Loyal RCI cruises, question for you.

[pinkie1]

For those that are now loyal RCI cruises, what made you decide to stick with RCI vs. another line? What is it about RCI that you like vs. other lines?

[Ourusualbeach]

It was our first cruise. We enjoyed it and all the others that we have been on. Yes there have been a few hiccups along the way but nothing significant enough to make us want to try something else. Still have a few more classes of ships to try out and many new itineraries to explore.

[parrotfeathers]

I prefer 4 or 5 night cruises. RCL seems to fit me also even though I don't have kids. Plus I like the restrictive smoking policy.

[Clarea]

We have always received excellent service on our Royal cruises.

[MattInFLL]

Having tried a number of cruise lines, Royal just has the right mix for me. Not too down market and not too stuffy, with generally excellent service, plus a worthwhile loyalty program

[pinkie1]

I guess my question should be: what made you stick with RCI?

 

I love RCI but because of my location they haven't placed any of their ships near me without having to buy plane tickets too. I love hopping on a short 4 night getaway and the only cruise line doing that around here is Carnival. I don't dislike Carnival but I tend to have more fun on RCI because of all the different activities available.

 

I wanted to get some feedback on the different preferences of RCI vs other lines.

 

Would you agree that Princess, Carnival and Royal are all pretty much the same? Overall? If not, why not.

[Ashland]

I guess my question should be: what made you stick with RCI?

 

I love RCI but because of my location they haven't placed any of their ships near me without having to buy plane tickets too. I love hopping on a short 4 night getaway and the only cruise line doing that around here is Carnival. I don't dislike Carnival but I tend to have more fun on RCI because of all the different activities available.

 

I wanted to get some feedback on the different preferences of RCI vs other lines.

 

Would you agree that Princess, Carnival and Royal are all pretty much the same? Overall? If not, why not.

I am a west coaster too and do miss not having an RCI ship...I've cruised for many years with RCI. I actually tried to do a PCL cruise out of San Pedro but something was missing..nothing I could put my finger on, but basically it was that familiar feeling I have when boarding an RCI ship and the level of service and the perks I have with the C&A.

 

So even though I have to figure in air flights it's worth it to me. But am very excited to sail again next September on RCI when they make a quick return to our coast.

[rummenroman]

I'm of the opinion of "the grass isn't always greener on the other side"

 

We have always enjoyed our Royal cruises. Sure we don't know what we may be missing on other lines, but we know what to expect on Royal.

[scottrn7]

We are loyal to RCI because of thier excellent service that is consistant as well at the variety of destinations offered. We always feel like we are coming back home when we get on board. After setting out to reach diamond we now look forward to getting to the next level. RCI is also a progressive in the cruise industry coming out with more "WOW" each year and we can't help but want to experience what we have not been to yet. So far we have been on every class except for Radiance, Freedom and Quantum class ships. We will have Radiance class cruised in February 2015 and Freedom class in February of 2016 with only Quantum to go after that. It just keeps getting better.

 

For those that are now loyal RCI cruises, what made you decide to stick with RCI vs. another line? What is it about RCI that you like vs. other lines?

[shippmates]

We stick with RCL for the great service and we can drive to the port so no airfares to add in.

[cruisegirl1]

When we started cruising 30 years ago the choice for (young) families seemed to be Carnival or RCCL. (I don't recall that Disney had a ship then). We did a few of each and liked RCCL much better. Back then, we only compared the two lines, so we ended up sailing RCCL. I think the children's program back then ( and it isn't anything like what it is today) keep us from trying other lines. As children grew and then we became empty nesters we continued to sail RCCL with a few Celebrity sprinkled in. We like the RCCL/Celebrity product and have a comfortable feel on the ships.

 

Overall we like the service and entertainment on both lines . The food is variable. The past few years, we seem to enjoy the Celebrity experience a bit better than the RCCL experiences but continue to sail both lines.

 

 

M

[TeeRick]

The constant stream of new innovations and new ships- both on Royal and Celebrity. The service is consistently very good across the fleet.

[Ocean Boy]

We really like RCI's ships. You can have a relaxing day or be as active as you like all on one ship by visiting the sports deck or avoiding it depending on your mood. The service meets all of our needs. The ships are not overly formal. We feel at home aboard an RCI ship. And RCI has never really given us a reason to look elsewhere even if there are little issues from time to time along the way.

 

With our limited vacation time I would much rather cruise on a line that I know I am going to enjoy rather than risk having a subpar experience.

