Entice me to come back to RCCL

[jean87510]

21 hours ago, ScottC4746 said:

We are in our late 50's, me pushing 60 more than DH.  We left RCCL for a smaller ship that is affordable.  We tried HAL and we are too young, but beautiful ship and attention to detail.  Loved the customer service.  They have trivia which we love, but no prizes. No problem getting a 2 top in the MDR.

We tried Celebrity and we were hooked.  Unfortunately their trend seems to be infinite verandas which we will have on our cruise in 20 days but heard it is a love hate thing.  The more we read about them we already hate them.  While it makes a beautiful streamlined ship, if it says balcony we want a balcony. No trivia.  No problem getting a two top in the MDR.

 

This leaves us with RCCL.  Their ships have grown huge.  This scares us because we can just imagine the lines and crowds for everything, but it seems as they grow they have added more bars and comp restaurants to help.  We aren't really pool people, so that deck is a waste to us.  Not sure how often we will be able to get a two top in the MDR.

 

What can you all say/suggest to encourage us back?  How can we learn to embrace bigger ships.

We have been focusing more on ports rather than ship features and prices.  

 

We recently booked a B2B on Emerald cruises starting in Barbados and ending in Marigot St. Martin on their Yacht cruises.  The ship holds 100 passengers.  Price for 1 leg Christmas if paid in full was cheaper than Royal Jewel of the seas out of San Juan.  Most excursions included.  Wifi included. Drinks, gratuities included.  Transfers included.  Self laundry. Ports are Barbados, Soufriere, St. Lucia, Guadalupe, Soufrière,  Îles des Saintes, Guadeloupe, Falmouth Harbour, Antigua and Barbuda, Charlestown-Cades Bay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy, Prickly Pear Cays, Anguilla and Marigot, Saint Martin for 1 sailing.  Yes, no casino, specialty restaurants or shows.  

Edited May 14 by jean87510

[Tatka]

14 hours ago, Queen of Oakville said:

This is my first visit back to these boards in about 5 years!!

 

thinking of getting back to cruising, after 2020, never thought I'd cruise again, ... and here we are 🙂

 

 

Wow! We  were on one of the first cruises after restart from US!

 

Have a nice restart!

[orville99]

4 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

You use the word “we”, so not sure if your DW helps,

Not being royalty and not even staying in a Holiday Inn Express, it is a completely collaborative process. She picks the itineraries; I pick the suite; we settle on the best dates, she packs, I pay😇

[orville99]

3 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Unfortunately their trend seems to be infinite verandas which we will have on our cruise in 20 days but heard it is a love hate thing.

We love them. Since we usually leave the balcony door open all the time when we are in the suite anyway, they make that a lot easier to do.😇