SOLARIUM CLOSED FOR ENTIRE CRUISE!

[James Faglie]

The App is showing the adult area (Solarium) is closed for the whole cruise. This cruise is full of nonadults. I usually don't care, because the Solarium area is a haven for us adults. There was no indication that this was going to happen, that I was aware of.

I go to relax on day 2 and....CLOSED.

NOT HAPPY WITH Royal Caribbean at all. 

I have been on many cruises with Royal Caribbean and another already booked.

Rethinking that one!

[wordell1]

1 hour ago, James Faglie said:

The App is showing the adult area (Solarium) is closed for the whole cruise. This cruise is full of nonadults. I usually don't care, because the Solarium area is a haven for us adults. There was no indication that this was going to happen, that I was aware of.

I go to relax on day 2 and....CLOSED.

NOT HAPPY WITH Royal Caribbean at all. 

I have been on many cruises with Royal Caribbean and another already booked.

Rethinking that one!

So it is closed, or the app says closed?

What ship?

[smokeybandit]

Allure was doing major maintenance in the Solarium.

[teddy]

I would be very unhappy, as Solariums are where we spend much of our time onboard.  
 

That being said, I wonder what happened to have the whole place shut down.  I would imagine it’s not a decision that was made lightly.  I’d rather have the Solarium shut down than have someone get injured due to an unsafe condition. 
 

I may be different than a lot people, but I wouldn’t let one incident such as this deter me from patronizing a business that I had been pleased with in the past.  
 

I’d also inquire at Guest Services as to the reason why.  Did you do that, and if so, what was the explanation given?  Or did you just want to complain to a bunch of strangers. 

[Pattycruise]

Definitely ask Guest services why it’s closed.  I’d also ask for compensation. 
I can’t imagine a large haven that you’d think would be open not being open the entire cruise.  

[Psycho and Barb]

DJ Psycho says...This may just be a one hit wonder!

[OCSC Mike]

32 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

Definitely ask Guest services why it’s closed.  I’d also ask for compensation. 
I can’t imagine a large haven that you’d think would be open not being open the entire cruise.  

It's being freshened up/repaired/etc. for when Allure goes to Galveston. This is the last cruise before it relocates.

I would also be pissed.

[Rory]

If Matt is following this post, I am curious what areas are planned to be redone before Allure arrives in Galveston? Seems like the current passengers should get compensated!

[twangster]

I'm sure you'll find the cruise contract covers them.  I'm not aware that any space on the ship is guaranteed. 

Being pissed?  Absolutely.  Compensation?  Good luck with that.

I've seen the SeaPlex closed on a ship.  They were refinishing the floor.  Flowriders get closed when they replace the surface.  Slides are closed while they repair water leaks.  

Ship happens.  It's unfortunate but areas are sometimes closed.  Same thing occur at theme parks.  Plan to go on some special ride (to you) and it's closed!  Argh!  That's life.  

[smokeybandit]

Too bad that guy who lives on the ship wasn't there. He would have had them reopen it.

[Ryan79]

26 minutes ago, twangster said:

Same thing occur at theme parks.  Plan to go on some special ride (to you) and it's closed!  Argh!  That's life.  

No joke! I would LOVE to see someone cry about compensation because It’s a Small World was closed for the day at Disneyland!

[twangster]

[uberrainman]

I am also on Allure right now and not amused that a huge section is closed for seamingly the entire cruise. They also closed one of the bigger pools today too. RC really should have disclosed this, two large areas not available but then less people would have booked on it. I do like Royal, this is my 2nd cruise with them, but this stuff is a real face slap.

[mistertomatohead]

The least they could’ve done is blame it on the weather. On Navigator, the pool screen has been broken for at least six months yet they still list it showing movies. The screen is on but the image is messed up. It looks like you need 3D glasses. I don’t think they’ll fix it until they have a break in sailing but why put it on the schedule?!?! I’m back on it in a few weeks so we’ll see.

I guess this is just how cruise lines operate, especially mass market ones.

