How important is brand loyalty for your experience?

I've been on several cruises now, but many of them were group things that I had no control over the planning for, so each was a different line. I'm now looking at choosing my next cruise and I'm trying to decide which line to go with. I have affinity sails now with RCL, CCL, and NCL (coming up) but only 1 or 2 sailings each.

Who knows...I may end up loving NCL so much this fall that I answer my own question--but for the most part RCL and CCL were about the same to me. So--is is better to stick with one line and get to the top of their loyalty level? Are the perks similar across the board or does one brand stand out for rewarding loyalty?

How do you choose? Itinerary...by ship...by brand...by sale price?

I've been on several cruises now, but many of them were group things that I had no control over the planning for, so each was a different line. I'm now looking at choosing my next cruise and I'm trying to decide which line to go with. I have affinity sails now with RCL, CCL, and NCL (coming up) but only 1 or 2 sailings each.

 

Who knows...I may end up loving NCL so much this fall that I answer my own question--but for the most part RCL and CCL were about the same to me. So--is is better to stick with one line and get to the top of their loyalty level? Are the perks similar across the board or does one brand stand out for rewarding loyalty?

 

How do you choose? Itinerary...by ship...by brand...by sale price?

1. Itinerary

2. Cost

3. Cruise line

4. Specific ship

I choose first by itinerary. Is it some place I haven't been, or particularly want to go back to? But sometimes I book when a real bargain comes along, doesn't matter where it is going. Often transportation to the port weighs in. No long flights. EM

Our first and third cruise were with RCI because we could drive to the ship...saving a lot of money...so they were cheaper than another line to those ports. On our second cruise, we looked at the itinerary first, then price...RCI happened to be cheaper than the other options.

For our upcoming cruise, those nights will get us a balcony discount with RCI on future cruises and we want a balcony when we check Alaska off our bucket list. If RCI is the close in price with the discount we will probably choose them.

I guess you could say for us, price and itinerary come first. But if RCI is close in price we will stay with them just for the "benefits". Now, the definition of "close" changes depending on the options we are considering. Just like when we were deciding on our 2017 vacation...we had a land vacation planned but the total cost was within $200 of the cost of the cruise (including a SWAG on excursions) so we chose the cruise. The land vacation will still be there but the sale price on the cruise may not work to our advantage again.

Well, it may seem petty but I'd say we choose line first. We are high up enough now that we get some nice perks. Plus, we absolutely love the RCI/Celebrity product so overall, that is what keeps us coming back. But as you can see from my sig, we have cruised on 4 different lines and do believe in spreading the love around. :p:D

we choose by

1. cruise line (we know what we like)

2)itinerary

3)ship

everyone has different wants & needs

there is not one cruise line that suits all

just pick the one that ticks most of YOUR personal boxes & enjoy

Enjoy Life ...it has an expiry date

we choose by

1. cruise line (we know what we like)

2)itinerary

3)ship

 

everyone has different wants & needs

there is not one cruise line that suits all

 

just pick the one that ticks most of YOUR personal boxes & enjoy

 

 

 

Enjoy Life ...it has an expiry date

Same here.

My favorite line is not running the itinerary I want at the time I need. Struggling with going at a time that doesn't work well, taking a different line or doing it land.

Fortunately, we have found a line that is strong in the things we value and the things which aren't it's strong suit are things we don't care about.

so far it has been relatively important to me. At first I just liked RCCL as the best blend for the money. Now some of the benefits are also somewhat important. I guess most importantly, I haven't run out of locations to try. My next place to look will likely be Celebrity.

My loyalty is to my pocketbook. Price is always my first factor.

Honestly, the only perk that I have (on Carnival) that I would be sad to lose would be the free laundry. That has not stopped me from sailing on a different line when the schedule, itinerary, departure port and cost were right.

We have been cruising since the early 70s and have absolutely no brand loyalty. We think the concept is silly since it simply limits one's options. DW and I love to travel (often out of the country 6+ months a year) and love independent travel. When it comes to cruise lines, we have managed to cruise on 14 different lines (several are no longer in business) and several river cruise lines. Although we do have our favorite lines...this list tends to change over time...since the cruise industry and lines change. For example, at one time RCI was our favorite line (our DD was Diamond before age 16) but now, we have avoided the line for the past 6 years and they are not on our radar for the near future (but this could change).

