Is There A Cruise Line You Are Tempted To Try Sailing Outside of RC?

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, mugtech said:

If you actually want to go through the Panama Canal time to start looking for another cruise line.

 

Who mentioned wanting to do Panama Canal?

[Missusdubbya]

4 hours ago, Megtheblackbelt said:

Is it bad that I want to try sailing with Carnival solely based off of the fact that they have some amazing reviews on their complementary Mexican food station, and I love Mexican food? 😂

 

 

I love Royal, and I tried Carnival and loved it! Blue Iguana Mexican was great and Guy’s Burgers was good too.
 

I want to try NCL next, however it is hard to find the same value as Royal without the balcony discounts, D drinks etc 😄

[ONECRUISER]

5 hours ago, Megtheblackbelt said:

If you weren’t booking “loyal to royal” - is there a cruise line (or experience!) that has piqued your interest? If so - which/what/why? What would convince you to book with another cruise line?

 

I just booked - today - my first MSC cruise because I found such a deal on a Yacht Club deluxe suite that the cost of this (all-inclusive with drinks, wifi, etc.) is actually lower than booking a standard OV balcony on a similar itinerary with RC. I recently re-located from the US to Barcelona, Spain, so I’m in a period of “well, might as well try it out!”. 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

What about you?

Nope! Booked a Royal Cruise 4 days ago for July2021, today it dropped $550. In last 4weeks up to almost $4000 in reductions Cruises Booked from Nov2020-Nov2021. Just saw few in 2021 more with no or almost no Single Supplement. My sailings Soda plans dropped to $7.49 and DBP at $39, too bad I dont Drink but I'm in Cruise Heaven... Royal, keep them coming. 

[mugtech]

13 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Who mentioned wanting to do Panama Canal?

Twas me.

[tonyweir]

We've sailed Carnival once and that was enough.

We've sailed Princess 4 times. It was great but has a different more subdued atmosphere. The cater to an older crowd.

We prefer Royal Caribbean for the great mix of passengers, excellent entertainment and an awesome overall vibe.

[TRUEBLUE66]

Have also sailed Princess, Norwegian, M.S.C and  Star cruises but the best was Oceania. Food was amazing each time! 

M.S.C. are a strange mixture catering mainly to European tastes. Lots of families and young couples. Just felt different to everything else, but giving them another go on one of their newer ships in the Caribbean to see if that changes.  

[mugtech]

Itineraries can make a difference.  No RCI to South America.  Would like to do islands in the Indian Ocean and South Africa also, but NCL has Dawn scheduled, my tied for least favorite NCL ship along with Star. 

[abbflex]

9 hours ago, Rocket3D said:

I did Meraviglia...great ship.  Definitely worth it as they status match with Royal, had a Black Card.

We was booked for Meraviglia this April, and luckily was canceled.  But probably will wait for refund and Corona to clear up and book Oasis-Class instead. 

[Megtheblackbelt]

10 hours ago, BND said:

We've cruise on Princess, Carnival and Celebrity as well as Royal.  We booked Celebrity cruise for next summer and we're elite on them because of our D+ status on Royal.  Most cruisers who have been on multiple trips have been on more than one cruiseline.

 

Very valid point. Seems nowadays most people are looking for the best possible deal across all lines, which is completely logical. 

 

9 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I've seen some crystal cruises without solo supplement I thought twice about. I booked but cancelled a disney cruise. I'm a big kid, but not sure it's for me. No msc for me, when I was going to go they served a bunch of italian food uggg, I'd be hungry. 

 

Virgin has adult cruises I'd like to hear more about. 

 

I'm looking to book my first solo cruise for November 2021. I have travelled solo on land, but never before by cruise, so should be interesting. Looking forward to doing whatever, whenever. 🙂 

 

9 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I have given thought to MSC. I think I would enjoy being with an Italian crew since I speak the language. The problem is RCI just had not given me reason to change. If I had more vacation time maybe I would experiment. But I hate to waste sparse vacation time to end up with a disappointing experience.

 

True! The worst is when you pump yourself up for something, look forward to it over some long period of time, and then it lets you down. That would be rough. 

 

6 hours ago, ellewoods said:

Trying Virgin in September (wishful thinking?). I also really want to try one of the small Celebrity ships doing the Galápagos Islands. I’ve done most of the “mass market” cruise lines. I’ll try anything at least once, why not? I’d be happy to be on my least favorite cruise ship right now. 

 

Galapagos Islands would be so cool! I have a vague memory of looking in to these voyages some time ago and seeing that they were suuuuper high priced, if I remember correctly. Definitely a bucket-list trip, though.

