Cruising's pain points

[editor@cruisecritic]

We love cruising, we absolutely do. But we don’t always love every aspect of the experience, right? What we’re hoping you’ll share with us in this poll is, from researching a cruise to booking one, and from arriving at the terminal to debarkation, what are your “pain points”? In which areas (feel free to vote for multiple choices) would you like to see the process improve?

 

After you vote, please feel free to weigh in with your insights – and let us know what we missed. And if you’re feeling positive, tell us about potential pain points that your cruise line of choice handles very well (we love those kind of insights!).

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

Edited November 30, 2016 by editor@cruisecritic

[cb at sea]

None of those options causes me too much distress... Maybe we've been lucky, but there's never been "chaos" either arriving at your home port, or getting off or on in ports...only once did we have a problem upon disembarking....a handle broke on our suitcase.....

 

I do detest the rows upon rows of "saved" loungers on sea days....

 

We eat a late breakfast before boarding, so we don't have to partake in the "feeding frenzy" the seems to be the 1st thing folks want to do on the ship!

 

The think that's NOT on the list that I wish would improve is food service....presentation and selection, IMO, has gone straight downhill.....that could use a great deal of improvement! It started when "for fee" restaurants were added.....

[calliopecruiser]

There are cruises where those things don't happen at all.......you pay more, but you get much better service, without chaos or crowding. I don't know about cruise line transfers or port excursions (not my thing), and I've never seen scans for contraband.

 

The real "pain point" that I see and that I don't think can be avoided is the limits on fresh fruit, especially on longer cruises. On my last (15 day) cruise, they ran out of strawberries (not a big deal), and lemons and limes (no more cocktail or iced tea garnishes). It was the lack of garnish in my cocktail that really made it hit home!

[SuiteTraveler]

The number one thing I think all cruise lines can and should improve is their food. There is so little fresh seafood onboard ships and fresh fruit is limited and there is not a lot of foods from the areas in which you are cruising. Why would I go to Jamaica to eat a hamburger or hot dog? That makes no sense. I would like to see a lot more fresh food and also menus that suit the area in which you are cruising. I don't want to spend the day in Rome and then get on the ship only to find out it is Asian night in the MDR. I think that the corporate menus, which were meant to insure quality have unfortunately done the opposite. The menus should be geared to the itinerary in which the ship is sailing. I would not mind paying extra in order to have better food and menus designed for the area in which I'm sailing.

 

And while I'm at it, the ship's gift shops need to be rethought and items should be purchased that reflect the ports the ship is visiting. This way if someone was on an excursion and never got to buy anything from say, Grenada, they might have a selection of spices, beach towels and batik from Grenada to choose from.

[OCruisers]

It so depends on the cruise line. On some cruise lines there are none of the issues listed that bother us. On other cruise lines almost all do.

[Kartgv]

I checked "Other" because I think there's a more general statement to be made on where all cruise lines we've sailed could improve. It's simply:

 

Enforce the rules you already have.

 

Whether it's chair saving/hogging, dining room attire, smoking areas, or others, all too often we've seen or read here on CC about rules not being enforced because the cruise line doesn't want to offend anyone. They don't consider that they are offending others by NOT enforcing the rules.

[GUT2407]

Muster drill.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Some of these don't apply to my family (we don't reserve anything), we don't book transfers (we live an hour's drive from our home port and other than that, I research transportation between the hotel and the port). I didn't see dealing with smokers, but the cruise lines are making it easier on non-smokers (and I usually avoid the casino anyway).

 

Getting on and off the ship is usually time consuming so that's a major reason we're doing cruises longer than a week now.

[Flatbush Flyer]

We love cruising, we absolutely do. But we don’t always love every aspect of the experience, right? What we’re hoping you’ll share with us in this poll is, from researching a cruise to booking one, and from arriving at the terminal to debarkation, what are your “pain points”? In which areas (feel free to vote for multiple choices) would you like to see the process improve?

 

After you vote, please feel free to weigh in with your insights – and let us know what we missed. And if you’re feeling positive, tell us about potential pain points that your cruise line of choice handles very well (we love those kind of insights!).

