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just off a 9 day anthem


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well i am back and had some time to reflect of my cruise.  just some back ground i grew up on royal and cruised it my whole life did a few celebrity here and there but over the last few years i have only cruised disney with my young kids.  i jumped on this cruise bc the proximity and cost.  i few things i noticed i am not saying i had a bad time nor i would never go on royal again in fact i am going on an adults only cruise  end of sept that i am really looking forward to it on navigator.  here are a few things i felt royal really missed the boat on. 

first having to check pool towels in and out if about the biggest joke in the history of cursing i mean its cheap blue towel who on earth is stealing these in mass in order to institute this policy.   this was such a turn off. 

second the lack of variety in the main dining venues they served the same exact food in windjammer (it was also a mob scene every meal)  every single day at every single meal after 9 days if i saw another gyro bar or carving station i was about to jump off the boat.  the main dining room only changed maybe 30% of the menu each night i get having some staples but come on its a 9 night cruise eating the same things everyday got old fast.  this leads into my biggest gripe the over all lack of communication from royal to the guests.  they did not let you know hey there are 5 other places to eat cafe 70 ect....like it was in the flyer of times but i have no idea what they were about are i guess its on me for not checking every single place out to see what they had each day but i mean come on do something to spread out the crowds.  i felt if they did a better job of informing the guests of where to eat the wind would not be a total S-Show and maybe have an empty table or two bc its real fun fighting for a table on vacation.

the only thing that saved my trip(food wise) was the costal kitchen we did not even realize until day 4 we could got their being in a JR suite we never went back to the main dining room.  we got no notice about our bogo reservations bc we paid for it 6 months ago and this caused another set of problems bc we forgot the times and the app was trash  (BTW jamies was nice CHOPS was HOT GARBAGE i feel bad for anyone who paid 50 bucks for that meal)  is it that hard to send a card saying hey you are doing this and that.....

the main dining room was the worst experience i have ever had on any cruise ever i felt bad our server was amazing but the rest of her team from the head waiter to the assistant were useless.  i hate to thing about a class system on these boats but it was night and day even having a junior suite and being able to go to the costal. 

another major problem since i was sailing with a family their was no curtain that separates the room do they not realize people bring families and maybe i dont want to go to bed at 8:30pm with my kids but there is no way to give them some area that it can be dark in with out turning off all the lights.  i mean that is just a joke call your self a family cruise line but don't do the simple things for families.

the boat felt packed the lines for everything were insane forget about on the deck ice cream 15 people deep....hey royal your have 4600 guests lets only put 2 machines on the deck that seems like a good plan. 

now i am only saying the negative things i hate being like this we had a ton of great things....Austin in the costal kitchen was the best server ever he made us feel like he cared about my family and was really just great.  Roy our stateroom guy was also just so nice and helpful.  boat was clean and kept nice....

 

so sum it up i will not be taking my family on another royal until my kids are much older but on the flip side like i said i cant wait to get back on a ship in September. 

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50 minutes ago, av3206 said:

who on earth is stealing these in mass in order to institute this policy.

They weren't being stolen, so much as left behind. The classic scenario is guest takes pool towel and goes on shore excursion to a beach. They use the towel and the towel is wet and dirty, so they leave the towel behind as not to be bothered with bringing back a soiled towel.

51 minutes ago, av3206 said:

the main dining room was the worst experience i have ever had on any cruise ever i felt bad our server was amazing but the rest of her team from the head waiter to the assistant were useless.

When you say useless, can you elaborate as to what you mean exactly? What aspect of the MDR experience was sub par?

52 minutes ago, av3206 said:

another major problem since i was sailing with a family their was no curtain that separates the room do they not realize people bring families and maybe i dont want to go to bed at 8:30pm with my kids but there is no way to give them some area that it can be dark in with out turning off all the lights.  i mean that is just a joke call your self a family cruise line but don't do the simple things for families.

I completely understand where you come from on this. It's why we opt for two smaller rooms, rather than one large room. Provides separation from the kids.

