Negative Royal Caribbean International Experience: Harmony of the Seas

[csm2000]

After the great experience we had on the Quantum of the Seas in February 2015, we were really excited about sailing on Harmony of the Seas on Dec 10, 2016. We have sailed on Explorer and Oasis of the Seas in previous Royal Caribbean International (RCI) cruises and thoroughly enjoyed each ship and the service provided. Unfortunately, as beautiful as Harmony was, we were disappointed by a number of RCI business changes we and our group of 5 couples experienced during the cruise. I'll list a few of our observations with a focus on brevity.

 

ADDITIONAL MENU UPGRADES: Additional upgraded food choices listed on menus in main dining areas (American Icon) that were additional cost items. No longer included without additional charge. The food selections we wanted and had been included on previous RCI cruises were now available as extra cost alternative upgrades on the menu. Apparently, RCI has decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

ADDITIONAL CHARGE for UPGRADED MENU ITEMS IN ADDITIONAL CHARGE SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS: That's right! Pay an additional fee per person to enter then pay an addition fee for select items on the menu. Again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

ROOM SERVICE FOOD CHARGES: Want Eggs and Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice for your morning breakfast in your room? Surprise, you have to pay an extra $3 each for fresh Orange Juice or an Egg Omelette in your room. Once again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

POOR SERVICE IN MAIN DINING ROOMS: This was truly amazing. After sitting in the American Icon dining room for dinner, no one ever came to the table to ask if we wanted a drink. Furthermore, you had to ask to have your water glass filled or it remained empty.

 

WAITING STAFF SHORTAGE: The poor service might have been related to what appeared to be a lack of sufficient restaurant staffing levels. Not only did there not appear to be enough staff on hand to get the job done, those that were there didn't appear to know what to do and stood around at times. They were certainly not yet performing as a team. Perhaps the newness of the ship contributed to this situation but all passengers we talked to felt the restaurant areas were not sufficiently staffed. Perhaps RCI has cut back to save money but the lack of staffing and quality supervision is painfully obvious!

 

WINDJAMMER BUFFET TOTALLY DISORGANIZED, LACKING FOOD, PLATES, SILVERWARE AND SEATS ON DAY 1: After boarding ship at Port Everglades, this was a true disaster area. Very little food available with throngs of hungry people circling the service areas anxiously awaiting the arrival of ANYTHING to eat. Clean plates and silverware were extremely hard to locate. Talk about ugly! After a considerable search, I was finally able to locate a stack of clean small plates and retrieve one for my own use. I was fortunate indeed to find a clean knife that I used to eat the garbanzo bean salad and chocolate cake I located and placed on that small plate. Not my idea of what I wanted for lunch on the biggest cruise ship in the world but, it was the best I could do without resorting to a more aggressive food foraging and collection style!

 

TOILET IN GRAND SUITE WOULD RANDOMLY FILL WITH WATER AND OVERFLOW: Harmony is a brand new ship so I guess it has to be expected that things will break and/or fail. Right? Damn, why did it have to be the toilet? We had a beautiful room, #14660, with a beautiful comfortable balcony. To our surprise, we had a plumbing problem in the middle of the night. Fortunately, when the valve to the bathroom toilet decided to go bad at 3:30 am, it filled the toilet bowl with CLEAN CLEAR water. Unfortunately, after filling the bowl, it didn't stop until sometime after it overflowed onto the bathroom floor. After convincing myself it was a freak random occurrence by making certain it once again properly flushed, I cleaned up the mess, without waking my sleeping wife, and went back to bed. Surprisingly, it happened 2 more times later that day before I finally called maintenance for help. They quickly responded and replaced the hallway valve which corrected the problem.

 

CHARGE FOR POPCORN WHEN VIEWING WATER SHOWS: Incredibly, RCI charges $2.50 for a SMALL bag of popcorn should you decide you want to partake while watching their incredible outdoor water show in the Boardwalk area at the rear of the ship. This is yet another example of RCI's business decision to charge for something that other Cruise Lines (Princess - Movies Under the Stars) include for free. Once again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

RCI CHANGED ALL OF OUR DINNER & ENTERTAINMENT PLANS WITHOUT NOTICE: My wife worked for weeks prior to the cruise with the 5 other couples cruising with us to coordinate dining & entertainment reservations under RCI's "Dynamic Dining" program in place at the time to insure we could do things and eat together. Unfortunately, RCI canceled that program and rescheduled us to other locations and times without notifying us or taking into account our desire to spend dinner and entertainment events with friends. We never managed to totally recover from that and it certainly detracted from the enjoyment we normally experience on a cruise.

