Loyal to Royal???

[rodenboy]

I am in agreement with almost all of the post. Good to hear from folks who like RC once. I actually read about folks that had a good time on RC. CC has become so negative that I wondered if anyone like RC. Everything a person reads is how they don't do this and don't do that so it was very good to hear what they do. The times I have used them have been great. I will use them again if things line up and they have the best ship, itinerary, price. I have not gotten into the loyalty programs like many of you. I doubt I will ever get to that point so I have no loyalty to any lines. I appreciate the amount of knowledge that has taken a minute to post on my post. Do any of you wonder why the other posters who are constantly complaining still go with RC? Any day on a cruise ship in the Caribbean beats a great day here in NY in 20 below with snow to my head. When I get on a ship I am just glad to be there.

 

 

I think you have answered your own question. Yes, users will complain about what they don't have but those days at sea far outweigh those at work. Ideally, I would like an itinerary offered by Royal Caribbean that has a port stop at both Jamaica and St Martin on one sailing.... However, there isn't, but I'm not going to complain about it....

[screamin400]

I think you have answered your own question. Yes, users will complain about what they don't have but those days at sea far outweigh those at work. Ideally, I would like an itinerary offered by Royal Caribbean that has a port stop at both Jamaica and St Martin on one sailing.... However, there isn't, but I'm not going to complain about it....

 

It sure does out weigh it for me. I am reading some of the forum now and I see how people didn't like this and that. Guess everyone thinks they are a true critic. If I came into CC before my first cruise it would make you wonder if you should ever cruise. I think Royal is great but would not hesitate to try something diff. to see how they are. I was starting to think I was the only person that loved the sunshine, sea, sights, when I go on this forum. Maybe I just hate the snow that much :)

[bigeagle12]

Variety is the spice of life.

 

We like Royal and really thought after our first four cruises that we would be loyal to Royal. Then we tried Princess with friends and found out we loved it .. some things better and some things not so much.

 

We have always booked based on itinerary and price .. and started trying other lines too. Like most, found they are all more similar than different.

 

Love my online TA and get plenty of perks and group rates which make up for any loyalty perks I may be missing.

 

As for loyalty .. no plans to be loyal to just one line .. unless they offer buy nine and get your tenth cruise free.

Edited July 5, 2015 by bigeagle12

[screamin400]

Variety is the spice of life.

 

We like Royal and really thought after our first four cruises that we would be loyal to Royal. Then we tried Princess with friends and found out we loved it .. some things better and some things not so much.

 

We have always booked based on itinerary and price .. and started trying other lines too. Like most, found they are all more similar than different.

 

Love my online TA and get plenty of perks and group rates which make up for any loyalty perks I may be missing.

 

As for loyalty .. no plans to be loyal to just one line .. unless they offer buy nine and get your tenth cruise free.

 

Total agreement. How do you like the online TA? I may use one for the next cruise. They sure offer a lot of perks but wonder if I will lose control of my reservation?

[Grandma Dazzles]

I appreciate the amount of knowledge that has taken a minute to post on my post. Do any of you wonder why the other posters who are constantly complaining still go with RC? .

 

 

To add to my earlier post at the beginning of the thread, I think some people like the anonymity of posting on line and like to vent. Perhaps they are very negative in their day-to-day life.

 

It's easy to return and comment about negative things. In a review for example, I pay more attention to positive comments as well as negative making for a more balanced opinion. Some complaints are also so subjective - food, drink prices, etc. I am not a big drinker, plus I have my C&A coupons, but find drink prices to be comparable to many places at home.

 

After a few weeks home you realize "in the big picture" what upset you at that moment was a very small part of a great trip.

[Beachammo]

 

As for loyalty .. no plans to be loyal to just one line .. unless they offer buy nine and get your tenth cruise free.

 

As a diamond.....We get $200 off our balcony cabin. So we do get the "buy nine get the tenth free".

[orville99]

I am in agreement with almost all of the post. Good to hear from folks who like RC once. I actually read about folks that had a good time on RC. CC has become so negative that I wondered if anyone like RC. Everything a person reads is how they don't do this and don't do that so it was very good to hear what they do. The times I have used them have been great. I will use them again if things line up and they have the best ship, itinerary, price. I have not gotten into the loyalty programs like many of you. I doubt I will ever get to that point so I have no loyalty to any lines. I appreciate the amount of knowledge that has taken a minute to post on my post. Do any of you wonder why the other posters who are constantly complaining still go with RC? Any day on a cruise ship in the Caribbean beats a great day here in NY in 20 below with snow to my head. When I get on a ship I am just glad to be there.