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so the big problem was the AS would disappear so that would then mess everything up no drinks or very extremely delayed drinks then food would be delayed bc they would not be pulling it for the server.  we asked for the kids food to be brought out early that never happened and then things like horseradish or cheese for dinner dishes would take 10-15 minutes after you got your dinner.  so you ended up just waiting or going without.  Finally the 4th and last night we ate i flagged down the head waiter and was like please gets us like 5 things but he was busy with other tables and took some time to get with us..... he did call and ask why we did not come back and i said coastal kitchen and he understood and said enjoy.  i felt bad for the server she had a bad helper but that was our experience it was a shame i am sure it would have been better with a different team.   overall the lack of changes to the menu was very surprising.

 

so on the towel thing make you check them out on island but not on the ship i under stand the port part but not on the ship. 

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52 minutes ago, av3206 said:

on the towel thing make you check them out on island but not on the ship i under stand the port part but not on the ship. 

How do you do that ? How do you know that the towel I took on deck 15 will not be taken to shore ? Anyway I agree with you it's very annoying 

Anyway I hope your next cruise will be better. For the MDR it can be an hit or a miss  so totally understand were you are coming from , regarding the WJ we just learn to come early or late and never use it for breakfast during the rush time.

I hope you wrote your suggestion on the surevay , you will be supprise how RCL taking it seriously

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I know I have had mixed experiences in the mdr.  We had pretty much given up but had an amazing experience there on majesty.  Hope you give royal another try...my teens absolutely have loved Royal.  

As for the towel thing, annoying but I agree there is no way to know if people are taking them off the ship when you get them on a sea day.   I have always had the check in check out process to be super quick.  Jane

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Bon voyage wherever you end up next, feedback is a gift.  Thanks for sharing and for offering so much specific detail.

It is a bummer when things aren't as much fun as anticipated, but am I the only one who appreciates the variety of the Windjammer?  I understand that many dishes are repeated, but I don't eat everything day 1 and couldn't by day 7.  I have found the paella is only available for lunch on day 1 -- rarely saw it later.  I try a different dessert every day, and I still have choices day 7.   That said, the variety may not be the same as it was a few years ago.  My work around for crowded WJ is the Solarium (on the Harmony) and of course, trying to avoid the rush.  Being an early riser, that hasn't been a problem for breakfast.

On the several different ships I've experienced, the MDR menu is different every night, and the number of "same" menu items has been reduced over the years.  We love the duck, lamb, fish, and pork entrees - nicer than we eat at home or when we go out for pizza/salad.

Having said this about the WJ, I do remember my first cruise on RCI, before I understood their ships or cruising at all.  I was disappointed the first day, but noticed steady improvement thereafter.  I've never looked back.  A lot has to do with expectations -- a cruise ship is a floating hotel.   Compare your expectations for a hotel on land (of same quality) with your cruise experience.  I've found hotels on land more expensive (when you add everything up) and usually lesser service (like it takes forever for rooms to be cleaned).  Your experiences may be entirely different.

I've always found quiet spots, even on large ships like the Harmony.  I couldn't believe the "private" concerts my wife and I had last month in Central Park.  Families do place demands on the cruise experience, however, and it may be more difficult to find quiet time for recharging.

 

2 hours ago, av3206 said:

well i am back and had some time to reflect of my cruise.  just some back ground i grew up on royal and cruised it my whole life did a few celebrity here and there but over the last few years i have only cruised disney with my young kids.  i jumped on this cruise bc the proximity and cost.  i few things i noticed i am not saying i had a bad time nor i would never go on royal again in fact i am going on an adults only cruise  end of sept that i am really looking forward to it on navigator.  here are a few things i felt royal really missed the boat on. 

first having to check pool towels in and out if about the biggest joke in the history of cursing i mean its cheap blue towel who on earth is stealing these in mass in order to institute this policy.   this was such a turn off. 

