Royal cutbacks.....just my opinion

[Guest maddycat]

Well I've only been cruising for 10 years, and yes I've seen the changes, but as mentioned earlier, the prices are still competitive and the facilities provided expanded.

 

So, I challenge you to find a land based vacation with the same standard of service (ok some hotel rooms may be bigger than the average stateroom, but how many are cleaned/serviced twice daily?), 24 hour availability of food, inclusive entertainment, providing the variety and choice of dining venues, the number of bars, and the opportunity to visit numerous places for an equivalent price these days.

 

I doubt you can. All our 'all inclusive' breaks have cost far more than a cruise for a similar, but not superior level of service and comfort, and that's just to stay in one resort!

 

Things change, there's no point moaning about it, if you no longer like RCI then try another cruise line and pay (that's the point as costs have increased as has your salary!) for the experience you are missing. Don't live in the past, time moves on, things change, embrace it or 'ship out'.

 

Well put. RCI still provides an excellent product. If you are not satisfied, cruise with a more upscale line, but be prepared to pay for the experience.

[Familygoboston]

I agree with you cruzinlady...I cruise Royal to get a very inexpensive cruise with a la carte options; I can opt for as little or as much as I like and don't have to pay for stuff I don't want or won't use. There are upscale trips and cruise lines for people who want all inclusive; or for a unique location or experience. I want a good value in the Caribbean. I have cruised a luxury lines and I'm sure my fare subsidized other people's booze.:rolleyes: For those trips, it was worth it to me for the location and other amenities on that particular line, but I wouldn't do that in the Caribbean, it's simply not worth it to me. Keep prices low and let people opt in for stuff they want. JMO

 

I've cruised for over 35 years, and I don't miss most of the stuff that was cut back (except the pen, I really do miss the pen;))

[Clarea]

With the Navigator getting Oasis features will the sauna be an extra?

Please don't give them ideas!:eek:

[dz9yvr]

In addition to many cuts for the passengers, the staff are also seeing cuts. Many of the staff are getting wage reductions when they sign-up for new contracts. I'm not sure there's an end to the cost cutting.

[goodycruising]

Does anyone just enjoy their cruise and relax!

 

I used to enjoy learning about the tips, hints and info about cruising on CC. Luckily, for no extra cost, there are still heaps of posts like that!

[Robinola]

Does anyone just enjoy their cruise and relax!

 

I used to enjoy learning about the tips, hints and info about cruising on CC. Luckily, for no extra cost, there are still heaps of posts like that!

 

Yes, I am thankful.

[AussieVisi2r]

I've been cruising with RCI since the mid 90's and I don't remember RCI ever providing ice water or cool wash cloths for passengers at the pier. However, Celebrity has always offered that amenity.

 

I've had iced water at every port and cold wash clothes at many ports - all on Radiance.

 

R

[LMaxwell]

Unfortunately all of the mass marketed lines are going this way; so it's not just a matter of hopping to a different line. There is a broad chasm between RCI experience/features and the many times over more expensive "luxury" lines.

 

It's not the little things that bother me. It's that RCI cuts corners in service and quality. It's starting to become noticeable. I still enjoy the overall product, but now it just feels like a good value, not a truly special experience. It's not about adding optional costs for dining or excursions. There used to be a certain upscale appeal to RCI that is disappearing as costs shrink.

 

How much more would I pay for the improved service? I'm not sure, it's hard to say. I could hardly expect to pay less than I pay now. I think RCI is dropping the ball with room steward and dining room service. 100% honest, I'd give up evening turn down service (is this really necessary in rooms that don't have 3/4/++ guests?) in exchange for great dining room service like used to be the norm.

[kruzerci]

Unfortunately all of the mass marketed lines are going this way; so it's not just a matter of hopping to a different line. There is a broad chasm between RCI experience/features and the many times over more expensive "luxury" lines.

 

It's not the little things that bother me. It's that RCI cuts corners in service and quality. It's starting to become noticeable. I still enjoy the overall product, but now it just feels like a good value, not a truly special experience. It's not about adding optional costs for dining or excursions. There used to be a certain upscale appeal to RCI that is disappearing as costs shrink.

 

How much more would I pay for the improved service? I'm not sure, it's hard to say. I could hardly expect to pay less than I pay now. I think RCI is dropping the ball with room steward and dining room service. 100% honest, I'd give up evening turn down service (is this really necessary in rooms that don't have 3/4/++ guests?) in exchange for great dining room service like used to be the norm.

