A Poor Imitation Of Celebrity

My wife and our adult daughter sailed on Adventure of the Seas on July 6 to the Bahamas. This cruise was our birthday gift to our daughter, who had never been on a cruise before. My wife and I have been sailing almost exclusively over the years with Celebrity. We gave our daughter the choice of a Celebrity cruise to Bermuda or a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas. Both were for one week and both were on older ships. Our daughter chose the Royal Caribbean cruise because of the itinerary. She and my wife shared a balcony cabin.

Some observations, courtesy of my wife:

1. The public restrooms were filthy. There were no attendants to clean them during daylight hours. The bathroom floors on the pool deck were wet, slippery and dangerous.

2. Hand sanitizers which should be ubiquitous on all cruise ships were no where to be found. Sinks at the entrance to the Windjammer buffet restaurant were not used by all passengers. My wife had to actually ask for hand sanitizers and she was told on one occasion that none were available.

3. Overheated passengers returning to the ship from shore were not offered cold face towels or cold drinks to refresh themselves, and of course, no hand sanitizers were on display. Clearly, cleanliness was not a priority on this ship.

4. My wife described the vaunted on-board entertainment, allegedly a Royal Caribbean strength, as nothing special.

5. On a number of occasions the staff was slow clearing dirty plates from tables in the always crowded Windjammer buffet restaurant.

6. Even though disembarking at the port of Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean’s private island) is a ritual the ship performs on a weekly basis, you would think the crew would have learned how and known better. Thousands of impatient passengers were trapped in small, narrow, overheated, confining exit ways for 90 brutal minutes before being allowed off the ship. There were no water fountains at hand. Not surprisingly, under these extremely uncomfortable conditions the mob of passengers became unruly. My wife said she’s seen better organized riots.

7. My wife noted the door frames in their cabin shower were rusty. Same with the floor surface on the balcony. Curiously, these features did not appear in the Royal Caribbean cruise brochure.

8. Although she was Diamond class by virtue of her past cruises on Celebrity, my wife had to actually ask for basics like a shower cap and lotions and a robe. The cabin had no carafe of ice water.

9. Having purchased a soda package, my wife had to continually ask for straws, which the crew were stingy to hand out allegedly due to environmental concerns — but they were ever present on more expensive alcoholic beverages.

10. To be sure, and in fairness to Royal Caribbean, there were parts of the cruise my wife did enjoy. Contrary to her low expectations, my wife said the food was decent, though selections on the MDR menu were limited. She said her cabin attendant and MDR server were very good. But maybe because we booked this cruise late, the fare was no bargain compared to what we pay on Celebrity (where we normally book early) — and yet she received a lot less for our money. For years we’ve heard Celebrity described as an upscale version of Royal Caribbean (they are both owned by the same parent company), but until my wife’s upsetting experiences on this cruise we were unable to appreciate what upscale really means.

If you were on the same sailing, why are you describing everything through someone else's eyes?

Biker, who is getting this one out of the way really early.

My wife and our adult daughter sailed on Adventure of the Seas on July 6 to the Bahamas. This cruise was our birthday gift to our daughter, who had never been on a cruise before. My wife and I have been sailing almost exclusively over the years with Celebrity. We gave our daughter the choice of a Celebrity cruise to Bermuda or a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas. Both were for one week and both were on older ships. Our daughter chose the Royal Caribbean cruise because of the itinerary. She and my wife shared a balcony cabin.

 

Some observations, courtesy of my wife:

 

1. The public restrooms were filthy. There were no attendants to clean them during daylight hours. The bathroom floors on the pool deck were wet, slippery and dangerous.

 

2. Hand sanitizers which should be ubiquitous on all cruise ships were no where to be found. Sinks at the entrance to the Windjammer buffet restaurant were not used by all passengers. My wife had to actually ask for hand sanitizers and she was told on one occasion that none were available.

 

3. Overheated passengers returning to the ship from shore were not offered cold face towels or cold drinks to refresh themselves, and of course, no hand sanitizers were on display. Clearly, cleanliness was not a priority on this ship.

 

4. My wife described the vaunted on-board entertainment, allegedly a Royal Caribbean strength, as nothing special.

 

5. On a number of occasions the staff was slow clearing dirty plates from tables in the always crowded Windjammer buffet restaurant.

