What am I missing?

[Fat Paul]

My first cruise was on the Mariner and I I immediately fell in love with cruising. I have seen no reason to cruise with anyone other than RCI. We have always sailed in at least a junior suite. In five years of cruising we made Diamond level. With Diamond level came some nice benefits however...... I have recently started to have a wandering eye. Celebrity has Aqua class (some cool benefits), Norwegian has butler service with certain cabin categories and Crystal looks amazing (much higher price). Since we already have Diamond level with RCI Now might be a good time to look at other cruise lines, other Itineraries. Please tell me your experience sailing different cruise lines.

[cb at sea]

ALL of the different cruiselines are fine....you've gotten the "perks" from sailing one particular line.....it won't hurt you to try another!

 

All have pluses and minuses...in truth, they are more similar than different! Decor, menus..that's about it, as far as differences go!

[cruisnpat]

You should go ahead and try some other cruise lines and then come back to RC. Enjoy what ever cruise you decide to take.

[Tucker in Texas]

My first cruise was on the Mariner and I I immediately fell in love with cruising. I have seen no reason to cruise with anyone other than RCI. We have always sailed in at least a junior suite. In five years of cruising we made Diamond level. With Diamond level came some nice benefits however...... I have recently started to have a wandering eye. Celebrity has Aqua class (some cool benefits), Norwegian has butler service with certain cabin categories and Crystal looks amazing (much higher price). Since we already have Diamond level with RCI Now might be a good time to look at other cruise lines, other Itineraries. Please tell me your experience sailing different cruise lines.

 

 

If you are Diamond on RCI, you will be Elite on Celebrity so you might want to look into that line. Celebrity has some pretty good perks for Elite. I think over all their line is a small notch better than Royal.

 

NCL can be "dicey." I've had good cruises with them and some not so good. They seemed to nickle and dime more than the other lines but, lately, the other lines have caught up with them (lol). I haven't been on one of their ships for five years. Their prices are lower.

 

We've done Princess a couple of times and I liked them as much as Royal. HAL's ships are more "elegant" in my opinion but they do seem to have older passengers and pretty much closed down after the late show.

 

Carnival is Carnival. More party hearty passengers but I found things I liked about them better than Royal. I once made up a list of Carnival Magic vs. Royal Voyager Class. My like list for Carnival was longer than Royal believe it or not. However, some were pretty nit picky like butter not in foil wrappers and more fruit juice options for breakfast but others were definite plus like not having to pay grats up front for MTD, amenities in the bathroom, and being able to bring on wine (before Royal let you do it).

 

Tucker in Texas

[tserface]

You'll get to immediately be Elite level on Celebrity and their benefits are even better. We love both Celebrity and RCI and cruise on either. Some people really like the Blu restaurant that comes with Aqua class, but I've never tried it since we think the Celebrity MDR is great and we don't do enough spa stuff to make it worth it. Celebrity = highly recommended as a try something different alternative!

 

Tom

 

 

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[RoyalDiamond]

After attaining Diamond Plus status on RCCL, we have no intention of straying. Why would we go to another line, and get virtually nothing for our loyalty? We've cruised Celebrity, which is RCCL-owned...but we are happy with RCCL...so why change? The perks are worth it for us....

[goodycruising]

People ask us what cruise lines we have sailed with and when we say just RCI they look a bit funny. We know what we enjoy and we have enjoyed the benefits of diamond now. We are going over to celebrity as we can have the elite reciprocal benefits, but otherwise, we only have limited time for holidays and when we find something we like we stick to it.

[time4u2go]

ALL of the different cruiselines are fine....you've gotten the "perks" from sailing one particular line.....it won't hurt you to try another!

 

All have pluses and minuses...in truth, they are more similar than different! Decor, menus..that's about it, as far as differences go!

 

Well said.

[Fat Paul]

We have a cruise booked on the Navigator in June and plan to enjoy it. I cannot help however but wonder what other cruise lines are like. When we started cruising our daughter was a teenager and still traveling with us. Royal Caribbean was a great fit. Now that it's just my wife and I, I'm thinking that a more luxurious and less kid oriented experience might be in order. I still enjoy every day on RCI but perhaps something without cartoon characters might be a better fit.

[ehfl]

It's definitely a good idea to try other cruise lines. Each has their own pros and cons, and you'll get to experience some different ships, venues, shows, etc. if you mix it up a little.

[Fat Paul]

Thank you all for the good advice. That's what I love about cruise critic, there's always a lot of wisdom.

[bonnyweed]

I tend to shop for cruises with pricing being an important consideration. If the price were the same, I would book a Celebrity cruise over RCI. Celebrity does seem somewhat more upscale including food and feels a bit more pampering.

I soured on NCL several years ago. It tries to be too many things and I can't figure out who their target population is.

I consider Princess and RCI to be equivalent.

I agree that Holland American can be an older crowd, but I consider them to be equivalent to Celebrity.

I never have done the super premium lines.

[jerseygirl74]

If you are Diamond on RCI, you will be Elite on Celebrity so you might want to look into that line. Celebrity has some pretty good perks for Elite. I think over all their line is a small notch better than Royal.

 

 

 

NCL can be "dicey." I've had good cruises with them and some not so good. They seemed to nickle and dime more than the other lines but, lately, the other lines have caught up with them (lol). I haven't been on one of their ships for five years. Their prices are lower.

 

 

 

We've done Princess a couple of times and I liked them as much as Royal. HAL's ships are more "elegant" in my opinion but they do seem to have older passengers and pretty much closed down after the late show.

 

 

 

Carnival is Carnival. More party hearty passengers but I found things I liked about them better than Royal. I once made up a list of Carnival Magic vs. Royal Voyager Class. My like list for Carnival was longer than Royal believe it or not. However, some were pretty nit picky like butter not in foil wrappers and more fruit juice options for breakfast but others were definite plus like not having to pay grats up front for MTD, amenities in the bathroom, and being able to bring on wine (before Royal let you do it).

 

 

 

Tucker in Texas

 

 

We are Diamond so we gave Celebrity a try since we were Elite. Service was horrible, ship was beautiful, food was good. The captain playing volleyball in the pool didn't give me a warm, fuzzy feeling!

 

 

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[Mrdell]

I soured on NCL several years ago. It tries to be too many things and I can't figure out who their target population is.

 

I have to agree...... We have been very happy with NCL but our last cruise on the Gem was not good at all. The service was terrible and the food was average at best. We are going to try RCI now. It seems there are many happy people on these boards.

[JasonV1]

I view the perks as having a specific value. When I look at other lines I take that into account when comparing prices/routes/etc.

 

I got a killer deal on my summer NCL Getaway cruise during a sale last month and I cancelled my (second) cruise on the Oasis as a result. Much better room (Haven suite), plus drink and speciality dining packages. I still feel Royal has the best loyalty program among the mass market lines, but that doesn't stop me from grabbing a really good deal elsewhere (and no, it isn't always about cost).

[molsonschooner]

We are Diamond so we gave Celebrity a try since we were Elite. Service was horrible, ship was beautiful, food was good. The captain playing volleyball in the pool didn't give me a warm, fuzzy feeling!

 

 

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What is the issue with the captain playing volleyball?

[tserface]

What is the issue with the captain playing volleyball?

 

 

When we were on the Silhouette the captain ate at the buffet several times. We thought it was very cool. He also did some special talks and showed up at some parties. He has a few people working for him that can make sure the ship is going the right direction!

 

Tom

 

 

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