Loyal to Royal???

[screamin400]

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.

 

We are on the same cruise.

[screamin400]

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! :)

 

This is good info. I am looking at NCL very hard. They have a new ship coming out called the escape. Looks nice but no promenade type deck that I can tell. Wife still wants to do the All Inclusive and pretty sure she will win out.

[karena1]

As you can see from my signature, we have cruised on Royal many times and are D+. I agree that the perks on Royal are pretty good and as a rule we always look at Royall first

 

However, the "sales" that Royal runs now are jokes, prices are crazy expensive. So we now look at other lines. Since Celebrity offers the bev pkg, we got 3 cruises at awesome prices on the 123Go. We booked our first NCL on Sky 3 night b/c the price was the same as Majesty and offered a free bev pkg. Even if you don't drink much this is a HUGE perk. Now Princess is offering some included perks.

 

So now we look at where we are getting our best bang for the buck. When the BOGOHO first came out I booked a ton of cruises bc the fares were really great. Since then all they have done is gone up up and up.

 

So while I would still love to cruise Royal, price and what is included is going to drive who we cruise with.

 

Since we are D+ on Royal, we get the same perk level on Celebrity. I get top tier on Princess because I do travel. On Sky, it is a 3 night cruise. With the free bev pkg, and the fact that basically they go the same places as Majesty, who cares. It is a cruise. And Sky's cabins OV are bigger than Majesty.

 

So again, price and perks are now going to drive who we cruise with. That being said, Carnival is NEVER in the running. Have no desire to even try them.

[PamJack]

We are going on our first Royal cruise in April. Happy to read all the comments and looking forward to maybe being loyal to Royal.

[TC1957]

As you can see below, we have only cruised with them three times. We absolutely loved the first one so it was a no-brainer when we decided to take a second cruise. We loved the second one but did think it was "not as nice as we remembered" while on the ship...but we chalked that up to simply remembering the best of the first cruise since it had been several years. Our third cruise (the very next year) was enjoyable but we noticed a marked decline in service and friendliness of the crew.

 

We have one more definite cruise we want to take (Alaska) but that will probably not be until 2017. That will not move us up in their program so unless the service and onboard experience improves over the last cruise...it will probably be our last with Royal. If it does improve it only makes sense to stay with them unless they simply do not have a cruise we are interested in or someone really beats them in price.

 

As others have said, if they give you OBC, free drinks, internet, discounts, etc...they are writing you a check.

[rodenboy]

As you can see below, we have only cruised with them three times. We absolutely loved the first one so it was a no-brainer when we decided to take a second cruise. We loved the second one but did think it was "not as nice as we remembered" while on the ship...but we chalked that up to simply remembering the best of the first cruise since it had been several years. Our third cruise (the very next year) was enjoyable but we noticed a marked decline in service and friendliness of the crew.

 

 

 

We have one more definite cruise we want to take (Alaska) but that will probably not be until 2017. That will not move us up in their program so unless the service and onboard experience improves over the last cruise...it will probably be our last with Royal. If it does improve it only makes sense to stay with them unless they simply do not have a cruise we are interested in or someone really beats them in price.

 

 

 

As others have said, if they give you OBC, free drinks, internet, discounts, etc...they are writing you a check.

 

 

I totally understand what you are saying. My first sailing in 2012 holds the best memories for me as there was nothing at all we could fault. Every subsequent sailing (treating my b2b as two sailing) lacked something that the first had.

 

That being said, for the price we pay, for what we get, especially on the oasis class, it's too good to pass up and in addition, it's still a better holiday than flying to one destination for a week.

[peteukmcr]

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

 

https://www.colorline.com/on_board

 

From Kiel in Germany to Oslo in Norway. Also has promenade cabins!

[jeditden]

I think after my wife and I went on our 1st cruise together on one of the older "ation" ships, we booked the Majesty of the Seas because it had just been refurbished a few months prior to our sail date, and the price was about the same compared to similar Carnival, and NCL cruises. After such an awesome time, we jsut decided to stick with one company. I'm honestly open to other lines but my wife likes sticking with RCL. If their pricing gets too out of line, I could talk her into something else I imagine. But we're cool with paying a nominal difference to stick with them. Haven't had a bad experience yet.

[jules815]

https://www.colorline.com/on_board

 

From Kiel in Germany to Oslo in Norway. Also has promenade cabins!

 

Wow! I thought the Promenade was unique to RC. Nice view in their MDR too.

Edited July 8, 2015 by jules815