 

6. Even though disembarking at the port of Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean’s private island) is a ritual the ship performs on a weekly basis, you would think the crew would have learned how and known better. Thousands of impatient passengers were trapped in small, narrow, overheated, confining exit ways for 90 brutal minutes before being allowed off the ship. There were no water fountains at hand. Not surprisingly, under these extremely uncomfortable conditions the mob of passengers became unruly. My wife said she’s seen better organized riots.

 

7. My wife noted the door frames in their cabin shower were rusty. Same with the floor surface on the balcony. Curiously, these features did not appear in the Royal Caribbean cruise brochure.

 

8. Although she was Diamond class by virtue of her past cruises on Celebrity, my wife had to actually ask for basics like a shower cap and lotions and a robe. The cabin had no carafe of ice water.

 

9. Having purchased a soda package, my wife had to continually ask for straws, which the crew were stingy to hand out allegedly due to environmental concerns — but they were ever present on more expensive alcoholic beverages.

 

10. To be sure, and in fairness to Royal Caribbean, there were parts of the cruise my wife did enjoy. Contrary to her low expectations, my wife said the food was decent, though selections on the MDR menu were limited. She said her cabin attendant and MDR server were very good. But maybe because we booked this cruise late, the fare was no bargain compared to what we pay on Celebrity (where we normally book early) — and yet she received a lot less for our money. For years we’ve heard Celebrity described as an upscale version of Royal Caribbean (they are both owned by the same parent company), but until my wife’s upsetting experiences on this cruise we were unable to appreciate what upscale really means.

Thanks for sharing your wife's experiences and opinions. We've sailed the Adventure four times.(y):cool:(y)

No shower cap...that's it... never cruising with them again..., or here is an idea..... why not do a little bit of research as to what (and what is not offered) if you are trying a new cruise line.

If I went on a totally new brand I would not expect everything to be a mirror image of what I receive on RCI.

Just sayin'.

Interesting second hand review. A few points, rest rooms are cleaned during the day, there are crew members with blue bags that go around cleaning them. Straws are available on request as is very common in most places these days. Bathroom toiletries have never included shower caps, certain levels of loyalty and cabin do get lotion though. Not going to address anything else as you weren't on the cruise.

If you were on the same sailing, why are you describing everything through someone else's eyes?

I wasn’t on the same sailing. The first sentence of my post makes that clear.

I am a member of Cruise Critic. My wife is not. She asked me to post her experience which may be of interest to other Cruise Critic members.

My wife and our adult daughter sailed on Adventure of the Seas on July 6 to the Bahamas. This cruise was our birthday gift to our daughter, who had never been on a cruise before. My wife and I have been sailing almost exclusively over the years with Celebrity. We gave our daughter the choice of a Celebrity cruise to Bermuda or a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas. Both were for one week and both were on older ships. Our daughter chose the Royal Caribbean cruise because of the itinerary. She and my wife shared a balcony cabin.

 

Some observations, courtesy of my wife:

 

1. The public restrooms were filthy. There were no attendants to clean them during daylight hours. The bathroom floors on the pool deck were wet, slippery and dangerous.

 

2. Hand sanitizers which should be ubiquitous on all cruise ships were no where to be found. Sinks at the entrance to the Windjammer buffet restaurant were not used by all passengers. My wife had to actually ask for hand sanitizers and she was told on one occasion that none were available.

 

3. Overheated passengers returning to the ship from shore were not offered cold face towels or cold drinks to refresh themselves, and of course, no hand sanitizers were on display. Clearly, cleanliness was not a priority on this ship.

 

4. My wife described the vaunted on-board entertainment, allegedly a Royal Caribbean strength, as nothing special.

 

5. On a number of occasions the staff was slow clearing dirty plates from tables in the always crowded Windjammer buffet restaurant.

 

6. Even though disembarking at the port of Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean’s private island) is a ritual the ship performs on a weekly basis, you would think the crew would have learned how and known better. Thousands of impatient passengers were trapped in small, narrow, overheated, confining exit ways for 90 brutal minutes before being allowed off the ship. There were no water fountains at hand. Not surprisingly, under these extremely uncomfortable conditions the mob of passengers became unruly. My wife said she’s seen better organized riots.

