Oasis Solarium Bistro Week Long Closure for "Private Function"

[JPjr]

Just back from 1/15 to 1/22 on Oasis. RC allowed a "group" to book the Solarium Bistro for private breakfast/lunch for all seven days causing crazy backups at remaining food venues on a packed sailing. I complained to RC reps but was told that the "group" paid a lot of money for this benefit to the detriment of the rest of the ship. I demanded a 10% cruise credit as we feel that we paid for the entire ship not part of it and RC gained additional profit via the old bait and switch tactic. This is #14 with RC and have seen Bistro closed on occasion for a one time event but never for entire week. Has anyone else encountered this? Also, as a side note, My Time Dining is completely broke. We had advanced reservations for same time, same table and waited an hour on night 1 and 45 minutes on night two. Lines were out door and up stair case. Screaming, yelling, finger pointing with physical contact... unacceptable.

[AshleyDillo]

It tends to happen during January during Yeshiva week. They use the Solarium for kosher dining as it has a dedicated kitchen onboard for that.

[Ampurp85]

I was on your sailing.  Don't understand the need for fcc or refunds. This happens.

[JohnK6404]

@CGTLH tracked this flyer down for another related post... The solarium bistro was reserved for the 1/15/23 Wonder sailing and for Oasis during the 1/15/23 & 1/22/23 sailings. Obviously, this was planned well in advance and these accommodations and special events occur annually this time of year.

 

 

I found that last year (2022) it was reserved on Harmony...

[Wheeler825]

Doesn't make it right, even if it was planned well in advance.  If it wasn't explicit to the customers who had to deal with a missing venue: they're due compensation.

[Ampurp85]

I beg to differ. I think people are being quite entitled. If OP planned to eat at the Bistro, they should have confirmed it would be available. As early as Oct, the Bistro was removed from CP.  Nobody has access to 100% of the ship. They could have had the bistro open, but OP couldn't utilize because it was always full. Do they deserve compensation then??

I was on Odyssey; they have bumper cars. We never got to ride them because the line was long, because they were closed on port days, etc. The same with Archery, the list goes on. Because there were more children and people than anticipated, I couldn't do things I wanted, doesn't mean I am owed anything.

This post sound like OP was upset because the ship was full, and they couldn't get away from this. I agree about MTD. But there was no bait and switch, a simple glance in the CP/app showed the Bistro was not available. 

[JPjr]

Not sure why I would need to check its availability. That thought process would mean I would need to check on the Windjammer, and all other included eateries on the ship also. I have never been on a cruise where it is closed for entire week. RC knows this is advance and could simply put an asterisk on those cruises with a side note prior to booking - then and only then is it buyer beware. Anything else is bait and switch

[michaelp1446]

The Solarium Bistro for OP's cruise was in the CP. It specified that for that cruise that : 1. all the meals would be Kosher, 2. Reservations were required, 3. A per person charge of approx $460 .00 for the week was required. The venue sold out and was removed from App and CP soon after.

Could Royal have communicated better, absolutely. Are you due compensation for a closed venue, absolutely not.

[FionaMG]

I don't understand how this could have caused "crazy backups at the remaining food venues".

The Solarium Bistro is one of the quieter venues so it's not like 100s of people were being displaced into the other venues. And the guests who were part of the group and were eating there were not extra bodies on top of the ship's normal passenger load so they, in turn, would have been removed from the equation at the other venues. So unless my logic is flawed surely one would balance out the other...

[Ampurp85]

8 hours ago, JPjr said:

Not sure why I would need to check its availability. That thought process would mean I would need to check on the Windjammer, and all other included eateries on the ship also. I have never been on a cruise where it is closed for entire week. RC knows this is advance and could simply put an asterisk on those cruises with a side note prior to booking - then and only then is it buyer beware. Anything else is bait and switch

But why would you not, if your whole plan was to eat there? I always check the app to make sure something I want would be available. When I booked this cruise, in Oct 2021, everything was opened. Then a large Jewish group brought out the Bistro. It happens that a few months before sailing, things can change. Again, the onus is on you to make sure. You say you feel like it was a bait and switch, but you never made any inquiries. That's why you wanted /feel entitled to FCC, because you could not access something you wanted. 