[Matt]

14 hours ago, twangster said:

I'm sure you'll find the cruise contract covers them.  I'm not aware that any space on the ship is guaranteed. 

Just like how if Splash Mountain is down for maintenance at Disney World for your trip doesn't mean you're getting any money back or compensation. Maintenance is something that has to happen. It is what it is.

[CanHardlyWait]

11 minutes ago, Matt said:

Just like how if Splash Mountain is down for maintenance at Disney World for your trip doesn't mean you're getting any money back or compensation. Maintenance is something that has to happen. It is what it is.

I'm going to disagree. You can't compare the two. At a Disney resort if a pool will be closed for maintenance, you will be notified at time of booking. Also the maintenance schedule for major attractions like splash mountain etc is published months in advance along with hotel pool maintenance so guests can plan accordingly to there own specific needs and wants. There is a difference.

[Matt]

11 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

At a Disney resort if a pool will be closed for maintenance, you will be notified at time of booking.

I can tell you from experience just like on Royal Caribbean, some guests are aware in advance but most others are not. There are plenty of times people have thrown fits at the entrance to a closed ride because they had no idea it was going to be closed.

If your issue is with how maintenance gets notified to guests, I'm not going to argue with things can always be better and more transparent.

But like a theme park, cruise ships operate every day of the year and it's not unreasonable for maintenance to be necessary and areas shut down while they work on it. It stinks when it impacts your trip, but I don't believe anyone is entitled to compensation because of it.

[CanHardlyWait]

I think the difference here is scheduled maintenance vs emergency maintenance. Based on what I read about supplies etc this sounds like it was planned. (Obviously with nothought to the guest).

[CanHardlyWait]

13 minutes ago, Matt said:

I can tell you from experience just like on Royal Caribbean, some guests are aware in advance but most others are not. There are plenty of times people have thrown fits at the entrance to a closed ride because they had no idea it was going to be closed.

If your issue is with how maintenance gets notified to guests, I'm not going to argue with things can always be better and more transparent.

But like a theme park, cruise ships operate every day of the year and it's not unreasonable for maintenance to be necessary and areas shut down while they work on it. It stinks when it impacts your trip, but I don't believe anyone is entitled to compensation because of it.

I never was commenting on the compensation aspect. Only the piss poor advanced planning and notification or lack there of.

[endofturn]

Liberty's deck screen was broke and has been for months. A quarter of the elevators next to our room was for the entire cruise. 

Just gotta move on with your life. These things can happen. 

[Xaa]

12 minutes ago, endofturn said:

Liberty's deck screen was broke and has been for months. A quarter of the elevators next to our room was for the entire cruise. 

Just gotta move on with your life. These things can happen. 

Things happen for sure, but this sounds like a planned happening.  I certainly understand folks being upset that planned outages of this scope are not posted somewhere for consumption.

[Yo2slick]

The cruise lines lost how much money during Covid and people think they will receive compensation for the solarium being closed.....

We are all lucky to even be able to cruise right now, we could go back to having overpaid politicians screaming about it not being safe to be on a cruise ship and them parking the entire fleet again.

Its not just on vacation, regular everyday life has changed.  Things are constantly closed or schedules changed because of staff shortages or parts shortages.  Getting pissed doesn't change it, it just gives the few people that showed up to work that day another reason to not want to come back the next day. 

Have a drink, eat some cheesecake, enjoy the ocean views and be grateful to have another day!

[CanHardlyWait]

34 minutes ago, Yo2slick said:

The cruise lines lost how much money during Covid and people think they will receive compensation for the solarium being closed.....

We are all lucky to even be able to cruise right now, we could go back to having overpaid politicians screaming about it not being safe to be on a cruise ship and them parking the entire fleet again.

Its not just on vacation, regular everyday life has changed.  Things are constantly closed or schedules changed because of staff shortages or parts shortages.  Getting pissed doesn't change it, it just gives the few people that showed up to work that day another reason to not want to come back the next day. 

