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

[BillOh]

I'm blaming the travel channel and a show they did on the building of Voyager of the Seas back in 2002.

 

i've enjoyed several "building of" shows like that. Since Voyager was my first, I'll have to research and see if that is available still.

[nomoreknothead]

Our friends had taken an anniversary cruise, We heard all about it and said we would love to take a cruise. A few years later we all went together to one of the "cruise shows". It was being sponsoredby several cruise lines. We found out that Royal Caribbean was doing Western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston,TX. Galveston being only 5 hrs away reduced our cost by not having to fly!!! We booked Rhapsody of the Seas for Dec 2001. We absolutely fell in LOVE! It was a few years later that we decided that we need a break from life and another cruise fit the deal! We booked a 5 day cruise out of Galveston on the Splendour of the Seas. That is when we learned that short cruises were not for us....it was going to be 7 days or longer! Well as you can see from my list below we tried 1 Carnival and decided we were Loyal Royal's! Now we are trying to work in between cruises!

[rafinmd]

I'm not really in RCCL's demographic and it's far from my favorite cruise line, but it's wonderful having the Enchantment a half hour from home.

 

Roy

[jmf123]

i've enjoyed several "building of" shows like that. Since Voyager was my first, I'll have to research and see if that is available still.

 

I have 'Building the World's Largest Cruise Ship: Voyager of the Seas' on VHS. :o Three volumes (about 2 1/2 hrs.) provide everything you want to know from concept and design, building and testing the city at sea. The Voyager is an engineering marvel and I think back to Richard Fain's very determined efforts to make the ice rink happen, truly an amazing innovation. Not like NCL Epic's ice rink (heavy plastic boards sprayed with a solution to make the surface slippery). NCL's CEO found out on a segment of Undercover Boss how fun it was to assemble this rink on a daily basis, and that he needed to remove it from the Epic. I think RCI is the king of innovation, and I also love the design and decor of the ships. I have no doubt that the travel channel spurs on many people to book that first cruise, or another one! :)

[Lorey2007]

In '93 we took our first cruise and had really bad weather and rough seas. Decided to try again in '07 for our 40th anniversary and took a cruise on Carnival Glory. It was a good cruise but nothing really wowwed me. About 2 weeks after returning from that cruise one night I watched the Samatha Brown cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. I became a member of CC and heard about the new ship Liberty of the Seas and got hooked then. We have since cruised on Liberty, Oasis and Adventure and will be on Adventure again next year and the year after Allure. I can't wait to start hearing all about the Sunshine ships. For me the bigger the better I just love the Royal Promenade.

[Raptor2010]

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:

 

For us it was because we had not been on a vacation since getting married in 1997 so in 2007 we thought "hey, let's go on a cruise and renew our wedding vows at the same time". We had also seen a RCCL commercial about the Freedom and they showed the Flowrider and that was when we knew THAT was the ship we wanted to be on. Since then we have cruised on the Freedom and the Oasis and overall, it's the amenities that keep us coming back but mostly, it's the Flowrider :)

[mmn531]

I crusied with my soon to be wife on Grandeur for 7 days. The best vacation we have taken to date. Hoping going back to the smaller ship (JOS) will bring back some of that small ship magic.

[train]

April, 1991 - kids are now 16 (our girl) and 14 (our boy). After 7 years of heading to Disney World, we decide the family is ready for something different. I pick a cruise travel agency out of the Sunday newspaper, and he suggests Sovereign of the Seas, only 2 years old and a megaship. We book it, spend a week with our friends and their 2 kids in the Eastern Caribbean. We have an inside cabin so wind up sleeping til noon and missing most of the port visits but all 8 of us never wanted that cruise to end.

 

With other cruises in between, let's fast forward 6 years to January, 1997 - kids in college and Christmas break is long, extending into January. Somehow I find a deal for Majesty of the Seas -- $700 for each adult, $100 each kid! We pick them up from their universities for the break, steal their summer clothes, and surprise the kids with the cruise and that is their Christmas gift. I never did tell them about that $100 mega-deal.

 

Jump ahead to 2011 - now we actually live in Orlando! Kids and little grandkids fly down often, someone's always coming or going. We recently tell everyone that we are going on a Royal Caribbean cruise, except it will just be us two since it's during everyone's school schedule. Adult kids and grandchildren can't believe we are going without them!