Would loyal hal fans sail on rci if price was right?

[Chelly]

Given similar ports of call, would HAL fans take a RCI cruise if the price was right? Or, would you stay loyal to HAL because you believe it is a superior cruise experience?

[ldog]

Never say never. We are fairly loyal to HAL as they sail where we want to go but if we'd consider another line if the itinerary and price fit.

[sassyredhat]

Cruising RCCL for the first time in Sept. Rock bottom price, and a chance to sail Radiance class.

 

Still love my HAL though.

 

Pat

[BalconyBumz]

Cruising RCCL for the first time in Sept. Rock bottom price, and a chance to sail Radiance class.

 

Still love my HAL though.

 

Pat

 

Radiance class is beautiful. You will love it.

[PCruzer]

Would never even consider sailing RCI. Maybe Celebrity. Maybe Princess. But never RCI! Ships are too big & carry too many passengers.

[Two@Sea]

We have friends who only sail on RCI, and are at the 'free cocktail hour' level with that line. They have asked us to join them, and I am running out of excuses... :rolleyes:

 

We have thought of trying a short RCI cruise just to see what they like so much, but the price would have to be significantly lower that what we are seeing so far before they could truly entice us.

[kyriecat]

Would never even consider sailing RCI. Maybe Celebrity. Maybe Princess. But never RCI! Ships are too big & carry too many passengers.

This is true for the "newer" ships which are designed around the family cruisers - lots of family friendly things like ice skating, rock climbing, kid lounges, malls, etc. However, the Radiance class, which is my personal favorite ship type, does not have all the kid-friendly things. There's no Johnny Rockets, ice skating, or malls. There is a separate adult pool and spa area and the decor is designed to bring your focus on the sea outside. There is a glass wall with elevators that extends 6 decks to bring in daylight and views of the ocean. The size and passenger capacity is approximately the same as Eurodam.

[AAL]

We have cruised with both RCI and HAL. I prefer HAL -- IMO, the food is better and HAL passengers are more to my liking -- quieter and more courteous to one another.

 

However, I would cruise on a Radiance class ship if it left from a convenient port and the price was right. I will probably never cruise on a mega-ship.

[sail7seas]

No........ we sailed RCI once and knew immediately that is not the right cruise line for us. We never returned and have no plans to.

 

The only way I would dream of ever cruising them again would be a most unusual circumstance of a large group of friends with whom we wanted to vacation and they all wanted a cruise on RCI. But that wouldn't happen as most of our friends wouldn't choose that line. :)

[vjw1218]

Yes, absolutely.

 

It's always fun to try something once. RCI has more on-board activities, etc., so if it was a cruise with several "sea" days, it might be more fun than HAL.

[Penton]

With 14 RCI cruises and 4 HAL cruises behind me I would agree with other posters who say they like the Radiance class RCI ships. There are good things about both cruise lines - they are just different. I believe so much depends on the itinerary, length of cruise and time of the year. Having just returned from a Caribbean cruise on the Eurodam I rate this ship highly but have also had wonderful experiences on a RCI Alaska cruise and a Southern Caribbean cruise - both on Serenade of the Seas - a Radiance Class ship.

[jhannah]

No, I wouldn't be interested. I agree that one should never say never; but at this point it would have to be a giveaway to even get my attention. And as bepsf can tell you, giveaways are often not worth the coupon they're printed on!

[KimberleyFL]

We've had some nice cruises on RCCL in the past 10 years, but we sailed RCCL last year and will NEVER sail them again. Food and service were horrible (not picky eaters either) and Lido was a mess at all times. The captain kept announcing their rules over and over and announced when they kicked people off the ship in port for drinking. Just was not pleasant to hear that over and over. I felt like a kid in a reform school for bad kids or something. I was never that happy to finally get the cruise over with so I can go home (usually have to be carried off kicking and screaming :D)

[Route6A]

RCI ships are more lively, and the passenger demographic younger. The suite fares are often much lower than HAL, so we sometimes sail with RCI, using their excellent alternative restaurants frequently. It's a much different experience, but can be fun if you find ways to adjust and choose only suites.

 

I am looking for an RCI cruise now, because the SA suites we love on HAL are quite expensive, and we are cutting back on travel costs. We always sail on the small RCI ships and never in the summer or at school break time. I do think, however, that many loyal HAL passengers might fine RCI less to their liking.

