LizzyBee23

Oh, and one more: daughter tested positive for COVID on day 7 (Victoria) (she's fine! Very short lived symptoms). The usual stuff there, and we found our room service requests were very responsive.
Buuuut... They put all of the COVID positive parties (probably 20-30 of us) in Chops together. We were there until 10:30 or so before we were let off. Feel bad for any of the embarkation day diners in there. What's the recommendation for airborne particles to get out of the room? Like 4-6 hours?

We just got off of Ovation... Didn't sail Star class, but our observations were generally the same: short of many supplies, extremely inexperienced staff, terrible lines. We had a few extras thrown in, but here are the low lights:
1.) Had an emergency which meant we had to turn back on the way to Juneau on Day 2. Disappointing, but it happens. The real mess was at the end of Day 2 when, despite losing 6-8 hours of progress, everyone on staff insisted we would be in Juneau by noon. Anyone who could do the math and knew the ship pegs at just over 22 knots could call bull on that one. Everyone else had to wait until 10am the next day when the captain clumsily announced we wouldn't make that time and the CD came on immediately after and said "but we will reach port at 6:30p and will leave at 11p". At about 7:30p (and before the ship has dropped anchor), the line to get off the ship is double looped through the promenade and building at the direction of the staff while an announcement plays to "remember to socially distance". Lack of communication aside, this was utterly laughable. As many of you know, most things are shutting down at 8p in Juneau. There was a mass rush to the remaining open venues, and then more chaos trying to board the ship in some cases less than 90 minutes later.
2.) Our trip to Dawes and through the Fjords was cut short because of fog. I woke up to find us already stopped at the closest distance we would get to Dawes at about 8am (supposed to be doing the scenic glacier part of the journey from 6-12). By 10a we were already out. How did I find out the official reason this part of our journey had been cut short? From a FB post after the CD and/or captain again failed to adequately communicate the itinerary changes.
3.) The food was such a laughable disappointment. Every steak we ordered came out raw. Not rare... Raw. And most we ordered were medium or well-done. This included Chops, where our waiter neglected to even ask if we wanted drinks and only realized he hadn't brought out our soups/salads once the mains had arrived. At $60/head these days, an absolute disappointment. The evenings in the main dining room were also a joke, and the service was chaotic (I blame this on staff newness and the push to use the Royal app. We literally started to dread mealtime, which is usually our favorite part of the cruise)... If a meal was supposed to come with a baked/mashed potato, it came with French fries. If it was supposed to come with veggies, it came with French fries. If you wanted the strawberry and kiwi fruit cup, you got melon and maybe a smidge of pineapple. 
This is all in addition to the noted long lines for meals and embarkation/debarkation. There were good moments on the cruise, but I wish I had followed my instinct and pushed out our sailing. I'm sure they'll have much of these ironed out by the President's cruise in June. Mad at myself for letting us be one of their revenue "test" cruises with something we were so looking forward to.

