No longer feel like "Royalty"

[CruizAddct]

The following is a letter I wrote to RCI after returning from recent cruise on the Grandeur and I wanted to share it to see if there are others that feel the same way as I do.

 

We boarded the Grandeur as a small group of 8 for a mini-family reunion. My husband and I have cruised ONLY RCI for all of our cruising since 1983 and just became diamonds, even though we have not retired yet. With this being an 8 day itinerary we were expecting things to be a little more "special" when it came to the dining experience (particularly the food choices). But we were quite disappointed in this, ANOTHER, new menu. It seems that every time a "new" menu comes out, its worse. There were at least 3 days where I could fine NOTHING on the entree menu that appealed to me, and I am not a picky person. That has never happened on any of my previous cruises. In fact, just the opposite, where I had 2 that I had a hard time to pick between. The food wasn't very good, in our opinion. That, and the shape of the ship was our biggest complaints. Instead of building new ships all of the time, why don't you take some of that money and keep the older ones in better shape, or sell them. I can remember RCI on my first trip... We couldn't get over the fact that almost everywhere we looked (behind the scenes, for the most part) there were crew members cleaning, painting, wiping something down all day long. We were in a junior suite and didn't enjoy the balcony for all of the salt built up on the banister and furniture. With paying extra for the JR suite, I would have thought that it would have been part of the every day clean up. The wood in the room was well worn and the bed was very uncomfortable (hard, and we could feel the crack where the bed comes together). We had to ASK for robes (even though we were Diamonds and in a JR suite) and for stationary (come on, really?). RCI seems to be slowly but surely taking away all that makes them the special company we've come to know and love. You took away the nice welcome back gifts, lowered the crown and anchor amenities, even took away the stationary, the mints on the pillows, and so much more. Those were all the things that made us "feel" like "royalty". I have brought SO MANY people to RCI cruising. Many first time cruisers have joined us, and we always recommend RCI when someone says they are thinking of cruising. But, its not like it used to be. NOW, with that in mind, it brings out our biggest point... WHY is RCI trying to keep their prices down so much and then it forces you to lose the great things that make her what she was always known to be? The prices havn't gone up with the economy. We've said it many times... Raise the price a little if you need to in order to pay for those little things that makes a person walk off that ship feeling like they were just treated so special that they can't wait to come back! I'm wanting to come back less and less, the more you cut things, truly... Keeping your prices a little more than the other cruise lines will make the people that don't care about the classiness take Carnival again. Instead, I'm hearing more and more good things about the ships I always looked down on. Sure, because Royal Caribbean is lowering its prices to fill all of these new ships and consequently having to cut costs - then its quality is no better. So "WHY NOT" try the other cruise lines??? I'm really disappointed, and from what I heard from other long time cruisers (in the diamond lounge), so are they. This is serious, RCI, you might want to re-think what you are doing here...

 

With all of that said, the entertainment was superb! But unfortunately, that leads me to another complaint. When we choose the Main dinner seating, we should be able to finish our meals and go to the show and not have to STAND to watch it! I don't know if its My Time Dining people filling it up or its all of the people choosing to go to the Windjammer (for the better food selections), but it is out of control. Please look better into this because this was NOT unique to this ship. Its been a problem for several cruises now. We shouldn't have to inhale our entree, skip our dessert and run to the other end of the ship to try to find a seat period, let alone 2 together!!!!

 

I'm not trying to get some onboard credits on my next cruise because I'm complaining... I'm trying to get RCI to look at these complaints seriously and reconsider all of these cuts in amenities instead of just letting your price be a little more than the other cruise lines, because you want people to FEEL like "Royal" Caribbean cruisers... If you do, I know we'll still pay extra to be on it, otherwise, we might as well lose our faithfulness to RCI and try the other cruise lines.

[PattyG12]

I thought the Grandeur was refurbished after the fire? I'm sorry you had a terrible cruise. We've been very lucky with finding seats in the theater and enjoying the food.

[reallyitsmema]

Good first draft, I would just clean it up a bit before you send it if you want to be taken seriously.

