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Relax your grip Keep your head down

Today was a good day. It was also an extremely windy day. Last night the sound of the hangers in the closet swinging around and bumping into each other woke me up a few times, but I went right back to sleep and really didn’t care. (I did take the unused hangers out of the closet today though and laid them on the floor.) The ship has been rocking for a day and a half, the wind is fierce, and the ocean has lots of little whitecaps. I have heard that Aruba is windy and it looks like that will be the case. The ship is still rocking and quivering even now while I type this. Somehow the aqua show still went on and the balancing guys still did their balancing routine, although it was somewhat abbreviated from normal. it was a kind of fragmented day but a good one. I slept late and then went down to the promenade for a “fun fitness class.” I did this on Sunday as well and it was definitely fun and surprisingly challenging. Of course you’re doing your fitness class on the promenade which means the 40 or so people packed into the Cafe Promenade chairs sit back and stare and some even take out their phones and videotape while you’re doing grapevines and claps and squats and all that stuff. But at one point an adorable toddler came out of nowhere and joined in, randomly waving her arms around, and then her dad got into it as well and it was just too cute. I had a very late breakfast at Park Café just as they were closing. I had the Egg McMuffin Panini which we are not supposed to identify as an Egg McMuffin. I got a giant croissant and took it back to my room and stuck it in the refrigerator. I went up to the pool deck and the wind was blowing like crazy. Towels were clipped to chairs but still billowing and flapping in the wind. It was also overcast and I was not interested in swimming at that point. I went back to the room and was able to FaceTime my husband for about an hour and catch up with each other and that was terrific. I rested for a while, sat on the balcony and watched the Aqua theater people have a practice session, walked around the promenade some more, sat out on the boardwalk when the sun came out, and watched people ride the carousel. A bunch of families came racing through the boardwalk and they all had a piece of paper in their hands. There was some kind of organized scavenger hunt going on and part of the quest was to take a picture next to the carousel and a picture next to the hotdog place. I tried to join in a couple of trivia rounds, but apparently you need to get to the Schooner bar a good 30 minutes before trivia starts if you would like to have a chair or even if you would like to stand in the standing room only section and still be able to see and hear the game leader. I got there 15 minutes before it started and it was so packed that I was looking at standing pretty much out on the promenade by myself and straining to hear the questions being called out. I didn’t want to play trivia that bad so I gave up on it. I had dessert for lunch and then got to feeling a little bit lonely and disconnected. This seems to hit me on day three or four of my solo cruises, I am learning. A fleeting loneliness, I guess. I went up deck to the Flowrider to the boogie board section, and sat in the stands and watched everybody learning to use it. It was the perfect pick-me-up. That place was hopping with so much enthusiasm and excited faces and huge smiles and lots of laughter. I mean everyone there was in such high spirits and in a great mood. People would be so incredibly thrilled with themselves when they learned how to stand up on the boogie board on their knees. Every time someone wiped out and went flying they would laugh and laugh. There was lots of fist bumping and high-fiving each other among the riders as well. The families in the stands were taping on their phones and clapping and cheering. It was a really festive atmosphere, the most excited bunch I’ve ever seen around the Flowrider. I stayed an hour and a half soaking up the sun and watching all the good times and I felt much better after that. I went over to have a round of mini golf, but there was a backlog of people on the course and several groups of people sitting around waiting for their turn on the first hole, so I skipped it. At that point it was almost 4 and it’s become a tradition to head over to the Rising Tide bar around then. I get a club soda and ride the bar up and down while I catch up on emails and texts. The Internet signal is a lot better on the promenade than it is in my room. Just the same, I can’t upload pictures here on this page and I can’t send any video clips to my family, it just seems to be too much for the Internet to handle. Later I went back and the mini golf was mostly empty so I tried to play. But every time I set my ball on the ground, the wind would snatch it away and roll it all over the place before I could hit it. There was a lot of people playing ping-pong today, and some kind of really lively basketball competition among a bunch of different three-man teams on the sports deck. There was also a beanbag toss competition, the scavenger hunt, and most of the shops were open all day and evening. Side note: on the pool deck this afternoon, I saw a man with no shirt, tropical print swim shorts, heavy duty wool socks that came up to his knees, and super thick heavy military grade army boots on. There’s a story there somewhere. Did he forget to pack his flip-flops? Is it comfortable in this heat, walking around in those