Eat....Drink.....Discover..... Being discontinued

[PG Cruiser]

One again ... Royal gets my admiration!

 

 

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 minute ago, RatedPG said:

One again ... Royal gets my admiration!

+1!  So happy to see that they made things right yet again.

[dahdoul44]

8 hours ago, monctonguy said:

Royal doesn't care about you as a customer...all they care about is $. Its become more and more obvious with them.

 

If ppl weren't using these perks..then they were making MORE money from the promo. They are full of BS.

 

This is the way most companies go once they get so big.....one customer or 10 doesn't mean anything to them anymore..too big too care.

 

Based on their rationale and justification, they could eliminate everything and anything they want at anytime..no more complimentary food.....it would save them money...watchout!

 

Good luck everyone!

 

 

See the post above.  It looks like they listened to the concerns everyone had and is making a change for the better.

[WannabeViking]

Way to turn it around. Well done RCL

[PG Cruiser]

I owe Royal Caribbean this...

[JLMoran]

As noted in a related post about this change, I think this approach of giving all passengers the choice of which option they prefer is how it should have been done from the get-go. Those who really didn't see the value in the perks win with additional OBC; those who truly wanted the perks get to keep them.

Royal still has to deal with a bit of a black eye around the way they handled this, and one that's worse than the $18 DBP snafu, but at least they made a good call in the end and can come out looking better than they might have.

[WAAAYTOOO]

I don’t understand why they made the unforced error to begin with.  All that angst and wrath were so avoidable. 

Glad to see them make the right decision in the end.

[JLMoran]

21 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I don’t understand why they made the unforced error to begin with.  All that angst and wrath were so avoidable. 

Refer to @RatedPG's explanation in the separate thread on the Royal Caribbean News & Rumors board.  

[PG Cruiser]

3 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Refer to @RatedPG's explanation in the separate thread on the Royal Caribbean News & Rumors board.  

Here it is:

8 minutes ago, RatedPG said:

It was their original plan, but the intern only typed in the information about the $50 OBC.

 

 

[DandA]

Glad they fixed this for those that had already booked those rooms, but I have to wonder who in corporate is making these decisions in the first place.  This person or persons have no common sense, it's almost like they are trying to torpedo the company.  After the stuff hits the fan someone higher up jumps in and makes the decision to end the publicity nightmare.  Kudos for Royal for making things right but by god get it right the first time.

I wonder how they will price these rooms in the future?, to me these balconies are worthless and should be priced just above an oceanview cabin.  

[SpeedNoodles]

3 minutes ago, DandA said:

I wonder how they will price these rooms in the future?, to me these balconies are worthless and should be priced just above an oceanview cabin.  

They'll price them at whatever rate they can reasonably move them, I would guess. 

[PG Cruiser]

15 minutes ago, DandA said:

to me these balconies are worthless and should be priced just above an oceanview cabin.  

Glorified interior rooms...  I would price them just above an interior room, not an ocean view

 

[tmp916]

If ppl weren't using these perks..then they were making MORE money from the promo. They are full of BS.

 

Exactly if they weren't using or "overlapping" benefits that just means the customer was buying even more.  Overlapping benefits isn't a bad thing if one of them is being paid for.

[PG Cruiser]

6 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

They'll price them at whatever rate they can reasonably move them, I would guess. 

Only newbies will book them at these prices... thinking they're getting balcony rooms.  This is from a mock booking for April 2021 on the Harmony

[SpeedNoodles]

Just now, RatedPG said:

Only newbies will book them at these prices... thinking they're getting balcony rooms.  This is from a mock booking for April 2021 on the Harmony

In this information age, I have little sympathy for people who don't research their ships/sailings prior to booking.  There are so many ways to see different category of rooms prior to booking, whether it's the cruise line's website, YouTube videos, multiple cruise related forums, etc. Personally I've always thought it's pretty clear that they are balconies that face the interior of the ship.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Just now, SpeedNoodles said:

In this information age, I have little sympathy for people who don't research their ships/sailings prior to booking. 

Right with you on that one. 

[PG Cruiser]

9 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

In this information age, I have little sympathy for people who don't research their ships/sailings prior to booking.  There are so many ways to see different category of rooms prior to booking, whether it's the cruise line's website, YouTube videos, multiple cruise related forums, etc. Personally I've always thought it's pretty clear that they are balconies that face the interior of the ship.

The uninitiated may have a hard time making sense of these different cabin configurations, especially with the way the Royal website presents them.  You see the word "balcony" and every modifier before or after it seems insignificant. 

How many times have you sailed before you really figured out how Royal works?  It took about 2-3 sailing.  Even up to now, I’m still learning.

[SpeedNoodles]

4 minutes ago, RatedPG said:

The uninitiated may have a hard time making sense of these different cabin configurations, especially with the way the Royal website presents them.  You see the word "balcony" and every modifier before or after it seems insignificant. 

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one :)  I think the description of the views as well as the photos make it pretty obvious.  But I am VERY glad for everyone affected by this Royal snafu (see what I did there?) that they can now make a choice that suits them best.

[Bakerette]

RC sent out an email to people who booked a cruise on one of the Oasis Class ships and has selected. Central Park or Boardwalk balcony after January 1st, 2020, that they have the option of getting the $50 OBC that they offered 2 days ago because they had discontinued the dine...Drink...discover program, & yesterday they sent out another email that gave people who are booked  in the Central Park balconies and made the reservation for those balconies before September 18th, 2020 now have the option for get the $50 or be grandfathered into the dine...drink...discover program that RC is discontinuing.

[Wnuk]

Has anyone successfully made it to their page where you make the choice? I keep getting a “site can’t be reached” error.

