It wasn't Good. My AOS Review on the July 7th Cruise from Cape Liberty

[BND]

37 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

 

I’m guessing because there are still some old wings at our hospitals. I believe I recall staff being able to open windows during the daily police/fire hospital drive by’s during the height of Covid.

Our local hospital rooms, where my IL's spent several visits/stays has a large fixed window with a side narrow one that opens outward about 8-10 inches but no way anyone could get through it.  I'm sure it's the older sections because more than likely code for new hospitals don't allow for fully opening windows.    

[FamilyCruiserUK]

On 7/17/2022 at 9:49 PM, johnjen said:

I will wait for the response from RCL's top three where I have written a letter to them about this cruise. I'm NOT seeking compensation; I only want them to realize that booking up customers to max capacity isn't doing the customer (or mainly, the staff) any justice. Hoping that things improve by next year. If not, we will cruise with Virgin instead of RCL for next year.

Always rubbish when you dont really enjoy your hard earned holiday. Btw have you seen the virgin programme thats been on britich tv, channel 5 for the last few weeks. I would seriously watch it just to have an idea of virgin cruises. 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

But how much do you think a year sitting idle and burning cash set them back on that estimated pay back period?

There was very little cash burning on the island itself- like the ships, they but the staff to bare minimum and probably only spent a small amount to reopen. Given the current pricing for the upcharge items, they are probably ahead of their target pay back period (with an 18 month pause factored in). 

[topnole]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

There was very little cash burning on the island itself- like the ships, they but the staff to bare minimum and probably only spent a small amount to reopen. Given the current pricing for the upcharge items, they are probably ahead of their target pay back period (with an 18 month pause factored in). 

Little to no upkeep on a water park?  I can’t imagine how that works.  You can’t just let a water park go for 18 months without constant maintenance.   Plus the pools, not to mention everything else.  
 

They also didn’t know how long it was going to take, so I assume they didn’t just ramp down immediately as they didn’t know when they might be able to start back up.  And obviously they couldn’t just ramp back up immediately so they had to leave some capabilities on the island the whole time in preparation for the undetermined restart date.  

 

Lastly, and this is a big one, given Royals balance back then and even more so now, (assuming funds are fungible), they had a significant cost of capital on their coco cay investment that they faced during those 18 months.  So even assuming 30-40 % of that 250M was financed via debt, you are talking about a lot of cost with no revenue and thus negative cash flow.  This is true regardless of how little or small the staff was that remained.  
 

Now maybe with the jacked up prices they are making up for the lost time, but I doubt these prices on things like cabanas will remain.  Once we fall into recession and we clear the pent up demand, I suspect  things will normalize a bit and the prices will drop some on your hinge like cabanas.  Of course no one can be certain of the future so who knows.  But one thing that is certain, coco cay is not a cash cow.  Maybe in the future.  But certainly not now.  

[Biker19]

10 minutes ago, topnole said:

Little to no upkeep on a water park?  I can’t imagine how that works.  You can’t just let a water park go for 18 months without constant maintenance.

The same way an O class ship, which normally had 2000 crew on board, made do with about 100 during the shutdown.

[ramja96]

On 7/17/2022 at 2:33 PM, johnjen said:

*Scallops served in an escargot dish - greasy, TINY....I think they were chunks of a single scallop floating in butter and garlic. Not good at all.

Oh ... no! No, no, no. This is disappointing to read. I've always loved RC's scallops. 😟

 

On 7/17/2022 at 2:33 PM, johnjen said:

Windjammer - we literally ate there 2 times for breakfast, I can't say much, except it's a place loaded with very hangry people wanting to cut in line or literally bump into me while trying to find a seat with a bowl of cheerios and milk. The service staff (given the situation) were doing their absolute BEST in trying to serve drinks or wipe off the tables. There were far too many people in it.
 

We were on Anthem in 2019 out of Cape Liberty and found this behavior throughout the entire ship. I know every ship has it's share of rude, clueless passengers, but it seemed to us that the passengers sailing out of NJ were on a whole other level!  Enough to make us doubt we'll ever sail out of there again.

[Another_Critic]

5 minutes ago, ramja96 said:

We were on Anthem in 2019 out of Cape Liberty and found this behavior throughout the entire ship. I know every ship has it's share of rude, clueless passengers, but it seemed to us that the passengers sailing out of NJ were on a whole other level!  Enough to make us doubt we'll ever sail out of there again.

I've noticed a difference sailing from Baltimore vs. Cape Liberty.

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Another_Critic

[ramja96]

1 minute ago, Another_Critic said:

I've noticed a different sailing from Baltimore vs. Cape Liberty.