boots? We will never know. A quick nap and it was dinner time. I decided to get to the Windjammer right when it opened so I went up to get in line at 5:50. There was about 150 people in line in front of me with the same idea. But I got in and got a plate of healthy food and took it back to my room and ate on the balcony. I just wasn’t up to fighting the mob in the Windjammer for a table and it was hot and stuffy in there. A tip for new solo cruisers: if you’re going to eat at the buffet, bring a few objects with you to help secure your table. Here’s the thing when you’re by yourself—if you get up to go get seconds or get dessert, you will come back to your table to find it has been cleared and there are new people sitting there. Likewise if you get your drinks first, set those drinks on the table and then go to get your food, same thing. You’ll come back and the table will have been cleared and someone else will have claimed it. So bring a beach bag or a baseball cap or a few things like that, set them across the table, and if possible grab a minute with one of the nearby employees and let them know you’ll be right back, and you should be in good shape. Having those objects on the table indicates you haven’t left yet. The sun came out but the wind picked up even more to the point where the pools were just rippling like crazy and the lifeguard couldn’t keep his hat on. Whenever I was walking through a silent hallway I would hear the walls creaking. After dinner I went to karaoke. Great singing but the crowd was subdued compared to last night. There was a huge crowd of people that had to stand in the doorway to listen because all the chairs were filled up. One of the people performing was a lady I also saw do karaoke on my last solo cruise on the odyssey in March. Small world. After karaoke it was time for Jeff Tracta in the Amber theater. He was SUPER. Absolutely make reservations to go see him and make sure you stick to those reservations because he will sell out and you won’t be able to get in. I think he’s only doing two performances this whole cruise. Every seat in the Amber theater was taken. He’s a singer and actor but he does impressions so all of his act was impersonating different singers and actors and he was just so good. It sounds like nothing special the way I’m describing it, but it really was amazing. I didn’t really know what to expect and didn’t have high hopes but he was just terrific. Then it was time to scurry up to my balcony and eat the croissant I had saved, and watch the aqua show for I think the fourth time? If you’re a fan of the aqua show, a boardwalk balcony near the very end is a great idea. If you’re hoping to be sound asleep before 11 o’clock at night, then a boardwalk balcony is a terrible idea. When I came back to my room this evening, I had a note in my door. It says that they will be doing cleaning and maintenance on balconies starting at 9 AM in the morning so to make sure and keep our curtains closed for privacy. Tomorrow we are in Aruba from 8 AM to 10:30 PM so it will be a good long day and I’m sure people will maximize the opportunity. I’m looking forward to getting off the ship and seeing what I see. I made a request on day one with my room steward to have a printed copy of the daily compass brought to my room each day and that’s been happening, so that’s been great. There just seems to be better information on the printed copy, a more complete picture I guess, then scrolling to selections on your app. But they definitely want you to use that app. The mood on the ship today was high energy and good spirits. Fatigue has not set in yet for us 5000 folks. The high spirits may have had something to do with the fact that today, it seemed like everybody was drinking like there’s no tomorrow. I have a weird observation… And it’s probably just a misconception on my part, but it seems to me that they’re treating ice like it’s a rare commodity on this cruise. It’s hard to find plain old ice to put in your drinks. At the Windjammer, you do not have access to an ice machine like you do on other ships. You simply have access to the grab and go drinks which either don’t have ice in them or have only a few mostly melted shards of ice bobbing on the surface. so I miss not being able to have a glass full of ice and have a really *cold* drink. At the Rising Tide bar each day, I get a very small glass that’s only half full of ice and then a room temperature can of club soda to go with it. Naturally the ice melts almost instantly. One day I went up to the bartender and said could you put more ice in my glass, please? He tipped exactly 3 cubes into my glass with a big flourish, like he was doing something grand. Same experience at Starbucks. It’s a small thing, but I guess going eight days without access to an ice machine might be an issue for some people. I had my club soda at the poolside bar my first day and they were also very sparing with the ice cubes. Weird. on the Odyssey, there was an ice machine next to the water dispenser and you could fill up your cup or portable thermos whenever you want it. Not the case here. I realize these are incredibly trivial things to comment on, but I’m just sharing what’s happening here. anyway, looking forward to tomorrow and I plan on bringing my phone and taking pictures! Like I said, it was a little bit of an up-and-down all over the place kind of day, but it was still a really great day and the evening was just crammed with wonderful entertainment. That has absolutely been the highlight of the cruise so far, the great entertainment.

