If....you only ever cruised Royal but wanted to try something different...

[toxicfairy]

Sorry about the title it won't let me Edit it. Some how it got sent before I was done typing.

Which line would you choose. Not into the party scene. But HAL was a bit too not Royal...lol. We have done 6 Royal Caribbean cruises and one HAL ( As part of a group) we didn't like HAL enough to repeat it. But after our cancelled cruise last week the husband has a bad taste in his mouth and would like to try another line ( I think we'll be back to Royalbut I'll give him his chance). We know the storm has nothing to do with the company I am certain they do not like to lose revenue. It was more the way it was handled. Waiting until the very last second. And I am still waiting on part of my refund. And we incurred a lot of debt we hadn't expected. I know there are the "God's of Cruiseing " who have already told me I am to blame and I should have... And yada yada. But most of them didn't get the emails I received and didn't have the conversations I had on the phone. So they don't really know what was said or when. So I will thank them in advance for not telling me any more about how I should feel about the cruise I planned for a year and a half and had to drive 34 hours home with two daughters that were devastated. Now rant done. What other lines are there that are similar to Royal? We also do love dressing for formal night and wearing pretty dresses on the rest of the evenings. Price range has to be similar to Royal. Want to do Caribbean and in late June or early July.

( can you tell if it was all up to me I'd just rebook the same cruise;)). So please no suggesting the upper crust lines lol , while I would adore going on one I'd have to sell a kidney , a lung and probably half my liver to go on one of those lol.

Thank you for any serious suggestions you may have.

Edited September 3, 2017 by toxicfairy

[parrotfeathers]

I also had one HAL cruise--no complaints but I like RCL much better. Next year I am trying Celebrity. I have no kids so that is not a consideration. One thing I didn't like about HAL is that the concierge lounge closed at 8 or 9 pm.

[wolfcathorse]

MSC Seaside or Divina out of Miami looks tempting, especially with their loyalty match program. Then there's Viking Ocean where the former much beloved RCI master, Rune Loekling went to...I don't remember which ship though.

[Paulxyz2004]

Well from the lot I have cruised on I would rate Princess and Celebrity to be the closest to RCI. Of course with X you´d still be within the same corp. as RCI.

 

While things are done differently I´m as happy on Princess as I am on RCI. There´s pros and cons about both of course.

[reallyitsmema]

We have sailed exclusively on Royal Caribbean and have more cruises booked with them. I did just sail Norwegian Dawn from Boston to Bermuda with a group of family for a special birthday sailing. There were things I liked better and other things I missed. Norwegian's buffet is open much longer hours, they have a buffet by the pool and they know how to do Freestyle dining, the equivalent to Royal's MTD. I missed the Solarium and the Schooner Bar. The cabin was small and I did not like the bathroom layout, but this could have been due to a smaller, older ship.

 

I would try Norwegian again, but on one of Norwegian's bigger, newer ships. Trying something different did open my eyes to other things and we are looking at Princess and Celebrity.

[toxicfairy]

Does MSC match royals C&A points? My husband wants to try them. I'm just nervous. I like Royal. I mean I'm willing to try another line and I will do it with an open mind. But I'm still nervous. Put it this way...I had my last car for 11 years. I only replaced it because it would have cost more to fix than it was worth

[constable145]

Sorry about the title it won't let me Edit it. Some how it got sent before I was done typing.

Which line would you choose. Not into the party scene. But HAL was a bit too not Royal...lol. We have done 6 Royal Caribbean cruises and one HAL ( As part of a group) we didn't like HAL enough to repeat it. But after our cancelled cruise last week the husband has a bad taste in his mouth and would like to try another line ( I think we'll be back to Royalbut I'll give him his chance). We know the storm has nothing to do with the company I am certain they do not like to lose revenue. It was more the way it was handled. Waiting until the very last second. And I am still waiting on part of my refund. And we incurred a lot of debt we hadn't expected. I know there are the "God's of Cruiseing " who have already told me I am to blame and I should have... And yada yada. But most of them didn't get the emails I received and didn't have the conversations I had on the phone. So they don't really know what was said or when. So I will thank them in advance for not telling me any more about how I should feel about the cruise I planned for a year and a half and had to drive 34 hours home with two daughters that were devastated. Now rant done. What other lines are there that are similar to Royal? We also do love dressing for formal night and wearing pretty dresses on the rest of the evenings. Price range has to be similar to Royal. Want to do Caribbean and in late June or early July.

( can you tell if it was all up to me I'd just rebook the same cruise;)). So please no suggesting the upper crust lines lol , while I would adore going on one I'd have to sell a kidney , a lung and probably half my liver to go on one of those lol.

Thank you for any serious suggestions you may have.

