been restricted to UK departures, then P&O have taken over as our main choice, but Celebrity became our favourite, until they let Brexit price them out of the market.
But all three offered a very similar experience, with Celebrity ahead on food and cleanliness, Princess on service and entertainment and P&O now on price. We have also been on Royal Caribbean, and they definitely offer the most for families. We have also sampled Carnival, Thomson and Star cruises, on a Thomson Phuket fly cruise, but these were 25 to 30 years ago now.

[Ray B]

Mine are listed under my user name, purely for my own interest.

I couldn’t care less how many cruises anyone has done………I’ll still talk to you

Stephen, it's not asking for how many cruises someone has done, it only asking how many different cruise lines they have sailed with.
Whilst I have done quite a few cruises, as I said, I have only use three cruise lines.
I find it quite interesting and it's a cruising topic as well.

[oldbluefox]

Pre-cruising our only experience of the sea was P&O Ferries, Townsend Thoresen, Sally Line and North Sea Ferries and some pretty basic and bum,py crossings across the Channel and the North Sea so the idea of spending a week on a ship was one we met with some trepidation.
We decided on a week up to the fjords on Saga, the logic being if we didn't like it a week would soon pass and if shove came to push we could always fly home. And the rest is history, we have cruised ever since.
After Saga came Royal Caribbean - nice ship food wasn't anything to write home about and loads of feral kids roaming about making nuisances of themselves.
Then came P&O and w have been with them ever since which is a pity as we have seen a gradual decline in what they are offering in 'the name of progress'. We have tried all of their ships except Iona and Britannia.
Next two cruises are with Ambassador Ambition, this year from Newcastle and next year from Liverpool so we will see what they are like. Reviews in the main seem to be good.

[Happydays]

We have sailed on Costa (fly cruises), P&O, Princess (fly cruises) and Fred Olsen

Our first cruises were with Costa Before they used euros on board so it was the lira and that made on board cheaper

Then it was P&O which we used the most twice a year for a long time we liked everything about them, quizzes, entertainment and fixed dining table for 8 first sitting we are still in contact and cruised with some of our table companions a few times. But sadly that has now changed and we only go with P&O if we are cruising with our daughter and grandson.

Princess we have only done 4 don't really rate them went for the ports.

Fred Olsen 6 (hopefully more to come) is now our favourite more like what P&O used to be service and food much better than on recent P&O cruises we have been on. Also like that we don't have to go on the long journey to Southampton.

What ever cruise line anyone uses I wish them Happy smooth sailings

[Portsmouth]

It's been interesting reading the replies to this post of what people have cruised with especially where members bring up cruise lines and ships I don't remember and for me it's interesting to look them up and find out about them. SS Montery looked a wonderful old liner.
It was also interesting to read about the Sitmar line (which went to Princess) and Castel Felice and had almost forgotten about the cruises by Airtours
Towny44 mentioned Star cruises which was the far east cruise line I had on my " one day if I get lucky list " but they seem to have gone now.
From reading comments on here it's a shame that P&O don't seem to be regarded in the same way as they were over the last few years.

[david63]

it's a shame that P&O don't seem to be regarded in the same way as they were over the last few years.

I don't think that it is just P&O - all cruise lines have diminished their product to a lesser or greater extent over the last few years. This was happening pre Covid but has been taken to a whole new level since. Much of this is put down to "customer demand" as the excuse for cost cutting.

[allatc]

For a while our main cruise line was Princess then P&O caught up. Also tried Royal Caribbean and another whose name I can't remember.

The cruising experience has changed a lot over the last 20 years and "fings aint what they used to be".

Certainly as far as RCI is concerned the ship is the destination and ports of call are a by-product.

All the lines (except maybe the mega expensive ones) are adjusting their demographic target to cater for new generations of cruisers who want a different product to the one to which we older cruisers are accustomed.

Therefore change is inevitable.

[oldbluefox]

All the lines (except maybe the mega expensive ones) are adjusting their demographic target to cater for new generations of cruisers who want a different product to the one to which we older cruisers are accustomed.

Therefore change is inevitable.

I don't have a problem with that. If that is going to be their business model there is nothing you can do so we take our custom to those who provide a product which caters for the tastes of the older generation and those who look for a more refined way of cruising. I wonder if the new generation will become as enthusiastic about cruising in general or P&O in particular as we have been. Somehow I fancy they will be much more transient.

[towny44]

All the lines (except maybe the mega expensive ones) are adjusting their demographic target to cater for new generations of cruisers who want a different product to the one to which we older cruisers are accustomed.

Therefore change is inevitable.

I don't have a problem with that. If that is going to be their business model there is nothing you can do so we take our custom to those who provide a product which caters for the tastes of the older generation and those who look for a more refined way of cruising. I wonder if the new generation will become as enthusiastic about cruising in general or P&O in particular as we have been. Somehow I fancy they will be much more transient.

The average annual growth increase in cruising since 1990 is 7.2%, that means there are a heck of a lot more passengers now, with a much broader socio base, so it's not surprising that the major cruise lines have had to modify their offering to meet these new demands.
Personally we prefer to sail in newer ships, which have much better accessible facilities that the older ones, as a result we would not enjoy Fred or Ambassador cruises, even though the overall experience may suit us better.

[Onelife]

I think this article gives a good insight as to why us oldies are now surplus to requirements…

https://www.go-walkabout.co.uk/news/pop ... ave%20expe

As our memories fade most of us will still be able to remember the good standards of service we once enjoyed as to that of those who follow who won’t be any the wiser.

I suppose when all well and done you have to admire the business foresight of the cruise industry in seeing this coming.