Having taken five cruises in as many years, we’ve come to rely on them as an affordable, comfortable way to travel.  A cruise offers something for everyone – including those who think they might feel confined.  Today’s cruise ships are offering more amenities than ever.  They’re like being on a floating city.  Choosing the right cruise for you involves a lot of decisions such as: What’s my cruising style?  What amenities do I want available on the ship?  What level of service do I want to experience?  What type of accommodation do I need/want?  What ports of call do I want to visit?  Let us help you narrow your search. 

Celebrity Cruises

 Itineraries Sailed:

Celebrity Infinity – Pacific Northwest

Celebrity Mercury – Hubbard Glacier/Inside Passage Cruise

Generally, Celebrity offers superior service and is beloved by its past passengers.  Our personal experiences are mixed.  Compared to other lines with similarly aged ships, we found Celebrity’s ships to be worn, needing touchups and cleaning.  Because of the size of most of its ships, however, Celebrity offers some of the more unique itineraries we’ve seen. 

We’ve taken two cruises on Celebrity with vastly different experiences.  We ignored our own advice on our first Celebrity cruise. – “The trip is what you make of it.”  Well, that’s not exactly how the trip went.  But we did learn some very valuable lessons.  When booking a cruise, you might want to consider the itinerary in relationship to other seasonal offerings.  We failed to do this.  Choosing a cruise in late August, departing from Vancouver, we sailed Celebrity Infinity as she was just coming off of an exhausting Alaskan cruise season.  We found the service wasn’t what we heard it would be, and found the ship was in much need of an extreme thorough cleaning. 

Our second Celebrity cruise WOW’ed us and if a given sailing met our vacation needs, we’d sail Celebrity again.  Departing roundtrip from Vancouver, getting to Celebrity Mercury was half the adventure.  The amount of planning that goes into any trip can be mind-boggling.  Compress the planning phase to 7 days, add an infant with no passport and ever-increasing security measures that require having one, and you’ve got an updated version of the classic, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles – although this story omitted trains.  As difficult as it was to plan this special Mother’s Day getaway, it was all worth it, and we couldn’t have had a better family vacation.  Mercury exudes understated contemporary elegance.  While we would have liked to have seen the ship in a little better condition.  We found the service far outweighed any negatives on appearance.

Princess Cruises

Itineraries Sailed:

Dawn Princess – Classic Southern Caribbean

Diamond Princess – Mexican Riviera

Caribbean Princess – Eastern Caribbean

Princess Cruises offers a truly incredible getaway.   With one of the youngest fleets in the industry, Princess Cruises has taken considerable effort to ensure the latest amenities are available for its guests.  Touting “big ship” amenities with “small ship feel,” this line has consistently provided a great product at reasonable prices.  Indeed, the largest public spaces you typically find on Princess’ ships will be the three-story atriums. 

Another great feature is the line’s numerous balconies.  Balconies abound and can be booked at prices much more reasonable than on other lines.  Follow Princess’ lead as it reclaims its famed Love Boat status.  Enjoy a romantic dinner under the stars as your ship steams to its next port.