MrSmoofy

Is cruisecritic.com having issues now? http://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls I'm not able to get to that.

Well honestly, most of us cant believe you would be calling a random CSR at Royal Caribbean who has likely NEVER even stepped foot on a cruise ship asking detailed questions about excursions :)

I hope that is cheek in tounge :) Shame on me for calling a company I'm buying something from and asking them questions about it :)

It sounds like a lot of you are just ok with receiving crappy service from a company that you've have spent a lot of money with. I don't understand that.

I've seen reponses of "You can expect that kind of crappy service from all cruise lines" Really? I can't believe you all are ok with this.

Those of you that have been to St. Kitts on AOS or any other ship with RCI have any of you done the Senic Rail Tour?

First off thank you for those that have replied with either positive feedback or recommendations.

Also thank you for those that actually read my OP and then replied vs the few that just replied blindly.

Don't let the door hit in the a.....s.

For this guy/gal you can pound sand.

That said, I did kind of rush into the booking because after the May 16 till Octoberish the prices really jump because of summer so it was take this one or wait till end of the year or next year. I NEED A VACATION :) If you can't tell and this hoop jumping isn't helping.

I did say in my OP that we are laid back kind of people so just looking for shopping/sightseeing nothing low to mild activity. While only in our 40's we both suffer from issues that prevent us from being to adventurous.

As for beaches well I live in Florida and have plenty of that and I burn pretty quick so I try not to be in the sun to much and laying in the sun in the sand just isn't my idea of a good time I'd rather see things I could not see anywhere else.

I know I'm beating a dead horse but more frustration from RCI last night. I've been working with one of their "Resolution" team members to get answers about some excursions. To reach one of these people you have to call the main number and ask for one and then you go though this checklist about your cruise info where they verify everything before they transfer you which what that is they put you on hold while they find someone and then transfer you. So when this person calls you back if you miss the call you go through this every time there is no way to contact them directly by phone or email. So yesterday they called and left a message letting me know they have the information I needed. Rather then just telling me the answer I had to call this person back. I waited on hold for an hour mind you this is 9pm est at night. Finally the person trying to "Transfer me" tells me she's not available even though her message said she would be available till 11pm est. She then tells me she's spoken to her co worker who has this information and that she will transfer me to her. That person gets on the phone and says "Hello, how can I help you", I was like umm I was told you had the answers to my questions. Well apparently that was a lie she didn't know anything and took my name and number to have the other person call me back. Waited an hour for that, no phone call back last night either.

I didn't use a TA becuase I didn't think I would be able to get the same offer that RCI offered directly and have never used a TA for anything before. Maybe that needs to change.

I would also add that as a general rule the shore excursions desk on board has a pretty good understanding of the different tours as they have been to the ports themselves and sell from the same catalogue of tours time and again. There is nothing wrong with waiting until you are on board to book or change or cancel your tour. I always book directly with the cruise line but there are advantages with using a travel agent especially one who specializes. Then they can liase with RCI on your behalf and will quite often be able to help you without needing to refer to others. If you want shore tours that have user feedback on them then check out sites such as Viator and do your own thing.

 

As a general comment it is hard to have a complete view of a cruise or cruise line until you are actually on board and cruising.

My concern with waiting to book on the boat which is something from what I've seen cruising with other cruise lines while it could be different with RCI I don't know but RCI has told me they only hold 1/3 of the bookings for on board so then you are fighting to book with everyone else. I've seen it in person where all the "Worth it" excursions have been booked so I was trying to avoid that.

I have tried to book outside the cruise line but so far on the ones I've spoken to by email and phone most tell me that I can not book directly with them that I have to do it through the cruise line so it seems the cruise line has exclusivity with some of these excursion groups.

I know everyone thinks I'm just some new guy complaining but I have posted some questions in a couple of threads hoping for feedback from people with experience but I've not see much. Before posting at all I've I actually sepent weeks reading a lot of posts and reviews.

The main reason I even tried RCI was because of all the people that tell me how much better they are then everyone else but then I go through this and I just don't buy it. It's only the best if that's all you have ever tried which makes me believe that's what's going on.

It's not like this just happened in the last few days/weeks this has been going on for over a month I've been trying to get anything kind of information out of them or even book purchase things from them.

Every day it's something new. The website is so bad that every hour the information changes sometimes it show what I have bought sometimes it shows I've not bought anything, sometimes it lets me put something in the cart most times it doesn't.

Again calling and asking for their help gets me no where.

I do appreciate any help I can get from anyone from here becuase so far I've gotten nothing out of RCI.

