Entice me to come back to RCCL

[ScottC4746]

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.

[PhillyFan33579]

Based on your post I would stick with Celebrity. I wouldn’t be too quick to jump to conclusions on infinite veranda cabins. I have as just on Celebrity Apex two weeks ago and loved our infinite veranda cabin. It was much nicer than the infinite balcony cabin we had on Icon in February. The bottom line is RCi’s bigger ships are crowded, especially Icon. 

[Sizzlechest]

I went from NCL to RCL in part because of the crowding on NCL's newer ships. I don't have any issues with RCL mega ships getting seats at shows, dining reservations, etc. The adults-only areas are truly adults-only.

[Starry Eyes]

We are not pool people either, yet I consider the pool deck (with plenty of deck chairs) a very important part of the ship….after all, to avoid crowding, passengers must spread out.  I hope for excellent pool weather, especially on sea days, even though I won’t be in the pool.  If there is a wonderful pool deck and conducive weather, the pool people are happy and they are not crowding the non-pool-people’s spaces. Same thoughts apply to kid’s clubs and other attractive areas/activities we don’t happen to use.

 

 

[bucfan2]

If you're content w/ the product you're currently sailing, remain content.  If you're curious on the bigger ships, I wouldn't worry about embracing anything...just cruise one and see what you think.  Ask a million people their preferences, and you'll most likely get 2 million responses.

Edited May 13 by bucfan2

[OceanCruise]

31 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

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.

We recently cruised Celebrity and there were 4-6 trivia sessions daily but no prizes.

[Loracpin2]

Stay with Celebrity!!!! Latest RCI experience was on the Oasis last July to join Daughter, Son-in-Law and Granddaughters. Spending every minute with Family was FANTASTIC!!!! Sailing the Oasis was a DISASTER!!!!  

[firefly333]

Lots are leaving royal too. There dont seem to be perfect cruiselines. But hey I also like carnivals fast food and service. 

 

I've wanted to try HAL, heard the food is better and wanted to try it myself.. .. just moving then later I'll look around. Up until now I've mostly done out of texas which was limited.

[OCSC Mike]

49 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

Their ships have grown huge. 

Some are huge, some are not.

 

49 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

Not sure how often we will be able to get a two top in the MDR.

I’ve never once NOT been able to get a 2-top.

[PhillyFan33579]

22 minutes ago, OceanCruise said:

We recently cruised Celebrity and there were 4-6 trivia sessions daily but no prizes.

Is that a bad thing? I actually prefer trivia on Celebrity since no one takes it too seriously or cheats because you aren’t playing for anything. . 

[OCSC Mike]

3 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I actually prefer trivia on Celebrity since no one takes it too seriously or cheats because you aren’t playing for anything

As opposed to playing for keychains & highlighters on Royal? I’ve never found RC trivia taken too seriously nor felt cheating was an issue. Maybe we’ve had different experiences but I enjoy RC trivia other than some of the venues being overcrowded at times.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

As opposed to playing for keychains & highlighters on Royal? I’ve never found RC trivia taken too seriously nor felt cheating was an issue. Maybe we’ve had different experiences but I enjoy RC trivia other than some of the venues being overcrowded at times.

I have seen lots of cheating on RCI trivia, which I have never understood, since the prizes are basically worthless like you mentioned. I like trivia hosts who make comments like if you a want to cheat go ahead, the prices are crap. Comments like that tend to keep passenger in line lol. 

[OCSC Mike]

11 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I have seen lots of cheating on RCI trivia, which I have never understood, since the prizes are basically worthless like you mentioned. I like trivia hosts who make comments like if you a want to cheat go ahead, the prices are crap. Comments like that tend to keep passenger in line lol. 

 

I guess we have had different experiences but I agree about hosts. I find more and more of them make fun of the prizes now.

[Pratique]

I will say this about RC, and some people may disagree, but it is like the McDonald's of cruising. More or less a homogeneous and consistent experience on every sailing so you know what to expect every time. Not a ton of attention to detail - they are catering to the masses and sailing the same itineraries over and over again. Wash, rinse, repeat. This is not necessarily a bad thing and millions of customers every year seem to agree. Royal isn't trying to be a luxury line; they focus on what works "well enough" consistently. FWIW McDonald's also has lots of repeat customers so make of that what you will.

 

You will get a 2-top and the service and food will be decent to good but not extra special. The large ships are no worse than the smaller ships because even though there are more guests there are also more places and crew for them - if anything, the larger ships offer more options (dining, entertainment, etc.), which is a good thing IMHO. There is some benefit to scaling the ships up in terms of what they have to offer for the price. The ship is the destination. If you value consistency and predictability, RC has it.

 

As far as the infinite verandas, the #1 problem for me is that opening the window exposes the entire cabin to the outside air. This is a problem in the morning when I get up before my wife and sit outside while she sleeps. I will never get one of those staterooms and certainly not at the prices Celebrity is asking for a "balcony" stateroom.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

I guess we have had different experiences but I agree about hosts. I find more and more of them make fun of the prizes now.

In the last few months I have heard hosts say you are playing for a pen that writes in 46 different languages and playing for a highlighter guaranteed to work the rest of the day. Despite what I said in my last post, it’s probably important to point out I haven’t seen people cheating in the majority of trivia games I have played. 

