Was RCCL your first cruise?

[DRWhit]

We have a cruise booked with RCL coming up next year, and one with Celebrity the year after that (booking way ahead!).

 

We have actually taken one cruise on RCL, one on Celebrity, two on Holland America and one on Carnival.

 

And our very first cruise was on a ship called Majesty of the Seas, which was a "Big Red Boat".

 

We have enjoyed every one, although I will say the Carnival Cruise (our second cruise) was a a border line bad experience. It seemed like everyone on the ship belonged to some large group, except for us. That's been the only cruise where we've had a hard time meeting people. We had a large gap in time after that cruise before we tried cruising again. When we did, we sailed RCL and loved it.

 

We are still shopping for our go-to line. Still to try Princess and maybe Norwegian. We will likely end up moving around between the lines we like, depending on price and itenerery. I doubt we will ever settle on just one. But its fun to look!

[critterchick]

My first cruise was RCI. The second cruise was Carnival. And yes, we went right back to RCI for the vast majority of our cruises - 3 more on Carnival and 1 on Celebrity.

 

Respectfully, I think you are wrong with your reasoning concerning the west coast cruises. I think the prices were so low that RCI pulled out. Safety was a good excuse although I don't buy it since other cruise lines are still doing the Mexican Riviera and even RCI goes to Acapulco (on PC cruises), the worst of all as far as I'm concerned.

 

When RCI puts a ship back on the west coast, people will be so happy that the prices will be higher than ever before. At least for a while. That's what I think anyway.

 

Gina

 

I only have a sample size of 2 Florida sailings on Monarch, but they were both much less expensive than I ever saw in LA. And the bars weren't as crowded either. Just sayin' (and still missing her).

 

Our experience doesn't support your theory. Our first sailing was on Costa in 1980 and was followed by a Carnival cruise in 1981. It was not until 1983 that we first sailed on Royal Caribbean (Song of Norway) and we have been on fifty something cruise with them in the intevening years. During that time we also sailed on Holland American, Princess, NCL and several other smaller lines. Our experience on Costa convinced us and several of our closest friends that cruising was our best vacation option, and our first cruise on Song of Norway convinced us that RCI provided us with a cruise experience that best matched our tastes and interests.

There are far more reasons why RCI left the West Coast and other lines reduced their presence, so to believe that they are missing a golden opportunity by deciding not to forego profit is short-sighted on your part, not theirs. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about the wisdom of RCI's decisions, but their executives are the ones charged with making those decisions and their history of past success seems to indicate that they are right more often than they are wrong.

 

Yes, and the decision to saturate Europe and Australia isn't quite working out at the moment.... At least Princess is seeing an opportunity on the Left Coast, and will dip their toes into the short cruise market from LA starting next fall. We will be aboard!:D More than one Hotel Director said that Monarch made her revenue goals and then some sailing out of LA, but I have no way of knowing whether that's true. I have no trouble believing that Mariner was unprofitable - it didn't help to have her and Radiance sailing the MR - we were able to do 9-10 nights on RD using the same number of vacation days as 7 nights on Mariner. Oh, well, it is what it is, and I remain hopeful that the market perception will change some day.

 

To answer the original question, our first commercial cruise (DH had plenty of cruises on Navy ships) was on RCI, on the Nordic Empress, in 1995. Then we went 7 years and tried the Star Princess. Bounced back & forth between Princess and RCI before we decided that RCI suited us a scooch better. When Monarch departed LA, we started sailing on Carnival for the short cruises, but that will end once Princess is here - it's a fine way to spend a long weekend, but not nearly as pleasurable for us.

 

And we've been on Azamara and HAL, will be trying Celebrity next year, and are open to most of the other lines. We are mostly still cruising for the destination, so if RCI has something that works at a competitive price, they are our first choice, but certainly not our only one.

