What keeps you sailing with Royal?

I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but when we look at some of the prices I don't know if I could pay some of the prices. Don't get me wrong my DW and I really want to sail Royal but some of the ships are just enormous. Why when I look at Royal and the prices, I think of Carnival. I know there not glamorous but what if that's all some people can afford, there MDR is excellent, Guys Burgers is addicting. Anybody else have thoughts on this? Don't get me wrong I have nothing against Royal or anyone who decides to cruise with them.

My cruises are based on price. We sailed ROyal once in 2002 on the VOyager and kept doing Carnival over the years. But now its the same ole same and looking for something different.

Last cruise on carnival I paid 1800 for 3 people in a balcony for 7 days,

Royal gets 1500 for 2 people in an inside cabin. but change is good.

We won't pay the high prices either. Virtually all of the cruises we have coming up were booked either before the BOGOHoax started, or during the first 2 weeks of May 2014, when they really did have some deals. If we see a price we're comfortable with, we book it, but that is getting rare.

We won't pay the high prices either. Virtually all of the cruises we have coming up were booked either before the BOGOHoax started, or during the first 2 weeks of May 2014, when they really did have some deals. If we see a price we're comfortable with, we book it, but that is getting rare.

We loved Explorer. No interest in Quantum. Liberty is coming to NJ but prices are beyond comprehension. You should look at NCL for a fresh perspective, or try X where your perks with RCI still get you something. I don't know what this new management team is thinking, it's like they want all the loyal to Royals to leave.

We won't pay the high prices either. Virtually all of the cruises we have coming up were booked either before the BOGOHoax started, or during the first 2 weeks of May 2014, when they really did have some deals. If we see a price we're comfortable with, we book it, but that is getting rare.

BOGOHoax :p

My husband says "Golden handcuffs". :o We have about $800 in OBC from our Royal Visa. Unless there is that amount difference on one of Carnival or NCL newer ships, we are staying for this cruise. (And right now there is not) We are switching cards after it. When I first started researching cruises, NCL was getting slaughtered in reviews and we had previously tried Carnival. I wanted our first cruise, since kids were little to be the best that we could. It was. Now I am not sure that it is the best value..... But then again, it is Monday morning & I am looking at mountains of laundry, maybe I am just grumpy! :D

We loved Explorer. No interest in Quantum. Liberty is coming to NJ but prices are beyond comprehension. You should look at NCL for a fresh perspective, or try X where your perks with RCI still get you something. I don't know what this new management team is thinking, it's like they want all the loyal to Royals to leave.

I agree, and we are actively looking at other cruise lines now.

In the past, it was the excellent service and a product we could count on for consistency. We knew what to expect and what we would be paying for a vacation that was guaranteed to make us VERY happy. We are all D and are not that far from D+, but we've never booked to reach a "status" with the cruise line, although the incentives of reaching D was certainly a reason we continued to book with them. We have a cruise booked for June that we got a decent price for almost a year ago. We will most likely be taking a break from Royal after this cruise because of the increased pricing, lack of advantages afforded to long time cruisers loyal to Royal. We've cruised exclusively with Royal, but will be looking for a new adventure on a different cruise line in the future. :(

It's been a good value for us, even during peak times, but I think they are reaching the point, for me, where I just will not spend a lot of money for the cabin anymore. I think you can still find value if you are careful in your choices.

People are all 'why don't you leave if you don't like it!' but it's not black and white that way. Loyalty customers won't just leave, but they will cut back in different ways. Booking after final, buying less drinks onboard, just purchasing less, are stopgaps before someones says, 'ok I'm done'.

I think Royal has to see an actual decline in bookings before they reconsider some of their schemes. Bogoho and drink packages seem to be working in the short term so we'll see.

We're trying Princess for our next cruise. Rising costs and lower standards have caused us to look at other lines.

I like that you can get a Guys burger and not have to pay for it, water slides, great service and I guess most important when I'm off of work for a week.