As to perks for frequent cruisers, having spent more then 3 years on cruise ships we do qualify for decent perks with many lines. That being said, we do not base our booking decisions on those perks. We tend to look at itinerary, time and day of the week in various ports, value, size ship (or boat), expected demographics of fellow cruisers, etc.

Because we do a lot of cruising (70-100+ days a year) we like to mix up the cruise lines to avoid "sameness" in entertainment, cuisine, and amenities. As an example, because of itineraries and pricing we have spent 79 days on HAL (2 cruises) since March. At this point we have grown tired of the HAL Production shows (we have seen some 4 or 5 times) and even their food menus has gotten a bit old (we are adventurous diners and love variety). But HAL's main draw are their fabulous itineraries and longer cruises (we tend to favor cruises that last many weeks or months).

One interesting story is about a couple we met on our most recent HAL cruise. They told us they had grown bored with cruising and planned on cutting back. We asked them which cruise lines they had tried and it turned out they had only cruised on HAL for the past 8 years! When I suggested they might not be so bored if they tried a different cruise line...they seemed shocked and the lady said, "we would never cruise on a different line." Go figure.

Hank

We don't limit ourselves by being brand loyal. At this time in our lives our first criteria is usually timing and budget. Once those two criteria are meant it could be itinerary, embarkation port, and/or ship type. Any ship that meets our criteria gets on our short list no matter what cruise line.

Cost is most important to us also and our goal is to eventually try all of the mainstream lines and maybe even a couple of the premium lines if finances work and life allows.

Big fans of transatlantics so for those it is itinerary and to a certain point dates. We had booked our 3rd on NCL but ended up canceling (before final payment) due to an unexpected job change. :( We were looking forward to comparing NCL to RCCL and HAL but the decision was based on the itinerary not the desire to try something else.

For our Alaska cruise next June it came down to who sails from Seattle so we don't have to fly. Since our 25th anniversary was on HAL we decided the 40th should be too but could just as easily have added loyalty points on RCCL but since we just turned Platinum on last TA we could have also tried Celebrity and gotten 2nd tier status there. Given that HAL is locally based we may accumulate loyalty status with them faster. It will be interesting to compare HAL today with our experiences on RCCL. But itinerary and dates being equal those two will probably be our loyalty focus.

Always itinerary, I love to go to new places. However if Princess is sailing and the price is comparable, I will go with them because of benefits (Elite).

If you get any benefit form being a "repeat" customer, and that's the route you want...go for it! I'm not into spending my vacation dollars for a company's benefit! You shouldn't do that, either!

we choose by

1. cruise line (we know what we like)

2)itinerary

3)ship

 

everyone has different wants & needs

there is not one cruise line that suits all

 

just pick the one that ticks most of YOUR personal boxes & enjoy

 

 

 

Enjoy Life ...it has an expiry date

Amen.

It took us years to find a cruise line that puts it all together in a "best bang for your QUALITY buck." Unless we're taking young granddaughter on a Disney cruise, we really have no need for any other cruise line than Oceania.

Always itinerary, I love to go to new places. However if Princess is sailing and the price is comparable, I will go with them because of benefits (Elite).

So happy you posted :). Lets talk about Elite with Princess (and yes, we have been Elite for them for many years). What benefits really matter? We do like their free internet time, but its not a deal breaker for us. Yes, the laundry benefit is OK...but has little impact unless we are doing a long cruise. And then there are the daily Elite cocktail hours...where you get some OK snacks and save $1 or $2 dollars on a drink. And the free mini-bar is nice, but if we take a 20 day cruise it has little meaning. On the other hand, work your way up on HAL and you will get 50% off wine packages if a 4 Star Mariner (25% off if 3 Star). Or you can become Elite on Celebrity and get a daily 2 hour cocktail party (with free drinks) or 3 free drinks per person/day if there are too many Elites to have the party. And then there is RCI with their Diamond Lounge! We could go on and on. Bottom line is that these benefits really are not that important (financially) but many folks put those benefits in a class way beyond their real benefit.

