Thinking of giving Royal a try

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

6 hours ago, Bennyboats28 said:

You did mention that you intend to cruise solo? I believe that NCL does studio cabins specifically for solo travellers. Could this be a viable option for you as well?

 

 

You know that Royal has solo cabins, too? I've stayed in one on Harmony and had one booked on Quantum.  What NCL excels at for solos is the Studio Lounge communal space for those in solo cabins and the hosted nightly solo happy hour for all solos, though I'm not sure that has survived the re-start. 

 

To the OP, I think Royal would be a fine fit for you.  As to the floating amusement park comment, there is simply nothing like Oasis class.  I enjoy the variety of musical entertainment all over the ship.  It's wonderful to sit at the Trellis Bar Central Park and listen to a string trio or classical guitarist in the middle of a beautiful garden.  That just doesn't exist anywhere else at sea.  And the variety of dining experiences really is wonderful from a hot dog shop to molecular gastronomy!  I get excited about dining on the big ships.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Steeler Nation At Sea

[Tree_skier]

Liberty (Indy's sister) was our second Royal cruise and the cruise that hooked us on cruising and Royal.  They are great ships.  They might not be as big or have all the bells of an Oasis ship they are still fantastic and you will love it.  

[Elkins45]

On 8/3/2022 at 11:03 AM, Mapleleafforever said:

Indy was our first ever cruise and the one that got us hooked. Which did you enjoy the best out of the 4 you mentioned??

Celebrity has the best food, cabins and crew are about the same across all of them. Celebrity and Princess for entertainment. None were what I would call a bad experience.

[fair-winds39]

We are booked for our 27th cruise this Sept. We’ve been cruising since the late 80’s, early 90’s. Started with Cunard, then Celebrity,  RCCL, NCL and Carnival. In Feb. 2020, we decided to try RCCL again on Grandeur out of Baltimore. We were on RCCL’s Empress of the Seas years ago.

 

To be honest, cruising today is not like it was when we took our earlier cruises. For us, the Grandeur was very nice, but not much different from our Carnival Pride cruise in Dec. 2019. I liked the food on Carnival a little better, I wasn’t crazy about the buffet seating/layout on RCCL, and the Grandeur was pretty quiet after 10P.M., except in the casino. These were minor differences for us. Loved our junior suite on Grandeur.

 

Would we book RCCL again, absolutely. A cruise today is just a mode of transportation from one location to another, geared specifically to families at least on NCL, RCCL, Carnival. Give RCCL a try; I think you’ll find it pretty much the same as others you noted.

We like the older, smaller ships, but next year, I’ll leave DH at home, and try a girl’s  cruise on Anthem.

[moposh]

I've only really cruised on RCI.  I sailed on Allure of the Seas and didn't like the large size.  I think I like the smaller ships, as there are fewer people.]

 

I think you'll enjoy RCI.  Bon voyage!