Possibly looking to book RC, but Nervous at what I see...

We are young, seasoned cruisers and were looking to possibly book RC to get away on a short cruise. We typically sail NCL (did RC when I was a kid), but none of their short ones would work for us.

I automatically came to the board on CC to get info on RC, but all I see are issues. People having their cabins taken away due to overbooking, people with FCCs that corporate isn't honoring, not to mention a flawed reservation system.

I understand a few unhappy people, but this seems to be systemic?

Should I look to RC for another cruise (I have 2 booked with NCL right now for the whole family, but this would be an 'us' cruise), or should I suck it up, stay with NCL or look for another line?

I appreciate your honest responses!

Hunter

you only hear a few complaints, nothing from the happy thousands that cruise weekly and have no issues

I haven't seen anymore complaints on this board then any other board about any other cruiseline. I personally don't let reviews impact my decision for a cruise.

We keep going back to RC and enjoy every cruise. Leaving tomorrow on the Enchantment. We have done 3 NCL cruises and I don't think we will go on them again, lots of things we didn't like. So you are an NCL fan and I am a RC fan, you will have lots of likes and dislikes for both lines. Give RC a try for yourself as we did with 3 times on NCl.

you only hear a few complaints, nothing from the happy thousands that cruise weekly and have no issues

This.

I've got 70 nights at sea with RCI and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive.

I suspect the vast majority here, most of whom have more nights at sea than I do, would offer the same assessment.

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I haven't seen anymore complaints on this board then any other board about any other cruiseline. I personally don't let reviews impact my decision for a cruise.

there are complaints and there are COMPLAINTS.

I see complaints from every line but they are minor ones but the ones on the RCI boards as of late have been big complaints that should never have gotten to the points they are now.

Booking a gty OV and given an IS and RCI says so sorry here is some OBC. That OBC still doesn't give the person a window in their cabin.

Another big complaint is the pax who got a letter saying they will receive a % off their next cruise because of a shorten cruise because of azipod failure but RCI will not honor the letter.

Another big problem is with the IT dept once you have a booked cruise of you go into your booking and you booked directly with RCI it will reprice your cruise to the price of the cruise the day you are accessing your account and then have to spend time on the phone with RCI getting it straightened out.

RCI's advice is to tell you not to access your reservation online.

It's not just the last week or so that this problem has arisen but the problem still persist.

It has to be a major embarrassment to RCI but yet they can't get it figured out.

Bill

Another big problem is with the IT dept once you have a booked cruise of you go into your booking and you booked directly with RCI it will reprice your cruise to the price of the cruise the day you are accessing your account and then have to spend time on the phone with RCI getting it straightened out.

 

RCI's advice is to tell you not to access your reservation online.

 

It's not just the last week or so that this problem has arisen but the problem still persist.

 

It has to be a major embarrassment to RCI but yet they can't get it figured out.

 

Bill

Clearly they're not embarrassed or they would have improved their online systems a long time ago. There have been more problems recently, but for YEARS they have had issues every weekend for "system updates" or whatever they call it............:rolleyes:

But for the OP, I'll say we've cruised RCCL once per year for the past 10 years and all the actual cruise experiences have been great. Other than online access issues we've never personally experienced some of the issues that come up here.

I see many people book their own cruises and then have complaints. Use a TA and that becomes their problem. The TA has access to the Business Development Managers who can get things straightened out.

Any TA that is worth their weight should be checking constantly on your booking to make sure everything is as it should be. Also they should be checking the prices. That OV guarantee problem would have turned into a balcony.

You are going to pay the gross price no matter what. The TA gets a percentage of the gross. If a TA attempts to charge you a fee for their services it's time to look elsewhere for another TA.

I see many people book their own cruises and then have complaints. Use a TA and that becomes their problem. The TA has access to the Business Development Managers who can get things straightened out.

Any TA that is worth their weight should be checking constantly on your booking to make sure everything is as it should be. Also they should be checking the prices. That OV guarantee problem would have turned into a balcony.

You are going to pay the gross price no matter what. The TA gets a percentage of the gross. If a TA attempts to charge you a fee for their services it's time to look elsewhere for another TA.

While such TA's still exist they are few and far between. You need to kiss quite a few frogs til you find a good one.

Bill

there are complaints and there are COMPLAINTS.

 

I see complaints from every line but they are minor ones but the ones on the RCI boards as of late have been big complaints that should never have gotten to the points they are now.

 

Booking a gty OV and given an IS and RCI says so sorry here is some OBC. That OBC still doesn't give the person a window in their cabin.

 

Another big complaint is the pax who got a letter saying they will receive a % off their next cruise because of a shorten cruise because of azipod failure but RCI will not honor the letter.

 

Another big problem is with the IT dept once you have a booked cruise of you go into your booking and you booked directly with RCI it will reprice your cruise to the price of the cruise the day you are accessing your account and then have to spend time on the phone with RCI getting it straightened out.