[Ampurp85]

3 hours ago, FionaMG said:

I don't understand how this could have caused "crazy backups at the remaining food venues".

The Solarium Bistro is one of the quieter venues so it's not like 100s of people were being displaced into the other venues. And the guests who were part of the group and were eating there were not extra bodies on top of the ship's normal passenger load so they, in turn, would have been removed from the equation at the other venues. So unless my logic is flawed surely one would balance out the other...

That sailing was the first with the new menu. MTD is always a flustercuck but now because of new staff, passengers and the kitchen. It was a very full sailing; with the large Jewish group and the greatest number of children I have ever seen on any sailing. You are very much correct that having the large group in the Solarium Bistro was a saving grace with all the dietary restrictions they have. I had the UDP and avoided all that mess like the plague. But we had a Jewish family at the table next to us in Giovanni's. It was the only night we waited a very long time for our food. 

[JPjr]

The closed venue was seldom even half full and only once what I would consider to be busy and therefore in my opinion under utilzed. The CP referenced is the Cruise Planner? or did my party of 9 with four rooms all miss that note a year ago when we booked on the RC website? If so, that is available after booking and as stated previously, the event should have been noted prior to booking to be fair. I believe that the issues with other venue delays including My Time Dining appear to be due to lack of staff. I noticed this in particular at the Park Cafe where The bagel station had one worker (normally two), sandwich station, one/two workers (normally 2/3), specialty coffee one/two (normally two).  I spent most of my week there as Windjammer was a train wreck. My Time on Deck 3 always had numerous tables to be cleaned/reset but did not appear to have staff to keep up. Completely disagree that RC should be able to change venue access (and pad their profit) when they feel like it with the onus on my group of nine to monitor the CP and then do what - Cancel? A booking is a contract and RC reminds you of this in the small print where ever possible. Changing a contract comes with responsibilities...

[twangster]

MTD is a disaster because Royal is trying to push people into fixed time dining.  That's a separate rant that has nothing to do with the closure of the solarium for this purpose.

Venue close sometimes.  It happens.  I don't think you'll find anything in the cruise contract that you agreed to that guarantees access to any and all venues.  Their ship, their rules.   

Royal has no issue throwing us under the bus if someone comes along and seeks to charter a ship.   The only difference in this case is that Royal is the company that effectively partially chartered their own ship.   

If you don't like it, speak with your wallet.  Don't book Royal anymore.  

[GLS]

I was on this sailing as well and agree completely with the OP.  Getting a refund is one thing but to say we should check our CP and consider canceling is ridiculous to suggest.  Should be known to all cruisers at time of booking not a couple of months prior when changes/cancellations have costs associated with them.  For the poster who said that this could be booked in advance with reservations (regardless of price) is completely inaccurate.  Signs posted and staff communicated to us that this was a closed party with no access.  And I would agree that Windjammer and other venues were impacted by this - take away a common eatery with already low staff levels ship wide and you end up with a cluster like we had.  We were told by RC staff that this area was "bought out" by the group - not sure why they would lie - point being by OP if this group can "buy out" the Solarium, consider some credit or other accommodations to the other cruisers.  Point is, in my opinion, ship was full, they devoted significant staff to this area daily (from what I could see) for a small group that paid $$$ impacting other areas of the ship.  Comparison to go-carts and other options is also ridiculous - you can choose to wait in line for those if you choose regardless of the wait.  There was no option to wait to get into the Solarium Bistro.  RC should consider all of the cruisers when negotiating these events/transactions -that's it, nothing more.  

[Plumlee2028]

I was on that cruise, Oasis 15-22.  Didn't bother me other than a "Oh Man, I wanted to try that."  For specific dining functionalities, as many on that cruise likely chose to partake in, Solarium Bistro is probably the best one to close.  

 

MTD was a little bad the first night, but the rest of the week I never waited more than 15 minutes or so.  Sometimes the service inside was a little chaotic, but I did actually think the speed was faster with the new menus for the number of passengers.  

[Ampurp85]

The group that brought out the bistro did it AFTER the fact. So when it was first being sold, the bistro was still being listed. As soon as it was brought it was removed. That's my whole point, changes can happen. If you sole point is you wanted access something,  keep tabs.

