Have you ever regretted sailing another line?

[dogo88]

I hate to see posts where someone compares a very old ship based in a particular port because it still fits under a bridge in a small home port city and the bigger, newer, more modern ships of another line. Not everyone can drive or fly to Ft Lauderdale or Miami to catch a HAL or Princess ship. (Yes, I know both do sail from a very few other ports ) We've had excellent service on all the ships/lines we have sailed -HAL, RCCL, CCL, and Cunard.

 

We decide where we want to go then look for a ship that does the trick for us. We look first at itinerary, then prices for balconies. If we feel more laid back we go CCL for relaxed dress code, HAL for quieter conservativness, RCCL when DH was more up for using amenities.

 

I totally agree with those who said your expectations have a great deal to do with how you perceive a new cruise line. If you're paying $50 a night you can't expect a cabin on a caliber of a Neptune Suite :D and if you go CCL there IS going to be a Hairy Chest Contest (but you aren't required to attend :D )

 

Spot on comments.

Dan

[sail7seas]

This is a very interesting thread.

I am struck by

(a) how many people will sail on various lines rather than sticking with one

(b) how many people ( me included) do not want to repeat an NCL cruise

 

 

I have sailed about 5 or 6 cruises on Princess, about the same on Celerity, once, sortt of on Carnival, once on RCI, once on NCL and dozens of cruises on HAL. thatt is quite enough, iMO f or me t o know what I like on each cruise line and what I don't care for.

[boom_boom]

Yes. I deeply regretted my one and ONLY RCI cruise. But, I have sailed Princess and Celebrity along with HAL and have not regretted any of those cruises.

[johnny75]

Was a die hard Carnival fan.

 

But too many cutbacks, especially the dining service.

 

Jumped to Ncl.

 

Service is amazing !

 

Entertainment superior.

 

 

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[Aquahound]

I am struck by

(a) how many people will sail on various lines rather than sticking with one

 

This is just my opinion, but I cannot imagine always giving my patronage to one brand. I've yet to find a cruise line that is perfect in every way. My ideal line would be a mix of all the lines I've already sailed, because each excelled one one area or another.

 

I'm not the type to wear pins, name tags, medallions or any other trinket of loyalty. I have no contempt for those who do. I know some people really get in to that stuff. But showing loyalty to something I had to pay for is not for me. Therefore, until that one perfect line exists...which it never will...I will not be loyal to any one line.

Edited December 3, 2017 by Aquahound

[Sea girl 23]

Eventually the smaller, boutique ships will no longer be sailable/viable/whatever word you want to use and it will be interesting to see what happens first: HAL's clientele going to (other) cruise lines ships, or aging out(IOW dying) waiting for HAL to build another small ship.

[iancal]

We find NCL not much different in terms of variability. We have had one very good cruise on NCL and one mediocre cruise.

 

NCL's offering is slightly different than the others. For us it came down to whether that offering appealed to us, the ship, and the itinerary. The rest was variable and very subjective. For out tastes we found the food and service in the specialty venue on one ship to be top drawer Same with the entertainment. On another-not so much.

 

We have had three really good cruises on Carnival. We selected the ships and the dates carefully. It makes us wonder if our cruises were the exception when we read comments about them being the Walmart of the seas. We certainly did not experience any issues on either. From some prior comments we have expected them to be a bit of a booze cruise. They turned out to be the opposite. MDR food on both was excellent. Perhaps a fluke, don't really know. Or it could be a bit of an urban legend by people who have never been on the line or had one unhappy cruise experience.

[Underwatr]

I saw an episode of Mighty Mighty Cruise Ships with a new NCL ship that made it seem tempting (I guess that's the point of the program) but based on what I understand of NCL I think were not really the type.

[travelingfrog]

My regret was sailing Regent’s Seven Seas Explore. Too expensive and absolutely not worth the hype. Food great but the vibe was funereal. Love Viking and Celebrity (blu). Ok with Crystal. Did not care much for Star Princess but enjoyed Ruby Princess very much.

 

 

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[cruisemom42]

Eventually the smaller, boutique ships will no longer be sailable/viable/whatever word you want to use and it will be interesting to see what happens first: HAL's clientele going to (other) cruise lines ships, or aging out(IOW dying) waiting for HAL to build another small ship.

 

Of course, there are other options out there: Oceania has a number of the smaller (originally Renaissance) ships; and other specialty lines like Azamara, Seabourn, etc. have smaller ships too. The line I currently favor, Voyages to Antiquity, has one ship with only 350 pax and is much more inclusive than HAL, yet I can sail her for about the same price as an upcoming cruise on Prinsendam.

