With the changes being made on RCI, what are your future cruising plans?

[Brad1185]

WE HAVE been loyal to RCCL so far, but thats mostly because of the $$. Other cruise lines have some itinerarys that have peeked my interest, but the $$ isnt good. If we find another cruise line w/ a interesting itinerary and the $$ is right, we are there. I will always be partial to RCCL in the future, no matter what changes they make, but I am ALWAYS looking at other cruise lines as well.

 

GREG

 

You will always be partial to RCCL no matter what changes they make. You are kidding right?? No matter what changes they make??

[petesweet]

You will always be partial to RCCL no matter what changes they make. You are kidding right?? No matter what changes they make??

 

I expect Flashlight is trusting they will not start making passengers walk the plank if they request two lobster tails!:D I'm on his side.

 

As for the Genesis ships, I'd love to give them a try. Going on Serenade in September for my first taste of the Radiance class. LOVED the Explorer, but my husband felt it was too big. I guess I'll have to find a different roommate for my try on Genesis class.:)

 

Merry Christmas, everyone.

[KeywestK]

As far as we're concerned, we are loyal Royal Caribbean customers, and I do not foresee any changes in that in the future. The "changes" that have been spoken about on these boards over the past many weeks are frankly very insignificant to me, with much of the hub bub being opinions with little or no impact on my own vacation experience. Changes happen in every aspect of life all the time, and if one can't "go with the flow," especially while on vacation, then they have bigger problems to deal with than possibly not having lobster for dinner, or having to pay a fuel surcharge, or other minor "changes." So bottom line is we're booked with RC for 2008, and are getting ready to book future RC cruises for '09 and '10.

[KatieGator]

I live 45 minutes from Port Canaveral, so I have easy access to Disney, Carnival and RCCL. I have no desire to go on Disney, and I'm still iffy about trying Carnival, so it's RCCL for me, for sure. Maybe one day I'll get adventurous and drive down to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami's ports...but it's just so nice to disembark and basically be home.

[mediator]

Choices really don't apply to my answer. The changes made are not enough for me to stop cruising RCL. What product has not made changes over the years. I guess you have to evaluate them and decided the merits. I did that, and I just booked the Mariner for Labor Day '08.

[BobbyK]

I am very loyal to RCI (diamond plus). Rather I was very loyal. The fuel charge is seeming to happen on every line. Lobster is nice but I'm not going to base my cruise choices on whether they serve lobster or not. The RCI perks, entertainment, etc. are wonderful. However, I live an hour and a half from the San Pedro pier in southern California. I was part of a really big group that did a weekend on the Paradise (Carnival) last month. I fully expected to enjoy the friends I was with and make the most of it. However, I had a great time and was pleasantly surprised. I really liked the Paradise, especially the cabins that weren't so tiny. On Saturday morning, in Ensenada, I watched with sadness as people got off the Monarch. The sadness was that the left (out) coast wouldn't have that 3 to 4 day cruise for how ever long RCI wants to make it. It's very obvious that we just don't matter. I certainly understand how Orlando feels about loosing the Mariner and it is to our gain. I'm sure they'll miss their Sovereign and will love the Monarch as much as we do here (especially their great crew). I watched the Monarch knowing that RCI has other priorities. Yes, I've heard many different stories about why financially we shouldn't have a 3-4 day ship here but just look at all the ships that take those short trips in Florida. Anyway, the Paradise was very nice, even without my diamond plus goodies. I'm starting to consider other Carnival cruises also. RCI is opening that door. Later. Robin

[Morecruisesplz]

With the boards being full of concerns about changes on RCI I am curious to know how the changes are going to affect YOU, the experienced cruisers on this board. Will you be reconsidering how you vacation in the future or will you take it all in stride and accept it as progress?

quote]

 

I appreciate your post but after voting, I'm wondering what "chages" you are talking about specifically. Lots of things are "talked about" on the boards but I personally put the lobster thing to rest with a post after our recent Grandeur cruise where we had a chance to speak with the Purchasing Agent during a loyalty party. (That post was so positive it disappeared pretty quickly so you might have missed it.)

 

Except for the fuel surcharge which is real, the others have all been proven to be just things that folks have dreamt up to complain about. Or do you have other info we should consider?

[DeepWaterMariner]

We've decided that RCI no longer has the cruise experience we prefer (we are Diamond, nearly Diamond +). Princess is our new favorite cruise line with occasional cruises on Celebrity and HAL.

[carol459]

we did 3 back to backs on Monarch........boy the passangers were all asian from L>A> no english speaking.food was ok then we did Elation from San diego.what a contrast.............all american's speaking english.actually food was better on Elation

got Radiance planned for late feb and Monarch early Feb.then Liberty Carnival in March

 

will see the differences

we are diamond on RCL and Platium on Carnival

heard on our last rcl ta lots of change after March this yr for rcl too many diamond member onboard and perks areas are too small and full

[hklipp]

Hello - We are Diamond Plus also and have seen a slight change in the past few years. We just did the Jewel for Thanksgiving and we felt that the crew was not happy. We understand the fuel charge, and realize it is impacting every industry, so it is just part of travelling.

