Same Old, Same Old: Why We Just Canceled Three Upcoming Oasis-Class Cruises

[lrn2cruise]

Wow! I find your comments interesting OP. Most of us do not have the same luxury of cruising over and over like that.

 

My question to you is why not take your cash flow and vacation else where? If I had your cash flow, I would head to ST John for a week or St Martin. Playa Del Carmen has great resorts with high rates on tripadvisor.

 

RCI cant just change things just because. I have yet to be on the Oasis Class. For Middle working class, it will take an extra 5000+ cash flow. We dont go ino debt either. If we do not have the cash, we dont go

 

Anyway, I am sorry that you are bored with things. I say mix things up in your life a bit

[Jan_In_Maine]

We haven't been on a lot of cruises - but it always seems that we have Earl Turner on each cruise (different ships) for the headliner! He's good, but would like to see a change or two. We have a b2b on Oasis in 2013 - and perhaps Allure in 2014 - then I think we will probably mix things up after that. Jan

[lrn2cruise]

OP, be thankful that you can cruise 7 times on this ship in the last 18 months. Many people don't have that capability - time and resource.

 

 

 

I say AMEN to this!

[RLM77]

Rich, I understand what you are saying but that is why we spread our vacations out and try to do other things in addition to cruising.

 

We typically cruise 1 or 2 times a year (a little more than that recently) and try different ships and itinerary's as much as possible. Our last 5 cruises over the past two years were as follows: Explorer 11 night southern Carib, Carnival Dream 7 night western Carib, Jewell 14 night TA London to Boston, Navigator 14 night TA Rome to FLL, Independence, 6 night eastern carib.

 

I agree with many of your items and hope that changes do occur, the shows and food are the same on many of RCL's ships but we have got around that by doing other things on board. You may want to try different cruises on different ships and cruise less frequently and you may not get bored. We haven't anyway.

 

Mike

 

Mike, what I failed to mention is that Marlee suffers from Secondary-Progressive MS and is unable to walk more than a few steps at a time. While there certainly are other vacations that would work, cruising is ideal for those who are mobility-limited. So our vacations are almost exclusively cruises.

 

I completely understand your point, though. If both of us were healthy we would no doubt cruise much less frequently and would mix in more land vacations.

[sleepless]

Wow - I am speechless.

[grand isle joe]

Try a land tour, river cruise, or another type of vacation. Even Princess repeats their entertainment. But variety is nice. Hope you have a wonderful cruise.:)

[Scotty G]

Mike, what I failed to mention is that Marlee suffers from Secondary-Progressive MS and is unable to walk more than a few steps at a time. While there certainly are other vacations that would work, cruising is ideal for those who are mobility-limited. So our vacations are almost exclusively cruises.

 

I completely understand your point, though. If both of us were healthy we would no doubt cruise much less frequently and would mix in more land vacations.

Thanks for clarifying. DW also has MS and that is the primary reason we are cruising exclusively out of Florida these days. We are glad that you all are able to do what you are doing!

[johneeo]

We stepped off of Allure of the Seas last weekend, completing our seventh cruise on Oasis-class (1 Oasis, 6 Allure) over the last 18 months.

Rich

 

And you are complaining because RCI has not changed the entertainment?

 

7 cruises in 18 months.

 

I suggest you try some other ship or cruise line.

[karen s]

Mike, what I failed to mention is that Marlee suffers from Secondary-Progressive MS and is unable to walk more than a few steps at a time. While there certainly are other vacations that would work, cruising is ideal for those who are mobility-limited. So our vacations are almost exclusively cruises.

 

I completely understand your point, though. If both of us were healthy we would no doubt cruise much less frequently and would mix in more land vacations.

 

If your vacation options are limited...is that RCI's fault?? Sorry, but if you had began your "complaint" with that, you may have gotten a completely different reaction from posters. Nonetheless...they can't cater to the 1% that can cruise as often as you are able. What's next...Occupy RCI? :p

[mation101]

Makes me think of a saying I learned in High School

 

 

"If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got"

 

If you want something different you have to do something different.

