Royal Caribbean review ratings

[Cruising89143]

I stopped reading the reviews a long time ago. Our cruises have been great since the restart. Crew has been outstanding. Working hard to ensure a great guest experience. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

On 8/18/2022 at 3:24 PM, ONECRUISER said:

Agree, Food Prices are really high now. Did you send Meal back? Was replacement better? Unless Traveling with my Family I now almost always eat all my meals in Wind Jammer. Improvements started here Pre-CV and cont since start up, Better Taste, Choice and even presentation. Exception is Desserts...

Meal went back mine and wifes, asked about 3 times for the daus starter and cousins drinks. Eventually daus starter arrived as we were finishing our mains. Wife refused her 2nd steak again was over done by far. By this time she was fed up and said dont bother trying again. My 2nd steak was average again. Still didnt get cousins mocktail. Spoke with head waiter who asked how was meal, he said sorry to hear that and took dishes away. Didnt see him again. In end thanked the trainee waiter who was so in over his head and left. Windjammer was very good though and my steak there was sooo much better. We had much better food cooked and presented on Anthem last summer.

More concerning was the dietary issues. My mum is a celiac/gluten free. Nothing was labeled had to ask chefs  in windjammer who pointed out dishes. They were all mixed in with other dishes and cross contamination of utensils. Imagine the danger to those with a peanut allergy. The food should be labelled and segregated as a minimum.

 

Apart from that ship and holiday was good. Destinations were amazing.

[ONECRUISER]

26 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Meal went back mine and wifes, asked about 3 times for the daus starter and cousins drinks. Eventually daus starter arrived as we were finishing our mains. Wife refused her 2nd steak again was over done by far. By this time she was fed up and said dont bother trying again. My 2nd steak was average again. Still didnt get cousins mocktail. Spoke with head waiter who asked how was meal, he said sorry to hear that and took dishes away. Didnt see him again. In end thanked the trainee waiter who was so in over his head and left. Windjammer was very good though and my steak there was sooo much better. We had much better food cooked and presented on Anthem last summer.

More concerning was the dietary issues. My mum is a celiac/gluten free. Nothing was labeled had to ask chefs  in windjammer who pointed out dishes. They were all mixed in with other dishes and cross contamination of utensils. Imagine the danger to those with a peanut allergy. The food should be labelled and segregated as a minimum.

 

Apart from that ship and holiday was good. Destinations were amazing.

Fortunate never needed to send my Royal Food back but I get it, if I had to do more then once in same meal AND dealing with Allergies/Cross Contamination I wouldn't be a Happy Camper either... Thanks for the followup

Edited August 23, 2022 by ONECRUISER

[Travel R]

Many of these complaints could have been avoided if many of these individuals would have done some homework before the cruise - or better yet, before booking.

 

The industry is still crawling out of COVID, and expectations from 2-3 years ago should not be the same as they are currently.  We had an awesome time on our cruise a few weeks ago - but my expectation for food and entertainment were not very high (and they met my low expectations, but I chalked it up to the pandemic, and did not bash the ship or RCI because of a plague and staff shortages).

 

Most people on here know to take these general reviews with a grain of salt.  If you want insight on how good or lousy a ship is, read the threads on this forum since you will get an discussion as to why the person did not enjoy something, instead of a "it's lousy" comment without further explanation.

 

I was reading an article on Facebook that re-posted strange/funny vacation reviews.  One woman complained that she had a terrible vacation in India. Why you ask?  Because she could not find hamburgers for her son to eat. Think about that.  No hamburgers in India.  That's gotta make you shake your head. Many times these complaints occur not due to a lack of research, but a lack of brain cells.

 

 

[Travel R]

1 hour ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Meal went back mine and wifes, asked about 3 times for the daus starter and cousins drinks. Eventually daus starter arrived as we were finishing our mains. Wife refused her 2nd steak again was over done by far. By this time she was fed up and said dont bother trying again. My 2nd steak was average again. Still didnt get cousins mocktail. Spoke with head waiter who asked how was meal, he said sorry to hear that and took dishes away. Didnt see him again. In end thanked the trainee waiter who was so in over his head and left. Windjammer was very good though and my steak there was sooo much better. We had much better food cooked and presented on Anthem last summer.

More concerning was the dietary issues. My mum is a celiac/gluten free. Nothing was labeled had to ask chefs  in windjammer who pointed out dishes. They were all mixed in with other dishes and cross contamination of utensils. Imagine the danger to those with a peanut allergy. The food should be labelled and segregated as a minimum.

 

Apart from that ship and holiday was good. Destinations were amazing.

 

Question: Did you speak to special services before your cruise?  If not, some advice for next time. RCI (or any cruise line) could arranged that you and your family have meals that were specific to their dietary needs. Note that you would need to contact the department prior to the cruise. I have seen myself the chefs going over the next days meals with passengers for such a purpose.

 

I believe you can get a list of items that meet dietary needs for the Windjammer, but buffet's in general are not an allergic person's best friend. Even if the items are being served by staff, there is still a chance of cross contamination if two dishes are adjoining.

