What keeps you sailing with Royal?

[Clarea]

Bob and Lee,

 

I know what you mean about the prices. I have to cancel my two July cruises as they added July to the no single supplement. The worst part is I booked a Junior suite and now they changed the OBC for JS's. I hope to keep it, but will probably reduce it when I change cruise dates.

 

I do have the serenade cruise for Christmas and New Year's, but so far no one can go with me and of course no single supplement, so I May have to cancel that one. I got a pretty good deal for two people but it's too expensive for one.

 

The only two that I will definitely be going on will be the last majesty and one in late March of next year.

 

So sad as I really enjoy cruising on Royal.

 

 

This summer it looks like I might be taking to Carnival cruises for the first time. I can go on 2 seven night cruises in a balcony on Carnival for the same price as one 7 night cruise on Royal.

 

If I get to go on those cruises I'll let you know what they're like.

Please report back what they do to your OBC when you change cruise dates. I suspect they will greatly reduce the OBC to that of the new (very low) open booking amounts.

[JoyMouse]

October of 2012 was my first cruise, so I don't have much comparison for a decline in service. I also have been able to find Royal prices I'm willing to pay for itineraries I like. I would like to know which cruise lines folks feel do provide the level of service for the value pricing they are looking for and not finding on Royal (I really do want to know--not being snarky). I see a decline in service being discussed on the other forums with perhaps though less sense of loss.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Philly Steve]

I like the size of the Vision class ships and Baltimore as en embarkation port. :)

[klingoncruiser]

We are diamond+ or RCI. However we have only done 1 cruise over the last 4 years with them for a variety of reasons, mostly price and poor choice of ports. Even when the ports are the same as NCL (Which we have really grown to love) there is just something missing now on RCI and getting worse. Our last cruise out of Galveston on the Navigator was NOT even close to what we remembered out of RCI. What the heck happened?

 

We have a RCI card as well. However, once we use our "free" cruise from the points we have built up, we will abandon it as well for one that allows us to use the points on any line.

 

Bottom line, RCI has really lost it. Massive mega ship, declining food quality and taste, destruction of loyalty perks (BOY have those ever been stripped!) and the prices are just out of sight. YES, PRICE does too count! I have heard more than once "I think they are trying to pay off these massive floating island by increasing prices across the fleet."

 

Hey RCI, give me a reason to come back.... PLEASE. If not, there ARE other choices! (And I am already taking it and loving it!)

[cocacola86]

I think the one we would probably end up booking is NOS, doesn't seem to big or to small and with the new features and the fact that I can book and pay in CDN dollars will save us a bit of money.

[susancruzs]

Interesting reading all the replies to this post. It makes me really curious to see what has changed on RCI! :) I'm thinking it will be similar to the changes I saw on Princess.

 

I took a Med cruise with Princess in 2007. I didn't cruise again until 2013, 14 days a sort of test! I wanted to do 25 and wasn't sure because of all I had been reading! I'd been onboard 21 days before so no issue there. It was pretty much as everyone said, changes but I could live it. Last year I sailed 25 days with Princess, this year 25 days with RCI.

 

I haven't sailed with RCI since 2003. It will be interesting to compare the two cruises, however, Vision is small compared to Emerald. One thing surprising me is drink prices. I paid 6 or 7 for wine last Fall and margaritas were not over 10 dollars. I might have to change my habits. I certainly don't drink enough to buy a package! :)

[cocacola86]

My DW and i only drink pop and buy a pop package on Carnival for around 45 for 7 days. What do you prefer the bigger or smaller?

[mtebor]

It used to be the credit card points but I am sure their is a better card out there. I might look into an airlines card since airfare is so expensive!

When I can fly Buffalo to ST. Lucia cheaper than Buffalo to Vegas, something is wrong.

[cocacola86]

It cost us 960 to fly from Buf to FLL and around 700 to fly to San Juan how does that make sense?