Have a drink, eat some cheesecake, enjoy the ocean views and be grateful to have another day!

"Lucky to be able to cruise" Bull. People pay top dollar. I ain't Lucky. I ain't there for free. Emergency repairs are one thing. This sounds totally planned. And I am sick of hearing how much money cruise lines lost. That is there problem, not mine. 

[Carlos A.]

 

2 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

I'm going to disagree. You can't compare the two. At a Disney resort if a pool will be closed for maintenance, you will be notified at time of booking. Also the maintenance schedule for major attractions like splash mountain etc is published months in advance along with hotel pool maintenance so guests can plan accordingly to there own specific needs and wants. There is a difference.

This! When you're planning a trip to Disneyworld/Disneyland you can see in advance which attractions will be closed for maintenance so you can plan and decide if you are willing to go on certain dates. 

2 hours ago, Matt said:

I can tell you from experience just like on Royal Caribbean, some guests are aware in advance but most others are not. There are plenty of times people have thrown fits at the entrance to a closed ride because they had no idea it was going to be closed.

If your issue is with how maintenance gets notified to guests, I'm not going to argue with things can always be better and more transparent.

But like a theme park, cruise ships operate every day of the year and it's not unreasonable for maintenance to be necessary and areas shut down while they work on it. It stinks when it impacts your trip, but I don't believe anyone is entitled to compensation because of it.

I agree that an emergency maintenance can't be notified but a scheduled maintenance can. So I agree with you, things can always be better and more transparent, and they should be. 

[Carlos A.]

12 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

"Lucky to be able to cruise" Bull. People pay top dollar. I ain't Lucky. I ain't there for free. Emergency repairs are one thing. This sounds totally planned. And I am sick of hearing how much money cruise lines lost. That is there problem, not mine. 

Couldn't agree more

[Done]

46 minutes ago, Carlos A. said:

Couldn't agree more

Absolutely agree!  We are NOT the lucky ones.  RC is lucky we choose them over the myriad of other entertainment offerings! 

[GatorCruiser]

[Yo2slick]

7 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

"Lucky to be able to cruise" Bull. People pay top dollar. I ain't Lucky. I ain't there for free. Emergency repairs are one thing. This sounds totally planned. And I am sick of hearing how much money cruise lines lost. That is there problem, not mine. 

No amount of your money was going to put a ship back into service during Covid for you to cruise on.  Thats my point, not one of us had any control over the entire situation and while you may not care about the cruise lines losing money...how many cruise ships do you own and have to pay maintenance, fuel, crew, ect....on???  You would probably care then.  Those costs transfer to the consumer.  

[CanHardlyWait]

2 hours ago, Yo2slick said:

No amount of your money was going to put a ship back into service during Covid for you to cruise on.  Thats my point, not one of us had any control over the entire situation and while you may not care about the cruise lines losing money...how many cruise ships do you own and have to pay maintenance, fuel, crew, ect....on???  You would probably care then.  Those costs transfer to the consumer.  

My point has Nothing to do with Covid. And I DON'T OWN A CRUISE SHIP! Nor should I care about what they owe and to who they owe it!!! That's there problem, NOT MINE!!!! If they cannot afford to stay in business they should fold. I don't get people on message boards defending me when it comes time to make my payments. Why should I care about the financial problems on there end? And everyones prices go up for a multitude of reasons. That's called life!

[BB1]

31 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

My point has Nothing to do with Covid. And I DON'T OWN A CRUISE SHIP! Nor should I care about what they owe and to who they owe it!!! That's there problem, NOT MINE!!!! If they cannot afford to stay in business they should fold. I don't get people on message boards defending me when it comes time to make my payments. Why should I care about the financial problems on there end? And everyones prices go up for a multitude of reasons. That's called life!

Sounds like you would be happier pursuing other vacation options. Why be angry? You have nearly infinite choices.

[CanHardlyWait]

I'm sorry I cannot stand people who defend cruise lines like they can do no wrong. They expect top dollar from me and I expect top service from them. And if you have a problem with that it's yours, not mine.