[Megtheblackbelt]

6 hours ago, Rocket3D said:

Agree, if you cruise with MSC every couple

years you keep status match. I think 3.

 

I recommend applying 2 weeks before booking

so you have your Voyagers Club number when

you book.

 

Plan to do more MSC whenever.....

 

We liked Royal obviously, but they changed. We have

zero interest in floating water theme park nurseries

and 3 night cruises to a crowded beach

(trying to be polite here, lol).

 

 

 

 

 

This will only be my 3rd cruise so I am not yet fully enlightened on my ideal cruise experience, but I feel like the more I cruise the more I hone in on the importance of 1. Getting away from "the real world" and 2. Exploring new places/itineraries. That said, I do get easily motion sick so I am stuck with sailing the larger ships. I am trying to combat the ~ floating theme park ~ experience by trying out the YC. We will see if it is worth it to us, and decide from there. 🙂 

6 hours ago, Missusdubbya said:

 

I love Royal, and I tried Carnival and loved it! Blue Iguana Mexican was great and Guy’s Burgers was good too.
 

I want to try NCL next, however it is hard to find the same value as Royal without the balcony discounts, D drinks etc 😄

 

Yes, Blue Iguana! I want to try it. If it is as good as most report, then I would probably spend most days here for food. A good burrito never gets old to me, somehow.

 

I want to try NCL, but mainly for the Haven experience. Once we stay in the YC, I would like to compare the Haven and see which is preferred for us. Only thing is, I have found that NCL does not seem to keep a lot of their larger/newer ships running in Europe a lot. The Med ships seem to be the Epic and Dawn mostly, which are not really ships I am super interested in. :x 

[little britain]

10 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Is the loyalty status match a one time shot?  I was thinking of trying out MSC and specifically Seaside. 

MSC now only match you to Silver I believe.   You have to cruise with them within 3 years to keep the status.

 

The new MSC ships are beautiful and spotlessly clean.  They have a very different vibe, which some don’t like.

 

@Megtheblackbelt wow! What a fabulous price! Well done. You will be truly spoilt with YC and yes they should be able to apply your 5% discount post purchase. 

[Megtheblackbelt]

6 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Nope! Booked a Royal Cruise 4 days ago for July2021, today it dropped $550. In last 4weeks up to almost $4000 in reductions Cruises Booked from Nov2020-Nov2021. Just saw few in 2021 more with no or almost no Single Supplement. My sailings Soda plans dropped to $7.49 and DBP at $39, too bad I dont Drink but I'm in Cruise Heaven... Royal, keep them coming. 

 

Niiiiiiiice! I have not seen any significant/notable price drops in any of their European itineraries, but it was noted by someone earlier that more than likely within final payment/close to sailing time that EU cruises will probably see their lowest price points. If this happens, we will pounce on it, especially if it is an Oasis class. 

 

3 hours ago, tonyweir said:

We've sailed Carnival once and that was enough.

We've sailed Princess 4 times. It was great but has a different more subdued atmosphere. The cater to an older crowd.

We prefer Royal Caribbean for the great mix of passengers, excellent entertainment and an awesome overall vibe.

 

Princess' Regal and Royal ships intrigue me! We were looking at an Alaska cruise before we moved to Europe, and Princess seemed to be the "go to" chosen line for these. Not sure we'll make it on an Alaskan cruise any time soon, but if we do, I surmise it will be our first time with Princess.

 

2 hours ago, TRUEBLUE66 said:

Have also sailed Princess, Norwegian, M.S.C and  Star cruises but the best was Oceania. Food was amazing each time! 

M.S.C. are a strange mixture catering mainly to European tastes. Lots of families and young couples. Just felt different to everything else, but giving them another go on one of their newer ships in the Caribbean to see if that changes.  

 

Everyone loves Oceania it seems. 🙂 

 

I can imagine MSC being a culture shock for a lot of people. I know when we first moved to Europe a few months ago we were like... whaaaat? It has only been a few months here, but I feel like we have picked up on a lot of the key European ways, so fingers crossed our MSC cruise goes swimmingly. 😛 

[Megtheblackbelt]

2 hours ago, mugtech said:

Itineraries can make a difference.  No RCI to South America.  Would like to do islands in the Indian Ocean and South Africa also, but NCL has Dawn scheduled, my tied for least favorite NCL ship along with Star. 

 

South Africa, yes! I am not sure we will cruise around South Africa, but seeing Table Mountain in Cape Town is on my list! I also reallllly want to go to Egypt to see the pyramids, Tut's tomb, etc., and then to Morocco to do "camping/camel trekking" in the Sahara desert. Flights from BCN to Morocco are pretty cheap (like $75 a person!) so I imagine we can make this happen in 2021, but Cairo and Cape Town are typically quite more expensive. A river cruise on the Nile sounds super cool and like the best way to see the main attractions of Egypt, but I'm a little worried about being on such a tiny vessel when I am easily motion sick. Who knows, we will see. 

