Just off AOS...things a bit different

[jfer873]

Just off AOS and although I had a great time, there were a few things this year that made the experience a bit sub par.

1.) The biggest issue was one of lack of alcohol. On the first day of the crusie most bars were out of the basics such as Miller Lite, Coors Light, bud light...etc....the list was endless. Whenever a bartender was asked for one of these and a few more, they either had to tell you no if the bar was full of passengers, or have the servers run to another bar to find one after calling all over the ship. There were certain liquors that were absent from day one as well. How can a ship be out of something basic like beer THE FIRST DAY??? Sounds like someone was not doing their job. When a couple of the bar supervisors were questioned, they replied with an I'm sorry we must have just run out....Which is completely untrue...as they load the ship in St. Thomas, and San Juan.

One time a customer complained to a supervisor and the supervisor then took it out on the bar staff right behind the bar. The attitude was basically you better find what the customer wants no matter what. This lead to the bartenders robbing Peter to serve Paul all over the boat which made for loong waits for passengers waiting for a drink.

 

2.) Johnny Rockets ran out of whipped cream.

 

3.) We were served soda with no ice at dinner one night because they said they were out of ice and had to go find more.

 

4.) There was an error booking an excursion on RCTV, it took two and a half days to get straightened out.

Basically they say I booked some excursion, it showed up on my sea pass, I told them I was only looking at the excursions, had never pushed purchase....I am quite technoligically savvy, and I did not want the particular excursion as I did not even know what it was. They told me to wait until the tickets came, and bring them down for a refund. The charge appeared on Sunday for a Tuesday excursion, I went to the explorations desk Monday eve. after my room was turned down for the night, and informed them that I had not received any tickets...they told me to wait a while longer for the stateroom attendant and when I informed them that my room was already made up and my attendant gone, they told me to wait until morning and they would take care of it, I should receive my tickets by then and they would deal with it. (At this point I went to guest relations and they told me they could not do anything about Explorations) Well.....you got it....Tuesday morning and no tickets. I went back to Explorations, told them I had not booked the excursion in the first place, to just refund the charge, and after trying to talk me into going...without tickets??? they finally gave in and credited my account.

 

5.) No fuel surcharge gift, and got the runaround from Guest Relations. (Yes I had a reservation prior to Nov. 16 that was not paid off, thereby making my eligible for one)

 

6.) Dining room service......on a scale of 1 to 10......1. My waiter acted like he could not be bothered with us.....maybe he does not like tables of two. His loss...I tip heavily when service is good.....first time I have EVER given the bare minimum in any dining situation, and was hard pressed to give that much. And the Ass't wiater was just as pathetic.....could not even remember what we preferred to drink at dinner.....Sprite and Diet coke...VERY DIFFICULT. Every night were given regular coke and water and one night were through salad and apps before we saw either our waiter or ass't to get our beverages.

 

7.) Food......ugh....undercooked Turkey medallions...actually bleeding in the middle, stale bread......actaully lost 3 pounds during the week.

 

8.) Ran out of 1/2 and 1/2 last two nights in Cafe Promenade.

 

9.) Very young swim diapered children in the Solarium pools as well as 7-10 yr. olds

 

10.) Only two of all port pictures registered and were printed. The rest were off in card heaven. Not that we would have bought them all but there were a two days when we did not have the camera and wanted pics of us with new found friends as we went off to enjoy our day. Even when we swiped our cards at teh kiosk...all of us, they did not show. The staff was nice enough to inform us that maybe were were mistaken and never had the pictures taken....hmmm right....nope, we did not stop, stand behind a pink, green, blue, or whatever the color of the day was stand, smile cheesily in the wind, with a big camera in our faces...nope we ALL imagined it.

 

I have never had any complaints about any of my cruises....about to hit 6 in the last 4 years...and a few girls weekend cruises prior....this one just left a feeling that they just do not care about passengers. I hope things get better by August. Looking forward to the itinerary but not looking forward to the onboard experience.

 

If it were not for the ports of call and Azard, Maceo, and Carolina, and Jennifer our favorite bartenders who managed to keep us laughing even though they were stressed about not having anything to serve, it would have been a poor experience.