[Oak Hill Cruisers]

It's the RCI Koolaid, I think. ;-)

[awestover89]

I've only done RCI (and Disney once when I was really young), but I really enjoyed my time on RC so that's who I typically look at first for future cruises. Settled on RCI after talking to friends who had sailed before, a lot felt that Carnival had too many families with little kids, and the other lines seem a little too "adult" for me right now. I'm mid-20s, so I enjoy going to shows or having a nice dinner with my husband, but I also want to do the rock wall and play putt-putt. RCI just seemed to offer the most on board activities that really caught my interest.

[irishgal432]

What keeps me coming back?

 

I started my cruise addiction a few years ago and I am at the point to give up on Royal Caribbean. I normally sail in GS and above and have been overly frustrated over the last few months. I booked my Alaska in June and Oasis in September last May and haven't been able to find anything else in almost a year to buy.

 

My Oasis reservation has 4 rooms. When we booked with our TA we were confirmed with 6 pm dining as the invoice reflects. Well now RCCL switched 3 of the 4 to MTD even though we were linked. So my choices are

 

A. Eat separately than my family

B. Change to MTD and deal with the hassle of trying to coordinate 12 diners

C. Cancel the reservation.

 

So to answer the OP's question. After this June in Alaska, I won't be returning to RCCL.

[finz2u]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the VIP key chains :) But, seriously, the cruise line has always delivered what it promised. A pleasant experience, good food and drinks, an opportunity to leave your "real" life.

 

When you sit down to book a cruise, you choose to accept the price as one you are willing to pay. So don't complain about the pricing; use your money somewhere else.

 

And size does have an impact on your cruise experience. Haven't done a study, but it seems that many of the complainers are unhappy with the larger ships. If I were still in grad school, I think size of ship vs satisfaction with cruise would make a wonderful dissertation topic.

 

Whatever you choose, have a great sail.

[cocacola86]

Favourite ship, least? Favourite port? Favourite restaurant

[Moltar]

This sounds very good. When, where and what ship is this?

 

February 2017 on Jewel. Southern Caribbean out of San Juan.

[cocacola86]

I do like San Juan, just has such charm.

[Paulette3028]

What keeps me coming back?

 

I started my cruise addiction a few years ago and I am at the point to give up on Royal Caribbean. I normally sail in GS and above and have been overly frustrated over the last few months. I booked my Alaska in June and Oasis in September last May and haven't been able to find anything else in almost a year to buy.

 

My Oasis reservation has 4 rooms. When we booked with our TA we were confirmed with 6 pm dining as the invoice reflects. Well now RCCL switched 3 of the 4 to MTD even though we were linked. So my choices are

 

A. Eat separately than my family

B. Change to MTD and deal with the hassle of trying to coordinate 12 diners

C. Cancel the reservation.

 

So to answer the OP's question. After this June in Alaska, I won't be returning to RCCL.

 

Screw ups happen....someone in some department made a mistake....but it can be corrected.....here is my suggestion -- send an email to rcldining@rccl.com.

 

Give them the reservation numbers for all of the people in the 4 cabins with a listing of all of the cruisers. Explain 'softly' that these reservations were originally made for 6pm seating and somehow 'mysteriously' have had some of them changed to MTD and it is important that ALL be seated at 6pm together.

 

The department that will be receiving your email, is the Food and Beverage department in the Royal home office.

 

They will help get this resolved for you.

 

By the way, your travel agent should have known how to do this FOR you, so you would not be so upset. Instead, this fellow cruiser (me) will advise you how to get it resolved.

[irishgal432]

Screw ups happen....someone in some department made a mistake....but it can be corrected.....here is my suggestion -- send an email to rcldining@rccl.com.

 

Give them the reservation numbers for all of the people in the 4 cabins with a listing of all of the cruisers. Explain 'softly' that these reservations were originally made for 6pm seating and somehow 'mysteriously' have had some of them changed to MTD and it is important that ALL be seated at 6pm together.

 

The department that will be receiving your email, is the Food and Beverage department in the Royal home office.

 

They will help get this resolved for you.

 

By the way, your travel agent should have known how to do this FOR you, so you would not be so upset. Instead, this fellow cruiser (me) will advise you how to get it resolved.

