Negative Royal Caribbean International Experience: Harmony of the Seas

[ABoatNerd]

Thanks to the OP for their thoughtful analysis of their recent cruise.

 

On this voyage, RCL is to be blamed for an imperfect implementation of Fundamentals. RCL is required to ensure Every ship and Every cruise is rolled out to to appropriate standards - consistency of the business model. As a consumer, I am not interested in excuses from my service provider - like it is christmas and short staffed etc.

 

In the cruise industry there is a growing trend on every line to cheapen the product on a regular basis - creating instability in the product offering. This de-stabilizes repeat customers like the OP and creates dissatisfaction. Read the current thread on the Cunard site - the food on the re-mastered QM2 is considerably less in quantity and quality than before.

 

As a former Celebrity patron from 2001 - we used to be able to count on a consistent and specific Celebrity product on each yearly cruise. Since 2012, the product was cheapened each year, hence Celebrity is now fired.

 

My analysis is this - the cruise lines deliberately are constructing glitz ships (superficial) to distract consumers from the cheapening of the on board experience (substantive).

 

Some consumers are aware of this and providing criticism and making alternative decisions. Some consumers don't mind and continue booking and paying.

 

There is no right or wrong approach.

 

ABoatNerd

[ravenjls]

I leave on the HOTS next saturday. I booked the premium beverage package way back in september.

Since then it has changed to the new deluxe beverage package with an increase in the per day price (i was grandfathered in) and at the time it included starbucks, oj, water etc...and I thought great!!!! Not soon after, they took away the starbucks...then they increased the drink prices and now I find out that my drink of choice a grey goose cosmo may cost me an extra dollar or two every time I order.

I dont mind paying for pop corn, specialty dinner, picture etc....but I do think its wrong to promote an all inclusive deluxe drink package and then make everyone pay extra for non rail alcohol mixed drinks.

[ABoatNerd]

Regarding the last post:

 

Ravenjls - you have a contract with RCL for a specific product offering of beverages.

 

The fact the service provider RCL unilaterally maked changes without the agreement of the customer, You, is not appropriate. Even worse when the value of the change reduces benefits to one party.

 

Truly, why do consumers put up with this nonsense?

 

Before I retired, my marketing department colleagues used to continually laugh at consumers calling them "sheep" and "obedient consumers" to accept and continue purchasing our constantly downgraded product.

 

RCL, like many corporations, is laughing at their customers.

 

ABoatNerd

[jetta8300]

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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Charging for popcorn to me is absolutely unbelievable. Just looks tasteless and greedy. When we sailed on the Allure 4 years ago or so it was definitely included when they were showing movies or other entertainment outdoors. I dont like popcorn and wouldn't eat it anyway but that's a huge turn off they would charge for 5 cent popcorn

Edited January 8, 2017 by jetta8300

[grand isle joe]

Charging for popcorn to me is absolutely unbelievable. Just looks tasteless and greedy. When we sailed on the Allure 4 years ago or so it was definitely included when they were showing movies or other entertainment outdoors. I dont like popcorn and wouldn't eat it anyway but that's a huge turn off they would charge for 5 cent popcorn

 

.....they may charge for popcorn just to "control" it's dispersion.....meaning when something is free it is usually abused and I can't imagine anything worse for the crew than trying to sweep up popcorn all over the ship. The crew has enough to do as it is.

[setsail]

I happen to have a 100 GT Master Offshore License (no longer current). The Bulb on the Bow is used to reduce water friction on the hull and make the ship more efficient. And guess what, you could have asked me and not necessary to ask an officer.

 

What else you get from them?? Do they comp you for your time??

 

 

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I like shortcuts, can you fix a heat pump?

 

 

 

 

It's what goes on inside the bulb that counts;)

[ThirstyCruiser]

.....they may charge for popcorn just to "control" it's dispersion.....meaning when something is free it is usually abused and I can't imagine anything worse for the crew than trying to sweep up popcorn all over the ship. The crew has enough to do as it is.

 

See, the popcorn is free! You just have to pay the $2.50 Service Charge.