[vator90]

Sorry to hear about you troubles onboard. Hope your trip was as pleasant as could be even with all this. If they pull the out of beer thing in June, Ill be rolling a 2 wheeler of Bud up the ramp.:D Write your complaints and foreward them to whom ever everyone on here recomends.

[71Corvette]

Sorry to hear you had a less than stellar trip. I say you contact the Corporate office to file a complaint. After all, they can't fix the problem if they don't know it exists.

 

Plus, as a bud light drinker who will be embarking on March 9th, I want to be sure they have plenty of beer on board!!! :D

 

Seriously though, I would contact the corporate office. Beer and alcohol shortages on day 1?!?!? That's pretty bad.

[boomhaursgrl]

Sorry to hear you had a less than stellar trip. I say you contact the Corporate office to file a complaint. After all, they can't fix the problem if they don't know it exists.

 

Plus, as a bud light drinker who will be embarking on March 9th, I want to be sure they have plenty of beer on board!!! :D

 

Seriously though, I would contact the corporate office. Beer and alcohol shortages on day 1?!?!? That's pretty bad.

I second that! I cannot believe they were running out of beer on the first day. That is sooo un heard of!

[busted knuckles]

Sorry to hear you had a less than stellar trip. I say you contact the Corporate office to file a complaint. After all, they can't fix the problem if they don't know it exists.

 

Plus, as a bud light drinker who will be embarking on March 9th, I want to be sure they have plenty of beer on board!!! :D

 

Seriously though, I would contact the corporate office. Beer and alcohol shortages on day 1?!?!? That's pretty bad.

 

I'm with you on the 9th. Maybe we can have one or two or ten together, if they have any.

[packercruising]

We are on the week before. It might not be the cruise line's fault if you don't have any beer! :)

[busted knuckles]

We are on the week before. It might not be the cruise line's fault if you don't have any beer! :)

hahahahahahaha...

seriously, I've been saving up for quite awhile, they had better have some beer.

[marle7]

I second that! I cannot believe they were running out of beer on the first day. That is sooo un heard of!

 

It's not completely unheard of. Last year, at this time we sailed on the Explorer. This was before they started going out of NJ.

 

From the first day on, there was no champagne in the Champagne bar, and the wine selection was limited. It was so limited we finally said to the bartender, "tell us what you do have, it will be shorter". The ship also did not have several of the usual kinds of beer on board, and a number of regular liqours were missing as well.

[cruiseman_tx]

Just off AOS and although I had a great time, there were a few things this year that made the experience a bit sub par.

1.) The biggest issue was one of lack of alcohol. On the first day of the crusie most bars were out of the basics such as Miller Lite, Coors Light, bud light...etc....the list was endless. Whenever a bartender was asked for one of these and a few more, they either had to tell you no if the bar was full of passengers, or have the servers run to another bar to find one after calling all over the ship. There were certain liquors that were absent from day one as well. How can a ship be out of something basic like beer THE FIRST DAY??? Sounds like someone was not doing their job. When a couple of the bar supervisors were questioned, they replied with an I'm sorry we must have just run out....Which is completely untrue...as they load the ship in St. Thomas, and San Juan.

One time a customer complained to a supervisor and the supervisor then took it out on the bar staff right behind the bar. The attitude was basically you better find what the customer wants no matter what. This lead to the bartenders robbing Peter to serve Paul all over the boat which made for loong waits for passengers waiting for a drink.

 

RCI, as well as others, have to rely on local suppliers for the food and beverage for the ship. Seeing that these goods are brought in by ocean freighters, it is very possible to experience product shortages from time to time on an island country. The cruiseships can order all they want/need , but if the product hasn't made it to the local distributor then they and the passengers will just have to do without. The beverage business onboard is a big revenue generator, so you have to believe that RCI is doing everything they can to get the alcohol onboard...they like those big bar tabs a lot.

[danyelle]

I"m sorry you had a bad time w/ food, drinks, and photos on this cruise.

 

Was there anything to love about the cruise? What did you do at the ports? I'm on AOS in september and love hearing the good, bad, and ugly of each person's trip.

