Time to Say Goodbye

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

New cruisers don't know what they're missing and some believe that's why cruise lines are trying to attract more of them. Others believe they need new cruisers to fill their mega ships and the more fervent would even suggest that cruise lines just want to push their loyalists out. Who knows if any or all of it is true or not?

 

Totally agree with you, Big G. I've contemplated this many times, and I think it's more true than we think.

[BopRN]

We don't have the cruise history that you do, but we got tired of the RCCL "same old, same old" and decided to try Carnival again because we wanted to sail out of New Orleans. All I can say is we will NEVER sail Carnival again!!!! :eek:

[tlatrice]

If Royal no longer appeals to you because you feel it doesn't cater to what you desire....so be it. As someone close to retirement age, at this writing I am 64, how Royal is changing it ships, only adds more enjoyment for me. Luckily, I am fully capable of enjoying Flowrider or the new Waterslides that are being added. Amazingly, at home we barely can stay in the family room much past 10pm, but on the ship find all kinds of things to do until after midnight. Karaoke or a club....sometimes the music is too loud, so we just don't sit in the front row -- but alas we have a great time, almost needing a vacation after our cruise -- but for us that is all we could ask.

 

I don't want a quiet ship; I don't want to feel like I am in a nursing home, with rows of people in lounge chairs with blankets covering their feet looking out over the water.

 

Glad to hear that at least you did enjoy Cats and their cast. Many people say the show is just too long for a cruise ship....I have not been on Oasis to see it, but if it overlapped other things we wanted to do, we probably would feel it was just too long and a 'Readers Digest' version would better to have.

 

There are plenty of choices of cruise lines for all different types of cruisers. Why should the cruise line 'stay the way it was in the past'? In my opinion, it shouldn't. You as a cruiser want the cruise line to continually offer what you want, but that may mean that they miss our on attracting new cruisers.

 

Do I believe they need a blend of offerings? Absolutely. Even the Royal corporation has other lines to choose from.

 

What I do wish the line would do, is keep more of the things that made it the line it is today -- that is the overall challenge of all businesses, keeping enough of what made it great and being innovative at the same time.

 

But if Royal is not for you any longer, the cabin you will not be cruising in WILL be occupied by someone else.

 

I actually agree with you. A lot of people were responding with "you need to send this to RCI", as if this person's decision to move on is something that RC should look into or even be concerned about. I don't think there is. It's not as strongly worded, but to me this post is no different than any other 'never again' post.

[Jimnbigd]

OP -- I hear you. I love most live music. I'm not sure why RCI starts the music so late. The best ship for me was the Mariner of the Seas from Galveston. They had a classical trio (Three Seasons, then later Fleur de Tois) that were outstanding. Often they would play in the afternoon in Boleros or the Royal Promenade or Viking Crown. (Gosh, I miss having the Viking Crown be another live music venue -- it is a disco on the Navigator.) I'm a musician myself, and most musicians enjoy playing. It's not like the musicians have somewhere else to be. Singers -- I can understand limiting their sets to rest their voices. But instrumentalists certainly could play more than they currently do. Sigh.

 

My favorite is the jazz set done by part of the ship's orchestra and ship's singers. I love the old classics. I'm not sure why the full 9-piece orchestra does not play for this. Again -- Where else do they have to be?

Edited September 10, 2015 by Jimnbigd

[Paulette3028]

Nothing personal to this poster by quoting but I have heard these sort of comments quite a bit lately. As an infrequent cruiser with no real loyalty status on any line, I would like to know what the advantages are to being a "new cruiser". I see no free offers, no perks, no onboard freebies, no separate lounges, no balcony discounts, etc. I don't dispute these comments at all, just wonder if I am missing something in my understanding.

I also lament the diminished experience from years ago but I think one of the contributing factors is cruisers (both established and new) willingness to pay more once onboard. ie specialty restaurants vs MDR, thus encouraging the cruise lines to place more focus there and less on the MDR.

 

New cruisers don't know what they're missing and some believe that's why cruise lines are trying to attract more of them. Others believe they need new cruisers to fill their mega ships and the more fervent would even suggest that cruise lines just want to push their loyalists out. Who knows if any or all of it is true or not?

