I miss Royal

[LetsTryThisPlace]

So after Freedom I was able to convince my wife to cruise more. She found a deal for the MSC Bellissima from Barcelona and thought we would give them a shot since it was a brand new ship. The ship wasn't bad it just wasn't a great experience compared to Royal so we have gone back to Royal and decided it would be hard to go to another line now. Is this how people become Loyal to Royal? We just booked our next cruise (unless we book another one before we go lol) on Freedom. Looking forward to the ABC islands. 

[SpeedNoodles]

We had the same experience with Princess. We love Royal!

[princevaliantus]

But what would you do if you found an itinerary that is never offered on Royal but it's offered on another cruise line? Do you switch for the  moment or do you sob and miss out on the awesome itinerary? 

[Lovetocruise2002]

@LetsTryThisPlace welcome back to the message boards.  

We have taken a few cruises outside of Royal and each time the experience was the same...good cruise but it never felt like “home”. I truly believe that Royal offers the best “overall package” in cruising.

Will there be lines that do a specific thing better, sure, but IMO, none of them can complete with Royal overall. That is why we keep going back to royal.

Other lines we have done, the price pay have been good but the entertainment was not, or the entertainment may have been good and the food choices/quality not so good, etc.  

Should you take other cruises? Sure. But just know what you get into and you won’t be disappointed. So which royal ship did you pick for your next cruise?

[ChessE4]

51 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

But what would you do if you found an itinerary that is never offered on Royal but it's offered on another cruise line? Do you switch for the  moment or do you sob and miss out on the awesome itinerary? 

I think you go with the itinerary.  We really want to see French Polynesia, and the only practical way is with a smaller vessel, so we are looking at other cruise lines.  The Royal itineraries don't visit enough ports there (e.g., they are relocation itineraries).

[KathyC]

Welcome back @LetsTryThisPlace!  We miss your morning cruise ship reports from Grand Cayman.  

We've cruised with Royal, NCL, Disney, and Carnival.  Our first Celebrity is coming up soon.  Royal was our first, and definitely our favorite.  It's easy to get comfortable with the way one cruise line does things.  It doesn't stop us from trying other cruise lines though, as there are places that Royal doesn't go.  We are so over going back to the same islands over and over, and now only cruise for the itinerary or the ship.  Or the group of people on the ship.  But it's always nice to try something new, to appreciate what you have back home...which it appears you have done!

[KJ1231]

I was set to book a 14-day Alaska cruise with HA for 2020 but when they released their itineraries they dropped the additional ports (Homer, Kodiak, Sitka in addition to Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, etc.) that made it attractive. We're doing Radiance again.

4 cruises - all with RC. My in-laws were the ones who chose RC for the 1st one, not us. To be honest, if not for this website we may have tried others. I am a firm believer in not reinventing the wheel. I take advantage of other people experimenting and providing honest feedback. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.... 

[tiny260]

Welcome back and yes, that is how I became loyal to Royal (By taking another cruise line).

[LetsTryThisPlace]

3 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

But what would you do if you found an itinerary that is never offered on Royal but it's offered on another cruise line? Do you switch for the  moment or do you sob and miss out on the awesome itinerary? 

This was partly why we choice the Bellissima, it had a really interesting Mediterranean itinerary. I have heard Princess has some good ones that we may try in the future. But if we can stick to Royal for the same itinerary we probably will. 

Ya we may dabble in some other lines here and there but Royal suites us best. Customer service was better, food was better (mine was only fresh because of my allergies and the rest of our group complained of the lack of quality) and just the atmosphere was better on Royal. Only places Royal has lost so far is room design and alcohol prices lol. 

2 hours ago, KathyC said:

Welcome back @LetsTryThisPlace!  We miss your morning cruise ship reports from Grand Cayman. 

Thank you, Ya life has gotten in the way a bit. Hoping to get back in to it at some point but for now I've had to put it on hold.

Thank you @Lovetocruise2002 and @tiny260 its good too be back, hoping I can stay active here again. 

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

So which royal ship did you pick for your next cruise?

The next one planned is Freedom in March. We were planning to go on Navigator in October but my work project got in the way so have to move it. Hoping to be on one before March though.

