Royal Caribbean the McDonalds of cruise lines?

[sfaaa]

3 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

McDonald’s best meal: Portuguese sausage, spam, eggs and rice

 

Where do you find this? 

[frank808]

6 hours ago, sfaaa said:

Where do you find this? 

Every Mcdonalds here on Oahu serves it.  It's called a local deluxe and about $7 per plate.  

[KmomChicago]

On ‎11‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 7:27 PM, Robo1098 said:

I don't know. She didn't expand much on the  comment. I was hoping the she and my friend would come on a cruise we had already planned on Symphony. After the comment I didn't know what more to say.

 

Yeah, why would she want to waste her time on literally the largest, most spectacular cruise ship ever known to human people? Full of unbelievably fancy suites designed even for her delicate needs, but then she might accidentally rub elbows with the Big Mac eaters, the filth from the inside guarantee cabins (such as Kmom).  She likely feels very sorry for you, Robo. Poor Robo.

[Guinness1000]

On 11/18/2018 at 1:48 PM, pcur said:

HAL is more subdued and quiet.  I think it's because there are usually few children on the ship.  They are very classic ships with good service and good crews.  Their buffet is a step above.  We were on a 28 night cruise from Honolulu to Vacouver, and ate in the buffet for dinner about 10 nights.  They have separate areas for appetizers and desserts that are wonderful.  Their food is fresh prepared with cooking stations behind the buffet, and the staff serve you, except for sushi, and pre-prepared items.

 

The main dining room service is very good, as is the food.  Can't complain there.

 

You are correct, the night activities are minimal, except for the casino, but we don't go to many entertainment venues on any cruiseline, so it's not a problem for us.  

 

I thoroughly enjoyed our HAL cruises, and the HAL board here on CruiseCritic has some very gracious and helpful people.

 

RCCL is more oriented to keeping you active, busy, entertained.  HAL is more oriented to keeping you stress-free, calm, and comfortable.  A 10 day HAL cruise will probably be more 40 - 80 age group.  Our 28 night the ages ranged more like 65 - 85.

I agree with everything you wrote. Our favorite cruise line, so far at least, is HAL. We care more about itineraries than onboard entertainment, so they are perfect for us. I'm going on the Oasis in February though, but that's because I'm going with my daughter and granddaughter, so activities onboard are important.  🙂

[HBE4]

^ choices are good.  It's good to "have it yooouuur way....have it your way".  Oppps, would that be NCL? 😉

 

For those that are too young to remember:

 

 

 

[nhraformula00]

On 11/19/2018 at 6:25 PM, sfaaa said:

Everyone gets a free cruise, generous OBC and free internet. Simply McNificent.  What's not to like?

2,700 cruisers trying to get home from Puerto Rico just before Thanksgiving and all flights are already booked solid. Thats a problem.

[John&LaLa]

On 11/18/2018 at 10:18 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Uh oh. The rest of the trivia players in March don't stand a chance with you and Courtney on the same ship. 

 

 

 

I'll take obscure McD's for $200, Alex. 😉

[John&LaLa]

On 11/18/2018 at 10:02 PM, A&L_Ont said:

 

London too.  Did you know that London Ontario had Canada’s second McDonalds and the first in Eastern Canada?  It is at Wonderland and Oxford Streets, and is still there today. Trivial facts.

 

What year did it open?

[John&LaLa]

On 11/19/2018 at 7:19 PM, BirdTravels said:

 

NCL has launched 5 new Quantum class ships in the past 5 years (one more next year) and nearly 100% of the rest of their fleet has undergone a complete overhaul dry dock (demoed down to the deck plates and rebuilt)  in the past 4 years. 

 

We sail on both NCL and RCL. Each has pluses and minuses. 

 

NCL has a Quantum class?

[Pratique]

On 11/18/2018 at 10:02 PM, A&L_Ont said:

 

London too.  Did you know that London Ontario had Canada’s second McDonalds and the first in Eastern Canada?  It is at Wonderland and Oxford Streets, and is still there today. Trivial facts.

I like trivial facts. One of the McDonald's stores in Concord, New Hampshire, was the 1,000th U.S. store when it opened in the early '70s. The store still exists, although the original was demolished and rebuilt. I'll have to go back and look at the plaque on the wall to get the exact details. I believe the 1,000th store worldwide opened in 1968.

[MichaelCMTX]

On 11/5/2018 at 4:16 PM, grandgeezer said:

 

.... If you say RCL is one step ahead of the Long Island garbage scow, then that's trolling.

And we get plenty of that in this forum too.  Any thread about RC MDR food will get its share of folks putting it at levels galley slaves would pass up.