[mjldvlks]

First pleasure cruise was eastern Med from Venice on Splendour in 2007. Had such a great time we wanted to go again and found the cheap 3/4 day cruises on Monarch from LA to feed the habit between big cruises. We met a bunch of folks through those cruises who are committed Royals so we kept at it. Liked it enough we were diamond after about 2 years [i confess, the 3/4 day cruises helped, as did one extra point for a JS and another for a 2 week TA].

 

Tried Celebrity once -- hugely underwhelmed. Itinerary and price being equal, would still choose Royal. Not averse to trying other lines and may if the price and itinerary are attractive. Happy with Royal but not married to them.

[HMH G]

Very first cruise booked was Carnival Dream. This trip was cancelled, and we ended up re-booking 6 months later on RCCL Allure of the Seas. Heh, guess we like "big and new". 2nd cruise is set for Carnival Triumph, but this is only because we discovered that we had a ton of cruise credit leftover from the original booking and were looking for an inexpensive quick getaway.

[mommabean]

I only have a sample size of 2 Florida sailings on Monarch, but they were both much less expensive than I ever saw in LA. And the bars weren't as crowded either. Just sayin' (and still missing her).

 

 

 

Yes, and the decision to saturate Europe and Australia isn't quite working out at the moment.... At least Princess is seeing an opportunity on the Left Coast, and will dip their toes into the short cruise market from LA starting next fall. We will be aboard!:D More than one Hotel Director said that Monarch made her revenue goals and then some sailing out of LA, but I have no way of knowing whether that's true. I have no trouble believing that Mariner was unprofitable - it didn't help to have her and Radiance sailing the MR - we were able to do 9-10 nights on RD using the same number of vacation days as 7 nights on Mariner. Oh, well, it is what it is, and I remain hopeful that the market perception will change some day.

 

To answer the original question, our first commercial cruise (DH had plenty of cruises on Navy ships) was on RCI, on the Nordic Empress, in 1995. Then we went 7 years and tried the Star Princess. Bounced back & forth between Princess and RCI before we decided that RCI suited us a scooch better. When Monarch departed LA, we started sailing on Carnival for the short cruises, but that will end once Princess is here - it's a fine way to spend a long weekend, but not nearly as pleasurable for us.

 

I just remember going to San Diego for Radiance cruises quite a few times since junior suites were regularly in the $1000 range. And that was for 9 and 10 night cruises. That and the bargain, less than $200 round trip tickets on southwest airlines from Orlando made those Mexican Riviera cruises extra desirable by us. We did do a 4 and 5 night B2B since those were rotated in. That was when I booked my first ultra cheap suite guarantee and was assigned a GS.

 

We also did 1 cheap 1 week Mariner cruise out of Los Angeles but that won't happen again. At least not likely at any price. If they put a Radiance class ship in L A we might consider it but we hated that embarkation port. We're always looking for a good excuse to go to San Diego though :), in spite of the regular trips to the naughty room due to the over zealous baggage screening in that port. :eek:

 

This year on Monarch out of Port Canaveral the hotel director told us it's the number 1 ship in revenue. I never saw so many people, so many jammed bars and a diamond event with such horrible crowded service. I find most of those cruises to be overpriced for the length of time. We just gave it a try because of the great military rate that popped up briefly. But it won't happen again at any price. We just didn't enjoy the overcrowded conditions along with the claustrophobic size rooms.

 

I would pay more to go to San Diego for a cruise along with the now higher airfare. I loved and miss the Mexican Riviera. I'd book it tomorrow if they announced a reasonable ship there. Not majesty, but I don't anticipate that will happen.

 

Any other RCI ship might do - not Majesty. I did a Carnival MR cruise last year.

 

Gina

[raphune74]

Our first cruise was with Royal (Freedom/Allure). After having such a great time on both, we're now Loyal to Royal, too "scared" to "defect" to another cruise line (with all due respect to them) :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freedom - April, 2011

Allure B2B - May 7-13; May 13-20, 2012

[acruisingcouple]

First cruise was on RCCL Sovereign of the Seas. Have since done NCL and a few Carnival but returning back to RCCL in January to sail on the Oasis of the Seas. Can't wait!