 

Finally, we really love RCI ships! They truly have that "Wow" factor many speak of. Their internet service is phenomenal and is truly the standard other cruise lines should strive to match or exceed. They have much to be proud of but we noted a number of changes since our last cruise on Quantum of the Seas. Unfortunately, based on these changes and our experiences, we won't be cruising on RCI again. If we hadn't been return RCI passengers, we probably would have just thought this normal and accepted it as such. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it's RCI's new normal. However, having sailed on other cruise lines, coupled with our previous RCI experiences, we know that is not the case. RCI appears to have adopted a business model that once you're on the ship, they will attempt to squeeze as much additional money out of you as they can. Some things are to be expected but RCI takes this concept to a new level!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Clarea]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

[chooseauser]

Very sad news!

[Sungold]

Wow, charging for popcorn...that is pretty greedy. We all know how cheap popcorn is. Even Carnival serves it free during the outdoor movies.

 

 

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[peacefrogdog]

Charging for popcorn on RCI is not new. Was the case years ago too, but agree it's a money grab

 

 

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[cruisinfanatic]

None of the Op's complaints would have bothered me that much. Most were not anything new

[saltie22]

Wow, so sad to hear this. There are 14 of us sailing in March. Could you please be more specific on the additional menu charges. I haven't cruised in about 7 years but I do recall everything in Main dining room being free.

[grand isle joe]

csm2000 get ready for the broadside........DUCK!!!!!!!:eek:

[LMaxwell]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

The continual decline of fundamental services is worrisome and seriously eroding RCI's value to me personally. I have long felt that RCI was worth a premium price but I no longer feel that way.

 

I have a future cruise booked with a great itinerary / schedule that fits my needs that I am half-heartedly looking forward to due to overwhelming negative reviews, and still looking to sneak in a 3 day Enchantment weekend cruise, but recent past cruises and near upcoming cruises will have me at 36 nights on other lines that I normally would have spent on RCI.

 

I don't need a suite or specialty dining, but I do want to have good service throughout the ship for my finite time and hard earned discretionary dollars. Hopefully RCI takes some of their strong profits and reinvests in their crew and staff levels to provide those great experiences.

 

edit: Did not mean to quote you Bob :)

Edited January 6, 2017 by LMaxwell

[njkruzer]

Sorry you had a some problems but confused about your thinking there was going to be dynamic dining on the Harmony. Unless I missed something I didn't think the Harmony was going to have dynamic dining, at least not in the past year or more. There was talk of putting it on the Oasis class ships but that was dropped at least a year ago. I figure you got mtd instead.

[LilBlackDress]

 

RCI CHANGED ALL OF OUR DINNER & ENTERTAINMENT PLANS WITHOUT NOTICE: My wife worked for weeks prior to the cruise with the 5 other couples cruising with us to coordinate dining & entertainment reservations under RCI's "Dynamic Dining" program in place at the time to insure we could do things and eat together. Unfortunately, RCI canceled that program and rescheduled us to other locations and times without notifying us or taking into account our desire to spend dinner and entertainment events with friends. We never managed to totally recover from that and it certainly detracted from the enjoyment we normally experience on a cruise.

 

 

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Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Sorry you felt nickeled and dimed to death, some of these changes are not very new though.

 

As for your plans changing, HOTS never had Dynamic Dining. DD was canceled before HOTS's first cruise. I have heard and seen that the shows times have had to make some changes as well... Emails have been sent out about the changes, maybe yours went into your spam folder :confused:

 

Sorry you didn't have a more pleasant cruise.

[Ashland]

Sorry you had a some problems but confused about your thinking there was going to be dynamic dining on the Harmony. Unless I missed something I didn't think the Harmony was going to have dynamic dining, at least not in the past year or more. There was talk of putting it on the Oasis class ships but that was dropped at least a year ago. I figure you got mtd instead.

 

Dynamic Dining was announced when HOTS first opened for bookings...but that was quickly changed before the first sailings.