 

Also -- it is possible that mass market cruise lines may have to adapt to changes in tourism as well. Just recently, Venice announced that no ships over a certain size will be allowed to sail the current route down the Giudecca canal and dock at the Marittima port (close to the sites). Instead, larger ships will have to sail a longer way around and dock at Mestre, which is much further and would have to involve some type of shuttle into Venice. Other European ports have similar problems with large ships. There IS a logistical limit, at least given current facilities, in the size of ships that are viable for a variety of ports.

[sail7seas]

This is just my opinion, but I cannot imagine always giving my patronage to one brand. I've yet to find a cruise line that is perfect in every way

I don't need or seek a cruise line that is perfect in every way'. I'm not perfect and don't need perfection. My most recent HAL cruise was fa FAR from perfect and I stated so on this forum when I returned. home.

. My ideal line would be a mix of all the lines I've already sailed, because each excelled one one area or another.

 

I'm not the type to wear pins, name tags, medallions or any other trinket of loyalty. I have no contempt for those who do. I know some people really get in to that stuff. But showing loyalty to something I had to pay for is not for me. Therefore, until that one perfect line exists...which it never will...I will not be loyal to any one line.

[Sea girl 23]

This is just my opinion, but I cannot imagine always giving my patronage to one brand. I've yet to find a cruise line that is perfect in every way. My ideal line would be a mix of all the lines I've already sailed, because each excelled one one area or another.

 

I'm not the type to wear pins, name tags, medallions or any other trinket of loyalty. I have no contempt for those who do. I know some people really get in to that stuff. But showing loyalty to something I had to pay for is not for me. Therefore, until that one perfect line exists...which it never will...I will not be loyal to any one line.

 

Wearing your pins,medals,etc. onboard the ship just seems tacky to me. *puts on flame proof suit*

[iancal]

Agree. When I first saw a man rushing up the stairs wearing some sort of medal I asked a fellow cruiser at our table about it. He and his wife told us. We thought at first that it was a joke, and they were having one on us. But then he went on to describe the various levels and how people strive to get to the next level by spending more money with the cruise line in order to get the bragging rights.

 

I had been in sales, marketing, and services for many years. I was i awe of this program. Imagine having people aspire to a higher level by spending more with your business. Great business model and I take my hat off to HAL. Only wish some of our local merchants would do the same....we would have diamond medallions, well made in China ones at any rate, to dangle around our necks if we felt so inclined.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

 

 

 

I had been in sales, marketing, and services for many years. I was i awe of this program. Imagine having people aspire to a higher level by spending more with your business. Great business model and I take my hat off to HAL. Only wish some of our local merchants would do the same....

 

 

Not sure where you live, but if you are near a Starbucks's then you have a tiered loyalty program in your neighborhood. If you stay at hotels - they all have them - same for car rentals.

 

Even Costco has an "executive level" membership.

 

Remember the status credit cards? Gold AMEX cards etc

 

Tiered loyalty programs are hardly unique to the cruise industry, almost every travel industry company has something.

 

Airlines started these programs, and they pass out hardware that people can affix to their luggage

 

If you have been in sales and marketing, then you should read http://www.crmtrends.com/loyalty.html for the latest.

 

Also Check out https://blog.smile.io/tiered-program-loyalty for some more insight.

[Pstreet12]

We have a lot of nights (and metals—that we don’t wear) on Royal, quite a few on Celebrity (and Royal metals carry the same status on Celebrity quite a way up the metal chain), and a fair number of nights on HAL.

For us, the ship is a big determiner of the experience. We went on the Allure just to say we’d done it, knew it would be too crowded, etc.—and lived it: because it’s so big, it’s actually far less crowded than a smaller ship. People space themselves out to different venues and it just doesn’t seem crowded. We’ve since done 3 more on that class ship. Premium restaurants have been fantastic on all Royal ships—except one. On HAL, premium restaurants have all been excellent—except one, the one we’re on now. Moral? Both lines, for us, have been great—except once. Celebrity is “quieter in tone,” more like HAL—but it has FAR better entertainment. HAL has happy hour reduced drinks if you scurry down and get an order in before 5:00. On the other hand, if you have enough metals on Royal/Celebrity, drinks are free from 5:00-8:00 and there is a nice buffet with hot and cold nibbles.

Depends on what you are looking for and any of the lines or ships can mess up.

