Do any others find RCCL's itineraries repetative and boring?

[FLSteve11]

Grandeur has some Canada/NE cruises that are running in the summer time out of Baltimore. They definitely are warm during summers at least. (We're doing one in June, but I believe there are 2-3 other sailings in July/August).

[mcatmcat]

Sometimes I opt for the option of 6 days instead of the typical 7 and I find itineraries to be more appealing to me.

 

I avoid at all cost an itinerary that includes Nassau specially from 9-1pm or something similar. For me my destination is not the ship, I love to have plenty of port of call and more than 7 hrs docked

[Velvetwater]

If you limit yourself to cruises that leave the US and are hot of course its going to seem repetative.

 

We actually find lots of RCL's route exciting but they are often not in the summer when we can sail...these include some of their asian and aussie routes and their Iceland/Norway all in one that we didn't see until it was sold out last year.

 

Celebrity does seem to do each continent though ;D

[riclop]

I LOVE to cruise, but I frankly cannot find an itinerary on RCCL that appeals to me anymore. Caveats: don't want to fly to Australia, and we prefer warm weather itineraries, so no Alaska, Boston, New England. Also, I am going to Europe with my bff next year, so I'm not interested in that long flight again for a while.

 

I looked this morning, because we got a gift certificate from our son for Christmas, and I could not find a single cruise that interested me. I finally called to make sure I could use the certificate on Celebrity. They seem to have more variety.

 

We just got back from Princess to Hawaii and Mexico b2b, and it was fabulous! RCCL seems to only want to do Bermuda, Bahamas, and cookie-cutter Caribbean.

 

We love RCCL, and we love the Caribbean, but they only go to the same 6 ports for the Eastern itinerary, and 6 Western, give or take a few.

 

We are itinerary cruisers, but love RCCL ships and loyalty perks. But, we don't love it enough to repeat the same itinerary year after year after year.

 

I'll keep looking, but right now my future bookings are with Celebrity and NCL. Am I being fussy, or do others feel this way, too?

 

They all are on every line.

[ColoradoGurl]

It may have already been said, but I don't have time to read all 3 pages right now.

 

The eastern and western do seem repetitive to me. Try the southern route, lots more islands to visit down there. Plus you get to start out in San Juan, which has great weather and plenty of great stuff to do.

[BecciBoo]

Nope not at all....my friend who has more cruises than me all over the world always asks, "You getting out of the Caribbean yet?" because that is all we ever do, besides Hawaii and Alaska.

 

We have no desire to go anywhere further afield. Since we sometimes don't see the same itin for a couple years, when we do get back, it's like coming back to our summer home, I never get bored with it. People own homes in the mountains or on the coast and visit them in the summer or on Holiday for their entire lives, what's the difference?

 

Nope I wouldn't even care if they never add any newer itins. I'm perfectly happy to cruise the same old places. I love the sea and sailing so it doesn't matter where the ship takes me.:D

Edited April 10, 2016 by BecciBoo

[SPacificbound]

We will be boarding Navigator Of The Seas in less than four weeks for five consecutive cruises that are each different. :)

 

Look at a map of the world, there are many places to go besides the Caribbean. Unless, of course, that is the only place you want to go.

Edited April 10, 2016 by SPacificbound

[SheehanDJ]

...My suggestion is approach repeat ports as if you were visiting the the first time. Visit a different website to book your excursions, try something out of your comfort zone...

 

This is more or less what we do, first time we go some place we stick to the touristy stuff just to get the lay of the land. Every time after we start drifting farther and farther from the beaten path.

 

Do your research like you are going to spend a week at any given location. Find those out of the way spots that only folks that are staying a week generally visit. Get off the ship, and hire a cab for the trip (meaning the driver stays and waits for you), then ask them where "they" would eat lunch. Go there and have lunch with them.

 

An example would be the blow holes in Grand Cayman. You can book tours that include them but then you also "waste" your time maybe going to places you could care less about (ie Hell). Or you could grab a cab, have them run you to the blow holes, ask them to take the "scenic route", have a true local lunch, and head back to the ship.

 

When negotiating the price keep in mind you are buying their time not the distance of the trip. If you are asking them to take you for a 2 to 3 hour trip they are going to quote you what they think they can make in that time frame. Also ask to see the cab, just because they are advertising their services standing next to a brand new Mercedes that doesn't mean once you make a deal they aren't going to walk over to a '74 Pinto with no shocks and bald tires.

 

Be a bit more adventurous on the stops, but also pad your time to the extreme. Plan on being back 2 - 3 hours before sail away.

[soxin2000]

Yes!!