 

Sorry the OP was less than impressed...best of luck which ever cruiseline they decide to try next....Just hope they remember the "grass isn't always greener" ;)

[Ellipooh]

I will be a new RC passenger on Oasis in 3mos. I am very disappointed to read OP's experience, and even more so to see responses that all of it is not only true but also old news. Now I'm really bummed.

[Langley Cruisers]

Remember that the things that bother one guest may not even register with another. I knew most of these points, as do many other members here. I'm not saying OP doesn't have the right to feel upset or disappointed, but in my opinion, "nickel and diming the customer" is optional. Hear me out. You know what you have to pay extra for and there is the choice to pay it ($3.00 for freshly-squeezed orange juice vs. the free juice) and so on. We have cruised many times and in fact, twice have had absolutely no bill at the end of the cruise.

 

OP, having said this, I'm sorry it wasn't all you expected.

.

[Merion_Mom]

After the great experience we had on the Quantum of the Seas in February 2015, we were really excited about sailing on Harmony of the Seas on Dec 10, 2016. We have sailed on Explorer and Oasis of the Seas in previous Royal Caribbean International (RCI) cruises and thoroughly enjoyed each ship and the service provided. Unfortunately, as beautiful as Harmony was, we were disappointed by a number of RCI business changes we and our group of 5 couples experienced during the cruise. I'll list a few of our observations with a focus on brevity.

 

I, too, was on the Quantum in February 2015. I have sailed on the Harmony. Perhaps my responses will seem valid therefore.

 

ADDITIONAL MENU UPGRADES: Additional upgraded food choices listed on menus in main dining areas (American Icon) that were additional cost items. No longer included without additional charge. The food selections we wanted and had been included on previous RCI cruises were now available as extra cost alternative upgrades on the menu. Apparently, RCI has decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

Whole lobster was never offered, much less for no charge previously. The filet mignon is a Chops filet, which was never offered for no charge.

 

ADDITIONAL CHARGE for UPGRADED MENU ITEMS IN ADDITIONAL CHARGE SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS: That's right! Pay an additional fee per person to enter then pay an addition fee for select items on the menu. Again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

They are optional. Opt not to order them.

 

ROOM SERVICE FOOD CHARGES: Want Eggs and Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice for your morning breakfast in your room? Surprise, you have to pay an extra $3 each for fresh Orange Juice or an Egg Omelette in your room. Once again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

Yes, this is unfortunately true. It was, however, true on the Quantum, too. You should not, therefore, have been either surprised or suddenly appalled.

 

POOR SERVICE IN MAIN DINING ROOMS: This was truly amazing. After sitting in the American Icon dining room for dinner, no one ever came to the table to ask if we wanted a drink. Furthermore, you had to ask to have your water glass filled or it remained empty.

 

I am sorry that this was your experience. It was not mine. (and yes, you have to ask for drink service. There are no more roaming bar servers in the MDR)

 

WAITING STAFF SHORTAGE: The poor service might have been related to what appeared to be a lack of sufficient restaurant staffing levels. Not only did there not appear to be enough staff on hand to get the job done, those that were there didn't appear to know what to do and stood around at times. They were certainly not yet performing as a team. Perhaps the newness of the ship contributed to this situation but all passengers we talked to felt the restaurant areas were not sufficiently staffed. Perhaps RCI has cut back to save money but the lack of staffing and quality supervision is painfully obvious!

 

I agree that RC is cutting back on staff. I also agree that it is a problem and a bad move on their part.

 

WINDJAMMER BUFFET TOTALLY DISORGANIZED, LACKING FOOD, PLATES, SILVERWARE AND SEATS ON DAY 1: After boarding ship at Port Everglades, this was a true disaster area. Very little food available with throngs of hungry people circling the service areas anxiously awaiting the arrival of ANYTHING to eat. Clean plates and silverware were extremely hard to locate. Talk about ugly! After a considerable search, I was finally able to locate a stack of clean small plates and retrieve one for my own use. I was fortunate indeed to find a clean knife that I used to eat the garbanzo bean salad and chocolate cake I located and placed on that small plate. Not my idea of what I wanted for lunch on the biggest cruise ship in the world but, it was the best I could do without resorting to a more aggressive food foraging and collection style!

 

ICK. But then, I don't go to the Windjammer on boarding day.