 

I like this post. I feel the same way. However, if they read this, I can see them cutting out evening turndown and NOT adding any quality anywhere else :rolleyes:. I've just gotten used to the utter lack of quality. I love their ships, but their food and service are nothing above average in the past few years.

 

You definitely get what you pay for, so I'd rather pay $100 extra dollars for the little things.

[mr walker]

Does anyone just enjoy their cruise and relax!

 

I used to enjoy learning about the tips, hints and info about cruising on CC. Luckily, for no extra cost, there are still heaps of posts like that!

 

:D:D:D Some do, but you have to read thru a lot of useless posts to glean useful information. I think some take the cruise critic name too literally.

That said, this forum is comparable with the folks on the actual cruises - there are those who's motto is "cruise to whinge".

 

Just like in real life I choose to ignore certain posters & the list of posters on my ignore list grows just like the folks I ignore on the cruise :)

 

Anyway, here's a thankyou to the ones who post useful information and comments (good & bad) as you make it worthwhile to be a member of the cc community.

 

Happy cruising

[stewpapa]

The cutbacks are acceptable to me to keep the price bearable so I can cruise rcci more than carnival. Live them both but rcci is better for the cost. Jmho

[kruzerci]

:D:D:D Some do, but you have to read thru a lot of useless posts to glean useful information. I think some take the cruise critic name too literally.

That said, this forum is comparable with the folks on the actual cruises - there are those who's motto is "cruise to whinge".

 

Just like in real life I choose to ignore certain posters & the list of posters on my ignore list grows just like the folks I ignore on the cruise :)

 

Anyway, here's a thankyou to the ones who post useful information and comments (good & bad) as you make it worthwhile to be a member of the cc community.

 

Happy cruising

 

You're right. That being said, we all have to take things with a grain of salt.

 

A lot of CC members have been cruising for 15+ years. Of course, cutbacks are going to come with complaint. When you become used to something amazing and notice it slowly dropping down to acceptable, "the critics" are going to let their feelings known.

 

It's like if you had been going to the same upscale steakhouse down the street for 20 years and notice it drop down to Applebee's quality food, you'd probably take notice.

 

I think CC has a great mix of very seasoned and new cruisers and sometimes opinions clash, which is totally fine.

 

On this particular topic, though, I can't see any harm in pointing out changes in what cruisers what cruisers, at one time, looked at as a high quality vacation.

 

I love Royal Caribbean. I love their ships and I love their loyalty program. However, it is not the same quality vacation as it was 15 years ago. At the same time, I see the prices have not raised with the cost of living. I would just rather pay a little more for the experience they offered years ago :).

[Tapi]

When we took our first cruise in 1983 on Song of America it was approximately $1200 for an inside cabin on deck 2]

 

Our inside cabin on the Monarch in 1993 was more expensive than our Boardwalk cabin on the Allure in 2010. And that's not even adjusting for inflation!

Edited January 11, 2014 by Tapi

[JasonTehGreat]

I could care less about chocolates on the pillows. If I wanted chocolates on the pillow that bad I would buy a box of Ande's mints before I board and give them to my room steward and ask that one be placed on the pillow each night. Problem solved. For $4.00.

[LMaxwell]

 

I love Royal Caribbean. I love their ships and I love their loyalty program. However, it is not the same quality vacation as it was 15 years ago. At the same time, I see the prices have not raised with the cost of living. I would just rather pay a little more for the experience they offered years ago :).

 

Very well said. This isn't about chocolates and notepads. It is about RCI cutting corners to the point that it is very noticeable and cheapens the overall experience. It's about too few guest facing staffers being asked to do too much. It's about sourcing food just a half a shade too low sometimes. I'd pay a few bucks more for additional wait staff, or to give up some Windjammer choice in favor of higher quality.

 

RCI isn't in dire straits like Carnival is (can't raise the price or the hordes scream, can't make any further cuts or it's barely a "vacation") but in a race to the bottom it's only those that want the "cheapest" that win, not the best value. I don't think RCI can really afford to go cheaper or cut any more guest facing service staff.

 

This stuff may not matter at all to new cruisers.

[seaofwonder]

This isn't something unique to a single cruise line or industry. It is across the board: restaurants, hotels, air lines, cruise lines and on and on.

 

We, the public, demand lower prices. They lower them and we buy more. Once you go down to a lower price, it's hard to convince customers to pay more. Therefore, you need to make cutbacks to keep the cost low.

