What's going on with Royal Caribbean?

[TeeRick]

22 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

Years ago we spread our RCCL wings on a Carni Ecstacy cruise which was glaringly horrid, filthy ship, terrible service and swore off them for good.  That's never happened on Royal.  But we just booked a Voyager B2B with Carnival Jubilee in a couple weeks and I'm honestly excited about giving them another try.  This newest ship is eerily similar to Icon.  Luckily I'm not a very picky cruiser, just happy to be at sea again.

Have fun and please come back here and report.  Thanks!

[tserface]

On 2/28/2024 at 3:50 AM, Ocean Boy said:

I agree that we are paying more for less service and I am not happy about that. I did, however to my surprise, find that I prefer once a day cabin service. I didn't feel rushed to get cleaned up for the evening and then get out of the cabin so the steward could get his job done. I could take sone time to relax on the balcony with a glass of wine before heading out for the evening. And since I am an early riser, the steward started with my cabin in the morning and was done before I had any need to return.

I think this is fine unless you have a need in the evening and morning.  Like if you have a 3rd person (like a child) using the sofa bed and it blocks the balcony so  you don't want to leave it open all the time.  If you get clean up in the morning you have to make up the sofa yourself in the evening, and if you get clean up in the evening you have to put it all back together in the morning.  It's not untenable, but it was a lot more convenient when they did it for you and, they are charging the same gratuity.  It has caused us to start guessing whether it's worth it to leave extra any longer since the crew gets more gratuity from handling more rooms.

If you don't have that kind of need they it probably doesn't matter since it's easy enough to just pull up the bedding yourself.  Still, not as classy. 

I haven't been on a Royal ship since they started this process, but my daughter's family went through this a couple of months ago and said it was a drag.

I think I would also miss having the room all set up when we return in the evening.  Again, not untenable, but it was nice and I'll miss it.

[kruzerci]

On 2/27/2024 at 6:34 PM, Mark122 said:

Agree RCL has completely lost its touch and appeal.  On Oasis of the Sea now and multiple people commented on how bad it’s gotten.  We are debating finding another cruise line or just giving up cruising all together.  So many better ways to spend vacation dollars than the disaster RCL has become!  If you are considering a Royal Caribbean cruise, don’t waste your time or money.

Exactly how I felt last week on Allure. We hadn’t been back on Royal in over a year (after 2-5 cruises per year since 2000) and decided to give it another go after a couple disappointing cruises. It was in poor condition, the crowd was appalling, food and service blah. 
 

We have started doing upscale resorts (Baha Mar last month, JW resort in November) instead of cruises and when we cruise stick to the upscale lines, which are now more the experience Royal used to offer. 

[kruzerci]

3 hours ago, tserface said:

If you get clean up in the morning you have to make up the sofa yourself in the evening, and if you get clean up in the evening you have to put it all back together in the morning.  It's not untenable, but it was a lot more convenient when they did it for you and, they are charging the same gratuity.  It has caused us to start guessing whether it's worth it to leave extra any longer since the crew gets more gratuity from handling more rooms.
t.

MORE gratuity. They increased them to $18 around the time they cut the service in half. 

[Harrisonkid]

Sadly the cost of everything has skyrocketed.  And the cruise lines has lost billions due to covid decisions . I'm not sure if I really know what a fair price is anymore. So, if one cruise seems high shop another but I do believe the 'frequent cruiser points ' system does hold many in place. As a diamond member we do get a few FREE perks but I think it's cost us $100,000 dollars to earn them 😆..

[Harrisonkid]

Since we are old adults with no kids in tow anymore we always look at Princess and Holland American too

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, kruzerci said:

Exactly how I felt last week on Allure. We hadn’t been back on Royal in over a year (after 2-5 cruises per year since 2000) and decided to give it another go after a couple disappointing cruises. It was in poor condition, the crowd was appalling, food and service blah. 
 

We have started doing upscale resorts (Baha Mar last month, JW resort in November) instead of cruises and when we cruise stick to the upscale lines, which are now more the experience Royal used to offer. 

 

Sounds like you are done with Royal.  

 

We too have mixed in a number of land-based vacations in addition to cruising- which we have reduced since the pandemic and the resulting prices and service reductions.  This has been a pleasant change for us.  In addition to resorts/hotels, we rent a beach house for a month now -  cheaper than 1 week in a suite on Royal and Celebrity.