[soremekun]

2 hours ago, Wnuk said:

Has anyone successfully made it to their page where you make the choice? I keep getting a “site can’t be reached” error.

https://dinedrinkdiscoverguestsurvey.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?tt=soyMDo1cBky5RCNGxsIbHA%3D%3D&lcfpn=false

[JohnK6404]

Can you make the selection (through the above link) even if you booked through a travel agent or do you need to go through the agency?

Also, do you get a confirmation?

Thanks!

[Qaylun]

Is it just me, or does this reversal of the original decision take emphasis off of the fact that Royal is still not offering this anymore to new guests. 

[Bakerette]

4 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

Can you make the selection (through the above link) even if you booked through a travel agent or do you need to go through the agency?

Also, do you get a confirmation?

Thanks!

Yes, you can make a selection thru the above link in the post above you even if you are booked thru a TA & you did not need to go thru the TA & you do get a confirmation of you choice and that what you have chosen has been recorded.

[PG Cruiser]

11 minutes ago, Qaylun said:

Is it just me, or does this reversal of the original decision take emphasis off of the fact that Royal is still not offering this anymore to new guests. 

It does... but at least the new guests will know what they’re signing up for and book their cruises accordingly.

[Qaylun]

That's true, it provides much more clarity. 

[Constantino]

when we sailed a year ago on oasis, we had no clue this was even a thing until we got to our room, even then we had to do some digging to figure out why we had 4 glasses...

it was not apparent during the booking at any point, didnt flag us when we bought the refreshment package that we already had a soda package.  Nothing at all.

If they wanted some sort of "credit" for this program that would encourage people to book these inside balconies, maybe they should have mentioned it somewhere...

It was a wierd program, particularly with soda and wine, things that people often buy on their own with the deluxe beverage package, which leads to varying levels of benefit.

[PG Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Constantino said:

It was a wierd program, particularly with soda and wine, things that people often buy on their own with the deluxe beverage package, which leads to varying levels of benefit.

This was the overlap they were talking about as one of the reasons for discontinuing the program.

[monctonguy]

They don't deserve much credit for all of this.....

 

They only changed it cause many people made enough stink and yelled and screamed and kicked about it...

 

Like I stated originally.....they don't care about 1 customer or 10.....many more need to complain to be even treated fairly in all this.

 

What would have made Royal look good is if they had announced this plan originally......not after they tried to pull a fast one.

[FManke]

I'm glad that RC made the change and decided to do what we all felt was the right thing to do from the beginning.

I would feel much better about RC if they had done the right thing at first, instead of being forced into it by bad publicity. 

Sometimes I think with all of the talk about dream cruises, exotic ports, our favorite dining options and so forth, we forget that RC is a company that's in business to make money. 

That is their bottom line. They made the change to benefit themselves in the long run, while appeasing us in the short run. 

[troberts1015]

I booked a boardwalk balcony on the 18th on the ship at the "next cruise desk" and they did not know anything about this and i ask what perks i was getting and they told me, i did not get an email about this yet so i wonder if i will get anything. I will leave it up to MEI

[JLMoran]

RCCL (parent company) must be doing some overall cost-cutting measures, because shenanigans like this haven't been limited to RCI cruises. Celebrity late last week announced they were eliminating complimentary in-room movies and would now be charging $14.99 for any in-room movie rental.

As with this event, there was a serious public outcry over having that perk removed (even though I'm guessing only a fraction of a percent of all passengers actually take advantage of it), and this morning it was relayed on the Cruise Radio News podcast that Celebrity reversed the decision and free rentals were reinstated.

I imagine it's costing X no more in licensing fees to get those movie rentals available than it costs RCI (if it's not all lumped under the RCCL umbrella); and I'd be stunned if those fees aren't already built into the cruise fare like any other in-room perk. Were they actually expecting to make any significant money off people willing to pay what is an exorbitant fee for one of those rentals? But they went and did it anyway, only to have to undo it when the expected hue and cry came out.

[FManke]

15 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

RCCL (parent company) must be doing some overall cost-cutting measures, because shenanigans like this haven't been limited to RCI cruises. Celebrity late last week announced they were eliminating complimentary in-room movies and would now be charging $14.99 for any in-room movie rental.

As with this event, there was a serious public outcry over having that perk removed (even though I'm guessing only a fraction of a percent of all passengers actually take advantage of it), and this morning it was relayed on the Cruise Radio News podcast that Celebrity reversed the decision and free rentals were reinstated.

I imagine it's costing X no more in licensing fees to get those movie rentals available than it costs RCI (if it's not all lumped under the RCCL umbrella); and I'd be stunned if those fees aren't already built into the cruise fare like any other in-room perk. Were they actually expecting to make any significant money off people willing to pay what is an exorbitant fee for one of those rentals? But they went and did it anyway, only to have to undo it when the expected hue and cry came out.

You're right @JLMoran, I'm sure a lot of the people complaining never watched the "complimentary" movies, but still, it always look bad when you start to charge for something that was once free. Bad optics. Regardless of the reasons.

[PG Cruiser]

32 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Celebrity late last week announced they were eliminating complimentary in-room movies and would now be charging $14.99 for any in-room movie rental.

... and this morning it was relayed on the Cruise Radio News podcast that Celebrity reversed the decision and free rentals were reinstated.

Here's an idea. They can keep offering the complimentary in-room movies but just offer a few titles:

1.  Titanic
2.  Poseidon Adventure (1972)
3.  Poseidon (2006)
4.  Speed 2: Cruise Control
5.  The Perfect Storm
6.  Captain Phillips
7.  Life of Pi
8.  Adrift
9.  Under Siege