My point with the bumper cars is that even if it is available, you still might not get to use it. Different groups could have brought out the bistro each day for family functions. Royal is a business, money talks. They used a venue that people rarely use. Now if they had closed off Sorrento's, park Cafe, etc. I could see wanting compensation.

[twangster]

8 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

The group that brought out the bistro did it AFTER the fact. So when it was first being sold, the bistro was still being listed. As soon as it was brought it was removed. That's my whole point, changes can happen. If you sole point is you wanted access something,  keep tabs.

My point with the bumper cars is that even if it is available, you still might not get to use it. Different groups could have brought out the bistro each day for family functions. Royal is a business, money talks. They used a venue that people rarely use. Now if they had closed off Sorrento's, park Cafe, etc. I could see wanting compensation.

The group was Royal Caribbean.  They sold Yeshiva week meal plans to a finite number of guests.   This wasn't an external group, it's a Royal Caribbean offering with a finite number of seats available for purchase given they have a finite number they accommodate in the Solarium Bistro.  Much like a particular specialty restaurant has a capacity, the Yeshiva week meal plan offered by Royal has a finite capacity.  

They can only truly make Kosher food available by closing the venue for the week and dedicating the venue and food preparation areas to the kosher process.  There are specific kosher food preparation processes that can be difficult or impossible to achieve in a normal ship galley.  By dedicating the Solarium Bistro and it's adjoining galley they can control how each type of food is made while ensuring they don't commingle the food types and utensils in a manner that would not follow kosher ways.

Last year for the week of January 23, 2022 it was on Harmony as pointed out above.

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Misc/Yeshiva_Week_2022_Consumer_Flyer_HR[1][2]_WebermanEdit[6].pdf  

$35 pppd, kids $17.50 pppd

"...including delicious fresh kosher buffets at the elegant Solarium Bistro on one special sailing."

When Rhapsody is based in Haifa it is more common and the need to provide kosher food is more in demand so it's something that is performed on a much larger scale.

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Dining/22004061_RH_Haifa_Kosher_Package_Consumer_Flyers-1.pdf

It's basically like a partial charter where a group takes over a venue for the week. In this case it's not a ship charter but an optional meal plan like the UDP is an optional meal plan. 

It's not something that is widely known to the public but it's not a secret either.  The Royal Caribbean Yeshiva week meal plan are announced to travel agents during the periodic conference calls with Royal's sales executives so that travel agents know how to proceed if a guest requests it.   It looks like prices have gone up quite a bit since 2022.

While Yeshiva week is specific to January, they also offer fresh Kosher meal plans at other times. 

[twangster]

It's offered in the cruise planner when it isn't sold out yet:

 

 

 

[twangster]

During the restart of cruising the Solarium Bistro was unavailable on some ships.   In some cases it was used as a crew dining venue when the pandemic was resulting in high infection rates.  They didn't want the entire crew all going to the same crew restaurant so some bridge crew and other functional groups of crew used the Solarium Bistro as their meal venue.  

In these cases the Solarium Bistro was unavailable to guests for months at a time.  

It happens.  

[JohnK6404]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

During the restart of cruising the Solarium Bistro was unavailable on some ships.   In some cases it was used as a crew dining venue when the pandemic was resulting in high infection rates.  They didn't want the entire crew all going to the same crew restaurant so some bridge crew and other functional groups of crew used the Solarium Bistro as their meal venue.  

In these cases the Solarium Bistro was unavailable to guests for months at a time.  

It happens.  

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Windjammer also often completely closed for dinner on certain vessels following the restart?

[smokeybandit]

32 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Windjammer also often completely closed for dinner on certain vessels following the restart?

It was, but that was because it wasn't worth having it open at all due to low passenger counts

[JohnK6404]

48 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

It was, but that was because it wasn't worth having it open at all due to low passenger counts

That was my recollection, but... what if I was counting on that experience and wanted to eat there every day, would I get compensated? Did they send a blast e-mail notifying all of the passengers of these closures pre-cruise? Unacceptable!

Just kidding!   

[ellcee]

I can see being mildly disappointed if it's your favorite food venue but I think I look at it differently - a group of people with very specific food needs need a place to eat and this is perfect for them. It also means the other food places may be slightly less crowded. 