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

 

Some of us only use the CC app. How are we supposed to access the survey?

 

That said, the biggest "pain point" for us is to arrive at a port and be stuck next to/near some behemoth ship with thousands of passengers. Depending on the port facilities and location, this can be a monumental PITA.

[sparks1093]

I checked "Other" because I think there's a more general statement to be made on where all cruise lines we've sailed could improve. It's simply:

 

Enforce the rules you already have.

 

Whether it's chair saving/hogging, dining room attire, smoking areas, or others, all too often we've seen or read here on CC about rules not being enforced because the cruise line doesn't want to offend anyone. They don't consider that they are offending others by NOT enforcing the rules.

 

Pretty much exactly what I was going to say.

[kelmac]

Art auctions -- a fraudulent enterprise. Pseudo-service animals.

 

Kel:)

[SPacificbound]

Can't really check any on the list as being that much of a consistent pain, the biggest pain to me are cruise ship companies websites. Then every time they "update" them it gets worse.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Good point, OCruisers!

 

Carolyn

 

 

It so depends on the cruise line. On some cruise lines there are none of the issues listed that bother us. On other cruise lines almost all do.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Interesting comment SPacificbound. Can you elaborate more? Are you trying to research cruises possibilities and not finding what you need? Are you trying to book and not finding it seamless? Really interested in learning more.

 

Carolyn

 

Can't really check any on the list as being that much of a consistent pain, the biggest pain to me are cruise ship companies websites. Then every time they "update" them it gets worse.

[cruzeluver]

I chose "other" and would echo what kartgv has said, "enforce the rules you already have in place." I am by nature a rule-follower, and feel it is even more important when on a ship with thousands of others. Whether it is the saving of pool loungers, dress codes, enforcing assigned boarding times, etc. Oh, and please, please please quit allowing the cheapskates the option to have gratuities removed. Makes me crazy!

[Krazy Kruizers]

A lot on that list depends on the cruise line as each cruise line does many things differently.

For example -- on all HAL ships except the new ship Koningsdam, all lifeboat drills are held outside under your lifeboat no matter how hot, cold, rainy, etc. it is. Standing for nearly 1/2 hour is hard on many people.

We have found the food has gone downhill the last few years.

Far too many cut backs in all departments.

I do agree with others -- enforcement of the rules needs to take place.

[MicCanberra]

I think cruise lines need to look across the whole spectrum and maintain a standard that will keep the customers coming back while making a profit.

[rkacruiser]

Interesting comment SPacificbound. Can you elaborate more? Are you trying to research cruises possibilities and not finding what you need? Are you trying to book and not finding it seamless? Really interested in learning more.

 

Carolyn

 

I'm not the original poster, but the individual states my frustration until I purchased a new computer. With older software and hardware, the "improvements" that the cruise lines had made with their web sites made it difficult to impossible to adequately access much information, if any, on their web sites. The lines's assumption seems to be that all of us upgrade our computer equipment on a regular basis and that is not so.

 

Now, with a new computer using Windows 10, I have no problems with any of the lines' web sites. But, I wonder, how long will this excellent experience last?

[Dayenu]

Other: leaving the ship slightly depressed that my vacation is over.

[Nanny8]

Other: leaving the ship slightly depressed that my vacation is over.

Yep I'm with ya there always sad leaving a cruise. We've told our kids that instead of us living in a seniors home when it's time, they should just send us on a perpetual cruise -probably a cheaper option ;)

[notentirelynormal]

I always tell people the arrival and disembarkation is the worst part of every cruise. It is hectic and not a lot of fun. Embarking you are sitting and sitting and sitting. But to leave, you pack, you leave your room to sit around, sometimes for hours, then you are dumped into a room to look up and down rows for luggage before having to schlep it to the car. Then you go home and realize you left Stewart behind. :confused: What will you do now.