[papaflamingo]

Just to add my two cents. I agree that RCCL itineraries are repetitive, especially the Caribbean. Of our 29 cruises, 22 have been RCCL. Of those 29 cruises, we have done 1 Med, 1 Greek Isles, 1 Alaska, and 1 Mexican Riviera. Of the 25 remaining, 2 have been Southern Caribbean, the rest East or West Caribbean. So we have been to the same places many times. BUT... its a vacation for us. We love the ship, the warm weather, the night life, the entertainment, the balcony. We have favorite places in St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Cozumel. So repetitive? Sure. Boring? NEVER. But we sure enjoyed going to all the new islands on the Southern Caribbean routes.

So I get what the OP is saying. I wish that RCCL would offer itineraries like HAL does. I want to do the Panama Canal. But RCCL doesn't go there for example. In fact, we booked Vision in 2017 for the Baltics out of Amsterdam. I would like to combine it with the Fjords. But RCCL only offers that combination out of Copenhagen (long story why we are going to Amsterdam). However HAL does a Fjord cruise that gets back the day Vision leaves. So we will do that first.

Since we are D+ the perks we get, especially the Happy Hour, are worth a fair amount. So we keep coming back. I like the RCCL overall experience, but it looks like I'll be dabbling with other cruiselines to see other places. But, I retire later this year, live within driving distance of Florida ports, and plan to jump on "good deal" cruises when I can. So... Cozumel, here we come. :)

[waldorf]

We too find the itineries repetitive and boring, especially in Europe. We love cruising and will still do so but we are starting to look elsewhere. There is only so much of Rome, Florence and Napkes we can do. We'd like to see more visits to ports in Spain, the Adriatic coast of Italy, more of the Balkan countries etc.

 

We also find that RCCL have 7 night cruises that are exactly the same, it would be good if they alternated the intinery so you could make a decent 14 night cruise out of it.

[MaShesLookinOutMyWindow]

With only 1 cruise (on a different cruise line) under our belt, I don't know how much weight my response will carry with seasoned cruisers, but I have to agree with OP. We wanted to look at cruises on other lines, but with a 9 year old daughter, we wanted a lot of kid-friendly stuff so our choice of lines was limited.

 

I was disappointed in the lack of variety RCCL offers, not just in ports, but in excursions as well. We wanted to avoid ports we'd been to on our last cruise so we ended up with an Eastern itinerary. I was very sad to see that the stop in Haiti - which is what drew me to this cruise in the first place - was merely a RCCL-owned area that we're not allowed to leave. It's like going to Disney World and having them tell you that you can only stay in one gift shop all day.

 

RCCL also has fewer non-beach excursions than other lines. When we visit another country, we want to experience that country, not just sit on a beach. We can sit on a beach at home, and to be honest, we find beaches boring after an hour or so. It's unlikely we'll book any RCCL excursions, and unless we're blown away while onboard, it's unlikely we'd book with RCCL again for a Caribbean itinerary.

[orville99]

Normally, I would say yes, but now that Oasis is moving to PC, they have an Eastern that does St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee. We booked it as soon as we found it :)

[kalliekae]

Personally, I like cooler destinations, like Alaska, New England, and the Canadian Maritimes.

 

That said, I'm a little peeved that RC hasn't had British Isles cruise from 2014 to 2016. There is one British Isles cruise in 2017, but it's in May, before U.S. schools let out for the summer.

 

While Celebrity has British Isles cruises, they seem to start and end in Amsterdam and last 12 to 14 nights. I would like a cruise of 7 to 10 nights out of Southampton, so I can spend several days in London, or possibly Scotland.

 

A cruise that circumvents Great Britain is on our bucket list. Princess had one as did HAL a few years ago. I want it to start in Southhampton, too. I wish Royal would do one plus a Panama Canal cruise.

[time4u2go]

Yes. Very.

[nealstuber]

With only 1 cruise (on a different cruise line) under our belt, I don't know how much weight my response will carry with seasoned cruisers, but I have to agree with OP. We wanted to look at cruises on other lines, but with a 9 year old daughter, we wanted a lot of kid-friendly stuff so our choice of lines was limited.

 

I was disappointed in the lack of variety RCCL offers, not just in ports, but in excursions as well. We wanted to avoid ports we'd been to on our last cruise so we ended up with an Eastern itinerary. I was very sad to see that the stop in Haiti - which is what drew me to this cruise in the first place - was merely a RCCL-owned area that we're not allowed to leave. It's like going to Disney World and having them tell you that you can only stay in one gift shop all day.

 

RCCL also has fewer non-beach excursions than other lines. When we visit another country, we want to experience that country, not just sit on a beach. We can sit on a beach at home, and to be honest, we find beaches boring after an hour or so. It's unlikely we'll book any RCCL excursions, and unless we're blown away while onboard, it's unlikely we'd book with RCCL again for a Caribbean itinerary.

