Loyal "Royals" cruising on other lines??

[CallagDeb]

We are trying NCL, the Escape, and in the Haven. Pinaccle will never be achievable for us so we are going to try and enjoy other cruise lines. We like RCI but we are no longer loyal to Royal. What ever is the best deal, best itinerary, best price will be our choice.

[Cuizer2]

We are Diamond on Royal and have enjoyed all of our cruises. I was wondering how many of you that are loyal to Royal actually book with another cruise line. Do you choose the other because of the ports or price that is offered or do you just cruise with Royal because of the status that you have with them?? Just wondering:)

 

Thanks and have a nice day.

 

I am D+ with Royal Caribbean. I have sailed on Carnival, Princess & NCL. I have future cruises booked on Princess & NCL. I pick other cruise lines for a variety of reasons. Most common is so I can do something different and see what the other ships are like.

[gkbiiii]

MSC Voyager's Club Benefits:

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/MSC-Voyagers-Club/Voyagers-Club.aspx

[tortoisegirl]

I'm a want to be Royal loyal, but far from it. We took our first cruise on Royal (Caribbean, for our honeymoon in 2010), on Liberty, and although we loved it and have wanted to try them again, it hasn't worked out, mostly due to destination choices.

 

Cruise 2 was Alaska, and to do Glacier Bay and our desire to go on a newer ship / not as old of a demographic, that pointed best to Princess. Loved the service and food, but vastly different than a RCI Caribbean cruise!

 

Cruise 3 was Hawaii, and NCL Pride of America made the most sense, as we didn't have the 2 weeks to spare to sail from the mainland (and I didn't like the amount of open ocean sea days...), and it does a 7 day round trip from Honolulu. That was a crazy expensive cruise and unfortunately led us to decide to prioritize more frequent vacations over bucket list destinations (ie. I'd rather take some sort of cruise every year than a bucket list type cruise every 2-3 years).

 

We liked the ideal of NCL and thought their only US-staffed ship didn't give them a fair shot, so for a return Alaska cruise (#4), we decided on NCL Pearl. The price was right. We wanted to try Tracy Arm, but prioritized May instead of September to get more ice and longer days, and May + Tracy Arm is a no-go, so we did Glacier Bay again. Between a couple years in between and it being May instead of September, it was a completely different experience.

 

We decided we aren't really big fans of the level of service on NCL compared to RCI & Princess, so unless the price with the free drink package is way less than other options, we wouldn't book NCL again. I think some of it was my husband liking traditional dining (same server every night), although for me, not having to eat at a set time at a large table of folks (ie. at their pace...I hate 2 hour dinners) outweighs those benefits.

 

Our next cruise (#5) is finally booked on Royal again, on the Explorer for a Pacific Coastal. Main reason we picked that however is it is the only round trip Seattle cruise that isn't to Alaska (and therefore about half the cost once you factor in excursion savings too). Curious if the level of service will have significantly dropped from 2010. Traditional dining was booked, so that gave me an excuse to book MTD. Thinking of making a reservation each night for a time in between the usual two seatings (as early is too early for many ports and late is way too late for me) and hoping for the same server to get the best of both worlds.

 

We actually have cruise #6 booked too, and contradicted ourselves as it is on NCL, the Bliss, for Alaska in 2018. Main reason to book that was the new megaship. Probably 50-50 as far as whether we will actually go on it though, as it is really expensive for about the worst Alaska itinerary you can get. It is Tracy Arm and the port times are pretty short. Pricing is high, although actually not too much more than other options (pricing for Alaska has gone up a lot in the last few years), and once you add free drink package + dining package + tips, it evens out. Seems like a win-win to sail a megaship out of our home port, but they haven't released any info but cabins yet, and I think Alaska + megaship doesn't really go together. If this next RCI cruise is disappointing, it may push us back to NCL with the whole drink package thing, especially considering what drink prices are looking like on Royal. I don't think we will drink quite enough to make a package work in our favor, but probably not too much under that, so that is a high cost to consider.

