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Your Future Vision for RCCL


FManke

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10 minutes ago, FManke said:

If you were in charge of RCCL, what would be your vision for the future of RCCL

What things would you be adding? Deleting? Policy changes? Menu changes? Ship design?

Build your perfect cruise experience.

 

Excellent question.   On the whole my family has enjoyed Royal's cruises, especially customer service on the ship.  However, I'd offer up these items:

(1) Greater transparency in pricing (everything)  -- I hate thinking we need to "game" the system to get a fair price.  Just tell us in advance what the pricing policy will be, and if necessary point out regional differences.  If we can plan ahead to get a lower price, we will.  If we can't, we'll take our chances, but try to be consistent/gradual in the price increases.

(2) Less up-selling pressure -- tell us once that we have additional options and what the tangible benefits are, but then let us do our thing.  We are on vacation, and we will spend our money -- eventually.

(3) Shows don't need to be "over the top".  Performers are very talented, so give them a platform to shine without confusing the audience.

(4) Improve the decor/ambiance of specialty restaurants - they don't seem very romantic to me inside - seem to be missing the paintings or photos we see elsewhere on the ships.

(5) Base excursions on customer input.  Some excursions don't seem well though out, and in the end aren't very enjoyable.  There is so much guest travel experience, Royal could build on success.

(6) Improve the quality of "house" wine.  It really is often pretty sour, and I'm no expert.

(7) Continue to seek out new destinations, modified itineraries to keep cruising "interesting".  Related to this, improve destination discussions -- have attended some great lectures on some ships and lousy presentations on others.

 

I am really impressed with most of the technology improvements and how quickly embarkation and disembarkation have become.  Great job!

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10 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

(7) Continue to seek out new destinations, modified itineraries to keep cruising "interesting".  Related to this, improve destination discussions -- have attended some great lectures on some ships and lousy presentations on others.

This!

I also eternally wish for a cruise search by cabin class function.

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11 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

(3) Shows don't need to be "over the top".  Performers are very talented, so give them a platform to shine without confusing the audience.

I think that best describes "Blue Planet" on Allure... seemed like they were trying way too hard to impress and the show was not that fluid. I agree, all of the performers were excellent, but it was definitely our least favorite show on that ship. We'll probably skip it next time.

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15 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

I think that best describes "Blue Planet" on Allure... seemed like they were trying way too hard to impress and the show was not that fluid. I agree, all of the performers were excellent, but it was definitely our least favorite show on that ship. We'll probably skip it next time.

I remember the first time we ever saw Blue Planet. We thought it was the most wonderful show we had ever seen on a ship.  That was Dec 2009.  Now we don’t even bother with it anymore.  They really need to change these things a bit more often.  Yes, I am fully aware of the cost in both dollars and logistics for such changes. Don’t care. They still need to make more frequent changes. Cats ?  Really ?  STILL ?

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1) I would like to see the reciprocity of loyalty status between sister lines be more realistic:  Currently, the top reciprocal status afforded on Celebrity to someone who is Pinnacle aboard Royal Caribbean is Elite, the same status afforded to those who are Diamond. Surely, someone in the Executive Offices realizes that equating 80 loyalty points to 700+  when arriving at a reciprocal status between sister lines is truly an egregious insult to their top tier loyalty members. Given that I am a lover of the quieter, smaller ships, I am slowly being pushed towards Celebrity (which may be RC's intent) and would readily make the shift away from ships that are fast-becoming amusement parks at sea if my loyalty amenities were more in line with what I currently am being given when sailing Royal Caribbean. 

2) I also agree that a diversity of ports/itineraries is needed.  Looking at February of 2020 and 2021 out of my home port of Bayonne, one 8 day and the remaining 7 day sailings visit Port Canaveral, Coco Cay, and Nassau.  Personally, I love to cruise to escape the New York winters and would love to eliminate flying from my cruise budget but it has been years since I have been able to do exactly that.  I usually fly to and cruise out of PC so I can hit the longer sailings and frequently do 3 to 5 consecutive sailings on ships offering longer itineraries or ports I favor. I would love to see an 11/8 or 12/7 schedule out of Bayonne in Feb and not necessarily one that stops at Coco Cay which seems to be the new port "all" for RC.  I liked the beachcomber feel to the old Coco Cay and having been to the  newly commercialized Coco Cay would welcome Labadee for its ambiance. 

