Cruises from New York this winter
 

Hi, my partner and I just finished renovating our house... hence have not taken any vacation time this year... For this winter we are looking for a really relaxing vacation that would not involve flying... and even though have never been on a cruise before, want to try it.
Does anyone have any suggestions on the cruise line, itenerary, cabin type. We are looking for a 5 star plus experience.

Thank you.

Cruising out of New York in the winter is very limited. Last year NCL's Dawn And HAL's Nordam both sailed out of New York. Neither of these lines would be considered upscale.

there is only one berlitz "5*+" ship, the hapag lloyd ms europa :P

cunard does transatlantics in/out of new york..

queens grill suites (top tier of room categories) on cunard start at about $1K per person per day. (most expensive and most exclusive of any line)

silversea also does a transatlantic out of new york.
http://www.silversea.com/destination...id=destination
from $5600pp for 16 days



ms europa seems to hover mostly at 500 euros per person per day.

seabourn started at the $1K per person per day, but now goes much lower.

i recently did my first cruise on seabourn, the march transatlantic, and it was fantastic.

2 other cruises im planning on are regent to alaska, and something on seadream.

ranking recap >
ms europa
seabourn, silversea, seadream
regent

Thank you both. Are there no cruises to the Caribean, was hoping for something warm :)...

QE2 departs NYC January 8, through the Panama Canal, to either LA or SFO. Suites are running about $6000.00pp for 16 days.

Holland America's newest ship, the Noordam, is doing RT NYC/Caribbean sailings all winter from NYC.

In addition to Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line is also doing year round cruises out of New York to the Caribbean / Bahamas

OP asked for 5*. Even HAL doesn't make the 5* cut, but may be a pleasant enough experience to suffice.

right, but their admission that they have not cruised before establishes they do not understand how limited and expensive the "5 star plus" options are.

so making the disparity clear gives them what they needs to know in order to consider how real of an option cruising is for them in the future.

Thank you all for your input. Yes, have never been on a cruise before... and do not have unlimited availability of funds, so far the prices quoted do not scare me away. The only limit is the time off though, can not afford 16 days off work :). For cruises like HAL, does selecting a suite makes a big difference in service, etc? Any specific deck, front/back of the ship??? Again, thank you all for the input... I am starting to look forward to this expericence

The suite selection will have virtually no bearing on the service. Once you leave your cabin, nobody knows which cabin is yours for the most part.

Remember if you leave NYC for someplace warm in the winter, you will spend one day in the cold getting away from new York, and another day or so sailing back to New York.

i could be wrong, since i'm not really familiar with non lux cruise lines, but i am fairly sure the only non lux ship with an upper tier like cunard's system is the ncl jewel's courtyard villas. >

http://www.ncl.com/fleet/jewel/staterooms.htm

I really don't understand your comparision of Cunard with NCL, even the villas.

Cunard service and food on the whole is much, much better than NCL, even in the villas. The ambiance is totally different. The villas are nothing more than a lot of space and amenities-certainly nothing like Princess or Queen's Grill on Cunard. And you really feel totally isolated-your own pool, hot tub. Great for a family group, but not good for 1-3 couples. I'll take a Cunard P-4 over the villas on a long cruise anyday.

It was kinda fun last year for a short, 5 day cruise in the villas (3 couples), but it was still NCL. No formal nights, sloppily dressed pax, lots of enebriated pax, no true service to speak of. Got lots of chocolate covered strawberries for appetizers, NOT cavier and champagne. Butler service was available, for an additional fee. No comparison to Cunard.

To the OP:

HAL's Noordam, out of NYC, Penthouse Suite (PS Cat) would probably give you the experience you want. HAL has much more formal ships (and an older demographic) than quite a few of the lines. Formal dining means tuxes. This is NOT a PAAARTY cruiseline. The HAL experience is generally reserved, old style, elegant cruising.

The Penthouse Suites (there are 2 on the ship) each have their own outside hot tub. HAL has recently upgraded their entire line (Signature of Excellence), but the suites really got the perks. Duvets, daily fruit basket and flowers, complimentary laundry and dry cleaning, exclusive daily breakfast service, high tea in your suite on request to name a few.

I will be doing my second HAL cruise on the Prinsendam next spring. Other than the all inclusive nature of Seabourn, Silversea, etc., my last Prinsendam cruise (two+ years ago) came very close to my Seabourn cruise in 2005.

sorry, thought i was fairly clear.

cunard has a tier system. queens grill, princess gril, brittania club, brittania.

the only other ship with any sort of system like this that i know of is the garden villas on the jewel. that tier has considerable additional amenities and public areas only open to those in those or the few higher room categories.

PH on other ships may include something like butler service or upgraded bath amenities, but there are no special public spaces, etc.

although i think some ships have special lounges for elite members with x number of days, right?

The Garden Villas don't follow anywhere close to Cunard's system. You still eat where you choose to eat on NCL. No separate dining room for the Villas. Freestyle dining for all. Yes, there is a private lounge, but not a big deal. We used it one day out of 5 for a cocktail party. You are totally isolated from other pax and the ambiance is only what you make it. The "private" courtyard is shared with all the cabins on Deck 14. The sundeck on Deck 15 is semi- private. The Garden Villas were designed for families or groups, not a 5* luxury experience. It definitely was not worth the money and definitely NOT a luxury experience, unless you want COMPLETE privacy or are a large group.

Even the Cunard system is mostly divided only by different dining rooms. You get a private officer's party if you are P or Q Grill, and the more private, intimate dining rooms with special foods (off the menu), but the CABIN (and the price) is the big difference. Queen's Grill has the Queen's Grill lounge, but it is not used a lot. On my January 2006 TA, there were never more than 6 people in there at any one time in 8 days. Other than where you eat dinner, no one would know the difference. Still get the same great Cunard white glove service whether you are in an inside cabin or Q Grill. And I'm booked in P Grill for the January transatlantic (QE2), but am eating in Caronia. It's more fun.

HAL has the Neptune Lounge on quite a few ships, exclusively for suite pax.

Blocking yourself off in private lounges far from the TOTAL cruise experience does not, IMHO, equate a 5* experience. The ship, the food, the service, the ambiance, and the other pax do.

The reason why I even mentioned NCL was the OP also wanted to go to the Caribbean and anyone who cruise frequently that its really really really hard to find one that goes there from NYC in the winter. The only really true 5 star experience from NYC in the middle of winter to the Caribbean is pretty much chartering or buying a private yatch that provides that 5 star service.