If you were in charge of RCCL, what changes would you make?

[Pattycruise]

17 minutes ago, PL8SWPR said:

Get rid of 70s night.  Anyone old enough to remember them are no longer in the target demographic. 

My 20 something’s love 70’s night.

it’s always crowded

[Pattycruise]

I’d work with staff on understanding a question by parroting what the question is and not “step on” the person talking to answer what they assume the question will be.

ex.  I went to crown and anchor loyalty ambassador to inquire about the free pinnacle cruise-it reads that the free cruise is the one you are on when you hit pinnacle (My interpretation of the fine print) before I could finish my question I was schooled in how when you earn pinnacle on a cruise you do not immediately get the perks on that sailing and a few other pinnacle things I had no interest in asking about. 
 

 

 

[FSUFAN]

31 minutes ago, PL8SWPR said:

Get rid of 70s night.  Anyone old enough to remember them are no longer in the target demographic. 

I resemble that remark.    But you are right. Unless I am traveling with my grandkids, I'm not in their sweet spot and stated in the "Loyal to Royal" thread that I was probably going to move away to other lines. 

I've not seen a 70s night since we have only sailed RCL once before.  But it seems like every time I turn around, there is some bar or even church having a 70s theme night. So, it is popular for some.  I bet a bar on the ship with a dance floor and a DJ playing 70s, 80s and even 90s dance hits would be packed every night.

I like what I see in HAL's "Have it all" fare.  It has been mentioned on this thread as a "want" for RCL.

Drinks (even limited to a set amount per day), wi-fi, pre-paid gratuities rolled into the front end would cause me to rethink going elsewhere. 

[FSUFAN]

Gratuities rolled into the cruise fare

[FSUFAN]

Oops. System error between the chair and the keyboard

[whitsmom]

43 minutes ago, PL8SWPR said:

Get rid of 70s night.  Anyone old enough to remember them are no longer in the target demographic. 

Speak for yourself - We love the 70's night!  There is always a large crowd anytime we have cruised. 

[tonyfsu21]

IMHO some of the promenade/boardwalk/Central Park shopping options are a complete waste of space. I would have preferred another bar/dining venue in the majority of the higher end retail shops. There’s no need for Cartier, Bulgari or Tiffany on a mid tier cruise ship. I feel RC missed the mark on this and should offer a nice mid to high end watch and jewelry shop (slightly higher end offerings then the current shop on promenade), mix in the logo store, mercantile, sugar beach and a beach lifestyle store with name brands and it’s covered. Swap Bulgari and Cartier (which by the way don’t even sell the love bracelets which is what 99% of people want) with a dueling piano bar or possibly the Tiki style bar that they have on Mariner. I have a close friend that is an executive at one of these luxury brands and insists the ship outposts are not money makers and actually dilute the brand. Tear them all out and replace them with useable venues! 

[GJ_123]

16 hours ago, Scarlett625 said:

I would:

1) Add more complimentary dining options (ie... make Johnny Rockets complimentary or get a better burger option that can be complementary and add complementary options like Dog House and El Loco Fresh to older ships)

2) Allow cruisers to add items from the Daily Planner to the My Calendar section of the app at least a week before the cruise (I small pet peeve of mine)

3) Create a smaller drink package option (ie...10 drinks for a set price like the coffee card.)

4) Amplify older ships that have not been updated in a while. 

Making Johnny Rockets complimentary is a great idea.

[GJ_123]

This might be a difficult one, but I think the lifts on the ships are terrible just now. I don't remember it being as much of an issue years ago but going on the ships now it's really glaring how long you have to wait for a lift! I appreciate it would be a huge refurbishment to add more lifts, but honestly sometimes it's dreadful, especially when you have young kids in strollers. A couple of times we waited about 15 minutes for a lift on Symphony. On the Oasis Class ships we purposely try to get a cabin on Deck 6 so we don't always have to take the lift and are next to the Boardwalk. 

If more lifts wasn't possible, I don't know if a better system could be worked out. There seems to often be little consideration from other passengers if you were in the waiting area first, as soon as a lift comes everyone just charges towards it! I know this would mean changing peoples attitudes which is almost impossible, but maybe a better system could be implemented?

