Most similar lines to RCI

[pfm18]

I love RCI, but quite frankly, there are only so many cruises to do again and again. We love the freedom, voyager class type of ship.

 

 

The main things of importance to us are

 

-Plenty to do on the ship. We love the sports court, we love the day time poolside entertainment, we love the flowrider, but it's not essential. A water park would be fantastic. Abundance of night time entertainment is a must.

 

-Casual dining options. Dressing up just isn't for me.

 

-Good atmosphere. I don't want to be the only family under 50 on the ship.

 

 

My thoughts are NCL and Carnival, any suggestions?

[cb at sea]

I think your thoughts are right in line....all of the other lines will be less "casual" as far as dinner dress goes.....

[Gonzo70]

RCI is pretty unique in terms of having so many action packed venues such as the flo rider, ice skating, rock walls etc. Probably one of the newer ships on Carnival or NCL would come closest in terms of level of activities and casual atmosphere, but they won't quite compare to one of the larger RCI vessels.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

you won't find an abundance of entertainment on Carnival.

 

They have about 3-4 shows a week on a 7 day cruise. The other nights are filled in with Love and marriage, legends(passenger Karaoke), Hasbro game, etc.

 

The do have comedians nightly in a smaller jam packed lounge so get there early for a seat.

 

NCL has a lot better entertainment these days compared to CCL.

 

Bill

[pfm18]

you won't find an abundance of entertainment on Carnival.

 

They have about 3-4 shows a week on a 7 day cruise. The other nights are filled in with Love and marriage, legends(passenger Karaoke), Hasbro game, etc.

 

The do have comedians nightly in a smaller jam packed lounge so get there early for a seat.

 

NCL has a lot better entertainment these days compared to CCL.

 

Bill

 

The shows aren't exactly my favourite thing in the world anyway. I think I might give Carnival a try. Are the nightclubs any good?

[S.S.Oceanlover]

The shows aren't exactly my favourite thing in the world anyway. I think I might give Carnival a try. Are the nightclubs any good?

 

Was reading over there last night and there were complaints of the music being mostly rap/hip hop.

 

I don't know if that's what you prefer but that's what was posted last night.

 

Bill

[cruzeluver]

I would look at one of the newer NCL ships.

[negc]

I love RCI, but quite frankly, there are only so many cruises to do again and again. We love the freedom, voyager class type of ship.

 

 

The main things of importance to us are

 

-Plenty to do on the ship. We love the sports court, we love the day time poolside entertainment, we love the flowrider, but it's not essential. A water park would be fantastic. Abundance of night time entertainment is a must.

 

-Casual dining options. Dressing up just isn't for me.

 

-Good atmosphere. I don't want to be the only family under 50 on the ship.

 

 

My thoughts are NCL and Carnival, any suggestions?

 

Certainly NCL and Carnival are the two that immediately come to mind, but I am a bit bothered by your comment that there are only so many cruises (on RCI's larger ships) that you can do again and again. Have you really checked out the itineraries that those ships offer and visited all, or most of them? Even if you disregarded the Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia itineraries, there are a wide variety of Caribbean cruises that visit new or different ports of call and they offer a number of cruises of different lengths from an assortment of different ports and you can go on countless RCI cruises before you ever have to repeat one. You should certainly consider expanding your cruise experience beyond RCI, but you shouldn't do so merely because you are under the impression that you have already seen everything that RCI offers.

[Tapi]

Check out Norwegian Breakaway or Getaway, as well as the Epic.

[Cruising89143]

Without a doubt NCL.

[pfm18]

Certainly NCL and Carnival are the two that immediately come to mind, but I am a bit bothered by your comment that there are only so many cruises (on RCI's larger ships) that you can do again and again. Have you really checked out the itineraries that those ships offer and visited all, or most of them? Even if you disregarded the Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia itineraries, there are a wide variety of Caribbean cruises that visit new or different ports of call and they offer a number of cruises of different lengths from an assortment of different ports and you can go on countless RCI cruises before you ever have to repeat one. You should certainly consider expanding your cruise experience beyond RCI, but you shouldn't do so merely because you are under the impression that you have already seen everything that RCI offers.