I understand your frustration. Many of us have been there. This board is very helpful to determine best excursions and what to do on board. What ports are you going to? Don't get frustrated, the money is spent...you need to figure out how to make the cruise the way you want it.

It's the southern caribbean cruise. San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao.

I've not been to Aruba or Cuacao so would be open to suggestions in the lines of Shopping/Sight Seeing.

St. Thomas I've been on a cruise to just not RCI so I know the Cable Car is a good choice and I know there is shopping at the Havenport dock but RCI can't tell me what dock we are going to I've asked them a few times now they are not sure and have been unable to get the information. If I knew that I could atleast know what's around the dock and how far it is. Like the Havenport dock I know is a 5-10 min ride by taxi to downtown shopping.

St. Kitt's I know has a Senic Rail tour which I would like to do again but RCI again can't tell me anything even though it's on their own website http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=KT39&DestinationCode=

No point in using their website since only works about 10% of the time. Either I can't login because "Your reservation is being modified" or when I am able to nothing seems to work. Again asking them for help get's me know where, all I get is "What excursion do you want to book" and I ask about them and in return get "Sorry I don't know anything about them".

It all just makes me want to scream.

Your very first post on this board was a complaint about Royal. Good advice was given then but it seems you are determined not to enjoy yourself.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46032019&postcount=1313

How can one go with a positive attitude when they can't seem to answer simple questions. (They being RCI) I just don't understand that. How do their customer service people and their so called resolution team be so clueless about the product they are selling? Do people just blindly book and pay for things without knowing anything about it?

While I've been on many cruises this was to be my first on RCI. At this point I can tell you if they offered me a full refund I would take it and run and never look back.

I've spent hours a day for weeks now trying to get either information out of their website or out of their customer service and it's all a BIG BIG Joke!

I don't see how you frequent cruises deal with them. All I get out of them is "I don't know I've never been there". How do you sell a product you know nothing about I just don't understand.

My favorite is returning someones phone call that left a message that says "We have information and answers to your questions" but not tell me so that when I call I wait on hold for 60 minutes only to be told that the person is not available even though I've called when they said they would be there only to be told they would have to call me back.

SOOOO furstrated with this and the cruise is still 45 days away. I can only imagin how bad it's going to be in 45 days if it's this bad now.

Never again will I even look at RCI.

I've only booked a couple of excursions this time, but it was easy enough and they show in my reservation. I just hope they are there when I arrive. Still I doubt others have had issues. I've had issues, tried again later and things worked totally differently.

 

I do like this compare cruises feature once I figured it out.

I've had nothing but problems I've not been able to book anything, I've tried 2 different computers, IE, Chrome, Firefox and an iPad all different issues but none would allow me to complete anything.

We have done a Chef's table a few times (both on RCI & NCL) - when I booked the AOS I checked the listing on the website and according to RCI there is no Chef's table on AOS.

 

I was disappointed as we really enjoyed the Chef's table on other cruises. Jan

That is disappointing as I too enjoy the Chef's table as well.

Congrats!

Excellent timing for me on your review. We sail this exact cruise on May 16. It's our first on RCI but have been on many Carnival ones, so I have some questions for you :)

In St. Kitt's was the Senic Rail Tour offered? If it was and you've not done it you missed out. I've done it and want to go again but seems they are not offering it and not telling me why.

I've not been to Aruba or Curacao these excursions you did can you tell me more? Were they through RCI and if now how do you find and book them?

Yes Mr. Smoofy I have tried and successfully booked a cruise.

Lucky you I've tried IE, Chrome, Firefox and an iPad and I can't get anythign to work right :(

We've been on Adventure twice, two weeks in the Caribbean in 2013 and 16 nights in the Med this past Sept. I can probably tell you almost anything you need to know about this ship, including how to get to the heli pad! Since the refit they have Giovanni's, it's next to the Windjammer which is the buffet, deck 11 if I remember correctly. One of the things I really like about this ship is the Royal Promenade, it's so easy to find your way. The public spaces are beautiful but to be honest our cabin needed the carpet, drapes and couch replaced. We've had the same cabin both times, deck 8 around the corner from "RCI online" basically that's where the computers are, they now have pervasive wifi which worked very well for us. Any other questions please ask away!

We are on deck 7 we have a Promenade Room. I thought that would be different but hope it's not to noisy in the cabin.

Ship Questions:

1. Does Giovanni's need reservations?

2. Is there a "Chef's Table"? If so where do you go to make reservations and what is the cost?

3. The tour of the ship? Is it worth it? I've done this on Carnival a few times but quickly realized the ships are about all the same so once you've done it once your good. Also was a lot cheaper on Carnival.