There we go. Royal knew of the staffing issue. So funny reading comments saying that we as the consumer should expect less and that somehow, we are out of touch with reality. Bottom line is that although Royal is a business and they need to be profitable, they went months at lesser capacity cruisers and provided for overall satisfaction. If satisfaction is the key to profit, full capacity is not the way to do it given the realities of covid, shortages of goods and services, etc. Go less capacity and provide strong service. I hope that things turn around soon. This post was never meant to be a downer post. I will, and encourage others to, still try to make this a positive experience and have fun.

(1) It gives customers different options and you could ask the same question about cruises in med which visit some of the same ports. (2) You also have to remember that not every RC customer comes from the US! For those in Europe its just as cheap to fly to Barbados as it is Florida. And if adding a few days on at end of vacation personally i would rather be sunning it up in Barbados than Miami but thats just my opinion.

Today, as I was told, was the first Aqua show with the new cast. They've been practicing all day today and then performed twice. It was amazing.

I feel that the C&A discount should be calculated over and above the sale price. The loyalty perk should always come off the back end, otherwise its not a perk if you are just getting the same rate that anyone else can get.

Thank you to Allie Hubers for today's ArriveCAN article. Learned more in under ten minutes than from all prior sources - important stuff, as we depart in 17 days for an Alaska cruise and tour. Checking this Blog has been very helpful!

Tabulated results of your completed cruise survey at some point get forwarded to the hotel directors office of the ship you were on. I’m certain the aggregate of those results are a big influence on the captain and hotel directors bonus at the end of their respective contracts. If you have identified a crew member on your survey in a positive way; here is what I’ve discovered happens. A copy of your remarks goes into their employee file. I’m sure their immediate supervisor also receives a copy and some sort of pat on the back is given. But also, and probably most importantly in the minds on the crew member; is that they are called down to HR onboard. Certainly another Atta’ Boy is given but there is also a wheel of fortune type device. They get to spin that wheel and win things such as extra shore leave, a cash award, a pair of Air Pods, an Amazon gift card, or similar gifts. IMO this is where the rubber meets the road for recognition on your post cruise survey. (Incidentally, from time to time each ship will have internal incentive competitions between housekeeping sections, dining room teams, or sections of the gallys which the winners get called down to HR to take their chance at spinning the wheel) During the comeback I gave Royal the benefit of the doubt. On my surveys I told them what they wanted to hear and gave them 10’s on everything. I also used my signature Identify An Outstanding Crew Member That Not One Single Passenger Would Ever Think Of Selecting on every sailing. Often telling the hotel director personally what I was up to so they would keep an eye out for it. I felt good about supporting a company I feel strongly about. Last week after my 4 nighter on Independence, the gloves came off and I let them have it. No longer caring about the impact of COVID or if someone with stripes gets their bonus. I’ll be this way going forward if warranted.