I'd do one of the large ncl ships if I had to go on another cruise line.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[hacmangum]

Hi there,

I am sorry to hear that your cruise was cancelled. I have been in that boat before and recall the feeling- not a good one.

We have sailed primarily Royal but have also ventured out and did Carnival once (not for us) and Norwegian.

The NCL cruise was Hawaii so it was on a smaller ship but we still enjoyed it. I will say while it is not Royal, it was pretty close. I cannot really think of things we missed but I do recall their dining structure was more relaxed and very organized.

I think we would try them again on a larger - more Royal like- ship if we had the opportunity. For us, we like the larger Royal ships that are somewhat of a destination themselves. Once you have been on one of those, for us anyway, its hard to go on a smaller ship- unless the itinerary required it.

All that to say, I would look at NCL. I wish I could speak to other lines but we have tried to stay loyal to Royal. It's hard to try new things when your vacation and dollars are potentially at risk if it doesn't turn out well!

Good luck.

Certainly looking forward to your decision.

[andrew2346]

MSC Divina was fantastic and really well priced. Food was better IMO also...but I like excellent pizza and wine..which they had plenty of both.

[cruising maniac]

I have been on 25 cruises but not yet on Royal. That is in 6 weeks from today. YEA. Anyway, with kids, I don't think you would be disappointed with Carnival. The food is good and the service is so much better than it used to be. I understand that the kids program is good. Just pick one of the newer, bigger ships like the Breeze, Dream, Magic, or Vista. My favorite cruise lines are Celebrity and Norgewian. Although I feel like most cruises are more alike than different. The only one I did not like was Costa because the food was horrible. Sorry about your cruise being cancelled.

[awestover89]

We've only done Royal, but if we were to try another line it would be either MSC or NCL. I've heard too many friends come back from Carnival and swear off cruising ever again, including one that we convinced to give Royal a try and is currently on his second cruise, with his 3rd and 4th booked. My sister did HAL and said she was the youngest passenger on board, (at 25 years old) and my mom (at 45) was the second youngest. I don't know if that's really normal or not but it always turned me away from HAL.

 

Celebrity and Princess I'm worried would be too rich for my blood, as my mother-in-law likes to say.

[RhondaC]

RCCL is our favorite, with Princess being a close second. :D

[Bruin Steve]

First, know that I've done around 50 cruises...on 9 different cruise lines...

 

Before I tell you where I'd go, first let me say that a lot depends on what you are looking for in a cruise. If what you like about RCCL is the entertainment and amenities, know that you are not going to be able to match those anywhere. If you are looking for a nice, elegant cruise experience, then I've got a strong recommendation for you: CELEBRITY...

 

Celebrity doesn't have the surfing pools, rock climbing walls or Ice Rinks...BUT, the ships are very spacious, very uncrowded...The service and food are excellent...The ships are beautiful...and the prices really aren't that much off of what RCCL charges...in fact, often, we've found better deals on Celebrity...

 

Now, I also cruise a bit on Princess--mostly because of the itineraries out of Los Angeles, but, IMHO, they have quite a few shortcomings compared to Celebrity--overcrowded show rooms, poor MDR management, smaller cabins (no sofa/sitting area until you get to Junior Suite).

 

We just recently did our first on HAL and found it a little dull with little to do even on at sea days...

 

We just won't do another Carnival and likely won't go back to NCL...The quality is just not there and ships are overcrowded...

 

Oceania is excellent--but it's a bit pricey...

 

So, my strong recommendation is to go with Celebrity...

[time4u2go]

Definitely try Carnival. It's a very similar product, and many say the food is significantly better. I haven't been on Carnival in a while, but I have several family members that have recently, and they're very happy with their Carnival cruises.

[Dennis#1]

We prefer RCI, as you can probably tell from our C&A status. We tried other cruise lines, but always come back to RCI cruise ships.

[twincheryl]

We have sailed mostly RCI but have tried NCL and Princess with a short Holland America coming up next year. We are currently on Celebrity Milennium and are noticing a few nice differences. Decor is a bit more upscale and ship seems quite calm and serene. More pre-dinner music in various venues. Last night was evening chic and there were quite a few people dressed up. Since we'll be gone past Labor Day there are very few children onboard but a nice mix of various ages.

 

We have sailed Alaska twice before and found this cruise to be pretty comparable in price to RCI... maybe a little more expensive... but we are impressed so far.

 

 

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[Pstreet12]

We have many, many nights with Royal, and we keep going back. We have quite a few nights with Holland, and enjoy them also: we like the cooking shows, and the Pinacle Grill exceeds anything we've ever had at Chops. We've also been on Celebrity quite a bit, and I'd second the first response from the person with 50 cruises: Celebrity is a bit more elegant, and it shows in many places. One very nice extra with Celebrity is that if you book even their least expensive suite, you get full suite privileges: Michael's Club (with free alcohol and soda and water all day), a butler, private dining room with a different menu from the main dining room, etc.