 

Baltimore would be much more convenient for me as an alternative to the Florida ports.  But I'm not a huge fan of Enchantment or Vision.

[Another_Critic]

2 minutes ago, ramja96 said:

 

Baltimore would be much more convenient for me as an alternative to the Florida ports.  But I'm not a huge fan of Enchantment or Vision.

I like Vision class for a nice relaxing cruise.

 

I sailed on Grandeur (7x), Vision (1x - 16 nt Arctic Crossing TA), Enchantment (1x)

[cruizinmimi]

On 7/17/2022 at 2:35 PM, johnjen said:

THE WINDOWS WERE FILTHIER THAN EVER BEFORE.
3 concierges due to staffing changes. They were all nice though.

I've got a question about the bands....did you not enjoy the band that played in the lounge..."The Cool Band"?   They play alot of rock n roll songs.

[topnole]

9 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The same way an O class ship, which normally had 2000 crew on board, made do with about 100 during the shutdown.

Wow.  They went down to 100 skeleton crew.  Didn’t really know the exact numbers on that.  
 

For now I’d view coca cay like a new ship.  Heavy investment with lots of cool new innovations/features.  I read lots of coco cay reviews where folks state they spent no extra money.  The drink package and Diamond benefits make that pretty easy.   I think this is very common.  Of course some will spend lots on all the extras on the island and Royal makes their money on them and then only.  
 

Same with the new ships.  Many get regular cabins and enjoy everything included without spending extra.  Royal makes no money on them and in fact probably loses a lot if they don’t spend extra.  But some will spend plenty extra and others will spend huge money on the suites (ex. Wonder suites are extremely expensive right now).  Like coco cay, the newer ships have all been designed to include more extra cost features.   

[c-leg5]

26 minutes ago, topnole said:

Wow.  They went down to 100 skeleton crew.  Didn’t really know the exact numbers on that.  
 

For now I’d view coca cay like a new ship.  Heavy investment with lots of cool new innovations/features.  I read lots of coco cay reviews where folks state they spent no extra money.  The drink package and Diamond benefits make that pretty easy.   I think this is very common.  Of course some will spend lots on all the extras on the island and Royal makes their money on them and then only.  
 

Same with the new ships.  Many get regular cabins and enjoy everything included without spending extra.  Royal makes no money on them and in fact probably loses a lot if they don’t spend extra.  But some will spend plenty extra and others will spend huge money on the suites (ex. Wonder suites are extremely expensive right now).  Like coco cay, the newer ships have all been designed to include more extra cost features.   

I think you are underestimating the number of people that book to go on the ship, just to go to Coco Cay. You cannot consider Coco Cay in isolation. 
 

In business models and terminology sometimes the basics are overlooked.

[topnole]

1 hour ago, c-leg5 said:

I think you are underestimating the number of people that book to go on the ship, just to go to Coco Cay. You cannot consider Coco Cay in isolation. 
 

In business models and terminology sometimes the basics are overlooked.

I’m not considering anything in isolation. Hence my point about how many drinks on the island provide them zero marginal revenue because of drink packages and Diamond benefits.  
 

Also, not exactly sure what you mean by considering it in isolation, but business models have nothing to do with synergy.  A business model is different than a strategy and the concept of synergy is relevant to corporate strategy, not competitive strategy or lower levels of strategy (let alone the business model).  
 

If you mean what I think you mean, then you are saying you can’t separate the cruise business from island business.  I agree with that, but that also further illustrates the that cash cow analogy makes zero sense.   

[PhillyFan33579]

On 7/17/2022 at 4:49 PM, johnjen said:

I will wait for the response from RCL's top three where I have written a letter to them about this cruise. I'm NOT seeking compensation; I only want them to realize that booking up customers to max capacity isn't doing the customer (or mainly, the staff) any justice. Hoping that things improve by next year. If not, we will cruise with Virgin instead of RCL for next year.

After reading all your posts up to this point, I don’t understand why you would consider cruising on RCI again. My experiences have been nothing like what you experienced on the 13 cruises I have been on since last August. But if I felt the way you did, I would cruise on another cruise line. 

[Casino Comp Chick]

On 7/17/2022 at 2:33 PM, johnjen said:

Overall, a questionable itinerary (Bermuda, St. Maarten, San Juan, Labadee). Questionable due to extremely shortened times in port. The cruise line is trying to save money at the cost of customers.