 

TOILET IN GRAND SUITE WOULD RANDOMLY FILL WITH WATER AND OVERFLOW: Harmony is a brand new ship so I guess it has to be expected that things will break and/or fail. Right? Damn, why did it have to be the toilet? We had a beautiful room, #14660, with a beautiful comfortable balcony. To our surprise, we had a plumbing problem in the middle of the night. Fortunately, when the valve to the bathroom toilet decided to go bad at 3:30 am, it filled the toilet bowl with CLEAN CLEAR water. Unfortunately, after filling the bowl, it didn't stop until sometime after it overflowed onto the bathroom floor. After convincing myself it was a freak random occurrence by making certain it once again properly flushed, I cleaned up the mess, without waking my sleeping wife, and went back to bed. Surprisingly, it happened 2 more times later that day before I finally called maintenance for help. They quickly responded and replaced the hallway valve which corrected the problem.

 

I would have called when it first happened. I am glad that it was quickly fixed. $@ happens. ;)

 

CHARGE FOR POPCORN WHEN VIEWING WATER SHOWS: Incredibly, RCI charges $2.50 for a SMALL bag of popcorn should you decide you want to partake while watching their incredible outdoor water show in the Boardwalk area at the rear of the ship. This is yet another example of RCI's business decision to charge for something that other Cruise Lines (Princess - Movies Under the Stars) include for free. Once again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

Yeah, that's disgusting. Fortunately, I can live without popcorn.

 

RCI CHANGED ALL OF OUR DINNER & ENTERTAINMENT PLANS WITHOUT NOTICE: My wife worked for weeks prior to the cruise with the 5 other couples cruising with us to coordinate dining & entertainment reservations under RCI's "Dynamic Dining" program in place at the time to insure we could do things and eat together. Unfortunately, RCI canceled that program and rescheduled us to other locations and times without notifying us or taking into account our desire to spend dinner and entertainment events with friends. We never managed to totally recover from that and it certainly detracted from the enjoyment we normally experience on a cruise.

 

Responded to above by others. No dynamic dining on the Harmony. Ever.

 

Finally, we really love RCI ships! They truly have that "Wow" factor many speak of. Their internet service is phenomenal and is truly the standard other cruise lines should strive to match or exceed. They have much to be proud of but we noted a number of changes since our last cruise on Quantum of the Seas. Unfortunately, based on these changes and our experiences, we won't be cruising on RCI again. If we hadn't been return RCI passengers, we probably would have just thought this normal and accepted it as such. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it's RCI's new normal. However, having sailed on other cruise lines, coupled with our previous RCI experiences, we know that is not the case. RCI appears to have adopted a business model that once you're on the ship, they will attempt to squeeze as much additional money out of you as they can. Some things are to be expected but RCI takes this concept to a new level!

 

Best of luck in your future holiday plans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will be a new RC passenger on Oasis in 3mos. I am very disappointed to read OP's experience, and even more so to see responses that all of it is not only true but also old news. Now I'm really bummed.

 

See my responses above, Ellipooh. :)

[ONECRUISER]

Remember that the things that bother one guest may not even register with another. I knew most of these points, as do many other members here. I'm not saying OP doesn't have the right to feel upset or disappointed, but in my opinion, "nickel and diming the customer" is optional. Hear me out. You know what you have to pay extra for and there is the choice to pay it ($3.00 for freshly-squeezed orange juice vs. the free juice) and so on. We have cruised many times and in fact, twice have had absolutely no bill at the end of the cruise.

 

OP, having said this, I'm sorry it wasn't all you expected.

.

 

Just did B2B2B2B, 2 had no bill. I like free stuff too! We forget how expensive cruising use to be. My 1st cruise on the new Sovereign of the Seas, largest cruise ship at the time. Total cost for 2 passengers, in smallest cabin deck 2, $3400...in 1988 dollars! They'll get their money one way or the other. Pay for extras or add $$$$ to base price of cruise. I like the choice now

[aubreyc1988]

 

 

 

CHARGE FOR POPCORN WHEN VIEWING WATER SHOWS: Incredibly, RCI charges $2.50 for a SMALL bag of popcorn should you decide you want to partake while watching their incredible outdoor water show in the Boardwalk area at the rear of the ship. This is yet another example of RCI's business decision to charge for something that other Cruise Lines (Princess - Movies Under the Stars) include for free. Once again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

 