 

All businesses need new customers, not just cruise lines. Even without the larger ships, a cruise line will need new cruisers -- people stop cruising for many reasons, not just a disappointing experience. From my POV, most disappointing experiences that are retold are minimum disappointments or things out of the control of the cruise line and if looked at logically, really did not have a tremendous impact on the overall experience. Rarely is that, IMO, not the case.

 

New customers will have no freebies or discounts, which is good for the business. New cruisers don't know about the experiences of the past for themselves only as hearsay from people who have cruised during what they label the 'good old days'. But as in any business, things change. Customers who had the experiences of the past that are now gone, lament and lament and often poison the mindset of the newbie -- how sad is that for the new cruiser, and the business. The business will recover from it, unfortunately the new cruiser who is overly affected by the lament may not.

[BecciBoo]

Wow 6 pages already?

 

All I can say is: I was aware of all those changes, but it didn't bother me at all...guess I'm just one of those easy peasy fat dumb and happy people. As long as we get our Diamond discount and cocktail hour we're good.

 

I like to think of an RCCL cruise like a vacation home, after all these years, I still like to go back and chill.:cool:

[Thetrail]

I guess Kumbaya is over. It was only a matter of time. Surprised it lasted this long. Time for some popcorn

I'm OK all is well.....:)

[CruisingMomma88]

We also sailed August 29th and as I previously posted on my own thread started, there is something "lacking". It was 'only' our third cruise but there was a definite difference. We noted that there was a change in the enthusiasm, music variety and overall exciting things to do. We are pushing 50 but feel that things sort of " fizzled" after 9-10 other than the nightclub which we found monotonous. It likely won't stop us from trying one of the new ships in future if things work out but the draw of accumulated points is hard to let go. We won't need much more to move up from gold but I guess consideration for that value and going elsewhere is the question.

 

Thank you for your honesty and I wish you happy sailing in future, wherever that may be.

Edited September 10, 2015 by CruisingMomma88

[Hotel CA]

will be posting on CC in 5-10 years how much the service has diminished, the entertainment is not as good and the food (which back in 2015 was wonderful!!) now is not nearly as good.

 

<sigh> the more things change, the more they remain the same or its like deja vu all over again

[kruzerci]

I agree with a lot of your points OP. We have been feeling similarly about Royal Caribbean for a while now and recently I haven't made any bookings and have taken a step away from the boards because of the all of changes, not to mention the Royal Caribbean cheerleaders are just exhausting.

 

I think aside from the changes, it is easy to just get content and underwhelmed with doing the same type of vacation over and over again. In the past few months we have done a long weekend at an all-inclusive and a week at a resort on the beach and found that we enjoyed them equally or more than we do cruises at this point. I don't think I would have felt that way five or ten years ago, but at this point, it fits. It was something different, it was relaxing, more upscale, a little more expensive (but the fellow guests and experience reflected it).

 

I cancelled our December cruise and plan to do another type of beach vacation. The only cruise I kept was Liberty next May, which will make us Diamond Plus. After that, I don't know when our next cruise will be. It's easy to get in a routine and get content with the substance that cruising is starting to lack; when you do, the experience loses its magic.

[yogimax]

Yes, there are exceptions, but my sense is that those with Diamond status and above are quite happy with the experience because of the multitude of perks they receive.

 

On the other hand, those below Diamond receive less in "extras" and tend to be more critical. Yes, I know the OP is Diamond, but I also think they may be the exception.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

As someone who has enjoyed Royal over the years, I heartily disagree with those who say RCCL is abandoning its loyal cruisers in a effort to lure new ones.

 

We are D+ and the benefits we receive on every cruise just seem to be getting better. No other cruise line that I know does more for its loyal followers. I could make a list with everything from free drinks to free laundry, but it would be too long.

 

We enjoy every cruise for what it is. Sure, I miss the Rosario Strings, but that is certainly not going to stop us from cruising.

 

Everyone is different and has different priorities. I could care less about the piano bar and the comedians. For others, that may be important.

 

Just as the OP has made a decision which is best for him/her, so we have made the decision which is best for us.....

 

....... and that is to continue enjoying the product that RCCL offers!

Kudos.

 

Best post in this thread to date.

[DarthGrady]

The one inevitably of life in general is change. We came to RCI after many Carnival cruises and liked the product so we continued with them. Carnival has been watering down their product for years, especially their past guest perks.

