jojoanddash

As seen in my sig, we've done mostly Carnival with our most recent (and next) on RCI. Both lines have their pluses and minuses and I have to say we really enjoyed our first RCI cruise last year; the only issue we had was addressed promptly by RCI post-cruise with a refund. I have to agree with others that the cabin setup got the OP off on a bad tangent and they were never able to find anything positive afterward. Too bad because Alaska cruises are beautiful.

We enjoyed everything about Alaska and we didn't let the lack of service on the ship ruin anything to do with Alaska!! Alaska is amazing for sure.

Wow sorry to hear you had bad experience on RCCL.

 

SO you were on the Radiance of the seas.

We did that same ship and cruise 2 years ago.

My favorite ship and one of the best cruises ever

 

 

 

Just curious why you didn't ask about your cabin in the thread you started on the RCL boards?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1848733

I didn't ask about it because I have never heard of a chair bed....I mean when I am told I have a sofa bed by many RCI employees and I had never seen or heard of the horrible chair bed I just wouldn't know to ask about it.

Bingo. Also the fact that some of her facts were wrong such as the charge for steak and lobster makes me think twice about some of the review. Hope she enjoys her future cruises on Carnival. Been there....done that and that ship sailed long ago.;):eek:

On our menu both elegant nights it said that steak & lobster was thirty some dollars I even asked about it & no one in the dining room had steak and lobster & I'm sure someone would have ordered it in our area if it was an option. But it is whatever you want to think you might know.

ok just glancing at some of the many comments I don't have time to read all of them but as for sharing the room with my Mom being the issue that is completely wrong our family and my Moms best friend and her kids and their families have traveled together all of our lives and my hubby has been around my family for years before we were married and we all get along great. We all have a lot of places we want to see and things we want to do & my Moms hubby doesn't fly so she goes with us and we don't mind at all because my hubby prefers to relax for the most part of his vacation & I like to be doing something at all times & so does my mom so hubby gets to relax and not worry about me going off on my own. I just wish all families were as close as ours life is too short.

Now for the website small print would be fine but I booked on the phone with the vacation planner. If they don't know what to expect from a room by looking at the map of the rooms then that is another area of bad customer service :eek: lol.

Ok as for me supposedly saying Carnival is perfect and RCI is horrible I said that RCI had some things I liked that Carnival didn't but I am more about customer service. This is why there are so many lines out there because everyone has different preferences and that is fine.

I do love the fact that 1 post can get so many peoples panties in a bunch lmbo :D

I am sorry that you didn't enjoy your cruise on RCI.

 

Out of interest, when you didn't get a satisfactory response from the staff at guest services, did you ask to speak with a supervisor/duty manager who might have been able to deal with your complaints in a better way?

 

It would have been so much better to get resolution whilst still on the ship rather than trying to get responses now the cruise is over.

 

I hope you reconsider sailing with RCI again as the ships and crew are usually spot on :)

Yes I did speak to the supervisor and he knew less than the first guy lol go figure. I actually spoke with 4 different people and they all had a blank confused look on their faces and I finally had to leave before I lost my temper and was thrown off the trip. I do want to make it clear that I enjoyed my trip with the land excursions and we did our own tour from Seward to Denali the only thing ruined was my opinion of what I thought was one of the best cruise lines on water.

I agree your cabin shows sofa bed and Pullman. Unfortunately the small print states contact for sofa bed configuration. In future if you are considering a cruise again with RC I would recommend a cabin that has the triangle showing sofa bed as they are cabins with true sofa beds. That being said, even then they are generally not overly large.

 

 

Are you able to post a picture of the chair / bed? It would be very helpful for other cruisers to see what it actually looks like for their future assistance.

 

I know you stated the picture on the website showed the sofa, however unfortunately it is a generic picture and not exclusive to the cabin you are booking.