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I just had to comment on this one. On Oasis, I was in the theater for CATS and the popcorn guy came around, said it was 5.00 when I asked him, and I paid that price. Why, because I'm on vacation and I wanted some popcorn. While it's an inflated price and yes, popcorn IS cheap, they are a business and I agreed to pay that for the popcorn, just like when I agree to pay for concessions that cost too much at a movie theater back on land. No one is getting nickel and dimed "to death" over optional popcorn :eek:

 

and just for funzies

 

 

 

[Poplin]

After the great experience we had on the Quantum of the Seas in February 2015, we were really excited about sailing on Harmony of the Seas on Dec 10, 2016. We have sailed on Explorer and Oasis of the Seas in previous Royal Caribbean International (RCI) cruises and thoroughly enjoyed each ship and the service provided. Unfortunately, as beautiful as Harmony was, we were disappointed by a number of RCI business changes we and our group of 5 couples experienced during the cruise. I'll list a few of our observations with a focus on brevity.

 

ADDITIONAL MENU UPGRADES: Additional upgraded food choices listed on menus in main dining areas (American Icon) that were additional cost items. No longer included without additional charge. The food selections we wanted and had been included on previous RCI cruises were now available as extra cost alternative upgrades on the menu. Apparently, RCI has decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

ADDITIONAL CHARGE for UPGRADED MENU ITEMS IN ADDITIONAL CHARGE SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS: That's right! Pay an additional fee per person to enter then pay an addition fee for select items on the menu. Again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

ROOM SERVICE FOOD CHARGES: Want Eggs and Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice for your morning breakfast in your room? Surprise, you have to pay an extra $3 each for fresh Orange Juice or an Egg Omelette in your room. Once again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

POOR SERVICE IN MAIN DINING ROOMS: This was truly amazing. After sitting in the American Icon dining room for dinner, no one ever came to the table to ask if we wanted a drink. Furthermore, you had to ask to have your water glass filled or it remained empty.

 

WAITING STAFF SHORTAGE: The poor service might have been related to what appeared to be a lack of sufficient restaurant staffing levels. Not only did there not appear to be enough staff on hand to get the job done, those that were there didn't appear to know what to do and stood around at times. They were certainly not yet performing as a team. Perhaps the newness of the ship contributed to this situation but all passengers we talked to felt the restaurant areas were not sufficiently staffed. Perhaps RCI has cut back to save money but the lack of staffing and quality supervision is painfully obvious!

 

WINDJAMMER BUFFET TOTALLY DISORGANIZED, LACKING FOOD, PLATES, SILVERWARE AND SEATS ON DAY 1: After boarding ship at Port Everglades, this was a true disaster area. Very little food available with throngs of hungry people circling the service areas anxiously awaiting the arrival of ANYTHING to eat. Clean plates and silverware were extremely hard to locate. Talk about ugly! After a considerable search, I was finally able to locate a stack of clean small plates and retrieve one for my own use. I was fortunate indeed to find a clean knife that I used to eat the garbanzo bean salad and chocolate cake I located and placed on that small plate. Not my idea of what I wanted for lunch on the biggest cruise ship in the world but, it was the best I could do without resorting to a more aggressive food foraging and collection style!

 

TOILET IN GRAND SUITE WOULD RANDOMLY FILL WITH WATER AND OVERFLOW: Harmony is a brand new ship so I guess it has to be expected that things will break and/or fail. Right? Damn, why did it have to be the toilet? We had a beautiful room, #14660, with a beautiful comfortable balcony. To our surprise, we had a plumbing problem in the middle of the night. Fortunately, when the valve to the bathroom toilet decided to go bad at 3:30 am, it filled the toilet bowl with CLEAN CLEAR water. Unfortunately, after filling the bowl, it didn't stop until sometime after it overflowed onto the bathroom floor. After convincing myself it was a freak random occurrence by making certain it once again properly flushed, I cleaned up the mess, without waking my sleeping wife, and went back to bed. Surprisingly, it happened 2 more times later that day before I finally called maintenance for help. They quickly responded and replaced the hallway valve which corrected the problem.