[packercruising]

hahahahahahaha...

seriously, I've been saving up for quite awhile, they had better have some beer.

 

 

They better be ready to refund my entire cruise cost if they don't. Or let me go into port and get some to bring on the ship.

[jjb415]

RCI, as well as others, have to rely on local suppliers for the food and beverage for the ship. Seeing that these goods are brought in by ocean freighters, it is very possible to experience product shortages from time to time on an island country. The cruiseships can order all they want/need , but if the product hasn't made it to the local distributor then they and the passengers will just have to do without. The beverage business onboard is a big revenue generator, so you have to believe that RCI is doing everything they can to get the alcohol onboard...they like those big bar tabs a lot.

 

From information that I've been told by some onboard the Adventure of the Seas, many of the ship's stores, such as alcohol, are transported from the US on other RCI ships to St. Thomas and then transferred to the AOS. Not true?

[soozaay]

They better be ready to refund my entire cruise cost if they don't. Or let me go into port and get some to bring on the ship.

 

Exactly what I was thinking....they could at least give you the courtesy of being able to bring on alcohol purchased on the islands. How about the liquor they sell in the shops onboard? They could've cleaned them out to serve at the bars :rolleyes:

[cruisingagentone]

We had the same trouble on the Jewel on feb 9th sailing. No coors lite the first day. Then they ran out of bud lite and miller lite. I thought it was just poor planning on the part of the head bartender (or whoever places the order) but apparently not. The last day was the same. What is going on here? Like I said I thought it was just a fluke. The bartenders said they hadn't been supplied yet which I can understand but I think the ships need to have someone checking and bringing more supplys as needed so the bartenders don't have to worry about it. Our Sky bartender Lorenzo worked the Coral theater at nite and they had plenty in the fridge there so he would haul it up to the Sky bar for us and serveral other passengers which to me seems absurd he would have to do this.

[cruiseman_tx]

From information that I've been told by some onboard the Adventure of the Seas, many of the ship's stores, such as alcohol, are transported from the US on other RCI ships to St. Thomas and then transferred to the AOS. Not true?

 

Could be, and it would make sense...guess we need some inside information on just how AOS gets supplied.

[jamscckmc]

I'm not a beer drinker but I can certainly understand how when being on vacation you expect to be able to enjoy your favorite drink. I'm into wine and enjoy going to the wine tasteing. I would hate to find a wine I really like and then be told they are out. The lack of attention from the wait staff is even more worrisome. At least with anytime dining on some of the other lines, if you don't like the waiter you can move to another area of the room. If you find one you like you ask for a table there each night. Alot of cruisers like traditional dining but if the wait staff is lacking,you are stuck. As far as the kids, especially the babies in diapers the staff should have delt with that. I know the don't want to PO passengers, but if they blatently break the rules they should intervene. All of the adults should have said something and shamed them out of the pool. I am on the AOS in aug and hope for the best. My top three wishes are NO noro virus, a good wait staff and room steward and decent food. I don't ask for too much!

[ubdkjrb]

RCI is way more upset about running out of beer than the passengers! Wouldn't you be if you were paying $.40 for the product and selling it for $4.00?? They will be more interested in solving this than you.

 

Peter

[04cruises]

We were just on the AOS 2 weeks ago and had one of our better cruises.And I am not a cheerleader.Our wait staff was great even in the Windjammer.Used guest services a couple of times with no problem.Adult areas kept for only adults.As in another post,we rated this one of our better cruises and the AOS as one of the top ships of the 11 different RCCL ships we have been on.Hope your next cruise is better.

[nancez]

We sailed on AOS Feb. 17-24th School vacation week for alot of the Northeastern states....so of course lots of children and teachers. We traveled with our 2 daughters 10 and 14 years old. We had a great time. My daughters both had a great time, made alot of friends from all over. My only regret...I came home to snow in my driveway...difficult when the lowest temperature was 80 degrees!!!

