No Updates of Meet & Mingles for 4 Weeks

[Uniall]

In the spirit of cooperation between two residents of a great state it wounds me deeply to point out your error. We were on the Enchantment on 2/27, and there was no updated M&M then either. Same goes for Voyager in December. I did see a bunch of updates after the first of the year, but, they just dried up. I don't check all the time, just when we're getting close to the cruise date. We agree though that it is annoying, and I don't understand why they can't keep the list current.

 

Think of all the money you will save :)

 

Sorry to disagree, but while they may have had all of last months up to date... my Feb 4th cruise was not and there were lots of posts at that time as well about this same issue. This is not something new.

 

Just as an example of the previous compliants:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1577575 (Feb 21st)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1551597 (Jan 18th)

 

To borrow of euphamism from another era and mode of transport: "This is no way to run a railroad"..........or a cruise line.

 

After I finish these two cruises and get my Diamond status, I'll only sail RC for daily free wine and champagne.

 

For great service and customer satisfaction I'll return to my mainstay, Norwegian Cruise Lines.

[Cigar King]

I think we all agree that the customer service end of RCI is spotty at best. At some point this has got to start impacting the bottom line if they don't address the issue. It's sad.

[Uniall]

I think we all agree that the customer service end of RCI is spotty at best. At some point this has got to start impacting the bottom line if they don't address the issue. It's sad.

 

Damn, I wish I could commiserate with you over a Macanudo Hampton Court (My regular before I had to quit) LOL

 

John

[Cigar King]

Maybe one day we can have a few drinks and you can watch me enjoy a stick. ;-)

[Uniall]

Maybe one day we can have a few drinks and you can watch me enjoy a stick. ;-)

 

The temptation might be too great if I had a brandy in hand. But, I can give it a try.

[Uniall]

Hi Guys

I thought you'd like to see the encouraging news regarding Meet & Mingle Party updating in my exchange of emails with Cruise Critic's Community Manager.

John

 

 

 

Hi John:

 

I just contacted Royal Caribbean, they're working on updating the page.

 

LauraS

Community Manager

Cruise Critic

http://www.cruisecritic.com

 

 

 

LauraS

Community Manager, Cruise Critic

 

Hi Laura

RCI has not updated the List of Scheduled Meet & Mingle Parties with the final date, time and location of the Party for four weeks.

 

RCI is supposed to update the list with the final information four weeks before sailing.

 

As of today, only one (set for April 6) of the many sailings with scheduled Meet & Mingles within the next four weeks has been updated with the date, time and location information.

 

I've made repeated requests to RCI and they fail to reply.

 

Do you know what's happening????

 

John (Uniall)

 

[ryano]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but how would you like to find out less than 2 weeks before your cruise that the casino is going to be shut down for the first 7 days of our 16 day TA cruise for remodeling. Another lack of communicaton from RCCL.

 

While I agree that it would have been nice to know much sooner, it wouldnt have bothered me in the least if the casino was shut down the whole cruise :)

 

Just one place on board I dont frequent. My money comes to hard to throw it away :p

[ryano]

Hi Guys

 

I thought you'd like to see the encouraging news regarding Meet & Mingle Party updating in my exchange of emails with Cruise Critic's Community Manager.

 

John

 

Thanks for the information :)

[dzcruisers]

We have 270 signed up for our meet & mingle plus we've organized other activities which we can not definitely schedule until we know when meet & mingle is.

We kept trying to schedule a luncheon which has not been a big challenge in the past and the response we got was that our TA would have to do it. They did not understand what a cruise critic group is. They thought we were some kind of group booked through one travel agent, not!

I would say that this past four to six months customer service has been lacking.

[Uniall]

We have 270 signed up for our meet & mingle plus we've organized other activities which we can not definitely schedule until we know when meet & mingle is.

 

We kept trying to schedule a luncheon which has not been a big challenge in the past and the response we got was that our TA would have to do it. They did not understand what a cruise critic group is. They thought we were some kind of group booked through one travel agent, not!

 

I would say that this past four to six months customer service has been lacking.

 

 

dzcruisers,

 

Having coordinated very large Cruise Critic Roll Calls with multiple events and activities, I can certainly empathize with you. It would have been a nightmare if I'd been dealing with Royal Caribbean. All my projects were on Norwegian cruises, thank God. NCL knows how to actively help and when to stand aside and provide technical assistance.

