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What is the most frustrating thing about Royal Caribbean cruises?


Matt

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I was inspired by a discussion in another thread about getting frustrated by how much a price discrepancy there is between refundable and non-refundable fares.

So what is something onboard a ship, or while booking, that frustrates you?

Let's keep this non-covid related stuff.  Just things on a cruise, or in the planning process, that frustrate you.

Another example:

  • Inconsistent rules about dress code
  • Not enforcing chair hog rules
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In the spirit of keeping this to defining the "most" frustrating thing...

Inconsistency.  

Different ships, different crew members, different agents implementing the same thing differently.   From the suite experience on newer ships with Royal Suite Class, to one ship allowing Johnny Rockets with the UDP while another won't,  to a loyalty ambassador who implements their own version of the program rules and everything in between.  

Pick a policy, process or procedure and apply it equally across the fleet.  

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26 minutes ago, Matt said:
  • Inconsistent rules about dress code
  • Not enforcing chair hog rules

 

19 minutes ago, twangster said:

Inconsistency.  

Different ships, different crew members, different agents implementing the same thing differently.   From the suite experience on newer ships with Royal Suite Class, to one ship allowing Johnny Rockets with the UDP while another won't,  to a loyalty ambassador who implements their own version of the program rules and everything in between.  

Pick a policy, process or procedure and apply it equally across the fleet.  

It's not a policy or rule if it's not enforced.

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-Automatic pre-paid gratuity on drink package purchases

-Cruise Planner. Trying to keep track of pricing and sales to feel like you arent overpaying and differences in Ships on prices on Cruise Planner items

-Just general consistent enforcing of any rules onboard

-Dynamic pricing on cruises and trying to keep track once cruise is booked prior to final payment

-Out of pocket expenses on the ship where you feel like you constantly are being asked to spend more and more aboard ship. I understand from a business perspective why its done but still frustration. Would rather see some tiered pricing with amenities included when booking a cruise rather than onboard constantly being hit up especially with small children and the arcades, ice cream and sweet shops

 

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I have not sailed on RCI for ten years, but the fact that I can't see everything purchased like excursions, drink packages and gifts purchased all in one place is frustrating. On NCL it lists all items included and purchased on a summary page. With RCI I have to toggle between My Calendar and Order History. I still can't see where my gifts are listed though. I bought wine for the stateroom.  ?‍♀️

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I wish it was easier to do "mock bookings" online to plan out cruise costs.

  • First, you can't get to the breakdown of the "final cost" of the cruise (including the total cost of the prepaid gratuities, fees, taxes, etc and any discounts applied) without putting in personal info. I just put in fake info just to get past this page but it's annoying nonetheless. And the annoyance continues when you try to re-price after booking since you have to go through that process all over again when there is a sale.
  • Also, you can't get the cost of things like beverage, dining, or spa packages until you actually book and see the prices in the cruise planner. You can make guesstimates, but prices for these things vary ship-to-ship, sailing-to-sailing.

I'll happily concede my points if these are no longer the case.

My wife and I watch every single penny that goes into and out of our lives so we like being able to get the "big picture" cost.

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The biggest frustration I have experienced is having a booked sailing chartered. This is likely monetarily beneficial to Royal so they do it by choice.

 I was very upset when a hard to get suite I had booked a full year prior (on release day) wasn’t available on any of the alternative sailings offered. 

I would prefer Royal forecast the number of expected charters and market them accordingly before opening them to the general public, thus avoiding potential let down for already booked guests.
 

Shame, shame. 
 

Other than this, Royal Caribbean is a rounding error from perfect.
 

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Booking a cruise on Royal Caribbean's website is clunky...at best.

  • Instead of just showing all available cabins and clicking on them to see a price, you need to click a category, then a section and then you see available cabins!
  • When I sign into my account, I shouldn't be required to re-enter my name, address, etc. That should be pre-populated!
  • Please add a courtesy hold option while booking. (Norwegian has this and I've used it several times.)
  • If I need to cancel a booking, let me do it online instead of calling. (Celebrity does!)

Bottom line, Norwegian's and Carnival's websites are much more user-friendly than Royal Caribbean's.

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Agreed, searching for cruises is cumbersome.

While their search supports searching by specific days in a month (if you know how to manipulate the URLs), you can only pick specific months through the UI.

I'd like to see the ability to save searches, too.  Again I do that by having a spreadsheet with specific URLs, but that should be offered on the UI itself.

Also add the ability to sort by cheapest price by cabin class, not just cheapest overall price.  Even Expedia cruises lets you do this.

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Agree with everyone who says the online booking process needs to be more user-friendly and sensitive. I get particularly frustrated when I want to check dates/regions that are more specific than the options offered. For example, if I'm looking for a Western Med cruise between 15 September and 15 October I really really really don't want to have to hunt amidst early September/late October sailings and those going to other destinations such as the Baltics, Canaries and Greek Isles but at the moment that's precisely what I have to do.

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I'm frustrated that Royal isn't honoring my $18/day deluxe bev package on my next cruise!!!!

 

But seriously, as others have mentioned - the difficulty in pricing out a cruise.  Finding cabins is a real chore.

And the crazy fluctuations in costs.  I checked the DBP one day and it was $50/day, and the next it was $67.

I'm still holding out for better pricing.

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Much of the redundancy that has been stated...i.e the fact that their IT doesn't keep track of much, bad search results, etc. The whole thing when you don't drink and share a room.

