Is Royal Caribbean going down hill

[struther1]

Is this really a good use of the CFO's time? He should be looking at the big picture, not wasting his time babysitting printers and motion detectors.

I can't argue one way or the other. He is who he is and probably won't change. Just my opinion though, the big picture looks a lot better, at least financially, when you watch the pennies at home or at work.

[robtulipe]

I can't argue one way or the other. He is who he is and probably won't change. Just my opinion though, the big picture looks a lot better, at least financially, when you watch the pennies at home or at work.

IMO he's probably not up to date with current technology and maybe needs some training. Does he also uses an abacus?

[tip]

Kooljamming

everytime I read one of your posts I say-gosh-I hope we meet up on vacation one time!! :)

 

Over the past few weeks, I have been have been tempted to write the same thing, but didn't know if it would be inapproriate for an old, bald, fat guy to say it! Kooljamming's posts always seem to portray such a warm, caring, common sense attitude toward cruising, her fellow passengers, and life in general. While "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I have recently become converts to a table for two in Anytime Dining, it would be a pleasure to be tablemates with Kooljamming and her family!

[TexCruise371]

Kooljamming

everytime I read one of your posts I say-gosh-I hope we meet up on vacation one time!! :)

 

Over the past few weeks, I have been have been tempted to write the same thing, but didn't know if it would be inapproriate for an old, bald, fat guy to say it! Kooljamming's posts always seem to portray such a warm, caring, common sense attitude toward cruising, her fellow passengers, and life in general. While "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I have recently become converts to a table for two in Anytime Dining, it would be a pleasure to be tablemates with Kooljamming and her family!

 

I agree ;):D

[abridalmaven]

I thoroughly enjoyed all my RCI cruises leading up to Diamond, so the absence of freebies as a Diamond does not change my enjoyment. Besides, I'm Diamond because I cruise RCI so much......I don't cruise RCI because I'm Diamond.

 

Just my take on it.

I just turned Diamond and do not care if I use the CL or not, as you said, I have had fun getting here and nothing has changed that. I am happy to cruise.

[kooljamming]

Kooljamming

everytime I read one of your posts I say-gosh-I hope we meet up on vacation one time!! :)

 

Over the past few weeks, I have been have been tempted to write the same thing, but didn't know if it would be inapproriate for an old, bald, fat guy to say it! Kooljamming's posts always seem to portray such a warm, caring, common sense attitude toward cruising, her fellow passengers, and life in general. While "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I have recently become converts to a table for two in Anytime Dining, it would be a pleasure to be tablemates with Kooljamming and her family!

 

Thanks!

Now I am thinking DH has a brother somewhere out there;)

It would be a pleasure, even if and when you don't agree with me:D

 

To truly appreciate the value of cruising one has to try booking another comparable vacation. The port/transporation aspect of cruising puts in a priceless category by itself.

[ilionite65]

IMHO

 

I think they never should have done away with any of these perks. They should have adjusted the price of the cruise to absord these costs.

 

I feel the same way about the airlines, they should increase the price of the tickest $15 instead of charging me $15 to check a bag.

 

I have the choice on a ship if I want to spend extra to participate, but I dont really have a choice of bringing luggage when I travel. Pay $15 or just go naked...hmmmm

 

My gym at home does the same thing with its special classes. I pay a monthly fee, either include these classes in that fee or dont offer them.

 

I work in an x-ray lab, if I worked my pricing like above, I could charge $50 for an x-ray, then tell the patient if he wants it developed it will be an additional $10, then if he want to take it with that will be another $10 and if he wants it delivered its $20. Instead I would charge $70 or $80 and tell him the fee includes everything.

 

Okay I feel better.

 

mation101

 

Actually, when x-rays are taken the patient does pay extra beyond the cost of the original visit, they have to pay for a dr. to read it, then for a visit to their primary care physician to be informed of the results! Since you work in the x-ray department, I'm guessing you're not the dr. or you would know these things.

