Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

When do you think we will be able to book shows before boarding?

maggieq

By maggieq,
in Royal Caribbean International

 Share

Recommended Posts

GTO-Girl

GTO-Girl

Posted
Posted (edited)
33 minutes ago, maggieq said:

Anyone hearing from rccl while sailing on this?   They appear to have a good capacity rate now. Thanks!


We just got off the Harmony last week, at near capacity,  and you still have to wait until you are onboard to book shows….

Edited by GTO-Girl
Link to comment
Share on other sites
coaster

coaster

Posted
Posted (edited)

A trick is to try to get ship wifi in the terminal. You may need to walk closer towards the ship  in the terminal, but it is worth a try. Book the comedy show first on Oasis class! Very limited seating. Liked it in the past where you could book before boarding, but it is a frenzy now to do it at the last minute. Plus many cruisers disregard their check-in time and will get first dibs to book when checking in before their assigned time. 

Edited by coaster
  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
coaster

coaster

Posted
Posted (edited)
27 minutes ago, shofer said:

We were on Symphony in January and booked all our shows when we arrived in our room.  Easy peasy to do with one phone call.

 

Ships were under capacity then. Now you need to do it before you board the ship in the terminal if possible. We waited until onboard in May and comedy shows were almost fully booked. Our last cruise in August we did it in the terminal. They are not verifying  check-in times like they should.  At least in Fort Lauderdale they don't. ...They did in Tampa and give them credit.

Edited by coaster
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spurschick

Spurschick

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, coaster said:

A trick is to try to get ship wifi in the terminal. You may need to walk closer towards the ship  in the terminal, but it is worth a try. Book the comedy show first on Oasis class! Very limited seating. Liked it in the past where you could book before boarding, but it is a frenzy now to do it at the last minute. Plus many cruisers disregard their check-in time and will get first dibs to book when checking in before their assigned time. 

We do this to watch muster video as well so as soon as we board we can detour straight to muster station to get out of the was and then relax 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TheHawk1

TheHawk1

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

You are asking for opinions, and mine is that RC is very happy with the new process.  I think that it will remain.  Or, as @brilloheadexpressed it, this is the new normal.

 

And I'm fine with that.

The new process is stupid. I spent my first half booking shows when I got on board Wonder instead of enjoying my lunch at Park cafe. I much preferred when you could have everything reserved before you sailed. No different than excursions. 

  • Like 8
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Merion_Mom

Merion_Mom

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

The new process is stupid. I spent my first half booking shows when I got on board Wonder instead of enjoying my lunch at Park cafe. I much preferred when you could have everything reserved before you sailed. No different than excursions. 

 

In my experience, booking shows takes about 30 seconds per reservation.

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
broadwaybaby123

broadwaybaby123

Posted
Posted (edited)

I don't understand why they won't let you pre-book the shows now.  It would make things much less stressful for the passengers and potentially crew if they did.  Yes, it doesn't take much time to begin with, but sometimes the internet access on the ship is shaky, at best.  

Edited by broadwaybaby123
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mac_tlc "Live from...." Rare

mac_tlc

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Our experience over 5 cruises since the change in policy has been Muster stations open at or around noon. 

On Oasis last week, the muster stations were open as soon as they let passengers onboard. I think that’s the way it should be. We got on about 11, went directly to station and finished muster. We watched the videos while we were waiting to get through security.

 

On Harmony last month, they opened at 12. 

 

mac_tlc

Edited by mac_tlc
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
brillohead "Live from...." Rare

brillohead

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

I don't understand why they won't let you pre-book the shows now.  It would make things much less stressful for the passengers and potentially crew if they did.  Yes, it doesn't take much time to begin with, but sometimes the internet access on the ship is shaky, at best.  


You don't need actual internet to book the shows -- you just need to connect to the wifi intranet (on-ship access only).

As for booking shows, if they have them booked in advance and then because of someone in the cast having COVID they have to move shows around (or even just technical difficulties, or weather issues), then everyone's reservations will need to be moved around, too.  Then you have people stressing out and/or wringing their hands because they have specialty dining booked at 7pm on Tuesday, and now their <insert show name> reservation was changed from Thursday to Tuesday and it screws up their whole schedule.

If they can enter the show dates/times into the system on boarding day, there's less chance of having to rearrange shows (yes, it does still happen, but hopefully not as much). 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BirdTravels "Live from...." Rare

BirdTravels

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, TheHawk1 said:

The new process is stupid. I spent my first half booking shows when I got on board Wonder instead of enjoying my lunch at Park cafe. I much preferred when you could have everything reserved before you sailed. No different than excursions. 

 

On 9/24/2022 at 6:47 PM, maggieq said:

Anyone hearing from rccl while sailing on this?   They appear to have a good capacity rate now. Thanks!

The inability to pre-book shows has nothing to do with capacity. It has to do with the fact that the availability of shows has been unpredictable. Positive tests amongst cast and staff, contact tracing, the ability to get guest performers booked and on the ship. According to our concierge, they are still finalizing the entertainment schedule a few days before each embarkation. We have been on one ship twice since the restart and each time, one of the main theater shows was down the week we sailed (had been preformed the week before and a couple of weeks after). Every time we sail, we just hope that there is more than one of the comedians or lounge performers on the main stage trying to fill time. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TheHawk1

TheHawk1

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, brillohead said:


You don't need actual internet to book the shows -- you just need to connect to the wifi intranet (on-ship access only).

As for booking shows, if they have them booked in advance and then because of someone in the cast having COVID they have to move shows around (or even just technical difficulties, or weather issues), then everyone's reservations will need to be moved around, too.  Then you have people stressing out and/or wringing their hands because they have specialty dining booked at 7pm on Tuesday, and now their <insert show name> reservation was changed from Thursday to Tuesday and it screws up their whole schedule.

If they can enter the show dates/times into the system on boarding day, there's less chance of having to rearrange shows (yes, it does still happen, but hopefully not as much). 

Sounds a bit like you're making excuses for Royal.  For years, since the introduction of Oasis, you could pre-book all your shows prior to sailing on the cruise planner, just like dining reservations.  Shows get cancelled and re-scheduled all the time for a particular sailing, especially the Aqua shows due to weather.  Even in pre-Covid times, the Entertainment team on board were able to manage the changes.  Not sure what has changed now that they can no longer handle this approach?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...