Airbear232

We love Quantum class ships and sailed Quantum in 2015 when she went from Bayonne to Asia.  I think it’s the best ship class for colder climates.  270 is my favourite venue for sea days.  A great place to chill and read a good book.  Seaplex, Solarium, Music Hall, and Royal Esplanade are all great venues.  Unlike OP we liked the better shopping on Quantum better than what Royal offers on most cruises out of Florida.  I don’t think you can go wrong on either Quantum or Oasis class.

Thank you for asking this question, I was going to do the same.

5 hours ago, royal3 said:

Found this letter on a former post. The compensation seems fair to me. 

I’d say it’s a step in the right direction.  Does it go far enough, not sure.  In OPs situation, if Royal had enough knowledge beforehand, to warn people before hand not to board flights and didn’t, then I don’t think it’s enough. 

If you’re doing the Ravenna to Rome trip that’s a beautiful itinerary especially the first one that goes to Split.  If you are on that cruise, look into visiting the Krka Falls.  We went last year and it was absolutely beautiful (look it up on YouTube).  

Again, if doing Ravenna to Rome, you can spend a few days before and after cruise in Venice and Rome.  I can spend a week easily in either just walking about.  IMHO, you can’t go wrong with a Mediterranean cruise. 

In terms of excursions, we generally don’t use Royal, there are many better options.  Also, in many ports, it’s easy to do things on your own.

In terms of Air2Sea, they don’t work with all airlines but with most major airlines.  No issues booking business class. We like to use them if we are flying in close to sailing date or if we are leaving immediately after the cruise, as they need to ensure you get to the cruise.

We generally don’t care as much about the cabin on European cruises as they are port intensive and we don’t use the amenities on ship as much. 

For my DW, a big part of the whole thing is the planning and anticipation.  

I hope you have a great trip. 

33 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

So, this was indeed just a "rant"?  No resolution is expected?

 

I took it as education and not a rant, YMMV.

1 hour ago, gumshoe958 said:

Agreed. Dreadful letter. You need to set out, clearly and concisely, what Royal needs to do to satisfactorily resolve your complaint.

Why? They’ve outlined the issue and the loss.  At this point it’s up to Royal to reply with a suitable course of action. I thought the letter was very well written. 

We’ve never had an issue booking on board.  We’ve also used multiple BOGO’s for family meals.  Also, drink vouchers we’re accepted at Chops. 

On 5/31/2024 at 9:52 AM, S.A.M.J.R. said:

I'm honored my post is "pin worthy"!  😄

 

A couple of other notes...

1) No problem with others going in via the app on their phone to fill in their own travel info.

2) You do need to be 21+ in order to access the check in stuff, so if any "minors" are traveling with you, you'll need to put their information in. 

Great post, thanks!

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I have been on 10 RCI cruises so far this year, ranging from ships as small as Radiance to as large as Icon. Every single ship had a lot of kids on the cruise. I am currently on Independence and there are well over 1,000 kids on this ship per the CD. When I was on Radiance in Alaska two weeks ago, 25 percent of the passengers were under the age of 18 (very surprising to me for an Alaska cruise). There is no doubt in my mind RCI can survive as a family cruise line. If you listen to Michael Bayley talk, he always stresses how RCI is a family cruise line. I cruise on RCI 1-2 months so I feel I have a pretty good feel of the passenger demographic currently cruising on RCI. While you may not like it, RCI doesn’t need older cruisers like me to survive. 

For some reason people are very adamant on their views for this topic.  I go by logic and personal observation.  In the end, Royal will run their company as they and their major stakeholders wish.  Being on Radiance two weeks ago, is not the same as being on Radiance in April or October.  My own believe is that the new ships will be 90k tonnes or less.  Time will tell.  

20 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

What makes you think RCI couldn’t survive as a family line? I cruise on RCI 1-2 times a month and their ships are always packed with lots of families with tons of kids. Any successful business learns to change over time as the market dictates. If larger ships generate the most revenue, that is what they should continue building. Maybe one day in the future they eliminate a lot of itineraries they have been doing for decades, but the board and stockholders will be happy if profits are at an all time high. Frequent cruisers like me (and I assume you but don’t want to speak for you) want to be able to continue going to ports that larger ships can’t go to, but investing in smaller ships may not be smart financially for RCI. You don’t have to be a genius to see that RCI is moving more and more to focusing on families with the ship and their private islands/areas becoming the focal point of their cruises. With more and more cities trying to limit the number of cruise ships that visit or eliminate them all together, RCI focusing on making the ship the destination is a smart move in my book. 

