Turkeys at Sea: What Is the Worst Idea in the History of Cruise Travel?

[EGG]

I voted for the Epic bathrooms. The bathrooms are there to stay for the life of the ship. If they are unpopular, there is no tweaking the problem. I'm guessing Norwegian was trying to get a party crowd and not a family or older crowd. Only time will tell how bad a turkey the studio bedroom/bathroom is.

[cruisnanaj201]

While I voted for "Titanic" in your poll, I would like nominate a bad idea for at least consideration as a "turkey": the systematic removal of Royal Caribbean ships from homeports on the west coast. Apparently 'left coasters' are unworthy of thier ships, first Monarch of the Seas and in January, Mariner of the Seas. Clearly we are not sophisticated enough for them, because they can't make as much money off of us as they can in the equally saturated Caribbean and European markets. Royal Caribbean has some of, if not the most, innovative ships on the market, and I think it is unfair that we have to wait for Alaskan repositioning cruises or travel across the country to enjoy them. Infact, I take it personnally enough to say: IT STINKS! :(

[BruceMuzz]

When Ted Arison started Carnival Cruises in Miami, many people claimed that only an idiot would pay good money to board a ship in Miami, sail in a circle, and end up back in Miami - in effect going nowhere.

 

In the 1980's, as mass market cruise ships started getting too large to feed everyone at the same time, they had to resort to multiple seatings to acommodate everyone.

Everyone thought that this was the demise of cruising, feeding people in shifts like in the military or a factory.

[socram13]

I find it interesting that passengers on the same cruise can disagree, as our only cruise to date was the Pride of America aroudn Hawaii in 2007. We booked to accompany friends who had already booked, an had I read all the reviews first, there is no way I would have booked. Even after a spectacularly successful cruise, I was amazed to read the negative comments by some posters.

 

We had a fantastic week and I thought the ship, service, cleanliness etc was great. "Freestyle" did not mean low standards, but it appears that many cruise critics are snobbish in the extreme and seem totally unable to differentiate between a "budget cruise" and a high priced cruise that merely emphasises class distinction.

 

We don't 'dress for dinner' at home and certainly don't see a holiday as a time for 'dressing up'. It is a time of relaxation and enjoyment. We holiday to escape formality and red tape.

 

If smoking was banned world wide, I'd be ecstatic...

 

We were very impressed with our limited experience with NCL but my vote went for the NCL bathrooms. Gross.

[Azure Moon]

I find it interesting that passengers on the same cruise can disagree, as our only cruise to date was the Pride of America aroudn Hawaii in 2007. We booked to accompany friends who had already booked, an had I read all the reviews first, there is no way I would have booked. Even after a spectacularly successful cruise, I was amazed to read the negative comments by some posters.

 

We had a fantastic week and I thought the ship, service, cleanliness etc was great. "Freestyle" did not mean low standards, but it appears that many cruise critics are snobbish in the extreme and seem totally unable to differentiate between a "budget cruise" and a high priced cruise that merely emphasises class distinction.

 

We don't 'dress for dinner' at home and certainly don't see a holiday as a time for 'dressing up'. It is a time of relaxation and enjoyment. We holiday to escape formality and red tape.

 

If smoking was banned world wide, I'd be ecstatic...

 

We were very impressed with our limited experience with NCL but my vote went for the NCL bathrooms. Gross.

 

It's nice to see you had an enjoyable time on your 2007 Hawaiian cruise. We sailed on their Pride of Hawaii ship in 2007 (our first with NCLA, too). I'd read reviews before hand and was a little apprehensive going in, but ended up having a great time - nothing like the reviews I'd read :cool:. Hubby and I have sailed on NCL several times since that cruise.

 

Like you, I still voted for the NCL cabin bathroom. I totally agree: Gross.

 

Happy sailing! :)

[pseudochicken]

I'd like to see a reference regarding Franklin's 'Unsinkable' comment. Where's the evidence that it's a direct quote?

 

Like others, I understood that the legend of Titanic's unsinkability arose after the event, not before. I'm not aware that Titanic was regarded as especially different in that regard from her competitors on the North Atlantic, or indeed her sister Olympic (already in service). If people thought Titanic was unsinkable then they should have thought the same of Olympic, yet I've never heard of any such epithet being applied to the class leader.

 

Thank you, Tom.

 

There are instances of advertisements misconstruing the safety of the Titanic and certain White Star officials under the false impression of the impregnability of the Olympic class of ships; however, the infamous claim that Titanic was "unsinkable" did not catch notoriety until after the ship sank. As Tom stated, there should be the same claims about the Olypmic's impregnability, especially since as it was the first of the class. Yet this is not the case.

 

Furthermore, the amount of life boats on board the Titanic was actually more than required by the British government (it was based on tonnage, not passenger load). It wasn't until after the Titanic sank that it became required for ocean liners to have enough lifeboats for all passengers and crew members. ALL British ocean liners at the time of the sinking did NOT have enough life boats for their full complement of passengers and crew. So don't necessarily blame White Star for that gaffe, blame the British Board of Trade Regulations.