 

Registering for a loyalty program costs nothing and even with your cruise history (looks like two cruises completed and one on the books), you would receive some onboard perks as a Gold member if you registered.

 

 

Benefits (Gold) 3-29 points

 

Exclusive Onboard Booking Bonus

Onboard offers loaded on SeaPass Card

Exclusive invitation to Welcome Back Party

SeaPass Card recognition

Meet the Stars!

Priority check-in

Private departure lounge with continental breakfast

Exclusive Trivia

 

 

Cruise Planning Benefits

 

Crown & Anchor Exclusive Rates

Priority notice on special offers, new ships and itineraries

Set your upgrade preferences online

 

 

Additional Benefits

 

Reduced Rate Upgrades (when available)

ADDITIONAL Cruise Points for purchasing suite accommodations and/or for single pricing type

Exclusive Email Offers including access to our weekly Crown & Anchor® Preview Sale

Member Cruises

Crown & Anchor Society Desk for membership inquiries (800) 526-9723

Member Newsletter: Crown & Anchor Society Exclusive

Member-only secured section on our website

Edited July 5, 2015 by orville99

[screamin400]

Registering for a loyalty program costs nothing and even with your cruise history (looks like two cruises completed and one on the books), you would receive some onboard perks as a Gold member if you registered.

 

 

Benefits (Gold) 3-29 points

 

Exclusive Onboard Booking Bonus

Onboard offers loaded on SeaPass Card

Exclusive invitation to Welcome Back Party

SeaPass Card recognition

Meet the Stars!

Priority check-in

Private departure lounge with continental breakfast

Exclusive Trivia

 

 

Cruise Planning Benefits

 

Crown & Anchor Exclusive Rates

Priority notice on special offers, new ships and itineraries

Set your upgrade preferences online

 

 

Additional Benefits

 

Reduced Rate Upgrades (when available)

ADDITIONAL Cruise Points for purchasing suite accommodations and/or for single pricing type

Exclusive Email Offers including access to our weekly Crown & Anchor® Preview Sale

Member Cruises

Crown & Anchor Society Desk for membership inquiries (800) 526-97239

Member Newsletter: Crown & Anchor Society Exclusive

Member-only secured section on our website

 

We are enrolled in the program already but I sure do appreciate you taking a minute to be sure I knew about it.

 

We have done cruises because of itinerary and with the upcoming one due to the ship. I think if we do another one in 2017 I am going to research all the new ships and pick from one of them. Being on the latest greatest may make for a great cruise.

[roquejo]

One very important benefit that is not present in other cruise line's loyal program: Reciprocal elite loyalty benefit with Celebrity Cruises.. well, Azamara as well if you plan to take it.

 

Being elite with Carnaval doesn't give you the reciprocal elite benefits with Princess cruises, Holland America or Costa..

 

Nor being a Platinum lattitudes with NCL gives you perks if you sail Star Cruises...

 

That is the differentiating factor of RCCL's loyalty program in this industry.

 

So if you are accumulating points in RCCL to reach Diamond, you are also working towards elite status with Celebrity..

 

It's like buy one take 3 deal and having status benefits with 3 lines gives you more choices... RCCL has the wow factor in big ships and entertainment but Celebrity, being an upper middle cruise line like Holland America, has generally better food, and gives a more traditional upscale feel... while Azama is an all inclusive product similar to Crystal cruises, Silver Sea...

 

So basically being Loyal to Royal it gives you elite status on one line for each of 3 market segments of the cruise industry.

Edited July 5, 2015 by roquejo

[jules815]

We're back to being loyal to Royal as we're very close to becoming Diamond. We'd like to at least achieve that, and then maybe give Celebrity a try. We did a couple of cruises with Carnival, and we did have a good time, but when we returned to RC, stepping onto the ship, the Promenade, etc., we felt like we were home.

[orville99]

We're on Enchantment in 3 weeks. Used 50,000 VISA points for a free cruise. All we paid was port fees and taxes (and gratuities), so I was $196 out of pocket. There was a week-end promo going when we booked, so we each got $50 in OBC - So now I'm down $96. We each get 2 free days of internet use = $119.90($59.95 each), so now I'm up ~$24. Add in 3 free drinks each/day (~$60/day) and we're ahead by over $200:D

[kalliekae]

One very important benefit that is not present in other cruise line's loyal program: Reciprocal elite loyalty benefit with Celebrity Cruises.. well, Azamara as well if you plan to take it.

 

Being elite with Carnaval doesn't give you the reciprocal elite benefits with Princess cruises, Holland America or Costa...

