Should You Try Other Cruise Lines?

One of my favourite phrases in life is, ‘If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It’

I’ve lived by this wonderful motto for many years, and it’s always served me well.

It’s a phrase that can be applied to almost any situation in life, and in my line of work, it’s also an interesting thought…

A question that I get asked a lot is, who is better than who in the cruising world?

For example,

‘We sailed with Royal Caribbean last year and loved it, but we have been recommended to try P&O next time, what are they like in comparison?’

And here lies the dilemma….

Being a cruise agent, I have been lucky enough to sample and sail aboard most brands over the years, and yes i have my favourites. But there are sometimes subtle, sometimes massive differences between brands, so it’s really a question of personal taste and preference.

But that old chestnut of a phrase pops out of my mouth a lot of the time when my clients ask about switching brands, because quite frankly, I sometimes worry whether or not it’s the right thing for them to do!

If you have genuinely had a brilliant time with one brand, the chances are you are only going to be comparing your new brand with the old one, and marking them up or down the entire cruise!

Of course you can’t be closed minded your whole life, we’d never try anything new would we.

But do you know the largest form of complaint I tend to get is that ‘oh cruise line X’s dining wasn’t as good as cruise line Y’s dining’

Or, ‘well we preferred the entertainment on cruise line A to that of cruise line B

Maybe complaint is a strong word in these instances, but you get the idea.

So my advice perhaps would be if you have had a brilliant time on a certain brand, to the point of wanting to cruise again, then stick to what you know!

My folks are huge P&O fans, yet they have also sailed on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity & Cunard, but they keep coming back to P&O. I doubt they feel like they have wasted money on the other brands, having enjoyed them, but would they have been better sticking to P&O? Or is it P&O’s fault for limiting my parents to certain itineraries? It’s perhaps another blog for another day, but I’d welcome your thoughts about brand to brand switching either way!

Thanks for reading, and as always, until next time…