 

Actually it's the Caribbean that I'm absolutely NOT prepared to do and Europe that I'm most experienced in. I fancy Eastern med(only offered on the Splendour)

[flyawayca]

I've sailed Carnival, NCL, and RCCL. They are all very similar and I have enjoyed my trip on all of them.

 

There are things I like about each line, and things I don't like. But I would be more than happy to continue sailing on all 3 lines.

 

I say there is nothing wrong with trying a new cruise line whether it be NCL or carnival.

[critterchick]

Actually it's the Caribbean that I'm absolutely NOT prepared to do and Europe that I'm most experienced in. I fancy Eastern med(only offered on the Splendour)

 

Serenade has some Eastern Med/greek Isles itineraries out of Venice and Rome...

[negc]

Actually it's the Caribbean that I'm absolutely NOT prepared to do and Europe that I'm most experienced in. I fancy Eastern med(only offered on the Splendour)

 

I'm not clear. Are you saying that you have visited all of the many Caribbean islands that can be seen on RCI cruises or that you just aren't interested in sailing to anywhere in the Caribbean? Unless you hold to the opinion that one Caribbean island is just like any other, there are more than enough cruises offered that doing the same one over and over isn't necessary. You can certainly sail on other lines but you will likely end up going to the same ports that RCI sails to, so if a variety of ports is your greatest concern, changing lines won't be much help. NCL claims to be a preeminent line for European cruises so you might want to see if they have Eastern Med cruises that would satisfy your desires.

[pfm18]

I'm not clear. Are you saying that you have visited all of the many Caribbean islands that can be seen on RCI cruises or that you just aren't interested in sailing to anywhere in the Caribbean? Unless you hold to the opinion that one Caribbean island is just like any other, there are more than enough cruises offered that doing the same one over and over isn't necessary. You can certainly sail on other lines but you will likely end up going to the same ports that RCI sails to, so if a variety of ports is your greatest concern, changing lines won't be much help. NCL claims to be a preeminent line for European cruises so you might want to see if they have Eastern Med cruises that would satisfy your desires.

 

The Caribbean just doesn't interest me so much. First of all my brother has a heart condition which makes leaving the EU prohibitively expensive in terms of travel insurance costs.

 

The other thing is we aren't really huge fans of "beach" type resorts when cruising. Preferring to visit the cities like Rome, Athens etc.

 

 

Asia and Australia is something I'd like to do with my own family in coming years(I'm still only 19 and cruise with my brother and parents) but my bro's health prohibits that type of itinerary for now.

 

Northern Europe is something I probably couldn't handle as I get really bad seasickness on rocky nights.

 

 

Western Med I like, but I've seen most of the ports. I'm more of a ship lover than a port lover anyway so if I could find a less port heavy med cruise that would be ideal or I could just stay on the ship.

[hellsop]

I love RCI, but quite frankly, there are only so many cruises to do again and again. We love the freedom, voyager class type of ship.

 

 

The main things of importance to us are

 

-Plenty to do on the ship. We love the sports court, we love the day time poolside entertainment, we love the flowrider, but it's not essential. A water park would be fantastic. Abundance of night time entertainment is a must.

 

-Casual dining options. Dressing up just isn't for me.

 

-Good atmosphere. I don't want to be the only family under 50 on the ship.

 

 

My thoughts are NCL and Carnival, any suggestions?