 

I agree screw ups happen. I believe it was from when DD was supposed to be introduced and they changed all of the reservations to MTD. Then they did away with it and did not change them back. Good idea to email rcl dining. I will let you know their response.

[cocacola86]

So what's the most important thing when you look at a Royal cruise, whether it's price, features, and do you go for the ship or ports?

[Paulette3028]

So what's the most important thing when you look at a Royal cruise, whether it's price, features, and do you go for the ship or ports?

 

Everything you mentioned -- coupled with 'when I can actually cruise'.....they may have a wonderful price on a ship that has everything I want and wonderful places to go....but if it is at a time of year that isn't practical -- as much as I may want to go...it won't work -- no matter how much I wish.

 

So price is such a tough variable and what one persons tolerance is will be different than anothers to make a judgement on 'pricey or not'.

[awestover89]

So what's the most important thing when you look at a Royal cruise, whether it's price, features, and do you go for the ship or ports?

For us it's a combination of all of the above. Our first cruise was on the jewel which was older, smaller, and offered less on board, but the price was right for our budget and we loved that there were five ports. Less time at sea made the features of the ship less important. But we also are looking forward to when we can go on the oasis and quantum classes to experience that side of cruising.

[JohnGaltny]

Really interesting read and a lot of what has been said mirrors our experience and, frankly, disappointment lately with the RCI product.

 

I analogize what I perceive is happening to General Motors of the 70s. I was a GM loyalist as a young man, owning a string of Malibus that I loved. Then the bean counters decided that they could save $0.02 per car by cheapening the gas cap. Then $0.03 per car by cheapening the distributor cap and wiring, etc., etc. until they cheaped out on the brake proportioner valve and my Citation almost killed me. 30 years later I still won't take a GM if I win it on a game show.

 

Bringing that rationale to RCI, we have done a bunch of cruises, the majority on Royal (see my sig). We always travel with groups of at least 4 cabins so I always have friends with us for varied opinions. We have always felt that the RCI experience was a cut above NCL, Princess and Carnival, the "cut above" being the service and welcoming feeling from the crew. Our tag line about NCL was "It's not bad, but it's not Royal".

 

However, over our last two cruises we have noticed a total loss of that "we're glad you're here" feeling (the WOW). Our last two cruises (Freedom and Explorer) were noticeably missing the WOW. In fact, Explorer was my favorite ship of all and if you read my last review, you'll see it was our least favorite cruise. Still had a good time BUT the WOW was totally gone.

 

My (totally unsupported) guess is that the bean counters have shaved 2 cents here, 5 cents there, cut staff to the point where cabin stewards are maintaining twice the number of cabins, MDR staff runs around like rabbits on speed and crew are so rushed/exhausted that they just don't have the time or energy for that WOW touch. To us, the RCI advantage has been frittered away and, honestly, my upcoming May 2nd cruise on Adventure OS will be the dispositive test of our RCI loyalty.

 

I won't ever say "We'll NEVER sail RCI again" but I will say that in the future we will look at Princess, NCL and (God forgive me) even Carnival as equal products to RCI. I have never worried overmuch about price (although I cannot afford Quantum, Oasis or Allure for the way I wish to travel) but if Royal no longer justifies the premium cost over the others, then it will be just one among many rather than always my first choice.

 

Anyway, that's my $0.02 (at least until the bean counters or the IRS get at it). LOL

Edited April 15, 2015 by JohnGaltny

[Paulette3028]

Really interesting read and a lot of what has been said mirrors our experience and, frankly, disappointment lately with the RCI product.

 

I analogize what I perceive is happening to General Motors of the 70s. I was a GM loyalist as a young man, owning a string of Malibus that I loved. Then the bean counters decided that they could save $0.02 per car by cheapening the gas cap. The $0.03 per car by cheapening the distributor cap and wiring, etc., etc. until they cheaped out on the brake proportioner valve and my Citation almost killed me. 30 years later I still won't take a GM if I won it on a game show.