 

7. My wife noted the door frames in their cabin shower were rusty. Same with the floor surface on the balcony. Curiously, these features did not appear in the Royal Caribbean cruise brochure.

 

8. Although she was Diamond class by virtue of her past cruises on Celebrity, my wife had to actually ask for basics like a shower cap and lotions and a robe. The cabin had no carafe of ice water.

 

9. Having purchased a soda package, my wife had to continually ask for straws, which the crew were stingy to hand out allegedly due to environmental concerns — but they were ever present on more expensive alcoholic beverages.

 

10. To be sure, and in fairness to Royal Caribbean, there were parts of the cruise my wife did enjoy. Contrary to her low expectations, my wife said the food was decent, though selections on the MDR menu were limited. She said her cabin attendant and MDR server were very good. But maybe because we booked this cruise late, the fare was no bargain compared to what we pay on Celebrity (where we normally book early) — and yet she received a lot less for our money. For years we’ve heard Celebrity described as an upscale version of Royal Caribbean (they are both owned by the same parent company), but until my wife’s upsetting experiences on this cruise we were unable to appreciate what upscale really means.

Wow, I don't even know where to start.

I was on this ship 4 months ago for 2 weeks, and NONE of this was ever evident to me. There was ALWAYS hand sanitizers and ice water when getting back on board from port.

I always saw an attendant in the public bathrooms cleaning every time I was in there.

Shower caps and lotion are NEVER provided.

Yes, you always pay more the closer you get to sailing. The best deals are over 6 months in advance.

Straws are a new thing that RCI has implemented as an environmental issue. NO more plastic straws.

Official word on straws here: https://presscenter.rclcorporate.com/press-release/18/royal-caribbean-to-eliminate-plastic-straws-by-end-of-2018/

Celebrity implementing the same policy.

Interesting second hand review. A few points, rest rooms are cleaned during the day, there are crew members with blue bags that go around cleaning them. Straws are available on request as is very common in most places these days. Bathroom toiletries have never included shower caps, certain levels of loyalty and cabin do get lotion though. Not going to address anything else as you weren't on the cruise.

If bathrooms were cleaned during the day, they would be clean. But they weren’t. They were dirty.

Oddly, the passengers who ordered alcoholic beverages didn׳t have to “request” straws with *their* drinks.

A shower cap was provided only after my wife asked for it, but caps *are* provided on Celebrity cruises — the comparison being the point of the review.

Not going to address anything else you wrote as you weren’t on the cruise, either.

Personally I'd be more interested in your daughter's opinions. Your wife is a happy Celebrity cruiser and it sounds like she went in with really low expectations because it wasn't Celebrity. I often find expectations are a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you have low expectations you will see things in a negative light

Royal Caribbean isn't Celebrity, and it isn't trying to be Celebrity. It isn't trying to imitate Celebrity, so saying it was a poor imitation would be disingenuous. It would be like if somebody who always drove a Lexus test drove a Jeep and said it was a poor imitation of a Lexus. They are both cars, sure, but they serve different clientele for a different purpose.

I'm not saying her arguments are invalid; older ships in particular can be kept in a bit of a worse condition than the newer ships, or a ship fresh out of dry dock. And it's definitely valuable information for people who always sail Celebrity to get an idea of what would be different on Royal Caribbean

Maybe try Carnival next time......

No shower cap...that's it... never cruising with them again..., or here is an idea..... why not do a little bit of research as to what (and what is not offered) if you are trying a new cruise line.

 

If I went on a totally new brand I would not expect everything to be a mirror image of what I receive on RCI.

Just sayin'.

From my wife’s single experience and objective observations, Royal Caribbean is an inferior cruise line. The cruise was a birthday gift to our daughter and she — not we — chose this cruise based on the destination, shower caps or no and your expectations notwithstanding.

Just sayin’.

Maybe try Carnival next time......

It actually might be an improvement ...

From my wife’s single experience and objective observations, Royal Caribbean is an inferior cruise line. The cruise was a birthday gift to our daughter and she — not we — chose this cruise based on the destination, shower caps or no and your expectations notwithstanding.

 

Just sayin’.

Calling it an inferior cruise line based on one particular ship is a rash generalisation. I wonder if she would have had a different experience on a different class of ship

What did your daughter think?

