West Coasters, where are you going now?

[rubrrick]

We have plans to head to Florida in the fall.....and do a B2B2B on a 3/4 night, so that when we get off of the Mariner on the January 9th sailing, we will be one cruise credit shy of the century mark.

 

After we take that "special" cruise, we are going to start looking, once again at other lines. RCCL has left us "high and dry" on the west coast.

 

After our freebie.....we will be cruising with other lines, as there is nothing special that RCCL offers after that. So, it's going to be who has the best deal on where we want to go.

 

I wish RCCL all of the best as they put most of their eggs in the European basket.

 

They seem to have abandoned us on the West Coast, and it would be much more palatable if they were to explain why.

 

The idiot at the helm (I have met the man, and I think that he IS an idiot) is forgetting about loyalty.

 

Shortly, our dollars will be speaking for other cruise lines.

 

Rick

[maitaiguy]

Carnival for cruising locally. (Without flying).

 

RCI from Florida but because of scheduling and extra cost not very frequently.

 

Because of school schedules we usually cruise when the kids are out of school and from California that will mean Carnival or.......Carnival.

 

Haven't tried the Carnival product yet but I guess that is coming up shortly.

 

Yes I am very frustrated that Royal Caribbean is pulling out of the LA market entirely. I was on Monarch a couple years ago for New Years and had a great time with a terrific crew. I thought I was sad when Monarch left......:(

[willyguy]

Well don't like flying too. Don't know what I will do?

[Arizona Laura]

We are in the same boat since DH cannot fly. So west coast cruises are our only options.

With our 4-3-11 Mariner cruise cancelled switched right away to January 9th knowing that sailing was going to be attractive.

Sure will miss the Mariner and no idea where to turn next.

Just was not that impressed with the Splendor.

What about the Spirit?

I just really like the bigger cruise ships though...Mariner was the perfect size.

We really want to do a PNW cruise.

After Jan 9th everything is up in the air.

Laura

[Craving A Cruise]

Hi Barbara, (srafrog) Like everyone else here, I am very sad and disappointed that RCCL is pulling the Mariner out of CA. :(:mad::(.....Not sure what we will do now. It was nice being able to take a quick 7 day trip on short notice on a NICE ship...May go back to Princess and try the Sapphire, not sure???? Refuse to do Carnival.

 

Flying to the East coast to cruise is not always possible, because we don't always have 9-10 days free!! (Since we like to fly out a day or two ahead of time and sometimes stay a day afterwards.) We may go back to taking more land based vacations for a while. Currently planning a trip to Vancouver. :)

 

Guess we can only hope that the Mariner will be replaced by something better!

 

Karen

p.s. It was so nice to finally meet you Barbara. :)

[Arizona Laura]

A little confused. Your signature says you Love Royal Caribbean and yet now you hate them. Did you really think a Corporation was going to honor your loyalty?

 

I have ambivalent feelings about them myself and think there are lots more of us out there!

Laura

[pscruzinboyz]

A little confused. Your signature says you Love Royal Caribbean and yet now you hate them. Did you really think a Corporation was going to honor your loyalty?

 

Don't be confused.....because like Laura.....We are booked on 3 future RCL cruises, will book the last sailing on the Mariner in Jan.......So up until January, I will like them.....but after that except for the 2 weeks on the Liberty....My loyality is gone.....I made a goal of making Diamond Plus in 4 years in which we did with the help of LA cruises, but now....I will have to fly.....so the Price and Itinary will dictate when and where we cruise. I can not say anything about another line....we only know RCL....but it is time to try something new!

 

Mike

[pscruzinboyz]

We have plans to head to Florida in the fall.....and do a B2B2B on a 3/4 night, so that when we get off of the Mariner on the January 9th sailing, we will be one cruise credit shy of the century mark.

 

After we take that "special" cruise, we are going to start looking, once again at other lines. RCCL has left us "high and dry" on the west coast.

 

After our freebie.....we will be cruising with other lines, as there is nothing special that RCCL offers after that. So, it's going to be who has the best deal on where we want to go.

 

I wish RCCL all of the best as they put most of their eggs in the European basket.

 

They seem to have abandoned us on the West Coast, and it would be much more palatable if they were to explain why.

 

The idiot at the helm (I have met the man, and I think that he IS an idiot) is forgetting about loyalty.

 

Shortly, our dollars will be speaking for other cruise lines.