Really, there's a lot of "Get what you pay for" not just at RC and McD's but most everywhere.  At McD's, you can get the basic "Hamburger"and some McNuggets or an artisan Grilled Chicken or  Smokehouse Double and one's going to seem a lot further downmarket than the other.

 

As someone with a few cruises to my name, my first advice to anyone new to the sport is when you hear the radio ad for "cruises as low as $399", ignore it.  Don't base your cruise vacation on how cheaply you can get it, your expectations will never be met. Find a travel agent, I can give you the number for mine, and get a real price for a quality experience. Spend, just spend wisely.  

 

So while some will huff that I'm just a big "Suite Snob," we go in front-loaded. We get the bigger cabin, we book Specialty Dining, Internet and Drink Packages all in advance.  We wipe as much of that charge out before we leave for the port. We take advantage of the SL, DL and associated perks. And at the end our SeaPass statement is basically the gratuities and DW's pedicure.  So if RCL is the "McDonalds" we're not buying the "pick 2" value meal. 

 

I do think some folks' expectations were set long ago when the MDR wasn't feeding as many folks and the drinks were included or less pricey.  My parents started their Cruise Career in the late 1970s and for a while grumbled about this erosion/encroachment, but later on concluded that the cabins they were staying in, the ships they were on, the boarding experience, etc at the tail end of that career were so improved from back then, and that the inflation-adjusted overall cruise price wasn't that much higher, it was a worthwhile trade off. 

Would I prefer being on, say, Celebrity where there's more sophistication and less shilling and belly-flop contests?  It's something to think about while we're on the road to Galveston for the price of a tank of gas and no charge for whatever luggage we've got loaded instead of on a plane for a considerably higher sum of money.

Edited November 21, 2018 by MichaelCMTX

[A&L_Ont]

On 11/18/2018 at 10:18 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Uh oh. The rest of the trivia players in March don't stand a chance with you and Courtney on the same ship. 

 

 

 

No trivia for me, Courtney is the Champ. 

 

 

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

What year did it open?

 

1971 for London and the one in western Canada was 1967. 

[Bee Guy]

On 11/18/2018 at 1:48 PM, pcur said:

HAL is more subdued and quiet.  I think it's because there are usually few children on the ship.  They are very classic ships with good service and good crews.  Their buffet is a step above.  We were on a 28 night cruise from Honolulu to Vacouver, and ate in the buffet for dinner about 10 nights.  They have separate areas for appetizers and desserts that are wonderful.  Their food is fresh prepared with cooking stations behind the buffet, and the staff serve you, except for sushi, and pre-prepared items.

 

The main dining room service is very good, as is the food.  Can't complain there.

 

You are correct, the night activities are minimal, except for the casino, but we don't go to many entertainment venues on any cruiseline, so it's not a problem for us.  

 

I thoroughly enjoyed our HAL cruises, and the HAL board here on CruiseCritic has some very gracious and helpful people.

 

RCCL is more oriented to keeping you active, busy, entertained.  HAL is more oriented to keeping you stress-free, calm, and comfortable.  A 10 day HAL cruise will probably be more 40 - 80 age group.  Our 28 night the ages ranged more like 65 - 85.

I agree with this analysis. 

[karena1]

On 10/22/2018 at 2:05 PM, Robo1098 said:

I was out with some friends this weekend. One of the women that has been on 22 cruises with NCL said that she thought that Royal Caribbean was the McDonalds of cruise lines. I have to say I was kind of hurt by this. Don't really agree with this either. I thought for the most part NCL was similar to slightly above RCI. Am I wrong on this?

Totally disagree, we did one NCL and will NEVER do another one.  Hated every single thing about that cruise.  We will stick to mostly Royal and an occasional Celebrity and Princess.  Talk about McDonald's, NCL is it!

[Andy C]

7 hours ago, MichaelCMTX said:

And we get plenty of that in this forum too.  Any thread about RC MDR food will get its share of folks putting it at levels galley slaves would pass up.

Really, there's a lot of "Get what you pay for" not just at RC and McD's but most everywhere.  At McD's, you can get the basic "Hamburger"and some McNuggets or an artisan Grilled Chicken or  Smokehouse Double and one's going to seem a lot further downmarket than the other.

 

As someone with a few cruises to my name, my first advice to anyone new to the sport is when you hear the radio ad for "cruises as low as $399", ignore it.  Don't base your cruise vacation on how cheaply you can get it, your expectations will never be met. Find a travel agent, I can give you the number for mine, and get a real price for a quality experience. Spend, just spend wisely.  