[Wheeler825]

Immediately fire every pushy photographer.

[smokeybandit]

2 minutes ago, Wheeler825 said:

Immediately fire every pushy photographer.

Post-covid I've seen a lot less photographers and they're a lot more willing to accept "no thanks"

[Wheeler825]

34 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Post-covid I've seen a lot less photographers and they're a lot more willing to accept "no thanks"

They were pretty bad on Harmony in February

[Kathleen]

I’d bring back the double points promotion. Let’s hear it for double points! 

[Srp431]

20 hours ago, whitsmom said:

Speak for yourself - We love the 70's night!  There is always a large crowd anytime we have cruised. 

we love the YMCA and so do the kids

[PG Cruiser]

On 5/22/2023 at 3:43 PM, PL8SWPR said:

Get rid of 70s night.  Anyone old enough to remember them are no longer in the target demographic. 

Oh no!  Mastering all the dance steps in the 70s medley was hard!  I want to reap from my efforts for a long, long time. lol

[Randon1234]

Windjammer open 24 hours

Pools open 24 hours

Add a sportsbook for gambling

Strict dress code for MDR, make it an elegant dress up classy meal 

Stagger show times to adjust to early and late dining 

Make cruise planner available for viewing week in advance 

Free room service

[tonyfsu21]

9 hours ago, Wheeler825 said:

Immediately fire every pushy photographer.

Agree, although the awkward family photos taken on formal nights are some of the best people watching opportunities! I will get flamed for this but nix the local dancers at the entry to coco cay & Labadee, I can do without the hoopla. Please blast the “it’s a perrrrfeeecttt daaaaaaayyyyy at Coco Caaaaaaay” at an even more obnoxious volume level just to further reinforce where we are. 

[Rakaia]

1. More food options outside the Facejammer opening times. There are times we were at a show/otherwise occupied or just eating later and it was disappointing to find the 'Jammer shuttered. I totally understand that a full buffet maintained 24 hours isn't feasible but it would be nice to have a mini self-serve food option with ample seating open later for those off times (say a simple salad bar, a few grill options, a few basic desserts, tea/coffee station). I know we could hit up Sorrento's or the Promenade Cafe during the later hours but one can only eat so much 'za and the food options at the Cafe were pretty meh (and the line could be really long with nowhere to sit to eat). 

2. More transparent pricing in advertising. It's always frustrating to see "balcony from $899" only to find its always more like $1499. Just advertise the actual price without having to have a PhD in Royal Math. 

3. Just include gratuities already. Stop giving people the option to remove gratuities from their mess tornado 2 year olds because they are not "using the facilities as much". 

4. Less tacky weird fitting t-shirts in the shop. I mean, c'mon. Anyone else ever seen that sequin monstrosity? Is Elton John on board? And what in the actual hell is up with those "spirit jerseys". 80s linebackers, your shirts are back! Oy. Oh, and we need more logo pens. I freaking love pens. 

[Thom Cruise]

1. RC should have welfare reps at immigration gates to ensure customers are fairly treated as they enter a country.  

 

2. Drinks package should be available on a day rate, or even 12 hour time limit. 

 

3. I wish they'd up their deserts game!  It might just be me, but I always find the deserts a bit disappointingly bland. 

 

4. Better variety of films available to watch.  I want more cinema experiences in the theatre, but also simulcast to room TV's.  

 

5. Please get rid of the photography deck and give us something else.  We've all got 10mp mobile phone cameras. 

 

6. Karaoke bar on ALL ships!

[Thom Cruise]

NO dress code for MDR! 

Why do people want this?  I wear a suit to work all the time, I don't want to bring a suit on a cruise!!

[ChessE4]

52 minutes ago, Thom Cruise said:

NO dress code for MDR! 

Why do people want this?  I wear a suit to work all the time, I don't want to bring a suit on a cruise!!

You don't  need to pack a suit, but allow others to celebrate a special night in an elegant atmosphere. I would have one spot where dress code is followed. The rest can be casual. But I think we used to have that... 

