On spinning/casting rods, the thing that costs you the most on casting distance is line slapping on the rod. If you are really needing to shoot line with a fly rod, you need to keep it off the rod.
I don't really need to shoot that much. Ceramics didn't affect the casting action noticably on any of my rods, and I really like the looks of the ceramics. And they are much quieter when you do shoot line. Snakes are just more traditional.