Port Excursion Recommendations:

Day 2 - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas: Skyride To Paradise Point

Day 3 - Basseterre, St. Kitts: Would like the Senic Rail but they can't seem to tell me what's up with it. Any recommendations?

Day 5 - Oranjestad, Aruba: Atlantis Submarine Expedition

Day 6 - Willemstad, Curacao: Fascinating Curacao

Day 8 - San Juan, Puerto Rico: Old And New San Juan City Tour With Airport Drop-Off

This is kind of what I'm thinking right now but am open to recommendations.

Usually if the excursion is not listed then it's full. We've had very good luck both on RCI and Carnival with just booking the excursions when we board the ship. I certainly understand your frustration, really it's not giving you a good first impression. I had sort of the same experience with the cruise we took three weeks ago, I just needed to know which pier we sailed from in order to book a shuttle on our return. The customer service had no idea! Oh, that was Carnival!

They did tell me they only put 2/3 of the excursions on the website and save a 1/3 for booking on the boat.

Is there a "Chef's Table" type of deal on Royal Caribbean like on Carnival. That's something I really enjoy.

I really no nothing about the boat itself been researching that would of thought the CS agent's I've spoken too would try to sell me on stuff but they don't guess that's a double edge sword good to not be pressured into something but bad that they don't tell you about anything.

I really don't think it is all that bad. There are several ways to get to the same information now. It's all about adapting and getting used to it.

Have you tried booking a cruise or excursions with it? Good luck. I gave up after a week of trying and seeing a different price for the same rooms change about ever hour.

Thank you Kelly and ML for your feedback.

I do hope the experience is better on the boat then what I've seen so far.

Being that I've done a similar cruise on Carnival and have been to some of the ports already I know what's there and know some about the excursions.

Now trying to book them through the website or a CS agent that's where I'm suck. The website doesn't work for the ones I'm sure I want and when speaking to the CS agent they seem clueless about them.

For example. St. Kitts has a Senic Rail Tour. I've been on it. I loved it (I love trains) and I would love to do it again. They have offered it in the past but it's not listed. When I call they are all about "I don't know, we don't have it listed" yes I can find it on their website just not book it. I contacted the company directly and they of course said because we are coming on a cruise ship we have to book with the cruise line.

Now if it's broken or down for maint. for our trip I would understand but tell me that don't give me the I don't know game it's their job to know why do they not.

I guess I'm just use to better customer service or am just really having bad luck.

Maybe those of you that have been on this cruise and to these ports can make suggestions. I'm not a beach person per say I'm ok 30-60 min at the beach but I don't need to be there all day and burn up. I live in Florida I can go to the beach anytime I want.

I like to go sight seeing/shopping, see the culture and history, hence why I like the train ride you get to see the whole island and learn about it's history in a relaxed way.

For St. Thomas last time I was there I took the cable car to the top this was in 2013 it was still under construction at the top, but looks like it's done now as there is more shopping and a bird show, so was thinking of doing that again.

The atlantis sub is pretty awesome even at the $100 price point per person. I'll probably do that again in I think it was Aruba since I did that before at another island (don't remember which one) and enjoyed it.

When we get back I figured the San Juan city tour with airport dropoff would be good.

I'm just not sure about the other ports on what is best to do that's mild/relaxed and worth it. Shopping/Sight Seeing/History/Culture related. Think on of the ports might even have an aquarium.

Appreciate your feedback.

Being that I just booked a cruise for the first time with Royal Caribbean I can tell you to use a travel agent the website is garbage and you will end up having to call anyways and then when you do the help you get is garbage.

Travel Agent will be best for you to book especially if you have never been before. I had to help the Royal Caribbean agent book my cruise because they were clueless.

So I've been on about 10 cruises mostly on Carnival never had a bad one.

Everyone tells me oh you really need to go on RCL it's so much better.

So I'm booked on AOS for May 16th out of San Juan. I've done a similar one on Carnival.

So far the whole RCL experience has been pretty disappointing. After a week of fighting the website and several phone calls to them for help I finally just booked over the phone where I felt like I was doing the booking and they were just typing. I had to remind them of things or question them on information they had not asked instead of them asking for it themself.

We have not booked excursions yet mostly because of the website. Between it's lack of information and lack or reviews it's impossible to pick. The ones we did try to pick the website just fails to work.

Excursions I know exist don't appear in the search. Calling them gets me no where they don't give any more information then what's on the website which is nothing or I simply get the I don't know and then silence.

I'm really starting to regret trying RCL. We will make the most of it but if it's anything like the reviews I've been reading we will be sure never to book again.