[LMaxwell]

MSC or NCL, but probably MSC; more refined and elegant better service than NCL

[lightbalb2003]

I'd also recommend the MSC Divina/Seaside. The status match is great and I love the drink voucher program! I did the $399/interior room deal that they run pretty frequently and it was worth every dollar and cheaper than Royal. It didn't have the caribbean energy but it was very elegant and still casual enough at the same time to not feel stuffy. I think the Seaside will address many of the caribbean "energy" and feel complaints since it is being designed for the Caribbean.

[L454S]

MSC Divina was great for this past New Years cruise. About half what RCI wanted for a New Years sailing with a balcony cabin. Status Match/ Black Card was the icing on the cake.

 

Liked it enough to book the Seaside Yacht Club in January. Hope RCI is listening...........

[Coralc]

Sorry about the cancelled cruise tf. :( I did read that you had made it to a Houston hotel, and IMO Royal Caribbean really dropped the ball by waiting so long to cancel (Sunday morning----really? :mad:)

 

I think that you and the family would probably enjoy Carnival and one of their newer ships. The line is very similar to RC in activities and cost. We haven't been on Norwegian, but others seem to like it.

[toxicfairy]

Thank you all. I sent an email to Mr. Goldstein explaining our situation and that the prices have increased to much for next summer that the refund and FCC we are being offered does not cover the same exact cruise. Plus the cabin we had for our DD's ( by the way they are both in their 20's and in college) is not even available now (Ben and Jerry's . It would have gotten them free ice cream AND access to the suite lounge at a price they could actually afford). I am hopeful but not holding my breath, I am not actually the idiot that I was referred to being .

[caribbeanboy]

I change all the time. My last 3 were on RC, but in 2 weeks I'm going on the Divina, and in Novemner on the Nieuw Amsterdam and December on the Norwegian Getaway!

[denamo]

We have been one of those who only ever cruised Royal. Mostly due to loyalty level and some of the perks that are nice.

 

Living in Texas, Galveston gave us opportunity first to try Disney on her maiden stay in Galveston. We totally enjoyed it. We would not have tried them due to their fares, but they seemed to want to fill up the ship, so we got a great rate. Great experience. Understand why Disney has such a great following among their cruisers.

 

We rocked along being loyal Royal cruisers for quite some time before trying Princess who was located in Houston for a period of time. The itinerary and location of the Princess ship was the lure for us . We couldn't have been more pleased at our choice. Food, service, and entertainment was super enjoyable. We then booked the Regal since we wanted to try one of Princess' larger ships. Again, we were very thrilled. We're going again on Princess with some friends.

 

Now for our less than satisfactory experience. We just went on an Alaska cruise with friends who wanted to try Celebrity. Food was good and it was nice to have a reciprocal loyalty level due to our Royal level. Our room steward was good, so we were thankful for that. After the last show in the theater, there wasn't much else to do. We did go to the Liar's Club that was held late one night since the schedule had been shifted due to being in port late. We also experienced attitudes of crew that left us rather baffled. We are not demanding cruisers by any stretch. For example, we went to guest services to request another daily schedule since I'd left our somewhere. We were told they allow one per cabin since they participate in "save the waves". What? The lady did go to the back, but even in handing it to us, we were made to feel we'd made an abnormal request. Just seemed some of the crew like to scold when requests made. Most cruises leaves us wanting not to leave. This one not so much. If there is a really good itinerary, we would consider Celebrity otherwise probably not.

 

Our favorite class of ship is the Oasis class. We cruised on the Allure in May for a family and friends cruise. We'll be on the Oasis in January. We still feel very loyal to Royal. The perks we receive in their loyalty program do keep up coming back.

 

The attitude we adopt when cruising with a line other than Royal is not to make a huge comparison. We enjoy what each line does differently. We understand each line will have the things they do to make cruising an experience like no other vacation.

[Siora7777]

I've sailed NCL, RCCL, Celebrity and Princess. My next cruise is Carnival in October. They are all very similar with just a few differences. Just do your research on the ships and book what you can afford. You'll never know if you will like something until you try it. I've enjoyed all the cruises from each line. I'm looking forward to trying all the mainstream cruise lines. At this point, I book the best deal based on itinerary, price, port, and ship age. But price is a big factor. I've sailed mostly in balcony cabins but I'm starting to realize I can live without them. So I'm thinking about going cheap to cruise the newer ships. Interiors I might start booking.