[read52]

Mike, what I failed to mention is that Marlee suffers from Secondary-Progressive MS and is unable to walk more than a few steps at a time. While there certainly are other vacations that would work, cruising is ideal for those who are mobility-limited. So our vacations are almost exclusively cruises.

 

I completely understand your point, though. If both of us were healthy we would no doubt cruise much less frequently and would mix in more land vacations.

 

 

I see your point about health and cruising. My husband got viral encephelitis from shingles about 7 years ago. Then one year later, he had prostate cancer. When things settled down about one year later we won free airline tickets. We had not been on a vacation in years because we were putting our kids through school. We went on a cruise and were hooked. In 4 years we went on 8 cruises. My husband still experiences seizures and gets tired easily. So cruising is the best. He can rest if he needs to, food is always ready (or room service)and the entertainment is there. A doctor is always near if needed (we have never needed to see one on board). Enjoy more cruising by doing other ships and ports.

[read52]

We agree also... RCCL needs to change things up a little. We have cruised the same ships and also find that not much has changed since the last time we were on it. Even some of the crew members remember us. We do like driving to the port of Baltimore which is only a 6 hour drive for us. This is why we keep taking the same cruise and ships over and over. for the convenience of it. However, I have been checking into other cruises from different ports which would add about another 2 hour drive. Hoping to find something different next time.

I heard that RCCl is bringing in a new ship starting next May to Baltimore....hope they bring new entertainment along with it. Other than that...no complaints. they just need to change things up a little....

 

 

The new and revised Grandeur is coming.

[bplazo]

I am glad that the ac shuts off when you open your balcony door.

[marci22]

This is a nice problem to have. I see your point: it's too bad they can't change up some of the lesser entertainment options, but again, they are basing their options on the 'average cruiser', and that is not you.

 

I limit our cruises to 1-2 per year. I find that my teens don't appreciate it as much if we do cruises close together. Some people may view you as being ungrateful but I don't; it's just another perspective. And it's valid.

[dappledumpling]

I kinda see the OP's point but I have found as I cruise more often my cruising style has changed. I will go on 5 cruises this year (3 were on the same ship at one month intervals)

and I have discovered that me for me it is not about the food or entertainment.. I think I have been to 2 or 3 shows on the ship this year. For me it is about relaxing and spending time with my spouse.

Everyones is at the shows(been there done that), time to enjoy the solarium or pool (oh solitude)

Dancing or casino next or maybe a quiet corner to enjoy a drink and read a book.

 

I could see where some might get bored but for me I like it..

 

Rick

[RLM77]

If your vacation options are limited...is that RCI's fault?? Sorry, but if you had began your "complaint" with that, you may have gotten a completely different reaction from posters. Nonetheless...they can't cater to the 1% that can cruise as often as you are able. What's next...Occupy RCI? :p

Okay, I can now see how this must look to some of you. I can only say that appearances are sometimes deceiving. We are not part of the 1%, nor even the 20%. I'm a middle manager in a support department. Hardly the ticket to mega-wealth. But we made one early life decision -- no children -- for completely non-financial reasons that allowed us more discretionary funds. We never considered that at the time; it just happened.

 

We've made some other, more deliberate decisions to provide more financial flexibility. We manage with one car and public transportation. We've lived in the same house our entire married life (25 years). We spend very little on restaurants & entertainment while not at sea. Most of our cruises are during low or shoulder season when rates are lower. We drive 2-3 hours to "nearby" airports to save on airfare. All I can say is that planning and discipline sometimes pay off.

 

I've worked for the same company for over 20 years and consequently am entitled to six weeks of time off. For the past 3-4 years I've been able to juggle the work so that I can use 4 or 5 of those weeks as vacation time. Thus, seven weeks at sea in 18 months.

 

It's also worth noting that, although we are Diamond status, there are many, many C&A members out there with far more nights at sea than we have. Maybe they do fill only 1% of RCI's berths, but they sure seem more visible than that, both on board and on these boards.