I get the survey each and every time I cruise…usually on disembarkation day…late that afternoon, or the next day. I always fill it out completely…including the comments sections. Maybe that’s why I keep getting them. Sometimes it feels like I have homework! Multiple choice questions and essays! Due to me doing lots of cruises over the winter on the Anthem, I hear from the crew about my surveys. Usually on the next sailing. Every time I mention a venue, or individual crew member…they subsequently tell me how their supervisors received my comments from upper management and post them on message boards in the crew area. As I understand it, they don’t identify the passenger who submitted the comments by name…so I sort of made it a game by using certain key phrases so they would know it was me. The crew members may receive certain perks for being mentioned in the comments…especially job/position security and consideration for advancement. Bottom line…I believe the company takes the survey seriously. It’s an important metric in customer satisfaction and continuous product evaluation. I believe they read the comments and forward them…good and bad…to the individual ship and onboard venues. I would urge everyone to send in their comments…good and not so good. They do make a difference.

I’m really enjoying the blog. We also went to see Jeff Tracta tonight by far the best entertainer we have seen on a cruise and your correct about the ice half the time we go to the soda machine it’s out of ice. Enjoy Aruba

To be clear you have a choice of a one day Surf pass at $0 or a discount towards the price of a full voyage plan using onboard pricing. If you wait after each passing day the cost of "full voyage" plans has dropped since there are fewer days left. This applies for each Diamond member in your cabin but independently (you can't stack or combine them towards one plan). A couple who are both Diamond would each receive the discount. The free day pass of Surf starts when you say so. For example if you exercise the discount for a free 24 hr pass of Surf at 12:00 noon on day 2 then it expires at 11:59am on day 3. In this manner you can get coverage for some of two days. Do the same with your spouses free coupon and share the account then effectively a couple can cover some of four days by choosing the start times based on itinerary and ports of call.

We (myself and DH Fernando) just got off Odyssey of the Seas on Monday. This was her first ever European cruise, following last year's cancellations. I thought I'd post a recap because I see there are lots of Odyssey Europe sailings in the roll call boards, so perhaps the information will be of use to some of you. I've just sent Matt the compasses so they'll be available for you to have a look at as soon as he gets the chance to post them. I'll be doing this over the course of several days as I have to fit it in around work. Please feel free to ask questions, especially if you're due to sail on Odyssey soon, as there's still very little information out there about her European cruises. I'll be delighted to help if I possibly can. I booked this cruise ages ago, at a time when nobody really was booking cruises so I got a great rate. I had thought that we would have been clearer of the dreaded C-word by the time of this sailing, but the continuing uncertainty, especially the requirement for a pre-boarding test, ruined all the pre-cruise anticipation and excitement; how can you get excited about a trip when a q-tip is calling the shots and could completely mess it up for you? But I'm really glad we got to do it. We had a great time. So, without further ado (as they say), this was our itinerary:

TY very much I missed that you could enter the C&A number there

Totally joking unless any loyalty ambassadors are reading this, in which case I'm totally joking and I also have Venmo.

Book another cruise so you won’t have to waste the tests!

How big of a tip do you think it would take to get someone to double your CnA points while on a cruise?

Unfortunately, sometimes your C&A discount will not be the "best" discount and VERY often discounts cannot be stacked (meaning you cannot have more than 1 discount apply). If there is another discount that is being applied and it is a better discount than the C&A, the price will only display the "better" option. It appears as if the C&A discount has been ignored (and in fact, I suppose, it has been) but in actuality, the C&A discount has just been superseded by a more lucrative discount. It can be very difficult to decipher whether the C&A discount has been applied and ultimately superseded in favor of a better discount offer. That's a shortcoming of the cruise fare quoting system. It would be nice if the pricing would show that the C&A discount was considered and then ultimately overwritten...but it does not. This shortcoming also applies to other potential discounts, not just the C&A discount. So, if you have some other discount showing, chances are, that discount has superseded your C&A discount. If no other discounts are displayed, then there is a problem somewhere.