Can’t say that, for us, there is anything to look down our noses at on any of the three lines when comparing them—except if you are comparing an old small ship like the Majesty of the Seas with newer ships within its line or other lines.

Seems like since it’s your money, you should buy what makes you happy, regardless of the opinions of others.

[iancal]

I have been, and still am, in a number of travel related reward programs. My surprise with HAL's program is really about how poor it is from the customer's perspective and how very little in real dollars that it costs HAL . It has a huge cost/benefit ratio for HAL, but a fairly poor one for the loyal customer compared to some other cruise lines.

 

Plus, we were taken aback by seeing someone actually wearing one of these medials....he had it hanging around his neck.

Edited December 4, 2017 by iancal

[doctork]

I'm trying to understand how anyone can have a "bad cruise." Someone else does your cooking and cleaning, the ship takes you to all kinds of places with new and interesting scenery, there are fun things to do, I mean, what's not to like?

 

I've cruised mostly on HAL mainly because I have gone on charter theme cruises where they always charter a HAL ship, but the cruises I've taken on Disney were really nice too. I think the Disney service was better but I didn't care much for the dining experience.

 

This week we're sailing on Princess for a 10 day cruise. HAL offers a very similar cruise but only 7 days instead of 10, and I just had surgery so I'd like a little longer "recovery sail" therefore booked Princess.

 

I'm excited to try a new line and don't really find those customer loyalty programs to be of much value at all. I think I've cruised HAL 10 or 11 times - I think I'm "3 star mariner" - but I don't see enough benefit to choose only 7 days on HAL instead of 10 on Princess (with commensurate price increase, not a price-based decision).

 

We have another HAL cruise booked next year but are also considering an Oceania itinerary that looks good.

[denatravels]

Although I spread out my cruises and I’m not loyal to one line, I do want to level up to higher tiers— but it has nothing to do with bragging rights. I don’t care if anyone else knows— I want free laundry!

 

 

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[Kalagirl]

Hated it? No. We sailed 3 years ago on Dawn Princess, one of Princess' oldest ships, which lacked a few amenities, particularly for Suite pax and past cruisers (we sailed Princess in the 1990s, but have been on HAL for about the last 20 years, so have some status with Princess), so we weren't impressed. We know generally what Princess offers, and while Dawn has some nice features, it was also pretty outdated in several ways.

 

 

 

So were turned off Dawn Princess, but we would consider a desirable route on a newer Princess ship, in most cases.

 

 

 

We were on the last voyage of the Dawn Princess in May this year after only having been on Hal ships. It was a little run down and they did run out of some things but we enjoyed it and would sail with Princess again...especially if it was from our home port of Fremantle

 

 

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[Aquahound]

I had been in sales, marketing, and services for many years. I was i awe of this program. Imagine having people aspire to a higher level by spending more with your business. Great business model and I take my hat off to HAL. Only wish some of our local merchants would do the same....we would have diamond medallions, well made in China ones at any rate, to dangle around our necks if we felt so inclined.

 

It's sorta like paying $300 for an expensive pair of sunglasses, or thousands on an expensive computer and then giving that company free advertisement by slapping their sticker on your car's back window. You're right. From the business side, it's a great model. Whoever first realized that a business could get this deep into peoples' heads is brilliant.

[Tapi]

I'm trying to understand how anyone can have a "bad cruise." Someone else does your cooking and cleaning, the ship takes you to all kinds of places with new and interesting scenery, there are fun things to do, I mean, what's not to like?

 

 

 

In my almost 40 years of cruising, I’ve only had a handful of cruises that could be considered bad. Instances involved getting violently ill (where I couldn’t eat or leave my cabin for days), another instance when fellow passengers were so disruptive that they turned a short weekend cruise into a brawl which included racially motivated fist fights, destroyed property, trash everywhere and even vomit crusted to the carpet for the entire cruise. And another cruise where a cabin steward single handedly terrorized us for days after we reported his very inappropriate behavior. He was removed from his duties and eventually fired after his subsequent behavior towards us. Try to have a good cruise when you have a stalker with access to your cabin for days, even after he was strictly forbidden from coming anywhere near you.

 

But besides that, I’ve enjoyed every single one of my cruises!

 

 

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Edited December 4, 2017 by Tapi

[dogo88]

We have a lot of nights (and metals—that we don’t wear) on Royal, quite a few on Celebrity (and Royal metals carry the same status on Celebrity quite a way up the metal chain), and a fair number of nights on HAL.