[BND]

Our original reason for cruising RCI was the ride of the ships. Seriously, the length to width ratio makes a difference for me as the wider a ship is to the length, the better the ride, which is important to us going out of the NE. Once we found out how well the ships rode, we just kept going back. Now that we're D+, we'll continue with RCI, but will probably try other lines. I hate the word loyal in reference to a company or inanimate object so I never use it in terms RCI. I know RCI cruisers who are appalled at the thought of someone cruising Carnival, but we are again, with friends and honestly we really enjoyed our cruises with them in the past.

Edited November 21, 2014 by BND

[pennielz]

We started cruising on RCI. After several cruises, we got drawn to Carnival when we started to take the kids with us because their pricing was better but, the service, the food, the entertainment, and the feel of the ships never matched RCI. We came back to RCI a year ago and are very loyal to Royal!! The service is always excellent. We love the RCI crews! The entertainment is better, along with the food. Mostly, we feel at home on a RCI ship, no matter which one it is?

 

Loyal to Royal! :p

[NovCruisin]

Having tried a number of cruise lines, Royal just has the right mix for me. Not too down market and not too stuffy, with generally excellent service, plus a worthwhile loyalty program

 

This! Carnival was too "down market" and Celebrity was too stuffy. RC has just the right mix of fun...but not too much "spring break in Mexico" fun :p

[bigque]

We started with Royal on advice from people we talked to and did our first cruise on Sovereign of the Seas and loved it! Thus far we have not had any big complaints as many of the big complaints you read in this forum. We are not staying with them to build up status in C&A, but just staying with them because we are of the mind set that it is not broke so we don't need to fix it by trying something else. We cruise a different itenerary and diffirent ship each time we cruise, so we have not run out of iteneraries and ships yet, so we will keep on with Royal until that happens or we start having a lot of big time complaints which I don't see happening! :cool:

Edited November 21, 2014 by bigque

[Big_G]

I don't know how loyal I am but we do lean toward Royal. I think the ship designs, innovation, and entertainment have been the biggest draw. In our experience, Royal and Princess were a step up from Carnival but Princess ship designs were a little boring. We also think Celebrity is a step up from Royal and Princess in service and elegance. Lately Royal and Celebrity have been a good mix of the two for us.

[EmpressofPurple]

I stayed cruising regularly with Royal because I made friends with people who loved the RCI C&A loyalty program and could cruise often enough, or in suites, to move up levels quickly. (And interestingly, the cc roll calls and m&ms on other cruise lines could be brutal or boring... although I've since experienced some tough ones on rci, too...) I booked rci cruises to sail with my friends... and suddenly found myself diamond, and now diamond plus!

 

While there were features of traditional cruising that I miss, and have seen fall by the wayside on rci over the years, I hear from friends who cruise the other lines I used to enjoy that they have suffered similar cutbacks, too. (Yeah, I'm one of those crazy people who miss chocolates on the pillow, midnight buffets, baked Alaska parade, horse racing (though I never participated), free or affordable fitness classes onboard, reasonably priced photos, shore excursions and spa services... New movies offered both in the theatre and on your tv without outrageous fees... no specialty dining so you could be sure your traditional set-time dining companions would always be there at dinner -hey, if you meet new people elsewhere, you could always meet for lunch!-, not having to book times for dining or shows, large dinner tables to meet many new people... CDs who focused on getting cruisers to actually meet and mingle with ice breaker activities rather than just focusing on their own humor, singing, dancing or other entertainment talents...etc. While singing waiters got tiresome after multiple cruises, I did consider it a special feature of cruising and always enjoyed sharing it with new cruisers. Glad we can still wave our bookings to celebrate the parade of kitchen and wait staff).

 

From my recollection, rci staff in general (stateroom attendants, waiters, guest services, CD staff, even cleaning personnel) is warmer and more friendly than princess (carnival is too long ago for me to remember, though I think they were friendly too) -princess service was good, just a bit more formal than personal. Seafood used to be better on princess, meat on rci... though I have had some great seafood on rci too... I loved that princess ships have 4 pools and Muts, although they've added poolside movies to newer rci ships too, and in refurbs... the range of active activities on rci can't be beat, from their sports court to ice skating, mini golf, pool tables, rock walls (though I've never done that!)... to flow riders and zip lines (did both of those!!) on some ships, plus dance classes, walk a mile, a great gym, jogging tracks, etc. Many have mentioned the exceptional entertainment on rci, especially on the larger ships.