One reason, the itinerary. You're going to different islands than you can elsewhere. So when you say "You can go to almost all of the same ports", almost is the key word. There's other ports. Variety is the spice of life.

Always. I leave a book and a bag (with nothing of importance) to be clear I AM STILL HERE. It's always worked.

Thanks I phoned Royal, I was told this glitch happens because I have EZAir on the booking. They have sent message to Resolution Team to release cruise docs. Anyway I have my SetSail Pass, if anything I can get luggage tags from the porters.

because you can have a island vacation on the front end or back end of the cruise. I do think they are also going to more southern ports that royal does not go to often.

13th March 2022 sailing, driving to Miami from Tampa 5 hours usually tops....but we leave the day before sailing & this time OMG we were so thankful! Half way there Alligator Alley closed due to fires, smoke made the State Police fully close this route. We had to turn around along with EVERYONE else & make our way back way North to drive across the State and then down again, with so many other motorists. If it was the same day of embarkation we could have possibly missed the ship. If I have learned anything even when driving to a Port I make my way a day earlier, period. You just never know, way to much $$ to leave to chance. * The traffic check in the a.m. was clear, it was only half way there we were starting to see the red, rut row!!

There was an article last week about the airlines, Disney and others sending a letter to the White House to dump the testing requirement because it's killing travel https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/when-will-the-us-drop-covid-test-requirements-disney-and-travel-firms-demand-end-to-testing-restrictions/ar-AAX6YGY

@She Sails Away this on site on ship information is priceless, I really do appreciate it! I understand Royal is in business to make money, I totally get it. But I said this back in December while on the Odyssey sailing to no where, 8 nights of sailing as our covid numbers would not allow us off the ship in Port, they ramped capacity too fast, too soon. First sailing I was just thinking can we return early please? Staff would disappear as the week went on, it was tough to watch. I know Mr. Liberty is a numbers guy and I understand they must try to do right for the stock holders but at what cost moving forward? Our FCC sailings in June & July are most likely going to be the last for us in a while. I am almost 99% sure we are canceling our Thanksgiving 2022 as the cost seems it may not be justified. A little break to explore land vacations for us, just until we feel the cost is = to the experience. I'm not booking any new sailings moving forward, to many hoops in addition to inflated costs for a mediocre experience. This venue (unofficial RC blog) is such a great place to exchange real time information, I find it difficult to believe some of the "bloggers" on board videos etc. when due to the nature of what they do they receive "comped" sailings thus leaning positive no matter what. An experience for free is surely different from the experience that is paid for. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your sailing, glass half full is still the best way to move forward while on board , right?? Enjoy & cheers to you when you enjoy your next mock tail.

Hi all, I'm going to try my hand at live blogging this trip. Who's going: Tim (Me) and Kelli (my wife of 17 years!) Cabin: 8330 A1: 2 bedbroom ATS We got our Genie questioner almost 60 days out on 4/13. I won't go over it as it has been covered countless times. We got our Genie email yesterday at 28 days out and our Genie will be Stepan! We responded right away and he already emailed us back this morning and seems like he will be a wonderful Genie! (This is our second star class experience with the first one being on Oasis in December of this past year) He did ask that we prebook Hibachi and Chef's table as he can't request until the day before. I know some have been disappoint by this, but we just went with it and did as requested. We are pretty easy going and this was our list of initial requests. Dining: We are travelling with just the two of us, so no worries about vaccination challenges. We are foodies and love everything so there is nothing we want to avoid I will leave it to you to arrange dinners as you think is best (we are morning people so we prefer earlier dining times), also we do want to do Chef’s table one evening if there is an early seating for that. Again, we will defer to you for everything, we are easy, the only thing we would prefer would be coastal Kitchen on night on after sail away. On Boarding day we would like to do Sabor for lunch Snacks: We love Charcuterie type items or just plain cheese/crackers/salami etc Sushi Fresh fruits Late night we’ve been known to eat pizza/ranger cookies etc lol Beverages: We would love to have Truly (Pineapple/wild berry) heavily stocked in the room fridge and cooler if possible We love Wine and Champagne (I know you can’t stock that, but just for reference. Also I know there is a boarding day bottle and for that we prefer thee Moet Champagne) Blue Moon (with oranges) Coke Zero/Diet Coke Club Soda Tons of water Sugar free red bull Coffee: We would like a standing order of 2 Starbucks Venti blonde/light roast with cream and equal Shows: We have no preference, so will leave with you We are traveling from Houston Texas and plan to fly in to Orlando the day before and stay at the courtyard in Coco Beach. This will be my first try at live blogging, so please bear with me. I will try to keep it entertaining as we like to have a lot of fun and enjoy being in the moment! Here's to hoping the next 27 days go quick