 

RCCL's one of your best bets already then, given what you've said you like. The one-sentence descriptions are that Carnival doesn't put much effort into evening entertainment and tries to hope its passengers are too exhausted from their port and waterslide time that they'll crash after dinner, and Norwegian tends to be a little older and sedate. They have all of that kind of thing on their bigger ships, but it's more segregated. Celebrity, though kinda sits between NCL and RCCL. And Celebrity hits the West Coast of the US pretty well (depending on schedule), which RCCL doesn't.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Yikes CCL is likely to disappoint, if just from a service and entertainment point of view.

 

I'd do RCI before I did CCL again. But I'm booked on the reimagineered DCL Magic in spring, woohoo!!!

 

If you are dead set against DCL, what about X or Princess?

 

If you are over the same Vegas style casino cruise, look for something outside the boat...

 

I was ready to hang up cruising after this yrs last third annual CCL. Then I discovered a new line (just dipped my toe into a 3 day) and boom! I am an addict!

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

[pfm18]

I'm not necessarily against Disney, although I question whether young adults would enjoy it.

 

Celebrity is too posh IMO. Friends that sailed it spoke of overly posh dinner, and nothing to do.

 

Carnival may have "bad service" but in a way I actually prefer service to be bad, and I never complain. Personal reason.

 

Looking into the NCL Jade.

[Aussieflyer]

<Snip>

Celebrity, though kinda sits between NCL and RCCL. And Celebrity hits the West Coast of the US pretty well (depending on schedule), which RCCL doesn't.

I would not put Celebrity there at all. IMO it is somewhat above RCI but it aimed at an older demographic. It does not have all the activities of RCI or the newer NCL ships - no flow riders, bumper cars, rock climbing etc.

We like X because it has an older clientele and is better than the Priness ships in Australia.

[Tapi]

Have you considered the European cruise lines like MSC and Costa?

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I'm not necessarily against Disney, although I question whether young adults would enjoy it.

 

Celebrity is too posh IMO. Friends that sailed it spoke of overly posh dinner, and nothing to do.

 

Carnival may have "bad service" but in a way I actually prefer service to be bad, and I never complain. Personal reason.

 

Looking into the NCL Jade.

 

Disney cruises Alaska, Bahamas, Caribbean and Europe. (Alaska and Europe have various schedules.)

 

I hear ya, a lot of people wonder that. I hope at 31 and no kids, do I still qualify as a young adult? (Say yes or Ill have to kill you, jk). Its like going to the WDW parks. Ever seen young adults there? Uh yeah by the bunches. Disney is an entertainment company with a high focus on quality service and lots of detail. You walk by a painting, it moves. They don't have a casino but they do have bingo. I hate walking thru smokey casino so for me, I loved every aspect of their style cruise. I would try a 4 day to see what its about. (They do have 4 day europe but their caribbean island is soooo nice.) Our 3 day was just unreal. We had zero kids in our group and will have zero kids next yr. They have lots of adult only areas and since the kids care is free longer, you will see less of them roaming all over unattended. In fairness, prob the 18-20 age is a tougher demo, I suggest a few friends if they aren't 21. If the young adult is past 21, the world is your oyster. Mixology courses, adult lounges, pubs, all kinds of things. Where as CCl has bean bag tosses and trivia and hairy chests I seriously wanted to clone myself three or four times, there was SO much available to do. Also an adult beach and food area on the island too. We are 31 and our parents 65. All ages are represented and something is available for just about everyone. I may be 31, but I like Jack Sparrow and pirates and fireworks and finding Nemo characters that swim by and talk to you and really interestinv dining options... Or a really good sundae or pizza. In fairness, i m not 100% sure what's included in the Europe cruises since airfare is killer so we are sticking with cruising out of FL for now.

 

The comment about crappy CCL service being what you like, I just don't understand that at all. Pouring your own beverages in the MDR, being ignored or shushed by your main waiter, no cups for juice or coffee in the buffet, your room attendant discussing his pay with you, its not fun. The whole week on the CCL dream for me was awkward and made me feel really guilty for being on vacation. I would try to smile at them and they wouldn't make eye contact. This is something that they could alter as a cruise line that directly affected my experience vs the ship or layout or even ports. I was relieved to debark. Ever had the feeling you were glad to be home? Try a CCL. They used to be a blast for the last few yrs. I have gold status with them and couldn't care as I will save my money for vacations I look forward to.