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Overall I'm pretty pleased with Royal which is why I am here.  This is how to make it better:

  1. Keep cruising affordable.  
  2. Improve the website.
  3. Add free texting across the fleet using wifi based chat applications such as iMessage, WhatsApp or FB Messenger.  More airlines offer this now for free.  Time to allow it on ships.  Stop trying to build chat into the Royal app and let people use what they use already.  Royal talks about making vacation stress free, communicating with loved ones on board and at home makes vacations stress free.
  4. Migrate all ships to O3b Voom and leave the 1980 satellite technology where it belongs, in the past. 
  5. Add technology to allow mirroring phones and tablets to cabin TVs
  6. Eliminate the Diamond happy hour binge drinking nightly event by removing it from the Diamond Lounge.  This would solve the "How many Diamonds can you cram into a phone booth" effect in the lounge every night.  Keep 3 drink coupons but expand the hours of use and quality of choices.  Give Diamond members 30% off drink packages, move Diamond Plus to 40% off and Pinnacle to 50% off drink packages.  Even at those rates there is still profit to be had.  Currently many guests at these C&A levels don't buy drink packages or drinks at all, relying on the nightly happy hour for drinks.  These changes would increase DX revenue and reduce happy hour costs, a combined win-win.  
  7. Deal with chair hogs by actually enforcing the rules and do so consistently across the fleet
  8. Add USB outlets to all ships, add power outlets by the beds
  9. Clarify dining package rules.  State exactly what is included, apply this consistently across the fleet
  10. Make all rules consistent and apply them consistently across the fleet.  Be consistent with every thing across the fleet.
  11. Make Sea and Sky suite class available on all ships with consistent benefits across the fleet.  Star class can remain exclusive to OA/QU.
  12. Smoke free casinos across the fleet.  If Celebrity can do it, so can Royal.
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4 hours ago, twangster said:

Overall I'm pretty pleased with Royal which is why I am here.  This is how to make it better:

  1. Keep cruising affordable.  
  2. Improve the website.
  3. Add free texting across the fleet using wifi based chat applications such as iMessage, WhatsApp or FB Messenger.  More airlines offer this now for free.  Time to allow it on ships.  Stop trying to build chat into the Royal app and let people use what they use already.  Royal talks about making vacation stress free, communicating with loved ones on board and at home makes vacations stress free.
  4. Migrate all ships to O3b Voom and leave the 1980 satellite technology where it belongs, in the past. 
  5. Add technology to allow mirroring phones and tablets to cabin TVs
  6. Eliminate the Diamond happy hour binge drinking nightly event by removing it from the Diamond Lounge.  This would solve the "How many Diamonds can you cram into a phone booth" effect in the lounge every night.  Keep 3 drink coupons but expand the hours of use and quality of choices.  Give Diamond members 30% off drink packages, move Diamond Plus to 40% off and Pinnacle to 50% off drink packages.  Even at those rates there is still profit to be had.  Currently many guests at these C&A levels don't buy drink packages or drinks at all, relying on the nightly happy hour for drinks.  These changes would increase DX revenue and reduce happy hour costs, a combined win-win.  
  7. Deal with chair hogs by actually enforcing the rules and do so consistently across the fleet
  8. Add USB outlets to all ships, add power outlets by the beds
  9. Clarify dining package rules.  State exactly what is included, apply this consistently across the fleet
  10. Make all rules consistent and apply them consistently across the fleet.  Be consistent with every thing across the fleet.
  11. Make Sea and Sky suite class available on all ships with consistent benefits across the fleet.  Star class can remain exclusive to OA/QU.
  12. Smoke free casinos across the fleet.  If Celebrity can do it, so can Royal.

Hmmm. Seems like you have thought about these things before. Or are they just off the top of your head?

Whatever the case. Excellent points!

