fireclan

Prepare to be addicted

I already feel im addicted!!

start saving money for future cruises. 😃

I constantly go on this and another cruise message board whether we are planning a cruise or not. I love learning new things and helping others. We have been on 4 with Royal. The Radiance was the ship for our first ever cruise on to Alaska. We next did a Western Caribbean on Allure and it went to Haiti, Jamaica, and Cozumel. We also did Bahamas I believe on Majesty to Coco Cay, Nassau, and Key West. Last month were on Enchantment out of Barcelona to Rome. The ports were Marseille, Villefranche, Genoa, Portofino, and Livorno

Think of how much Royal could command for those deluxe shipping container cabanas........🤪

With all due respect, if our attempt to hold Royal Caribbean to a higher standard of customer service is somehow, in your eye, offensive to the suffering people of Maui, then I really don't know how to explain this to you. All I can say is, the natural disaster and resulting trauma experienced by the people of Maui should NOT absolve Royal Caribbean (a for profit corporation) of their responsibilities to their customers. 
I am sorry we seem insensitive to you, many of us have donated to Maui relief effort and will be still going to Hawaii to do what we can for the local Hawaiian economy in general. Just talking about greedy corporate practices does not mean we have no compassion. 

This survey comes right from the playbooks!
1.  They mention a record breaking quarter.
2. Discuss raising prices for Cruising because "People will pay!"
3. Discuss reducing the gap between land base vacations and a Cruise Vacation.
4. Hey, Look over there. They MAY start charging a few dollars for awful, mediocre pizza. By now people have forgotten the Actual raises that will most likely occur from CEO discussions just last month that could be in the Hundreds if not thousands.
People tend to forget things quickly and move on to the next "Bad Thing."   Sound familiar?

This is the start of "Free Pizza Matter" movement.
Go Go FPM !

Almost.  The ACTUAL trigger word is "vaccine".

Really? Just mention the word “Covid” on this thread and it gets shut down. 

The crew areas certainly do look fantastic! I am definitely looking forward to seeing the new concept of our cabins, and how it will feel to live there.
 
This is honestly the most excited I've been, in my entire career, to start a new contract!

I called RC Customer Service and got transferred to their resolution team. They keep saying the change of port is for security reasons which I completely understand but we are not asking to go to Maui, we are simply asking to go to somewhere equivalent (ex. Hilo or Kona). In my opinion, RC did not make the effort to find another port on another Hawaiian island. Victoria and Seattle is the cheaper and easier option for them. I don't want to pay tens of thousands of dollars to see Victoria and Seattle which I've been to many times. This is nothing compared to visit a Hawaiian port in October. If Norwegian can make arrangement to stop at Big Island, why not RC? Very disappointed...
When I asked about compensation, the person from resolution team said there's absolutely nothing they can do to compensate us in this case--no refund, no discounts, not even onboard credits....unbelievable. RC truly "cares" about their customers! 
He also suggested sending a complaint email to [email protected]. I don't know if anyone will respond but I think we should all call them and email them so that they hear our feedback. 

Hi Matt,
Yes you have valid points. If I may, I think I can summarize why we are all angry at RC as briefly as I can. There are multiple layers of our anger:
Ports. Yes this point has been beaten to death, many of us are all looking forward to spending 2 days at Maui, 1 day cruising the Napali coast, then land at Oahu. Now it is a glorified water taxi. My party consist of my parents and in-laws at 70+ years old and not the most robust health. This is their last chance to visit Hawaii before their health prevents from doing so ever again. I am sure there are others in similar situation sadly. 
Communication. Royal Caribbean's communication has been very poor. Their email can be summarized to "for your safety, we are changing ports to Victoria and Seattle, have a nice day". If you call their customer service, their agents all read the exact same statement: "safety safety safety". We all know "not going to Maui" is about safety, but going to Victoria and Seattle has absolutely nothing to do with safety. This is an insult to our intelligence. If they tried all they can and just couldn't find anymore berth for a ship this size, then no one has ever communicated it, so we can only assume it is about cutting cost. In fact, I am willing to bet a health sum that docking at Victoria and Seattle is cheaper than any Hawaiian Island. 
Refund/Reschedule/Compensation. In an ideal world we would all be able to refund and reschedule to our heart's content, but we are not unreasonable people. Refunding a massive ship like this 2 months away from sail date is probably financially unsustainable for RC. We get it, but at no point did RC show even a bit of "care" for us as customers. If they just came out and said "We tried our best and couldn't find any better ports because of "ABC" and "XYZ", tell us how we can make you feel better? As a sigh of appreciation, here is some future cruise credits because we care". I guarantee you a lot of people (not all) would have taken this as a sign of good customer service and gladly solidify their brand loyalty to RC. Or at the very least make this easier to stomach. 
 
Now, the Too Long Didn't Read summary is this, RC has not been forthright and honest in their communication and response. Port of Call may not be under their control, but how they choose to communicate and compensate for this downgrade is entirely within their control. And if they don't think this is a downgrade, then seriously I wish them good luck with their company.

US states only.

They’ll have a pizza package for $30 a day, and we’ll see a bunch of posts about is the “pizza package worth it” and “how many slices to eat per day to break even” 

I do believe all calls are recorded. I had an issue last year when I got on board with something promised by service, they asked if I knew when the call was made and I remembered the date and approximate time. The next day they told me they listened to the conversation and made good on the information that was given to me.

When I sail solo it averages 3 per day.  I'll often grab bottles of water with a few at the end of the day just to stock the cabin with some water.
When I sail with @Matt I use all of mine and most of his.  

Wow. I mean, we're only talking about "okay" pizza.

Charging for pizza?  
Here Royal you can have my Pinnacle club membership back, I won't be needing it.  

Wow. I mean, we're only talking about "okay" pizza.

What a terrible experience.  I'm so sorry your vacation was ruined.

Bring back skeet shooting!!

Wow. I mean, we're only talking about "okay" pizza.

Wow. I mean, we're only talking about "okay" pizza.

We sailed out of Port Liberty a year ago on the Oasis.  At that time we stayed overnight in Jersey City and drove into the port the next morning and parked at the port.  If I had to do it again I would do the exact same thing.  Given the amount of congestion in that area and the time it will take to find a shuttle and get back to the hotel to get my car I think I would want to just pick it up at the port and be on my way.  The cost of parking at the port is expensive , but the cost of parking everywhere nearby is expensive.
Just my $.02