 

Rick

 

Hey Rick.....Bill just told me the story about your beef with the " IDIOT " just last week.....when I inquired about what you wrote a few weeks back...so Now I can also say the Man Is " An Idiot " .

Part of me wants RCL to fail with Europe....and by the look of things about what is happening to some of the Governments in Europe....he might be coming back sooner then later with his tail between his legs.

 

And I also agree, there are so many posters who think they are " IN THE KNOW " about the West Coast....with 2 dozen different stories....don't know who to believe. I wish " The Idiot " would treat us like Adults....Yes ADULTS....and tell us the truth about why they decided to pull the Mariner and leave the West Coast. If it hurts...so be it....but tell us the truth....not to have all of the rumors so Rampant going on this site .

 

Looks like we will see you and Bobbie in Jan.

Talk to you between then and now on the boards

And, if you read most of my posts....They are almost all critical of the decision to leave.....:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

 

Mike

[Verde Man]

We have a Dec cruise booked on the Mariner. After that will have to see who is sailing out of LA or SD. From Arizona the cost of air to the east coast or Texas would add about 500 to the cruise. I'll stick to driving to LA or SD.

[SRAFROG]

Well dont know what to do. I am not even going

to think about it right now. Concentrating on all my

Mariner cruises that are left.

[jandjfun]

Well luckily I didn't put all my eggs into one basket. I will continue sailing carnival out of San Diego and Long Beach. Platinum level on RCL and Carnival.

I hate flying to florida, I hate the cost and hassle of flying, and it really takes the fun out of cruising.:(

 

Resort vacations are back in my future as well!!

[SRAFROG]

Well maybe we should all plan an "after" cruise as a reunion.

Would have to be Princess for me. I dont want to do Carnival.

 

I know it wont be RCCL but we could all get together again for

auld lang sine.

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

I have already done a few cruises out of Galveston, and already have another booked in March. A flight to Hobby is only 3 hours, and pretty cheap from LA on Southwest. I will keep going out of Galveston, and I will be trying NO as soon as Voyager gets there.

 

To be honest, while I LOVE living 10 minutes from 2 ports, I enjoy cruises to the Caribbean far more than cruises to Mexico. But I will still miss having to option right in my backyard.:rolleyes:

[SRAFROG]

Well I guess I could fly if I had a traveling companion to

help me. I ride a scooter and cannot handle that and

luggage at the same time.

 

Anybody want to adopt this old bat on a red scooter?

[Crewmates]

After hearing the news of the Mariner's departure, we quickly booked the January 2nd cruise - next to the last out of LA. After that, who knows. We did a Carnival Spirit cruise to the MR at Christmas '08 and did enjoy the cruise although we did enjoy the Radiance cruise this last December more (with Mike - pscruzinboys - Hi Mike. Thanks for all you organized on that cruise - it was fun.) This last cruise on Mariner will be our 10th with RCCL so that will make us Diamond. We don't know where we will use that "Status" now. Maybe we'll grab a Celebrity cruise.

 

Richard

[dirtgirl]

Barbara, I wish I lived closer, because I would help you! So sorry that you have been put in this position.:(

[SRAFROG]

Thanks Carol.

 

You will have to educate me about Princess now. Plenty of time

for that later on.

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

Well I guess I could fly if I had a traveling companion to

help me. I ride a scooter and cannot handle that and

luggage at the same time.

 

Anybody want to adopt this old bat on a red scooter?

 

We can help you out if you wanna go out of LB airport on Jet Blue next March for a cruise outa Galveston. We have so much junk for the 5 of us, one more won't matter!:D

[SRAFROG]

Thanks for the offer. I just might take you up on that. I

live in Long Beach.

[Working 2 Cruise]

To all west coasters.

 

Where are you going now? Are you going to

another cruise line or will you be flying somewhere to

continue cruising with RCCL.

 

I am unable to fly, so I am very disappointed. I

am on Mariner one week a month. Dont know

what to do now.

 

Change cruise lines. I think that was a bad move on RCCL's part... They will lose a lot of west coasters...:mad:

[sassyredhat]

We are in the same boat since DH cannot fly. So west coast cruises are our only options.

Just was not that impressed with the Splendor.

What about the Spirit?

Laura

 

Hi Laura~~Remember me from the Sept. CC Radiance cruise?

 

We don't like Splendor either, and like Gene, I can't fly.