 

Royal has been our favorite overall cruise line so far (for service, atmosphere, onboard activities, new & big ships, etc), although we thought Princess had far better food. However, we pick primarily based on destination / departure point. We'd love to do a mega ship, but it is pretty cost prohibitive to fly from Seattle to Florida, where the majority of them are. Surprisingly we can do a cheap Alaska cruise for about the same as cruise + airfare for the Caribbean, so once you add the convenience factor, local cruises have been winning for us.

 

I imagine we will be bored of the local options soon enough though. Celebrity is also on our want to try list, but pricing has been prohibitive every time I've looked (mostly Alaska). We might try Carnival and/or Holland just to say we've tried them, but there are some definite demographic stereotypes for my husband to overcome.

[frank808]

I was status matched as a Royal Diamond to Black Card. I am booking, later this month the following, direct from MSC:

 

MSC Divina 7 night, Miami-San Juan- St. Martin, Sept. 30th, 2017

Outside View Cabin, Fantasia for two people.

MSC website pricing with Tax: $1,356 approx

Minus -$100 10% Back Card discount, on Sept. 30th sailing.

 

Comparison: NCL (cheapest sailing) Norwegian Sun, 7 night from Miami. March 19, 2018

Ocean View Picture Window Cabin.

Drink & Dining Promo Included.

Total price before on-board gratuities: $2,249

 

Royal Caribbean is not offering (but for one Cuba cruise) any seven night cruises from Miami, until late 2018-2019.

 

So, the MSC cruise costs about half as much and will include the fallowing:

 

1. Fantasia includes 14 drink coupons, per cabin.

2. Free Room Service.

3. Priority boarding.

4. Black VIP boarding & leaving the ship, Plus extra two hours in cabin in Miami.

5. Black Sparkling Wine & Chocolate Dipped Strawberries.

6. Black Robe & Slippers in cabin & Upgraded Shampoo & Conditioners, etc..

7. Black VIP Senior Officer's Party.

8. Black 10% off Sept. Booking, which is $100 off.

9. Black Chocolate Ship.

10. Black Dinner for two, Specialty Dining.

11. Black Birthday Cakes for cabin.

12. Black VIP dinner seating.

13. Black $50 per-person, on-board credit.

14. Black Basket of fruit in cabin.

15. Black 1 Hour Thermal Spa use.

16. Black Voyager's Club Gift.

17. Black Voyager's Club Picture.

18. Black Comped Dance Class

 

I plan to buy two 5 meal, Dining Packages & a Non-Alcohol ticket package as well.

The total for the 7 night cruise, with Black Discount added, is just $1,256 which leaves, plenty of spending money for upgraded dining, spa treatments, & shore excursions. This is what I call great value!!

Royal are you listening, your higher tiers are trying you competitors and this WILL effect your bottom line!!!

 

If this goes well, I am going to book Seaside while on-board, for Jan 2018, yea baby!!

 

I do not see the listing for upgraded shampoo and conditioners as a black card holder. Also do not see the black vip dinner seating mentioned on msc website of perks for black card holders. Is it listed somewhere else?

 

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[gkbiiii]

I do not see the listing for upgraded shampoo and conditioners as a black card holder. Also do not see the black vip dinner seating mentioned on msc website of perks for black card holders. Is it listed somewhere else?

 

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I was told by a MSC agent you got this, though it could be based on the "cabin experienced" booked.

[JKrise]

After reading about the MSC 'Status Match' program, and the irritation still remaining from the $7.95 per room service charge for morning breakfast by RCL, DW and I looked at the MSC web site last night. We came to the decision that we are going to cancel at least one of our RCL cruises we have currently booked and try MSC. We liked the MSC status match program which we interpret as "We'll match your loyalty status for one cruise so that you Give Our Product and Experience A Try" , MSC is at a lower overall price when all is considered, and we do not have to ride on those huge cattle car ships so common to the RCL fleet if we want to experience a new vessel.

So in the end..we'll give MSC a try.

 

RCL...Are you listening...You are driving your higher tier repeat customers away. Your prices are out of line, the service is average, your food is Denny's quality and 'iffy' if it is delivered warm to the table, and finally Carnival, MSC, and Princess still DO NOT charge a room service fee for morning breakfast.