 

Also, shore excursions have not improved over the years, they've gotten worse. It isn't the money as much as the experience. They need to make sure that if you are on a busload of people and the time to leave is 11:15 be on the damn bus at 11:15 and if you aren't then leave them behind. If you really have a problem someone can get a message to the bus driver or guide. Wait 10 minutes ONCE. That is the number one reason I quit doing cruise line tours. The main reason I switched, I got tired of waiting for people and missing half the promised tour because of selfish individuals. I wish they offered smaller more personalized tours.

 

My other place where I think they can use some improvement from personal experience. We live in LA. The cruise left out of San Pedro and returned to LAX so we thought we'd be smart and do the shuttle from LAX. OMG. Biggest mistake ever.

 

First they took us to a hotel instead of the pier. We sat around for hours until the TWO people that they had to check everyone in finally finished because NOBODY had their documents ready because nobody thought they needed to. But, that wasn't the worst. I loved the sitting on the floor all over the hotel because there were no chairs for hundreds of people. Fun times.

 

The straw that broke the camels back though was when we pulled into the hotel and the bus caught on fire. I mean black smoke pouring into the bus. We were in the back. People leisurely got up and were taking their carryons down slowly until we yelled out. HEY JERKS. We don't want to die back here. Get off the bus and get your stuff later. Honestly, the bus was engulfed in smoke. We couldn't even see the people in the front. If you had your stuff down and hurried off that was one thing but 10 minutes later we were only 3 seats backs because naturally the people with mobility issues were up front. Seriously, the bus was on fire!

 

My friends that took a mini bus shuttle had lunch on the ship. We barely made dinner. I would have appreciated knowing that we weren't going directly from LAX to the ship. We had about 12 people in our group. We could have just done Roadrunner or something.

[kluv2cruz]

The regular coffee in the dining room or buffet or room service. I know some like it, but ack, many don't. Thank goodness for pay coffee from the espresso machine.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[iancal]

Food-quality of ingredients, prep, and offerings continue to decline

 

Entertainment is poor and declining

 

There is a race to the bottom. Lowest common denominator is becoming the standard.

 

No consistency...regardless of cruise line each voyage can be a bit of a crapshoot. We have come off a great cruise on one line and then experienced a not so great cruise on the same cruise line shortly thereafter.

 

Level of service remains high and at about the same level across the cruise lines that we use. The one exception is MDR service. There is a very noticeable decline in staffing/service levels.

[HardToPort]

 

I do detest the rows upon rows of "saved" loungers on sea days....

 

 

Chair hogs do what they do, because they can. They're a symptom, not the problem. CC contributors (and the overwhelming majority of cruisers IMHO) detest chair hogs. Personally, I don't do poolside deck chairs as I prefer to read in the shade but when I wander the deck with my coffee at 6-7 AM I'm stunned by the early morning array of books, towels, purses, wraps etc on display.

 

The cruise companies are the problem because they take the path of least resistance. It's appeasement over conflict. Whereas most cruises will, at most, give chair hogs a dose of stink-eye for their transgressions, a significant percentage of chair hogs are loud, crude and ill-mannered. Of course they know what they are doing is in violation of most cruise lines' policies. They just don't care and, unfortunately, there are no consequences.

 

I've always thought the simplest solution to this problem is a "tag" system similar to beach towels. The towel / pool attendant has a supply of tags that can be attached a deck chair. When a person arrives at the pool they are given a tag that they sign for and which they attach to their chosen chair. The rules should state that an absence from your chair of longer than 15 minutes will result in the tag (and any articles on and around the chair) being removed. No one can sign for more than one chair. No occupying of chairs without a tag. Problem solved. Fairly and equitably.

 

Upon initial implementation a great hue and cry from the chair hogs can be expected but, once they realize the game is over, they'll (grudgingly) accept the rules.

 

I just don't get why such a small minority are allowed to bully the polite and respectful majority.

 

End of sermon! (and don't get me started on the "theatre seat savers!!!")

 

Cheers!

HTP

:cool:

[CoW mAn]

The safety briefing sucks. I realize it's almost entirely out of their control though I just wish there was a better way to conduct it.

 

I'd say not enforcing the smoking rules. People smoke in comedy clubs, on lido, and on balconies where they're not supposed to. I have a severe allergy so this can really ruin my day.