Ready for a happy thread. How did you start cruising with RCI??

[WeLove2CruiseRCI]

Ok, this may have been done before, but I have read enough of the threads that never seem to end that the OP keeps getting negative posts (just or not) or the never ending argument on smoking. :(Tell us how you came about choosing to cruise with RCI and what keeps you returning??:cool:

[skiiergirl]

Ok, this may have been done before, but I have read enough of the threads that never seem to end that the OP keeps getting negative posts (just or not) or the never ending argument on smoking. :(Tell us how you came about choosing to cruise with RCI and what keeps you returning??:cool:

 

Honeymoon ....28 years ago. Our first cruise! Travel agent told my husband she knew he wouldn't be pleased with any cruiseline except RC. Told him if wanted to book with any other line he would have to go to a different agency because she didn't want him to be unhappy. We were very happy and have never sailed anyone but RC. It has taken me years to convince him to try X next year...just because of itinerary. Mr. Ski says..."if it isn't broken don't try to fix it". He says as long as they treat us well....we will stick with them.

[dagored]

Hope this does not stifle your happy thread.

 

I was 45 working a stressful job. One day I had chest pains and was taken to the ER. That is an automatic 1 to 2 day stay, depending on test results.

 

I had the whole nine yards and the cardiologist told me after the stress test, "Sir, this heart is not going to kill you, you will have to die from something else." That was a relief. The wife immediately informed me we were taking a cruise and relaxing. I think she aged a few years that week.

 

She chose Royal Caribbean and except for a few other lines, destination was the reason, it has all been Royal.

 

That initial voyage, were talking in the 1990's, MDR was something you looked forward to. All the different courses, the lights going down as they lit the cherries jubilee, etc. If you looked at your steak for 30 seconds, the waiter grabbed your knife and fork and started to cut it for you.

 

On the third day, my wife said she could not eat anymore and skipped dessert. Two minutes later, the waiter, head waiter, and a chef had surrounded her at the table and asked, "is there something wrong, can we make you something?" I miss that.

 

That is why we have continued with Royal.

 

We have taken friends and now apologize because they spend all their money on cruising.

[WeLove2CruiseRCI]

Honeymoon ....28 years ago. Our first cruise! Travel agent told my husband she knew he wouldn't be pleased with any cruiseline except RC. Told him if wanted to book with any other line he would have to go to a different agency because she didn't want him to be unhappy. We were very happy and have never sailed anyone but RC. It has taken me years to convince him to try X next year...just because of itinerary. Mr. Ski says..."if it isn't broken don't try to fix it". He says as long as they treat us well....we will stick with them.

 

Great story!

My soon to be DH's best friend invited us to cruise with them on the Carnival Legend Oct, 2009. We loved the cruise experience, but Carnival wasn't our type of ship or crowd. For a Christmas present 2009 my soon to be DH booked us on the Mariner, March 2010 Mexican Riviera. I was speechless when I opened the box with all the details printed, even the excursions! From the moment we boarded the ship we loved it! Beautiful, classy decor, friendly staff. The first day in the WJ we were amazed that all the staff smiled and spoke! What a concept! We have never looked and another cruise line since.

[peteukmcr]

My partner's 40th birthday back in 2004 got us cruising. No birthday party wanted but a cruise on Mariner out of Port Canaveral was the chosen celebration. Why Port Canaveral? So that we could visit the theme parks post cruise in the Orlando area as we've been doing on and off for over 10 years and I've been visiting Florida occasionally over a 30 year period.

 

That's a routine repeated a few times now, as it's a good excuse to visit Florida.

 

What keeps us coming back, well totally hooked from day 1 on the style of RCI, the service and the ships.

 

Now with the C&A benefits we've earnt, it's hard to try elsewhere as it's not a cheap holiday for us when you take into consideration the cost of flights from the UK to the US.

[chef_christoph]

It was only in 2004 that my cruising adventures began and to tell the truth I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not.

 

My plan was to take a cruise in order to be able to get a small taste of many different islands in a short amount of time and then decide which island I liked the best to return for a "real" vacation at an AI.

 

My options at the time were narrowed down to two cruises, one was on Carnival, the other on RCI. Both were southern caribbean itineraries sailing from San Juan and I chose the RCI cruise at the time due to the fact that the RCI itinerary had more ports of call and less sea days than the Carnival itinerary.

 

My goal was to see as many islands as possible so that was the deciding factor to go with RCI.