Edited May 10, 2017 by JKrise

[soloadventurer]

We are Diamond on Royal and have enjoyed all of our cruises. I was wondering how many of you that are loyal to Royal actually book with another cruise line. Do you choose the other because of the ports or price that is offered or do you just cruise with Royal because of the status that you have with them?? Just wondering:)

 

Thanks and have a nice day.

 

Price for me - cruised with MSC a number of times same with NCL

[Biker19]

RCL...Are you listening...You are driving your higher tier repeat customers away. Your prices are out of line, the service is average, your food is Denny's quality and 'iffy' if it is delivered warm to the table, and finally Carnival, MSC, and Princess still DO NOT charge a room service fee for morning breakfast.

And yet, the ships sail full at higher prices and the RCCL share price keeps going ever higher. Why is that?

[deliver42]

I can't speak about other cruise lines, but I can still order a continental breakfast at no charge.If I want to totally indulge myself, then $7.95 isn't going to dissuade me after spending between $3000.00 and $10000.00 for the cruise. For me, and I've priced the newer Carnival ships, and Princess, which I'm going on in December, RCCL still gives me more value, and I definitely like their ships more, especially the Oasis Class.

[lidodeck03]

I have been researching NCL for several months after reading a review comparing RC and NCL and being intrigued. The thing I find most enticing about NCL is that their prices seem quite a bit lower than RC, and include free drink packages or free dining packages (although their drink package doesn't seem as good- doesn't offer specialty coffee or bottled water and still costs $100 because you have to pay gratuity on the free package...but it's still cheaper if you're not too picky about those things).

 

You can also choose a guarantee cabin and forgo the packages if they don't interest you, making the price even lower. For people who are sailing RC for the 3 free drinks, I think NCL could draw that loyalty away with the free drink package perk. I haven't sailed them yet to know how the experience will differ, but am testing them out in about 6 weeks.

 

Also, NCL still offers some really good last minute deals, which seem to be gone from RC. For example, there are several last minute 7 night cruises on NCL offered for as low as $399-$499. When I look at comparable sailings on RC the prices are 2x or 3x as high. Of course that probably just means RC is selling better than NCL, but for people who want a good deal, it's an enticing opportunity to jump ship and try something new.

 

 

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We have been on 4 NCL cruises and enjoyed all of them.

[Truluv]

We had cruised 8+ times on Carnival, and loved everything about it. As our kids got older (and we got tired of the same menu, same Cruise Director jokes etc.) we switched to RCL. I finally made Diamond with RCL, for what it's worth. We also cruised on NCL twice (once for price, and once for port and itineary) and Celebrity once (for itinerary). I wasn't a NCL fan. Celebrity was ok, but didn't have as much to offer for our kids when they were growing up.

 

Our kids are now grown, spouse is deceased, and I've started traveling solo. I don't care about shows, premium restaurants, formal night, flow-riders or water parks, port activities, or other things that drew us to cruising as a family. Right now, I'm just looking for comfortable cabins with lots of balcony space, and enough food options so that I can dine informally when I want. I want to just relax at sea and catch up on reading and sleep, happy to be out-of-touch with the office. I'm going to try HAL for the first time later this summer, in addition to an Oasis cruise. I chose HAL for itinerary and to try something different. I chose Oasis for its convenient departure-port, and I got a good deal on a solo JS. I'm considering trying Carnival and Celebrity again in 2018. My TA has suggested I try MSC. I don't feel any need to try to capitalize on loyalty programs.

[deliver42]

Your TA is right about trying MSC. We did the Divina in 2015, and loved it. We are booked on the Seaside for 2018. Whatever the highest status is on your cruises or hotels can be used as a status match for MSC (you have to apply) so you can get added perks right away.

[gkbiiii]

Well good news for me, on my Divina Sept. 30th cruise: price reduction to around $1250 (with special pricing & Black Card 10% discount) and a Cabin Upgrade: Fantasia Ocean-view to Balcony! Not bad for a seven night cruise for two and $200 on-board credit.

[AyeCaptain14]

We cruised in Carnival once, because of the price at that moment. Now that we compared Carnival with Royal we stick to Royal ALL THE WAY!!!