[LMB01]

We were long time RCCL cruisers who made the switch to HAL last fall. To echo what others have said, their Radiance class ships are the best. However, they are aging and can easily fill with kids on the "shorter" (week long) cruises. After our first HAL cruise last fall, we did a "things we like about each line" analysis and decided to book HAL for our next cruise in March. The poster that mentioned the abundance of announcements on RCCL is right - we really enjoyed the lack of those on our HAL cruise. RCCL is heavily marketing to families which is a turn off for us. We do like the suites on RCCL better and the specialty restuarants but we felt the MDR and Lido foods and presentation of such were much better on HAL than RCCL. We haven't said we won't go back to RCCL - a longer cruise on a Radiance class ship that has been through a dry dock "refresh" is entirely possible. I can't comment on activities and entertainment between the two lines as we are not typical cruisers in that we don't participate in much of either.

[fcorey]

Given similar ports of call, would HAL fans take a RCI cruise if the price was right? Or, would you stay loyal to HAL because you believe it is a superior cruise experience?

 

I'll try anything once..... but I wouldnt want to go on one of their new floating cites...I think that would just be too large. But I would consider trying Carnival again, and really look forward to trying Celebrity and Cunard some day... :)

[Ivystone]

I took a cruise on Adventure of the Seas last February and there were positives and negatives. The worst part was the food, so that's what ultimately made up my mind not to cruise on that line again. Also, I was turned off by the Windjammer (buffet) because there were so many sick people who would just hack into their hands and then grab the buffet utensils. Gross! There were no sanitation products onboard.

 

However, there were also positives. The ship was gorgeous and there were a lot of activities. The bartenders were quite good and the casino was lively. I don't know if it was the time that we went (late Feb.), but there were barely any kids (we took our then 4 year old daughter). The age demographic was mainly people in their 50's, but there were also people in their 70's and 80's. I don't recall that there were any drunken antics or people being kicked off the ship. I thought that all the people we met were quite nice and the staff were very good. I don't recall many announcements, either, and we never had a problem finding chairs by the pool:).

 

But that being said, I just can't get by the food issue, so I wouldn't cruise that line again. I always look at the reviews and many of them say positive things about the food, so maybe it's just me :D.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Very Doubtful...We have done 2 RCL cruises and while both were the same ship and a older one at that I have no desire to go back. Was not the least bit impressed with the quality of their food. Plus I have rarely ever seen any bargains on their larger/higher category cabins but then I do not look at them very often either. Now I would consider Princess and Cunard and a maybe to Celebrity but probably not ever go back to RCL but then like someone else said Never Say Never :D

[wander]

For a cruise of 7 days or less with friends - certainly would. While I am a long time HAL fan, our short cruise on RCL with about 20 friends was a blast. For more than a week, even with friends I would stick with HAL. Since most of our cruises are over 30 days, doubt I will be back to RCL in the near future. By then I might be too old to enjoy the much more up-beat pace. Even now I could only deal with it for a week.

[Atomica]

I just got back from the Grandeur of the Seas on Saturday, and had a blast. The ship was beautiful and had enormous glass windows that let in impressive views of the ocean from every public room. I found the food to be good to very good, and actually liked the buffet better on RCI than HAL - more variety and better design. No lines and plenty of seating available.

 

It is a different experience than HAL - RCI is certainly a more active line, and if you're not put off by that, it's worth a try. I found there were a lot of areas where they matched HAL quite nicely, particularly in terms of live entertainment - there was always live music being performed in a number of bars and lounges, as well as the atrium itself.

 

I would sail on any of their Vision or Radiance class ships. I'm not sold on the Voyager or Freedom class - we docked next to the Independance of the Seas in Cozumel. The size of the ship doesn't put me off so much as the fact it looks more like a shopping mall than a ship, but, never say never. I WILL say never to the Oasis of the Seas, but as long as RCI has the Vision & Radiance ships, I'll happily sail them.

 

In the end, it's up to you - you'll know better than anyone else what you like. I've sailed on HAL, Princess, Cunard, and NCL and have yet to have a bad cruise - I guess that means I like variety :)

[Rutland Gate]

No.

[marle7]

No.

 

That would be my answer.:D We are one cruise away from D+ on RCCL and will never sail with them again.

[Chelly]

Thanks for your informed responses. It has been ages since I sailed on RCI. Life on board apparently hasn't changed for the better. I am recently retired and these days demographics are important, I think.

[BernardNL]

Yes, I will be boarding the Brilliance of the seas in four weeks from now. I have never cruised any other line then Holland America Line, but this was such a great bargain I just couldn't resist. I've read some reviews of the Brilliance and it seems to me that this class of ships are the best in the RCI fleet. Looking forward to it but still a little bit scared though. Cheers, BB

[geoherb]

We sailed on three Royal Caribbean cruises back in the 1990s and had a great time. Since then, we've stuck to Celebrity, Princess, and HAL. In looking at cruises for Christmas last year, one of the ones I was interested in was the Jewel of the Seas. I wouldn't have looked at any of their larger ships.