 

We just finished taking CCL's Elation's 'almost last' west coast cruise. It was 2 days in Cabo, and yes, we DID cruise around all night.

 

Taking an 'almost last' cruise with RCI's Radiance on Mon. Then CCL's Paradise 'almost last' cruise in June.

 

I haven't fixed my clock yet, but we canceled Mariner and are booking HAL's Oosterdam for April 16, 2011, so Mike can play golf in PV and Mazatlan. Who knows~~HAL may move her too !! :eek:

 

We have sailed Spirit, and I think you and Gene may like her. But, they're changing itin's for her too. I believe they will alternate a 5 dayer and a 7 dayer. No longer going to Acapulco or Ixtapa, but can't remember the cut off dates.

 

I have a feeling, we will be in a cruise drought for awhile. I had planned to try NCL, but someone said they're moving too. GRRRR~~

 

Pat

[SDPadreFan]

Spirit is going to do a 5 day and a 9 day I believe (in the winter months). The 5 day will be Ensenada + 2 days in Cabo. The 9 day will be PV, Mazatlan, La Paz + 2 days in Cabo. The Cabo days will be separate tendering days and not an overnight. 3 "at sea" days on the 9 day cruise.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Hi Laura~~Remember me from the Sept. CC Radiance cruise?

 

We don't like Splendor either, and like Gene, I can't fly.

 

We just finished taking CCL's Elation's 'almost last' west coast cruise. It was 2 days in Cabo, and yes, we DID cruise around all night.

 

Taking an 'almost last' cruise with RCI's Radiance on Mon. Then CCL's Paradise 'almost last' cruise in June.

 

I haven't fixed my clock yet, but we canceled Mariner and are booking HAL's Oosterdam for April 16, 2011, so Mike can play golf in PV and Mazatlan. Who knows~~HAL may move her too !! :eek:

 

We have sailed Spirit, and I think you and Gene may like her. But, they're changing itin's for her too. I believe they will alternate a 5 dayer and a 7 dayer. No longer going to Acapulco or Ixtapa, but can't remember the cut off dates.

 

I have a feeling, we will be in a cruise drought for awhile. I had planned to try NCL, but someone said they're moving too. GRRRR~~

 

Pat

 

 

Pat - Where is the Paradise going??

[pcur]

I'm back from cruising to Mexico on Princess, right after cruising on the Mariner in February to the same ports. Princess is a pretty good substitute, but not as good as the Mariner. It's a very nice ship, but the Sapphire is much narrower than the Mariner, so the hallways and outside decks aren't nearly as wide.

 

The food was good, but the layout and traffic flow in the Horizon buffet was really bad. Very small for over 2,600 passengers. We were quite disappointed in this. Standing in line to get into the buffet for breakfast makes for cranky passengers in the morning.

 

We found there are a few food items areas where RCCL is MUCH better. Princess served very few sauces with their entrees, and when they do the portions are skimpy. DH had to ask for extra sauces every night. The soups and salad dressings are really blah; RCCL usually has terrific soups and a much larger selection of salad dressings. RCCL has much better desserts, too.

 

Now, these may sound like subjective comments, but we spent 53 nights on a RCCL shlp from March 2009 to February 2010 on 4 different ships, so I think what I'm saying comes from a good comparison.

 

We will not go on Princess again, because we eat breakfast and lunch in the buffet. But, if these things I've mentioned above aren't that important to you, then it was a very nice ship, great staff, excellent service, and lovely ports.

 

The weather was spectacular in the first part of May.

[funat55]

I have sailed Carnival, RCCL, Holland America, and Royal Cruise Lines & Azure Seas which no longer exist. Some ships were great and some were so so. Even on the smallest, oldest, run down ship I've ever been on, I had a great time, never had horrible food, in fact never starved on any cruise, and never had service so bad I had to complain. I'm going on Oasis next year (yeah can hardly wait). But to get my cruise fix before that, I will take a Carnival three day cruise to Ensenada (done that route about 7 times) and probably not get off the boat this time. My first cruise was RCCL back in 1986 and the year after I did Carnival. 23 years ago I thought no ship would ever be as elegant and regal as the Song of America. But Carnival has come a long way and I have thoroughly enjoyed crusing with them and will do so again. I have never had an experience that would make me say, "Oh I would NEVER cruise on (fill in name of cruise line) again.