Customer Service was awful

[CruiseYesPlease]

We came off a Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas 9 night South Pacific Islands cruise two weeks ago and were left feeling very disappointed with the companys version of customer service.  Our cabin toilet caused problems every day by refusing to flush at random times.  The staff encourage cruisers to use your cabin toilet rather than the public ones as this reduces the risk of infection so we did try to do this wherever possible.  Unfortunately we missed out on many shows and events as well as being unable to get off early for shore days as we constantly had to wait for the maintenance crew to fix our toilet so we could comfortably leave our cabin.  When we complained we were told 'these things can happen' and after 4 days of complaints we were offered a free bottle of wine - great idea when you can't use the toilet!  Eventually they came up with a small future cruise credit - like we'd want to go back to give them another try at their version of customer service!  We've cruised with a number of other lines - Carnival, MSC, Holland America, Celebrity, etc - and never been made to feel like Royal Caribbean left us feeling.

Quite a shame really as the staff in the bars and restaurants were brilliant - wish we could say the same about the customer service staff....  Very disappointed with Royal Caribbean!

[DocLC]

For what it is worth, this isn't the norm. However, I did have a similar problem on the Brilliance of the Seas and the officer in charge of housekeeping accused me if causing the problem. Fortunately, this was a one-time occurrence and I confronted the officer and voiced my displeasure with his attitude at the C&A party after our steward said it was a constant problem on our deck of cabins. The point, though, is that it was a one off occurrence. 

Unfortunately, all ships can have "off' sailings. Our first cruise on Carnival was horrible. So bad, in fact, that we didn't sail with them again for 17 years. Finally, an itinerary peeked our interest, so we have them another try and really enjoyed the cruise and even went on another afterwards. While I am sorry you had a bad experience, please don't think this is the norm. I would also strongly suggest voicing your concerns on the post cruise survey and writing a letter to the corporate office. 

[Matt]

I think @DocLC summed it up well.  We all have sympathy for your sailing, as it would be a situation none of us would be happy with.  However, it's not anything close to a common problem and I'd encourage you to give it another chance.

[CruiseYesPlease]

A one off occurrence we could understand but ours was every day and often 3 or 4 times daily.  We asked to be moved on day 3 but they told us they were fully booked.  Like DocLC we were made to feel that this was something we were causing - this was definitely not the case!  The staff showed little to no concern for the nuisance the issue had become when we tried to explain how this was affecting our stay.  A fellow cruiser suggested we try to speak to a Manager but even this proved to be virtually impossible as they are all 'to busy'.  We did finally get to see one who did seem sympathetic and was the only person who had shown any real interest in our issue.

I booked the cruise for my husbands 60th birthday but unfortunaley Royal Caribbean made it memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Doubt I could get my husband back on board any Royal Caribbean Ship after this experience - especially when there are so many other cruise lines who do the right thing when something goes wrong.  It's not so much that there was an issue - it's what they do about making the customer (us) come away thinking they were treated fairly.

Definitely not how Royal Caribbean left this customer feeling!

[DocLC]

@CruiseYesPlease I completely understand. The ships in many ways are like chain restaurants. Some are better than others which if impacted by the officers and crew onboard at a given time. As they roster on and off, though, the dynamic changes. 

I'm not trying to minimize what you've experienced. I completely understand as I related with my Carnival experience which kept me from cruising that line for 17 years. However, I do want to emphasize that this isn't the norm across the fleet. If it was, I would have sailed Royal as much as I have and wouldn't have three cruises booked with them in the future. 

While I do sail other lines and have the next three booked with MSC, Holland America, and Princess because of the itineraries they offer, I keep coming back to Royal as the line is the best fit for my family. Is everything perfect with Royal? Of course, not. I've even been bumped from my cabin without notice and then told I owed $200 at check in which took days to resolve. However, these were one-off situations that were specific to two of the multiple cruises I've had with Royal, meaning that overall the get a B+ by my calculations overall. 

I do completely understand your reluctance to cruise with Royal again as I was reluctant to sail Carnival for quite some time, but if you read the reviews of your ship I'd bet that why you experienced was not a systematic issue.