We will always be loyal to royal, but what is happening????

[JAR]

We're almost D+ and are also very disappointed with Royal. It is obvious that they are changing their target market.Many other very frequent cruisers shared the same opinion. The Diamond lounge was almost like a lamenting area.

We were on AoS a few weeks ago & had a truly disappointing cruise experience. The food was simply terrible & of the quality of a "HomeTown Buffet ". We felt forced to go to a specialty restaurant every evening. The staff was working very hard but could not keep up with a very crowded ship. After speaking with many crew members it appears that Royal's changes are unpleasant for both guests & crew.

I also had a massage & while basking in the afterglow relaxation was forced to endure a high pressure sales pitch. We returned from a competitor's cruise this morning & are happy to say that some cruise lines are maintaining their high standards. Our 2 upcoming booked Royal cruises will be changed to a different cruise line even though I am disappointed to give up the perks I waited so long to earn. Vacation time is too precious to be taken for granted by a cruise line,

[FloridaPalms]

It wouldn't change the cost of your cruise if they brought back horse racing...I just don't think it is in the repertoire of todays younger cruise directors who have never experienced or heard of it.

 

I don't care about horse racing one way or the other, but..........

 

Cruise Directors learn what they are taught. If RC wanted to train the activities staff to conduct horse races, they would.

 

While I only brought up the horse races as an example of how much the activities and entertainment have expanded and, IMHO, improved since when I first cruised, I don't think it would hold much appeal nowadays, particularly with younger cruisers. But Mom, you're right.

 

~ Judy

[TOM CRUIZES]

My personal feeling is that if you want things to feel more like "the good ol days" service, food quality, space ratio's wise, you need to up your game going on Azamara, Oceania, Seabourne, Silverseas, Crystal or Regent.

 

Keeping in mind that these upgraded experiences will also be reflected in much higher per passenger prices that surprise surprise, are similar (after accounting for inflation) to what folks were paying 25 years ago on Royal Caribbean.

 

It's just the reality of the world, you get what you pay for. Mainstream/Contemporary/Premium Cruise lines are dirt cheap nowadays and still offer great value for the money. The cruises in these segments include:

 

RCCL, Carnival, Norwegian, MSC, Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, P&O and Costa -- Princess, Celebrity and HAL are the slightly upgraded experiences being adult oriented ships in the premium segment.

 

OP, if I might suggest, an alternate solution would be to try MSC's Yacht Club or Norwegian's Haven. They both offer a "luxury ship within a ship" product that might appeal to you while still allowing for that big mainstream ship experience. MSC's Yacht Club in particular I've heard nothing but amazing things.

 

Alternately it may be time for you to upgrade to Oceania or Azamara (Deluxe cruise category) to get that upgraded experience you are looking for.

 

 

Its not always true that the 6*? lines are that much Better, we sailed with Oceania last Year and we had similar problems, yes the Rooms were Better with Finer Linens etc, however the Staff were not very Communicative, the Food was Sometimes Just Warm, one of our Party had a Steak in the Grill Speciality and it was way under cooked when he tried it, it was taken away to be Changed and the SAME ONE came back Re-heated, Entertainment was Poor, so it depends what you are looking for, someone who does everything reasonably well or High Quality Cuisine and Service(sometimes).

[mugtech]

I don't get the loyalty thing with Royal either. Their loyalty program isn't even good and especially not good enough to justify being loyal to a single line. You don't get hardly anything with it of real value. A robe, lapel pin, and access to a lounge that everyone complains about anyways? :D

It is the "my country right or wrong" thinking from Vietnam War days filtered down to cruising. How could anyone be so blind to proclaim that they will be loyal to Royal no matter what? Afraid to try something new?

[Tapi]

Yeah, it’s a possibility I totally forgot to mention it but they run under Carnival’s umbrella [emoji53]

 

 

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mcatmat, what’s the importance of that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

I don't care about horse racing one way or the other, but..........

 

Cruise Directors learn what they are taught. If RC wanted to train the activities staff to conduct horse races, they would.

 

Newer, younger CD's have less to draw on from the past. I don't know how much freedom they are allowed in coming up with their own things.

[DirtyDawg]

And don't forget the "horse races" around THE pool

 

I had to Google that one. Sounds.......um...... interesting.

(I was going to use another word that starts with 'i' but I'm trying to be good.... Santa's coming in a few days. :) )

 

Cruise lines should bring back a lot of things from the past but they can leave that one in the past.

[nhraformula00]

We usually cruise 2 times a year. Last year I noticed on both Carnival and Royal that the beds have become rock hard. Seems to be the trend, and from what I have read lately no more foam toppers. Well we have no cruises booked mainly because of this on my part. Allure last fall was the worst. Woke up from back pain every morning.