 

CHARGE FOR POPCORN WHEN VIEWING WATER SHOWS: Incredibly, RCI charges $2.50 for a SMALL bag of popcorn should you decide you want to partake while watching their incredible outdoor water show in the Boardwalk area at the rear of the ship. This is yet another example of RCI's business decision to charge for something that other Cruise Lines (Princess - Movies Under the Stars) include for free. Once again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

RCI CHANGED ALL OF OUR DINNER & ENTERTAINMENT PLANS WITHOUT NOTICE: My wife worked for weeks prior to the cruise with the 5 other couples cruising with us to coordinate dining & entertainment reservations under RCI's "Dynamic Dining" program in place at the time to insure we could do things and eat together. Unfortunately, RCI canceled that program and rescheduled us to other locations and times without notifying us or taking into account our desire to spend dinner and entertainment events with friends. We never managed to totally recover from that and it certainly detracted from the enjoyment we normally experience on a cruise.

 

Finally, we really love RCI ships! They truly have that "Wow" factor many speak of. Their internet service is phenomenal and is truly the standard other cruise lines should strive to match or exceed. They have much to be proud of but we noted a number of changes since our last cruise on Quantum of the Seas. Unfortunately, based on these changes and our experiences, we won't be cruising on RCI again. If we hadn't been return RCI passengers, we probably would have just thought this normal and accepted it as such. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it's RCI's new normal. However, having sailed on other cruise lines, coupled with our previous RCI experiences, we know that is not the case. RCI appears to have adopted a business model that once you're on the ship, they will attempt to squeeze as much additional money out of you as they can. Some things are to be expected but RCI takes this concept to a new level!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I too get so frustrated with RCCL changing show times randomly. We have a group of 20 and I did the show reservations over a month ago. I was notified Monday of two changes that give us two shows on one day and no shows on two days. After spending hours trying to reschedule online, I finally called RCCL and they did help me to reschedule all shows for all twenty guests. But, I spent 4 hours working on it and I expect I'll get more changes. I know some will say "go with the flow" but this group doesn't work this way. We have 34 cruises on RCCL and I am finding they are not quick to address a concern or problem. They have just gotten so big I think they are having difficulty staffing their ships.

 

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[njmomof2]

I also am sorry to hear that the OP had so many things that detracted from a pleasant cruise.

 

My sister has cruised multiple times on Princess and has talked about MUTS several times. Popcorn may be free there as well. Not on Royal. Given the cheap cost of such an item, maybe it should be. But then again, I also refuse to buy popcorn at the movies. Not only the cost but the calories.

 

I happen to be a big water drinker (as is my older son). He can go through 4-5 glasses before we get through the main course. We've had servers just leave a pitcher on the table. I think if we're going to have such trouble getting glasses refilled, I'll be speaking up at the beginning so that doesn't happen (hopefully that will resolve the issue).

 

As for specialty issues, I think if we do eat specialty, we'll be okay with the offerings on the main menu, and not opt for the "extra" items. Also okay with the MDR offerings; I don't think we've ever been tempted to order the upcharge items, but the fact that they are there and available makes it nice for those that want them.

 

I do have an issue with the Windjammer on boarding day. I've tried to steer the family to other lunch options on boarding day, but mom likes to just go up to the WJ. If it's going to be such a tough time getting plates and silverware on boarding day, I might have to talk with her before boarding to determine if an alternate site might not be a better choice.

 

I agree that what bothers one cruiser may not bother another. We all have things that are important to us, and we should not condemn others when we don't find something to be a big problem TO US. We all pay our hard earned money for a vacation, and we expect it to go a certain way. When something (or multiple somethings) happen that detract from our vacation, rather than scoff, maybe we can just accept that each of us have different needs and expectations.

[Colorado Babe]

I was on the same sailing with you and pretty much agree with your observations. Hubby and I loved the ship but did notice a ton of buckle and dining. We only ate in the dining room one time for lunch and service was horrific. We don't eat breakfast or use room service so no comment on that. We only did speciality dining and Coastal kitchen. It was a nightmare. I have Celiac's and was blatantly gluten twice. Even when I had it clearly identified on RC profile and spoke to the servers and managers!

 

 

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[akcruz]

Just did B2B2B2B, 2 had no bill. I like free stuff too! We forget how expensive cruising use to be. My 1st cruise on the new Sovereign of the Seas, largest cruise ship at the time. Total cost for 2 passengers, in smallest cabin deck 2, $3400...in 1988 dollars! They'll get their money one way or the other. Pay for extras or add $$$$ to base price of cruise. I like the choice now

Agree with this post. I would prefer to have a lower base price and choose where I want to spend the extra $$ instead of having a higher base price that includes many things I don't care about. My first cruise was in 1988 where I paid more for an oceanview than we now pay for a balcony.