 

I wish they would bring back the ship shape/vitality programs where you "earned" chits for participating in fitness classes, which you could "spend" on fitness great like tshirts, towels, visors, backpacks, etc. --they could even link it to the new cards or wristbands to track personal gym equipment use, or ordering vitality items off the menu, as well as class and health lecture attendance! Participating in those programs started me on a lifelong, life changing fitness lifestyle.

 

Having reached higher c&a levels, I enjoy the diamond balcony discount (where I used to cruise in lower cabin levels, this definitely encourages me to upgrade), free happy hour (even as a non drinker, I'll have a free soda and keep my friends company, and I love socializing with other highly-traveled cruisers), priority boarding, welcome back events, etc. I'm looking forward to a meal with an officer, special ship tours and more... which used to be available to all and sundry, then were pulled and made into special loyalty perks.

 

I haven't been on any newly refurbed rci ships, but I'm concerned about what I read: cutting back on public spaces by adding even more cabins... changing the Viking crown lounge, a favorite spot, from a public space to private venues (pay restaurants, suite lounge) and even eliminating this unique feature from the newest ships... adding ever-more for-pay options, thus reducing the chance of seeing your same dining companions... and worse still, actually removing the traditional dining option altogether (yeesh, it's often full months before sailing, clearly people like it... Hopefully not just because they don't get billed their tips before boarding... speaking of which, I think EVERYONE should only be billed a daily service charge once onboard, NOT in advance of the cruise unless they CHOOSE to prepay. That includes for pre booked shore excursions, spa treatments and specialty dining as well)... removing the libraries (!!! Another favorite space)... instituting ever more favored treatment for suite guests at the expense and exclusion of other cruisers (to me, if you pay for a suite, you get a beautiful, spacious cabin, and all the same great amenities as everyone else... you shouldn't get special treatment everywhere from the theatre to the pool deck to the cabanas to a private lounge, etc. etc.)

 

Well, that's enough from me. For someone who has reached d+ status, it seems like I'm complaining more than cheerleading... but I guess if you cruise that much with one line you get used to things a certain way, and change is tough. I've tried mtd a couple of times and really disliked it, just not a "cruise" feeling at all. I live in NYC my whole life; I can do "dynamic dining" every night of the week, eating with only people I already know, at practically the same prices I would have to pay on board for specialty dining, at better, more authentic restaurants where they can actually cook with open flames! I like cruising because it's DIFFERENT than my day to day life, I get to meet new people, have organized activities... and oh yeah, travel to exotic ports of call!!

 

(Speaking of which, I was thrilled on my last cruise to see substantive lectures offered on history, travel and technology, as well as the usual "port shopping" talks... that's something I missed from princess, I love that rci has instituted that.)

 

Anyway, I'm open minded, willing to try new things, booked three new rci cruises while I was on my last one (and already had two others booked)... Will probably book more while I'm on board those cruises, too, plus do some last minute bookings as well... I love cruising, always put in my two cents (or ten cents) worth on all these issues, but just enjoy most aspects of cruising...

 

...most of all that we have so many different vacations and personal experiences that intersect on a cruise. One person could enjoy beaches, sitting by the pool, spa treatments... another could enjoy shows, movies, live music, trivia games... another loves the sports court, sports bar, active shore excursions like 4x4 or horseback riding or kayaking or zip lining... another enjoys dance classes, dancing in the disco, the parades and cd activities... another enjoys bar hopping, fine dining or chowing down at the buffet...another loves the gym classes, art auctions, bingo games... and all of these people are on the same cruise together, and have the chance to meet each other and broaden their horizons!

 

Yeah, I loved cruising.

 

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[JasonV1]

The following applies to the mass market lines:

 

Royal ships have the Solarium (16 and older area with pool, hot tubs, deck chairs (both in shade and not), and some have bars). I absolutely hate when a ship has limited pools, which makes them so crowded as to be unusable at times.

 

NCL has a beach club which costs $, has limited passes (need to be on ship early), and has no pools. Carnival has an area that is for adults only, but it doesn't have the same amenities and is not that secluded.

 

The Royal loyalty program is nice, but admittedly it has declined. That being said, I still prefer it over the same programs on Carnival and NCL. The loyalty status matching with other RCI lines is rather nice too, and encourages me to try other lines in the family (like Celebrity next summer) rather than other lines in the CCL/NCL family.

 

Flexibility with beverage packages, which means I can buy a package but my wife isn't forced to. This is a big differentiator for me.

 

I personally have no complaints with the service or food on Royal, but I'm not that picky to begin with.