[DonnaK]

I don't know if I agree. We eat in the MDR every night, and we love the new menus. We've always found the food to be very good to excellent. We also choose early traditional dining, and have never had a problem finding seats (in the front of the theatre) for the shows (and we go to the shows every night).

 

I do miss the little things, like chocolates on the pillows and towel animals every night, but not enough for them to raise the base cruise fare. We do NOT want to pay extra for unnecessary things, even if they are nice touches. Now, there are things I would miss if they took them away, such as live music around the ship.

 

Granted, we have never sailed on Grandeur, but every ship I've been on has been clean and well-maintained, and I don't sweat the small stuff, like having to ask for the robes if they are not placed in our rooms.

 

It sounds like maybe you should try Celebrity. We did, and enjoyed it too!

Edited October 22, 2013 by DonnaK

[CruizAddct]

Thanks for the quick replies...

 

Part of the problem with the finding seats is being some of the last to leave the dining room (slow wait staff), but I didn't want to get them in trouble because I know they work very hard for their money.

 

The Grandeur was refurbished (which they were STILL fixing structural damage (beams) while we were on), but the whole ship was not refurbished.

[Tapi]

Keeping your prices a little more than the other cruise lines will make the people that don't care about the classiness take Carnival again. Instead, I'm hearing more and more good things about the ships I always looked down on.

 

Overall, your letter has many valid and legitimate points (although its a bit long, winded, and maybe you should've used better use of paragraphs. Makes it hard to read :o).

 

About the comment concerning Carnival: IMHO, I think that this type of comment just perpetuates the stigma attached to several Royal customers who think that they are better than they really are. I agree that Royal is a notch above Carnival in many areas, but as a Platinum cruiser on both of these cruise line, believe me, both cater to a similar demographic sliver of the population.

 

Finally, As you said, Royal may be keeping prices steady while cutting back on amenities. So is every other cruise line. Unfortunately, these days people can't sit back and wait for their beloved cruise line to "go back" to how they used to be. In today's economics, its not going to happen. If you're willing to pay more to get more, you may need to move to the next cruise line up.

[ChipLondon]

It is strange that in many ways I agree with some aspects of your post, I also have stated that I would be happy to pay that little bit more to maintain high standards..........and yet..........I still find myself attracted to those cruises with the keenest prices.

 

I do find that it is about managing expectations, as long as I consider that I get value for money, then I am happy, and so far I have achieved that.

Sure I do use the speciality restaurants because of the changes in the Main Dining Room, but cruising has changed over the years, and on many occassions I pay less now than I did 15 years ago when I first started cruising. Therefore my expectations have changed, and I can live without some of the items that used to be offered but now are not.

 

However it is not only Royal that have made similar changes over the years, the market used to be a "Once in a Lifetime" holiday, and now in many ways in is an annual option for many. There are still cruise lines out there that do offer the " All singing and Dancing" options, with White Glove service and High Teas etc, but the prices charged reflect the extras that are included. I still prefer to pay as I go if I want an improved option, but do agree that basic standards need to be maintained, and if that in turn means higher prices, then I would still be cruising.

Edited October 22, 2013 by ChipLondon

[Aquahound]

The following is a letter I wrote to RCI after returning from recent cruise on the Grandeur and I wanted to share it to see if there are others that feel the same way as I do.

 

I don't feel the same, but I do understand how this could happen. Looking at your cruise history, my suggestion would be to do exactly what you're suggesting in the letter...try a cruise on another line. It looks like you're at the point where just trying something different would refresh that royalty feeling.

 

Why not give Celebrity a try? Looking at your history of cruises on Vision and Radiance Class, I think you would be impressed by a cruise on Solstice Class. Plus, you would get reciprocal Elite status.

[ryano]

I cant say that I feel that way at all but most of the "little things" that more seasoned cruisers miss were before my time anyway. Im still new to cruising.

 

I have not been on Grandeur but I have sailed on Monarch which is even older and while Im sure if I went looking, I could have found things, I thought she was very clean and well maintained.

 

I have not cruised since the new menu was put in place but Ive seen it and I believe I would enjoy it.

[CruizAddct]

Wow, sure looks like I'm in a minority with my opinion. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I was just stating my thoughts. You all have valid thoughts. I guess I should take a refresher course in english too :p:D.