[BigKarl]

On 5/21/2023 at 6:41 AM, twangster said:

I never do well in these exercises because to be king for a day requires that I think like a king for that day. 

That means I must stop thinking about my personal needs or desires and I must think about what is best for the kingdom.  Rarely are the two the same.  

Let them eat Cake!

[BigKarl]

If I were King of RCI I would have just one selfish rule implementation:

Rule 1:  The RCI King is to receive Free Cruise booking and Upgrades for Life!

[Xaa]

1 hour ago, Thom Cruise said:

1. RC should have welfare reps at immigration gates to ensure customers are fairly treated as they enter a country.  

I'd like to see the uncontrollable laughter from another country's customs and border patrol when a representative of Royal Caribbean doesn't like what they are doing.

[F1guynz]

I always enjoy the onboard experience down under as some of the complaints I see in the US market do not apply down here.

1) The casino is non-smoking in Australia/NZ

2) Gratuities are included

Most of my gripes relate to the land and Internet experience.

For example, you used to be able to change your cabin number or upgrade your room on the website, 

I would like to be able to search on cabin type by price.

 

However, the main change I would make is to change star class bookings to earn 3 C&A points per cruise as they are next level suites.

[Rackham]

4 hours ago, Thom Cruise said:

2. Drinks package should be available on a day rate, or even 12 hour time limit. 

If Royal had a better IT backend I could see them doing this like Disney theme park tickets. The more days you drink, the bigger your discount. Only valid during the sailing it's purchased for; a sailing day is defined as the same as for the C&A drink vouchers. Pricing would probably start around $150-$175 per day, then drop down so that a 7-night package is at least marginally more expensive than the current package rates.

[Vancity Cruiser]

On 5/23/2023 at 5:27 PM, Randon1234 said:

Pools open 24 hours

YES PLEASE!!!

[Thumper44]

All of these are great! You're spot on!

On 5/21/2023 at 9:18 AM, Montemy2419 said:

2.  On all menus, including Windjammer,  I would put the tiny symbol next to a food item if it is vegan, dairy free or gluten free.  Currently it only lists vegan and since I'm in charge for one day I get to do what I want

 

On 5/21/2023 at 9:01 AM, wordell1 said:

3. Replace Cats with anything else.

4. No smoking in the casino.

 

On 5/21/2023 at 6:09 PM, Cakemeister said:

And I'd put a drink machine on the Liberty.

 

On 5/22/2023 at 10:31 AM, Scarlett625 said:

1) Add more complimentary dining options (ie... make Johnny Rockets complimentary or get a better burger option that can be complementary and add complementary options like Dog House and El Loco Fresh to older ships)

2) Allow cruisers to add items from the Daily Planner to the My Calendar section of the app at least a week before the cruise (I small pet peeve of mine)

 

On 5/21/2023 at 10:29 AM, Mike.s said:

Rotate the ships more often, we've got bored of Anthem out of the UK.

 

[F1guynz]

1 hour ago, Thumper44 said:

Rotate the ships more often, we've got bored of Anthem out of the UK.

We have had Ovation since at least 2017 and it will still be here in 2025.

There is only so many times you can watch the same shows before boredom sets in.

[Thumper44]

5 hours ago, F1guynz said:

We have had Ovation since at least 2017 and it will still be here in 2025.

There is only so many times you can watch the same shows before boredom sets in.

I'm sure there's a thousand hidden costs to the cruise line to redeploy a ship to a different itinerary, and double the costs to swap 2 ships.  But surely some of that would be offset by the interest the customers would have in getting to experience something new.  You'd think… 

[BMW Hoosier]

On 5/21/2023 at 11:12 AM, Ryan79 said:

Include the UBP in your cabin fare

You know some here have actually tried to balance business and customer interests in this pointless exercise. Do you not see how much money they make off this and how many it would drive away if the price was just $400 more for everyone?

 

If there were no repercussions and one was doing their duty to the shareholders, the logic would be to raise the price to a million dollars a week, charge for the drinks (including water, tea, and lemonade), the meals, and pillows, for that matter. 