Aruba...great port snorkeled booked it thru the ship...Aruba sail and snorkel...great included a BBQ...very good. Bring an underwater camera. Shopped afterwards. Curacao...we rented a jeep and drove around went north(?) to Christofel national park...awesome views, lots of cactus plants. Did a littel shopping/window shopping in town. St. Martin and St. Thomas...shopping again then the beach...bring the sunscreen!!! Back on ship...the food was good, lobster tails on Friday night. The ice show is a must see! The other shows, I was not impressed. Last year I went on the Grandeur and their shows were fantastic! The staff: our waiters...Kevin, Ifill and David(bar waiter at dinner) were awesome!!! They did run out of the wine I wanted at dinner so they substituted another which was comperable. The ship was nice and clean...Service at Gravity bar was lousy...my husband had to go up to the bar and order his drinks; the bar waiter was not busy either. Adventure Ocean: my 10 year old was always there(only saw her at meals)so I am going to say it was good. Coming home was tough reality stinks...no mint on my pillow!

[happycruiser1942]

We were on AOS 2-17-08 also~ had a wonderful time. The food was excellent and the low supply of beer did not really bother of us but one of the staff did tell us they thought there was a probelm with the inventory system and were going to have it checked. We enjoyed the ship and all the shows were worth seeing IMO. The ports were very beautiful and we did a lot of shopping and walking the beaches! There were a lot of kids on the ship but did not cause many problems. I would go back in a heart beat, looking to plan the same week next year may be a different route!

[Wingy]

This might be worth a separate post, but you mentioned the wait staff problem. DW and I have cruised the Grandeur twice with stellar service at our table for 6. Then we did the 10 day BoS with my SIL and we found the service as you did for our table for 3. Do you think the size of the table makes a difference? The other passengers on larger tables didn't have the same attitude from the same servers!

Maybe the lesson is to always sit at a larger table. Any thoughts?

[mndity]

Just off AOS and although I had a great time, there were a few things this year that made the experience a bit sub par.

1.) The biggest issue was one of lack of alcohol. On the first day of the crusie most bars were out of the basics such as Miller Lite, Coors Light, bud light...etc....the list was endless. Whenever a bartender was asked for one of these and a few more, they either had to tell you no if the bar was full of passengers, or have the servers run to another bar to find one after calling all over the ship. There were certain liquors that were absent from day one as well. How can a ship be out of something basic like beer THE FIRST DAY??? Sounds like someone was not doing their job. When a couple of the bar supervisors were questioned, they replied with an I'm sorry we must have just run out....Which is completely untrue...as they load the ship in St. Thomas, and San Juan.

One time a customer complained to a supervisor and the supervisor then took it out on the bar staff right behind the bar. The attitude was basically you better find what the customer wants no matter what. This lead to the bartenders robbing Peter to serve Paul all over the boat which made for loong waits for passengers waiting for a drink.

 

2.) Johnny Rockets ran out of whipped cream.

 

3.) We were served soda with no ice at dinner one night because they said they were out of ice and had to go find more.

 

4.) There was an error booking an excursion on RCTV, it took two and a half days to get straightened out.

Basically they say I booked some excursion, it showed up on my sea pass, I told them I was only looking at the excursions, had never pushed purchase....I am quite technoligically savvy, and I did not want the particular excursion as I did not even know what it was. They told me to wait until the tickets came, and bring them down for a refund. The charge appeared on Sunday for a Tuesday excursion, I went to the explorations desk Monday eve. after my room was turned down for the night, and informed them that I had not received any tickets...they told me to wait a while longer for the stateroom attendant and when I informed them that my room was already made up and my attendant gone, they told me to wait until morning and they would take care of it, I should receive my tickets by then and they would deal with it. (At this point I went to guest relations and they told me they could not do anything about Explorations) Well.....you got it....Tuesday morning and no tickets. I went back to Explorations, told them I had not booked the excursion in the first place, to just refund the charge, and after trying to talk me into going...without tickets??? they finally gave in and credited my account.