[CanHardlyWait]

17 minutes ago, BB1 said:

Sounds like you would be happier pursuing other vacation options. Why be angry? You have nearly infinite choices.

Just because I don't see multi billion dollar corporations as the poor little souls that need endless defending from sycophants. I should be told where to travel by the likes of you. 

[JC Pats]

13 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

I'm sorry I cannot stand people who defend cruise lines like they can do no wrong. They expect top dollar from me and I expect top service from them. And if you have a problem with that it's yours, not mine.

I don't think anyone has said they can do no wrong, they do plenty wrong, every day - they're not perfect entities. I think the point being made by most everyone else, is that Ship happens. Planned, Unplanned. doesn't matter. It happened. Could Royal learn from their mistakes, sure! Do they, not always. To me, life is too short to worry about it. If the Solarium is closed, it's closed. Find somewhere else to go. If they run out of my favorite drink (which happens ALL the time), I'll order something else. I'm on vacation. Not doing a ship inspection. 

By the way, they don't expect top dollar from you. YOU made that choice to pay what Royal was offering. If Royal is not up to your standards, move on to something else. 

Life is too short to worry, about anything. YMMV.

[wordell1]

33 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

I'm sorry I cannot stand people who defend cruise lines like they can do no wrong. They expect top dollar from me and I expect top service from them. And if you have a problem with that it's yours, not mine.

Royal Caribbean is not a "top dollar" cruise line.

[CanHardlyWait]

16 minutes ago, JC Pats said:

I don't think anyone has said they can do no wrong, they do plenty wrong, every day - they're not perfect entities. I think the point being made by most everyone else, is that Ship happens. Planned, Unplanned. doesn't matter. It happened. Could Royal learn from their mistakes, sure! Do they, not always. To me, life is too short to worry about it. If the Solarium is closed, it's closed. Find somewhere else to go. If they run out of my favorite drink (which happens ALL the time), I'll order something else. I'm on vacation. Not doing a ship inspection. 

By the way, they don't expect top dollar from you. YOU made that choice to pay what Royal was offering. If Royal is not up to your standards, move on to something else. 

Life is too short to worry, about anything. YMMV.

First off "Top Dollar" is something for each individual to determine. NOT YOU!!! Second there is a massive difference between planned and unplanned. And that does matter. Don't be so dam cheap and greedy that you don't pull a ship out of service for a week each year to do these things. Instead of when full with passengers. Oh but we owe billions. We will loose money dry dock a week a year. Well as you said "Ship happens". That goes both ways. 

[CanHardlyWait]

11 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

Royal Caribbean is not a "top dollar" cruise line.

Top dollar is relative to the person spending it!

[GatorCruiser]

Man this thread is getting good. Y’all keep doing your thing. 

[CanHardlyWait]

You say nobody is saying they can do no wrong. If what you paid for is not open/working move on. I say bull ship. Hold a greedy business accountable for delivering the product they advertised and sold you. Saying oh well it is what it is and not fighting back to me is the equivalent of saying they can do no wrong. Well you only spent $1k not $4k so that's not my idea of top dollar. You should be happy with whatever you get. That's what I'm getting here. And that won't fly. 

[CanHardlyWait]

13 minutes ago, GatorCruiser said:

Man this thread is getting good. Y’all keep doing your thing. 

So happy my genuine frustration is amusing you. I'm just not a sycophant to any big business and believe in holding them 100% accountable for the product they sell me. I truly do not understand the need here to constantly defend a multi billion dollar corporation. They are big boys and can handle everything I'm saying without the little tribe chiming in endlessly.

[SpeedNoodles]

10 hours ago, Carlos A. said:

 

This! When you're planning a trip to Disneyworld/Disneyland you can see in advance which attractions will be closed for maintenance so you can plan and decide if you are willing to go on certain dates. 

 

Really? Even if  you book many months in advance?  I guess I never saw anything anywhere on maintenance of anything when I booked Disney 5 months in advance.