 

Would you rather pay junior suite prices for an inside? Probably not. And if you do, I am sure that Silversea or Cunard would love to have you as a customer.

 

These industries are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Most of them will provide an upscale alternative (I.e., you can cruise in a suite and get some nice perks or move over to Celebrity).

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[kcdancerkc]

New to RCL ---

 

Carnival and Holland - never water and cool cloths coming back from port!

 

NCL - EVERY island - got this and was so coooool!

 

Royal - out of 5 islands -- we got them on TWO islands back to ship

 

Inconsistent and weird ---

 

 

 

We have no desire to sit around the MDR -- and waste 2 hours - there are other things to do! Would I love to see ONE lavish Midnight buffet back - YES - was jaw dropping.

 

When you watch one of the MSNBC on tv shows on one of the ship --- they almost break even - this show was just a couple years ago.

 

I too think we are VERY lucky to have cruised 6 times in the last 9 years to the Caribbean..... Life is short - and if I can someday spend just one more cruise in the South Pacific -- I can die and go to heaven!

 

If we never go again - I have so many good memories - collectively, outweighs the crappy things that were inconvenient or disappointing.

 

I'm a social worker and therapist - most all of my clients and many of the therapists I work with, will never be able to be lucky enough for these travels.....

 

to do what we did....thanks to my hubby and the hard work he does, and great planning and good price sales he digs up- I consider myself lucky.

[sellwingri]

Most of the changes are not important to us. They were nice but we can absolutely live without them.

 

Cruising is my absolutely favorite thing to do. When I get off one cruise, I just start planning for our next one. On what other vacation can you spend this amount of money for all your food and entertainment plus seeing multiple islands or countries? I feel blessed in my lifetime to have been to numerous countries in Europe, seen Alaska, cruised through the Panama Canal, and been to 15 or 20 Caribbean islands. I refuse to complain if I don't get a towel animal or a chocolate.

 

50 days and counting until my next dream begins. I never get sick of cruising!

[printingchick]

Agree with the OP. I feel the same about specialty restaurants. People complain about the revenue generating venues on the ships, but you're not required to invest in any of them. Those who can afford to get their nails done, enjoy a massage, eat at the specialty restaurants and/or buy the pay-extra meals in the MDR are helping to keep MY cruise affordable!

 

Caveat: I will miss the towel animals. I haven't cruised for a few years and they were still doing them nightly last time I did. My next cruise is with a first-time cruiser and I'm hoping to "persuade" the cabin steward to provide a towel friend nightly. ;)

[ncsteeler]

We miss towel animals. That being said. Profit is not a dirty word. Companies must make profit, they must continue to find ways to make more. It's just how the world works. The good news is you all have a say in this. You want nicer amenities? You want better food? You want a better experience? Speak with your feet and go cruise HAL,Celebrity or some other higher class cruise.

 

I for one am glad there are options. We sail RC because it's affordable for our family right now. Someday with hard work and saving, we hope to be regular cruisers and possibly try a higher end brand, but for now RC meets our financial needs and our service expectations, for the price we pay.

[lady_cruiser]

I too will take lower cruise prices over mints any day. As far as the towel animals, I am happy just get to one. And if I don't get any towel animal during the week well then I don't get it.

[LMaxwell]

Enough with the quoting of pillow mints. It isn't about pillow mints. There WERE many things RCI used to provide, tangible or not, that are no longer provided. Yes the cruise is cheaper now. You can pay more and be afforded access more amenities by staying in an expensive suite, but that still isn't going to change the fact that MANY of the guest facing areas are asked to do more with less resources, or so it seems. Food quality was up, personalized service was up. Now you get way more features and options and at a lower price. It's not all bad. But there's nothing wrong with wanting higher standards than what is provided now. It's about nuance. If you didn't experience it, it's very hard to understand.

 

The answer is not to jump lines; has anyone read the HAL boards? The posts over there are down right apoplectic over cutbacks.

 

And many high priced luxury lines either aren't family friendly or don't really subscribe to the resort casual mentality. In other words, they take their vacations a bit too seriously.

 

Newcomers will not notice because they don't have a fair basis of comparison. 10 years from now there is the very real chance of looking back at current times and claiming they were the good old days, just like people now look back 10, 20, 30 years and can rightly say "You don't know what you are missing...you just don't know how it was."