 

The funny thing is, since that first cruise I have not been back to an AI because I loved the cruising experience so much more than I ever thought I would.

[parr0thead]

Our first cruise was in 1981 on Carnival. We went again in 1982. in 1983 our TA told us that the cabin we wanted wasn't available. She suggested RCCL. We have never looked back. We now have 30 cruises with RCI, and we earned Diamond Plus status the hard way, one cruise at a time. Even 10 day cruises earned us 1 point. We are now planning a cruise with the grandchildren. We can't wait to cruise Oasis in Nov.

[WeLove2CruiseRCI]

Hope this does not stifle your happy thread.

 

I was 45 working a stressful job. One day I had chest pains and was taken to the ER. That is an automatic 1 to 2 day stay, depending on test results.

 

I had the whole nine yards and the cardiologist told me after the stress test, "Sir, this heart is not going to kill you, you will have to die from something else." That was a relief. The wife immediately informed me we were taking a cruise and relaxing. I think she aged a few years that week.

 

She chose Royal Caribbean and except for a few other lines, destination was the reason, it has all been Royal.

 

That initial voyage, were talking in the 1990's, MDR was something you looked forward to. All the different courses, the lights going down as they lit the cherries jubilee, etc. If you looked at your steak for 30 seconds, the waiter grabbed your knife and fork and started to cut it for you.

 

On the third day, my wife said she could not eat anymore and skipped dessert. Two minutes later, the waiter, head waiter, and a chef had surrounded her at the table and asked, "is there something wrong, can we make you something?" I miss that.

 

That is why we have continued with Royal.

 

We have taken friends and now apologize because they spend all their money on cruising.

 

No stifle!! Great story! Cruises are addicting!!

[K1200S]

Channel surfing in 2002 came upon a show showing the building of Voyager of the seas. Wife's birthday was coming up so i bought what she asked for and on top was the reservation I made for 2003 on our anniversary. She picks up the piece of paper when she got home form work and says what's this? I said read it. I could see the light come on and the smile appear. We have sailed other lines but we like the entertainment on RCI more then the others.

[Mewissy]

When DH and I were planning our honeymoon in October 2005, we went to a travel agent for advice. We wanted to go to the Caribbean, but were afraid since it was hurricane season. Our TA suggested a cruise since the ship could always re-route - as opposed to a land-based AI. So, then we started looking into different options. The Adventure won based almost solely on the fact that it sailed on a Sunday and we could go the day after our wedding.

 

We booked our airfare with RC so that we had limited stress on our honeymoon in case anything went wrong. So, after our wedding we drove down to the hotel, stayed overnight and got on a 6am flight to SJ. It was a crazy embarkation, where we stood outside for 2 hours in the HEAT before being able to get on the ship. But, once we did, we were sold.

 

It was probably my favorite vacation/cruise EVER. We spent 7 glorious nights on the Adventure and then 2 more nights in PR.

[negc]

Our first cruise was in 1980 on the Carla C out of San Juan and after that we were hooked on cruising. Our travel agent arranged a cruise night at our house for us and about twenty of our friends. Representatives from Sitmar and Royal Caribbean came and made presentations. (I was fascinated by RCI's signature Viking Crown Lounge.) At the end of the presentation we all decided to book our next cruise on the Song of Norway (western Caribbean out of Miami) for April, 1983. My wife and I were in Florida a year prior to the cruise and the RCI rep arranged for us to tour the ship while it was in Miami. One look at the ship and I knew that we and our friends would love it. Since then, while we have occasionally sailed on other lines, our first choice and that of the friends we sail with, has usually been RCI. There have been lots of changes in the cruise industry and the ships since then, but two things have remained constant - RCI's friendly service and beautiful ships.:)

[STEVE-O]

Went to a travel agency office to get brochures for a 2nd cruise (1st on Celebrity).....(are there still TA offices? Who gets brochures to research cruises???..My! how things have changed in 7 years)

 

Anyway....the travel agent was talking to a guy at her desk. She asked if I had heard about the Voyager class of ships on RCCL. I was very excited about what she had to say.

 

Oh! The guy she was talking to...? The NW sales rep for Royal Caribbean!! He's also the guy who told me about Cruise Critic!!!.......

I want HIS job!!........