:D

[time4u2go]

Charging for popcorn to me is absolutely unbelievable. Just looks tasteless and greedy. When we sailed on the Allure 4 years ago or so it was definitely included when they were showing movies or other entertainment outdoors. I dont like popcorn and wouldn't eat it anyway but that's a huge turn off they would charge for 5 cent popcorn

 

I definitely agree! Popcorn is so cheap, and it would be such a nice gesture if they simply gave out popcorn for such events.

[akcruz]

Charging for popcorn to me is absolutely unbelievable. Just looks tasteless and greedy. When we sailed on the Allure 4 years ago or so it was definitely included when they were showing movies or other entertainment outdoors. I dont like popcorn and wouldn't eat it anyway but that's a huge turn off they would charge for 5 cent popcorn

Are you sure it was free? We sailed on Allure in 2012 and 13 and there was a charge both times. Never bought but saw the charge.

 

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[troykahack]

Are you suggesting you know more than a cruise ship captain?

 

 

Not at all but was current with seamanship appropriate of my license when it was current. The Captain of a large ship has full responsibility for the entire ship, just not navigating the seas.

 

It seems odd to me that cruisers are expecting an invite to a meal with an officer and let it bother them should they not get that invite.

 

 

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Edited January 8, 2017 by troykahack

[forkcreek]

As per RCCL, ALL passengers with at least 350 cruse points and on a sailing of 7 nights or more are offered a meal with an officer.

[troykahack]

As per RCCL, ALL passengers with at least 350 cruse points and on a sailing of 7 nights or more are offered a meal with an officer.

 

 

So if you fail to get the offer and having a meal with a officer, you would let it ruin your cruise?? This is a big perk for you???

 

 

 

 

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[forkcreek]

So if you fail to get the offer and having a meal with a officer, you would let it ruin your cruise?? This is a big perk for you???

 

 

 

 

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All I did was state a fact. Once again when faced with a fact you do not like you offer a snide remark.

[troykahack]

All I did was state a fact. Once again when faced with a fact you do not like you offer a snide remark.

 

 

But you didn't respond to my explanation of a Ship Bulb.

 

Again I ask, with a 1000 nights on Royal, would you find another cruise line should you not be offered a meal with an officer??

 

You cruise to have a meal with an officer??

 

 

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Edited January 8, 2017 by troykahack

[forkcreek]

But you didn't respond to my explanation of a Ship Bulb.

 

Again I ask, with a 1000 nights on Royal, would you find another cruise line should you not be offered a meal with an officer??

 

You cruise to have a meal with an officer??

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I give up. I simply stated a fact. Your ignorance misinterpreted it to conclude something I really do not consider important. If you really feel a need to be insulting, please find another poster.

[peacefrogdog]

I definitely agree! Popcorn is so cheap, and it would be such a nice gesture if they simply gave out popcorn for such events.

 

While nice, would end up meaning people would take popcorn without necessarily wanting it. Imagine what would get spilled onto the Aquatheatre seating area and boardwalk. With staffing seemingly already lower than before, then we'd all complain about how the Boardwalk or Theatre had so much popcorn on the ground.

 

Can live without popcorn. Happy to have the free hotdog or sausage just down the way.

[jetta8300]

While nice, would end up meaning people would take popcorn without necessarily wanting it. Imagine what would get spilled onto the Aquatheatre seating area and boardwalk. With staffing seemingly already lower than before, then we'd all complain about how the Boardwalk or Theatre had so much popcorn on the ground.

 

Can live without popcorn. Happy to have the free hotdog or sausage just down the way.

 

I disagree. You could make the same arguement for anything that's given out for "free". They still have a buffet. People take what they dont necessarially need there. And trust me if they were worried about people taking more than they need, they would rather people be stuffing their mouth with "free" popcorn that costs them 1 penny per serving than eating "free" anything at the buffet that costs them more money than popcorn. Its a desperate attempt at nickle and diming.