 

100% honestly, I think RCI is resting on features to wow 'em and get newcomers money and is kind of waiting and seeing what happens with Carnival over the next 1 - 3 years. If Carnival can stop cutting services and features and start demanding higher fares you'll see RCI in lock step demanding higher fares and better. RCI always provided a product "nicer" than Carnival. If Carnival continues to slide and cut features and services and go after price RCI will have to decide if they want to be priced just over and be slightly better than Carnival, or if they want to maintain and expand their role in the vacation market as being just slightly above average, above middle market, offering a taste of luxury ways.

 

Does anyone remember Midnight Buffets? Then they went to one big Gala midnight buffet? Then it went to a nighttime deck party. Now on the Oasis/Allure, the most magnificent ships afloat, there's really none of that. They turn the Solarium into the disco one night, but that's not a deck party.

[Paulette3028]

I miss the very things you mention … room stewards w/assistants, adequate staff in dining room & Windjammer, pool towels in staterooms, etc . I loved being handed ice water and the cool wash cloths when we re-boarded … one of my "favorite things!"

 

I have only been cruising since 2004 and all of my cruises have been on RCCL, but I don't EVER remember being given ice water and cool wash clothes when re-boarding the ship. Our first cruise back in 2004 was on Navigator and we have cruised several of the other ships in the fleet, and some several times.

 

I can't be accused of confusing my experiences on RCCL with another cruise line, since I have never cruised another line, but are YOU?

[Paulette3028]

Enough with the quoting of pillow mints. It isn't about pillow mints. There WERE many things RCI used to provide, tangible or not, that are no longer provided. Yes the cruise is cheaper now. You can pay more and be afforded access more amenities by staying in an expensive suite, but that still isn't going to change the fact that MANY of the guest facing areas are asked to do more with less resources, or so it seems. Food quality was up, personalized service was up. Now you get way more features and options and at a lower price. It's not all bad. But there's nothing wrong with wanting higher standards than what is provided now. It's about nuance. If you didn't experience it, it's very hard to understand.

 

The answer is not to jump lines; has anyone read the HAL boards? The posts over there are down right apoplectic over cutbacks.

 

And many high priced luxury lines either aren't family friendly or don't really subscribe to the resort casual mentality. In other words, they take their vacations a bit too seriously.

 

Newcomers will not notice because they don't have a fair basis of comparison. 10 years from now there is the very real chance of looking back at current times and claiming they were the good old days, just like people now look back 10, 20, 30 years and can rightly say "You don't know what you are missing...you just don't know how it was."

 

100% honestly, I think RCI is resting on features to wow 'em and get newcomers money and is kind of waiting and seeing what happens with Carnival over the next 1 - 3 years. If Carnival can stop cutting services and features and start demanding higher fares you'll see RCI in lock step demanding higher fares and better. RCI always provided a product "nicer" than Carnival. If Carnival continues to slide and cut features and services and go after price RCI will have to decide if they want to be priced just over and be slightly better than Carnival, or if they want to maintain and expand their role in the vacation market as being just slightly above average, above middle market, offering a taste of luxury ways.

 

Does anyone remember Midnight Buffets? Then they went to one big Gala midnight buffet? Then it went to a nighttime deck party. Now on the Oasis/Allure, the most magnificent ships afloat, there's really none of that. They turn the Solarium into the disco one night, but that's not a deck party.

 

My personal feeling about the Midnight Buffet, from my very first cruise on Navigator in 2004, was 'over indulgence'. Let's face it, we had eaten only a few hours ago. I would rather have a 'deck party' to enjoy during the late hours, since when we are on a cruise we seem to manage to stay up MUCH MUCH later than we ever stay up at home. It is amazing!

 

I will be on Allure, June 2014 to see for myself.

[PhoenixJ]

Agree with the OP. I feel the same about specialty restaurants. People complain about the revenue generating venues on the ships, but you're not required to invest in any of them. Those who can afford to get their nails done, enjoy a massage, eat at the specialty restaurants and/or buy the pay-extra meals in the MDR are helping to keep MY cruise affordable!

 

Caveat: I will miss the towel animals. I haven't cruised for a few years and they were still doing them nightly last time I did. My next cruise is with a first-time cruiser and I'm hoping to "persuade" the cabin steward to provide a towel friend nightly. ;)

 

 

In reviewing the deck plans for Quantum of the Seas, this concerns me as they have yet to show where the MDR is, unless it's the tiny space listed as "More to come" on Decks 3 & 4. If you look at the renderings however, there are no windows in those areas that would afford a decent view during dining.