[island lady]

Have cruised on many different lines, found our first Royal cruise on Mariner and were quite impressed. Still went back again to another line..and decided that Royal still had the most for what we want..and the best loyalty program when we compared all the other lines we had been on.

 

Try other lines again later...maybe/probably..but for now we still enjoy the program with RCI.

 

We also were on Brilliance last week...my observations:

 

Robes? We are D+ and had robes already waiting for us in our JS...plus cabin attendant had already placed new ones in the closet for next guests on last night.

 

DL? A total joke. Sign on keyed door to DL directed guests to the VCL entrance with "guard dog" at entrance. Tried three times to go in there, found seats, but waited and waited with no server coming by. On the last try, DH waited 15 minutes at the line at the circle bar...I finally waved him off and headed to the CL, which by then had cleared out for first seating. Good service in there after 6 pm.

 

Dress code...children in lounges and casino? I am guessing the crew scared to enforce stated rules or suggestions for fear of write up or bad review. Shame...but that is happening everywhere now and most likely not exclusive to RCI.

 

The absolute worst thing on this cruise IMHO? The horrible "new" terminal six in Tampa. Way...way too small for this ship of pax. Total nightmare for both embarkation and even much worse for disembarkation. RCI got cheap here with this tiny terminal. They cannot handle the capacity of crowds in this one. Shame on RCI for this cheap set up. :mad:

 

Otherwise we had a good cruise...even with breaking my foot on the very first night of the cruise. :o:( Now THAT is not the way you want to start a cruise. :loudcry:

[Parrothead234]

Did HAL earlier this year - absolutely loved it. I'm set for Oasis in 2018, but am already frustrated. They won't give me shareholder OBC because the cruise was on "sale." The cruises are ALWAYS on sale so shareholder benefits mean nothing to RCL. HAL had no problem giving me my shareholder OBC. I want to try the mega ship experience, but I have a feeling I'm going back to HAL. Yes, it is a more mature crowd. My son, 24 years old, also loved HAL.

[kathy49]

Exactly! Blind loyalty encourages more cutbacks. As long as the ships are full, the cruise lines will continue the cutbacks.

 

 

It sounds like you are longing for the "good old days" but have not caught on that RCL is a mass market cruise line and catering to thousands of people on one ship...simply put...not going to be the same as years ago. The blind loyalty statement is just plain silly....part of the problem is that this complainer has been doing the same thing for way too many years....I recommend changing it up and maybe opting for a more deluxe cruise that might meet your needs....but my guess is you would rather continue this "loyalty" and probably have more RCL trips planned as being of a certain status is more important than trying something new.

[kathy49]

I don't get the loyalty thing with Royal either. Their loyalty program isn't even good and especially not good enough to justify being loyal to a single line. You don't get hardly anything with it of real value. A robe, lapel pin, and access to a lounge that everyone complains about anyways? :D

 

 

Did read that correctly "a lapel pin"....????

[Clarea]

Did read that correctly "a lapel pin"....????

Yes, if you are very lucky, RC will issue you a lapel pin.:)

[mcatmcat]

mcatmat, what’s the importance of that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I don’t like carnivals’s business strategies at all, but I have to admit Princes cruise line might be a step up from Carnival.

 

 

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[George C]

Did HAL earlier this year - absolutely loved it. I'm set for Oasis in 2018, but am already frustrated. They won't give me shareholder OBC because the cruise was on "sale." The cruises are ALWAYS on sale so shareholder benefits mean nothing to RCL. HAL had no problem giving me my shareholder OBC. I want to try the mega ship experience, but I have a feeling I'm going back to HAL. Yes, it is a more mature crowd. My son, 24 years old, also loved HAL.

 

We like Hal but it’s far from perfect, if you like smaller ships it is good, but entertainment really is not that good and no live music past 11 or maybe midnight, also buffet is about as bad as rccl, remember seeing them having a dish with “itilian sausage” turns out they used hot dogs rather than sausage. After a few cruises with them we went back to rccl

[mek]

I

I do agree that the spa experienced is tainted with the hard sell. It is a problem on other cruise lines as well but luckily, going to the spa is not a big deal for me. If I do decide to go for a treatment then I am prepared for the sales pitch and know how to shut it down politely.

 

Very easy to shut down the hard sell - tell them upfront "I'm not interested in buying any products, so please don't try to sell anything to me."

[spunks]

It is true that Pincess is under the Carnival umbrella, but they are night and day different.The Princess top level is Elite which is attained by either completing 150 days or 15 cruises( no bonus for suites) With that you get unlimited free laundry. You also get virtually unlimited free internet. Princess ships all have laundrymats for those without that perk. No equivalent for the DL however. On the other hand you ALWAYS get the Shareholders OBC as well as OBC for being a vet. You are allowed to "stack" all OBC .The stateroom TV on Princess is way,way better than on RCCL. The outdoor movies are much higher quality than RCCL and at night they put foam cushions on all the lounge chairs, give you blankets while they deliver cookies and popcorn free.

