Curious - different lines

[Luv my furbaby]

I've seen a lot of negative reviews on all of the cruise message boards. I cruised for my 1st time in over 10 years (9 previous cruises) last month and have noticed a big decline in service. BUT, still had the time of my life. So just wondering, if you leave RCCL, what line is better and why? I'll be sailing on ncl next month (have not sailed with them in 20 years) so will be curious to see any differences with RCCL.

THANKS ALL!!

[George C]

I am a RCCL fan but like hal once in a while prefer Pinnacle over RCCL specialty restaurants, love the Italian food on Costa. Want to try Celebrity again even though 1st time was just ok, Princess has great pizza and some nice ships, only line I will not try again is NCL and was not crazy over Carnival.

[MADflyer]

The question I always ask myself with all lines is 'Do they meet or exceed my expectations for the most part and provide good value in relationship to the price paid?'

 

RCI have failed me a couple of times, but tend to come through with flying colors in the end when looking at the situation in this perspective.

 

I find something I like on all lines.

 

I just think some want to pay MSC prices, have Carnival fun and attire, sail with RCL, have NCL choices but expect Princess service and Crystal food, while getting treated like a Seabourn guest.

 

This is unrealistic and leads to poor satisfaction often due to mis-aligned expectations with the price they are 'actually' paying not how they perceive this cost in relation to 'their' economic or other situation and their own level of experience as a traveler.

[Iluvcruising2]

I've seen a lot of negative reviews on all of the cruise message boards. I cruised for my 1st time in over 10 years (9 previous cruises) last month and have noticed a big decline in service. BUT, still had the time of my life. So just wondering, if you leave RCCL, what line is better and why? I'll be sailing on ncl next month (have not sailed with them in 20 years) so will be curious to see any differences with RCCL.

THANKS ALL!!

 

We cruised with NCL for the first time last Dec after seven with Royal and loved it. I have more comments on this thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2139442

 

Suite life on NCL was fantastic!

 

[YOUTUBE]POIy0VzgXGw[/YOUTUBE]

[OCruisers]

While we find Princess provides a better "All Round" cruise experience for us, we also have enjoyed our RCCL cruises. Still, would pick Princess over RCCL. :)

LuLu

[JasonV1]

While some don't like the Oasis redesign with more exclusive suite areas, it is a direct response to the NCL Haven.

 

I got a monster deal on Getaway last summer on a Haven courtyard suite and I'd kill to do it again. Unfortunately the same deal is nowhere to be found now and I'm unlikely to get the chance ever again as I prefer to cruise multiple times a year rather than one expensive one.

 

Unfortunately for NCL, the design of the Breakaway class ships is a little lacking otherwise. Not enough public pool space for the size, and no Solarium-like area (Vibe doesn't count as it has no pool, costs extra, and tough to get into unless you are first on and have the chance to buy passes. These limitations don't matter as much for Haven guests.

 

We cruised with NCL for the first time last Dec after seven with Royal and loved it. I have more comments on this thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2139442

 

Suite life on NCL was fantastic!

 

[YOUTUBE]POIy0VzgXGw[/YOUTUBE]

[Luv my furbaby]

I've been on RCCL, NCL, Celebrity and Princess - though I have stated in my earlier posts it was quite some time ago. I've found good and not so great on all. My Celebrity experience was no so great because of the people I met. My last RCCL was a plus because of the people I met, but down a notch because of service in MDR and ho-hum entertainment. BUT, none of these things would deter me from cruising again. I've found that RCCL is still my favorite! I just live to cruise!!!!!

[UKWLDCruise]

I must admit that usually when I have tried another cruise line it's because RCI mucked up, missed flights, luggage fallen out of coach etc.

 

I have tried NCL, it was an enlarged ship and by the way the waitors had to grab piles of plates etc when we were docking the work had had a negative effect on it's structure. Princess was okish but when you have to say that the best bit of your cruise was the trip through Canada to get their you have a problem. Celeb was the latest and it was the worst yet, the infamous cruise of the Eclipse when they got to St Thomas and they didn't have a dock etc, good food yes but served ever so slowly and getting off the ship was hell.

 

RCI is sort of like BA, it might not be great all the time but you usually get what you expected.

[mcatmcat]

I yearly sail with royal but sometimes I try to add additional mini vacations

 

Last month I abandoned royal for MSC divina but we won't do it again

A year before for carnival Liberty and I don't see myself going back to carnival. The year before with NCl and I was almost yelling when Royal Liberty docked next to us lol

 

I still ask myself, why do I keep looking for something better that is not out there or maybe that I haven't find it just yet, so far no luck for me lol

 

 

 

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[CruzCrazy]

I only have 1 cruise on Royal (this past December on Oasis) and 10 on Carnival.

 

I wouldn't lump all of my Carnival experiences together and make a blanket statement about Carnival as a whole because each ship experience is so different. I laugh every time someone tells me they'll never cruise Carnival again. I ask why, and they tell me what a terrible time they had on "The Carnival." I tell them Carnival has 24 ships, and they look at me like I'm crazy. I say which ship and they don't know or they don't remember. Unbelievable.