 

Finally, I agree with those of you who said/implied it was a questionable decision to sail on the same class so often. My initial post used the word "mistake"; in hindsight there is no question but that it was a mistake. Truth be told, we were so over the moon with the Oasis experience when we first cruised her that we both thought that no other ship (except Allure) would ever satisfy us again. Bad call. Our mistake, however, does not change the fact that if RCI seeks additional repeat business then they would do well to make changes at a faster pace than they do currently. IMHO.

 

Rich

[mrpayroll]

This is exactly why we have been on Disney , RCCL , Princess , and Carnival. Same old stuff does get a littl old. Have to mix it up.

[Familygoboston]

Anything you do every 8 weeks will get kind of familiar eventually.

[CRUSINGFAMILY]

We have sailed on Royal very many time and we do enjoy the predictability of good food, great staff, good shows, we do try to sail various destinations but our family loves the experience aboard the ship, we enjoy our sea days we like the variety of options of being busy or just laying around and doing nothing, we have met many employee's who we look foreward to meeting up with just to have short conversations and learn about there lives and cultures. They all work very hard to make sure everyone has a wonderful experience while on the ship. We do sail as much as we can always taking inside cabins just so that we can sail sooner again, we love this web site as it helps us find local tour opperators a better prices than the cruiselines and when you travel with a family it makes a big difference.

 

Happy sailing everyone

 

Brian J

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

And this is a problem? :rolleyes:

I'd like to have that option of cruising so many times a year.

 

 

***

[Friend100]

OP, maybe to try a ship that you haven't done yet, like Independence of the Seas? Or do some repo itinerary like Enchantment OTS repo from Baltimore to Port Canaveral, or Brilliance OTS repo from Boston to Tampa to "spice" things up a bit?

[Eng23]

It has taken me three years to make it to six cruises. In those three years I have tried different ships with Allure coming up for the first time later this year. I wish I had the time and funding to cruise as often as you do. Cruising is what you make of it, if you want a different experience don't wait for a cruiseline to make the change for you, make the change yourself. With the amount of money it takes for a cruiseline to operate they are not going to make changes overnight. Any changes are going to be gradual and (hopefully) cost effective.

[bradpole]

This is exactly why we have been on Disney , RCCL , Princess , and Carnival. Same old stuff does get a littl old. Have to mix it up.

 

I've just skimmed this thread and couldn't agree more with this pot. RCL, Carnival, etc are mass market lines, they make their money by basically photo copying the experience from ship to another with slight changes for the specific ship. Is this bad? Not necessarily, but if one wants true variation the only way to do it is to try another cruise line or many cruise lines. Prior to 2007 we cruised almost only on RCL, we took a break and tried many other cruise lines until December 2011 when we came back to RCL. Some things changed, not much, and we didn't expect much change from the product we had grown accustomed to.

 

We have not been on Oasis or her sister Allure and have no plans to do so anytime soon, but considering they are the two "HOT" ships in the fleet I would expect nearly the same cruise experience from week to week, there is only so much variation they can do through the entire fleet, let alone on the same ship!

 

As for the shows being the same, Enchantment had the same production shows this past March as she did the first time I cuisine on her back in 2004! But like othe posters have said, we haven't been to a show on RCL in ages! The same can be said for the ships in the fleet, the shows are installed onboard and will remain there for years, years, and years. Variety would be nice but considering the value of cruising I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[orville99]

Anything you do every 8 weeks will get kind of familiar eventually.

 

Not if you mix it up a bit. There are several rcl ships that sail out of fll. It's just making the decision to choose a different one occasionally.

[bighairtexan]

I agree w/ the OP. I cruise several times a year (3-5) and though I have my favorite cruise lines I shake it up by adding a different line every once in a while. It may make my old favorites look great by comparison. Or I may add a new option to my list.

 

However, that being said, I've found that the WOW factor of cruising is pretty much gone after cruising a lot. I still enjoy the relaxing pampering vacation a cruise offers but the "new cruiser" thrill is certainly gone. Maybe I should cruise less? hmmmmm. NAH!!