What is/was your line in the sand?

[kernow]

We've always sailed on other lines, in fact we started out on Carnival. To us, it would be a bit boring to just stick with one line, I've enjoyed all the ones we've tried and think they all have something that they do better than anyone else.

We do more RCL cruises than any others currently but I can see a time when all the Vision/Radiance/Voyager ships are gone when they wouldn't be our first choice as we're not so keen on Oasis class. We're trying Quantum for the first time next year so maybe that will change our minds.

The only other thing that I can think of is if they got rid of all the C and A perks. Sometimes when we are considering a couple of different cruises things like the balcony discount, lounge, nightly happy hour make us come down in favour of RCL. If they weren't there we may sometimes make a different decision.

[vacationlover_mn]

I know some will find mine silly 🙂. But, if they did away with the loyalty program, we would no longer be Loyal to Royal.  We would look at other lines like Celebrity, Princess, HAL.  We wouldn’t completely stop RCI, we’d just expand the set of cruises that we look at.

 

I’m a very goal based person, and find it fun to “work my way up to diamond”.  Also, we really like the big and new RCI ships, and the entertainment and activities.

[Big_G]

1 hour ago, kernow said:

We do more RCL cruises than any others currently but I can see a time when all the Vision/Radiance/Voyager ships are gone when they wouldn't be our first choice as we're not so keen on Oasis class. We're trying Quantum for the first time next year so maybe that will change our minds.

 

I think what keeps bringing us back to Royal is their ship variety. Our last four cruises were Harmony, Rhapsody, Navigator, and Allure and they were all great cruises in their own way.

[The Fun Researcher]

55 minutes ago, vacationlover_mn said:

I know some will find mine silly 🙂. But, if they did away with the loyalty program, we would no longer be Loyal to Royal.

 

Not silly.  All else being equal (or even close) working our way to Diamond keeps us with Royal.  (Mainly for the nightly happy hour).  We’re within reach 

[sparks1093]

17 hours ago, rimmit said:

I am just curious what your line in the sand is/was?   What could RCI do to cause you to either never sail them again, switch lines all together, or at least try out other lines on a regular basis?  

 

For us it was the 7.95 room service charge.

 

Was it the loss of the chocolates on the pillows?  The loss of the shipshape program?  The Dynamic Dining debacle?   Loss of in cabin movies?   

 

Or if they haven’t crossed the line yet what would it take?  Charging for the fitness center?  Charging for the MDR?  Loss of flavored water in the buffets?  Complete removal of adults only rule in Solarium (it is only loosely enforced as it stands now).

I've only sailed Royal once but as long as I feel that I'm getting a good value for my vacation dollar I'll continue to sail with them when the price is right (which is the ultimate criteria). The other two lines I've sailed for room service, don't have chocolates on the pillows and have made other changes to save money. I don't cruise for any of that stuff so it doesn't affect me.

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Not sure that's a fair comparison as not only are repos generally less expensive, but out of the UK many sailings to Dubai seem to be cheap (even cheaper than booking in the US which generally has some of the lowest prices).

 

We are on 16 night Jewel from Rome to Dubai for $6,200 including drink pkg. Aft JS. No idea on air yet.

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

We are on 16 night Jewel from Rome to Dubai for $6,200 including drink pkg. Aft JS. No idea on air yet.

Cheap air (this year, assume will be the same next year) was one of the reasons I'm considering that sailing. If I were to book, I'd seriously consider booking on the RCI UK site - the savings can be substantial, if one waits till around final payment time.

[John&LaLa]

11 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Cheap air (this year, assume will be the same next year) was one of the reasons I'm considering that sailing. If I were to book, I'd seriously consider booking on the RCI UK site - the savings can be substantial, if one waits till around final payment time.

 

Sailing is November/December. 

Added the 9 night Arabian Coastal as well for a B2B. Had to book release day to get cabin 1100 for both legs. I'd really like to tag on the Holy Land prior, but it's crazy expensive.  Plan on looking for a price drop before I commit to the Rome flight

[frito58]

12 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

It didn’t make me quit.  Just made me consider other options.  We have been on 7 RCI cruises since the change, but have also been on several other cruise lines, to an AI and done a fair amount of independent travel.  

 

As most on the the board will tell you,  it’s not about the 7.95.  It was all the preceding cuts beforehand.  Like death by a thousand cuts.  No single cut is bad, but a cumulative  number of cuts since we started cruising primarily RCI in 2009.

Oh I don't disagree with you they have made a lot of cutbacks throughout the years , I have made to  Diamond on Royal and Platinum on Carnival so we book on Price and Itinerary and basically where we want to go. Then if we get some great perks that's a bonus. But at this point in our life we are retired so we don't have to worry about the little things . If I was younger maybe I would . 

[not-enough-cruising]

6 hours ago, Melissa_A said:

the drink package being forced to others in the cabin.  not an RCL dealbreaker, but definitely takes RCL out of the running depending who i'd be cruising with.

I am curious. Who of the major mass market lines allow you to buy only one package in a room with a phone call to explain your situation?

 

[Paulette3028]

17 hours ago, boscobeans said:

It was the DD debacle but it just caused us to cancel and rebook with X and then another RC ship.  Once it was ended we booked on the ANTHEM.

 

Still cruising both but more now on RC since LLP has begun her transition of Celebrity....

What does "LLP" stand for? confused...

[Melissa_A]

3 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I am curious. Who of the major mass market lines allow you to buy only one package in a room with a phone call to explain your situation?

 

 

will they accept...one of us drinks a lot.  the other drinks A LOT.