 

We'll likely continue with RCI for the foreseeable future, but I totally understand your position OP. Sometimes you've got to take a big left turn and try a new route. Carnival's target demographic is nearly the same as Royal's (if not younger). So you may or may not be happy there, but it certainly won't hurt to give them a try.

Edited September 10, 2015 by DarthGrady

[guidinglight]

We don't have the cruise history that you do, but we got tired of the RCCL "same old, same old" and decided to try Carnival again because we wanted to sail out of New Orleans. All I can say is we will NEVER sail Carnival again!!!! :eek:

 

I know what you mean!! :eek::eek::eek:

[Big_G]

 

I think aside from the changes, it is easy to just get content and underwhelmed with doing the same type of vacation over and over again.

 

When I read posts by people complaining and also saying they do 5+ cruises a year, I often wonder if they're just burned out. We do two or three and maxed out at 5 one year but I couldn't do that many of one type of vacation every year.

Edited September 10, 2015 by Big_G

[John&LaLa]

When I read posts by people complaining and also saying they do 5+ cruises a year, I often wonder if they're just burned out. We do two or three and maxed out at 5 one year but I couldn't do that many of one type of vacation every year.

 

5+ cruises a year is not a vacation, it's a lifestyle

[Big_G]

5+ cruises a year is not a vacation, it's a lifestyle

Very true

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[knittinggirl]

We're testing out other cruise lines ourselves. In the spring we did a Princess/Celebrity B2B. And later this year, we're doing Royal Caribbean/HAL B2B.

 

With Celebrity and Princess, we found Celebrity better w/ the service. Both ships had a norovirus outbreak while we cruised, which made the comparison even more interesting!

[askoleern]

Celebrity own Royal Caribbean

[wolfganghowell]

Well actually Royal owns Celebrity. :)

 

But I think they have really worked to distinguish the lines in the last 5 years. From 99-06, the big differences to us were the food presentation and the activity level. Now the changes are a lot more varied.

[yogimax]

Kudos.

 

Best post in this thread to date.

 

Thank you! It's an honest statement of how I feel!

Edited September 10, 2015 by yogimax

[orlandodolly]

I, too, appreciated your well written review. We have spent over 300 days cruising with the majority of those days on RCI. We always loved to sail RCI. However, last year we started to notice the decline. The high drink prices, lack of entertainment opportunities and a decline in the food quality led us to try Celebrity. We have taken 3 Celebrity cruises and have one planned for NYE. We like the atmosphere, the beverage package and the general feel of a Celebrity cruise. We are booked this Ocotober on Brillance of the Seas, but this cruise will be the last on RCI. We are already booked on Norwegian. Perhaps the problem is that we have sailed too many times with the same cruise. line.

[John&LaLa]

I, too, appreciated your well written review. We have spent over 300 days cruising with the majority of those days on RCI. We always loved to sail RCI. However, last year we started to notice the decline. The high drink prices, lack of entertainment opportunities and a decline in the food quality led us to try Celebrity. We have taken 3 Celebrity cruises and have one planned for NYE. We like the atmosphere, the beverage package and the general feel of a Celebrity cruise. We are booked this Ocotober on Brillance of the Seas, but this cruise will be the last on RCI. We are already booked on Norwegian. Perhaps the problem is that we have sailed too many times with the same cruise. line.

 

Familiarity breeds contempt.

[Big_G]

Well actually Royal owns Celebrity. :)

 

But I think they have really worked to distinguish the lines in the last 5 years. From 99-06, the big differences to us were the food presentation and the activity level. Now the changes are a lot more varied.

 

We like the differences and change of pace but the reciprocal benefits are a big plus too.

[tlatrice]

When I read posts by people complaining and also saying they do 5+ cruises a year, I often wonder if they're just burned out. We do two or three and maxed out at 5 one year but I couldn't do that many of one type of vacation every year.

 

This is what I was thinking. The OP has been on a lot of cruises in a relatively short amount of time. 9 times on Oasis class in the past 5 years is A LOT! It's like eating the same thing over and over. After a while it doesn't even taste good anymore because you're just sick of eating it.

 

Familiarity breeds contempt.

 

Exactly!

Edited September 11, 2015 by tlatrice