We just got off of Ovation... Didn't sail Star class, but our observations were generally the same: short of many supplies, extremely inexperienced staff, terrible lines. We had a few extras thrown in, but here are the low lights:
1.) Had an emergency which meant we had to turn back on the way to Juneau on Day 2. Disappointing, but it happens. The real mess was at the end of Day 2 when, despite losing 6-8 hours of progress, everyone on staff insisted we would be in Juneau by noon. Anyone who could do the math and knew the ship pegs at just over 22 knots could call bull on that one. Everyone else had to wait until 10am the next day when the captain clumsily announced we wouldn't make that time and the CD came on immediately after and said "but we will reach port at 6:30p and will leave at 11p". At about 7:30p (and before the ship has dropped anchor), the line to get off the ship is double looped through the promenade and building at the direction of the staff while an announcement plays to "remember to socially distance". Lack of communication aside, this was utterly laughable. As many of you know, most things are shutting down at 8p in Juneau. There was a mass rush to the remaining open venues, and then more chaos trying to board the ship in some cases less than 90 minutes later.
2.) Our trip to Dawes and through the Fjords was cut short because of fog. I woke up to find us already stopped at the closest distance we would get to Dawes at about 8am (supposed to be doing the scenic glacier part of the journey from 6-12). By 10a we were already out. How did I find out the official reason this part of our journey had been cut short? From a FB post after the CD and/or captain again failed to adequately communicate the itinerary changes.
3.) The food was such a laughable disappointment. Every steak we ordered came out raw. Not rare... Raw. And most we ordered were medium or well-done. This included Chops, where our waiter neglected to even ask if we wanted drinks and only realized he hadn't brought out our soups/salads once the mains had arrived. At $60/head these days, an absolute disappointment. The evenings in the main dining room were also a joke, and the service was chaotic (I blame this on staff newness and the push to use the Royal app. We literally started to dread mealtime, which is usually our favorite part of the cruise)... If a meal was supposed to come with a baked/mashed potato, it came with French fries. If it was supposed to come with veggies, it came with French fries. If you wanted the strawberry and kiwi fruit cup, you got melon and maybe a smidge of pineapple. 
This is all in addition to the noted long lines for meals and embarkation/debarkation. There were good moments on the cruise, but I wish I had followed my instinct and pushed out our sailing. I'm sure they'll have much of these ironed out by the President's cruise in June. Mad at myself for letting us be one of their revenue "test" cruises with something we were so looking forward to.

The cruise has been a mess so far... Not surprised it hasn't been found. Have some time right now thanks to the absolute cluster that has been the Ovation in Juneau.

The cruise has been a mess so far... Not surprised it hasn't been found. Have some time right now thanks to the absolute cluster that has been the Ovation in Juneau.

Sure, and that kind of flexibility is something we can afford, too. But 3-4 hours for a dinner service? Whole mornings spent in lines to disembark at port? And not to mention things like Adventure Ocean and the North Star being closed. The sum total approaches unacceptability really quickly.
And sure... I'm willing to acknowledge that a COVID outbreak can change the way things are onboard quickly. I think it's reasonable to expect Royal to react in a way that also protects the guest experience... Perhaps by, at a minimum, allowing no new bookings on the ship experiencing a staff shortage?

Posted on a FB group... Seems a pretty direct admission Ovation is understaffed in more ways than one.

Sure, and that kind of flexibility is something we can afford, too. But 3-4 hours for a dinner service? Whole mornings spent in lines to disembark at port? And not to mention things like Adventure Ocean and the North Star being closed. The sum total approaches unacceptability really quickly.
And sure... I'm willing to acknowledge that a COVID outbreak can change the way things are onboard quickly. I think it's reasonable to expect Royal to react in a way that also protects the guest experience... Perhaps by, at a minimum, allowing no new bookings on the ship experiencing a staff shortage?

It has the same net effect, so perhaps this is a distinction without a difference.

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.

Posted on a FB group... Seems a pretty direct admission Ovation is understaffed in more ways than one.

Posted on a FB group... Seems a pretty direct admission Ovation is understaffed in more ways than one.

Thanks for that info.  That answers the statement: You can't have contingency staffing INA cruise ship."  
I think that if there are other ships, borrowing a few from each ship in the aggregate would help at least a little.  And my point is having a plan should be expected from big businesses.  So many comments here implying that a consumer should bear the burden of staffing issues.  I totally get the business side of things.  But a failure to communicate, failure to address issues, and expectations that the consumer needs to buck up and take it are NOT good business.  
Matt stated something to the effect that Royal prides itself and strives for customer satisfaction.  I truly believe that, but for the uninformed consumer, like me, it would be nice to know from Royal that the Ovation staffing issues are being looked at.

And would you look at that, the short term plan is to cut guest capacity.
At some point this becomes a safety issue, in addition to being wildly bad for business. The idea that 1-2 months of reduced capacity may lead to insolvency (while possibly true) doesn't really trump that.
"Last week the U.K.-based Cunard Line, a Carnival Cruise ship, drastically cut down on the guest capacity for the Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2, and P&O Cruises canceled seven sailings of Arcadia last month. Both cancellations were due to limited crew availability, which would have negatively impacted guest services."