I’m going to disagree, they are not always “packed” with families and kids.  While we took our kids out of school during the school year, most people don’t.  And, for this reason, they cannot survive as just a “family” line.  They need  their older demographic.  It’s fun to speculate about this and people are very passionate about what the line is going to do. 

1 hour ago, Tatka said:

Royal Caribbean is clearly a family line now. May be it has some more adventurous itineraries like Canada /NE; Alaska etc, but it I was interested in real explorations I’d  turn to their luxury brand Silver Seas, or maybe to Oceania and such.

I disagree, I don’t believe Royal is just a family line.  That business model won’t work nor does it account for the different itineraries they run.

20 hours ago, renebfl said:

Last week I got off Jewel of the Sea. We had a grand suite, went to the concierge lounge, had any time dining and had a  positive time with the staff. We took a few extra days to come home  and I was unable to do my survey in the allotted week. I think Royal Caribbean should give more than just one week to do it. I had lots to say. Is it that they just really don’t want to know?

I imagine the logic is surveys done too long after cruise 1: don’t work with their timelines for feedback to crew; and 2: may become less accurate as time goes on.  We make notes during the cruise on who we want to praise, and usually complete when we receive them.

On 5/30/2024 at 10:09 AM, orville99 said:

😎Just got this email from Celebrity:

 

SHARED STATUS FOR  OUR LOYAL MEMBERS

We’re elevating our loyalty status match program to give you the best benefits at sea. Captain’s Club members will now receive one-for-one tier matching across all three Royal Caribbean Group brands: Celebrity Cruises®, Royal Caribbean®, and now also Silversea®. This shared status gives you more benefits than ever before, and more ways to see the world—with more than 50 incredible ships sailing to nearly 1,000 destinations.

Find your Celebrity Cruises Captain’s Club tier below and discover your loyalty match for Crown & Anchor Society® and Venetian Society.

Please allow up to seven days for your status to take effect. Onboard status match benefits begin June 5, 2024.

We’ve updated Captain's Club Terms and Conditions including disclosures on how your data will be shared with other brands within the Royal Caribbean Group, as well as our dispute resolution process. By using our website, or the Captain's Club program, you agree to be bound by these updated Terms and Conditions.

START ENJOYING ONE-FOR-ONE TIER  MATCHING BENEFITS BY ENROLLING TODAY.

ENROLL NOW   FAQS

Please review the loyalty match terms and conditions for full details on eligible benefits. Some benefit exclusions may apply.

Welcome surprise!

Sounds like a good change. 

Thank you everyone who has shared their experiences so far.  It looks like it has been an amazing experience.  I hope Royal does this again in the future as it is something on DWs and my bucket list.  A question for you all, do you find the smaller ship to be an overall advantage in giving you access to many places inaccessible to larger ships?

On 6/13/2024 at 6:16 PM, poncho1973 said:

 

You have to wonder what the watch manufacturers all over the world are thinking.  Obviously, as a GenX I'm not young anymore, but even people my age have long stopped wearing typical watches.

 

Are they trying to sell as many as possible to the Boomers before they die off and resting on that?

I looked around the office and there is ONE watch that isn't a FitBit or smart watch.  One out of 30+ people.  He's retiring June 30th.  So if you're wearing a watch... isn't it just a cheap watch or is it a smart watch or a fitness tracker?

 

I'm sure there will always be a niche market of rich people with money to blow, but how long will watches be a legit thing?  It has to be going the way of the Dodo.

Oh my fellow Gen Xer, while much of what you say is probably undoubtedly true, there is just something that appeals to me about wearing watches.  I have a few.  Aesthetically, they just look so much better than the lumps of plastic worn by so many today.  In a world where I may want to know the time and where I may not want to be tracked 24/7, they still serve a purpose.

If the world cruise is deemed a success, then I believe you can expect to see a new class of ships under 90k tons.  If there is a successful business case, then they will build it.  For my part, I've loved the larger ships.  I'm partial to Allure and my DW and I can watch Mamma Mia again and again.  However, I'm very much becoming amongst the "Bored of the Seas".  Sorry, a big amusement park floating in the water just isn't enough anymore.  I want good itineraries, good food, and decent entertainment.  I might just go mad if I have to go back to Perfect Day again.  Yuck!