 

I hope you enjoy your next cruise better:)

The room I booked did have the triangle thank you and no I didn't take a picture of that stupid chair sorry

On my last cruise a very irate man was getting into the elevator with me.... ranting and raving -- he wanted to know where the roll-aways were. We just got to our cabins...and he was heading to Guest Services. He said that he booked a cabin for 4 and the roll aways were no where in sight. His cabin steward was refusing to get them. I said... the 3rd and 4th bed will come down from the ceiling.... He said BS and headed to Guest Services. I got off on the same deck and watched him rant and rave while I walked by. He had yet to get to the desk (sort of a long line). Coming back... we were in the same elevator heading back to our cabins. He told me that Guest Services said the beds come out of the ceiling... but he was sure we were playing a horrible practical joke... he was heading back to gather up his family and get off the ship. He was going to sue everyone and I should stay out of his way... which I did. After the muster... we ended up in the same elevator... where he apologized and begged forgiveness. His daughter told me that when he got back to the cabin the beds were down from the ceiling...and she and her brother had made themselves at home! I told him there was nothing to forgive... that cruise ships aren't hotels and they can take a little getting used to. But I suggested he go back to guest service and offer an apology, which he did. Needless to say... they had a great cruise and we laughed about it a good bit before the week was up.

 

With all that said.... Rushing down to Guest Services prior to the muster... when they are dealing with huge numbers of questions and concerns of guests... demanding something that you already had.... was probably not the best way to start your cruise. I believe that the 'chair' you speak of... is actually the sofa (yep that two cushion thing is a sofa. But it did work well for you didn't it. So you talked to someone that either didn't understand you and may have offered incorrect information. But really... it ruined your cruise? It ruined your cruise because he asked you to wait until they were sailing about an hour to come up with a solution?

 

Not enough to do? Maybe it just wasn't what you wanted to do. I enjoy taking a nap in the afternoon, so I can stay up late! Someone told you that you couldn't see land from both sides of the ship? But you already knew this was wrong? Why ask?

 

I could go on an on...

 

It is obvious to me that you had no intention of 'liking' RCI... but rather you wanted the itinerary and would have rather been on Carnival. So you 'settled' for Royal... but you don't have to do that again... simple solution... never ever cruise Royal again. You want what from Royal... to admit you received poor customer service... because you were asked to wait an hour and a crew member didn't tell you what side of the ship to see land... (still not sure how you couldn't figure that one out on your own) . Sorry... you get no sympathy here.

 

Oh.. and I believe the perception is that Carnival's general decorating color scheme is pink and purple.... not something we Fans of RCI consider a great choice.

 

I think you should post this on the Carnival board..... you'll get more sympathy... I hope you enjoy your future Carnival Cruises. But... if you decide to cruise RCI again... please remember... life is a lot easier if you figure out how to just adjust the sails!

 

 

I don't want your sympathy thank you and for your information the chair was a chair with 1 cushion if it had 2 cushions it would have been a sofa. I can figure that out on my own. I actually went with the attitude that I was going to be a loyal royal cruiser from this cruise forward because I was told by some friends how wonderful RCI is and I can handle waiting till we set sail but him to be rude was unacceptable also when my Mom went down they tried to make me look stupid by telling her that when I booked the room it plainly stated that it was a chair bed and when she asked for the proof they had to show her that it said SOFA BED....still no apology they just told her they would send someone to our room before 8pm. Well I figured it out way before they showed up. If you advertise a sofa bed and give a chair bed that is false advertising. Oh & about the color scheme I didn't see pink & purple on our carnival cruises. Although there were neon purple lights on RCI ship but I actually liked those.

7566 was our cabin number

So you are not going to share your cabin number with us? At least to help out other cruisers, since you clearly believe that it is an inferior cabin?

I will post it when I can get the papers hubby is sleeping. So you are not going to share what the purple & pink has to do with anything?

Jojoanddash - Thank you for mentioning the chair sleeper. You are the second person to mention this in the past few weeks and have reminded me as I'm trying to book a cruise for 3 that I need to be very careful of this!