[shellunderwater]

For us, the line is some fuzzy feeling about value.  We value relaxation, service, reasonable prices, relatively courteous fellow passengers and value for the money.  Like I said, fuzzy.  We've had some bad experiences, but none were consecutive, so we decided those were the exception.

 

But, all that said, we are evaluating a land vacation given the prices for the cruise style we enjoy.  Prices are up, drink packages are often very expensive and we've done the ports.  None of that is a line in the sand, but a fuzzy place that we ponder every time we travel.

[NateUpNorth]

6 minutes ago, Paulette3028 said:

What does "LLP" stand for? confused...

 

The name of the Celebrity CEO and President -  Lisa Lutoff-Perlo (at least that's my assumption)

[ryano]

Their high prices.  That is my line in the sand.  I was absolutely SHOCKED that even booking over a year out, it was going to be over 1500.00 more for the same cruise in the same cabin on the same ship after cancelling the 9-1-19 Harmony cruise and taking the FCC.  They wouldnt price protect either.   I understand about demand and the fact that as long as people continue to pay higher prices, they will continue to go up but they have priced me out of cruising with them.   We came out cheaper going to Alaska on Ovation, even including airfare.  I wont have a balcony but it at least it wont be the same ol boring Caribbean itineraries. 

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by ryano

[Milwaukee Eight]

33 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We are on 16 night Jewel from Rome to Dubai for $6,200 including drink pkg. Aft JS. No idea on air yet.

Wasn’t that part of the $18 Drink Package Glitch?

[boscobeans]

Just now, NateUpNorth said:

 

The name of the Celebrity CEO and President -  Lisa Lutoff-Perlo (at least that's my assumption)

Yes L. Lutoff-Perla is now with Celebrity and before that she was in charge of operations on Royal Caribbean back when there was DD or Dynamic Dining which has since been phased out.

[Milwaukee Eight]

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Sailing is November/December. 

Added the 9 night Arabian Coastal as well for a B2B. Had to book release day to get cabin 1100 for both legs. I'd really like to tag on the Holy Land prior, but it's crazy expensive.  Plan on looking for a price drop before I commit to the Rome flight

That would be 25 nights plus travel days. Poor Bella. 

[Eslader]

I don't have any one specific line in the sand. I treat my approach to sailing with Royal the same way I treat my approach to anything else I spend money on. After it's done, did I get my money's worth?

 

I'm a somewhat sporadic visitor to these forums. I tend to show up when I have a cruise within the next 6 months, and then I read a bunch of stuff to see what's changed. And like clockwork, I start thinking "yeah, if everything that's being said here happens to me, I'll probably book another line next time." But then I get on board and have a great time, and often end up booking another one before I get off the ship.

 

Part of that is that I'm relatively easy to please. Put a ridiculous drink in my hand and stick me in a lounger in the Solarium with a Kindle, and intersperse that with regular feedings and I'm pretty happy. I avoid most of the money traps. I only walk through the promenade on my way from one end of the ship to the other, and I don't stop at the stupid watch "sale," nor do I buy gold chains by the foot because I am not (regrettably) Mr. T.

 

Basically, I tend to avoid a lot of the stuff that generates complaints around here in the first place, and so it doesn't impact my vacation one way or another. My chief complaint is that I have yet to find a Royal bartender who can make a decent Old Fashioned. 😉

 

To get me to stop sailing with Royal, they'd have to reduce their value to me below what I paid for the trip. They're getting closer to that point with every sailing, but they haven't reached it yet. As they tend to sail full, I'm probably in the same boat as most of their customers - at some point they will drop below a value point and a whole lot of us will book elsewhere, and then Royal will bump things back up to recapture us, which may or may not work.

 

[Sobro]

At the risk of getting this thread locked, I would quit Royal if they went smoke free.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

the only reason so far for us to choose other cruise lines is the price. When I score a great price on whatever cruiseline - I go for it. Last time it was RCI and we were thrilled to be back with them on the Oasis class, but the future sailings are unreasonably priced. So, we are going to try MSC. But we love RCI for all the fun and entertainment.

 

I agree with Ryano above - RCI's prices are unreasonable most of the time (especially since we can only cruise during school breaks).

 

But silly things like $7.95 for room service (which we don't use) are not enough to deter us from any company.

 

Now, if you asked about NCL, I would totally say - the price would have to be half of what other companies are charging for us to sail with them again.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[doones2]

RCI is where I’ve cruised the most but I also like Celebrity and NCL.  NCL mainly because it cruises to Bermuda out of Boston which is 1/2 hour drive to the port. I love Bermuda 💙💙.  With me it’s where and how much.

[Tom47]

7 hours ago, Melissa_A said:

the drink package being forced to others in the cabin.  not an RCL dealbreaker, but definitely takes RCL out of the running depending who i'd be cruising with.

I purchased full drink package for myself and "refreshment" ( no alcohol) package for DW with a phone call.

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, frito58 said:

Oh I don't disagree with you they have made a lot of cutbacks throughout the years , I have made to  Diamond on Royal and Platinum on Carnival 

 

Just curious, what does Platinum get you on Carnival and how many nights to reach that level?

Dan

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, boscobeans said:

Yes L. Lutoff-Perla is now with Celebrity and before that she was in charge of operations on Royal Caribbean back when there was DD or Dynamic Dining which has since been phased out.

 

Rehashing old discussions...  but the problem is the Quantum class was designed around this dynamic dining idea and now there are multiple rather small, boring, low ceiling main dining rooms.  Gone is the grand dining room of this other ships.  This is one thing that is keeping us off Quantum class (Anthem in particular).

Dan