[Anton]

Royal has been handing our leftover covid vaccinated guest wristbands as trivia prizes on some ships lately.

[BecciBoo]

Trivia is not a contest to win prises but to test your mettle, intelligence and savvy and pass the time.  But...I don't like cheaters, nor line jumpers, my pet peeves.  What's the point of cheating, you've bested yourself. We encountered some college types on Allure who were looking up answers on the internet, so I felt compelled to address it outloud..."What you need help answering these?"  She was highly embarrassed but I was highly satisfied.

 

And line cutters are just plain rude.  That type of behavior is not relegated to just RCI.  We are on Icon in Sept. Celebrity Ascent in April and again 2025.  There were things we liked about Carnival Jubilee but it just didn't fit us.  I'll stick with RCL and an occasional Celebrity and be just fine.  We love the bigger ships.  To each his own.

[smokeybandit]

Ships are designed to handle crowds. Whether the smallest Vision class ship or Icon.

[Cruising89143]

Give Celebrity a chance. We like both Celebrity and Royal depending on what we’re looking for in a cruise experience but prefer Celebrity slightly more due to the more adult experience, higher level of service and suite accommodations versus Royal. We think both cruise lines have their strengths and weaknesses.
 

I agree about HAL. We tried it once and we too were too young.  Also did not like the ship (Oosterdam). Last cruise on Carnival was twenty years ago and that “was” the last cruise on Carnival. We don’t cruise for burgers, pizza and ice cream. The new Princess ship looks nice. That may end up on our list. MSC looks nice if you sail in their Yacht Club. 
 

It seems that more and more cruise lines are starting to add the IV staterooms. Royal added to the Icon and MSC added to their World class ships. Try the IV stateroom before making a decision. Celebrity made some cuts when their new President came aboard last year but have since done an about face due to the uproar from guests. She was brought over from Royal Caribbean but she quickly found that the some of the Royal (cost cutting) mentality did not work at Celebrity. The S class of Celebrity is still my favorite class even though they’re not Celebrity’s newest.  

[Tatka]

We won't try to entice you... we want prices to come down, not up.

 

We personally switched to RCI completely after Covid pandemic and 1 cruise with Celebrity (Edge) which we loved. So now 31 cruise are with other 7 lines and 31 with RCI.

 

RCI works very well for our 5 cruises from Northeast (4 NJ and 1 Baltimore). Gives us variety, overall quality (Celebrity is ranked higher in this department, but there are more factors), great entertainment in theater and lounges. 

[HicksRA]

I always have to laugh when people ask about two tops thinking they’ll be a private experience. There’s usually about 7 of them crammed so close together you bump elbows with the guy at the table next to you when you try to put food in your mouth and people trying to get by drag their butt in your green beans as they scoot sideways…

[lovesthebeach2]

I wouldn’t leave Celebrity…..we’re moving FROM Royal TO Celebrity.

 

Royal’s focus under the new top guy has changed dramatically to entice families with children to amusement park “Weekend” 3 or 4 day cruises. Lots of children!
 

Theres nothing wrong with that, but that’s not what we want. Plus the short cruises are usually booze cruises. Again, nothing wrong with that, we manage to use our 5 vouchers each day. Were just not roundly and LOUD.

 

But for the reasons we cruise, 3 or 4 day cruises are definitely not our thing.  Maybe if Royal notices that many loyal fans have left, they will think harder on the Discovery class they have been whispering about, which are smaller ships that we assume can go to the smaller ports that we are interested in rather than only beach clubs, which were not.

So for now it’s Celebrity and other upscale lines such as Viking and Silversea for us.

And please don’t go on the ship with the thought that you’ll hate the infinite balcony.  We’ll be taking our first (of a few more booked) to Norway next year on Apex, and look forward to the infinite balcony so we can see the beautiful scenery and still be warm inside.

[taglovestocruise]

2 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. 

 

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

Wife and I are both in our 70s. Oasis Class has become our favorite and a 12/15 night transatlantic cruise is perfect.  Recently sailed 17 nights on Ovation and Quantum, ships seemed way to small and boring. 

[Tatka]

27 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I wouldn’t leave Celebrity…..we’re moving FROM Royal TO Celebrity.

 

Royal’s focus under the new top guy has changed dramatically to entice families with children to amusement park “Weekend” 3 or 4 day cruises. Lots of children!

 

 

Our cruises with Royal are usually

 

• Two 11 or 12 dayers to Southern Caribbean on Quantum/Vision classes in January/March
• One 5 dayer Bermuda on Freedom/Voyager class or 7 dayer  to Bahamas in May/June on Oasis class
• One 9 dayer to NE/Canada in September on Freedon/Voyager class
• One 7-8 dayer to Bahamas for Thanksgiving on Quantum class 

 

Plenty of longer cruises. We avoid large number of children by sailing during school time or longer cruises, or using adult  solariums.

 

No short cruises for us.

 

[Donsyb]

2 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

Stay with Celebrity!!!! Latest RCI experience was on the Oasis last July to join Daughter, Son-in-Law and Granddaughters. Spending every minute with Family was FANTASTIC!!!! Sailing the Oasis was a DISASTER!!!!  

What was wrong with Oasis? We loved it.