For us, the ship is a big determiner of the experience. We went on the Allure just to say we’d done it, knew it would be too crowded, etc.—and lived it: because it’s so big, it’s actually far less crowded than a smaller ship. People space themselves out to different venues and it just doesn’t seem crowded. We’ve since done 3 more on that class ship. Premium restaurants have been fantastic on all Royal ships—except one. On HAL, premium restaurants have all been excellent—except one, the one we’re on now. Moral? Both lines, for us, have been great—except once. Celebrity is “quieter in tone,” more like HAL—but it has FAR better entertainment. HAL has happy hour reduced drinks if you scurry down and get an order in before 5:00. On the other hand, if you have enough metals on Royal/Celebrity, drinks are free from 5:00-8:00 and there is a nice buffet with hot and cold nibbles.

Depends on what you are looking for and any of the lines or ships can mess up.

Can’t say that, for us, there is anything to look down our noses at on any of the three lines when comparing them—except if you are comparing an old small ship like the Majesty of the Seas with newer ships within its line or other lines.

Seems like since it’s your money, you should buy what makes you happy, regardless of the opinions of others.

 

That was our experience on the Allure too. Bigger doesn't always mean crowded. They did a far better job of getting people on and off the ship than any HAL cruise we've been on. And the regular MDR was hands better in food and service than HAL. Only downer for those mega ships is the ports they can hit. Limits the variety.

 

Dan

[navybankerteacher]

While HAL's "loyalty" rewards may not be as generous as those of other lines, the fact is that all such programs- especially those offered by cruise lines - actually offer very little worth scrambling for.

 

Sure- free laundry is nice, and anyone would like free internet - but to make these enticements any significant part of a decision strikes me as strange.

 

While I prefer some lines over others, my decision is as much based based on timing, destination, convenience, and, finally, price. The notion of letting a loyalty award worth, at most, a couple of hundred dollars drive such a decision seems just silly.

[iancal]

We have never paid much attention to the cruise line fequent cruiser benefits. It was only when booking a cruise in Australia that the agent told us we would get a $200 on our RCI balcony cabin and drinks added to our card that we became aware of the attributes. Until that time I do not think that we had noticed anything. This was actually attributable to our Celebrity level. RCI recognizes that.

 

For the most part we only care about the ship, the itinerary, and the actual cost of the cabin. Free internet, bottles of water, priority boarding do not mean much to us. Especially since we tend to do cruises under 20 days and shy away from any more than two conseq. sea days. Then we pay the optional dining venues and laundry if required.

 

Cruise line benefits are the worst. This year we have had four free Marriott hotel nights, 2 free short haul one way flights, and I am about to hit the button on getting a credit card rebate of $950. We get far more back in benefits that have real value to us from others that we do from cruise lines.

Edited December 4, 2017 by iancal

[cmaygar]

I have only ever cruised with HAL and recently we have been looking at Princess because of an itinerary we like, but something's off and I can't get excited about it, we just love HAL ships, the line, the corporation, every aspect of the experience is like family, anyone else feel like that? Or did you adapt to the different ships and services? I'd hate to spend all this money on a lengthy cruise and feel stuck. I know it's a highly subjective matter but we love the quiet ambiance of HAL's ships and fear not finding it elsewhere.

 

The cruise we're booked for is 28 days on the Emerald Princess and still refundable, it's during the school year so I'm inclined to think it will be a calmer crowd but I don't know the line or the ships. HAL is offering the same itinerary a few months after ours so it's doable on HAL if we can manage the time of year.

 

Have you ever left HAL and hated it? Were you filled with envy in port as you looked over to the HAL ships that were docked? Because we always feel lucky on HAL's ships and always snicker a bit at the pax filing on/off the gargantuan Princess and RCL ships.

 

HAL is our preferred line. Our most recent cruise was on RCL on the huge Harmony of the Seas and I missed HAL terribly on this cruise. I have enjoyed RCL for both Eastern and Western Med cruises, however. This was our first Caribbean cruise with RCL and it will be our last Caribbean cruise with RCL. We did our Panama Canal cruise with Princess and it was a fine cruise. I would cruise with Princess again. We also enjoy Celebrity very much. We had some great Caribbean cruises on Celebrity and a great European cruise with Celebrity too. MSC does a great job in Europe. We took an MSC Caribbean itinerary a number of years ago and it was a poor experience.

 

We also did a Silver Sea cruise once in Europe and that was spectacular. There were only 300 passengers and it was a truly 5 star experience. However for value, I would say that the HAL experience overall has been the most consistent and our favorite. There are some good options with other lines too.