It just seems like an overreaction to me. Also why quote "group". No quotes needed, it's a group of Jewish people who follow Kosher food practices (clearly I'm not knowledgable because I don't know how to phrase it right).

[BennyandBo]

I think setting aside a 10% credit for those who are going to complain over this type of closure makes good customer service sense. As the number of people who will actually bother to complain is limited and this will fix the situation. As I've said before it is in everyone's best interest to not have unhappy customers on board. Or in the future. 

And on a personal note. It does stink that Royal does this. Especially for profit. And don't give me they are a business crap. The business screwed it's customers that they had already taken money from, buy reselling an already sold product. The only leeway I can give is from the perspective of needing a place to prepare kosher meals. But this too should have been advertised from the day the trip became listed as available. They knew two years in advance this would happen. It's selling an already sold product a second time. On land that's illegal.

[Xaa]

I don't want your 10% happy fee baked into my cruise fare.

This is no different than the aqua show selling out.  It's a venue, they took reservations with a fee and it sold out.  It was available to be booked first come first served like a multitude of other things on a cruise.

[BennyandBo]

21 minutes ago, Xaa said:

I don't want your 10% happy fee baked into my cruise fare.

This is no different than the aqua show selling out.  It's a venue, they took reservations with a fee and it sold out.  It was available to be booked first come first served like a multitude of other things on a cruise.

A 10% "happy fee" is already baked in. Please don't kid yourself. Every time someone complains and receives fcc where do you think it comes from? It's just good customer service. And they are making plenty of extra profits from the sale of a kosher kitchen to dip into. 

[Xaa]

What's baked in is based on their current method of allocation.  Your method has them handing it out more frequently.  No way handing more money back to complainers for this type of thing would not have an impact that ended up in my fare.

Venue's sell out.   Be disappointed if you miss out.  Don't expect a refund.

[BennyandBo]

13 minutes ago, Xaa said:

What's baked in is based on their current method of allocation.  Your method has them handing it out more frequently.  No way handing more money back to complainers for this type of thing would have an impact that ended up in my fare.

Venue's sell out.   Be disappointed if you miss out.  Don't expect a refund.

And I disagree with you. See how life works. LOL.

[Xaa]

But I don't like how life works.  I'd like at least 10% back.  

[twangster]

Read the cruise contract.  I searched and search and found no McHappy fee.  

No where was I guaranteed access to any and every venue on the ship.  

NCL also had a Yeshiva cruise.  I didn't check other lines.  

Now you know.  If this bother you then find another cruise line.  

[wordell1]

I've sailed out of Galveston where different venues were reserved for group activities because of "group cruises" booked by fans of country music groups.  On one Liberty sailing the Star Lounge was closed for the entire week.  

I've never made it to one (yet) but I think the RC Blog group cruise has reserved areas before.

I get that people are sometimes disappointed, but it is not different than booking Disney and finding out that your favorite ride is down for maintenance.

The fact is that this happens and people can make their own choices.

[BennyandBo]

17 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

I've sailed out of Galveston where different venues were reserved for group activities because of "group cruises" booked by fans of country music groups.  On one Liberty sailing the Star Lounge was closed for the entire week.  

I've never made it to one (yet) but I think the RC Blog group cruise has reserved areas before.

I get that people are sometimes disappointed, but it is not different than booking Disney and finding out that your favorite ride is down for maintenance.

The fact is that this happens and people can make their own choices.

Like Disney, have a page right up in front, in bold letters, telling you minimum 9 months to a year in advance about scheduled special events and how they may effect certain venues. I'll happily argue against anyone who claims Royal offers that level of transparency, because they don't. But it works well for Disney and delivers a higher level of customer service. I would welcome a well placed page on Royal’s site with advanced notice of such events and the impact they will have on venues. A calendar of special events and venue availabilities right off the home page. 

[morganpink2001]

On 1/29/2023 at 1:32 PM, Ampurp85 said:

I was on your sailing.  Don't understand the need for fcc or refunds. This happens.

I disagree with you. If a free/included dining option is NOT going to be available for your use the whole time, then it should be disclosed upon booking or credits should be offered, especially if a guest feels inconvenienced by this. Not sure about 10%...Maybe $50 credit/person?