Just back from our first Royal Caribbean cruise

[Bocadude85]

We just got back today from our first RCCL cruise and I can say for sure that it will be our last. The service and food left much to be desired. I am sticking with NCL from here on out.

[terrydtx]

My first RCI cruise was on the Rhapsody of the Seas back in 2002 and it was also my last. The ship was pitiful then can only imagine what she is like 11 years later. Sorry you had a similar experience.

[camz]

Wow! I am surprised to hear that RCC differs so much from NCL. Although I am a NCL fan, I have a cousin who swears by RCC. I was always under the impression that the two lines were comparable. Thanks for posting your experience.

[CruiseRansier]

Our only RCCl cruises were free. Our first cruise was years ago and we "won" on a time share deal. Although we had a good time it was just ok.

Started cruising on NCL we love the line, food, service and freestyle. Just came back from another "free" cruise on RCCL and again was not impressed. Would never book one. Can't wait for our Upcoming NCL cruise on the Dawn!

[sdmike]

We've had great experiences on our RCCL cruises, and they are very similar to NCL. I'm not sure what the OP experienced to turn them off, but other than our preference for freestyle on NCL there's nothing that would keep us from sailing RCCL again

[Cruising4]

Which ships were you comparing?

 

We've enjoyed all our cruises on NCL, RCCL, CCL and Disney. All are very different ships with different ports leading to different experiences.

 

Thinking of Oasis/Allure or Epic for our next cruise.

[poolreader]

PLEASE tell me how to get free cruises on RCCL. I have loved every cruise with them. I gladly pay for their cruises as the food is very good, but to be able to sail free would be fantastic. The only free cruises I have heard about for going to time shares were on some small cruise line out of Florida.

I did an NCL and would ONLY do it again if it was free, so I would have enough money to buy my meals like you have to do on NCL. The free food on NCL in the dining room was inedible, probably so they can get you to pay extra to get something edible. My DH would not pay for the specialty restaurants and although he did not like the food he ate it, but he thinks Kraft Mac and Cheese tastes good. I have heard that the food is very good in the specialty restaurants on NCL and would not mind trying the line again if I become wealthy. Maybe instead of "free styling" they should call it "expensive styling"

[Cruzface]

We have been on the Grandeur of the Seas and the Liberty of the Seas as well as many Carnival cruises. I already preferred Carnival over RCCL based upon just food and entertainment. NCL blows both of them away. I found RCCL's MDR food to be the worst. If you read my review of the LOS below, we had a great time and it is a beautiful ship, but I would really just eat at the buffet if I cruised RCCL again.

[Cruzface]

PLEASE tell me how to get free cruises on RCCL. I have loved every cruise with them. I gladly pay for their cruises as the food is very good, but to be able to sail free would be fantastic. The only free cruises I have heard about for going to time shares were on some small cruise line out of Florida.

I did an NCL and would ONLY do it again if it was free, so I would have enough money to buy my meals like you have to do on NCL. The free food on NCL in the dining room was inedible, probably so they can get you to pay extra to get something edible. My DH would not pay for the specialty restaurants and although he did not like the food he ate it, but he thinks Kraft Mac and Cheese tastes good. I have heard that the food is very good in the specialty restaurants on NCL and would not mind trying the line again if I become wealthy. Maybe instead of "free styling" they should call it "expensive styling"

 

This is why food is so subjective. I found just the opposite. I rarely remember cruise ship meals because in the past the food was always OK. I remember at least 2 meals in the MDR of the LOS that were just awful. The "steak" they slopped out on the last night of our cruise was literally inedible.

 

On the Epic, however, I was impressed every night in the MDR with the quality of the food. It had the best buffet of any ship I have been on and the specialty restaurants are excellent.

 

This is why there is room for three mass market lines athat are similar in price.

[mom2tcdx2]

I don't even look at comments about food when it comes to reading reviews.

 

Though personally I have found NCL to be my least favorite in terms of the meals I ate. In all the cruises I have done NCL absolutely nothing memorable about either sailing that I remember in terms of food. Only good thing I remember was Cagney's for breakfast and they were the only highlight of the Star cruise. No suite on the Pearl so no Cagney's.

 

The Teppanyaki I remember as being good and we ate more often in the Tex Mex when it was on the Pearl because the dining room menu's lacked any appeal as to the food being offered (we dined in the Tex Mex 3 times).

[Aquahound]

I don't even look at comments about food when it comes to reading reviews.

 

Agreed. It's probably the most subjective topic of cruise reviews, not to mention one of the most likely to change from cruise to cruise on specific ships. I have found MDR quality to be pretty even across the cruise lines and in truth, I can only remember one cruise where I thought the MDR food was terrible. That was on the Sky.

[kikki21]

Don't think I have ever had a bad meal on a cruise ship either in the buffet, MDR or speciality restaurant! :)

 

Those kitchens are soooooo clean, had a behind the scenes tour on the Splendour of the Seas!

 

I did think the food on Celebrity was a cut above the rest in the MDR and thought the same about the Epic, also enjoyed the Brazilian meat fest on board, the Chinese was also good and loved Le Bistro!

[johnsak123]

Although I prefer NCL my first cruising experience was with RCL and it was rather good

I just didnt like the communal dining if you were trying to eat alone

[Rochesterboatingdotcom]

We just took our first RCI cruise in 7 years on Royal's oldest ship, the Monarch. We actually enjoyed the dining room expirience after 4 years of NCL freestyle. The service was excellent, and the wait staff all called us by name after the first night. I thought the food was better than the NCL dining room, but as we all know, that is subjective. A couple observations - no 2-1 or drink specials or even my favorite "buy 5, get 6" beers. As well, the Pool staff pushes drinks constantly. And finally, their casino was AWFUL! We love the NCL casino expirience and it does put RCI to shame.

