RCCL: For Better or Worse?

[rosinryanz]

Hey everyone,

 

With the summer approaching, cruising has been on my mind a lot. Especially RCCL. I've been cruising with RCCL for more years that I want to admit, and I have so many memories from those early cruises. Song of Norway, Song of America... you all remember those ships, I'm sure! What I'll never forget was the incredible attention to service, awesome food, headliner entertainment (I remember seeing Bobby Vinton perform in the lounge!). You'd run into staff that you'd met only once, and they would know your name. I remember once I bellhop who remembered my name from a cruise four years prior! It seems like it all was a cut above what it is now. Those ships sure weren't flashy like the Voyager-class ships we have today. We ate all our meals in the drab main dining room, and the casino was usually the size of a shoebox. But you know what, with all the glitz and spectacle these new ships have, is the cruising experience better or worse? While I still have a great time on my RCCL cruises today, I can't help but compare them to the "good old days" in the eighties and nineties, when the ships were smaller but everything else seemed compartively better. For you longtime RCCL cruisers out there - am I right that it just isn't the same today, or is it just my imagination?

[Nitra]

I think this is why the Rhapsody was so popular. She was in Texas for 5 yrs, she is not too big, yet still not really small. The crew remembered the passengers, they addressed you by name. I have had the Captain remember me and I never met him! These things created that intimate cruising experience. It is like a crew member said to me on my last cruise, it is not like seeing passengers every week, it is like seeing your family.

 

I think the bigger ships have lost that personal feel, maybe that is why I did not like Voyager and if RCCL does away with their smaller ships, I will find another line or stop cruising. I will not go larger than a Radiance class, which I really want to try, then I can say if I like that size or not.

[phoenix1181]

Although I still enjoy cruising, it definitely used to be better! Every meal in the dining room was an experience and the service was outstanding. There were no alternative restaurants and the Windjammer was not open for dinner. Every night there was a midnight buffet and they were very well attended. The desserts were always outstanding and there was tremendous variety. They had pastry chefs in the kitchen then. Now, too much of what they serve comes onboard frozen.

 

There were more organized activities too. I remember going to "classes". I did napkin folding, line dancing, and many other crazy things. They were always crowded and we laughed at our total lack of skill or coordination until our sides hurt.

 

Many of the entertainers were people you saw on television and who's records you bought. There were Vegas style production shows, not the song and dance numbers they serve up now.

 

Yes rosinryanz, it used to be better. But, things change, and some of those changes are really good like Chops & Portofino. However............. I did like it better then.

[cb at sea]

I would rather get rid of the "specialty" restaurants, and go back to having that same great food and service in the dining room! That experience USED to be included! Now, you must pay for it!

Cruise lines are trying to market to the masses--and this is what you get! The "exclusivity" of cruising is gone! They lower the prices to get more new folks onboard, but lower prices mean less quality.

I'd rather pay more and have that WOW experience, than pay less and have a mediocre vacation!

[Cruising89143]

I will take cruising today over that of yesterday anytime. Ships are nicer, larger, balcony cabins, better entertainment, better dining options and the list goes on and on.

[Cruising89143]

I would rather get rid of the "specialty" restaurants, and go back to having that same great food and service in the dining room! That experience USED to be included! Now, you must pay for it!

Cruise lines are trying to market to the masses--and this is what you get! The "exclusivity" of cruising is gone! They lower the prices to get more new folks onboard, but lower prices mean less quality.

I'd rather pay more and have that WOW experience, than pay less and have a mediocre vacation!

 

Then you need to start cruising with Oceania, Azamara or one of the other premium lines. RCI is a full fledged mass market line and it is only going to get bigger.

[TravlGrl]

I'm not a longtime cruiser, but reading this thread brings up some questions in my mind. Have the crew contracts always been 6-8 months? In the "old days" (for lack of better words?? :)), how often did the crew rotate? The only reason I ask is because I'm wondering if the contracts were shorter, and if so, perhaps the crew was able to be more enthusiastic/invigorated/personable with each new sailing? I really don't know. If the contracts were shorter, perhaps the crew could be more personable, remember names, care more??? I really have no idea, but I'm curious if there is any relation to this at all, or if the contracts have always been this length.

[TahoeBob]

I would rather get rid of the "specialty" restaurants, and go back to having that same great food and service in the dining room! That experience USED to be included! Now, you must pay for it!

Cruise lines are trying to market to the masses--and this is what you get! The "exclusivity" of cruising is gone! They lower the prices to get more new folks onboard, but lower prices mean less quality.

I'd rather pay more and have that WOW experience, than pay less and have a mediocre vacation!

 

I found this somewhere on the web.

 

http://www.traveltrade.com/headline_news.jsp?articleID=7078

“Massclusivity means people have a three-star lifestyle but are looking for a five-star vacation experience,” the Carnival senior VP said. “The masses want what was only accessible to the affluent for many years.”...

 

 

Discussing the second cruising P, for “price,” Freed noted that while the price of gas has gone from 80 cents per gallon in 1980 to $2.80 in some places today, it is still possible to buy the $599 cruise available in 1980 for the same price today. She added that the 1980 cruise price, by today’s inflation standards, has a value of $1,373....

 

Could it be time for the people who miss the old days on a cruse ship to move on the a high end line?