We are Loyal to Royal. Are you? Why?

[Gilley]

2 hours ago, foxrunner said:

What makes me loyal is this website. I like to be in the know when I travel. We enjoy the planning process and Matt and the crew around here give us great tips. This type of site doesn't exist for other lines and the general cruise sites are full of trolls. We will try another line though. Price increases are the main reason. Post Covid service and costs have drastically changed. Unfortunately this is a universal issue not just with Royal. I would encourage all of us to continue to be constructive critics and hope for change. Another reminder is that this site isn't run by RCCL and is full of good helpful people.  

I’m learning so much from all of you on this site.  I really enjoy reading about everyone’s experience.  And I agree people here are very helpful.  It does pain me to hear about the changes that have made many look elsewhere.  I’m hoping things will go back to what it use to be in some form or another.

[Jill]

We’ve been with Royal since 1990 or ‘91. We honestly have been happy and at 194 points, don’t see a need to go elsewhere, for now. 

We still enjoy the big ships and all the entertainment and specialty restaurants they offer. Central Park is just my happy place. 

We are at an age (mid to late 50’s) where the “bucket list” is taking precedence. The big girls are simply too limited in the ports they go to. We sail oasis class at least once a year to the Caribbean for a “sit on your butt and eat and drink for a week.” Just did that on Wonder 3 weeks ago. Jumping on Allure in October to get us through to Icon in April. Utopia is likely in the mix and Alaska is the next bucket list for 2025. 

We have just booked our first river cruise with Viking for the Christmas Markets on the Danube for 2024. If Royal sailed the rivers, we’d likely be booked with them. 

We always book waaaay in advance and honestly haven’t seen these “massive” price hikes some complain about. Gone are the days of booking a reasonable fare 6 months out. You gotta plan twice to 3x that to get the price. 

If Royal doesn’t end up coming out with a new, smaller class (Discovery class?) to replace Vision, Radiance and ultimately voyager classes, we will start looking around. We did the Holy Land last October on Odyssey and it was fantastic and there’s a lot of the world to see but the old girls in the fleet just don’t excite us at all. I’m praying Radiance gets her face lift before we sail her in 2025. Covid really hit them hard on the cosmetics of the ships and honestly, it’s a turn off to see stained carpets, musty smells and upholstery that is too well worn. 

We’d likely go to Celebrity first but I really want a true status match on the drinks. I want my 5 anytime of day, not in a 2-3 hour happy hour at night. 

[JCJ]

My wife and I are loyal to Royal. We started cruising in 2009 with Carnival. We did 2 cruises with them and liked it. The age dynamic was a bit to stomach. However, we booked a cruise thru Princess and wasn't thrilled because of the age differential on that ship (a lot of old people). We tried RCC in 2015 and have been loyal since. The age dynamic and assortment of activities that you can do are great. We just reached Diamond Status and looking forward to the free drinks we can get with the status. With all of this said, I hope RCC slows down on their price increases!!!

[AMM]

So sorry to read how many of you are disappointed with your recent RCL cruise experiences.

We are C&A  Diamond + members and just returned from an awesome 14 nt back to back on Oasis of the Seas.

We have been sailing 35 years with RCL and have done 42 cruises staying in mostly Balcony Staterooms.

Sure it costs more today than it did 35 years ago; In 1988 Gasoline was $0.90 a gallon today it is $4.33 a gallon.

You do the math - it's all relative.