The thing that surprises me the most is that there were no hand sanitizers. I cannot recall the last cruise I was on that did not have them available at all dining venues. Public restrooms do get cleaned but only periodically, that said, I, too, would be disappointed to see a very messy restroom.

Some of the other things are differences between RCI and Celebrity. Ice must be requested and they have never had carafes of ice water in the cabins (the used to have ice buckets), robes now need to be requested, straws are now by request although they may still give them in frozen drinks. I’ve seen cold beverages available on the pier on some occasions but not all the time.

The little amenities given by Celebrity are nice and do give one a slightly more upscale feel but I’m sure if one looked hard enough some rust could be found on almost any ship of any line.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

never seen these issues in my approx. 20 cruises on RCCL, as for the entertainment statement, celebrity seems to have the worst there is currently a tread on celebrity board that almost every one agrees it is just bad, they do have nice suite perks

It actually might be an improvement ...

LOL. Oh please, now I know you are just being over dramatic.

:')

I really hope everyone reading this takes it with a grain of salt, because the Adventure has become my favorite ship after sailing her for 2 weeks in March.

She had a major Refurb. just 6 or 7 months ago . . . so don't be afraid to sail her folks.

From my wife’s single experience and objective observations, Royal Caribbean is an inferior cruise line. The cruise was a birthday gift to our daughter and she — not we — chose this cruise based on the destination, shower caps or no and your expectations notwithstanding.

 

Just sayin’.

You are calling a cruise line inferior based on one sailing, on one ship, taken by someone else? Jump to conclusions much?

Just sayin'.

Sorry your family had so many things they were not happy with. However, second hand reports are often hard to verify.

Have never sailed a RC ship where bathrooms were not cleaned on a regular schedule.

Pool decks and adjacent floors are slippery - all ships - that's why caution is always advised.

Never had a problem with not having hand sanitizer available.

Cold drinks/cool towels are not offered on RC on a routine basis when returning to ship. Most people just walk on board and go to their cabin and other places they had planned to be.

I wonder if the long, hot wait to disembark was because people started lining up an hour before the posted/announced time. I have seen this happen on just about every ship, including Celebrity. Some people just want to the first off the ship. Personally find showing up 15-30 minutes later than announced time is a breeze.

Always rust on ships especially balconies - it's a ship - saltwater!

Shower caps etc. are not provided on RC. No carafes of water in cabins either - research would have told you that. Ice available twice daily on request.

Windjammer is usually crowded on all ships, especially at peak times. You said staff were slow to clean tables - perhaps they were just busy. Personally don't eat in the Windjammer a lot preferring other locations especially at busy times.

Straw complaint - read up - happening worldwide as an environmental protection.

Pricing is all relative - can depend on the sailing date, ship, etc.

Glad they at least were happy with meals, cabin service, etc. I do think some of the complaints were a "stretch."

... Curiously, these features did not appear in the Royal Caribbean cruise brochure. ...

I agree, Royal has been really bad with the brochures lately.:rolleyes:

Personally I'd be more interested in your daughter's opinions. Your wife is a happy Celebrity cruiser and it sounds like she went in with really low expectations because it wasn't Celebrity. I often find expectations are a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you have low expectations you will see things in a negative light

 

Royal Caribbean isn't Celebrity, and it isn't trying to be Celebrity. It isn't trying to imitate Celebrity, so saying it was a poor imitation would be disingenuous. It would be like if somebody who always drove a Lexus test drove a Jeep and said it was a poor imitation of a Lexus. They are both cars, sure, but they serve different clientele for a different purpose.

 

I'm not saying her arguments are invalid; older ships in particular can be kept in a bit of a worse condition than the newer ships, or a ship fresh out of dry dock. And it's definitely valuable information for people who always sail Celebrity to get an idea of what would be different on Royal Caribbean

Those are fair comments.

I will accept your analogy between a Lexus and a Jeep. I think that accurately sums up the difference between Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. Thank you for making my point.

But not seeing hand sanitizers and seeing dirty bathrooms, and dirty tables, and rusty accommodations isn’t seeing things in a negative light. It’s seeing things as they were.