Night before hotel - This isn't RCL's problem, it was mine. Avoid "Springhill Suites by Marriott" at Newark/Elizabeth. Terrible routing. Massive pot holes. No shuttle service to the port. We paid $65 on a car service there, and $18 back on an Uber. I'm miffed at myself over the poor planning on that leg of the trip. Avoid Newark. On our way out, we thought we wandered onto a zombie scene (need I say more).

Check-in - GREAT!! We were onboard by 1015am. Suite wasn't ready until 1pm but we snuck through 15 mins early. It was ready and our cabin attendant was a great guy who really took care of us. Always ice in the bucket. Always a clean stateroom. I felt bad for him having to take care of cluttered rooms. We never leave ANYTHING out. This helps the attendants get their work done and ours did everything right. Well deserving of a couple of extra $20's on top of our pre-paid gratuities.

Concierge - We had three. The first one was only via email contact. The next two were outstanding. Very good with communication and any needs were met promptly.

Suite lounge service - Outstanding. Sofyan. We will miss you greatly. Such a good man and dedicated to the service. He headed back home to Indonesia for a break the day we pulled back in.

Dining - Overall, a C. And I am being generous. Like a 9th grade teacher grading on a bell curve.

Giovanni's - With the understanding they were short staffed, we were ready for delays. Not for 2.5 hours of dining though. Food was good. The Vongole was a bit bland; lacked color. It was much better on other ships. Steak was decent. I'd give Giovanni's a C. Again, generous on grading.

Chops - OUTSTANDING. Filets were amazing. Wait staff, same. Gruyere tater tots? WOW! Dessert, I think Jen had the chocolate cake. She loved it. I skipped out on dessert. Chops ended up being the place for dinner. An A is well deserved.

MDR - Some comments on noted dishes..
* The NY Strip steak looked like a lung. Lacked flavor, color. and presentation. Literally, it was GRAY.
* Beef Bourguinon, however, was very tasty!
* Seafood fry, it lacked appeal, appearance, and taste. It looked as if someone found some bits of seafood from the floor and placed them randomly on top of...mashed potatoes.
* Charcuterie board - Mortadella and a piece of random lettuce - an olive....and brown prosciutto, which USED to be healthy pink - told me a sad story about that board. It also told me that food preparation was appalling and done in haste. That's due to lack of staff. And, a lack of CARING.

* Chicken Parm - Bland. Lacked tomato sauce (except for the small dry spot). Chicken was thick. No taste to it.
*Scallops served in an escargot dish - greasy, TINY....I think they were chunks of a single scallop floating in butter and garlic. Not good at all.

The rest of the dishes were okay at most, but they needed more flavor. Blandness throughout, but overall I'd give the MDR a C-. Quantity per serving has definitely been cut back, but I prefer that; some, however, do not....this is the cruise line, again, trying to save money at the cost of the customer.

Table staff were outstanding, hard working and friendly. That Head Waiter we had, she needs work on manners while we were talking. Besides walking up and interrupting the table discussion, what does the HW actually DO? And, why do they even deserve to be part of the gratuity distribution? Royal needs to simply ditch that position.

Izumi's - Took me 25 mins to get the Sapporo I ordered once seated. Dinner arrived nearly an hour later. Sushi had a sauce all through it. Ketchup with mayo stirred in?? I forget the name of the roll, it was a "chef's specialty" one. Had the decorative hair all over it. Wasn't impressed. C- grade.

Windjammer - we literally ate there 2 times for breakfast, I can't say much, except it's a place loaded with very hangry people wanting to cut in line or literally bump into me while trying to find a seat with a bowl of cheerios and milk. The service staff (given the situation) were doing their absolute BEST in trying to serve drinks or wipe off the tables. There were far too many people in it.

Venues - The bars, casino, nicely laid out, good experiences in there playing trivia, getting a drink, etc. Typical RCL venues that may need updating.

Entertainment - Campy. Terrible. This comes from a musician in a rock band. ROYAL - Where are the Rock & Roll bands?? One of the bands called Blaze were very good; the Latin band (I forgot their name) they too, did a fine job, I enjoyed hearing them all over the ship, no matter where they played at. It must be the acoustics! A juggler though? Come on. We passed that up. Get us a decent comedy act instead. Games and contests were pretty cool. Had a great time at one of them. I think I might've been drinking too much, haha.

Cruise Director - Campy announcements, but she was all over the place doing her job. Very involved. 

Condition of the ship - Absolutely terrible. This comes from a 20 year Navy veteran. The appearance of our balcony showed multitudes of rust. The wooden rails were badly needing sanding and coating. All of the exterior windows on Adventure were.....filthy with salt. I should've taken pics of the decay. Adventure badly needs to be drydocked. They were painting over rust instead of treating it properly using needle guns and some good grinding and priming. This is the cost of a cruise line trying to save money and cut corners.

