A great response from RCCL Customer Service!

[dolphincruiser404]

I was recently on the Majesty and had a very poor experience with my cabin attendant and the crew at the purser's desk. To make a long story short, we had to clean half the room after the last guests departed, then spent half the cruise grabbing stuff off of cleaning carts! I have been trying to contact RCCL by email about my experiences, but had been very unsuccessful. Today I spoke with someone in customer service who acknowledged my complaints, and compensated me with a very generous future cruise credit. After all of the negative publicity about RCCL's customer service I was shocked! I wasn't expecting anything, but really just wanted someone to hear my concerns. Although my one experience would not cause me to cancel my next RCCL cruise, the response from customer service has ensured me that they do care and value their passengers. This was the first bad experience I have had with RCCL, and although they didn't correct it on the ship, I was very pleased with the response I received today.

 

And yes, it is true that the RCCL staff really read these boards.

[kelleigh229]

That's great to hear that RCCL responded to your complaints! Our friends complained about their steward on our last cruise and the person was replaced in their room for the rest of the trip. That too made my friends happy.

[cruiseman_tx]

Good for you! Glad to hear something positive about customer service. Many people are quick to post their gripes, but too few of us take the time to compliment those who are doing their jobs properly by assisting us.

 

 

[CruisinCouple]

Glad to hear they are taking care of problems. WE hhad a problem with one of our cabin stewards. He was very forgetful. We would see him and ask for something. We would never get it. On the third time he would get it. He did his job ok? but he couldnt handle anything out of the ordinary. We once had a very rude photographer. We had a package deal and some of the stuff we needed was at the register at the other end. It was a major inconvience for him to gather the stuff needed for our package. We dont call or go to the pursers desk its of no use. WE just use the comment cards. It is our understanding that this has more impact . Of course it does not help you out at that time.

[wolfganghowell]

Good to hear that customer service at corporate does pay attention.

 

FYI - I have always been quick to write down exceptional service by any staff member on the comment card BY NAME. Can't remember where I heard (probably here) but they do note that info for future needs like new contracts and promotions. Stands to reason that if you have a bad staff member, put their name in writing as well so the line can monitor that as well.

[celtic selke]

I do believe you are right about the comment cards , wolfgang.

 

I remember on the BBC show, "The Cruise", that the DJ had an interview with the CD at the end of the cruise and the CD told him his ratings were not good and he was fired. (The DJ was awful).

 

Then the singer got her interview and got very good ratings and so she still had a job.

 

So what you put on those cards counts rather big time.

 

celtic

[OnlyMe]

These comment cards DEFINATELY matter. On our very first cruise our Waiter was very good while our Assistant Waiter was Exceptional - In our opinion he was MUCH better than the Waiter. Our Assistant waiter told us that, because of ONE person ticking 'good' rather than 'very good' (something like that - I can't remember the Exact options on the comment card), he got demoted. It really made us think before we filled out the comment card.

[Iamthesea]

No matter what the service, we give good marks because we know if we don't that the crew will be demoted or fired. We just hate to do that to someone that is trying to make a living while being away from their family months at a time. What a sacrifice! We realize that even the crew can have bad days.

 

I know...call us push-overs! :D

[dolphincruiser404]

The comment cards would have been a great idea...had we actually gotten one!

[Merion_Mom]

Dolphin: this is one advantage of being an experienced cruiser. On our most recent cruise, we didn't get the comment card, (but we knew about them) so I marched down to the Purser's Desk and asked for one. They made me sign a book, so they ARE making sure that people aren't "stuffing the ballot box."

 

Carol

[maggieq]

Dolphincruiser404

 

We had the same experience on the aos 04/05. We even gave extra money to our cabin attendant up front. We were booked on the Mariner of the seas for oct 05 and finally decided to cancel due to the bad service on the aos. Rccl didn't even respond to ta. They just canceled it. We were not the only people at our dinner table that thought the service was lacking...

 

Can you tell me who you wrote to and the address?