 

Thank you for pointing this out. We have 7 cruises on HAL and I can tell you that we have very few perks from their Mariner program. After that many cruises on RCCL, I would have had far better perks. Our very first cruise was on HAL back in 1995 and we just stuck with them until 2012 when we cruised on the Oasis. RCCL ships definitely have the WOW factor and we will probably stay with RCCL for the future. We like new ships with lots to do on board and HAL's new ships still don't compare to RCCL ships. That said, if I find a circle Great Britain itinerary on another cruise line, then we will be booking that one since that is on our bucket list.

[1ParticularHbr]

I started with Royal, tried NCL for 2 cruises, came back to Royal for a few, tried Disney, came back to Royal, tried Disney again, came back to Royal, tried Celebrity and...you guessed it, came back to Royal Caribbean. DH and I would do Celebrity again but there just never seems to be an itinerary where we want to go, when we want to go. With Royal Caribbean we know what to expect and, as others have said, are rarely disappointed. Any concern we've ever raised was quickly resolved. We appreciate the Diamond loyalty perks so will likely stick to Royal and Celebrity.

 

Bottom line, having tried other lines, I'd consider us Loyal to Royal at this point :)

[peteukmcr]

We were 'Loyal to Royal' for 10 years and 18 sailings. However, the tide has turned for us despite the balcony discount offered and cocktail hour. We don't get any OBC here in the UK to entice us and a lot of the other D+ on board benefits are of little interest to us.

 

Why are we no longer loyal? Although we appreciate things change and it will be no different on other lines, there has been too many cuts in our opinion. Service hit an all time low during a TA last year that was for a very special milestone event with too many mistakes made by RCI.

 

We tried again this year and found service even worse due to obvious reduction in staff numbers although the prices are higher.

 

So this year we have tried Carnival and found many positives for what we expect from a cruise. We are sailing with Celebrity in a couple months.

 

We do have another RCI cruise booked for 2016, but that was booked 17 months ago. Following later in 2016 we are trying NCL as a result of their competitive pricing.

[impatientlywaiting]

Almost borders on the cynical.

 

Where do I start? You don't have a favorite merchant of any kind? A restaurant or even a grocery store?

 

I can assure you loyal to royal is not a bad thing. Our first cruise in 2004 was on Voyager OTS. We loved Royal's product and stuck with them. Is it perfect, certainly not. Our Quantum cruise comes to mind as not good. But I'll tell you this, I'm not going to experiment with my $2,000+ cruise fare unless there is some overwhelming positive or negative experience for changing.

 

You are wrong when you say Royal doesn't write checks to their loyal customers. Royal writes us a check for OBC and discounts our balcony on every cruise. Free drinks every night. Substantial discounts on laundry, Internet, and 2 free photographs. We get all of this for just doing we we enjoy. I would estimate we receive over $1,000 in discounts, free stuff, and other benefits on a 7 day cruise that we would never get by chasing prices.

 

We're loyal to Royal for the exact reasons you are. Plus the fact that we book our cruises the very day they open up and get the best prices - then if the prices drop before final payment comes due, we get the reduced prices. We've never had a bad experience (well, except for the drunk college kids in March but that was the kids, not the ship or the service, etc.) so we'll continue to be loyal to Royal. Besides the fact, why would we want to go to another line and start all over at the bottom with no benefits at all?

[grandgeezer]

I was loyal to royal because I thought they had the best product out there, by a mile. I know longer think that, they are still #1 but by a narrow margin. I stay loyal because of the perks. Without the perks, we'll go with the best price, whomever that may be.

[A2Mich]

We've only completed one cruise on RCI and have one future one booked, after having previously been mostly Carnival cruisers prior. We had wanted to try something different, and knew that most of the cruise lines had made cutbacks over the years, and had been warned that we might not be pleased with Carnival anymore. Anyway, we tried RC and had a good time. It still did not offer the same level of service as much earlier cruises had, and we expected that. They did however, offer a still acceptable experience and beautiful ships along with a lot of features and entertainment options. However, being that it had been so many years since our previous cruise, we are unable to make a truly fair comparison from RCI to Carnival as do not have a current benchmark for both to truly make a fair comparison, though I think we would still be pleased with Carnival. We are not fortunate enough yet to be able to afford the higher end cruise lines, or to be able to cruise many times per year as others here are able to. Either way, we try to book the best overall experience that we can afford, and I do believe that RC may be SLIGHTLY nicer overall than Carnival, as to decor, and offering more overall options. So we are currently happy with Royal IF we can find a decent promotion to book under to keep the costs under control. That being said, we would have no problem booking a Carnival cruise if price were that much different. MSC seems to be sort of a mixed bag of opinions here, and we're not too sure about NCL yet. Our TA has been wanting us to try them for several years, but the reviews we read seem to be all over the map.

