Loyal X cruisers try RCCL - LONG review

[Sky Sweet]

Hi SkySweet,

 

It can also refer to social skills and how one chooses to conduct oneself in public. The language one uses, the way one interacts with fellow pax, one's respect or lack thereof for another's person and/or property, one's general appearance, one's interaction with staff and crew, one's manner of dress (having nothing whatsoever to do with how one dresses on formal night!), as well as one's manners and overall demeanor, are all clearly indicators of the level of one's social skills - all of which, IMHO, are legitimate calls with respect to socio-economic differences between what we noticed on FOS compared to pax demographics on our many X cruises. I think you'll agree that not everything boils down to a matter of dollars and cents.

 

Hi Lysolgn :)

 

My only recent experience with Royal Caribbean was on our cruise from Barcelona to the Greek Isles and Turkey on RCCL's Brilliance of the Seas in June. I did not observe any obvious differences in demographics between the passengers we met on that cruise and our Celebrity Cruises.

 

Most of the passengers I met on that RCCL cruise appeared to be relatively sophisticated people with excellent social skills, who carried themselves with dignity.

 

However, I realize that a cruise on a Radiance Class ship in Europe, during prime season for that itinerary, is very different than a Caribbean Cruise during the summer on a Freedom Class ship.

[lysolqn]

Hi SkySweet,

 

I don't doubt one bit that your experience on Brilliance was different than ours on FOS, but pax demographics on Freedom were noticeably different than what we've come across on 30+ X cruises - and, it wasn't at all necessary to examine financials to know that included socio-economic differences.

[FinelyCruising]

I hear in my head Celine Dion singing a song from a really big movie about a ship (it sunk) with passengers who had a scripted dialog that sounded just like what I am reading here....:D

[lysolqn]

I hear in my head Celine Dion singing a song from a really big movie about a ship (it sunk) with passengers who had a scripted dialog that sounded just like what I am reading here....:D

 

Perhaps you're being just a bit unfair! How about we simply agree to disagree?

[Shak]

Sweet Sky I have sailed Radiance Class ships in Europe and the Caribbean and I am not sure I get your point. While the cruises were different, I sailed with great people on both.

 

Shak

[Sky Sweet]

Sweet Sky I have sailed Radiance Class ships in Europe and the Caribbean and I am not sure I get your point. While the cruises were different, I sailed with great people on both.

 

Shak

 

Hi Shak :)

 

To answer your question, this was my point.

 

The OP has verbalized that the demographics on her recent Freedom of the Seas Cruise was very different than her Celebrity cruises, and also stated that people who sail on Royal Caribbean are very different than people who sail on Celebrity.

 

Based on our recent experience on Brilliance of the Seas in Europe, I do not feel the same way because I did not observe any obvious differences between the type of people I met on that cruise vs Celebrity. My husband and I have been very lucky because we meet wonderful people on all of our cruises.

 

However, since that was my only recent cruise on Royal Caribbean, I have no idea what it is like to be on a Freedom class ship in the Caribbean.

 

In other words, my experience on Royal Caribbean was very different than hers but I don't know if that is due to variances in our perception of people, or variances in the sizes of the ships and itineraries.

 

I hope I have answered your question.

[Shak]

I really must have been fortunate. I have sailed the Caribbean on 2 Celebrity cruises, all classes of ships from Voyager class and below on RCCL, Princess, and NCL. On all trips I have sailed with wonderful people and had superb time each cruise. My favorite cruise of all of them was a 50’s/60’s theme cruise on the NCL Norway.

Shak

[lysolqn]

The OP has verbalized that the demographics on her recent Freedom of the Seas Cruise was very different than her Celebrity cruises, and also stated that people who sail on Royal Caribbean are very different than people who sail on Celebrity.

 

Hi SkySweet,

 

I'm afraid you've misquoted me. I never said people who sail on Royal Caribbean are very different from people who sail on Celebrity. What I did say is that based on our experience and what we observed on our specific cruise on FOS two weeks ago, pax demographics were far more diverse than compared to any we've encountered on 30+ cruises on X. I never made a sweeping generalization cruise line to cruise line, nor did I pass judgment; I simply noted a difference. I also noted that the difference we observed may have been unique and/or attributable to a host of variables or none at all.

[Sky Sweet]

Hi SkySweet,

 

I'm afraid you've misquoted me. I never said people who sail on Royal Caribbean are very different from people who sail on Celebrity. What I did say is that based on our experience and what we observed on our specific cruise on FOS two weeks ago, pax demographics were far more diverse than compared to any we've encountered on 30+ cruises on X. I never made a sweeping generalization cruise line to cruise line, nor did I pass judgment; I simply noted a difference. I also noted that the difference we observed may have been unique and/or attributable to a host of variables or none at all.

 

Hi lysolgn :)

 

It appears that I misunderstood your post and I would like to apologize for that.

[lysolqn]

Hi lysolgn :)

 

It appears that I misunderstood your post and I would like to apologize for that.

 

Thank you, but no harm done and no apology necessary...I just wanted to be sure I made myself understood.

[chrissycat2]

This review really put my mind at ease...thanks for taking the time to post it. We were torn between the Freedom and The Solstice and we booked the Solstice for January! Freedom still looks like a fun ship.

[lysolqn]

This review really put my mind at ease...thanks for taking the time to post it. We were torn between the Freedom and The Solstice and we booked the Solstice for January! Freedom still looks like a fun ship.

 

It will be interesting to see if X's Solstice class will remain true to the X brand as we know it, or if it will move off in a new direction.