 

John

[Familygoboston]

dzcruisers,

 

Having coordinated very large Cruise Critic Roll Calls with multiple events and activities, I can certainly empathize with you. It would have been a nightmare if I'd been dealing with Royal Caribbean. All my projects were on Norwegian cruises, thank God. NCL knows how to actively help and when to stand aside and provide technical assistance.

 

John

 

Yeah John, this company is gonna just make you crazy! Im a big RCL booster, but peruse this board on any given day and at least 10% of the threads are about some lame CS or IT problem. Now these at not things that are designed to save them a few bucks and consequently inconvenience us; but stuff that is clearly biting their nose in spite of their face, so it's just a complete lack of organization on their part. Its actually sad to see a cruise line that suceeds in so well in on board experience fail so miserably in these areas.

 

Fun cruises at a good value, but boy, you can't trust what CS tells you. Pretty much they just lie if they dont know or think it will get you off the phone or get a booking. Some don't, but you don't know which reps to trust, so they are completely unreliable. You can't really rely on their website for anything, it's sometimes right, sometimes wrong, sometimes unavailable, so bottom line- again, unreliable.

 

Hope your cruise goes better than you current experiences...that's always how it works for us!

[Uniall]

Yeah John, this company is gonna just make you crazy! Im a big RCL booster, but peruse this board on any given day and at least 10% of the threads are about some lame CS or IT problem. Now these at not things that are designed to save them a few bucks and consequently inconvenience us; but stuff that is clearly biting their nose in spite of their face, so it's just a complete lack of organization on their part. Its actually sad to see a cruise line that suceeds in so well in on board experience fail so miserably in these areas.

 

Fun cruises at a good value, but boy, you can't trust what CS tells you. Pretty much they just lie if they dont know or think it will get you off the phone or get a booking. Some don't, but you don't know which reps to trust, so they are completely unreliable. You can't really rely on their website for anything, it's sometimes right, sometimes wrong, sometimes unavailable, so bottom line- again, unreliable.

 

Hope your cruise goes better than you current experiences...that's always how it works for us!

 

It's a real puzzlement to me. How does an eminently sucessful company in the travel and liesure industry fail so poorly in basic Customer Realtions 101?

 

Oh well, I'll be Diamond next month and the perk of 4 hours comp wine every day will bring me back again. But, based upon corporate attitudes, NCL will remain my true love. It's like I told my NCL PCC, I felt like I was cheating on my wife when I booked RCI. But, I wanted the daily comp wine perk. If NCL ever added comp cocktails as a perk ;)...................

 

John

[BobKat406]

Well Showtimes at a glance have finally been updated but no M&G info - still. We cruise on Sunday and nothing telling us when it is. Many have already left to get to Florida.

 

I have heard stories that some get notices in their room and some don't. I hope no one misses out because of their lack of information. We have been planning on the roll call for a very long time and for anyone to miss out because of this would be a very sad situation.

[concour]

Perhaps I am just to laid back to get all worked up but getting your panties in a knot about not knowing the exact time a M&M is not something I worry about. RCL is going out of their way to attempt to provide a little something extra for cruise critic members for free. If the see people moan and groan about the way they are doing they might cut it out all together. Since the ships sail full they would not worry about a few jumping to another cruise line.

 

A cruise is a time for relaxation and personally I would not want to have everything planned out to the minute before I leave home.

[Sequim88]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but how would you like to find out less than 2 weeks before your cruise that the casino is going to be shut down for the first 7 days of our 16 day TA cruise for remodeling. Another lack of communicaton from RCCL.

 

Been running in to the same situation with Mariner 3-1/2 weeks from now. Only very recently any details on upgrades happening in dry dock that directly affect the pre-cruise planning of us folks on first sailing after the DD. Only found out about Portofino going away when they stopped taking reservations online for it. Even after many in our Roll Call group had made (and paid) for reservations months ago. They still have not bee notified by RCI about the change to Giovanni's Table and they won't take reservations for that until we are onboard. Very concerned that we too will have other venues closed or unavailable for part of our cruise.