2 hours ago, abbflex said:

We was booked for Meraviglia this April, and luckily was canceled.  But probably will wait for refund and Corona to clear up and book Oasis-Class instead. 

 

Sounds like a good plan! Hope you get your refund soon so you can book soon. 🙂 

[Megtheblackbelt]

6 minutes ago, little britain said:

MSC now only match you to Silver I believe.   You have to cruise with them within 3 years to keep the status.

 

The new MSC ships are beautiful and spotlessly clean.  They have a very different vibe, which some don’t like.

 

@Megtheblackbelt wow! What a fabulous price! Well done. You will be truly spoilt with YC and yes they should be able to apply your 5% discount post purchase. 

 

Aw shucks, thank you. Super looking forward to it. Do you have experience with MSC customer service at all? I have tried phoning several times, no one picks up (not even a wait dial), and no responses (not even automatic responses) to email inquiries. Not sure if it's due to everyone and their brother needing to re-book/request refunds and whatnot, or if I am a noob and this is normal. 😛 

[TRUEBLUE66]

2 hours ago, mugtech said:

Itineraries can make a difference.  No RCI to South America.  Would like to do islands in the Indian Ocean and South Africa also, but NCL has Dawn scheduled, my tied for least favorite NCL ship along with Star. 

I agree with you about South Africa! I don't know why more cruise lines don't have this option.

M.S.C. have a couple of ships, as do some of the smaller lines, doing mainly short cruises.

We spent nearly a month there in December and Cape Town is amazing. Lots of excursions to be taken nearby like the wineries and animal reserves. Short flight to Zimbabwe or Zambia for the Victoria Falls. Well worth seeing! Kruger park also amazing! The waterfront area (Victoria & Alfred), right next to the cruise terminal, has perfect views to Table Mountain. With so many ships and fewer places to put them I guess it's only a matter of time!🤞

[little britain]

1 hour ago, Megtheblackbelt said:

 

Aw shucks, thank you. Super looking forward to it. Do you have experience with MSC customer service at all? I have tried phoning several times, no one picks up (not even a wait dial), and no responses (not even automatic responses) to email inquiries. Not sure if it's due to everyone and their brother needing to re-book/request refunds and whatnot, or if I am a noob and this is normal. 😛 

I've had no issues in UK but that was before all this. 

I'm trying to find your price but can't!!

[Megtheblackbelt]

3 minutes ago, little britain said:

I've had no issues in UK but that was before all this. 

I'm trying to find your price but can't!!

 

I booked on the Spanish website! You can find it below. Just use Google Chrome and choose to translate from Spanish to English. 🙂

 

Seems all YC has been booked for this date, but you can get a "Suite Room" with Fantastic experience for 1,618 euros (including gratuities)! Still a solid deal to me.

 

https://www.msccruceros.es/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/MSC_SearchCruiseManagerRedirectCmd?storeId=715827885&langId=-5&catalogId=10001&monthsResult=&areaFilter=MED%40&embarkFilter=&lengthFilter=&departureFrom=01%2F04%2F2021&departureTo=30%2F04%2F2021&ships=&category=&onlyAvailableCruises=true&packageTrf=false&packageTpt=false&packageCrol=false&packageCrfl=false&noAdults=2&noChildren=0&noJChildren=0&noInfant=0&dealsInput=false&tripSpecificationPanel=true&shipPreferencesPanel=false&dealsPanel=false

[Megtheblackbelt]

@little britain Seems these are the suites still available (this is automatically assigned at the 1618 euro pricing) 🙂 

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by Megtheblackbelt

[Cruise a holic]

While we are Celebrity and Royal Cruises,  I am considering trying Oceania.  We typically are in suites and might consider.

[ellewoods]

2 hours ago, Megtheblackbelt said:

 

Galapagos Islands would be so cool! I have a vague memory of looking in to these voyages some time ago and seeing that they were suuuuper high priced, if I remember correctly. Definitely a bucket-list trip, though.

 They are expensive! That’s why it’s a bucket list trip for me too. However, everything is included in the price, there are no extra charges once you are on, excursions and everything are included, so it’s not quite as bad as it looks but he’s still a dream for someday. 