Our daughter said she had a blast. She’s a trial lawyer by profession and needed a vacation to decompress. She slept late on sea days and spent her evenings at the blackjack tables. On port days she went to the beach. She also said she’s grateful to have such generous parents.

My wife and our adult daughter sailed on Adventure of the Seas on July 6 to the Bahamas. This cruise was our birthday gift to our daughter, who had never been on a cruise before. My wife and I have been sailing almost exclusively over the years with Celebrity. We gave our daughter the choice of a Celebrity cruise to Bermuda or a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas. Both were for one week and both were on older ships. Our daughter chose the Royal Caribbean cruise because of the itinerary. She and my wife shared a balcony cabin.

 

Some observations, courtesy of my wife:

 

1. The public restrooms were filthy. There were no attendants to clean them during daylight hours. The bathroom floors on the pool deck were wet, slippery and dangerous.

 

2. Hand sanitizers which should be ubiquitous on all cruise ships were no where to be found. Sinks at the entrance to the Windjammer buffet restaurant were not used by all passengers. My wife had to actually ask for hand sanitizers and she was told on one occasion that none were available.

 

3. Overheated passengers returning to the ship from shore were not offered cold face towels or cold drinks to refresh themselves, and of course, no hand sanitizers were on display. Clearly, cleanliness was not a priority on this ship.

 

4. My wife described the vaunted on-board entertainment, allegedly a Royal Caribbean strength, as nothing special.

 

5. On a number of occasions the staff was slow clearing dirty plates from tables in the always crowded Windjammer buffet restaurant.

 

6. Even though disembarking at the port of Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean’s private island) is a ritual the ship performs on a weekly basis, you would think the crew would have learned how and known better. Thousands of impatient passengers were trapped in small, narrow, overheated, confining exit ways for 90 brutal minutes before being allowed off the ship. There were no water fountains at hand. Not surprisingly, under these extremely uncomfortable conditions the mob of passengers became unruly. My wife said she’s seen better organized riots.

 

7. My wife noted the door frames in their cabin shower were rusty. Same with the floor surface on the balcony. Curiously, these features did not appear in the Royal Caribbean cruise brochure.

 

8. Although she was Diamond class by virtue of her past cruises on Celebrity, my wife had to actually ask for basics like a shower cap and lotions and a robe. The cabin had no carafe of ice water.

 

9. Having purchased a soda package, my wife had to continually ask for straws, which the crew were stingy to hand out allegedly due to environmental concerns — but they were ever present on more expensive alcoholic beverages.

 

10. To be sure, and in fairness to Royal Caribbean, there were parts of the cruise my wife did enjoy. Contrary to her low expectations, my wife said the food was decent, though selections on the MDR menu were limited. She said her cabin attendant and MDR server were very good. But maybe because we booked this cruise late, the fare was no bargain compared to what we pay on Celebrity (where we normally book early) — and yet she received a lot less for our money. For years we’ve heard Celebrity described as an upscale version of Royal Caribbean (they are both owned by the same parent company), but until my wife’s upsetting experiences on this cruise we were unable to appreciate what upscale really means.

Please see highlighted text above. Herein lies the majority of the problem. That, and no prior research.

Her experience was preconceived. RCI never stood a chance with your wife.

Oh, and I find it hard to believe there were no hand sanitizer dispensers. They are everywhere on every RCI ship I've been on in the past 10 years. This statement alone makes me disregard this entire review.

I wasn’t on the same sailing. The first sentence of my post makes that clear.

I misread that then - second hand reviews are really tough to judge and are usually not well received.

Please see highlighted text above. Herein lies the majority of the problem. That, and no prior research.

 

Her experience was preconceived. RCI never stood a chance with your wife.

 

Oh, and I find it hard to believe there were no hand sanitizer dispensers. They are everywhere on every RCI ship I've been on in the past 10 years. This statement alone makes me disregard this entire review.

You nailed it. And to add, I've been on over 30 cruises on Royal and have never NOT seen hand sanitizer.

Based on the way you worded her thoughts/review, it sounds like she was looking for things to complain about. And, it seems like she went in knowing full well that she was going to compare every little thing to Celebrity. And that, folks, is why she didn't have an enjoyable time. No one is going to enjoy themselves when they compare and contrast everything to a prior experience. Each ship and experience are particular to only one point in time. Enjoy the moment.!