Taking the same cruise next year?

Hi Matt,

First I want to say I love your videos on Royal Caribbean Cruises.  I always watch them before I sail.  I am an avid fan of their cruises and have taken Anthem, Oasis and Symphony of the Seas.  I plan on taking Odyssey of the Seas next year but I feel like I ship options will be limited soon.  I find that Oasis class and Quantum class ships are very similar.  Is it worth taking the same cruise you were on last year.  I did have fun but part of the excitement is seeing new things and I fear that won't be the case.  Please tell us your experience if you have sailed on the same boat.   Was it as much fun or were expectations lowered?  Thank you

Fellow Fan of RY. 

There are two cruises that we always take every year that are the same, early in the year for birthday and mid-year for anniversary. They are usually on the same ship and although they have the same stops we meet different people and arrange our schedule so each one is different. The ships are so big that we do not have any issues trying new things that we did not get around to before. But that is just us.

If you enjoy both the itinerary and the ship, there's no reason to NOT repeat the cruise.

Personal preference.

We just did the same exact ship/itinerary twice in the past 7 weeks and had a great time on each with very few changes from one to the other... but we sail more for the ship than the ports and enjoy our routine.

Others would definitely find that boring but we're not looking for "excitement" as much as relaxation, food, some entertainment, etc. I get excited about every cruise even if there's virtually nothing new about it.

The cruise, with the same itinerary can be new.  On each port you can make different tours or excursions even

We have made several times the cruise from barcelona (palma, marseille, la spezia, rome, naples). Each time, we visit different places nearby. And we even did it in 2021 under covid... we stayed on the boat without getting off taking advantage of the facilities and animations on board

We've repeated cruise itineraries. We're doing it again next spring. It will be our 4th time to Bermuda, and we do something different each time.

We did Thanksgiving and Christmas cruises from Baltimore two years in a row because my son enjoyed the youth group. He met friends that enriched the experience. Now there was nothing fancy about the vision class ships, and Nassau wasn't the greatest, but the family vacation was worth it. As seniors, however, we are tired of going to the same Caribbean ports. Some ports are able to vary itinerary if you shift your calendar a week or two. That is almost "same time next year".

We LOVE the Oasis class ships.  Every time we are looking to book a new cruise we always toss around the idea of trying a different class.  For us cruising is more about the ship (food, entertainment, kids activities, flowrider) than the itinerary.  It mostly always comes down to costs, and right now Harmony sailing out of Galveston has been the most cost effective.  Thus we are sailing her 4 times in the next few years and couldnt be more excited. 

we did MEDCRUISE on Freedom, Harmony, Symphony and Wonder

We have found, as a West Coaster, sailing from either Seattle or Los Angeles, is both super convenient and super cheap.

That said, cruise choices from either Seattle or Los Angeles are very limited, with Royal Caribbean.

Therefore, subsequent cruises from either port are almost always the same itinerary.

But, we like Navigator, so duplicate cruises are still wonderful for us. As are the cruises from Seattle, regardless of the vessel. 

Last year, my Wife and/or I cruised Navigator 5 times, with more booked, and this year, we will have cruised Quantum, 3 times. 

There have been a couple itinerary changes with each cruise, swapping Mazatlan for Ensinada, or swapping Skagway for Icy Strait Point or Sitka. 

We expect to book more of these cruises, and we will never be sorry.

We've cruised a lot from Florida and Galveston.  And although there are more ship choices, the Ports of Call are very redundant also.

I feel like going on the same trip is just fine.  Obviously you enjoyed it or your wouldnt be looking again.  I see it is like going to your favorite resturant, concert, or amusement park.  Its about the experience and fun you have.  I have been on the 4 day Mon thru Fri  Coco Cay and nassau trip countless times.  Its always fun. 

6 hours ago, KJRanch said:

We LOVE the Oasis class ships.  Every time we are looking to book a new cruise we always toss around the idea of trying a different class.  For us cruising is more about the ship (food, entertainment, kids activities, flowrider) than the itinerary.  It mostly always comes down to costs, and right now Harmony sailing out of Galveston has been the most cost effective.  Thus we are sailing her 4 times in the next few years and couldnt be more excited. 

We're Oasis class fans as well.

As some have mentioned, it's easy to do different shore excursions (even Coco Cay can be a completely different experience each time) at the same ports.

Sometimes it's just fun staying on an Oasis class ship on a port day to enjoy shorter lines and plenty of seating at the public venues.

We LOVE to lounge around the Solarium on port days.

Happy Sailing!  

I don't think going on the same cruise is any different to going to the same vacation spot repeatedly and lots of people do that. DH manages some holiday flats and has guests who have been coming back every year for over 20 years. They pay their deposit for the following year when they check out. If you feel happy and comfortable with your choice then there's no reason why you shouldn't do it.

Well the good thing I think about doing that is if you like the ship take it again. If you are a planner like I am maybe the first time you did a show or activity and had to choose one over the other because they occurred at the same time, then you can do the other thing you missed out on. Most of the times the activities don't change much through out the year. So that's how I would treat it. As far as the ports go they could have two excursions that you want to pick from you can pick one and do the other one the next sailing. Or if they only had one at that port, stay on the ship and enjoy it.  It's nice sometimes to have the ship to yourself since most of the people get off.

Right now, we prefer to cruise from Bayonne since we can drive there.  So we have done Anthem multiple times going to PC, Nassau and CocoCay.  For us, it's less about ports and more about just getting away. We like to "disconnect and reconnect", meaning we don't do anything related to work, don't check email etc, and just enjoy each other's company. We may nap, swim, go in the hot tub, sit and read or watch movies etc. We just enjoy being on a ship and not at work.

3 hours ago, VeronicaS1970 said:

Right now, we prefer to cruise from Bayonne since we can drive there.  So we have done Anthem multiple times going to PC, Nassau and CocoCay.  For us, it's less about ports and more about just getting away. We like to "disconnect and reconnect", meaning we don't do anything related to work, don't check email etc, and just enjoy each other's company. We may nap, swim, go in the hot tub, sit and read or watch movies etc. We just enjoy being on a ship and not at work.

We only sail from Cape Liberty because I have a serious flying phobia and we are 35 minutes away. We are limited but like you its about getting away. We LOVE the ships and we love the cruises from here too. Can't get enough of Coco Cay. Mix it up between Coco Cay, Bermuda and Canada and we love it. We do Canada just about every year now which was a goal of mine.