 

I have a hard time believing someone who is a bit burned out on RCI is gonna say Yay carnival! There is one unanymous reason to cruise CCL. Its cheap (too cheap to be worthwhile and too expensive not to have value for your investment if that makes sense. Its cheap but it still COSTS money) and they have some fabulous ports. If you have seen all the ports already, CCL won't really help you.

 

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

[nellydean]

If the OP doesn't mind, I would like to ask cruisers which other lines are similar to RC ships they have cruised on, where you can get from one end of the ship to the other in a straight line.

 

Reason I ask is, we've sailed mostly with RC, but have also done Cunard, Princess and P&O. RC and Cunard were both fine, but with Princess (Grand) and P&O (Oceana) we could not get to the dining room/buffet from our cabin without taking complicated routes up and down lifts and across the pool deck etc. It was especially problematic with Oceana, which I know is quite an old ship, but the lifts didn't go to all floors and corridors ended when you least expected them to!

 

When we've been on RC ships, we've always been able to walk the corridors and then get a lift up or down to where we want to go, but on some ships, it seems, this is not possible, making it very frustrating.

 

Anyway, can anyone suggest any other cruise lines where this isn't such a problem. The trouble is, it's not always possible to see potential problems when you look on the deck plans of certain ships.

 

Thanks.

[abisha]

You are definitely going to get mixed comments. You can really only compare "like" classes of ships against the lines. I've sailed Radiance class on RCI and Conquest class on CCL..both classes are very very similar (RCI of course had a rock climbing wall)..and they were almost idential as far as service, entertainment/dining, but all in all for me it was the same experience.

 

If you are looking for something different, then I would definitely look into NCL as others have stated.

[Giorgi-one]

The Caribbean just doesn't interest me so much. First of all my brother has a heart condition which makes leaving the EU prohibitively expensive in terms of travel insurance costs.

 

The other thing is we aren't really huge fans of "beach" type resorts when cruising. Preferring to visit the cities like Rome, Athens etc.

 

 

Asia and Australia is something I'd like to do with my own family in coming years(I'm still only 19 and cruise with my brother and parents) but my bro's health prohibits that type of itinerary for now.

 

Northern Europe is something I probably couldn't handle as I get really bad seasickness on rocky nights.

 

 

Western Med I like, but I've seen most of the ports. I'm more of a ship lover than a port lover anyway so if I could find a less port heavy med cruise that would be ideal or I could just stay on the ship.

 

Try Celebrity on one of their new Solstice class ships. Beautiful ships. Great Service and better food than NCL. They have many ships in Europe in the summer.

[Giorgi-one]

If the OP doesn't mind, I would like to ask cruisers which other lines are similar to RC ships they have cruised on, where you can get from one end of the ship to the other in a straight line.

 

Reason I ask is, we've sailed mostly with RC, but have also done Cunard, Princess and P&O. RC and Cunard were both fine, but with Princess (Grand) and P&O (Oceana) we could not get to the dining room/buffet from our cabin without taking complicated routes up and down lifts and across the pool deck etc. It was especially problematic with Oceana, which I know is quite an old ship, but the lifts didn't go to all floors and corridors ended when you least expected them to!

 

When we've been on RC ships, we've always been able to walk the corridors and then get a lift up or down to where we want to go, but on some ships, it seems, this is not possible, making it very frustrating.

 

Anyway, can anyone suggest any other cruise lines where this isn't such a problem. The trouble is, it's not always possible to see potential problems when you look on the deck plans of certain ships.

 

Thanks.

 

That problem is unique to older Princess ships and you certainly did not have to go to the pool deck.