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On 7/18/2019 at 12:31 PM, twangster said:
  • Eliminate the Diamond happy hour binge drinking nightly event by removing it from the Diamond Lounge.  This would solve the "How many Diamonds can you cram into a phone booth" effect in the lounge every night.  Keep 3 drink coupons but expand the hours of use and quality of choices.  Give Diamond members 30% off drink packages, move Diamond Plus to 40% off and Pinnacle to 50% off drink packages.  Even at those rates there is still profit to be had.  Currently many guests at these C&A levels don't buy drink packages or drinks at all, relying on the nightly happy hour for drinks.  These changes would increase DX revenue and reduce happy hour costs, a combined win-win.  

I like the idea of a few drink coupons for Diamond members, I'd still buy a drink package honestly, but it's nicer than rushing to the lounge just for a "free" drink. I like the discount of the drink package idea even more; only I'd suggest adding 5% to your suggestion for Diamond because 30% off is a popular sale that many wait for, as a Diamond member I'd rather know I got it a little less. Assuming $70 base price 35% is $45.50 vs $49, I'll take it! 

*Side note: How does Royal calculate the buy one get one 1/2 off? My algebra say 20% ($56 a day) & 30%($49 a day)  point to a $70 dollar base but 25% of $70 isn't $52 it's actually $52.50.

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4 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

I like the idea of a few drink coupons for Diamond members, I'd still buy a drink package honestly, but it's nicer than rushing to the lounge just for a "free" drink. I like the discount of the drink package idea even more; only I'd suggest adding 5% to your suggestion for Diamond because 30% off is a popular sale that many wait for, as a Diamond member I'd rather know I got it a little less. Assuming $70 base price 35% is $45.50 vs $49, I'll take it! 

*Side note: How does Royal calculate the buy one get one 1/2 off? My algebra say 20% ($56 a day) & 30%($49 a day)  point to a $70 dollar base but 25% of $70 isn't $52 it's actually $52.50.

Hey @JLMoranyou should like this. More math!

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3 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

I like the idea of a few drink coupons for Diamond members, I'd still buy a drink package honestly, but it's nicer than rushing to the lounge just for a "free" drink. I like the discount of the drink package idea even more; only I'd suggest adding 5% to your suggestion for Diamond because 30% off is a popular sale that many wait for, as a Diamond member I'd rather know I got it a little less. Assuming $70 base price 35% is $45.50 vs $49, I'll take it! 

*Side note: How does Royal calculate the buy one get one 1/2 off? My algebra say 20% ($56 a day) & 30%($49 a day)  point to a $70 dollar base but 25% of $70 isn't $52 it's actually $52.50.

Currently D+ gets 30% off which means I don't have to play the game seeking drink package sales and watching it every day.  I can just board and get what is typically the cheapest you'll ever see in the cruise planner.  Most cruise planner sales are 25% at best.  Once in a while you can do better than 25%.  The idea is to extend what they offer today to D+ to D, then bump D+ and P up to appease them.  

There is no base drink package price.  You can't use $70 as the base price for all cruises.  Many are in the low 60's on board.  It varies by cruise length and sail date.   That's the heart of the issue, you don't really know what the basis of their discount are until you get on board and then it's too late to buy it in the cruise planner.

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@twangster hit on my number one thing I would love to see Royal implement..consistency.

Why do you think it's so difficult for them to be consistent across the fleet?  Why can't Royal just roll out standards or programs and keep the details the same on all the ships.  This goes really far in managing guest expectations.  Why do we have to ask if Playmakers is covered on the UDP or Johnny Rockets milkshakes on the UBP?  Why can't Royal come up with set standards for The Key that every ship in the fleet uses?  Why do they have to make all of the descriptions vague?  Do the individual ships want to retain the ability to make the decision on these things?  Why wouldn't Royal make consistency be a priority?

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44 minutes ago, twangster said:

Currently D+ gets 30% off which means I don't have to play the game seeking drink package sales and watching it every day.  I can just board and get what is typically the cheapest you'll ever see in the cruise planner.  Most cruise planner sales are 25% at best.  Once in a while you can do better than 25%.  The idea is to extend what they offer today to D+ to D, then bump D+ and P up to appease them.  

