LovetoCruise87

Personal preferences.  I always sleep well on Royal ships.

THIS.
No matter how much I kick, scream, or tie myself to a stool at the Schooner Bar, they make sure I'm gone by about 9:30-10:00am.

It really seems to me that regardless of what Royal changes, there are going to be countries that will still require testing and/or vaccination. I'm sure that we will eventually get to the point where no one is requiring anything at all. So until then...just go with the flow. 
32 days until we board Harmony and a MUCH needed vacation!!!!

I'm not sure that's accurate (Royal desperately wanted a vax mandate). 
Royal went to great lengths to build their protocols so that unvax could sail.  They even deployed vax areas and unvax areas on the ships just so that unvax could sail.  Royal did test cruises while other lines like Carnival did not, so that unvax could sail.  Royal used vax bracelets for months on the premise that unvax might be able to sail soon.  
Royal did a lot of work on the premise that unvax would be able to cruise until the Bahamas instituted their vax requirement.  Then St Thomas and San Juan followed with their vax requirements, then other destinations like St. Kitts.  Despite that Royal continued to sail ships with vax and unvax areas on the ships hoping the vax requirements would be lifted by the destinations. 
It was not until the CDC's CSO 2.0 came out that defined "highly vaccinated" ships wouldn't need masks and anything less than "highly vaccinated" by the CDC definition would be virtually impossible to sail.  The CDC created their CSO 2.0 so that no cruise line would attempt to sail anything but "highly vaccinated".  The CDC couldn't establish a vax mandate but they could make it really ugly to perform a cruise with less than 95% vax rates so that's what they did.  
Royal has always taken steps in the direction to try to allow unvax to sail but they have always been kept from achieving that by either the destinations or the CDC.  If anyone,  NCL wanted a vax mandate.  NCL took Florida to court over it.  Royal never jumped on that bandwagon.  

My cabin steward is amazing! I went to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, came back and my bed had been made!

It really seems to me that regardless of what Royal changes, there are going to be countries that will still require testing and/or vaccination. I'm sure that we will eventually get to the point where no one is requiring anything at all. So until then...just go with the flow. 
32 days until we board Harmony and a MUCH needed vacation!!!!

Do you all remember how cassette tapes had a side a and a side b? It only makes sense that they were replaced by cd.😎

Our cruise coming up on Sept 4th, Harmony, we have a ocean view balcony stateroom. To bid on a ocean view w/large balcony, the lowest is $200/ person. I think I will use that money on other fun items during the cruise. 

Our cruise coming up on Sept 4th, Harmony, we have a ocean view balcony stateroom. To bid on a ocean view w/large balcony, the lowest is $200/ person. I think I will use that money on other fun items during the cruise. 

The food issue will resolve itself as supply chain and staffing issues subside.

*Stares in midwest*...so...landlocked in Illinois..with NJ 12 hours, Galveston 18 hours and FL 24 hours by car away....I...just should never cruise...?
That.....is a REALLY blind and privileged thing to say....The US is bigger than just the coasts....
 

Same can be said about your original post.  
We are members of a group that want to learn, teach, enjoy, and share with regards to Royal Caribbean cruises.  We ARE NOT in any position to fix problems with someone's bad experience.  Complaining about a legit issue is more than okay.  But your original post was a bit uneven-handed and based mainly on misunderstandings and misinformation.  Sorry, but that is pretty much the truth.

I know and I laughed but then thought about it. People get places and act real brand new. They could check the app, their documents, the signage......the list goes on and on. They choose not to. Even if Royal had a "cruising 101" at the terminal, people still wouldn't pay attention. I was recommended Royal by a coworker and went with a long-time friend. She gave me very little info and I did the research but there were still things I didn't know. However, I have long gone into travel with temper expectations, not only do I plan for the unexpected, but I have learned to look at the big picture. 
Lots of the OP complaints have very little to do with Royal. Yes, this cruise was touted as a Glacier experience when it was sold but weeks ago, they informed guest of the changes. Not only that but the cruise contract states anything can change. I am not saying accept mediocrity, I am saying do some research for something you will be spending your hard-earned dollars on. 

My only expectation is plenty Of vodka onboard. Otherwise my cruise philosophy is hakuna matata 

I endorse your PoV!

Thanks for a bit more confirmation on the passenger that unfortunately passed away. The OP comes off as a bit of an unreliable narrator so that throwaway line felt hard to believe from just them.
 