 

I think that Royal is doing a better job with ship design and innovation than NCL or Carnival as well. I had a great time on the NCL Getaway this past summer, but if I had to pick a big ship it would be Oasis class over the NCL Breakway. Oasis does a better job of crowd control (spreading people throughout the ship), "smoke" control (Oasis has Casino somewhat isolated, while on the Getaway class it surrounds a large multi-story atrium), and has a lot more pools/hot tubs/water features. Breakaway class wins for upscale suites (Haven), but based on the prices I'm seeing now I'll never be able to afford those again (man oh man what I deal I got this past summer... sigh).

 

For those that are now loyal RCI cruises, what made you decide to stick with RCI vs. another line? What is it about RCI that you like vs. other lines?

Edited November 21, 2014 by JasonV1

[The Sunset Glow]

Having tried a number of cruise lines, Royal just has the right mix for me. Not too down market and not too stuffy, with generally excellent service, plus a worthwhile loyalty program

 

^^This for me as well.

 

Plus it's a great line for our kids and is their preference as well - My big kid (AKA husband) is addicted to the FlowRider:p

 

And they have beautiful ships that have a great layout.

[George C]

I think RCCL is best line 'in general for entertainment, service and food, I am not totally loyal since I have done just 12 out of 57 cruises on them but next 3 are RCCL. Ships design ever since Sovereign of the seas are amazing, also love that they now sail out of Texas, wish they sailed out of NYC rather than NJ

[DragonOfTheSeas]

The first few years we cruised on Carnival, RCL and Celebrity. Actually Celebrity was our favorite--but, they sold the ship with a home port in Baltimore. We realized that by sailing 3 different lines we were not moving up the loyalty ladder very fast and we felt the RCL perks were pretty good. So, we decided to sail RCL until we got to diamond. We are there now--and 1/2 way to D+. If we see a Celebrity cruise we like now we can get their perks.

 

We do not cruise to move up the loyalty ladder. But, the benefits enhance our cruise experience and we keep coming back.

 

PS--Carnival is a more lively and less expensive cruise. For the right price we will book them. [you can see that in my signature] But, I do not think the product is as good.

[JimAOk1945]

We have cruised on Carnival, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. RC gives us a better over all experience. We also enjoy the perks that come with staying in a full suite.

 

Happy cruising. It's a great way to travel and explore the world!

[printingchick]

Great question! I bet there are a lot of different answers.

 

For me, RCL provides a more "grown up" style experience than does Carnival, without being SO sophisticated that the cheesy stuff I admit to totally loving is eliminated.

 

I started out on Carnival and enjoyed all my cruises on that line, but their older ships were pretty poorly maintained. I was amazed the first time I sailed on an older RCL ship at how pristine and new it seemed. And I felt the staff was more personable - particularly the cruise director. (My first RCL CD was Mike S and my second was Richard Spacey, so clearly they made an impression!)

 

I'd like to try Celebrity at some point, but I know that I will sorely miss things like the belly flop contest, Quest and the 70s party.

 

Why not other lines?

 

For one, I like the main dining room. While I enjoy the MTD option, I do like eating in the same venue with the same staff each night. Freestyle dining (or the new Dynamic Dining) is not my preference. I also LIKE dressing up for formal nights. Scratch Norwegian.

 

I would put Princess and Celebrity in the same category and, since I prefer Royal over Carnival, I suspect I would prefer Celebrity over Princess. I'm not opposed to trying Princess at some point, but I use a credit card which earns me discounts on RCI cruises, so it's more cost effective for me to stick with their product.

 

My travel agent told me she gets more complaints about Holland America that other cruise lines, and I know it typically draws and older, wealthier crowd. Scratch HA.

 

I can't afford the luxury lines, and again, they would eliminate the cheese factor I enjoy. (I love to boogie-oogie-oggie on 70s night...I cannot lie!)

 

That said, while I think the ship innovations are incredible (robot waiters? wow!), I really prefer the smaller ships (Radiance Class) and the feeling of being at sea, rather than at a resort. Even Freedom Class felt a little too large for me. I like the Voyager Class and smaller. The mega ships are not my style, so I suspect I will eventually end up moving to Celebrity, where the ships don't seem to be evolving into giant floating resorts. Not that there is anything WRONG with that type of cruising; I know many people LOVE it and I admit to some curiosity. But I like a more SIMPLE cruise ship experience that focuses attention outward to the sea.

 

The smaller RCL ships fit my preferences perfectly. If they are eventually phased out, I'll be doing a lot more shopping around.

Edited November 21, 2014 by printingchick