There is no base drink package price.  You can't use $70 as the base price for all cruises.  Many are in the low 60's on board.  It varies by cruise length and sail date.   That's the heart of the issue, you don't really know what the basis of their discount are until you get on board and then it's too late to buy it in the cruise planner.

My last few cruises I've been able to reprice the "buy one get one half" (25% off) to 30% off that's why I was hoping for a few more. True you don't know the 'base' price for every sailing, my math comes directly from pricing my upcoming cruise drink package. You can calculate the base of the sale price with a simple formula. So, for example my current 30% off sale is $49 dollars a day, so the base price is:

Original price = X

Discount = 30%

Discount = 30% of x = .30x (or .3x).

Sale price = Original price - discount = x - .3X = .7x

Sale price - $49 =  .7x 

So...

x = 49/.7 = $70.

I've done this for each of the three different sales offered and the 25% off doesn't match $70 dollars.

At 20% the price was $56 dollars: $56/.8 = $70.

At 25% the price was $52 dollars: $52/.75 = $69.333333333333 repeating. 

I suspect it's innocently just "rounding down" in our favor. Just curious if anyone else ever noticed it... OR am I the only geek that does this kinda stuff? ?

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26 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

My last few cruises I've been able to reprice the "buy one get one half" (25% off) to 30% off that's why I was hoping for a few more. True you don't know the 'base' price for every sailing, my math comes directly from pricing my upcoming cruise drink package. You can calculate the base of the sale price with a simple formula. So, for example my current 30% off sale is $49 dollars a day, so the base price is:

Original price = X

Discount = 30%

Discount = 30% of x = .30x (or .3x).

Sale price = Original price - discount = x - .3X = .7x

Sale price - $49 =  .7x 

So...

x = 49/.7 = $70.

I've done this for each of the three different sales offered and the 25% off doesn't match $70 dollars.

At 20% the price was $56 dollars: $56/.8 = $70.

At 25% the price was $52 dollars: $52/.75 = $69.333333333333 repeating. 

I suspect it's innocently just "rounding down" in our favor. Just curious if anyone else ever noticed it... OR am I the only geek that does this kinda stuff? ?

Hey @JLMoranstill more math!

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17 hours ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

I suspect it's innocently just "rounding down" in our favor. Just curious if anyone else ever noticed it... OR am I the only geek that does this kinda stuff? ?

Yup, Royal doesn’t seem to like having base prices that aren’t round dollar amounts. The real fun one is when the base works out to $65 and you then multiply by .7 to see what a theoretical 30% discount offer should be. You get $45.5, which leads to why some days showing a $46 sale price, and the next day it changes to $45 (this actually happened to me once).

18 hours ago, FManke said:

Hey @JLMoranyou should like this. More math!

Love it! ?

17 hours ago, FManke said:

Hey @JLMoranstill more math!

Still more love! ??

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19 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

@twangster hit on my number one thing I would love to see Royal implement..consistency.

+1

This means there is a huge disconnect between HQ and Operations on the ships.  For new and first time Royal cruisers, this may not affect them as much.  But for cruisers who have sailed with Royal multiple times, this can be frustrating at times.   

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20 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

Why do you think it's so difficult for them to be consistent across the fleet?  Why can't Royal just roll out standards or programs and keep the details the same on all the ships.  

I am guessing here....but I suspect that each ship (and perhaps even, each division within the ship itself) is probably an independent cost center.  If that is the case, they have the flexibility to implement revenue programs in whatever way they will benefit the ship (or division) most positively.  That is the only explanation that makes any sense.  As independent cost centers, they will not only benefit from higher net revenue, but also be negatively impacted for lower net revenue.  This also allows for innovation.  With flexibility to implement these policies "creatively",  they can find out how the policies best benefit the cruise line and what works the best.

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3 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Yup, Royal doesn’t seem to like having base prices that aren’t round dollar amounts. The real fun one is when the base works out to $65 and you then multiply by .7 to see what a theoretical 30% discount offer should be. You get $45.5, which leads to why some days showing a $46 sale price, and the next day it changes to $45 (this actually happened to me once).