 

We have been loyal to RCI (with some cruises on Disney for our kids). We are not looking for gifts or perks for our loyalty, we would just like a thanks for coming back again. When a crew member sees the Diamond Plus on our card, they don't need to tell us all the instructions for a 1st time cruiser, just a welcome back would be great.

 

We are going to try the Celebrity Millenium in Feb, so maybe that might be what we are looking for...and it is a sister company.

 

We love the Radiance Class Size ships, but we are trying the Liberty next Nov, so maybe they will be great too.

 

I am an optimist and want to stay loyal to RCI...we'll see.

 

Regarding the poll, I guess we'll wait and see.

[BobBeaSea]

I have only had 5 cruises, all with RCI ('90, '93, '05, '06, '07). It's time for us to move up and try the premium lines - looking at Regent. This is nothing against RCI, they offer a great product for the market they serve. We have always enjoyed our cruises with RCI...it's just time for a change for the next cruise.

[Debde]

will see the differences

we are diamond on RCL and Platium on Carnival

heard on our last rcl ta lots of change after March this yr for rcl too many diamond member onboard and perks areas are too small and full

 

Here is my question and not to change the original reason for the thread.

I have read on other bbs and here the 'overflow', the 'CR is a great perk' and so on.

Then I hear, on certain sailings, there can be 200 plus D and D+ [one one bb I read 400] Doesn't this take away that 'special' feeling to the loyal RC customers.? The CL seem to all be quite small. Don't you think this is a change that is destined as for the amount of customers that can now recieve this benifit?

[Oville]

Here is my question and not to change the original reason for the thread.

I have read on other bbs and here the 'overflow', the 'CR is a great perk' and so on.

Then I hear, on certain sailings, there can be 200 plus D and D+ [one one bb I read 400] Doesn't this take away that 'special' feeling to the loyal RC customers.? The CL seem to all be quite small. Don't you think this is a change that is destined as for the amount of customers that can now recieve this benifit?

 

200 people on the large ship can represent less than 5%. Still a small percentage, but w/4000+ passengers 5% is a sizable group.

[sandy1020]

Just back from a great 12 day X-mas and New Years Holiday sailing on Explorer out of Bayonne. We took all the kids in celebration of our 25th weddng anniversary We loved it My family of five (19 22 and 24 and me and him) had a wonderful time. We are Platinum on RCL-so what? A lot of hype about perks. (coupon books- for example 50% off Ben and Jerry Peace Pops, 15% off second bottle of wine ordered the same time as the first--departure loounge and registration which gold member kids couldn't use- so we couldn't either - who cares??)

I personally would have preferred to have my daily pitcher of water in my room. I was astounded to find out that this "perk" was no longer available and that I would have to order 2 or 3 glasses of water from room service daily or having a standing order for the glasses of water!! (Or I suppose I could have ordered a litre for $3.50 plus 15% gratuity daily!!!)

I personally would have preferred to have had the request for 2 nd seating dinner at a table for the 5 of us respected-instead of the table for 10 at 6 o'clock-- as a Platinum member perk.

Fuel charge -just put it into the price of the cruise!!

However I am happy to report NO Change with the always pleasant staff who worked so hard to keep the passengers happy-truly appreciated by all of us

Major change will be new smoking policy-or non-smoking policy, Long overdue-however I have a question about the continued permission to smoke on the balcony I stopped booking balconies after I had to change my cabin because of smokers on balconies on both sides of mine on the Brilliance in Europe Will smoking also be confined to balconies on one side of the ship?

No change in the follkowing areas. Food was quite good Service was very good Staff was pleasant Ship was clean Gym was quite good Entertaniment was good. Ship was well organized and run.

 

Do I sail other lines? Sure. Would I sail with Rcl again ? Sure. Loyalty and faithfulness? To my spouse only !!! Never to a brand!!!

[pcur]

The recent changes don't bother us at all. We've been through a fuel surcharge with RCCL in the 1970's, and the other changes don't really affect our cruise experience that much.

 

Our plans? We've got two more booked in 2008 and 2009!!!!:D :D :D

[DeepWaterMariner]

On a recent Princess cruise we had to make a special request to have our ice bucket filled. The reason it was stopped, and perhaps the reason the water pitcher isn't filled on RCI, is a preventative measure against Noro virus. Our room steward on Princess filled our ice bucket each day after we made an issue of it.

[rubrrick]

We still enjoy RCCL and it's still hard to beat the price that they charge for the type of cabin that we want. As you can see from my signature, we have tried many different lines, and are not opposed to sailing on almost any of them again. We have not tried the 6 star premium lines, and so far, have not had the desire. When Crystal can give us a 500 plus square foot cabin for what we pay Royal Caribbean or Celebrity, I will definitely give them a try.

 

Rick