Nothing keeps me sailing RCCL. I am not loyal to any one cruise line. It just so happens that most of my last 5 or 6 cruises were on RCCL. Before that we did a bunch of Princess cruises, but interspersed among both the RCCL and Princess cruises were several Disney and Carnival cruises.

While price is part of the equation, but also which cruise lines have which ships at which departure port during a part of the year when we want to do a cruise. Size of the ship doesn't matter, however there are certain class of ships that I don't like. While I love the Brillance and also the Freedom Class, I really don't like the Voyager class. Freedom class is just a jumbo sized version of the Voyager class, I just don't like the Voyager class.

Our upcoming cruise is on the Oasis. Why the Oasis, because we have never been on that class of ship, and wanted to see what it is like.

We cruise on Royal because we have a good time onboard. DH seems to find good prices, then couples it with rewards we receive from credit cards to further reduce the cost. Generally we have some OBC's as well, to reduce the onboard spending out of our pocket.

But it is the FUN we have onboard. I have spoken to friends and relatives about what they did on other ships and it just isn't enough for me. I am not a reader, so finding a comfortable spot with a book, won't make me happy -- for me 20-30 minutes of that on a sea day is more than I can do. My SIL described her evening activities on Caribbean Princess as after 10pm, the ship was mostly 'quiet' -- I guess that is better than using 'dead' -- for us, NOT GOOD.

Price is always a consideration, but FUN is a must.

Food I will find on any ship. I am sure there are people that find food on other cruise lines as disappointing as many of them find it here on the Royal board -- food is simply a very subjective issue.

When you look at the huge ships, entertainments venues on them, I'm not surprised at the pricing going skyward.

My situation is different as I don't do Caribbean or short cruises (short is 10 days for me) and sailing single, I've always paid high prices. I want to cruise to certain places and I know to get there, I will have to pay.

An interesting fact, I paid over twice as much for 25 days on the Emerald Princess last year (Canary Islands then a transatlantic) as a 25 day Med plus transatlantic on the Vision this year. I realize Vision being an older ship probably kept the price lower.

Next year I will be back with Princess doing a Baltic plus TA and it is very, very pricey.

Yah we can't get any cruiselines visa, because we live in Canada. I'm disappointed that Royal pulled out of NO. If we book Royal it will probably be out of San Juan, we just like the intenary. We're looking at next April and Freedom is like 1100 for an inside room.

I live 45 minutes from Port Canaveral so my choices are Royal, Carnival, Disney, or drive/fly somewhere else. I like Royal's atmosphere better than Carnival's, and Disney is too expensive. I'd drive to Miami, FLL or Tampa if the price and/or itinerary was worth it, but so far I haven't seen anything that tempted me. It's tough to convince myself to fly somewhere for a cruise when I live within 3 hours of 4 cruise ports - 5, if you count Jacksonville. Having said that, in July DH and I are flying to England for a Norway/Iceland cruise, but that's Special......

So I'm not a Royal cheerleader, they just happen to usually work out to be the best choice for me.

Our closest airport is Toronto or Buffalo

I'm new, but with a similar story. I, interestingly enough, bought my first cruise, an Explorer romp through Bermuda and the Caribbean, at the beginning of last May ( what apparently someone in Royal Caribbean's pricing department lost their mind, and quite possibly their job).

My second was the Quantum (non) inaugural Bahamas Thanksgiving, where I judged the extreme pricing to be the price of playing with Royal's new toy, in the cruise fit my kid's school schedule.

We have enjoyed both Royal immensely, Explorer without qualification, and the ship Quantum, as the crew was still ironing out some kinks (to give them the benefit of the doubt). Quantum is dazzling enough to overcome plenty of shortcomings in other areas.

What got us was Royal's reputation as a good line for families with tweens/teens and an itinerary and pricing that fit our schedule and budget.

What hooked us was the Explorer and her crew - the range of onboard activities, the attention to detail in all things (from stateroom attendant to MDR waiters), the entertainment (including the antics of Leigh and Erky), and the wonderful (though rushed) tropical port visits.