 

Hope you at least get some acknowledgement from RC in response to your emails. I will share that I've emailed them about positive things and still took 3 weeks to get a response. I honestly think they don't have their email / online communication methods staffed appropriately.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes be very careful of this but I thought I had clarified our needs every time I spoke to someone about our cruise and I still ended up with the crappy chair bed. Just a hint if you do get stuck with it make the room steward get the mattress down from the "ceiling bed" as guest services called it. It still wasn't very comfy but it made it a little better.

So, although you never stated this in the original post, apparently you were on the Radiance? One of Royal Caribbean's most beautiful ships, without a bit of purple or hot pink in sight?

 

Would you please share your cabin number, so that we can understand better?

ok what does purple and pink have to do with anything? Yeah it was an okay ship as far as looks I wouldn't say it is one of the most beautiful but that is just my opinion and everyone has one. Just to clarify for you I am not complaining about what the ship looks like I am upset with the lack of customer service and the fact that the employees they have at guest services didn't have any knowledge of the ship or anything they were asked about for that matter and we were not the only ones that had these issues.

I don't know how long ago your cruise was, but I saw you were waiting for a reply from royal Caribbean. Good luck. I have been waiting 3 years for one with my complaints from them.

I left June the 13th so I guess I shouldn't hold my breath for a reply huh? lol

yes I know you can see which rooms are suppose to have a sofa bed & I checked there as well as called RC to make sure. She slept on the chair bed but in the picture on the website it was a sofa not a chair. For those upset about some paragraphs sorry you can't read, I have no problem reading it. Those that can't understand why we were upset it boils down to very bad customer service. Is this simple enough?;)

I have been on 3 cruises now 2 with Carnival & 1 with Royal Caribbean. The only reason I went with Royal Caribbean was due to the destination, we were going to Alaska from Vancouver to Seward and then we were doing land ourselves for a week and Carnival didn't offer that itinerary. My cruise started off bad the moment we walked into our room and got worse. I booked that cruise the very first day it was available and I called to make sure I was getting the room I wanted....I explained that it would be 3 adults my Mom, hubby & myself & that we needed the 2 beds put together and the SOFA bed with a balcony & I was assured that my room would be exactly what I was wanting. I spoke with Royal Caribbean representatives many times for different questions and they always reviewed what my reservation was. So I was very surprised to walk into my room and see the big bed and a chair.....so I go to the guest services desk and I am told nothing could be done until an hour or so after we set sail. REALLY???? So I explained in detail that I booked this the 1st day it was offered and what I was promised so he goes and looks and the computer and a book with a bad attitude like I was asking for him to actually do something and tells me that the other bed was in the ceiling and our cabin steward would drop it down and separate the other bed so we would all have a bed. I was very upset at this point & explained that we were all adults and we were not sleeping in a bed from the ceiling & the idiot actually said then he can try to fit a cot in there. I said NO that is not what we were promised and not what we paid for and he simply shrugs his shoulders and tells me to come back an hour or so after we set sail. So I go tell my Mom & hubby & told them I was going to get on the website to try to get something done. While I was on the computer my Mom went down & tried to talk to them since I was so upset she thought I might have been rude and that was why I wasn't getting any help & she came back ticked off & said that there was several people complaining about their rooms being wrong too. So when I finished emailing Royal Caribbean a woman (another cruiser) asked me what was wrong so I told her and she told me the chair made a bed and how to do it....so I got better customer service from another guest. I was at guest services another time getting some pamphlets and I asked the guy which side of the ship would we see the most land and his response was "you will only see land when we port the rest of the time we will be in open waters" REALLY??? I have never been on an Alaskan cruise and knew that was wrong. We had a couple other issues with them and the people at guest services (they are called employees but none of the new the answers to anything so the guests on the ship could have done a better job) they always gave us the wrong info or just said I don't know and pretty much moved to the next guest. Our room steward Jeff and our waiter Rajesh and waitress Marian were the only employees we really enjoyed and had any confidence in at all. The some of the food may have been a little better but there was not as much variety offered and on elegant nights on the Carnival you got steak & lobster but on Royal Caribbean you had to pay extra for that & the desserts were way better on Carnival. Now lets talk about entertainment or lack there of....Carnival beats Royal Caribbean a million to one blind folded and hands tied behind their back. Some shows were soooo bad that we had to leave and one show the singing was soooo horrible it really did hurt my ears it was worse than nails across the chalk board, costumes were very generic and at times didn't even go with what was going on. We missed the comedy club every night like Carnival has. They had 3 so called comedians that I really felt sorry for because it was like dead silence and then someone would give them a fake pity laugh and one looked like he was 80 years old and drunk most the time I couldn't understand half of what he was saying and what I did understand didn't make any sense. If it wasn't for the spa I don't think we would have enjoyed much of the cruise (but I had to pay extra for the use of the thermal suite which it was ok but it wasn't all that). I did like the adults only pool and Jacuzzi that was open 24 hours but a lot of times there were kids and teens in there too. I never take naps unless I am sick but I think I took more naps on this cruise than I have my whole life just because there was nothing to do if you wasn't a drinker. My favorite entertainment was to go out where the glass elevators are and watch the drunks trying to dance in the center....sad huh? So yeah I could keep going but I am just going to say that from now on we will be sticking with Carnival unless I have my heart set on a destination that they don't go too and then I will think long and hard about that!!! Oh and 1 final thing I still haven't heard anything from Royal Caribbean about the poor customer service. I have sent 2 emails and took 2 surveys and all I have received is on of the surveys asking about how my complaint was handled....I was honest and told them is wasn't as of that date and still nothing. Now this may be just 1 cruise or a bad crew but first impressions are everything and theirs was a horrible first impression on all of us. I have even asked my hubby & Mom and they say the same things as me and my husband told me he will never go on any cruise with RC again I would have to go by myself lol and my hubby is very easy going and doesn't get upset hardly ever and he was not pleased at all.