 

RCI's advice is to tell you not to access your reservation online.

 

It's not just the last week or so that this problem has arisen but the problem still persist.

 

It has to be a major embarrassment to RCI but yet they can't get it figured out.

 

Bill

Good post, it seems that RCI has lost it's focus on keeping the customer happy. This has changed to let's do whatever we can to save a buck and our customer won't notice, care or remember how things were. Customer service is zilch!

While such TA's still exist they are few and far between. You need to kiss quite a few frogs til you find a good one.

 

Bill

Yep. There are just as many horror stories here about bad TA's as there are people dealing directly with RCCL. We haven't used a TA in 20 years and probably never will again. To each their own.

Yep. There are just as many horror stories here about bad TA's as there are people dealing directly with RCCL. We haven't used a TA in 20 years and probably never will again. To each their own.

I have noticed that so often the people here who push to use a travel agent, omit to mention that they are one....

We are young, seasoned cruisers and were looking to possibly book RC to get away on a short cruise. We typically sail NCL (did RC when I was a kid), but none of their short ones would work for us.

 

I automatically came to the board on CC to get info on RC, but all I see are issues. People having their cabins taken away due to overbooking, people with FCCs that corporate isn't honoring, not to mention a flawed reservation system.

 

I understand a few unhappy people, but this seems to be systemic?

 

Should I look to RC for another cruise (I have 2 booked with NCL right now for the whole family, but this would be an 'us' cruise), or should I suck it up, stay with NCL or look for another line?

 

I appreciate your honest responses!

 

Hunter

Hunter, we are Platinum on NCL and Diamond Plus on RCCL. I have found that I like the RCCL product better and we keep booking our 2-4 cruises per year on RCCL. I have never had issues with the reservation system, customer service, or any of the other things. Over the years some of the rules have changed and some people haven't assimilated the changes. In other cases RCCL has rules about on board credit transferring when you change your reservation. Then, there are always IT issues and people slam them for any mistake or inconsistency. Heaven forbid if they make a change to the Loyalty program. Even if it's an improvement people complained. I liked cruising on NCL too but I believe RCCL has more innovative ships and appeals to a wider demographic.

I am a reasonably fussy person. I expect good value for my money, good service, to be wowed by the amenities and entertainment. I have sailed RC, Celebrity and Princess. I always go back to Royal, as they consistently hit my "must haves". Perfect? No. But I am always entertained, can always find something I like to eat, can find something to do or somewhere quiet to sit and enjoy the sea roll by.

Hunter, we are Platinum on NCL and Diamond Plus on RCCL. I have found that I like the RCCL product better and we keep booking our 2-4 cruises per year on RCCL. I have never had issues with the reservation system, customer service, or any of the other things. Over the years some of the rules have changed and some people haven't assimilated the changes. In other cases RCCL has rules about on board credit transferring when you change your reservation. Then, there are always IT issues and people slam them for any mistake or inconsistency. Heaven forbid if they make a change to the Loyalty program. Even if it's an improvement people complained. I liked cruising on NCL too but I believe RCCL has more innovative ships and appeals to a wider demographic.

While what you say is true the OP is not referring to the trivial complaints of people not liking change.

OP is referring to the way RCI has been treating their customers lately by telling them, yes we made a mistake but we aren't going to do anything to fix it. Take it or leave it.

I also agree with you about the innovative ships and maybe since no other cruise lines offer anything like the Oasis class or the new Quantum that RCI customer service is getting too full of itself.

JMHO

Bill

We are young, seasoned cruisers and were looking to possibly book RC to get away on a short cruise. We typically sail NCL (did RC when I was a kid), but none of their short ones would work for us.

 

I automatically came to the board on CC to get info on RC, but all I see are issues. People having their cabins taken away due to overbooking, people with FCCs that corporate isn't honoring, not to mention a flawed reservation system.

 

I understand a few unhappy people, but this seems to be systemic?

 

Should I look to RC for another cruise (I have 2 booked with NCL right now for the whole family, but this would be an 'us' cruise), or should I suck it up, stay with NCL or look for another line?

 

I appreciate your honest responses!

 

Hunter

We have never had any problems with any of our cruises on RCI and, therefore, have never wanted to try another cruise line. We started cruising on RCI when we were in our 30's and have never regretted that decision. :D

We have been avid NCL cruisers (platinum status) and took our first cruise on RCI last year and second a few months ago.

We generally like the way NCL will switch up their itineraries, especially out of NYC, our homeport. Also, RCI is much more expensive than NCL usually by a lot. But I really think the experiences are comparable, overall. Personally, we love Freestyle dining on NCL and only like traditional when we have our own group. Hopefully, Dynamic dining will get worked out and I really did not like having to make a reservation for every night for Quantum next year, especially when the entertainment schedule was not out.