[Traveler]

1. Two more  food places open until late , one with healthier food one with comfort food.

2. Private Island in Greece. 

3. Year around ships in the warmer part of Europe/Middle East/North Africa.

4. Develop more ports for Oasis/Icon ships.

5. Few adults only ships.

6. Renew the questions in Love and marriage , new missions at Quest.

7. Add a way to see the full cruise compas from the app ( I know its the most complicate request as it involves RC IT).

8. Add patisserie to the ship with fresh desserts.

[TeRriii]

This thread had gone side way to customer wishlist thread with so many ideas that will bankrupt the company if implemented.

If you gonna be RCL boss, no 1 priority is company profit.

[FSUFAN]

5 hours ago, TeRriii said:

This thread had gone side way to customer wishlist thread with so many ideas that will bankrupt the company if implemented.

If you gonna be RCL boss, no 1 priority is company profit.

That may be the problem now. Profits over customer satisfaction. I just read an article where ships and lines are overbooking passengers (see link below).  Not a good look for any cruise line. 

Sure, there are a few crazy ideas listed but most are asking for tweaks and fixes. 

I'd pay extra to have a "limited" drinks package of 4-5 drinks per day. The internet should be a fixed cost. The fuzzy math discount game (I know not everyone sees it that way) that is played is not a customer friendly way of doing business. I'm willing to pay a little extra to get back to "wow!" meals in the MDR and IMHO it is foolish to claw back corporate profits by messing with the food quality. If RCL would work in a few bucks on each cruise fare sold and give me an extra lobster tail, I'd be okay with that.

 

Cruises Are Being Overbooked at Alarming Rates: Report | Entrepreneur

[smokeybandit]

32 minutes ago, FSUFAN said:

 

 

Cruises Are Being Overbooked at Alarming Rates: Report | Entrepreneur

What an awful article. Written by someone who clearly has no experience with the cruise industry.

 

WSJ explained that these overbookings happen when customers put more than two passengers (the expected number of passengers) per room

 

Uh what? That's not at all true.

[Rackham]

As usual, people want to toss around terms they don't understand and become outraged due to misunderstandings (edit: not referring back to FSU with the outrage, posts elsewhere and several articles are rather inflamed). Here's how occupancy is calculated by Royal which was found in less than 30 seconds of searching the Web; also happens to be standard industry practice:

"The occupancy rate, which the company refers to simply as "occupancy," is a key metric gauging the amount of available passenger capacity being utilized. It is calculated by dividing passenger cruise days by the available passenger capacity, as measured by available passenger cruise days (APCD). Passenger cruise days are a metric calculated by taking the number of passengers carried during the measurement period and multiplying that by the number of days of the passengers' respective cruises. The measure of capacity assumes double occupancy per cabin, which is why occupancy rates greater than 100% are possible—sometimes cabins are occupied by more than two passengers."

From https://www.investopedia.com/royal-caribbean-cruises-q1-fy2022-earnings-report-recap-5271089

Cruise ships aren't hotels. People aren't sleeping on the floor when the ship has an occupancy rate of over 100%.

[smokeybandit]

In fact a 102% occupancy rate is quite reasonable. It just means that assuming all cabins are booked, only 2% of the passengers on board are in a cabin as the 3rd or above passenger. And that also of course means that you can be over 100% and not have every cabin booked.

I like how the article threw in a few opportunistic "The ship is packed" quotes for good measure too.

[Matt]

That article is written by someone with no understanding of what occupancy rate means. 

[CBH]

1. more drinks package options (by day, punch cards, etc)

2. FREE wi-fi

3. more 'included' dining venues

4. more dance classes, cooking classes, active things to do on board- at no extra fee.  enough trivia already!

5. splash pads for toddlers on ALL ships. (as they're not allowed to swim if not potty trained, understandably)

 

[steverk]

I'd work on developing new ports and destinations.  That could include private islands but also new markets. South America and India are notably underdeveloped. 

I'd also look for more destinations in the Caribbean,  but aside from Campeche Mexico, I think it's pretty well tapped out.