Time to find a new cruise line? 'professionalism'???

[jtintex]

Given the understanding most of us have, that stops at Labadee are a ways off, I think it's a very valid point that they should not be selling excursions on the cruise planner. While they may want to keep it listed because they haven't scheduled another port to move to, it is not good business to have people paying for an excursion you know they aren't going to use. And when those that have paid for the excursion find out and have to cancel it could take weeks to get a refund. 

[ymsc]

Why is everyone blaming the IT department?  IT should just be running the backend systems, not sending out communications.  I really doubt the IT department is also making updates to ports of call.

 

You really should be blaming the communications department or a customer relation group.  As for ports of call still showing, that is the responsibility of the group that handles ports of calls, not the IT department.  

[Merion_Mom]

10 hours ago, EugeneOregonDad said:

Time to find a new cruise line? RCCL has been extremely unprofessional regarding port cancellations. They haven't been going to Haiti for weeks, yet as of this afternoon, I can still reserve cabanas and jetskis. *****????

 

Actually, they haven't been going to Haiti for "years".  March 2020.

[xxHadleyxx]

40 minutes ago, Jkaczanowski said:

Royal IT is a joke. I somehow get my in-laws’ royal up emails.  Understandable on their first cruise as I paid for it and I assume the travel agent somehow used my email for both rooms.  But how the heck do I get it when it’s their third cruise (a casino cruise) and I’m not even booked on the ship?  And, yes, FIL has his own app and email account.

We sailed with a friend on a couple of cruises...once he roomed with our oldest child ...this way 8 or so years ago.  Ever since, no matter what we all try, all of his cruise info for anything he does (mostly without us ) gest sent to me.  Drives me batty.  Probably breaking some sort of EU data protection law too.....them sending ME his vacation information, etc.  I just forward it on and roll my eyes at RCI IT at this point.

[neverbeenhere]

So, you're saying you didn't get one of the cabanas?

 

RELAX, kick back and get your vaccine then book with Celebrity.

[crewsweeper]

From what I've read on these boards, just about every large cruise lines has "professionalism" issues in one form or another.  All in each person's expectations for what special treatment they want out of a cruise.  

[cruise1957]

So here is another take, what if everything changed next week, and sailings to Haiti resumed, price of the cabana doubled, would you be complaining about the price increase or happy that you had booked it early and got a great deal. No one has a crystal ball, and as we all know the world can and does change without warning.

[HicksRA]

Such drama over minutia.  Everyone knows they’re not going to Labadee. So just know you’re not going there and move on. 

[Tree_skier]

At Wendy's yesterday they gave me regular fries  instead of the far superior baconator fries that I ordered  and of course I didn't discover this until I had driven the 15 minutes home. How hard can it be to put bacon and cheese on fries.  This is a massive corporation with unlimited resources to get my order right yet they consistently fall short.

 

The week before, they gave me a vanilla frosty instead of the chocolate I ordered. Does anyone even order Vanilla!!  WT@#$%$%

 

GOODBYE WENDY'S

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

At Wendy's yesterday they gave me regular fries  instead of the far superior baconator fries that I ordered  and of course I didn't discover this until I had driven the 15 minutes home. How hard can it be to put bacon and cheese on fries.  This is a massive corporation with unlimited resources to get my order right yet they consistently fall short.

 

The week before, they gave me a vanilla frosty instead of the chocolate I ordered. Does anyone even order Vanilla!!  WT@#$%$%

 

GOODBYE WENDY'S

Order probably filled by a 16yo who was texting a friend while bagging your food.

[jtintex]

2 hours ago, HicksRA said:

Such drama over minutia.  Everyone knows they’re not going to Labadee. So just know you’re not going there and move on. 

No, everyone doesn't know. There are many people that don't participate in social media or keep track of what's going on in Haiti. They see the cruise itinerary says they are stopping there and they see excursions for sale on the cruise planner so they pay for them. It's a very simplistic view to assume "everyone" knows. 

[Crapster]

3 hours ago, ymsc said:

Why is everyone blaming the IT department?  IT should just be running the backend systems, not sending out communications.  I really doubt the IT department is also making updates to ports of call.

 

You really should be blaming the communications department or a customer relation group.  As for ports of call still showing, that is the responsibility of the group that handles ports of calls, not the IT department.  

 

IT department is in charge of database, programming, User Interfaces, and automaton. There is so much opportunity to improve the user experience with a bit more IT budget and talent. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

At Wendy's yesterday they gave me regular fries  instead of the far superior baconator fries that I ordered  and of course I didn't discover this until I had driven the 15 minutes home.

ours has become so bad lately, that we HAVE to check the food before we leave the drive-thru window.

They weren't great before the pandemic error-wise, but we ate inside all the time, so it was no big deal to get up 3 times to get the errors corrected. 

[OACAggie]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Order probably filled by a 16yo who was texting a friend while bagging your food.