And would you look at that, the short term plan is to cut guest capacity.
At some point this becomes a safety issue, in addition to being wildly bad for business. The idea that 1-2 months of reduced capacity may lead to insolvency (while possibly true) doesn't really trump that.
"Last week the U.K.-based Cunard Line, a Carnival Cruise ship, drastically cut down on the guest capacity for the Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2, and P&O Cruises canceled seven sailings of Arcadia last month. Both cancellations were due to limited crew availability, which would have negatively impacted guest services."

And would you look at that, the short term plan is to cut guest capacity.
At some point this becomes a safety issue, in addition to being wildly bad for business. The idea that 1-2 months of reduced capacity may lead to insolvency (while possibly true) doesn't really trump that.
"Last week the U.K.-based Cunard Line, a Carnival Cruise ship, drastically cut down on the guest capacity for the Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2, and P&O Cruises canceled seven sailings of Arcadia last month. Both cancellations were due to limited crew availability, which would have negatively impacted guest services."

COVID isn't new, though. If they can't react to it, they shouldn't be sailing with the number of people they are (or advertising a product they have no hope of actually delivering).

Royal intended to be at full capacity by May/June. They also knew about potent staff shortages. So then why push forward for a capacity that they could potentially not cater to? The past sailings of around 40 to 70% were doable. So mathematically, if they wanted more passengers, they should have had the staffing and contingency plans in place prior to full sailings. 
 
a business is usually in a greater position of power and knowledge, passing off the shortage issues onto the consumer is somewhat wrong. I’m not saying we can play dumb and be blissfully ignorant, but the opposite is to say that we should not expect the greatest possible outcome as a consumer, ever. 

Keep checking! Sometimes early ones will get released again.

Sure, but all of the kids in adventure ocean had the exact same testing requirements in order to board 90%+ vaccinated ship...

A FB group I'm in has someone discussing COVID among crew. Evidently someone's genie was pretty candid with them regarding the state of the crew onboard (also mentioned many were new... lots of mishaps including a bartender serving alcohol to a minor who ordered a virgin drink, and countless stories about having to deal with room charges/double grats, etc.) Take with a huge grain of salt, but I'll say the sheer quantity of these takes dwarves any other sailing group I've ever participated in on FB or elsewhere.

I kind of get it... RCL seems unwilling to compensate people for a substandard product, while now booking at full capacity. I understand that the cost of COVID mitigation is high, but if you ask your customers (who you lured on the ship with promises of entertainment or amenities that never materialize) to bear too much of that cost to push you into the black, well... What's that old saying? Poo rolls downhill?

I agree it can become intractable really fast... Would have preferred to see them keep capacity at 75%ish, or put something in place kind of like the airlines when they become oversold.
Even if they ultimately decide to do nothing, communicating that things are not ideal and taking their lumps with healthy doling out of OBC is better than leaving everyone in this quagmire. 
Sorry if I seem short... Feeling disappointed, again. Gets tiring!

Sure, and that kind of flexibility is something we can afford, too. But 3-4 hours for a dinner service? Whole mornings spent in lines to disembark at port? And not to mention things like Adventure Ocean and the North Star being closed. The sum total approaches unacceptability really quickly.
And sure... I'm willing to acknowledge that a COVID outbreak can change the way things are onboard quickly. I think it's reasonable to expect Royal to react in a way that also protects the guest experience... Perhaps by, at a minimum, allowing no new bookings on the ship experiencing a staff shortage?

Ultimately what this comes down to is knowing what you are paying for. RCCL has not changed what is advertised on its website and items like Northstar can be the difference in selecting one cruise over another. Getting what you pay for, or at least being given the opportunity to make an informed decision rather than a roll of the dice is not a big ask. It’s certainly not something that should be taken out on staff but there is a wide chasm between the company not living up to expectations and belittling staff members.