I have been on 3 cruises now 2 with Carnival & 1 with Royal Caribbean. The only reason I went with Royal Caribbean was due to the destination, we were going to Alaska from Vancouver to Seward and then we were doing land ourselves for a week and Carnival didn't offer that itinerary. My cruise started off bad the moment we walked into our room and got worse. I booked that cruise the very first day it was available and I called to make sure I was getting the room I wanted....I explained that it would be 3 adults my Mom, hubby & myself & that we needed the 2 beds put together and the SOFA bed with a balcony & I was assured that my room would be exactly what I was wanting. I spoke with Royal Caribbean representatives many times for different questions and they always reviewed what my reservation was. So I was very surprised to walk into my room and see the big bed and a chair.....so I go to the guest services desk and I am told nothing could be done until an hour or so after we set sail. REALLY???? So I explained in detail that I booked this the 1st day it was offered and what I was promised so he goes and looks and the computer and a book with a bad attitude like I was asking for him to actually do something and tells me that the other bed was in the ceiling and our cabin steward would drop it down and separate the other bed so we would all have a bed. I was very upset at this point & explained that we were all adults and we were not sleeping in a bed from the ceiling & the idiot actually said then he can try to fit a cot in there. I said NO that is not what we were promised and not what we paid for and he simply shrugs his shoulders and tells me to come back an hour or so after we set sail. So I go tell my Mom & hubby & told them I was going to get on the website to try to get something done. While I was on the computer my Mom went down & tried to talk to them since I was so upset she thought I might have been rude and that was why I wasn't getting any help & she came back ticked off & said that there was several people complaining about their rooms being wrong too. So when I finished emailing Royal Caribbean a woman (another cruiser) asked me what was wrong so I told her and she told me the chair made a bed and how to do it....so I got better customer service from another guest. I was at guest services another time getting some pamphlets and I asked the guy which side of the ship would we see the most land and his response was "you will only see land when we port the rest of the time we will be in open waters" REALLY??? I have never been on an Alaskan cruise and knew that was wrong. We had a couple other issues with them and the people at guest services (they are called employees but none of the new the answers to anything so the guests on the ship could have done a better job) they always gave us the wrong info or just said I don't know and pretty much moved to the next guest. Our room steward Jeff and our waiter Rajesh and waitress Marian were the only employees we really enjoyed and had any confidence in at all. The some of the food may have been a little better but there was not as much variety offered and on elegant nights on the Carnival you got steak & lobster but on Royal Caribbean you had to pay extra for that & the desserts were way better on Carnival. Now lets talk about entertainment or lack there of....Carnival beats Royal Caribbean a million to one blind folded and hands tied behind their back. Some shows were soooo bad that we had to leave and one show the singing was soooo horrible it really did hurt my ears it was worse than nails across the chalk board, costumes were very generic and at times didn't even go with what was going on. We missed the comedy club every night like Carnival has. They had 3 so called comedians that I really felt sorry for because it was like dead silence and then someone would give them a fake pity laugh and one looked like he was 80 years old and drunk most the time I couldn't understand half of what he was saying and what I did understand didn't make any sense. If it wasn't for the spa I don't think we would have enjoyed much of the cruise (but I had to pay extra for the use of the thermal suite which it was ok but it wasn't all that). I did like the adults only pool and Jacuzzi that was open 24 hours but a lot of times there were kids and teens in there too. I never take naps unless I am sick but I think I took more naps on this cruise than I have my whole life just because there was nothing to do if you wasn't a drinker. My favorite entertainment was to go out where the glass elevators are and watch the drunks trying to dance in the center....sad huh? So yeah I could keep going but I am just going to say that from now on we will be sticking with Carnival unless I have my heart set on a destination that they don't go too and then I will think long and hard about that!!! Oh and 1 final thing I still haven't heard anything from Royal Caribbean about the poor customer service. I have sent 2 emails and took 2 surveys and all I have received is on of the surveys asking about how my complaint was handled....I was honest and told them is wasn't as of that date and still nothing. Now this may be just 1 cruise or a bad crew but first impressions are everything and theirs was a horrible first impression on all of us. I have even asked my hubby & Mom and they say the same things as me and my husband told me he will never go on any cruise with RC again I would have to go by myself lol and my hubby is very easy going and doesn't get upset hardly ever and he was not pleased at all.