 

Carnival is more party mode on 24/7

Royal is more classy, and the quality is way higher.:D

[hannibal54]

I am a D+ member, but I have also sailed on NCL, Celebrity, Carnival, MSC & Princess. I just like trying other things.

[GJustice]

Wife's parents introduced us to cruising in '93 on the Nordic Empress (now Empress of the Seas) and we've never looked at other lines. Wife took a party cruise on Carnival with our daughter a few years ago, but I've been Loyal to Royal. I DID just book on NCL POA for Hawaii for our 40th anniversary next year. Still fee loyal since RCI doesn't have anything close to equivalent as of today.

 

May never get to Diamond, but as someone said, you probably want to keep all the points you can in one bucket, just in case.

[Cuizer2]

Wife's parents introduced us to cruising in '93 on the Nordic Empress (now Empress of the Seas) and we've never looked at other lines. Wife took a party cruise on Carnival with our daughter a few years ago, but I've been Loyal to Royal. I DID just book on NCL POA for Hawaii for our 40th anniversary next year. Still fee loyal since RCI doesn't have anything close to equivalent as of today.

 

May never get to Diamond, but as someone said, you probably want to keep all the points you can in one bucket, just in case.

 

What if that bucket springs a leak and stops floating?

[Charles4515]

We cruised in Carnival once, because of the price at that moment. Now that we compared Carnival with Royal we stick to Royal ALL THE WAY!!!

 

 

 

Carnival is more party mode on 24/7

 

Royal is more classy, and the quality is way higher.:D

 

 

Royal may be somewhat more classy than Carnival but I can assure you that there are cruise lines more classy than either Royal or Carnival. Neither is in the classy category. Both are in the same fun and family niche. Being loyal to Royal you are missing out.

[jules71]

Hubby and I will be Diamond very soon and while I've never had a bad RCI cruise through the years, we'd eventually like to try something new. I've always been curious about Celebrity...what do you like about them? Are the itineraries much different from their "cousin" RCI?

 

After 15/16 Royal cruises, we recently sailed on Celebrity Reflection. What I liked best was the ship itself--particularly, the public spaces. The Sunset Bar on the back of the ship was one of our favorite spots to hang out. We also enjoyed being able to eat outside in the buffet area. Loved that the upper deck was shaded. Liked the bar outside the MDR in the Centrum area much better than the R bar on Royal. And a big bonus was no smoking in the casino and how it was much more open --had a nice bar area too.

 

I thought the entertainment was better too. They had a coffeehouse style entertainer (guy with a guitar) in the Cafe Bacio in the afternoon who was really terrific. And Blind Vinyl, the house band, was the best I have seen on a ship in a while.

 

Food and service was good; comparable to Royal. Plan to sail both again in the near future, but this thread is making me want to try others such as NCL or Holland America as well.

[firerecruit71295]

My wife and I will be diamond early next year and we are excited for two reasons... We will be able to enjoy the perks of diamond status but also because it opens the door for us to try new lines. I will say we felt pot committed after a while trying to reach diamond status but it wasn't terrible because we really do love sailing Royal. The issue I have is that we have no comparison to any other line... so we feel Royal is amazing... but maybe there's better out there.

 

So at the end of the day we will look to Royal first but not shy away from a different line if the price, dates, itinerary works better.

[mcatmcat]

CARNIVAL - We didnt like the food during the day but was ok at night , service was ok , ships are ugly

NCL- bad food, I rather sail in carnival

MSC - beautiful ships , service extremely poor, food was amazing at night but during the day there was 2 much pasta

[Topo Gigio]

I am a D+ member, but I have also sailed on NCL, Celebrity, Carnival, MSC & Princess. I just like trying other things.

 

Same here. Have also sailed Costa & and a couple of times on Hal. In September and February on MSC. Just love to mix the cruise lines.

[TimeToGetNauti]

I have only done RC so far but I am researching NCL and MSC. So far the pricing seems close for a balcony room with similar sailings. I will turn diamond after my cruise next year with RC. I love RC but I'm ready to try new things.

 

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