One thing I really like about RCI is how organized they are with embarkation, disembarkation, show times, chair hogs, kids in adult pools... etc. NCL does not enforce any rule they have.

But as I said, I'll go on a cruise when I see an itinerary I like and the price is right. Have been on Carnival, Celebrity, and Holland too and have not been on a cruise I didn't like.

there are complaints and there are COMPLAINTS.

 

I see complaints from every line but they are minor ones but the ones on the RCI boards as of late have been big complaints that should never have gotten to the points they are now.

 

Booking a gty OV and given an IS and RCI says so sorry here is some OBC. That OBC still doesn't give the person a window in their cabin.

 

Another big complaint is the pax who got a letter saying they will receive a % off their next cruise because of a shorten cruise because of azipod failure but RCI will not honor the letter.

 

Another big problem is with the IT dept once you have a booked cruise of you go into your booking and you booked directly with RCI it will reprice your cruise to the price of the cruise the day you are accessing your account and then have to spend time on the phone with RCI getting it straightened out.

 

RCI's advice is to tell you not to access your reservation online.

 

It's not just the last week or so that this problem has arisen but the problem still persist.

 

It has to be a major embarrassment to RCI but yet they can't get it figured out.

 

Bill

This is a good summary of recent events. It is very annoying to me that I can't go into my online bookings for fear of changing amounts due. I could have wrong things in there right now, but I'm afraid if I go into check it, I'll cause further complications.

have sailed other cruiselines in the past.....:confused:

now we really enjoy RCL and what they offer....going on our 4th RCL cruise this year in October 2014....:)

we as consumers "get what we pay for" and IMO RCL prices/services/itineraries are well worth the cost.

All of these complaints and the stock price keeps rising. They must be doing something right. In all of my cruises, there was only an instance where we were frustrated with it was the loud music emanating from the Atrium. We were given a different balcony cabin and future credit of $870 per which to us was very generous. It basically paid for our Allure cruise this past Feb.

Ps. Did you read about the Pax that it's cruise was cancelled by mistake and was upgraded from a balcony to a RCL Royal Suite, difference in grats. and dinner for 2 at a specialty restaurant, and still griped. Go figure.

Cruise Critic represents a small percentage of the cruising population so you need to not take everything posted so seriously.

Personally have never had an issue with RCCL. Have sailed on many other cruises lines and find RCCL to be very enjoyable. Don't let people you don't know or will never meet make decisions for you.

While such TA's still exist they are few and far between. You need to kiss quite a few frogs til you find a good one.

 

Bill

After my TA days I never had a problem finding them. Even retired TA's use TA's

We are young, seasoned cruisers and were looking to possibly book RC to get away on a short cruise. We typically sail NCL (did RC when I was a kid), but none of their short ones would work for us.

 

I understand a few unhappy people, but this seems to be systemic?

 

I appreciate your honest responses!

 

Hunter

Hunter;

Take what you read on this forum with a grain of salt. Yes; there have been a select "FEW" who have had issues and they are very vocal. But, I also see so many more that have no problems, have many cruises under their belts and keep coming back again and again.

As with any business you are going to have some great experiences, some not so good experiences, RCI has around 60-70,000 guests a year on the ships and someone will have a problem.

I see a sense of entitlement in some cruisers. They think that 1 issue (real or percieved) causes them to have a bad cruise, and they demand a upgrade, free cruise, refund of monies, etc, etc, etc.

I also do see that most of the complaints were resolved (in some fashion) by RCI, but in some cases not to the extent of the guest's expectations.

As one member has on their tag line "if you go expecting problems, it will find you".

We are young, seasoned cruisers and were looking to possibly book RC to get away on a short cruise. We typically sail NCL (did RC when I was a kid), but none of their short ones would work for us.

 

I automatically came to the board on CC to get info on RC, but all I see are issues. People having their cabins taken away due to overbooking, people with FCCs that corporate isn't honoring, not to mention a flawed reservation system.

 

I understand a few unhappy people, but this seems to be systemic?

 

Should I look to RC for another cruise (I have 2 booked with NCL right now for the whole family, but this would be an 'us' cruise), or should I suck it up, stay with NCL or look for another line?

 

I appreciate your honest responses!

 

Hunter

Hi Hunter,

I am a seasoned traveler who is not "loyal" to any particular cruise line. I've found RC to be a wonderful cruise line. I've been also on NCL, HAL and Cunard and choose my cruise based on itinerary and when I am available to go. I am surprised by the number of complaints on this board about what I consider to be small things (i.e. steak not cooked to someone's liking at the dining room, etc., etc.). When one travels, one may encounter some bumps now and then. The seasoned traveler easily handles issues as they arise and does not allow it to affect their holiday while others allow small issues to ruin it with negativity. I think you'd have a great time with RC.