 

I have detected a culture of secrecy that pervades RCCL that trickles down to RCI operations. Of course some things are strategic such as lack of details about project Sunshine but even where it directly impacts customers they hold information close to the vest. And when you inquire if you get a response at all it is often a vague canned response with no useful information. Granted, as our M&M keeps growning (237 so far) it may be a moving target for setting a venue or time but some certainty would be nice for planning other Roll Call events around it.

[Uniall]

Perhaps I am just to laid back to get all worked up but getting your panties in a knot about not knowing the exact time a M&M is not something I worry about. RCL is going out of their way to attempt to provide a little something extra for cruise critic members for free. If the see people moan and groan about the way they are doing they might cut it out all together. Since the ships sail full they would not worry about a few jumping to another cruise line.

 

A cruise is a time for relaxation and personally I would not want to have everything planned out to the minute before I leave home.

 

I trust you weren't being smarmy but just an attempt at humor with your comment "getting your panties in a knot". Being laid back may be your style, and that's OK but it's not mine. I'm a type A+ personality and that's not for everyone.

 

But, you seem to miss the real point. The problem with Royal Caribbean outlined on this thread is their complete disregard for replying to customer requests for information or keeping their word to provide a service.

 

John

[Cuizer2]

RCI has not updated the List of Scheduled Meet & Mingle Parties with the final date, time and location of the Party for four weeks.

 

RCI is supposed to update the list with the final inforamtion four weeks before sailing.

 

As of today, only one (set for April 6) of the many sailings with scheduled Meet & Mingles within the next four weeks has been updated with the date, time and location information.

 

I've made repeated requests to RCI and they fail to reply.

 

Does anyone know what's happening????

 

I noticed this as I was on a cruise that departed on February 27. We did receive an invitation in the cabin with the time and place.

[Uniall]

Been running in to the same situation with Mariner 3-1/2 weeks from now. Only very recently any details on upgrades happening in dry dock that directly affect the pre-cruise planning of us folks on first sailing after the DD. Only found out about Portofino going away when they stopped taking reservations online for it. Even after many in our Roll Call group had made (and paid) for reservations months ago. They still have not bee notified by RCI about the change to Giovanni's Table and they won't take reservations for that until we are onboard. Very concerned that we too will have other venues closed or unavailable for part of our cruise.

 

I have detected a culture of secrecy that pervades RCCL that trickles down to RCI operations. Of course some things are strategic such as lack of details about project Sunshine but even where it directly impacts customers they hold information close to the vest. And when you inquire if you get a response at all it is often a vague canned response with no useful information. Granted, as our M&M keeps growning (237 so far) it may be a moving target for setting a venue or time but some certainty would be nice for planning other Roll Call events around it.

 

I wasn't going to mention this but I thinl I will. last month, I went on line to rent a Tux on the RCCL website. The Rental info said "Non Refundable". I typed in my size and hit "Buy". The emailed reciept said they did not have that size so they substituted a smaller size. Teh website would not allow me to cancel and it took me 5 days and 25+ telephone calls to get a human being to cancel the order.

 

I'm used to making one call to my Norwegian PCC to rectify anything or have her contact the correct person for me.

 

John

[Uniall]

Hi Guys

 

Here's the Status of the RCCL Website Meet & Mingle List Updates as of today's date @ 5:15 am CDT. It's Not Good News and impacts very negatively on Customer Relations.

 

John

 

SORT BY SHIP.................SORT BY DATE.......DAY, TIME, LOCATION

.................................................. .............(4 weeks prior to sail date)

Brilliance Of The Seas...........07-Apr-2012

Enchantment Of The Seas.....07-Apr-2012

Oasis Of The Seas...............07-Apr-2012

Serenade Of The Seas..........07-Apr-2012

Voyager Of The Seas............07-Apr-2012

Adventure Of The Seas.........08-Apr-2012

Allure Of The Seas...............08-Apr-2012

Freedom Of The Seas...........08-Apr-2012

Mariner Of The Seas.............08-Apr-2012

Independence Of The Seas....11-Apr-2012

Explorer Of The Seas............12-Apr-2012

Rhapsody Of The Seas..........13-Apr-2012

Liberty Of The Seas..............14-Apr-2012

Navigator Of The Seas..........14-Apr-2012

Oasis Of The Seas................14-Apr-2012

Serenade Of The Seas...........14-Apr-2012

Voyager Of The Seas.............14-Apr-2012

Adventure Of The Seas..........15-Apr-2012

Allure Of The Seas................15-Apr-2012

Freedom Of The Seas............15-Apr-2012

Mariner Of The Seas..............15-Apr-2012

Grandeur Of The Seas..........18-Apr-2012

__________________

[Cuizer2]

Barby - I would have been livid. My husband would have demanded his money back as he spends most of his time in the casino!