My biggest is the lack of solo options. As a childless, widowed, cat lady I want to enjoy things too. I don't want to be forced into tables with strangers judging my life choices if I eat in the main dining room.

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So yes to all the above but the biggest frustration is pricing for single occupancy cabins. I get the financial end of the double occupancy policy, but I have seen so many times where the single occupancy total price (not including taxes) for the same cabin is more than double, the double occupancy total price (not including taxes). Soo frustrating to see a good per person price, do the mental math to what double should be and then get deflated with sticker shock with the actual price. ? 

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1 hour ago, melmar02 said:

Line cutters...in the WJ, at a bar, waiting for doors to open at a show, at the ice cream machine, getting on /off the elevators. I know it's not RC specific, but it seems quite a few people lose their manners on vacation. 

THIS! I'm normally a very laid-back, relaxed person anyway, and not too much gets to me. I can go with the flow pretty easily in almost any situation. But when I walk up to the bar, or the buffet in the WJ, or any other sort of line/waiting situation, it's not hard to "read the room" and see who's there, see where the line forms, and see who's probably been waiting a few minutes before you. But I'm always astounded at the amount of people who just walk right up and couldn't care less or don't bother to check around, and expect simply because they are there, it's their turn and no one else matters. That really frustrates me and usually shows me the people I avoid trying to start a conversation with or getting to know, and very quickly points out the nice people I will try to talk to while waiting for other said "problem children". ?

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Waiting for tenders to disembark the ship at a port. This was especially problematic at CocoCay before Perfect Day at CocoCay. I haven't been to a port with tenders in several years, but the waiting period was the worst. One time we just missed the cut off for the tender and we were told to start boarding the next one. They had us waiting 30 minutes before it was completely full to leave. Our other party made the previous tender and had to wait for us.

A few years ago on Grandeur, the line for the tender went down the entire hallway on Deck 2 and wrapped around to the other side of the ship.

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Response time from customer service.   When I elect to make a direct booking,  I'll have an occasional question that I really don't need an immediate answer so I'll use the message feature on the website.   Primarily because I don't really want to wait on a phone line and fine with an email response in a few days.  My experience has been very poor with receiving any response within weeks (if I get a response at all).  

 

An other frustration is the "less than straight forward" way they advertise, buy one item get the second 50% off.  I've become rather cynical about the sale promotions because they're cleverly packaged and really aren't good deals.  They just keep the prices high on the first item to cover any discount on the second package/item.

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Luggage delivery on embarkation day. We have experienced not getting our bags until well after dinner (in a suite, no less) and more often than not the bags in front of our stateroom are not ours while our bags are somewhere down the hall. Why bother with luggage tags indicating the exact room if they're not going to organize the luggage using them?

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2 hours ago, cruisellama said:

Response time from customer service.   When I elect to make a direct booking,  I'll have an occasional question that I really don't need an immediate answer so I'll use the message feature on the website.   Primarily because I don't really want to wait on a phone line and fine with an email response in a few days.  My experience has been very poor with receiving any response within weeks (if I get a response at all).  

 

An other frustration is the "less than straight forward" way they advertise, buy one item get the second 50% off.  I've become rather cynical about the sale promotions because they're cleverly packaged and really aren't good deals.  They just keep the prices high on the first item to cover any discount on the second package/item.

Here’s a great tip but don’t tell everyone ??

Use Facebook messenger to either their actual Facebook page or the Crown and Anchor Facebook page. I’ve used it twice and gotten what I need in under 2 hours. 

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8 hours ago, twangster said:

Okay number 2.

Having to re-enter my details over and over again when searching for a cruise.  CAS #, age, state of residence, etc.

I should be able to enter that once per session or login and it already knows my state, my age, my CAS#, etc.  

Actually, as on any run-of-the-mill website, once you sign in to your account, it should bring and populate all your information that is entered in your account profile.

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Inconsistency across the board... When encountering problems in booking, refunds, FCC's , etc. I seldom get the same answer from reps twice...  I do get my issues resolved but usually takes several calls before somebody gets its right. used to bug me more when something would go wrong and seems like everybody else  never had that kind of problem. After reading enough here and around the web I see plenty that I'm happy didn't happen to me.   C+A losing  almost 14 years of my info, didn't and doesn't sit well with me. After almost 3 years of back and forth we are only now starting to see a little progress. Again a zillion calls to make something happen. I gave up years ago trying to decipher their math... That will give you ulcers that you could fly a Boeing through... 

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15 minutes ago, Jill said:

Here’s a great tip but don’t tell everyone ??

Use Facebook messenger to either their actual Facebook page or the Crown and Anchor Facebook page. I’ve used it twice and gotten what I need in under 2 hours. 

Thats where after 3 years I'm very slowly making ground on trying to recover the 14 years of my records C+A "misplaced". 

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I'll chime in with agreement on finding rooms. I would much prefer to see which rooms are available, and then what it takes to book that room - 2 people? 3? 4? Etc. And show the cost (options). It's so much click click click click. Laborious.

Aside from business decisions, I'll also agree with chair hogs and elevator issues.

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However, if I've got this right, what ever your Captain's Club level is on Celebrity, for example Elite, is treated as Diamond if you sail aboard an RCL ship. There is no cross-over between Celebrity Elite Plus and Diamond Plus though. I don't know about Zenith to Pinnacle ...... I'll never get there anyway. 

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