4 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

True but how do you keep the data anonymous while at the same time factor it into the equation that is maximizing revenue?

By anonymous, I mean keeping out of the feed information that can identify the cabin occupant.  

4 hours ago, Jetdriver787 said:

Why? That money is already in the bank! You are now looking to maximise NEW additional ancillary revenue from unsold and returned inventory. One cabin at the top of a chain might potentially generate the “bid” revenue from 10 cabins further along that chain. 

If the total number of cabins sold is static, it doesn’t matter.  However, if the bidders cabins are resold, then the amount the cabins were initially sold at becomes a factor in maximizing revenue. 

14 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I don't think so... It is an outside company that handles this for Royal so they wouldn't have that kind of data.  The algorithm simply calculates all of the cascading effects of each move and selects the one that provides Royal with greatest revenue.  

Interesting.  But, as long as the data is "anonymous", the more data points you have the better you are able to predictively maximize total revenue.

1 hour ago, Jetdriver787 said:

It makes no difference. What anybody paid for their existing booking, as that is already money in the bank. The company running this (and other) programmes is called Plusgrade. They utilise chains of unsold/returned inventory to maximise ancillary revenue for their customer (the cruise line/hotel/airline.) They have no idea what you paid for your existing booking because it is irrelevant to them.

If the goal of the program is revenue maximization, then the initial cost of each cabin would be a variable that you would want to consider.

7 minutes ago, MaddyandMax said:

Interesting story - I did a Royal up bid for $50 over the minimum and didn't get it.  Then the cruise go rerouted to Canada and around 40% of the ship cancelled. People at the pier were asking about upgrading to these empty rooms with their Royal Up bids.  Everyone was denied.

Begs the question on what all of the rules are and whether in situations like yours they can be compelled to honour a defined process. 

28 minutes ago, robmtx said:

 

According to my source, no other factors are in play here. The Royal Up program is run by an outside firm. Their goal is to generate as much revenue from the program as possible as they earn a commission on that revenue. They use software algorithms to examine all of the bids on a sailing, and sort them into maximizing revenue solutions, not maximizing passenger satisfaction. With that said, very high bids will often win because it's the best way to max the revenue, and low bids will almost always be left out.. It's those middle-of-the-road bids that are hit or miss.

 

I will preface, that my source was someone from the industry speaking casually (over drinks) about the program. I unfortunately cannot verify the reliability of the source but what he told me did make total sense when you think in terms of revenue streams.

I agree, it makes sense in terms of Royal maximizing revenue.  However, it all seems very disingenuous.  For example, take two cabins same category that are side by side.  Hypothetically, if PAX in cabin A booked well in advance of sailing and had a cheaper rate than PAX in cabin B who booked much later.  Then, the company (algorithm) would potentially award an upgrade to PAX in cabin A even if it is substantially lower than the bid from PAX in cabin B because it would take into account being able to realize a much greater gain on selling Cabin A to someone else than it would in awarding the cabin to PAX in cabin B who bid more.  It would be interesting to know what percentage of “winners” comes from cabins that were sold at lower overall fees.  

21 hours ago, robmtx said:

The highest bidder may not always win. Your bid is just part of the larger puzzle that needs to be considered when they are finalizing Upgrades.

 

Example:

Passenger #1 is in an Oceanview Category and bid on a JS for $400.

Passenger #2 is in a balcony and bid on a JS for $350.

Logic would say they would take the $400 offer. But they don't..

Passenger #3 is in an inside and bid $100 for an OV, and $250 for a Balcony.

 

By upgrading Pax #2 for $350, that frees up a balcony stateroom for Pax #3 at $250 = $600 revenue

If they had gone with Pax #1 offer of $400 and Pax #3 offer of $100 for the newly opened OV, the revenue drops to $500.

 

I know - very rough example but you get the idea. It's all about how the puzzle creates the MOST revenue for the entire sailing, not just a single cabin. So in this case, the higher bidder for a JS does lose out.

 

Really interesting, what you post.  How do they describe the process - does the highest bidder win?  And how do they define bid, is it what you bid or your fare + what you bid?  How about tie breakers?  Do factors like average spend onboard or casino activity come into play?

8 hours ago, bullsh said:

Thanks, if the Captain officiates, (IMHO) maybe worth it, otherwise you can organize most of that aboard ship much better for less.