Edited March 1 by TeeRick

[Mark122]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:07 AM, TeeRick said:

Have fun and please come back here and report.  Thanks!

So after telling guest services I would just call corporate about my grievances a supervisor came and talked to me.  From that moment onward RCL was back!!  The rest of the cruise was amazing.  They went above and beyond to ensure my adult children had an exceptional experience.  They allowed us to bring them to the suite dining room.  They provided gifts like RCL beach bags.   They checked in daily to make sure all was going well.  So super pleased with the response.

 

 Disappointed I had to comment I would just deal with corporate to get their attention and sadly we still witnessed other guests treated poorly by staff and bar staff leaving the restroom without washing hands. 

[Harrisonkid]

One of the great things about cruising 30 years ago was the commitment to true customer service. Sadly in all cases today no business really shows that commitment and cruising is no exception. Since my expectations are based on 'the old days' I would like to get a take from 'youngsters' who have taken their first cruise or second cruise recently. How was your customer service experience?

[theotherchad]

We're happy with RCCL. It is true that they have raised prices, but prices everywhere (food, gas, building materials, housing, hotels, pretty much everything) have also increased tremendously. I have been cruising with them for close to two decades and I have not noticed a significant drop off in food quality and definitely not in service. Also, it would be insane not to note two things. 

 

1) The prices they are charging don't seem to prevent them from filling the ships. This is not gouging, this is charging what the market will bear. It is still cheaper than flight, hotel, paying for every mean and every entertainment option on land, etc. 

2) Does anyone have any idea how much money they have to make up for given the tremendous impact of the COVID shutdown? It was billions. 

 

YMMV. 

 

It's all in your attitude. I find that if you are looking for stuff to complain about, you'll find it. 

[theotherchad]

14 hours ago, Harrisonkid said:

One of the great things about cruising 30 years ago was the commitment to true customer service. Sadly in all cases today no business really shows that commitment and cruising is no exception. Since my expectations are based on 'the old days' I would like to get a take from 'youngsters' who have taken their first cruise or second cruise recently. How was your customer service experience?

We have continued to receive excellent customer service. 

[firefly333]

I dont mind once a day service. Actually I prefer it once a day. Dont like the intrusion.

 

Still managing to book, so I cant say the prices.

 

My gripe is with food cuts. I find I'm doing more pay restaurants. 

[LinRon3]

Ok, throwing my 2cents in here...we love cruising, end of story really.  We were on the second cruise out of the USA after the Pandemic [Celeb Edge], and have cruised 14 times since...12 on RCL or Celebrity [mostly RCL].  Yes, the food is a bit 'not as good'...but we see nothing else that's changed all that much [to us].  Service is still 'great' [to us].  And Wife and I have commented to ourselves how much we LIKE one cleaning of the staterooms a day.  It's always a pain having to 'vacate' the cabin...when perhaps one wants to lounge or sleep or sit on the balcony or whatever.  So, that one is a change for the BETTER!

 

In short, we are NOT picky people and as far as VALUE, we really wonder where ANYONE can get the same VALUE for the money on land vacations?  So we are in disbelief at all the angst on this thread about how 'cruising has declined'...some even saying they'll forego cruising for 'land trips' or whatever?  I guess it all has to do with one's bank account of course; and if one can afford...well, tens of thousands of bucks on a 'few days' at a resort somewhere, more power to them of course.  But as far as VALUE [that word keeps coming up it seems]...ie bang for that buck...I'm pretty sure it would be hard to find 'better value' than cruising.  And Royal does it as good as any company out there [from our experience anyway]. It's Why we keep coming back for more.  Anyway...my 2 cents that's not worth a plug nickel as they say.  I detect a bit of...hmmm...jadedness on this thread? No.  Spoiled-ness? Nah.  I know...Suite passengers having to slum in steerage.  Ha; just kidding.  I just hope the cruise lines stay 'afloat' after all that debt they took on during the government holocaust...uh...I mean pandemic. 

 

[artvlay]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I dont mind once a day service. Actually I prefer it once a day. Dont like the intrusion.

 

Still managing to book, so I cant say the prices.

 

My gripe is with food cuts. I find I'm doing more pay restaurants. 

This is their goal, paying for restaurants.

[ReneeFLL]

1 hour ago, artvlay said:

This is their goal, paying for restaurants.

Exactly my thought also and I’ve been saying it for a while. I won’t pay extra for food. I’ll eat what’s already included.