[LisaGoeke]

My very first cruise was on the Carnival when I was ten years old in 1977. We then sailed Carnival a lot, NCL, Sitmar, probably others that I can't remember, then we finally sailed on the Song of America in 1983. Ever since then my parents pretty much kept with RCCL as that was the line they preferred. Since getting married I have also cruised Disney a few times but our all time favorite is Royal Caribbean!

[RickEk]

I happened to see this thread on the Boards page and thought I'd chime in. My first cruise was on Princess and every cruise since... Would I try another cruise line? Sure... but I'm on an inexorable march to Elite status on Princess. Two more cruises and I'm there and then maybe I'll try another line... :)

[klingoncruiser]

Sorry, I don't think your idea is right. Our first two cruise were on Princess. However once we tried RCL, we found a very happy place. We have been on Carnivore, X, Princess, NCL as well, but still like RCL. However... access to a year round local cruise has been cut back and prices on the newer ships are getting out of hand for a teacher who is mostly stuck on "double priced" cruises on holidays. I seems it is good to shop around, and find one or two cruise lines that seem to fit the individual and hope those lined don't change to the point they run you off. (Sadly, I think many of the cruise lines are doing just that.... :mad: )

[mechcc]

First cruise was on Royal (4 cruises and next one booked) and is our favorite line. But we have sailed Carnival (5 cruises) and HAL (3 cruises) and not opposed to trying Celebrity, Princess, and others. A big plus for us is that Carnival sails year round out of Galveston, is usually the line chosen for the people we hang with, and they have chocolate melting cake. We sail HAL when we want a quiet, low-key cruise. RCL is the middle of the road to the differences between Carnival and HAL, love their loyalty program, have the most beautiful and innovative ships, and has the best overall service. All 3 lines have good points and bad but we like a variety of on-board experiences, so very doubtful we will be totally loyal to one line ever. Unless of course RCL moves a ship to Galveston year around and the new menu lives up to the expectations.

[Mom.to.2]

I don't fit your theory either. Our 1st cruise was NCL, back in 2001. Followed by another NCL, then Carnival, then another NCL. I had had it with NCL's poor service and rude cruise mates at that point when I switched to RCL.

 

We LOVED RCL and swore we'd never look back. 3 RCL cruises later, I'm booked on NCL again for 2013 :eek:. The things is, RCL really screwed up with their itineraries for 2013 IMHO. In recent years, they've done caribbean itineraries out of NJ over school break, but in 2013 they're doing Bermuda. I don't want to go to Bermuda in February or April for 5 days, it's too cold and too short! Basically, RCL's itineraries are forcing me to book with NCL for 2013. (Do you hear that RCL??!!!!) I'm crossing my fingers, putting on a good attitude, and giving NCL a second chance, hoping our upcoming GEM cruise will be a positive experience. Doing my research on the NCL boards and trying to psych myself up. Honestly, my heart isn't in it. I <3 RCL.

[swcruise]

First cruise was on RCI on 2003, and this day next month we will be in St Petersburg Russia on our 7th cruise all with RCI !! We like the itineraries, the ships, the staff and most of the RCI product, food being the one thing I would like to see being changed. From reading on here earlier in the week I believe that RCI are looking to revamp the MDR menus, so hopefully we will se some improvement there.

 

I would be open as well to other cruise lines, but when I look at others the RCI pricepoint seem to work best for us. Next year will be keeping a lookout as there has been some highly comepetitive deals on offer for summer 2012 in Europe...

[uksimonusa]

My first cruise was Sovereign of the Seas, in May 2001, my wife had previously taken a Carnival Cruise and that was the line we looked at initially, the problem there was that their 3 days out of PC were Thursday Thru Sunday, while Sovereign was Friday thru Monday, not so much time out of school for our daughter, so we chose Sovereign.