 

 

I don't understand people who go to the Carribean and don't like beaches. It's like going to Disney World when you don't like rides.

 

While we do enjoy just sitting on the beach, we also enjoy snorkeling, scuba, jet-skiing, sailing, horseback riding, occasional dolphin or manatee swim, usually at a resort that offers other things for the kids (when they were kids).

 

Labadee has zip line, coasters, and a water park of sorts.

 

Don't think you'll be disappointed.

[villauk]

We find it difficult being restricted to high season. We've seen some nice Pacific Coastals on X but can't sail them because they're in the 'off' season months. Europe is extremely poor on Royal next year. We do like to see new places rather than the same year after year, as my signature suggests ;).

[deliver42]

I agree, and they are becoming boring. As you can see by my profile, I have wandered, sometimes for price,and most of the time for itinerary.

[slc22]

 

That said, I'm a little peeved that RC hasn't had British Isles cruise from 2014 to 2016. There is one British Isles cruise in 2017, but it's in May, before U.S. schools let out for the summer.

 

 

There are 2 BI cruises on Vision in 2017 - May 22, and another June 27.

 

Both 12 day cruises RT Amsterdam, slight itinerary differences between the two. I priced the June cruise last week and it had great availability and really decent prices. Hope it works for your family

Edited April 10, 2016 by slc22
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[Palmetto Pilot]

Why aren't you looking at Puerto Rico? Adventure and Jewel can bring you to some marvelous ports that are definitely not "cookie-cutter."

 

In our case we don't want to have to fly to PR. We'd love to see a 8 or 9 day exotic eastern Caribbean from Florida. We just took a 8 night on the Carnival Breeze for the itinerary. I love RCCL but the same trips are getting boring.

[Big_G]

I don't understand people who go to the Carribean and don't like beaches. It's like going to Disney World when you don't like rides.

 

While we do enjoy just sitting on the beach, we also enjoy snorkeling, scuba, jet-skiing, sailing, horseback riding, occasional dolphin or manatee swim, usually at a resort that offers other things for the kids (when they were kids).

 

Labadee has zip line, coasters, and a water park of sorts.

 

Don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

Agree and furthermore, I don't understand how someone 'with only 1 cruise (on a different cruise line) under their belt' can credibly criticize itineraries as repetitive and boring. :confused::confused::confused: I hope they're pleasantly surprised.

[pippin10]

Yes, I actually agree. We have sailed all over Europe and Australia, plus left from many ports in the US. I am just disappointed at the itineraries RCCL offers now. For instance, I want to do a Panama Canal cruise.

 

Jewel of the Seas are going to Panama.

 

Royal Caribbean Panama Canal Cruises 2015:

15 Days Transcanal/Panama Canal - Royal Caribbean Panama Canal Cruises 2015 - Royal Caribbean Int. - Jewel of the Seas

Los Angeles, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Quetzal, Puntarenas, Panama Canal, Colon, Cartagena, San Juan/Puerto Rico

1 departure date: October 10, 2015

Balcony from $3607

[Coralc]

Jewel of the Seas are going to Panama.

 

Royal Caribbean Panama Canal Cruises 2015:

15 Days Transcanal/Panama Canal - Royal Caribbean Panama Canal Cruises 2015 - Royal Caribbean Int. - Jewel of the Seas

Los Angeles, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Quetzal, Puntarenas, Panama Canal, Colon, Cartagena, San Juan/Puerto Rico

1 departure date: October 10, 2015

Balcony from $3607

 

That was last year. There aren't any for this year, or the next (so far).

[MommaBear55]

We are doing Serenade of the Seas out of Port Everglades with a different itinerary, 10 days includes Antigua, St Maarten, Dominica, St Kitts, Tortola. The Serenade also has itineraries that include Grenada, Barbados, Curacao, Bonaire for something different. This is a nice variety.

We had also looked at the Rhapsody out of Tampa for Honduras, Belize and Puerto Cosata Maya.

 

I agree after 10 Caribbean cruises that we have seen many of the islands multiple times. We still enjoy cruising though. The other problem is that the big ships can only get into some ports which limits their itineraries.

 

I would like to see RCL do a Panama Canal transit again.

[cruiselvr04]

Flying to Europe is too high for us right now and we like the warm climates. So that means the Caribbean at least for now. After we retire I would like to do some longer different routes so will look at Princess and Celebrity again. But for now we like the Caribbean. Royal for us has the best ships and entertainment. We are never bored and look for new and different things to do in each port of call or go to our favorite beaches. Repetitive yes, boring no. It's also about relaxing since we both work so hard right now.

 

There are other lines to try out there if you want a different adventure.

 

I do agree with the Panama Canal though. We have done it once and would love to do it again.