First RCCL Cruise

keaster · Nov 4, 2015

So DH and I are taking the plunge and trying out RCCL for our very first time. We are going exotic, doing the Dubai cruise January 11-18. It's an older ship, Splendour of the Seas...but we got what I think is a great deal. A guarantee balcony for $2000 Cdn plus tax!

Since it's just the two of us, it'll be interesting to experience a ship without any children related activities lol!

bumbershoot · Nov 4, 2015

Wow!!!

Laz · Nov 10, 2015

Sounds great! I think you will find the smaller, older RCCL ships like the Slendour a wonderful experience. With less physical amenities compared to newer ships (Oasis class, Quantum Class, etc.), the staff and crew interact more with the passengers. You are going the have a blast.

keaster · Nov 10, 2015

Thanks! It's a long way to go (direct flight from Toronto to Dubai is 13 hours), but we are very excited! RCCL is actually selling the Splendour to Thomson cruises when they are done doing the Middle East sailings in the spring, so we will be one of the last groups to sail on her! She had a refurb in 2011 (they added some balconies to staterooms, added in Chops Grille and some other food options) so we think it'll be a good time

dolphingirl47 · Nov 18, 2015

keaster said:
So DH and I are taking the plunge and trying out RCCL for our very first time. We are going exotic, doing the Dubai cruise January 11-18. It's an older ship, Splendour of the Seas...but we got what I think is a great deal. A guarantee balcony for $2000 Cdn plus tax!

Since it's just the two of us, it'll be interesting to experience a ship without any children related activities lol!

We are looking at our first RCCL cruise as well and also out of Dubai, but for the December 14th sailing. We have sailed DCL and NCL before. We are going to go for an inside cabin as we can get an amazing deal on that. Dubai is almost like a second home to me as we live in the UK and I work for a Dubai-based company, but I have not been to any other places on the itinerary.

Corinna

Dug720 · Nov 19, 2015

Laz said:
Sounds great! I think you will find the smaller, older RCCL ships like the Slendour a wonderful experience. With less physical amenities compared to newer ships (Oasis class, Quantum Class, etc.), the staff and crew interact more with the passengers. You are going the have a blast.

Excellent point about ship size and "lack" of bells and whistles. I got a mailing yesterday focusing on Anthem of the Seas with the quote (and they're using it in the commercials as well) "THIS IS NOT A CRUISE"

And that is exactly why I refuse to sail on the behemoths of the seas - if I'm cruising, I want to be on a cruise.

DnA2010 · Nov 21, 2015

Dug720 said:
Excellent point about ship size and "lack" of bells and whistles. I got a mailing yesterday focusing on Anthem of the Seas with the quote (and they're using it in the commercials as well) "THIS IS NOT A CRUISE"

And that is exactly why I refuse to sail on the behemoths of the seas - if I'm cruising, I want to be on a cruise.

We've sailed on Oasis and in Fantasy and they didn't seem much different- we found Oasis less crowded and it was sold out and I don't think Fantasy was

Dug720 · Nov 21, 2015

DnA2010 said:
We've sailed on Oasis and in Fantasy and they didn't seem much different- we found Oasis less crowded and it was sold out and I don't think Fantasy was

You preference. I don't need flow riders, sky diving, zip lining, or anything else. And I definitely don't need to sail on something that looks like a shoebox.

Disney's ships LOOK and FEEL like ships.

Any cruise I go on Royal for will be Radiance class or below - those still look and feel like ships.

Laz · Nov 21, 2015

Dug720 said:
You preference. I don't need flow riders, sky diving, zip lining, or anything else. And I definitely don't need to sail on something that looks like a shoebox.

Disney's ships LOOK and FEEL like ships.

Any cruise I go on Royal for will be Radiance class or below - those still look and feel like ships.

Empress of the Seas (aka: Nordic Empress) is being returned to RCCL. Rumor is that it will be used for short cruises to Cuba. If you want to sail on a small cruise ship, this is the ship you want. DW and I sailed on her decades ago when she was the Nordic Empress. She used to belong to Eastern Cruise Lines and was built for short cruieses. RCCL bought the line and re-named the ship Nordic Empress. Later they changed the name to Empress of the Seas. We loved the ship, but her staterooms would seem like closets compared to today's ships.

keaster · Nov 21, 2015

dolphingirl47 said:
We are looking at our first RCCL cruise as well and also out of Dubai, but for the December 14th sailing. We have sailed DCL and NCL before. We are going to go for an inside cabin as we can get an amazing deal on that. Dubai is almost like a second home to me as we live in the UK and I work for a Dubai-based company, but I have not been to any other places on the itinerary.

Corinna

If you do take the December 14th one, please let us know how it goes!

dolphingirl47 · Nov 21, 2015

keaster said:
If you do take the December 14th one, please let us know how it goes!

Will do. I booked this on Thursday and now we are looking at shore excursions.

Corinna

DnA2010 · Nov 22, 2015

Dug720 said:
You preference. I don't need flow riders, sky diving, zip lining, or anything else. And I definitely don't need to sail on something that looks like a shoebox.

Disney's ships LOOK and FEEL like ships.

Any cruise I go on Royal for will be Radiance class or below - those still look and feel like ships.

We loved the flow riders, Aquaduct, climbing walls and the such - DD as well as DH and I had a blast on them all. We felt Oasis/Freedom/Fantasy felt similar, just as I mentioned, Oasis felt less crowded, prob because there was more space to spread people out. Be interesting when we do go on a small ship

ludari · Nov 23, 2015

I've completed 8 Disney Cruises in the past five years and I too will be taking my first RCCL Cruise (12 night) in March 2016. I didn't want to do it but my friends will be on this cruise, the cruise itinerary looks exciting and it's one of the newer RCCL ships (Anthem of the Seas). I do have a Disney place holder cruise, however with all my vacation plans next year I may have to push this Disney cruise to 2017.

Denise W · Nov 24, 2015

I took Brilliance of the Seas last month on a repo cruise from Boston to Tampa, stopping at 5 islands on the way (13 day cruise). While on board we booked Anthem of the Seas for Oct. 2016 on a 12 day cruise from Cape Liberty. We loved the cruise we were just on and are looking forward to the next one. We have cruised 7 times on DCL, once on NCL (Pride of America-Hawaii) and once on Carnival (Boston to Canada). While DCL is nice, it is way too expensive and the fleet is not large enough to offer unusual ports. I am loving RCCL so far.

Denise

plutolovr · Nov 25, 2015

ludari said:
I've completed 8 Disney Cruises in the past five years and I too will be taking my first RCCL Cruise (12 night) in March 2016. I didn't want to do it but my friends will be on this cruise, the cruise itinerary looks exciting and it's one of the newer RCCL ships (Anthem of the Seas). I do have a Disney place holder cruise, however with all my vacation plans next year I may have to push this Disney cruise to 2017.

You are going to love Anthem. She is beautiful. Lots of places to just hang out and relax with a book, the dining venues are great, no big dining room. The solarium is beautiful as well.

First RCCL Cruise

keaster

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Laz

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dolphingirl47

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Dug720

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Laz

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keaster

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