 

Thanks.

[Heyitsrick]

These comment cards DEFINATELY matter. On our very first cruise our Waiter was very good while our Assistant Waiter was Exceptional - In our opinion he was MUCH better than the Waiter. Our Assistant waiter told us that, because of ONE person ticking 'good' rather than 'very good' (something like that - I can't remember the Exact options on the comment card), he got demoted. It really made us think before we filled out the comment card.

 

I'm not sure if I'm buying into that one. Anyone in corporate knows that comments are subjective, and that one person's "Good" is another person's "Great". Sounds like he was fishing for exceptional comments. I'm not saying he wasn't deserving of them, of course. Hard to believe, though, that someone would be demoted for "Good" service. If so, that's not a company I want to work for.

[Former Goalie]

I was recently on the Majesty and had a very poor experience with my cabin attendant and the crew at the purser's desk. To make a long story short, we had to clean half the room after the last guests departed, then spent half the cruise grabbing stuff off of cleaning carts! I have been trying to contact RCCL by email about my experiences, but had been very unsuccessful. Today I spoke with someone in customer service who acknowledged my complaints, and compensated me with a very generous future cruise credit. After all of the negative publicity about RCCL's customer service I was shocked! I wasn't expecting anything, but really just wanted someone to hear my concerns. Although my one experience would not cause me to cancel my next RCCL cruise, the response from customer service has ensured me that they do care and value their passengers. This was the first bad experience I have had with RCCL, and although they didn't correct it on the ship, I was very pleased with the response I received today.

 

And yes, it is true that the RCCL staff really read these boards.

We had a negative experience on a RCI ship around the holidays. There were several things which were not the way they should have been. I did go down to the purser's desk to get them resolved. They were resolved over the span of two days. The purser's desk acknowledged that these issues I brought up were legitimate, needed to be, and would be, corrected.

I noted the issues on the comment card, along with positive mention of several crew members for exceptional service.

 

I also wrote a lengthy letter to RCI corporate detailing the problems, and resolution. In the letter, I also mentioned, by name, the crew that had provided exceptional service. I also CC'd a letter I had sent to RCI about exceptional service on a prior cruise, to show I was not a chronic complainer.

 

I also received fairly generous future cruise credits from RCI. Corporate does listen, IMHO.

[dolphincruiser404]

I dealth with the past sailing department. I don't have the address handy, but I bet that you would get just as far with them on the telephone.

[colette5479]

That's great! With all of the negative posts about Customer Service, it's nice to know that they are concerned about their customers and want them be happy! I'm also happy to know they do read these boards!

[Flossie]

It has been nice to read a postitive thread.

Yes I do think that most of the time that RCCL takes complaints serious.

On our cruise last year our waiter was very upset when our table mate made a big scene at dinner over his meal, it was no way any fault of the waiter's and the criuser was wrong. He had way to much to drink that night before dinner his girlfriend was not very happy with him. Our waiter said that if the man complained he would be in trouble since it would just be his word against the cruisers and they would side with the cruiser. Well, I was not going to set back and let someone get in trouble that did not need to be, that had done everything in his power to make everything great. So I talked to the head waiter and told him the whole story and that if he needed me to that I would put it in writing. So I do think that they take complaints serious, and take action on them.

I would also agree that we do not get the service that we got years ago but that is not the fault of the staff. They have less staff now, (as most companies do) and they have lots more to do. I think we should all keep this in mind. If I ask the people who work for me to do half of what a cruise staff person does or to work the hours that they have to , they would look at me and laugh! not to mention that they had to do it with a smile!

[hstrybuf]

This is the second thread tonight that has had a positive outcome with customer service! It's great to know that they really do care and come through. :)

[RAD9689]

If you are experiencing poor service while on board and you are not getting the answers you need from the people on board, go on line. We had some issues on one of our cruises, I sent an email to crown and anchor and within a day or two, the problem was solved, thus salvaging the remaining time on our cruise.