[LorraineP]

2 hours ago, Megtheblackbelt said:

 

This will only be my 3rd cruise so I am not yet fully enlightened on my ideal cruise experience, but I feel like the more I cruise the more I hone in on the importance of 1. Getting away from "the real world" and 2. Exploring new places/itineraries. That said, I do get easily motion sick so I am stuck with sailing the larger ships. I am trying to combat the ~ floating theme park ~ experience by trying out the YC. We will see if it is worth it to us, and decide from there. 🙂 

 

Yes, Blue Iguana! I want to try it. If it is as good as most report, then I would probably spend most days here for food. A good burrito never gets old to me, somehow.

 

I want to try NCL, but mainly for the Haven experience. Once we stay in the YC, I would like to compare the Haven and see which is preferred for us. Only thing is, I have found that NCL does not seem to keep a lot of their larger/newer ships running in Europe a lot. The Med ships seem to be the Epic and Dawn mostly, which are not really ships I am super interested in. :x 

Have done both Haven & YC, the YC was a much better experience. Haven wasn’t worth it & would never do again whereas the YC would definitely do again. Best cruise ever. 

[NJsharon]

Hopefully will be going on only my 2nd Royal cruise on July 9th (yes, still holding out hope.  lol).

Also sailed with Carnival, Holland America, and Norwegian.

Favorite without kids was HOLLAND AMERICA.  Amazing staff, attentive to your needs, private island for Holland America & Carnival is Half Moon Cay, & that is our FAVORITE port of call EVER!!!    Pics attached.
The passenger entertainment events were quality things, well thought out, really nice prizes, and a good experience.

CARNIVAL was fun for the kids when they were around 4-10yrs old.  Lots for them to do.  Also when we were young, we enjoyed that too, with lots of activities.  But we feel since about 10 years ago it has gone downhill fast, and really become cheap.  Passengers on there feeling they are entitled to everything & not caring about others.  Nuts at the buffet, pushing in line at main dining room, loudness at specialty restaurants, lame jokes & too much hype at the entertainment events (bingo, trivia etc.).

 

NORWEGIAN we have sailed the most.  Seems the most reasonable option for us.  Good pricing, bit more than Carnival, but not as crazy experience!
Plus we are in NJ, and they sail out of NYC, so that helps, just limited itineraries.  Hence we are doing Royal from Baltimore this time.
The Norwegian Gem is my favorite ship I've sailed on so far.  It is small & older, but intimate, easy to navigate & get to know the staff.  Enough specialty food choices.  Suites are amazing.  I had a suite, not haven, with a girlfriend of mine & holy hell, I went to paradise!!!  Butler who did everything for us.  Close to die for, that you had access from 2 sides (could walk through basically.
After first 3 files (that are Half Moon Cay, private island for Carnival & Holland America).  There are 4 files/photos.  First is our personal butler who was so so sweet & amazing.  He was from the Philippines, had 2 young girls back home, and would sing beautiful songs in Filipino to us.  Miss him still!  We chatted to him like a regular person, not looking down at him. 
So pic of him when he had set up our table for dinner for us!  Pic of me & my friend ready to eat at our table in our suite!  Pic of  afternoon snacks we got on a typical day placed in our cabin.
Then photo of fresh flowers in our room.  They were so beautiful, we wanted to bring them off the ship.  lol
Doubt I will ever do that again with my family as I got it in a super deal with my friend, but that suite life was a dream!!!

WORTH TRYING NCL!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by NJsharon

[ReneeFLL]

3 hours ago, Megtheblackbelt said:

 

Aw shucks, thank you. Super looking forward to it. Do you have experience with MSC customer service at all? I have tried phoning several times, no one picks up (not even a wait dial), and no responses (not even automatic responses) to email inquiries. Not sure if it's due to everyone and their brother needing to re-book/request refunds and whatnot, or if I am a noob and this is normal. 😛 

What is a wet dial? 

[PhillyFan33579]

My wife and I have been on 37 cruises, all of them on Carnival and RCI. While the majority of our cruises have been on Carnival, we both agree we now prefer RCI. Our next six cruises thru early next year are all booked on RCI, although one of them has already been cancelled. I expect more of them to be cancelled, but hopefully not all of them. 
 

I have no plans to book any more cruises until cruise lines resume cruising. When that happens, we will continue booking on RCI. For a lot of reasons, we find the cruise experience far more enjoyable on RCI than Carnival these days. If/when we try another cruise line, the first on our list is Celebrity. 

[bobmacliberty]

I've looked at Haven and Yacht Club a couple of times but never found any of the deals that people have talked about.  Pricing was about the same, or even more, than a Royal suite.  Still interested in YC and will likely try it once retired and we have more flexibility on time.  At that point, we'll also be interested in more unique itineraries that might have us cruising on another cruise line.  We're still in our 50s and very active, and I'm worried that the higher priced cruise lines will be less about activity and more about relaxing.  Still, Oceania does sound intriguing.  And we'll likely give X a shot at least once.