 

So much depends on the itinerary, the cruise director, the weather, the fellow passengers, the crew, etc. There are so many variables. I sailed on Carnival Miracle 3 times in a row, and they were all different cruise experiences, and one of those was far and away "better."

 

DH and I both had a great time on Oasis, and it was probably our favorite cruise so far, but for me to say that Royal is better than Carnival wouldn't be a fair statement because I've only had the one experience. I wrote a review and tried to compare and contrast in an open-minded, fair manner, but so much about a cruise is subjective.

 

We are sailing on Carnival Breeze this summer. We've never been on the Breeze, and I'm going with an open mind. There are differences but lots of similarities between the major mass-market cruise lines.

[HACKT]

I agree with comments that the low-to-mid priced cruises (carnival thru rcl inc ncl, maybe disney depending on sale) aren't as "wow" as when we started cruising 20 yrs ago. Food definitely not as good or varied, service not always great, etc. Ships are cooler though except more crowded

But there's a good reason - cost. In our 18 cruises so far, all good, i think the most expensive was the first one! The prices continue to amaze me with how low they are! Unf you get what you pay for so to get better food, service you should do spec rest or suites or higher cost cruise lines. No such thing as a bad cruise, just bad experiences on that cruise, imo.

[HACKT]

Speaking of disney, wife and i did first disney cruise in dec as they offered a special rate. Had a great time, food and service prob best we've had recently, but overall we still like rcl mostly due to stuff on ships

We like disney but it can be alot of "in your face" after a while with singing and characters etc. great with young kids but back to rcl this year (oasis and allure) with cheap ncl at end

Funny thing is our fellow disney cruisers did not understand why we'd go back to rcl. They are disney lifers!

[LMaxwell]

Next up for us is NCL. Royal's entertainment is getting too stale for us. I can only see the 70's dancy party so many times. NCL has lots of exciting entertainment geared for a younger audience and quite frankly their kids program blows Royal's out of the water (and this was a fairly big consideration for us). Their current promos saved me $1700 and made it a very price competitive decision.

 

Even if it is a one and done, it will be a different experience. RCI is still my go to, and there may be a shorty thrown in there before the NCL cruise, but there's very little my loyalty perks get with Royal that I can't get through promo offers on other lines.

[SamFritz]

the major cruise lines are all so similar now. I take these negative posts with a HUGE grain of salt. My experience is go with an open mind and no expectations. You will never be disappointed.. NCL was very good for us. We enjoyed the freestyle. RCCL was good also. Just a little different.Had great time on both cruise lines..

 

 

Do you really drop a few grand on a vacation and have "no expectations?"

 

I choose to cruise because I get a good value for the money I spend. I do feel that, especially since the introduction of BOGOHO sales, that they are overcharging and I'm not getting the value that I am accustomed to. For the first time, I am looking at other lines and even other kinds of vacations to compare their value to the new, higher priced and lower service Royal.

 

 

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[Duke Mazer]

Reading many opinions seems to come back to this. Most people love their first cruise and develop a liking for one line. People will jump to other lines but come back to the one they like, feels like home to them. Seems each line caters to some niche and people like some other lines ships but come back to their niche.

 

It's funny my wife booked Oasis for next year, but saw a NCL special we spend weekend looking at all the lines and in the end stuck with Royal, with a promise to try the other ships.

 

I will say this for Royal they seem to be unique in that they are trying to cater to a broader clientele and I'm not sure if it's working or not.

Good example is Dynamic Dinning. The established and mature clients prefer the more formal setting so there was quite a bit backlash. Yet new cruisers and families rave about the NCL and their dining style, which RCL tried badly to mimic to appeal to that crowd. Oasis 3 from the pictures looks like it will have water slides, but they also have the solarium. Trying to make everyone happy is a nice, but I have found in my experience to be difficult. I would say the broad appeal work best on large family trips. We saw large 3 generation families on Oasis and could see that there would be something for everyone. Bottom line to me seems like RCL does A LOT of things very well, maybe not best in each category.

[Cindy]

We've cruised with RCI, Celebrity, Carnival, HAL, and Princess. In our opinion, all have strengths and weaknesses, and whether you like or dislike a cruise has as much to do with personal preferences and expectations as it does the hardware and the practices of a line.

 

My favorite right now is Celebrity, but that's based on just one fantastic cruise with them, and I don't think that's a very good sample size!:o We enjoyed all our RCI and Princess cruises, and would consider a cruise with them at any time. We haven't been on Princess since 2007, but we have one booked in December and we'll see if we still like the product.

 

HAL may eventually get one more chance. We had one cruise with them that we loved, and one that we disliked almost everything. Still, their itineraries are great, and I would take a chance if I saw something I really liked. We didn't have any problems on our Carnival cruises, but they were just too crowded for me with a lack of activities that interested me, so we looked elsewhere.

[MomtoCCC]

We've only sailed RCCL and are close to Diamond status but after our recent cruise in January (which was very good).. I'm starting to look elsewhere just to try something different. We are very tired of the same menus in MDR (maybe Dynamic dining will help with this).

 

We are planning Alaska 2016 and will probably sail with Princess or Celebrity. I'm looking forward to trying a new cruise line (not to mention going to Alaska :)