 

Other than that, as most have mentioned, the lines are very similar in most aspects. Would love to try one of RCI's mega-ships someday..

[readytogo2]

I am looking forward to my first NCL cruise on the Gem. I am sure we will enjoy it as much as we have on the other cruise lines. Out of the dozen cruise I have been on, I would never say the food was terrible. Of course some meal were better than others. I also would base a whole Cruise line with one cruise. I have cruised with Princess 6 times and only one cruise I would say the food didn't wow me but I would never say the food was inedible. If I didn't like something, I would ask for something else. To me, it's not the food so much as it is the temperature of the food that displeases me, which happens on so many cruises, so if I find it not hot enough, I just ask them to take it back and bring me a hot meal.

 

As far as Service, I find good and bad on every cruise. Sure, I've had great cruises with some being better than others, but never a real bad one....nothing that would want me to stop cruising with that line. Celebrity was my first cruise line, it was good but not my best and the reason I never cruised with them again is mostly because the fares are too high for my liking. Maybe I'm lucky, but I have enjoyed every cruise I have been on and I consider myself lucky I could afford to take as many as I have.

[mpk218]

I think they are fairly similar , But RCC is not my cup o tea. We too had a disapointing expierence .

As far as food goes , when one or two people out of thousands on a cruise claim the food to be inedible what does that say about those few.

I know what it tells me ;)

[camz]

Maybe instead of "free styling" they should call it "expensive styling"

 

Seriously, sorry but that is just crazy. :eek:

[terrydtx]

We have been on most of the mass marketed cruise lines for at least one cruise and the only two I would never do again are CCL and RCCL as they are so far the only big disappointments overall. I will say I found the food on all cruise lines to be somewhat disappointing and not living up to expectations so food is not our main criteria for judging cruise lines and ships.

[Ilikebigboats]

OP, sorry the food and service was not satisfactory. I hope you still had a great time. :)

I also think the RCL food and service is no where near as good as NCL.

The funny thing is after 2 cruises with NCL I was ready to try another line.

It all comes down to PRICE!! RCL and Celebrity are almost double the price for the same Mediterranean cruise. Why anyone would pay higher prices for the same or even lower standards is beyond me.:confused:

[poolreader]

Seriously, sorry but that is just crazy. :eek:

 

How dare you call someone crazy for making a joke. I am allowed to give my opinion of my experience on a cruise ship on a Cruise Critic Board. NCL has many more for pay restaurants than any other line I have been on in my 29+ cruises. I said I would willing to try the line again if I became wealthy enough to pay $40 a day extra for the two of us to eat in the specialty restaurants. For now I will sail Princess, RCCl, Celebrity, and Carnival where I find plenty of good food without having to pay an up charge. I guess you got rich being a Mental Health Professional, oh wait, NO they would never call someone crazy as it is not areal diagnosis.

[laurenpattycakes]

Ive done 4 RCCL cruises and 2 NCL cruises and I am now only a NCL cruiser! I love the crew, entertainment and freestyle aspect way better!

[terrydtx]

OP, sorry the food and service was not satisfactory. I hope you still had a great time. :)

I also think the RCL food and service is no where near as good as NCL.

The funny thing is after 2 cruises with NCL I was ready to try another line.

It all comes down to PRICE!! RCL and Celebrity are almost double the price for the same Mediterranean cruise. Why anyone would pay higher prices for the same or even lower standards is beyond me.:confused:

 

On our cruise next Dec from NOLA on the Jewel a BA Cat. balcony cabin on the 10th deck was $200pp less than the lowest balcony GTY on CCL and $500pp less than the lowest Balcony on RCCL from the same port doing almost the same itinerary. We can eat in the specialty restaurants every night and still be ahead of the other two in cost. Makes choosing NCL very easy:D

[Ilikebigboats]

How dare you call someone crazy for making a joke. I am allowed to give my opinion of my experience on a cruise ship on a Cruise Critic Board. NCL has many more for pay restaurants than any other line I have been on in my 29+ cruises. I said I would willing to try the line again if I became wealthy enough to pay $40 a day extra for the two of us to eat in the specialty restaurants. For now I will sail Princess, RCCl, Celebrity, and Carnival where I find plenty of good food without having to pay an up charge. I guess you got rich being a Mental Health Professional, oh wait, NO they would never call someone crazy as it is not areal diagnosis.

 

Whoa there, I think the poster jokingly said your statement was crazy, not that You were crazy.:D

I see your point on the expense of specialty restaurants, but my cruise fare is so much lower that the other lines I can afford Cagney's every night!

[JYeagersGrl]

We did RCCL over thanksgiving for the first time and agree we are in no rush to run back. They were the most expensive cruise we've done to date and although the service from the staff was superior of all cruises the food was terrible. Same stuff everyday for breakfast and lunch and NOTHING that appealed to kids who are picky eaters. We've been debating between Carnival (as that has been our favorite overall for cruises just with my husband and I) and Norwegian and I think we are going to do another Norwegian in December. The kids club was outstanding when we sailed the Gem we couldn't pay our kids to leave (RCCL not once did they ask to go back after the first day).

[terrydtx]

We have looked at prices on the Allure and Oasis of The Seas on RCL from FTLL and for a 7 night cruise they are well over $1500pp for a Balcony cabin with a view of the ocean. They have atrium view balcony cabins much less but who wants to look out at people walking and eating from their balcony :eek: Sure they have an ice rink but not what I want to do in the winter in the Caribbean. Even my TA says the new RCL ships are way over rated and way to expensive.