 

Where I do have an issue is the lack of service. If I want something I have learned to speak up right away, don't sit and stew about. Should we have to do that, no of course not. Also, don't care for all the reservations, especially when they change them on you.

 

OP, sorry you didn't have the cruise you expected.

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[birdlord]

My husband and I were also on this sailing. The only thing I can comment on is the MDR. We did the My Time Dining and therefore were seated at a different table each night. We had some EXCELLENT servers and some really terrible servers. One night in particular we were clearly forgotten about. My husband also chose to do the Chops filet one night as an up charge and it was pretty bland/dry/awful looking. Lesson learned. My biggest gripe about the MDR was their inability to get their act together all week with the reservations line. That was NOT our experience on Oasis. After the 1st or 2nd night, it was smooth sailing (on Oasis; not Harmony).

 

I cannot speak to the other issues you encountered as all my show reservations were fine and I did not even lay eyes on the Windjammer. The only "specialty" dining we did was Sabor (always excellent) and Johnny Rockets due to our schedule. We do not buy into the nickel and dime stuff like the popcorn and although we *usually* do room service, we did not on this cruise.

 

All that being said, I did come off of this cruise as not being as thrilled as we were with Oasis last year, or even on Celebrity Silhouette the year before. The vibe was really bad all week with the crowd on board (our opinion only). The ship is beautiful, however. We did manage to have a nice vacation, though our "wow" factor was diminished.

Edited January 6, 2017 by birdlord

[Thetrail]

Remember that the things that bother one guest may not even register with another. I knew most of these points, as do many other members here. I'm not saying OP doesn't have the right to feel upset or disappointed, but in my opinion, "nickel and diming the customer" is optional. Hear me out. You know what you have to pay extra for and there is the choice to pay it ($3.00 for freshly-squeezed orange juice vs. the free juice) and so on. We have cruised many times and in fact, twice have had absolutely no bill at the end of the cruise.

 

OP, having said this, I'm sorry it wasn't all you expected.

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Your only "nickeled and dimed to death if you allow it. Some of the items are old news as far as charges go. The whole post was as you stated for myself, "didn't even register". JMHO.....K.O.:o

[troykahack]

My husband and I were also on this sailing. The only thing I can comment on is the MDR. We did the My Time Dining and therefore were seated at a different table each night. We had some EXCELLENT servers and some really terrible servers. One night in particular we were clearly forgotten about. My husband also chose to do the Chops filet one night as an up charge and it was pretty bland/dry/awful looking. Lesson learned. My biggest gripe about the MDR was their inability to get their act together all week with the reservations line. That was NOT our experience on Oasis. After the 1st or 2nd night, it was smooth sailing (on Oasis; not Harmony).

 

I cannot speak to the other issues you encountered as all my show reservations were fine and I did not even lay eyes on the Windjammer. The only "specialty" dining we did was Sabor (always excellent) and Johnny Rockets due to our schedule. We do not buy into the nickel and dime stuff like the popcorn and although we *usually* do room service, we did not on this cruise.

 

All that being said, I did come off of this cruise as not being as thrilled as we were with Oasis last year, or even on Celebrity Silhouette the year before. The vibe was really bad all week with the crowd on board (our opinion only). The ship is beautiful, however. We did manage to have a nice vacation, though our "wow" factor was diminished.

 

Does anyone feel as I do that many of these issues are because good and experienced crew took off for the Holidays. My experience on Serenade, many of the crew were taking a one to two month contract break. They are under contract and if a crew member manages to negotiate a contract that ends before the holidays and begins in late Jan or early Feb, then that experience will be missing from that ship. We took the Gallery tour on Serenade and the Sous Chef said they were already short 50 cooks and wait staff. With those shortages and many of the experienced crew taking a contract break, I can see how it would be an issue.

Edited January 6, 2017 by troykahack

[Thetrail]

I will be a new RC passenger on Oasis in 3mos. I am very disappointed to read OP's experience, and even more so to see responses that all of it is not only true but also old news. Now I'm really bummed.

Don't put much stock in certain posts. Guessing you will board Oasis and have a wonderful cruise...K.O...:)