There is always a second reservation number for guests more than 4 in a cabin. You'll need to place the bid on both res#s I think, but not positive on that. I'd contact Royal Caribbean or your TA before bidding.

At the top tier event on Radiance on the LA to Vancouver cruise the captian mentioned he had requested to be moved to a larger class ship with Royal. I don't think this incedent is going to help his cause to move to a larger ship lol

Towel clips?

How about reusable straws or cup caddies?.

Thank you for your blog so far. I've cruised with Royal before but I'm thinking of trying my first solo cruise so I'm learning lots from your perspective

Added what will be our first cruise that visits Coco Cay. All part of planning to get a crystal block on a particular ship. Freedom OTS July 4, 2022

Big thank you to @Stephen! When I finally managed to get on chat this morning the operator was rude and completely useless. The agent refused to check the offer, quoted £360pp as that is what the system says, and would not look into this Facebook promotion at all. Genuinely a terrible experience on chat. I decided to call whilst waiting for responses from the chat agent, and the lady I spoke to immediately acknowledged the offer at £275pp and added to the booking!! The difference between the two channels was night and day. Big saving on the drinks package for our first RC Cruise on Wonder next week (29 May) from Barcelona. Thanks again Stephen for sharing!!

1 - Barbados is beautiful so great to tag on a before and/or after stay 2 - Not only North Americans are allowed to book RCI cruises and actually quite a few of us Europeans like to go abroad too! 3 - Barbados is beautiful so why not?? 4 - Got to go to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Dominica, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica & Grenada on a 14 nighter from Barbados on Grandeur earlier this year - could not do that from Miami or other US ports when itinerary was put out. 5 - Not sure mentioned it but Barbados is beautiful! 6 - Plus Barbados has a few great golf courses! Cost is always a factor but not everybody is flying from the same place....

Often more cheaply and without the red tape of touching US soil (on some of the itineraries).

Just to add to @twangster's excellent information, if you buy a package but still want to use your free day (so you can have a second device connected, either for your own use or for use by another member of your party, which is totally allowed) then you do need to visit the Voom desk on board, because for some unfathomable reason a package "hides" your free day and only the Voom person can get it out of jail.

I found my first duck on a cruise in March, by accident. I did not even know about people hiding them. So this month I hid some. The staff even helped me with suggested locations, and one crew member told me that a gentleman found a duck and was thrilled. It was fun. I plan to hide more on next cruise this summer. Harmless and fun. Adults seem to love it as much as children.

Technically speaking the Diamond discount is $25.99 towards any Voom plan. $25.99 just also happens to be the cost for a single device, 24 hours of continuous service of the Surf package. As already mentioned, when signing up for service it will automatically apply the discount.

@Neesa I couldn’t agree more. A few seem a bit blind sighted when OP share real time disappointment— because the product no longer matches the price. I notice vocal bloggers who go radio silent as soon as OP question transparency, number of Covid cases, ship occupancy, staff shortages, sick and overwhelmed crew:-(. @She Sails Away I appreciate your honesty and insight. I’m glad Labadee was back on the itinerary and you had the chance to experience it. Wishing you more good times and pleasant memories!