 

My wife said that cruise was a lot better than her previous Carnival Cruise, the ship was nicer and the service better, I think it was the company but that's just me;), so we stayed with RCI, now we have such a good time on RCI that we are hesitant to try anything else.

[PIGSKIN]

We have theory that people tend to stick with the first cruiseline they experience. We took our first cruise in 1996 and it was with RCCL. Since then we have taken 27 of our 43 cruises with RCCL. We think that RCCL is literally making people miss the boat when they have no ship deployed year round on the West Coast when it could be the first cruise that someone experiences and then they would be very loyal to RCCL. We think that RCCL us trading short term profits in Europe for long term market share in the US and giving that first cruise experience to Carnival, Princess and HAL. What are your opinions?

 

My 1st cruise was carnival, then rccl cause someone we met on carnival got a job on rccl. He was head of all the video stuff on rccl---he met his wife who was the shore excursion manager. My friends on I were hooked---free shore excursions... I then did some holland America cruises to Alaska. I also did about

8 princess cruises and loved them. Did the rap to Alaska last year so now I am diamond and ready for the allure this December. I have a feeling that the allure is gona spoil me--- I like ll the gadgets.

[temple1]

We have cruised exclusively with RCCL. When planning our first cruise I was reading all the cruise travel books and chose Royal. For us we were so turned off by the Fun Ship advertising for Carnival we never really considered them.

 

I had the impression of an amusement park vacation (perhaps my aversion to Oasis & Allure) with Carnival and a travel vacation with Royal. Go figure the impressions a person gets about products. :confused:

 

Our first, like many on here, was on Sovereign of the Seas and she was beautiful, although in 2004 she was the senior lady of the fleet.

[Georgiagolfer]

Sorry, I don't think your idea is right. Our first two cruise were on Princess. However once we tried RCL, we found a very happy place. We have been on Carnivore, X, Princess, NCL as well, but still like RCL. However... access to a year round local cruise has been cut back and prices on the newer ships are getting out of hand for a teacher who is mostly stuck on "double priced" cruises on holidays. I seems it is good to shop around, and find one or two cruise lines that seem to fit the individual and hope those lined don't change to the point they run you off. (Sadly, I think many of the cruise lines are doing just that.... :mad: )

 

As I previously posted, DW and I are Platinum on RCI and CCL, and have cruised only these 2 lines. Never sailed Carnivore, unless you are referring to Carnival.:confused:

 

Never mind.:cool:

[oneputt18]

Our first cruise was on the Nordic Empress and have only sailed on Royal since.

[BettyPC]

We went twice on Carnival - had a great time. Took our first RC cruise in March - 4 couples (the ones organizing it picked Royal). We really enjoyed our cruise on Adventure of the Seas - so we booked another on board.

[chotton]

first cruise was with Sitmar in 1986 when I was in 7th grade. Royal Caribbean was my second on Song of America in 1988.

 

My wife and I now do Celebrity with no kids and RCI when we bring the kids.

[missm54]

Our first cruise was on RCCL and 16 cruises later we have our next 2 cruises on Royal. Found our niche with princess and a few others, but happy to give them another try.

[Steppy08]

As you can see I don't fit into the "one cruise line" theory. That, and our first cruise line is defunct (Dolphin. Still the best food/service of any ship I've been on since).

 

To be honest, I think they are all pretty much the same. Some things are better on RCI, some better on Carnival, some better on NCL. But essentially the same. We have yet to try Celebrity and Princess... it's on our to-do list.

[MIZZ_K]

Yes!

[rubrrick]

First cruise was on the QE2, first class. All downhill after that. ;)

 

A great statement, as your first cruise was on an Ocean Liner, and subsuquence to that..........cruise ships!

 

How do you beat the service of First Class passage on an Ocean Liner! That had to be class service all of the way!:)

 

Rick

[kccrzr]

Yes, Rhapsody to Alaska. We enjoyed the cruise so much, we haven't stopped since. Have tried other lines and even a river cruise but always come back to RCI