Edited January 8, 2017 by jetta8300

[jetta8300]

.....they may charge for popcorn just to "control" it's dispersion.....meaning when something is free it is usually abused and I can't imagine anything worse for the crew than trying to sweep up popcorn all over the ship. The crew has enough to do as it is.

 

Carnival always has popcorn for "free" on their movie nights under the stars (dive-in movies i think they all them). They give it out along with blankets and cookies. I have never seen an excess of popcorn to sweep up or an extreme mess. Again I dont like popcorn but to me it just stinks of greed. And they should want people filling up on cheap popcorn rather than overeating at the buffet.

Edited January 8, 2017 by jetta8300

[time4u2go]

While nice, would end up meaning people would take popcorn without necessarily wanting it. Imagine what would get spilled onto the Aquatheatre seating area and boardwalk. With staffing seemingly already lower than before, then we'd all complain about how the Boardwalk or Theatre had so much popcorn on the ground.

 

Can live without popcorn. Happy to have the free hotdog or sausage just down the way.

 

Doesn't the same thing happen with buffet food? Soft serve frozen yogurt? Samples along the promenade? All other "free" (included) food? Don't they get spilled sometimes?

 

And specifically with your example, wouldn't that free hotdog or sausage cause the same potential problem (spillage)?

Edited January 8, 2017 by time4u2go

[Ashland]

On my one and only PCL cruise I noticed free popcorn...this wasn't enough to make me want to sail PCL again over RCI ;)

[grand isle joe]

...........one reason they did away with trays in the buffet lines as well as went to smaller plates was to control the "excess" amounts of "free" food people took and did not consume....oink oink.....

[dcgrumpy]

I disagree. You could make the same arguement for anything that's given out for "free". They still have a buffet. People take what they dont necessarially need there. And trust me if they were worried about people taking more than they need, they would rather people be stuffing their mouth with "free" popcorn that costs them 1 penny per serving than eating "free" anything at the buffet that costs them more money than popcorn. Its a desperate attempt at nickle and diming.

 

Carnival always has popcorn for "free" on their movie nights under the stars (dive-in movies i think they all them). They give it out along with blankets and cookies. I have never seen an excess of popcorn to sweep up or an extreme mess. Again I dont like popcorn but to me it just stinks of greed. And they should want people filling up on cheap popcorn rather than overeating at the buffet.

Doesn't the same thing happen with buffet food? Soft serve frozen yogurt? Samples along the promenade? All other "free" (included) food? Don't they get spilled sometimes?

 

And specifically with your example, wouldn't that free hotdog or sausage cause the same potential problem (spillage)?

 

 

 

 

I was going to say the same thing.

Edited January 8, 2017 by dcgrumpy

[Goodtime Cruizin]

When you buy space on a floating city of 5000+, you're going to part of & hear a tremendous amount of different takes on what a cruise line should and should not do. Why? Because most of us all believe that our money & opinion is important! The bigger the ship, the bigger the amount of opinions.

 

And let's face it folks, nothing is ever like it used to be. OK, maybe paper clips. One can live in today's world and dream about yesteryear if you want, but I always look forward to change and I'm pleasantly satisfied when it's all for the better.

 

Now if they can just get a better supplier for that damn toliet valve.

[troykahack]

When you buy space on a floating city of 5000+, you're going to part of & hear a tremendous amount of different takes on what a cruise line should and should not do. Why? Because most of us all believe that our money & opinion is important! The bigger the ship, the bigger the amount of opinions.

 

 

 

And let's face it folks, nothing is ever like it used to be. OK, maybe paper clips. One can live in today's world and dream about yesteryear if you want, but I always look forward to change and I'm pleasantly satisfied when it's all for the better.

 

 

 

Now if they can just get a better supplier for that damn toliet valve.

 

 

Even paper clips are not what they used to be.

 

 

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[Clarea]

So if you fail to get the offer and having a meal with a officer, you would let it ruin your cruise?? This is a big perk for you???

Absolutely, it would ruin my cruise. I'd be writing letters to Richard Fain, Michael Bayley, and Adam Goldstein.