It’s automatically loaded. When you go to buy an internet package on the ship, you’ll see the discount auto applied

Royal’s obsession with guest satisfaction scores is why many “rules” aren’t enforced, such as mdr dress code, chair hogs, etc. In short, it’s better to let guests do what they want (within reason) as a way to improve guest satisfaction. “what about me and a chair hog upsets me” Thats true, but a crew member telling you “no” is going to more negatively effect your view of the cruise than some other guest being inconsiderate. I don’t think guest satisfaction scores should be the end all, be all, of what constitutes success. Then again, I’m not in HR, marketing, or whoever picks these metrics. But they showboat these scores up and down all the time to press and Wall Street.

Oasis seems like what you want next. Save Enchantment when you're ready for a "deep cut" of Royal Caribbean

Thank you! I would imagine that memorial day weekend cruise would be absolutely jampacked with people looking to party, and a shortage of staff would definitely be a problem. I don’t know about the entertainment… But I do know this. When I came on the ship on day one and asked a staff member for help registering for the shows, it turned out that she is a cast member of Mamma Mia. They are only showing Mamma Mia the second to last night and then twice on the very last day. I asked why are they waiting so late in the week to show it and why only three performances? She said “we need that time to finish rehearsals and learn our parts.” So that comment implied to me that there are new cast members coming aboard. I would imagine that’s the case on several ships right now. What with people getting Covid and having to quarantine and just a general shortage of people overall. it sounds like they are not only short on crew but having to deal with Covid among the crew as well based on some of the YouTube videos I’ve been watching. It does seem at some point royal would cut back on passenger capacity to match the limited crew, but then again, we all understand they have a lot of money to make up for. interesting that the next cruise on the ship is sold out. I have to say one of the reasons I chose allure is because the fare was noticeably cheaper than the other oasis class ships. I guess it’s because this is the one ship that hasn’t been updated yet? Also I’ve never been to these ports so that was a real draw for me as well.

Just a tin foil hat response, but the staff may be saying this to make sure you rate everyone 100%. I hate when people tell me about a survey and then proceed to tell me how I should rate them. Major turnoff and it will most likely result in a lower score or rating. Also, people need to be honest. It's the only way things or people are going to improve. If you just mark the highest rating all the time, nothing is going to change.

The surveys can influence the response. If you have to answer additional questions based on a less then perfect rating, some folks will then offer subsequent ratings of perfect to avoid the hassle. When I was employed in the corporate world, if we rated our managers poorly we would be placed into focus groups with the goal determining ways to improve our managers. This was work above and beyond our regular assigned tasks that had to be completed on time. We learned quickly to rate management highly whether they deserved it or not!

Correct. "Perfect" is the only acceptable score. 4/5 or 9/10 is considered failure. I believe some of them would consider 99/100 failure if the scale was 0 to 100. When a survey follows up on rating something less than perfect with a question about why I have a standard response. Example: Please tell us why you were not highly satisfied. "I chose satisfied because I got what I expected. Highly satisfied requires something special and is reserved for exceptional service. You should be happy with a response of satisfied. I do not operate under an everybody-gets-a-trophy mentality. If you want a highly satisfied rating, do MORE than the standard expectation. By the way, once you do MORE a couple times, that becomes the new expectation and continuing to provide that level of service will return you to a response of satisfied."

That lawsuit may very well be the hindrance to ships returning anytime soon

:::::::::::::::: erasing and going back underground ::::::::::::::::::

I never knew that there was a wonder woman duck

No worries

I'd love to visit there, but, does RC have a ship that can even dock there now? Empress and Majesty are no longer in the fleet and, to my knowledge, they were the only ships able to port there before travel restrictions to Cuba were reinstated.