 

5.) No fuel surcharge gift, and got the runaround from Guest Relations. (Yes I had a reservation prior to Nov. 16 that was not paid off, thereby making my eligible for one)

 

6.) Dining room service......on a scale of 1 to 10......1. My waiter acted like he could not be bothered with us.....maybe he does not like tables of two. His loss...I tip heavily when service is good.....first time I have EVER given the bare minimum in any dining situation, and was hard pressed to give that much. And the Ass't wiater was just as pathetic.....could not even remember what we preferred to drink at dinner.....Sprite and Diet coke...VERY DIFFICULT. Every night were given regular coke and water and one night were through salad and apps before we saw either our waiter or ass't to get our beverages.

 

7.) Food......ugh....undercooked Turkey medallions...actually bleeding in the middle, stale bread......actaully lost 3 pounds during the week.

 

8.) Ran out of 1/2 and 1/2 last two nights in Cafe Promenade.

 

9.) Very young swim diapered children in the Solarium pools as well as 7-10 yr. olds

 

10.) Only two of all port pictures registered and were printed. The rest were off in card heaven. Not that we would have bought them all but there were a two days when we did not have the camera and wanted pics of us with new found friends as we went off to enjoy our day. Even when we swiped our cards at teh kiosk...all of us, they did not show. The staff was nice enough to inform us that maybe were were mistaken and never had the pictures taken....hmmm right....nope, we did not stop, stand behind a pink, green, blue, or whatever the color of the day was stand, smile cheesily in the wind, with a big camera in our faces...nope we ALL imagined it.

 

I have never had any complaints about any of my cruises....about to hit 6 in the last 4 years...and a few girls weekend cruises prior....this one just left a feeling that they just do not care about passengers. I hope things get better by August. Looking forward to the itinerary but not looking forward to the onboard experience.

 

If it were not for the ports of call and Azard, Maceo, and Carolina, and Jennifer our favorite bartenders who managed to keep us laughing even though they were stressed about not having anything to serve, it would have been a poor experience.

 

I just got off AOS on 2/24 and I guess I missed out on those problems... 1.) I drink beer 90% of the time and had no problem with shortages or did not hear of any with the party of 10 I cruised with. 2.) Who cares if Johnny Rockets ran out of whipped cream.......I was there once and no problems. 3.) Drank alot of soda at dinner and ice was not a problem. 4.) problems with a excursion??? With 3500+ passengers it is bound to happen....... if it was fixed then OK 5.) My fuel surcharge gift was a blue tote bag..... want mine??? 6.) Dining room service for me 10+ Mustafa and Dennison were amazing and the women in our group thought they were very cute. 7.) Food..... never a problem besides maybe a rare item a bit warm not hot but well within my expectations. I am glad you lost the 3 lbs I gained. 8 and 9) I am not going to comment on as they are so minor.

 

I am hoping you were on a different cruise as I was on...... if you were I am sorry but it seemed to be the opposite of what I experienced!!! The 5K I won in the casino Saturday nite was great as well!!!!

[soozaay]

This might be worth a separate post, but you mentioned the wait staff problem. DW and I have cruised the Grandeur twice with stellar service at our table for 6. Then we did the 10 day BoS with my SIL and we found the service as you did for our table for 3. Do you think the size of the table makes a difference? The other passengers on larger tables didn't have the same attitude from the same servers!

Maybe the lesson is to always sit at a larger table. Any thoughts?

 

Good thought...but I don't think that's the case...I've been a tables of 2 & tables of 8 and have had great service either way.

[lovetocruise99]

I was also on the same cruise and had a great time. I fell in love with aft balcony 1388 which is huge! I can't believe they price it the same as a regular D1. As a result I spent most of my ship time sitting in a lounge chair reading or drinking wine which I carried on board with no problems in my checked luggage (2 bottles). My room steward was the best ever though I've never had any complaints about room stewards on AOS. We ate in the Windjammer every night since we're a little tired of the same dinner menus. The service there was terrific every night, I guess because it wasn't very crowded. Service at the Windjammer during breakfast and lunch can be very hit or miss but that's okay. I'm sorry you had problems on AOS. It's my favorite ship...have sailed on it 3 times in the past few months and just booked today to go back in September!

[Tex_Jen]

Whoo, feeling a bit better, now. Thank you to all who posted about positive experiences. I was beginning to wonder what had happened to one of my favorite ships. I have never had a bad time on AOS and have always had good service.

 

Jen