[screamin400]

Lots of good points. So far I have liked Royal better than Carnival due to a better ship and less trying to sell me on board. I may want to throw in an NCL cruise in there somewhere. May of you have tried others and came back. Sometimes you have to try something different so you can see how good you had it. I like Royal a lot but wonder if there is something better. Certainly was good to not hear all the complaining on here for once, just some good common sense. If I was going on my first cruise and came on here I think I would consider never cruising again. The Royal points being able to be used elsewhere is quite a bonus for the people with many cruises already done. Will be years before I get anywhere. I really like the openness of the Freedom ship and wondering if there are any other ship in other brands that are anything like that?

[LisaAtlCruiser]

I tend to be a very loyal person in general - to the same brands, airline, cruise, etc. I ended up on RCL because they had the best option for my Greek Isle cruise and I liked them. Given I travel solo I am still surprised I somehow landed with the "family friendly cruise line". But I do like Royal. I also tend to be goal oriented and now find it a challenge to reach my next loyalty level. Strangely enough - that is all part of the fun for me. :cool:

 

However, as can be seen by my upcoming Princess cruise - if there is someplace I want to go and RCL does not have the best option - I will cruise on another line.

[screamin400]

I tend to be a very loyal person in general - to the same brands, airline, cruise, etc. I ended up on RCL because they had the best option for my Greek Isle cruise and I liked them. Given I travel solo I am still surprised I somehow landed with the "family friendly cruise line". But I do like Royal. I also tend to be goal oriented and now find it a challenge to reach my next loyalty level. Strangely enough - that is all part of the fun for me. :cool:

 

However, as can be seen by my upcoming Princess cruise - if there is someplace I want to go and RCL does not have the best option - I will cruise on another line.

 

Looks like you have been pretty busy. So you are loyal to a point. I can understand that. I always am wondering if I am missing something. I have loved our cruises so far.

[Moltar]

Loyal to Royal because:

 

A: I think their ships have the most to offer overall.

B: Consistently great service in all departments

C: C&A, its nice to be appreciated for coming back and the more you come, the more you get.

D: I can go on Azamara or Celebrity and my C&A status will carry over.

E: Royal Promenade, I can never get enough of that feature. Seriously. To me, to this day, the greatest innovation on a cruise ship.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Moltar

[screamin400]

Loyal to Royal because:

 

A: I think their ships have the most to offer overall.

B: Consistently great service in all departments

C: C&A, its nice to be appreciated for coming back and the more you come, the more you get.

D: I can go on Azamara or Celebrity and my C&A status will carry over.

E: Royal Promenade, I can never get enough of that feature. Seriously. To me, to this day, the greatest innovation on a cruise ship.

 

The Promenade makes the ship great. Does anyone know if NCL or others have anything like this?

[Clarea]

The Promenade makes the ship great. Does anyone know if NCL or others have anything like this?

Apparently there is a car ferry that has an inside Promenade, but so far no other cruise lines.

[Grandma Petania]

I am not what I consider a frequent cruiser. I feel fortunate to have sailed to the Caribbean on the Oasis 3 times in the past 4 years, with another one booked for Feb. 2016. Six weeks ago I went out on a limb and also booked the Harmony for Feb. 2017. I did a lot of land traveling in my 20s, 30s & 40s. At 75, I don't have the stamina for intensive port exploration. I love to have the week of warmth away from winter, though I don't have the heat tolerance for spending much time by the pool or on a beach.

 

I guess I am mostly loyal to the Oasis class ships. I love the entertainment, exploring the ship, not having to cook or do grocery shopping or run errands. I cruise for the least amount of money I can. I don't gamble, drink anything but water/tea, visit the spa, or dine in the up-charge restaurants. I will never gain enough loyalty points to get the extra perks, but I truly enjoy my week on board, and hope I can continue to do this about once a year.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I'm loyal to Royal for several reasons. I cruised with Royal 4 times between the years of 2003 and 2007. Then, I did a couple land vacations, along with one cruise on Carnival, one on Princess, and one on NCL. I then returned to Royal for a cruise in 2014 and 2015. I now have 1 booked for next year (maybe 2!). For the time being, I've found Royal to be the best fit for me.

 

I love Royal's ships, and I love the familiarity when I step on the ship. I also enjoy the service. I've found Royal's crew to be the friendliest, but thats just my opinion. Honestly, when comparing the overall experience between the 4 cruise lines I've tried, Royal always comes out on top in my book.

 

Also: I'm starting to make my way up in the C&A society too, so that's a plus! :)

Edited July 8, 2015 by OfTheSeasCruiser