 

He would easily get that and more from all the money he would not lose in the casino.

[ryano]

Hi Guys

 

Here's the Status of the RCCL Website Meet & Mingle List Updates as of today's date @ 5:15 am CDT. It's Not Good News and impacts very negatively on Customer Relations.

 

John

 

SORT BY SHIP.................SORT BY DATE.......DAY, TIME, LOCATION

.................................................. .............(4 weeks prior to sail date)

Brilliance Of The Seas...........07-Apr-2012

Enchantment Of The Seas.....07-Apr-2012

Oasis Of The Seas...............07-Apr-2012

Serenade Of The Seas..........07-Apr-2012

Voyager Of The Seas............07-Apr-2012

Adventure Of The Seas.........08-Apr-2012

Allure Of The Seas...............08-Apr-2012

Freedom Of The Seas...........08-Apr-2012

Mariner Of The Seas.............08-Apr-2012

Independence Of The Seas....11-Apr-2012

Explorer Of The Seas............12-Apr-2012

Rhapsody Of The Seas..........13-Apr-2012

Liberty Of The Seas..............14-Apr-2012

Navigator Of The Seas..........14-Apr-2012

Oasis Of The Seas................14-Apr-2012

Serenade Of The Seas...........14-Apr-2012

Voyager Of The Seas.............14-Apr-2012

Adventure Of The Seas..........15-Apr-2012

Allure Of The Seas................15-Apr-2012

Freedom Of The Seas............15-Apr-2012

Mariner Of The Seas..............15-Apr-2012

Grandeur Of The Seas..........18-Apr-2012

__________________

 

So NO change at all but yet they are "working on it" :o:p:confused:

 

Methinks that "we are working on it" reply was just a "pacifying" remark to try and shut us up :p

 

FWIW, I dont think its "getting your panties in a knot" at all to hold RCI accountable for something on their website that clearly says information is posted "4 weeks prior to sail date" when in fact said information is not available even 24 hours to sail date.

 

This is very important information for those with huge roll calls and hundreds of people registered for the Meet and Mingle..........I have read MANY stories of people not getting the information while on board and missing these Meet and Mingles.

[dzcruisers]

Perhaps I am just to laid back to get all worked up but getting your panties in a knot about not knowing the exact time a M&M is not something I worry about. RCL is going out of their way to attempt to provide a little something extra for cruise critic members for free. If the see people moan and groan about the way they are doing they might cut it out all together. Since the ships sail full they would not worry about a few jumping to another cruise line.

 

A cruise is a time for relaxation and personally I would not want to have everything planned out to the minute before I leave home.

 

It's not a matter of what time, for us it's what day? Time we can figure out somewhere between 9:30 and 11:30. But for those of us on a TA with lots of activities planned it would be nice to know so that we could print out a schedule and everyone would have it before we cruise. Sometimes it's the first seaday, sometimes the second. I've been on a cruise where it was the first night.

 

What is it they provide for free? Coffee and coffee cake. There's no charge for that at the buffet or room service.

 

Last year on Jewel I never got a notice about the M&M in my cabin.

[Artemis908]

Does anyone know of someone who has had or has had any experiences with what on the website not matching the invitation they receive in their cabin? I am just wondering if they change things around last minute and confuse people...

[Lottycruiser]

Meet and mingle list is now up and running .

[Uniall]

Meet and mingle list is now up and running .

 

Lotty

 

Thanks for the heads up. I can post it on the Roll Call and print out a final Roll Call list and finish my packing. Then it's on to Miami on Easter Sunday.

 

If you live anywhere near London, drinks are on me at my fav pub (The Grenadier) the next time I'm visiting.

 

John