Perhaps the best benefit for us is on Princess (Elite) and HAL (4 Star Mariners) where we essentially get free unlimited laundry/dry cleaning. This does not matter on a 7 or 10 day cruise. But when we are on a 60 day cruise that free laundry really makes a difference :).

But we can honestly say that in over 100 cruises...those perks have never been a decision maker. If we are spending $20,000 on a cruise we are not going to let $200 of internet time be a deal maker. HAL does not give us any free internet (its a sore point) even though we have over 470 days on the line. On the other hand, we can usually get at least $200 from AMEX any time we book on HAL...which pays for some internet. And our recent discovery of the joys of T-Mobile (works all over the world at no additional cost) has suddenly made the lousy ship internet very unimportant.

We will agree with you that if all things are equal...it makes sense to go with whoever has the best price. On the other hand, we have never found 2 cruise lines where "all things are equal." There are always significant differences.

Hank

While there are some lines we prefer, we go primarily by itinerary. There is no point in picking third or fourth choice just because you might get free laundry, or a slightly lower fare. When evaluated realistically, the perks given frequent cruisers are not really worth a whole lot - sure, it's nice to get a benefit, but not at the cost of going someplace you do not really want, or at a time that is not the most convenient.

I choose by itinerary first, and since we pretty much do cruises that are each somewhat different, at this point I have been able to find what we want with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Having Diamond status on Royal and Elite on Celebrity we haven't really looked much at other cruise lines. I have booked two cruises on Princess in the past and ended up canceling both because I found itineraries we liked better on Celebrity.

We may take a look at MSC sometime since they are recognizing RC & X status.

I look for a cruise that suits me.

Time

Price

Itinerary.

Then I consider the line, some lines Inam unlikely to ever sail with again.

Yes at the moment Princess and Celebrity are my first picks, but I have cruises book with Cunard and NCL that will be my first with each. Those lines I am yet to sample I am willing to try, but if all is equal I will go with the lines I already know and like, it is when they have nothing that takes my fancy that I will look at the other options, hey that's how I tried Cekebrity the first time.

There are a few lines I'd like to try, Silverseas, Azamara, Ociana Spring to mind, but never seem to have anything that fits our needs.

We have zero brand loyalty. Itinerary is first followed by a bunch of things with brand loyalty dead last. Just my opinion but perks are a vastly overrated factor.

DON

We have zero brand loyalty. Itinerary is first followed by a bunch of things with brand loyalty dead last. Just my opinion but perks are a vastly overrated factor.

 

DON

We would get along :). Could not agree more.

Hank

The brand of ship is not very important to us. Yes, we like some lines better than others, but not enough that it would influence us on a cruise choice.

It's pretty much a toss-up between itinerary and cost for us; we do sail the Caribbean more than we'd like just because it's warm in winter and fairly easy and to get to and relatively cheap.

We like the Caribbean, but after many cruises there it gets a little old.

We choose by brand -- actually, by ship -- since we look to travel on ships with not a whole lot more than 2000 pax, and that is not easy to do on itineraries we are in a position to choose -- which at the moment exclude Asia, Australia, etc. where a lot of lines have moved their older, smaller ships. We also want to try different cruise lines to see how we like them. No loyalty perks, yet, of course, after 4 cruises on 4 different lines (Celebrity, Carnival, HAL, Princess).

We care less about the ports the ship goes to than the ship itself, and we love sea days. I'd love to be able to do some repos, just to be at sea for days on end. But then price comes into play, with one-way airfare.

So we take a lot of factors into consideration. We love HAL for ship size and design and onboard ambiance, so I think that is where our loyalty may eventually rest. But I'm curious to try Norwegian, MSC, Costa, one of the smaller Princess ships, Azamara, Oceania, Viking Ocean... and the list goes on...

30 years of cruising, over 50 cruises we have lost count, on 9 different lines... for now we have narrowed our preferences down to Princess, Holland America, Cunard... from those 3 lines, we usually find a cruise we like.