I would totally cancel and re-purchase for the $1 (well $2 if I count my wife) dollar(s) a day savings!

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7 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I am guessing here....but I suspect that each ship (and perhaps even, each division within the ship itself) is probably an independent cost center.  If that is the case, they have the flexibility to implement revenue programs in whatever way they will benefit the ship (or division) most positively.  That is the only explanation that makes any sense.  As independent cost centers, they will not only benefit from higher net revenue, but also be negatively impacted for lower net revenue.  This also allows for innovation.  With flexibility to implement these policies "creatively",  they can find out how the policies best benefit the cruise line and what works the best.

I would agree that is most likely the case.  That works best for maximizing revenue for the company, BUT not increasing the customers satisfaction.  This thread, I think, is about what would make us the paying customer's experience more enjoyable not increasing Royal's bottom line.  They are very good at that on their own.

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34 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I am guessing here....but I suspect that each ship (and perhaps even, each division within the ship itself) is probably an independent cost center.  If that is the case, they have the flexibility to implement revenue programs in whatever way they will benefit the ship (or division) most positively.  That is the only explanation that makes any sense.  As independent cost centers, they will not only benefit from higher net revenue, but also be negatively impacted for lower net revenue.  This also allows for innovation.  With flexibility to implement these policies "creatively",  they can find out how the policies best benefit the cruise line and what works the best.

They are independent.  The larger ships have a revenue office on board who monitors everything from on-board purchases to how well the galley is tracking towards the food budget for that cruise to costs within the marine department.

I bumped into a revenue officer leaving the lounge on Serenade and when he inquired about my cruise I mentioned a poor Chops experience.  It didn't take long for the restaurant manager to reach out to me.  

However I still think they could be more consistent with their policies for food and beverage.  I avoid the UDP because of ambiguity and uncertainty.  If I knew what I was getting, I might buy it more.  So in my case the flexibility they afford the ship to implement their own policy is costing them revenue as I rarely buy specialty dining once on board.

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1. More new  places to cruise to including Oasis classes.
2. Refresh Radiance class so the we can enjoy more new itineraries which require smaller ships.
3. More stay overs in interesting ports even if it means going out from the port during the night not loose revenues.
4. Working web site that allow to do at least what was possible to be done two years ago ..
5. More TV channels options.
6. Ability to mark your table in the WJ so people can go on the same time to take food without worry to loose the table.
7. Better breakfast in the WJ , more options , more fresh vegetables and fruits.
8. Replace Cats.
9. Better ventilation in the casino.
10. Replace JR with better Hamburger joint.
11. More comfort food during the night , WJ to be open longer.
12. Shuttle buses to the nearest city/public transportation center with Normal cost.
13. Single day drinking package.
14. Drinking cards in all cruises. 


 

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  • 1 month later...

There are a number of things I feel Royal does well; yet, there are a few things I would like to see done. Not going to go into all of them...because, it's numerous; however, here's one.

 

Build a fleet(6) of 116,000-124,000t LNG, state-of-the-art ships, to replace(sell off) the Vision Class, Majesty, & Empress; while slowly renaming the new ships by those previous, much-loved names...including pass names like Splendour, Legend, Sovereign, & Monarch, if chosing to build more than six of these smaller ships. These ships would serve the more exotic port of calls, all over the world, that only the smaller and/or older ports can receive or ports that has bridge-height restriction issues; as well as, server some of the major ports along side the mid-size to mega-size ships & easily transverse canals on trans-positioning. Of course, LNG infrastructure would need to be invested...something the cruise & cargo industry could look to, as possible joint investment efforts with local governments, in some of these areas. This may help to open up new port of calls for RCCL in South America, some parts of Africa & India regions, and Western Australia...all that are now ports of call on World Cruises by other cruise lines; as well as, create a market for smaller private islands, in some future timeframe, in some of these regions, giving RCCL more itinerary choices and building newer local clientele, of these regions. Not all ships now days, have to be mega-size...less not forget the durable smaller ships...but at least let's move beyond the days of the less-than 100,000t ships.

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