But what's worse...the OP mentions having been on cruises (and maybe even Royal cruises) before so I do wonder why there was soooo much they didn't seem to know.

Improper expectation is the leading cause of negative reviews.

Hi Kathkart and welcome to the forums. It sucks that you seemed to have had a less than fun cruise.
As a fellow cruiser, I'd like to comment on/address/ or clarify some points you made.
These rumors were true and based on the a notice Royal sent out to Quantum passengers a week or two back that due to the engine troubles they would not be able to view the glaciers. Royal actually offered compensation if people wanted to cancel their Alaska cruises because of these changes. I'm not sure why you didn't get the notice - perhaps you can discuss with your TA (if you have one) or see if it went to spam.
Emergency communications at the time of night wouldn't be played in the staterooms as they are only for the crew to hear. Most people don't know what the codes mean and they could cause panic if delivered in a loud or aggressive manner. (On our last cruise we had a "Bravo bravo" which is fire [ i had to google] and even that was delivered with a level of calm. No captain wants to cause undue alarm to their passengers.) Also, again, it was late so there was a good chance the captain was being respectful of that. And I promise you, they didn't use the injury as an excuse to not do the Glacier. Most likely they had intended to make an effort to go to the glacier (knowing that most if not all Alaska cruisers want to see them) and that was derailed due to the medical emergency. I think you're being highly unfair to the staff and company to state that they intentionally deceived you and used a hurt kid as an excuse.
 
Staffing shortages have been an issue within Royal since the restart. Since most of their serving/kitchen/housekeeping etc staff come from outside America there have been delays with visas, testing, travel and more that have delayed staff boarding ships. Unfortunately they have to work with what they have and as as you said, the staff that are there are working extra hard to make up for the shortages.
Regarding Windjammer - the buffet is always full at peak times like breakfast. It's a fact of cruising and it sounds like you were in an even trickier bag since you had such a large group. That's unfortunate but perhaps next time you can take advantage of room service. I believe Royal is still waiving the Room service fee for breakfast and allowing you to pick from both sides of the door hanger menu.
Hopefully you addressed this with Guest services on board. Mistakes can happen and they will be happy to correct this.
 
It is important to remember that Royal does not create or run any of the port excursions. They partner with local companies to offer them to cruisers. Blaming royal for what another company does is inaccurate blame. Again, if you are disappointed, mention it to the shore excursion or guest services desk while on board. While Royal does not run the excursions they do care about how these companies run since that also reflects on Royal. Because of that, if there are complaints about how an excursion is run Royal wants to know so they can decide if that 3rd party is okay to keep on.
As for the Covid...that was  risk you all agreed to when you booked the cruise. It could have happened on a limited capacity ship just as much as on land...I do hope your kid is doing well but again...you did sign that you agree to the inherent risk.
 
I...I don't know what to tell you about how not every place can be open 24/7.... If you want food after 9...pizza or cafe are your options....
 
The North star, I believe, is still free on port days.
 
....I'm sorry...someone died on your excursion....? I....I just....I feel like something is missing there...?
Also...I believe trams/golf carts etc are available but one may need to request them or talk to staff to determine where to meet them or how often they run.
 
Again...Royal is not responsible for what happens on land. ROYAL does not charge for the bus at BC...BC bus people do.

This past weekend my darling wife said she wanted to go somewhere expensive. So, I took her to the gas station, boy was she pissed of!😎

Not sure of logic here personally.  Surely length of cruise irrelevant with covid testing.  Either everyone or none at all.  The whole aim of vacs is to prevent serious illness.  It does NOT stop you catching & passing on, so again, logic of extra testing of those who have both vacs bot no booster, seems odd as anyone regardless of status can carry, pass covid on.  RC trying to tick boxes but come on RC, the CDC have said testing now not required, so choose...all or none. This will anger those on 6nights & above, as no logic.  We all know its our own risk if we choose to holiday, go on cruise with covid now part of the fabric of the world.  Even someone fully upto date, could bring covid on board, where pre cruise test hasn't picked up, as maybe slightly too early to detect.  Family member had last week & showed neg for 3days even though classic symptoms.  4th day tested +.  
This is my opinion only,  so I'm nit saying 1 persons view right or wrong. I am fully up to date on vacs & was very anxious of covid. Still not keen to catch it but realise my own risk.

Thank you for the Wonderland review. We were thinking about giving it a try, but I now believe that we will pass on it. 

Thank you for the Wonderland review. We were thinking about giving it a try, but I now believe that we will pass on it.