And that 16yo was probably the supervisor as well.

[livingonthebeach]

5 hours ago, birdylady said:

I have to admit, if I had dealt with Royal IT before our first cruise, we probably would never set foot on one of their ships. Thankfully that wasn't the case. BUT I will say, Royal IT is horrid.  That's why I was SO surprised that not only did I get a text about our cancellation, but both hubby and I got emails from Royal. WOW!   This amazed me as we NEVER get communications from them on any changes.  As a matter of fact, on more than one occasion, my FCC was written and sent to my father!  I am an adult, never sailed while living with them OR under my maiden name. And, last time I checked, Dad is a he and I'm a she.  Hmmmm.  Great job Royal IT.

 

So, ultimately, when dealing with Royal IT, I just assume the worst and occasionally am pleasantly surprised.

Erika

 

There's also the instance where someone changed their name from their maiden to their married name and was accidentally linked to another person's account who was a Diamond member (this person was Gold.)  She came on this board bragging about it and said she's not going to contact RCI to let them know.  For those of us that have truly earned the status it is quite irksome when someone gets away with this.  Just another example of an egregious IT mistake. 

[Oceansaway17]

my complaint is the folks answering phones who are working from home.

I had an agent whose neighbor had a loud rooster crowing.   And or kids running around.

I also wish they would train the agents to have better talking skills and to not be so robatic.

 

I get tired of apologizes every 30 seconds or the words "um, just a minute" or the words "I understand".

I wish they could converse better and not be so stiff and formal.

Then again, the screens and systems they use cause issues too which does go back to IT dept.

Celebrity is no better.   

Ya want to know which line is good for IT, NCL and Disney.   They are good IMHO.

[xxHadleyxx]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Order probably filled by a 16yo who was texting a friend while bagging your food.

or an exhausted single parent working two jobs and up with a craying baby in between

[S.A.M.J.R.]

To answer the question in the title, and those complaining about other companies, if you don't like how a company does business, whether it's the cost, customer notification, end product, etc, don't do business with that company.  

 

The joys of living in a free market. 

[deliver42]

I think it's time for you the OP to try something else if he thinks the grass is greener there.

[pcur]

17 hours ago, EugeneOregonDad said:

Time to find a new cruise line? RCCL has been extremely unprofessional regarding port cancellations. They haven't been going to Haiti for weeks, yet as of this afternoon, I can still reserve cabanas and jetskis. *****????

Whatever cruise line you choose, enjoy!  I mean that sincerely:  keep in mind what 2020 was like, and now you can CRUISE!!!!

[3eaglesfam]

I have a symphony sailing booked on 3/5.  It still lists Labadee and PR as the first 2 ports.  When I question either my TA or Royal about it I am told no decision has been made about Labadee yet. And yes the cruise planner shows Excursions on Labadee available.  in fact all the cabanas no matter where on the island are sold out.  

[MrMarc]

6 hours ago, cruise1957 said:

So here is another take, what if everything changed next week, and sailings to Haiti resumed, price of the cabana doubled, would you be complaining about the price increase or happy that you had booked it early and got a great deal. No one has a crystal ball, and as we all know the world can and does change without warning.

Actually, I had not thought of that.  And that would actually a reason not to change it rather than an excuse.  My first thought is they were happy about getting your money to hold, But, this makes more sense.  And the same would be true about the others except where they are not changing the itinerary on the sales side or not removing excursions to canceled ports.  But at that point, I believe it could be blamed on their IT department and lack of internal communication.  And if you have been on these boards at all, you know that sadly, this is normal for RCCL. 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

To answer the question in the title, and those complaining about other companies, if you don't like how a company does business, whether it's the cost, customer notification, end product, etc, don't do business with that company.  

 

The joys of living in a free market. 

Sometimes the end product makes it worth dealing with corporate aggravation. That doesn't mean that one cannot voice their frustrations.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

28 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Sometimes the end product makes it worth dealing with corporate aggravation. That doesn't mean that one cannot voice their frustrations.

Granted.  But the 1st line of the OP... "Time to find a new cruiseline"?  Everyone has their own line in the sand.  What bothers me may not bother you and vice versa.  

[ymsc]

20 hours ago, Crapster said:

 

IT department is in charge of database, programming, User Interfaces, and automaton. There is so much opportunity to improve the user experience with a bit more IT budget and talent. 

You are correct, but what everyone is blaming on IT isn't an IT issue.  If someone enters data wrong or links an account to the wrong person, that isn't an IT issue, that is a data entry issue.

 

With everything that is connected so much more and more rely on IT and you are correct that most companies don't want to spend money as it as it is not seen as generating revenue.  I work in IT managing back end systems, but I never see the data or have control over the data that other people are entering or providing.  

 

Processes and workflows can and need to be improved, but it isn't an IT problem, but an RCI problem.