 

Bringing that rationale to RCI, we have done a bunch of cruises, the majority on Royal (see my sig). We always travel with groups of at least 4 cabins so I always have friends with us for varied opinions. We have always felt that the RCI experience was a cut above NCL, Princess and Carnival, the "cut above" being the service from the crew. Our tag line about NCL was "It's not bad, but it's not Royal".

 

However, over our last two cruises we have noticed a total loss of that "we're glad you're hear" feeling (the WOW). Our last two cruises (Freedom and Explorer) were noticeably missing the WOW. In fact, Explorer was my favorite ship of all and if you read my last review, you'll see it was our least favorite cruise. Still had a good time BUT the WOW was totally gone.

 

My (totally unsupported) guess is that the bean counters have shaved 2 cents here, 5 cents there, cut staff to the point where cabin stewards are maintaining twice the number of cabins, MDR staff runs around like rabbits on speed and crew are so rushed/exhausted that they just don't have the time or energy for that WOW touch. To us, the RCI advantage has been frittered away and, honestly, my upcoming May 2nd cruise may be the dispositive test of our RCI loyalty.

 

I won't ever say "We'll NEVER sail RCI again" but I will say that in the future we will look at Princess, NCL and (God forgive me) even Carnival as equal products to RCI. I have never worried overmuch about price (although I cannot afford Quantum, Oasis or Allure for the way I wish to travel) but if Royal no longer justifies the premium cost over the others, then it will be just one among many rather than always my first choice.

 

Anyway, that's my $0.02 (at least until the bean counters or the IRS get at it). LOL

 

As I read your reply, a thought jumped into my head -- all businesses want more profits and the bean counters are always looking at ways to cut costs. Whether it was GM in the 70's or a telecommunication company in the 90's (and I worked for them back then and they were brutal at cutting costs) or a vacation provider (hotel or cruise line) today. The choices that they make are important. Sacrificing safety, would be an unwise choice for sure, so it comes down to employee numbers to deliver their product -- which clearly has happened: less cabin stewards, less wait staff (including bar service) and the list probably has others less noticeable.

 

From reading other posts on other boards, other lines have done the same as Royal.

 

At the end of the day, if I have the fun I anticipated on the cruise, I will be back -- because that is what I cruise for: a fun vacation. We always seem to find a cruise priced at what we are willing to pay. I don't recognize the term 'premium cost' simply because, what is available as entertainment (from what I have read and been told by people I trust) other lines 'won't be giving me my kind of premium entertainment experience' -- therefore it isn't 'apples to apples' anyway.

[awestover89]

Reading some of the replies, I can't help but be curious if any of it is the rose colored glasses of nostalgia. I've only been on the one cruise (so far at least) and was definitely wowed. If I on a dozen more cruises and receive the same service, will it feel the same? Probably not, even if the level of service doesn't decrease it will no longer be the novel surprise it was on that first cruise. Over time I might feel less impressed just because my expectations have changed. I've experienced similar feelings with video games with lots of expansions: the first expansion you played will always be the best.

 

We can call it the sequel effect, it will never match up to the original.

[Paulette3028]

Reading some of the replies, I can't help but be curious if any of it is the rose colored glasses of nostalgia. I've only been on the one cruise (so far at least) and was definitely wowed. If I on a dozen more cruises and receive the same service, will it feel the same? Probably not, even if the level of service doesn't decrease it will no longer be the novel surprise it was on that first cruise. Over time I might feel less impressed just because my expectations have changed. I've experienced similar feelings with video games with lots of expansions: the first expansion you played will always be the best.

 

We can call it the sequel effect, it will never match up to the original.

 

Thank you, thank you.....I now have a better understanding of my perspective.....each time I walk onto a cruise ship....I let it be as if it was with the magical anticipation of that very first cruise on Navigator in 2003. Others may have a difficult time doing that -- not I.

 

You have helped me perfectly describe, how I do not allow the nostalgia to impact my vision....because I hate being labeled as someone with 'rose colored glasses on'.

 

Seriously....thank you....and you bring a good perspective to the forefront.