 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

We always do research before we go and on this occasion my sisters had already booked so we went as well as a surprise. We knew the ship was older and smaller then our usual ships so that aspect of the cruise met our expectations. Yes covid has and is hitting hard still and price and supply has gone through the roof. However they should still be able to do the basics right. People are paying a premium for a MDR experience and food standards that were not met. I can make a tasty well presented meal at home with cheaper ingredients rather then using certain named brands. 

 

But you are right about some of the complaints and reviews of people. We also shake our head and ask why.....

[FamilyCruiserUK]

9 minutes ago, Travel R said:

 

Question: Did you speak to special services before your cruise?  If not, some advice for next time. RCI (or any cruise line) could arranged that you and your family have meals that were specific to their dietary needs. Note that you would need to contact the department prior to the cruise. I have seen myself the chefs going over the next days meals with passengers for such a purpose.

 

I believe you can get a list of items that meet dietary needs for the Windjammer, but buffet's in general are not an allergic person's best friend. Even if the items are being served by staff, there is still a chance of cross contamination if two dishes are adjoining.

 

Yes we did, plenty of emails back and forth, also onboard to guest services. As for the menus asked for some got told just tell chef what you want to eat and they will cook it. One time my mum asked for a slice of gluten free toast, the chef got it for her and then proceded to put it in the same toaster used for normal bread. My mum told him dont do that as she cant eat it he said sorry and went off to do it again. When he came back he said sorry out of bread. So fruit it was. Point to note mum has been on a number of RCL cruises and has had no issues before. So maybe chalking this one up to just brilliance and her staff. Will find out in feb when on Oasis.  

 

They did do a fantastic gluten free birthday cake for her, but had to pay 30USD for it, but it was very good. 

 

Im not slating RCL but they do need to address some easy fix issues. 

[Travel R]

4 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Yes we did, plenty of emails back and forth, also onboard to guest services. As for the menus asked for some got told just tell chef what you want to eat and they will cook it. One time my mum asked for a slice of gluten free toast, the chef got it for her and then proceded to put it in the same toaster used for normal bread. My mum told him dont do that as she cant eat it he said sorry and went off to do it again. When he came back he said sorry out of bread. So fruit it was. Point to note mum has been on a number of RCL cruises and has had no issues before. So maybe chalking this one up to just brilliance and her staff. Will find out in feb when on Oasis.  

 

They did do a fantastic gluten free birthday cake for her, but had to pay 30USD for it, but it was very good. 

 

Im not slating RCL but they do need to address some easy fix issues. 

 

Then they did you wrong. I've had allergy issues occur when just speaking to the waiters, but if you have gone through the special needs department and talked to a chef, then they something went amiss.  Even with a shortage of waitstaff and waiters - and a number that are brand new and still in training, it is not a best case scenario, they should have been on the ball when it comes to allergies.

 

Hopefully by February everything should be back to "normal."  Enjoy!

[PolicromaSol]

My experience with travel ratings is to take both the amazing and terrible with a grain of salt.

 

Personal experience on this one was booking a particular suite room on the Vegas strip, thinking it was a steal. Went to go excite myself before the trip (because, well, I do that), and the reviews all made it sound like the entire place was an absolute dump. When I actually got there...okay, the furniture was old and showing its age. Aside from the overkill air freshener trying to cover up the smoking (which you'll get at every hotel there), everything else was fine, the customer service was great, and everyone had a great time. I went back and left an honest middle-of-road review so that someone passing by could make an informed decision and not a kneejerk one.

 

The other thing is... I know someone personally who will exaggerate every slight infraction. The kind of person who will say something is "ice cold" if it is not absolutely boiling hot. Me personally, being irritated at slight infractions is too much work...especially if you're out to forget the rest of the world. Life's too short.

[retired dude]

getting sick of reading the dietary needs of these folks on here......For what you are paying for the cruise you cannot expect the restaurants to bend over backwards to suit you every need...If you can't eat what is offered in 90% of the restaurants in this country, then stay home and fix your own damn meals.....boy that felt good to say that...........

[deliver42]

Did these people not know the Vision Class is old? Were they  expecting all the bells and whistles of a new ship? I've been on 2 Royal cruises post Covid, the Ovation and the Wonder. I found the crews on both to be fantastic. The shows on the Ovation were good, but didn't like the ones on the Wonder, some of which is now changed for the better. The food was good. Not gourmet, but Royal was never Gourmet.  I don't know what people are looking for. Maybe they should try Oceanea, Regent, or Seabourn.

[seasidemama]

I for one thoroughly enjoyed my three cruises on RCCL this year. The ships were marvelous, service impeccable (despite obvious short staffed crew) and food was very pleasing as well. If I didn't like something, I tried something else. Always left a meal thoroughly satisfied overall. And again - service was always so amazing throughout the ships. Just for that they all deserve 10 stars working as hard as they do with such amazing attitudes. Sure there was room for improvement in some areas, but for the value I get for the overall experience I don't think I could find something comparable elsewhere - be it on land or water. Set your budget and expectations accordingly. I don't remember being at a land resort not coming back home saying there should be some improvements either. Nothing in life is perfect for everyone 100% of the time. It's pretty impossible. Best part? No cooking/cleaning/errands and I'm on vacation! To each his own. That's just my opinion.