Our third Royal sojourn, Freedom, is approaching final payment and I am actively monitoring all the lines pricing and itineraries in the same time frame. The remarks about freedom have been overwhelmingly positive and my hopes are high that freedom will deliver a WOW.

That being said, I believe cruise four will be a broader exploration of what the industry has to offer and could either open our eyes to a world of new possibilies or leave us running back to Royal screaming, "never get out of the boat, never get out of the boat!"

I think the days of people cruising exclusively with Royal are probably coming to an end. You only have to look at the comments to see that for some people at least, Royal have lost the right to automatic return business. The "Loyal to Royal, regardless of how much they rip us off" customers are perhaps becoming the minority.

We will always consider Royal, among others, when booking our cruises, because we love the ships, but in recent times we have chosen to go where we are getting a better experience for the money paid, and better customer service. We might come back if they become attractive to us again.

Do you think the prices have gone up because of Quantem, Oasis, than do they put more for fee things than complintary

After this summer's Baltic cruise, we are looking at other lines. We are D+ and enjoy the perks, but the decline in service over the years is reaching a tipping point for us. We cruise for the atmosphere of higher service compared to the service we receive on land at restaurants and hotels. That difference has disappeared. Even the specialty venues are loud, and the service / food is what used to be standard in the MDR. Somewhere our expectations and Royal's standards passed in the night. Royal's theme park at sea business model isn't what we want. Time for us to move on.

I agree, and we are actively looking at other cruise lines now.

I am in the same boat, and most of all of my good priced cruises are almost all done, and I am struggling to find a liveable price for a September b-day cruise this year! I watched Adventure price for Sept. 2016 go up by $200. I am pretty sure the Platinum discount doesn't exist anymore due to website upgrade. It is getting annoying to have a rep call, but yet no extra good price coming! Why bother following up! I tried to book on ship but watched LA miss 5 people as they were too busy to talk to personal.

After just getting off Liberty, and I was beyond not impressed at all with the food, and so discouraged by more food option spaces; yet it really was pretty much the same stuff throughout. Maybe it had to do at night that I was at WJ closing, but lunch was equally hard! Never saw 1 MDR entree up at WJ. JMO. The frozen drinks were colder then the ice cream at Ben Jerry's[emoji32]! Again JMO!

I am starting to look at options and holding hope that a b2b on Brilliance will renew my faith in Royal. If not I will get to Diamond and then not step foot! That bites! Oh well! By the way did internet and laundry disappear off higher tiers?

I just have the feeling that if I don't get to Diamond fast that more stuff is getting readjusted for the less! Oh happy day! Why do they have to play with stuff!

I, interestingly enough, bought my first cruise, an Explorer romp through Bermuda and the Caribbean, at the beginning of last May ( what apparently someone in Royal Caribbean's pricing department lost their mind, and quite possibly their job).

Yeah I think if we all knew what was going to happen we would have booked more during that initial bogo sale. Hasn't been the same since.

After just getting off Liberty, and I was beyond not impressed at all with the food, and so discouraged by more food option spaces; yet it really was pretty much the same stuff throughout. Maybe it had to do at night that I was at WJ closing, but lunch was equally hard! Never saw 1 MDR entree up at WJ. JMO.

What do you mean about the MDR entree in WJ? Do you mean for dinner? What were they serving? I know lunch is a bit lame.

We haven't booked a new cruise with Royal since the BOGO promotions started about a year ago. At current pricing, we don't have any plans to book either. Royal's higher cruise fares combined with their new higher drink and gratuity prices have us looking elsewhere. Not just at other cruise lines, but other vacations options too.

After our next cruise on Oasis we will be Diamond and we are looking at Celebrity Solstice class for a transatlantic next year where we will receive Elite benefits. Celebrity TA's are priced much lower than Royals and I've been wanting to check out the Solstice class ships for a while now.