[Tucker in Texas]

My faithful travel agent was not a fan of Royal Caribbean. Don't know why. However, he co-oped a group cruise with another agent that was a Royal Caribbean fan. He called it "the h*** has frozen over cruise." That was my first one--the Explorer of the Seas. Guess he changed his mind because he has done several group cruises since then on Royal.

 

We took our first trans-Atlantic on NCL because it left 15 minutes from our house (Houston). We had a ton of frequent flyer miles but could only use them for a round trip ticket from England home and back to England. Figured I would pitch the last half but the nice airline agent I was confirming with figured out my strategy and pointed out that if, I canceled my return prior to it leaving, the ticket would be good for a year with a change fee (then $50). So I immediately started looking for a westbound TA in the fall which was Royal's Voyager since it came into Galveston.

 

That was 2007. We've done TA's both ways every year since then and have them lined up through 2012. Since Royal comes into and out of Galveston, that is our first choice. This spring we did the Constellation because it B2B with the Baltics. However, next year we will travel to NOLA and do the Voyager over and the Mariner back. We are doing the Mariner westbound this fall.

 

While I never started out pursuing the loyalty program, because we have done so many TA's (and a couple of my agent's group cruises) we have "fallen" into Diamond status and will be Diamond+ after our fall cruise unless they raise the bar again (lol)

 

Tucker in Texas

[Texmike]

I forgot the first year we went sailing- in the early 2000's. We were told that that the Carnival drew a younger partying crowd so our travel agent suggested RCI

 

We sailed on Rhapsody out out of Galveston for a 7-day cruise out and loved it

 

We sailed on the Rhapsody again a few years later. Then we really loved the Freedom of The Seas which was fairly new then and loved that ship even more since it was bigger and had more to offer.

 

Then we took the Mariner for the Mexican Rivera which we loved the most. We've then sailed the Voyager twice out of Galveston since we live near there and can make the drive to the port.

 

Now we want to try an Alaskan cruise and later the Oasis and Allure

 

We will have to wait a while since my wife and I recently lost our jobs

[mamapan]

Our honeymoon in 1991 (Song of America)!

 

My in-laws paid for our cruise for a wedding present for us and we've been hooked ever since.

 

We are celebrating our 20th anniversary this year - on another RCI cruise!

[DALSAL]

For years and years, I had wanted to cruise, but hubby kept telling me I would get sick. Dont know why he said that, because I never get car sick.His family had cruised for years, and talked about it all the time, and I wanted to see what it was all about myself! Finally one year, I said I was going to book a trip to Baniff, and he told me it was way too cold there and for us to go on a cruise! So, I went online, and picked a ship out of Galveston, and it happened to be Rhapsody Of The Seas. We went, had a little tiny inside cabin, but I loved it!! First and LAST time to get an inside!!!

 

I went exploring the ship and wound up at the pool on Lido listening to the Reggae band and watching everyone line all the latest line dances. It was so much fun and right then I was totally hooked!!

 

Of course I have branched out to other cruise lines, but I love RCCL and they will always have a special place in my heart for being my 1st. :D Dot

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

While RC was not our first cruise, Big Red Boat was our first with our boys and then one Carnival cruise...... 3 years later it was our 25th wedding anniversary and we wanted something special, so we booked the Sovereign.

And as they say....the rest is history! ;) :)

 

***

[liberiben]

My Dad took us on cruises for our Christmas gift every year after my brother started college, so 2000. We did Carnival ,HAL, and Norwegian, I really enjoyed it, but got bored on sea days. I saw all the commercials where they showed the rock walls and ice rink and asked my Dad, but he said it was too much, which was fine with me, a cruise is better than no cruise. I was blessed to have gotten to go every year. So when it came time for my husband and I to cruise out of our own pocket, we chose RCI. Not hard to convince him since he had cruised with us on some of those previous cruises as well.

[rcrdale]

My parents had been on about 20 cruises with all different cruise lines, but mostly Carnival and RCI. My mom had said about wanting to take the entire family on a cruise some time. Well, my mom was diagnosed with cancer in early 2009 and passed away in July of 2009. I had been trying to plan a trip to Riviera Maya for my wife and I in January/February 2010. My mom left me some money, so I told my wife that instead of going to Riviera Maya, I wanted to take a cruise to celebrate my mom's life.

 

I got online and started researching some different cruises. I had never been on a boat/ship before and neither had my wife. I figured this might be a once and done thing, so if I was going to do this, I wanted to do it right. I booked a 14 night Southern Caribbean cruise on Explorer of the Seas over Easter 2010.

