BrianH

In July, we booked a 7-night Greek Isles cruise on RCCL out of Rome on Brilliance in an aft junior suite for next October. (I should note that we're Diamond Plus on RCCL, having cruised with them 21 times in 18 years, and this was our third booking with them since our last cruise before covid.) Sometime since we booked, they switched the ship to the Enchantment of the Seas. Okay, I get that they change ships, and I can live with that ship, even with its one specialty restaurant and its tiny gym. But - they moved us to a midship junior suite, even though we paid up to get the aft location vs. midship when we booked. Now, I looked up how many suites in each category are on each ship. Even if they moved the one other aft junior suite from Brilliance to Enchantment, that left 11 on Enchantment. Then, if they moved the people from Grand and Owners' Suites on Brilliance over and above the number available on Enchantment to aft junior suites on Enchantment as accommodation, that still leaves 5 aft junior suites on Enchantment. So it's apparent that they moved us, pocketed the premium we paid, then left at least five unbooked aft junior suites for other people to book - also at premiums over midship junior suites. When I called them, they tried to tell me they sent a letter. BS. I checked all my email folders, and I received nothing from them. I only found out about the change when I looked at our reservations page. They refused to move us, and they refused to discount our remaining fare by the premium we paid. They put us on a waitlist and said they'd notify us if an aft junior suite opens up. Yeah, like they notified us when they changed ships and cabins on us. Yes, I know they can do this per the contract. Yes, we'll still be on a cruise, with a great itinerary, in a nice cabin with a balcony. Yes, we'll enjoy ourselves. But no, I probably won't cruise with them again. Caveat emptor.

This is still happening. In July, we booked a 7-night Greek Isles cruise on RCCL out of Rome on Brilliance in an aft junior suite for next October. (I should note that we're Diamond Plus on RCCL, having cruised with them 21 times in 18 years, and this was our third booking with them since our last cruise before covid.) Sometime since we booked, they switched the ship to the Enchantment of the Seas. Okay, I get that they change ships, and I can live with that ship, even with its one specialty restaurant and its tiny gym. But - they moved us to a midship junior suite, even though we paid up to get the aft location vs. midship when we booked. Now, I looked up how many suites in each category are on each ship. Even if they moved the one other aft junior suite from Brilliance to Enchantment, that left 11 on Enchantment. Then, if they moved the people from Grand and Owners' Suites on Brilliance over and above the number available on Enchantment to aft junior suites on Enchantment as accommodation, that still leaves 5 aft junior suites on Enchantment. So it's apparent that they moved us, pocketed the premium we paid, then left at least five unbooked aft junior suites for other people to book - also at premiums over midship junior suites. When I called them, they tried to tell me they sent a letter. BS. I checked all my email folders, and I received nothing from them. I only found out about the change when I looked at our reservations page. They refused to move us, and they refused to discount our remaining fare by the premium we paid. They put us on a waitlist and said they'd notify us if an aft junior suite opens up. Yeah, like they notified us when they changed ships and cabins on us. Yes, I know they can do this per the contract. Yes, we'll still be on a cruise, with a great itinerary, in a nice cabin with a balcony. Yes, we'll enjoy ourselves. But no, I probably won't cruise with them again. Caveat emptor.

Having read through this whole thread, a few observations: 1. FWIW, crew shortages, and worker shortages writ large, are not due to "the great resignation." In the US, it's simply a numbers game, and our friend from NZ alluded to record low unemployment there, so I suspect it's true in other countries as well. (FYI, I'm a "recovering economist" - former Chief Economist for a $50B financial institution.) US nonfarm payrolls are still some 1.2M below pre-pandemic levels, so we haven't yet recovered all the jobs we eliminated when we shut the economy down. AND - that doesn't account for normal growth over the ensuing 15 months, so that puts us another 3M or so jobs behind. We're at least 15 months out from equilibrium, unless a recession shortens that. 2. Crew shortages are affecting all lines. Tony at La Lido Loca has vlogged about this on Carnival (which has closed two popular dining venues until further notice), Cunard (which has canceled sailings), and NCL (which, I believe, has also canceled sailings). So being "done with RCCL" isn't much of a solution. 3. I fully empathize with everyone's concerns over this. You work hard for your money (queue up Agador Spartacus) and you expect to be treated right. Only the cruise lines' accountants can say for sure whether it was better to move to full capacity and be short-staffed (it ain't just covid, folks, visas have a lot to do with it), or remain below capacity. Reputation risk is hard to mitigate, because it's not transferable. Time will tell. 4. We are Diamond Plus with over 20 cruises under our belts, and have averaged a cruise a year since we got our sea legs. Our last cruise was Jan/Feb 2020, and we're having withdrawal symptoms, but we waited until the mask theatre ended. We're booked on a TA out of Barcelona on Jewel in late Oct. The good thing about a TA is that we don't really care if shows get canceled, activities get canceled, the Solarium Bistro is closed, etc., etc. We'll sit on the balcony of our aft suite and gaze out at the wide blue Atlantic, which is what we were gonna do anyway. And we don't eat in the MDR anymore (been there, done that), so we don't really care how long dinner takes. We figure a TA is a good first cruise back. But for the rest of you - again, I empathize. Only you can decide whether it's worth getting back out there and accepting the glitches, or waiting. Again, switching lines isn't an option, because it's universal. And it's not just cruising. I've seen more restaurants close locally in the last six months due to lack of staff than closed in 2020 due to the shutdown, including upscale places. And service? My wife picked up fast food burgers last week, and hers had the bun, the cheese, the tomato, the lettuce, the pickles, and the condiments - but no meat. Things can always be worse.