ok thanks

great thanks

Thanks for all the info. Yes I do love to take care of my Mom and I could not give her enough but no I won't spend what I don't have lol but I will pamper her a little. :D

Thanks everyone

great thanks so hopefully US Cellular is the same way

I was wondering if they run spa services packages once you on board? I would like to do something for my Mom since we are cruising no long after Mother's day and she is worth so much more than anything on earth but since I am having to save for the cruise too I want to get her the most for the best deal. she has mentioned a Mother Daughter pedi mani which is fine by me but just looking at other things she may not think about. Just want to make my Mom feel as special as she makes me feel but she is so good to my sister & I that I could never even begin to thank her for all she has done for us and for what she has put up with. This my first cruise with Royal Caribbean so just wondering

Does anyone know what kind of cell service you get in Alaska. We have US Cellular. Mom needs to be able to check in on her hubby because he has heart issues and she just worries when she is gone but if nothing else we can always use hotel phones but would really like to use cell phones while we are on land especially traveling in our rental. I would really hate to make the hubby walk for help if we break down lol :eek:;):p

I want to see some glacier caves at least 1..... we are going on the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Sea from Vancouver to Sewart then we are staying 1 night in Seward then taking the train to Anchorage will stay there overnight and taking a rental car to Denali National park for 2 nights then back to Anchorage for 2 nights. There will be hubby, me & my Mom she doesn't want to fly in the helicopters or small planes so is there anywhere that it is pretty easy to get to a glacier that could have the glacier caves? Thanks in advance for any info.

We will be on the Radiance of the Sea in June heading to Alaska & I just received emails for each of my party to purchase drink packages. We don't drink alcoholic beverages but one of the packages mentions premium coffee & tea, so do they offer coffee and tea that is included in the cruise price to do we have to get a drink package for coffee, tea & hot chocolate?

Does anyone have the menus of the mdr for Radiance of the Seas cruise from Vancouver to Alaska & pics of some of the food? I know the other cruises I have been on a woman on the forum had the menus for each day and several pics of each days foods. I loved having that to look at before we went on the cruise.