 

Princess has a BOGO happy hour, but they frankly have no answer for the DL on RCCL We also prefer the Casinos on RCCL as they hand deal the table games.

 

We have over 400 days on Princess, but have tended to sail RCCL more the last few years and are D+We prefer TA sailings on RCCL because they still have a Bridge Director for duplicate games.

 

One thing to note is that when Princess has a sale, it is an actual sale. We find no noticeable difference in the food on either. My advice....if you are young and active go RCCL as they have rock climbing and flow riders.

 

Doug

[sparks1093]

Forget "loyal to Royal". Their loyalty is to attract new cruisers who typically spend more on board, not to those who regularly choose them. Also, you are limiting your self to just a small number of the amazing ships out there, to itineraries only Royal offers, and to one type of cruising experience. Best decision we ever made was top pledge loyalty to no line.

 

We like Royal a lot and will continue to look at them as an option, but they are hardly the only one.

 

I am contemplating trying Royal in 2019 and posts such as this give me pause, so if they are trying to attract new customers they should keep in mind how much of a role their old customers play in that scenario.

[sparks1093]

Very easy to shut down the hard sell - tell them upfront "I'm not interested in buying any products, so please don't try to sell anything to me."

 

Yes, it's easy to say no, but the customer shouldn't have to.

[mek]

Yes, it's easy to say no, but the customer shouldn't have to.

 

I disagree - part of their job is to try to sell products and some people like to buy them - including me. I've been in the cosmetic and beauty care industry for 40+ years, so I understand how it works - especially for people on commission. I don't see why saying "no" is a big deal and if you don't want the "hard" sell then just tell them at the beginning of the service that you're not interested in buying anything. I you don't want to verbally tell them "no", then write it on the survey sheet. Not a big deal IMO.

[mek]

For the life of me I don't understand why people continue to cruise on lines where they are unhappy with the current product.

 

I've cruised on all lines, including Carnival, which I was quite happy with until about 4 - 5 years ago when they rolled out Playlist Productions and Hasbro games replaced evening entertainment. I stopped sailing on Carnival and won't go back unless something changes in the entertainment department.

 

Why do those of you unhappy with RCI continue to do so?

[Kaibocan]

I am not loyal to royal, agree with some of the items, have never liked WJ on any ship on any decade. Also casino smoking can be bad , Celebrity is the line for you no smoking at all there and 99 percent of the ship. We did Brilliance last year in Europe concierge and staff were by far the best I have ever seen on any ship. Next cruise for us is a charter on Celebrity which is adults only with lots of music from 70's stars like Michael MacDonald and America

 

 

 

Hey when is that 70’s Cruise? I think I’d like that!![emoji7]

 

 

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[Tapi]

Why do those of you unhappy with RCI continue to do so?

 

 

Because of:

 

- Familiarity.

 

- Fear of the unknown.

 

- Not really that unhappy, just like to complain.

 

- The belief that all other cruise lines suck worse, even when things at Royal are going downhill.

 

- An irrational hope that lost perks will be restored and things will actually improve on the next cruise.

 

- The free lapel pin. [emoji6]

 

Seriously, it’s hard to break away from a cruise line after having sailed exclusively on them for years. I know because I experienced it. And it’s not a phenomenon exclusive to Royal. I’ve seen it on every cruise line I’ve sailed on.

 

Want to see rabidly fanatic cruisers who would rather die than to try something else? Try Disney. Great cruise, but my goodness, just mentioning another cruise line to fellow cruisers would send some of them into convulsions.

 

 

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Edited December 21, 2017 by Tapi

[Tapi]

 

 

 

I've cruised on all lines, including Carnival, which I was quite happy with until about 4 - 5 years ago when they rolled out Playlist Productions and Hasbro games replaced evening entertainment. I stopped sailing on Carnival and won't go back unless something changes in the entertainment department.

 

 

 

I haven’t sailed on Carnival since 2011, before the playlist productions and hasbro games were introduced. At the time, I just wanted something new but I was never truly unhappy with what they offered, and any shortcomings that they had were offset by the usually bargain prices.

 

With that said, it’s been hard to go back to Carnival, simply because I haven’t found an itinerary/ship at a price that is attractive enough. Interestingly, I’ve been sailing on other cruise lines for basically the same, if not less, than for similar Carnival sailings.

 

 

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[George C]

Hey when is that 70’s Cruise? I think I’d like that!![emoji7]

 

 

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March but it’s sold out