By the 7th day we were ready to get back home!

We have rebooked on Anthem for June 2023 on a Canaries cruise out of Southampton. We turn Diamond. Is it worthwhile that we use it to experience Diamond, or head off to another cruise line? These are the questions on our minds today.

You lost me at “cluttered rooms”. I guess your one of those people that gets neck strain walking past peoples cabins. 

[Merion_Mom]

16 hours ago, topnole said:

Wow.  They went down to 100 skeleton crew.  Didn’t really know the exact numbers on that.  
 

 

FWIW, several officers and crew on the Oasis told me that it was 91.  🙂 

[John Reid]

On 7/18/2022 at 3:47 PM, Montanagirlalways said:

I pray by june of 2023 many of these issues are resolved.

I'm sure God will make it a priority.

[Cruise a holic]

We were on the Adventure in May- different itinerary.  Was a true disappointment- you can read my review on Adventure reviews.   The ship was very crowded.  The cabins old .  Full of rust and stains- our toilet stopped working and needed repair a few times during the cruise- the food- was poor.  Ship was so understaffed.  We tried to get tender tickets to go to maine, and their was a horrible crowd in the promenade of a few hundered people- so we left and decided not to get off the ship.  I wonder how many people got covid after that cruise.

 

We enjoy Royal and are Diamond members.  We have a cruise in two weeks on the Oasis- we are in suite class so can try to isolate if the ship is full.  Going foward- Oasis class only.  

[marycruz]

5 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

We were on the Adventure in May- different itinerary.  Was a true disappointment- you can read my review on Adventure reviews.   The ship was very crowded.  The cabins old .  Full of rust and stains- our toilet stopped working and needed repair a few times during the cruise- the food- was poor.  Ship was so understaffed.  We tried to get tender tickets to go to maine, and their was a horrible crowd in the promenade of a few hundered people- so we left and decided not to get off the ship.  I wonder how many people got covid after that cruise.

 

We enjoy Royal and are Diamond members.  We have a cruise in two weeks on the Oasis- we are in suite class so can try to isolate if the ship is full.  Going foward- Oasis class only.  

If I may ask, were you in suite class ond the Adventure?

[Cruise a holic]

22 minutes ago, marycruz said:

If I may ask, were you in suite class ond the Adventure?

We were in a jr suite.  Previously on the adventure we were in an owners suite. Imo no value.  I am a diamond member had a lounge and got 4 free drinks.  No suite restaurant on the adventure.  When in a suite we had access to a specialty restaurant for breakfast only.  No real suite deck.  Bleacher chairs in direct sun only.  My dh has had skin cancer on his nose and face and he isn’t allowed in the sun.    The jr suite gave us more space and that was the only benefit.  The ship needs major dry dock for all cabins and suites 

[marycruz]

2 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

We were in a jr suite.  Previously on the adventure we were in an owners suite. Imo no value.  I am a diamond member had a lounge and got 4 free drinks.  No suite restaurant on the adventure.  When in a suite we had access to a specialty restaurant for breakfast only.  No real suite deck.  Bleacher chairs in direct sun only.  My dh has had skin cancer on his nose and face and he isn’t allowed in the sun.    The jr suite gave us more space and that was the only benefit.  The ship needs major dry dock for all cabins and suites 

Thanks.   We're on the Adventure in Sep and will have a GS.   I knew about the breakfast in the specialty restaurant from our cruises on the Explorer and Liberty.  I had heard RC was trying to set up suite restaurants on the older ships but I guess that didn't happen.   It was the same on those ships with the chairs in the sun only so we didn't sit there either.  They just didn't look very comfortable anyway.   Agree they need dry dock!

[LXA350]

RCL was known already before the pandemic not really keeping their older ships in great shapes. At least only in areas that involve revenue, such as adding cabins on each dry dock or revenue space. The industry is not sleeping and especially MSC is getting always stronger comptition for them and also some other cruiselines that maybe are offering a more premium experience but not necesary on the cost side. Hence, more than ever RCL needs to be pro active and if they do want to keep Voyager and Radiance Class for another 10 years or so in the fleet it gets time to get these ships in better shapes including the cabins etc.

 

On the other hand, staffing issues, supply issues etc this is faced all over the place, hence no matter if on land or at sea hospitality is currently not what it was before COVID.

[johnjen]

On 7/17/2022 at 7:11 PM, Sunflower77 said:

Since you were in a suite, why did you eat in the MDR and not eat in Coastal Kitchen or did you mean CK when you said MDR?

AOS doesn't have a Coastal Kitchen.