[Barb Nahoumi]

Other than the Titanic, the dumbest idea is NCL Epic's piece-meal bathrooms. I like a contained loo in my cabin.

[phillycruiserbear]

Please note cruise lovers that the White Star Liner Titanic, which had probably the most notorious maiden voyage ever, was not nor ever was intended to be a cruise ship. She was an ocean liner. A means of transporting people from one continent to another. Cruising was not implied. It was a means to an end getting from point A to point B. Therefore: The Titanic should not be on this list at all.

[phillycruiserbear]

If you want to charge for fuel charge a higher price for the cruise. There shouldn't be an adjustment made after the person has paid in advance for their trip. This in my opinion is the biggest turkey in the history of the cruise industry.

[navybankerteacher]

If you want to charge for fuel charge a higher price for the cruise. There shouldn't be an adjustment made after the person has paid in advance for their trip. This in my opinion is the biggest turkey in the history of the cruise industry.

 

I would have to differ-- as long as the line makes it clear that a surcharge (not to exceed a specified amount) would come into play if fuel prices hit a certain level, I have no complant. Would you really want to pay a higher than necessary fixed fare - and not benefit if fuel costs dropped?

 

Having the passengers share (part of) the risk of spikes in fuel prices is a creative way of attempting to hold down fares.

[pseudochicken]

If you want to charge for fuel charge a higher price for the cruise. There shouldn't be an adjustment made after the person has paid in advance for their trip. This in my opinion is the biggest turkey in the history of the cruise industry.

 

I agree. The cruise lines conduct too much of this shared policy to not make me wonder about collusion...

 

Cruise lines get away with falsely advertising their prices WAY below what one actually pays per person for a cruise (way more in terms of % compared to most things consumers purchase). The fuel surcharge is just ridiculous. Just increase the bottom rate, and let the line with the best competitive advantage and lowest prices win.

[fann1sh]

Usually, it's the U.K., Australian and N.Z. cruisers who complain about deceptive pricing - with good reason.

 

Pseudochicken, I'm glad to see a fellow North American post this. I, too, would like to see more bottom line prices. However, that would make it too easy to compare?

[satxdiver]

If you want to charge for fuel charge a higher price for the cruise. There shouldn't be an adjustment made after the person has paid in advance for their trip. This in my opinion is the biggest turkey in the history of the cruise industry.

 

Thanks to the Florida AG in its threatened suit against RCI, the cruise lines can only add a fuel charge if it is in the original contract when the pax booked the cruise. Since that time all the cruise lines have put it in the contract. However in this down economy which is not showing many signs of recovery in the next few years, I would not expect them to use the option.

 

In answer to your statement, I don't think they should charge a fuel charge after the full payment has been made. However according to the contract, they have that option.

[JandBR_PHX]

... consideration as a "turkey": the systematic removal of Royal Caribbean ships from homeports on the west coast... Infact, I take it personnally enough to say: IT STINKS! :(

Taking away perks from your loyal's. No No. Not only do loyal's love the Line they cruise with, they express that love to other new and potential cruisers. They are like walking PR people.

I agree!! Coordinator23 was "encouraged" to try another line (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=26991927&postcount=40) - maybe we will too! First the "encrapification" of the C&A coupon books, then the elimination of the gifts (hats, shirts, etc.) for platinum+, now the elimination of West Coast cruises and deletion of perks for Diamond. What next?

[room010]

HAL's Master Chef Dinner! :(

[Happy ks]

Why not try separating smoking guests from non-smokers when it comes to balcony staterooms? Nothing worse than being unable to go outside due to the smoke!

burrpp

 

And just how do you propose to do that??? People select their balconies based on location and we've never been asked if we smoke or not. I don't think the small number of smokers would appreciate being relegated to only one area of the ship for booking. A better idea is to just ban smoking from balconies...but I'm a non-smoker so my vote is biased.

 

My #1 turkey idea is my pet peeve that's gotten quite old. In 2005 RCI started disallowing guests from bringing aboard their own wine. Until that time, we happily paid the corkage fee to be able to enjoy a nice bottle of wine with dinner. It wasn't as if they were losing out totally on us, we were paying (I think at the time) $10-12 per bottle for corkage. Now when we cruise on RCI, the only decent wines are $45-50 and up, we've tried the $25-30 range and it's embarrasingly bad.

 

We're just off a Princess cruise with another booked, not merely for the wine thing as that would be weird. We like the itinerary and being able to bring our own wine aboard is a plus.

 

I never considered Titanic to be a cruise ship, it was a means of transport and an ocean liner. A true tragedy, but if you look into maritime history it wasn't the only ship to go down with major loss of life, however the most popular. I really don't think it belongs on the list.