[CarnivalCruiseLover]

Herein lies the reason for the minor cutbacks. RCI is now competitive! Until recently, they were consistently the highest-priced mass-market cruise line ... and by a pretty significant margin. Now that fewer people are vacationing, RCI must re-think its business model. Simply put, would you rather pay $1299 and still have the chocolates, or $999 with $100 OBC and sacrifice the logo pen? Those are pretty expensive trinkets! I'm going on two RCI cruises (November and March) simply because the prices and perks are very attractive. I'd probably be on Princess ships if this were not the case (my last five were with them). It's all about filling the ship ... and I'll bring my own chocolates!

 

 

Well I am a Carnival fan, but I am booked on the Majesty for November 6th. There have been alot of cutbacks on all lines, but Carnival still seems to offer alot of the perks, so I am not sure about Royal. I will see in a few weeks.

[struther1]

IMO he's probably not up to date with current technology and maybe needs some training. Does he also uses an abacus?

Nope, Fingers and Toes. Hey running a race this coming Sunday, Niagara Falls Half Marathon. Is it as cold there as it is in Ohio, 28 degrees Saturday morning?

[robtulipe]

You're assuming that people will book at the higher prices. In this economy it's not turning out that way.

 

Just booked a Promenade cabin on the Navigator 4 day cruise @ $279.pp on Wednesday. Today the price dropped to $219pp. Apparently even at these bargain basement prices people still aren't booking.

 

Bill

On the same day I booked a Z (inside) gty on the Celebrity Mercury for next month at $499. This is a 12 night cruise and we ended up being assigned a Cat. 5 OV on deck 8 as I suspected X would do since there were no inside and no lower category outside cabins available for selection. The nice part of this is that we can drive to the port, Baltimore, so a possible high air fare won't come into play.

[robtulipe]

Nope, Fingers and Toes. Hey running a race this coming Sunday, Niagara Falls Half Marathon. Is it as cold there as it is in Ohio, 28 degrees Saturday morning?

No, probably not as cold, since the temperature in the Niagara area is moderated or warmed up by the lake effect of Lakes Erie and Ontario. That's why that area has many vineyards and tender (peaches, cherries, etc) fruit can be grown there.

[Sharonbel]

Yes there have been cutbacks and yes there are more charges than 10 years ago HOWEVER I looked back 10 years ago and my inside room on a Mexico cruise on RCCL was more $$ than my balcony room on Freedom cruise in January....I also enjoyed the Concierge lounge (Diamond member).....I guess my eyes have been opened and I will no longer wine about xtra costs....you can just say no!! I never ate the chocolate....I was still full from dinner.

[ORB]

We were on the Mariner in March (and loved it). At that time, the chocolate issue was BIG. We were told by the Captain at the C&A party that the elimination saves RC between $750,000 and $800,000 a year. We rarely ate them on board, but we always took them home and enjoyed the reminder they gave us the next week when we enjoyed them more than we would have on the ship. Still, as stockholders who own more than the minimum needed for the OBC we appreciate the effort to keep costs down.

 

We just got back from a b2b on the Enchantment (and I suppose I need to update my signature now...). I was more concerned about what felt like a slippage of the main dining room service. Refills of water or coffee had to be asked for, sometimes repeatedly. At breakfast, more often than not it took two rounds to get everything right--or at least to a point where we were willing to accept what was in front of us. It felt like waiters were having to serve more tables, though that may have been my imagination.

 

We were told that some people would be getting off of Enchantment when we disembarked to fly over to the Oasis. I suspect this would have been some of the more experienced people, so I suspect service on the Enchantment may slip a bit more through no fault of the servers.

 

Even at that, I couldn't really say the service was terrible--it just wasn't what I have come to expect from Royal. And I'm not someone who has been cruising with them forever--my first cruise was 22 months ago.

 

Oddly enough, our room stewards were the best we have ever had on Royal (and we've never really had a bad one).

 

We like the Enchantment a lot. The only thing that might keep us from sailing her again would be the itinerary.