[Susie]

12 hours ago, LetsTryThisPlace said:

So after Freedom I was able to convince my wife to cruise more. She found a deal for the MSC Bellissima from Barcelona and thought we would give them a shot since it was a brand new ship. The ship wasn't bad it just wasn't a great experience compared to Royal so we have gone back to Royal and decided it would be hard to go to another line now. Is this how people become Loyal to Royal? We just booked our next cruise (unless we book another one before we go lol) on Freedom. Looking forward to the ABC islands. 

I went on MSC Bellissima in April for my Europe (Mediterranean Cruise). We flew to Milan and took train to Genoa. I love the ports of call (Genoa, Naples, Messina, Malta, Marseille and Barcelona. From my experience it was great cruise and we love it. I did not have any bad services except shore excursion desk. The reason we went with MSC because the price for the  cruise was less than half we will have to pay for Royal and the ports was my destination not the ship so why not. I went with open mind and it was better than I was expected. Interior room was bigger than Royal interior room. Any services we got was the same we got with royal. The ship was clean (brand new). The shows that come with the cruise price was good but not great like Royal. However, it doesn't bother me at all. I did went to one show of Cirque Du Soleil (Syma). I was a superior show and we love but you have to pay for it ($18 each if I was not wrong). IMO, It well worth the money spent. We also try their specialty restaurants (Butcher's cut and Sushi) and it was really great. One seas day, we went to the slides and rope course. We loved them and really enjoyed them. I also like that they allow my son who was not 48" went with my husband on the slide. Sum it up, We will not hesitate to book cruise to Mediterranean with MSC again. I think, it depends on what you need for your cruise and expectation. My expectation was really low and the ports was right.

I still loyal to Royal as you can see I already book 2 cruises with Royal (Symphony and Oasis).

@princevaliantus I was promised to give you a review with MSC Bellissima and here it is. 

[LetsTryThisPlace]

The ship itself was good and most of the service was good but for allergies not as good as Royal for sure. (I actually end up with a minor attack for the first time on a cruise) Cirque Du Soleil was good but none of the other shows were like Royals. If it wasn't for their customer service (mostly pre cruise) we probably would have tried them again if we did the Med again. But we had such a headache before hand its put us off ever even considering them. Ship was decent and was better then the Norwegian we went on but not Royal lol.

[princevaliantus]

37 minutes ago, Susie said:

I went on MSC Bellissima in April for my Europe (Mediterranean Cruise). We flew to Milan and took train to Genoa. I love the ports of call (Genoa, Naples, Messina, Malta, Marseille and Barcelona. From my experience it was great cruise and we love it. I did not have any bad services except shore excursion desk. The reason we went with MSC because the price for the  cruise was less than half we will have to pay for Royal and the ports was my destination not the ship so why not. I went with open mind and it was better than I was expected. Interior room was bigger than Royal interior room. Any services we got was the same we got with royal. The ship was clean (brand new). The shows that come with the cruise price was good but not great like Royal. However, it doesn't bother me at all. I did went to one show of Cirque Du Soleil (Syma). I was a superior show and we love but you have to pay for it ($18 each if I was not wrong). IMO, It well worth the money spent. We also try their specialty restaurants (Butcher's cut and Sushi) and it was really great. One seas day, we went to the slides and rope course. We loved them and really enjoyed them. I also like that they allow my son who was not 48" went with my husband on the slide. Sum it up, We will not hesitate to book cruise to Mediterranean with MSC again. I think, it depends on what you need for your cruise and expectation. My expectation was really low and the ports was right.

I still loyal to Royal as you can see I already book 2 cruises with Royal (Symphony and Oasis).

@princevaliantus I was promised to give you a review with MSC Bellissima and here it is. 

Thank you ! 

[SpeedNoodles]

8 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

But what would you do if you found an itinerary that is never offered on Royal but it's offered on another cruise line? Do you switch for the  moment or do you sob and miss out on the awesome itinerary? 

I'm sure we'll be booking on another line at some point because Royal's itineraries aren't what I consider to be fabulous.  But since the places we want to go typically are longer and involve a longer flight, those will have to wait until retirement.