second the lack of variety in the main dining venues they served the same exact food in windjammer (it was also a mob scene every meal)  every single day at every single meal after 9 days if i saw another gyro bar or carving station i was about to jump off the boat.  the main dining room only changed maybe 30% of the menu each night i get having some staples but come on its a 9 night cruise eating the same things everyday got old fast.  this leads into my biggest gripe the over all lack of communication from royal to the guests.  they did not let you know hey there are 5 other places to eat cafe 70 ect....like it was in the flyer of times but i have no idea what they were about are i guess its on me for not checking every single place out to see what they had each day but i mean come on do something to spread out the crowds.  i felt if they did a better job of informing the guests of where to eat the wind would not be a total S-Show and maybe have an empty table or two bc its real fun fighting for a table on vacation.

the only thing that saved my trip(food wise) was the costal kitchen we did not even realize until day 4 we could got their being in a JR suite we never went back to the main dining room.  we got no notice about our bogo reservations bc we paid for it 6 months ago and this caused another set of problems bc we forgot the times and the app was trash  (BTW jamies was nice CHOPS was HOT GARBAGE i feel bad for anyone who paid 50 bucks for that meal)  is it that hard to send a card saying hey you are doing this and that.....

the main dining room was the worst experience i have ever had on any cruise ever i felt bad our server was amazing but the rest of her team from the head waiter to the assistant were useless.  i hate to thing about a class system on these boats but it was night and day even having a junior suite and being able to go to the costal. 

another major problem since i was sailing with a family their was no curtain that separates the room do they not realize people bring families and maybe i dont want to go to bed at 8:30pm with my kids but there is no way to give them some area that it can be dark in with out turning off all the lights.  i mean that is just a joke call your self a family cruise line but don't do the simple things for families.

the boat felt packed the lines for everything were insane forget about on the deck ice cream 15 people deep....hey royal your have 4600 guests lets only put 2 machines on the deck that seems like a good plan. 

now i am only saying the negative things i hate being like this we had a ton of great things....Austin in the costal kitchen was the best server ever he made us feel like he cared about my family and was really just great.  Roy our stateroom guy was also just so nice and helpful.  boat was clean and kept nice....

 

so sum it up i will not be taking my family on another royal until my kids are much older but on the flip side like i said i cant wait to get back on a ship in September. 

 

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One of the most asked questions I get is some form of 'how/why Royal thinks they can get away with this?'(covers any "this" you might have encountered)

 

My answer has always been "because they can." Don't jump to a conclusion yet, I say this with over one hundred cruises with Royal under my belt. I have ridden the customer service roller coaster that caused me to cut up my "Crown & Anchor" card and send it to the V.P. in charge of "C&A" (anyone recall that we were even issued cards back then?). I've tried other lines just to discover that poor service or products are an industry wide issue in mainstream cruising. So "because they can" is the plain reality that comes from full ships. My rose colored glasses broke long ago but I can also articulate many positive reasons that I still cruise with Royal. Ironically the first reason is the loyalty program I stuck with after the V.P actually responded to me so many years ago ;>)

 

 

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1 minute ago, Hagar said:

One of the most asked questions I get is some form of 'how/why Royal thinks they can get away with this?'(covers any "this" you might have encountered)

 

My answer has always been "because they can." Don't jump to a conclusion yet, I say this with over one hundred cruises with Royal under my belt. I have ridden the customer service roller coaster that caused me to cut up my "Crown & Anchor" card and send it to the V.P. in charge of "C&A" (anyone recall that we were even issued cards back then?). I've tried other lines just to discover that poor service or products are an industry wide issue in mainstream cruising. So "because they can" is the plain reality that comes from full ships. My rose colored glasses broke long ago but I can also articulate many positive reasons that I still cruise with Royal. Ironically the first reason is the loyalty program I stuck with after the V.P actually responded to me so many years ago ;>)

 

 

Yes, the executives do respond to customer complaints, as my wife found out when RCI lost her suitcase and gave her a hard time about her claim. The executive smoothed things over and provided OBC for our next cruise.  It is worth contacting RCI executives when there is a valid complaint -- another website actually publishes their contact information.

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