[Kbonner]

How many of you here are actually Royal Caribbean employees or dependent on their business?

[nelblu]

With all of these complaints and abandoning Royal, I’m surprised they are still functioning. 🤣

[Engineroom Snipe]

21 minutes ago, nelblu said:

With all of these complaints and abandoning Royal, I’m surprised they are still functioning. 🤣

I am not abandoning Royal but I am starting to look at other experiences. I will be cruising less with Royal but not abandoning it. New cruisers will replace me and Royal moves on.

 

It does not invalidate many of the personal opinion complaints.

 

In so many instances, companies do great until they do not do great.

 

In the discretionary vacation business where Royal was so much cheaper than other experiences, one needs to keep a open mind to trends. The CEO recently stated during an interview that he believes there is another 30% price increase to most of the current cruise prices which would align Royal's pricing scheme to other comparable vacation experiences.

 

If one adds 30% more to the basic cruise prices and also adds the Unlimited Drink Package, Unlimited Dining Package, Unlimited Wifi Package, etc., it will start to be the price per day of an all inclusive resort or an all inclusive cruise line.

 

I keep an open mind and like to hear the pluses and minuses of fellow posters. In many cases, I know where they are coming from through my own experiences onboard.

 

Time will tell.

 

It will be interesting to see how the prices keep increasing and what will be the new normal.

[lovesthebeach2]

25 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

I am not abandoning Royal but I am starting to look at other experiences. I will be cruising less with Royal but not abandoning it. New cruisers will replace me and Royal moves on.

 

It does not invalidate many of the personal opinion complaints.

 

In so many instances, companies do great until they do not do great.

 

In the discretionary vacation business where Royal was so much cheaper than other experiences, one needs to keep a open mind to trends. The CEO recently stated during an interview that he believes there is another 30% price increase to most of the current cruise prices which would align Royal's pricing scheme to other comparable vacation experiences.

 

If one adds 30% more to the basic cruise prices and also adds the Unlimited Drink Package, Unlimited Dining Package, Unlimited Wifi Package, etc., it will start to be the price per day of an all inclusive resort or an all inclusive cruise line.

 

I keep an open mind and like to hear the pluses and minuses of fellow posters. In many cases, I know where they are coming from through my own experiences onboard.

 

Time will tell.

 

It will be interesting to see how the prices keep increasing and what will be the new normal.

I agree with what you said. I’m not abandoning Royal, and have many we booked long ago that are upcoming…... but I’ve not booked them recently and have booked Celebrity and Silversea. I find I’m no longer following the deployment thread with anticipation like I always did in the past, unless there’s a specific itinerary I’m interested in and even then it’s always 2 years away.

 

All  the royal cruises we’ve taken locally in the past couple of years weren’t bad, but they weren’t good either. So for that reason there’s a limit to what I’ll pay for just an ok cruise now…..funny… that’s how I felt about Carnival years ago when we moved to Royal….

 

And although I know this has been beaten to death, I still think the food is nothing like it was in the past, many nights there’s nothing on the boring repetitive menus thats good, so just another reason I’m not in a rush to book Royal now. 

[artvlay]

We are Diamond Plus and feel the same way that the previous two posts feel.

We tried Carnival in January and whereas the ship wasn't as nice as we are accustomed to with Royal the food selection was much better and the quality was a little better.

We are going on Princess in May and the QM2 in October. Of the five cruises this year two will be on Royal. This has never happened before.

Just as Royal is moving on, so are we.

[elcuchio24]

On 1/21/2023 at 4:54 PM, Ocean Boy said:

No thank you. 

 

Say what you want about CCL but those burgers are some of the best on the high seas!

[deliver42]

I'm Diamond on Royal, but my last cruise was on the Celebrity Beyond, and we're booked on the Ascent for Jan '25 and MSC in the Yacht Club for Nov '26, both of which, in my opinion give more value than Royal now. Our last cruise with Royal was on the Harmony, which was fine, but really nothing to write home about. The previous one was on the Wonder. While the ship was beautiful, the shows left us underwhelmed. It seemed they went for the cheap. I know that they've added a show, but to me it's more for kids. I'm not interested in the Power Rangers. I'm only talking about the main theater.

[Carolfay]

You might want to take a look at the Silversea board and see what's going on with their Nova.  The recent "photo op" announcement has many of the passengers ready to mutiny - and most are putting the blame on Royal Caribbean's corporate decisions.  Plenty of "no more Silversea for me" comments.