Just Thinking

[lenquixote66]

6 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

We wouldn’t go on excursions. We would take a cab and do thing’s ourselves 

We got ripped off every time we did that.

[Seville2Cabo]

15 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

We got ripped off every time we did that.

Unless there is a safety issue or the attraction we want to see is over an hour or so away, we always walk out, find a cab and negotiate what we want to see and how much to send.  We were in Athens last year and did this.  Four of us, 150E plus 30E tip for 6 hours.  Saw more sights than any tour for a lot less.  And fun talking to driver.  

[lenquixote66]

Once when we were in a Caribbean port we were in a shopping area and it was very hot.We decided to take a taxi back to the ship.The driver grew up in the same part of NY as I did and we had great conversation.

[Cruise a holic]

44 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Once when we were in a Caribbean port we were in a shopping area and it was very hot.We decided to take a taxi back to the ship.The driver grew up in the same part of NY as I did and we had great conversation.

Actually the past few cruise line excursions we took, we had to line up in the hot sun waiting for the late comers to arrive. We then entered a not so comfortable bus.  Twice we actually walked off the line  and were able to get a refund.  If we had a couple of couples, a private ship tour might work.  Otherwise too expensive for just the two of us

[LXA350]

13 hours ago, crazyank said:

This is not even close to why people cruise with RCCL.  There are hundreds of different reasons.

 

Especially when it comes to the younger and new crowds RCL is trying to attract it's more about ship is the destination than the actual itinarary. Speaking here mainly of the Oasis Class but also the short 3/4 night itinararies on the Amped Voyager Class ships.

 

12 hours ago, bigrednole said:

For me, the cruise fare paid includes all of these activities to be available along with the entertainment. If they are going to scale back, eliminate, or limit it, there has to be a level of repayment for lack of services. You can't charge one price for ALL of this, then cut half of it away and assume the price is the same. In that case, they can just not make refunds or FCC for canceled sailings. They can just call it a cutback of services due to the new regulations. We're sorry you didn't enjoy your non-cruise cruise, but we provided to you what we legally could and you didn't seem to enjoy looking at the ship in the middle of the ocean on your computer.

 

Likely once cruising will restart on tailored itinararies with reduced capacity passenger will be able to experience all th facilities again with certain restrictions, but under the current environment it's goin to be either like this or not at all. Everyone that will decide to cruise during COIVD, once it will even be possible, needs to be prepared for quite some compromises as they will otherwise be disapointed. For those hardline cruisers, who just love to be onboard, they will just be happy to finally cruise again. For the ones that expect to get the usual cruise experience without any compromises, it will be better for them to wait until after COVID as they will otherwise just be disapointed.

[Junkhouse]

Ship layout, food, and convenience.

[Erik101]

I’m not loyal to any cruise line but I like RCCL because of the oasis class ships.  I like the choices of activities and if I simply want to chill, then I’ll retreat to my balcony with a book and a drink.  For me, it’s all about the ships, its size and activities to the point that I don’t get off the ship at popular ports in the Caribbean. 
 

As I mentioned, there’s no loyalty so I’m also looking at Virgin’s Scarlet Lady as a future option. 

[Ashland]

On 8/9/2020 at 11:10 AM, JT1962 said:

Yes. We go primarily for the ports and itinerary and don’t care about water activities, amusement park type rides, rock climbing, FloRider, etc. We do attend some of the evening shows, but it’s not a deal breaker for us. Less capacity and some activities closed would appeal to us.

Agree....Many cruises we don't even attend any of the shows at all. We sail for the itinerary, ship and the familiarity of RCI.