 

So while some will huff that I'm just a big "Suite Snob," we go in front-loaded. We get the bigger cabin, we book Specialty Dining, Internet and Drink Packages all in advance.  We wipe as much of that charge out before we leave for the port. We take advantage of the SL, DL and associated perks. And at the end our SeaPass statement is basically the gratuities and DW's pedicure.  So if RCL is the "McDonalds" we're not buying the "pick 2" value meal. 

 

I do think some folks' expectations were set long ago when the MDR wasn't feeding as many folks and the drinks were included or less pricey.  My parents started their Cruise Career in the late 1970s and for a while grumbled about this erosion/encroachment, but later on concluded that the cabins they were staying in, the ships they were on, the boarding experience, etc at the tail end of that career were so improved from back then, and that the inflation-adjusted overall cruise price wasn't that much higher, it was a worthwhile trade off. 

Would I prefer being on, say, Celebrity where there's more sophistication and less shilling and belly-flop contests?  It's something to think about while we're on the road to Galveston for the price of a tank of gas and no charge for whatever luggage we've got loaded instead of on a plane for a considerably higher sum of money.

 

Well said.  We cruise RCI because we have little ones.  But for them we would be cruising upmarket.  Yes we travel suites on RCI and make the best of CK/SL (notwithstanding many pinnacles ruining the experience for us) but make no mistake of the fact that we have adjusted our expectations downward.  We also travelled extensively on X both before kids and with kids - their service and food suck too.  Again, we lowered our expectations then and now based on price paid.  When the kids are older and/or don't want to travel with us we will go upmarket (Regent/Seabourn, etc...).  For now we adjust our expectations accordingly.  We have 2 GS booked on Harmony in December and we all know the food will not be to our standards but we are happy with the overall value of the cruise, boiled steak and all.  Oh and the wine selection sucks.  Enjoy your cruises!

[John&LaLa]

4 hours ago, Andy C said:

 

Well said.  We cruise RCI because we have little ones.  But for them we would be cruising upmarket.  Yes we travel suites on RCI and make the best of CK/SL (notwithstanding many pinnacles ruining the experience for us) but make no mistake of the fact that we have adjusted our expectations downward.  We also travelled extensively on X both before kids and with kids - their service and food suck too.  Again, we lowered our expectations then and now based on price paid.  When the kids are older and/or don't want to travel with us we will go upmarket (Regent/Seabourn, etc...).  For now we adjust our expectations accordingly.  We have 2 GS booked on Harmony in December and we all know the food will not be to our standards but we are happy with the overall value of the cruise, boiled steak and all.  Oh and the wine selection sucks.  Enjoy your cruises!

 

Why don't you go Disney? Seems like a win win scenario.  

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I would compare RCCL to Red Robin.  I've never sailed on NCL, but I've noticed some of the most pushy and entitled behavior coming from their ships.  A minority I'm sure, but not everyone seems to do well with the freestyle concept, or know its boundaries.  Applebees.

[sofietucker]

So each line has its own personality and we all have our own "cup of tea"... We've cruised on RCL, HAL, Princess, Celebrity, Carnival plus some European lines, both river and seagoing. We've never cruised on NCL nor Disney & no plans to; our next cruise lines will likely be Cunard. We always prefer smaller ships & haven't done anything more than 3,000 people--800 pax is best!

~We like RCL very much for its glitzy factor and party atmosphere when we're with fam/friends who like to "get out there"--and we've had lots of fun (New Year's Eve--woo!). But rock walls & onboard surfing are not our thing.

~We LIKED Princess back in the day, cruised 5-6 of their ships, before they installed MUTS on every ship. Blaring unescapable outdoor movies made the line unbearable.

~Celebrity has a sort of upscale atmosphere, toned down and sort of luxurious. They do have a MUTS at the very back/top of the ship, lovely sofas & cabanas, but you can't hear it anywhere else. Great shows and small bands all over the place.

 

[HBE4]

On 11/22/2018 at 2:46 AM, Stateroom_Sailor said:

I would compare RCCL to Red Robin. 

 

Gourmet burgers and craft brews are a good thing.  No wonder I like RCCL.

 

Now if they would only get gourmet burgers on board (JR is not the same thing)

[Stateroom_Sailor]

4 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Gourmet burgers and craft brews are a good thing.  No wonder I like RCCL.

 

Now if they would only get gourmet burgers on board (JR is not the same thing)

 

Yep.  More of a Fruddruckers guy myself, but Red Robin fun, more fitting.

[HBE4]

48 minutes ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

Yep.  More of a Fruddruckers guy myself, but Red Robin fun, more fitting.

 

Fuddruckers has the best shakes tho!!   Much better than Johnny Rockets.

 

Never realized I was such a JR-hater. lol