Royal IT not as bad as we all think

[HeWhoWaits]

Hold on to those torches and pitchforks. Hear me out.

As many issues as we've all encountered with the Royal website and app, be aware it could be MUCH worse.

I'm currently traitorously sailing on Holland America. Pre-cruise, their website was difficult to navigate and often did not allow me to make purchases on items I had received a marketing email about. Pre-cruise their app was less useful for learning anything compared to Royal's app. Now that we are onboard, I have determined that the HAL Navigator app is almost complete garbage.

The reason I say "almost complete" is that the app has a feature we'd all love to see on Royal - and it works. You are able to pre-order items from their New York Pizza (which is far superior to the best Sorrento's in Royal's fleet) and Dive In (which is the poolside burger bar). Your food is ready for pickup in 10-15 minutes with no waiting in line.

[deep1]

I never had a problem with HAL. They were flawless in customizing a 16 person holiday sailing for us. Always treated us like gold and never a glitch. Mind you this was before "apps" and the web was young.  I shifted to Royal because their ships are far superior to others out there. In the beginning there was few if any issues.  To me the steady stream of inexcusable glitches and screw ups on their part began around 2017 when they misplaced my C+A  points  from about 14 years, To this day never fixed. Was only 40 points in that time. Doesn't matter. I don't drink so free drinks at diamond mean nothing to me. The rest spiraled to the point of "totally unreliable" during covid days. It extends to the now. Cruising should be enjoyable. I shouldn't have to spend hours on top of hours getting their errors fixed. 

My daughter jumped ship so to speak. Norwegian all the way but some glitches can be found there. Its their handling of problems in a timely manner that keeps her sailing with them.  I find when I encounter a problem with RCL it takes several calls and escalations along with hours of less than respectful dialog to correct. She usually gets her problems resolved within minutes on a single call.  My older sis stayed with HAL and she does point that their service has deteriorated but not to the point of frustration.