 

I have to say, it was the greatest vacation I've ever been on. We have done a cruise earlier this year on the Navigator of the Seas doing the Western Caribbean and have 2 cruises planned for 2011, Freedom of the Seas Eastern Caribbean and Explorer of the Seas to Bermuda.

 

There is no other way vacation in my mind.

[welshrich]

We cruised for the first time on Freedom in 2006, I thought it was gonna be boring and nothing to do, how was was I, I was nearly in tears getting off and we booked our next cruise on Independance the same day we got home, since then we've sailed Majesty, Vision and Adventure. Off on Oasis in September and then got a TA on Mariner next year. When any of my friends say they are stuck for ideas for vacation I say to go on a cruise straight away.

[beachnative]

My dad died in January 1997. That summer my aunt called my family (my mom, brother, his wife and 3 college kids, my wife, college son, and me) together and handed each of us fliers for Royal Caribbean. She then told us that we were all sailing with her on the Monarch of the Seas for Thanksgiving week and that she had booked and paid for air and staterooms.

 

When our big week arrived she had a limo pick up all of us at my mom's house to transport us to the airport. Upon boarding she handed us "family cruise 1997" t-shirts to wear for sail away. We were all now on our first fantastic cruise.

 

This dear, sweet aunt didn't stop there. She took us all to a ski resort for Christmas week, long weekends in NYC for Broadway play marathons, and many other things. She did all that she could to reinforce in us the understanding that life should be lived to the fullest.

 

Both she and my mom have since passed away. As for the two of us, each time we are on a cruise ship (now D+) we stand at the rail, and as when the ship breaks into open seas, toast this fantastic woman.

[The Flying Pirate]

My First Cruise was in 1991, on the Sovereign of the Seas, when she was nearly new. It was for my Grandparents 50th Anniversary. They got us started cruising, this summer they are celebrating their 70th Wedding Anniversary with another cruise!

[daboyz1223]

I got my start at cruising in june of 2010, with my in laws. We did the same routine vacation to florida every year and went to the july race at daytona, and they said why don't we switch it up, go on this 4 day cruise on Monarch, then we'll spend a couple days in daytona. well we did that, and i officially have the fever, the itch, the addiction whatever you call it. after that cruise my wife and i questioned ourselves why we didn't do it sooner, and then we went on our anniversary cruise, then on a family cruise in jan of 2011. there's a slight lul in the cruising, because we had our 2nd child, but we now have the countdown on until she's 6 months old and able to cruise. 2012 we will have atleast 1 cruise, hoping that we can fit in a second.

[brokenglass]

our first cruise was April 2010 on the Monarch... we were on a limited budget but we try to do something with my husbands parents every year - and we told them - we have $X amount - it is your turn to choose (as DH and I always plan and arrange everything...) So they wanted us to cruise... DH and I were skeptical - but went in with open minds... and we had a BLAST! 4 days was WAY to short! this year - dad chose Ireland - but the whole time there - he kept saying he really wanted a cruise... so the week we got home - I went to our TA (only used her for the cruise... as I book all other things on my own) and booked Allure for Feb 2012... and we are looking forward to it!!! I can not wait.... :p

[aeonix01]

Originally, back in late 80's / early 90's, when I was a little kid, my Aunt and Grandmother were cruising with Home Lines (no longer around), and their ship, The Atlantic was coming to the end of their run as a business, so we needed a new line to go on.

 

We ended up going on the Royal Caribbean's Nordic Prince, and loved it. In fact, we loved it so much, we kept coming back. Despite nearly capsizing in a hurricane on the NP by about six degrees, we just simply went back on a free cruise given by the line a year later on their newest ship. The Majesty of the Seas. All I can say is, back then (it's been 14 years since my last cruise father, forgive me, I've sinned), they really bowled you over with service, oppulance, and a sense that this was something not everyone did and was therefore special.

 

Baked Alaska on fire, new menus every night with new special items in the themes of different nationalities. On formal night, you really dressed formal! Everything about RCCL kept calling you back. Simply put, There's no other line I've gone on, and likely no other that I would want to go on at the moment. I think the other lines may have nice ships, but, I love the look and style on RCI. I think I'm a lifer.

 

My first cruise since all that time ago, and my soon to be wife's first cruise is coming up at the end of July. I hope they hook her too (for my sake at least?)!!