[poncho1973]

It's a wall of text and it sounds pretty whiny.

 

That isn't a flame and isn't meant to hurt your feelings in any way. I'm just responding to your request for feedback.

 

I can see some of the items being legitimate complaints, but in this case, less is definitely more. Maybe you could just reference them in one sentence if you feel they MUST MUST MUST be in the letter.

 

"We had several other minor issues with things like Blah, Blah-blah, Blahdy-Blah, and Bleeh, but our main issues were these couple of things..."

 

Personally, I'd drop the small junk completely and focus on whatever 2 or 3 things you REALLY think need to be addressed.

[reallyitsmema]

Wow, sure looks like I'm in a minority with my opinion. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I was just stating my thoughts. You all have valid thoughts. I guess I should take a refresher course in english too :p:D.

I don't think anyone who has responded is offended by your opinions. Everyone just doesn't feel the same way you do. We just experienced the new menus in August and there were days we didn't bother going to the MDR since nothing thrilled us. Had we seen something that we knew was only going to be in the MDR, we would have gone, but we knew what we wanted would be in the WJ too.

 

I think the whole "Loyal to Royal" thing is nothing more than a marketing campaign that some people have adopted as their motto. There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying another cruiseline. If you aren't happy with what one cruiseline is offering, branch out and try something new. You might be back, you might find that Celebrity or Princess suits your needs better.

 

Be loyal to yourself and your family.

[msw1023]

My advice would be that you take your diamond status and transfer yourself to Elite on Celebrity. They charge a little more, and do have lots of those little things that you're looking for.

I found the food to be a little better, the ships a little more tastefully furnished, etc.

If you're not interested in the rock wall, the zip line or the flow rider, give it a try.

[PhoenixCruiser]

I don't understand what age / retirement has to do with C&A Status?

 

###

[alfaeric]

Wow, sure looks like I'm in a minority with my opinion. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I was just stating my thoughts. You all have valid thoughts. I guess I should take a refresher course in english too :p:D.

 

To start with, I generally don't agree with your major food point.. bla bla bla- and what I think really is irrelevant to what you want to do.

 

So, I too, think you should re-read what you wrote. You know what you want to say, and can bet you can make it a little clearer. What I find that works for important documents, I write it- give it a day, and read it as if someone else wrote it. Then I can see where it was not clear.

 

You have important points to make, and I think you should really make sure that they are clear when you send the letter in.

 

 

ps- on the ships condition, I sure would have liked to see one of these visions ships new. Just because some of the things I *thought* would have gotten re-finished did not on the Enchantment. Perhaps that finish was the intention? dunno.

[spookwife]

everything you complained about is either subjective, or not our personal experience on GR.

 

the loss of the chocolates was a three second: 'aww, no chocolates?" and that was it.

 

the food.. well that is purely subjective. I admit last month we ended up eating specialty or in the CL every night so cannot comment on the MDR experience.

 

we cannot have our cake and eat it to. we either get low prices, or all the little tiny touches. many would rather keep prices low instead of subsidizing the other things ( chocolates, towel animals etc) that they could care less about.

 

your letter does seem a bit whiny and critical. I also read it as passive aggressive when you claim to not be writing to get anything in compensation as well. when you have issues you need to offer solutions beyond 'raise your prices'

[springfire]

The following is a letter I wrote to RCI after returning from recent cruise on the Grandeur and I wanted to share it to see if there are others that feel the same way as I do.

 

We boarded the Grandeur as a small group of 8 for a mini-family reunion. My husband and I have cruised ONLY RCI for all of our cruising since 1983 and just became diamonds, even though we have not retired yet. With this being an 8 day itinerary we were expecting things to be a little more "special" when it came to the dining experience (particularly the food choices). But we were quite disappointed in this, ANOTHER, new menu. It seems that every time a "new" menu comes out, its worse. There were at least 3 days where I could fine NOTHING on the entree menu that appealed to me, and I am not a picky person. That has never happened on any of my previous cruises. In fact, just the opposite, where I had 2 that I had a hard time to pick between. The food wasn't very good, in our opinion. That, and the shape of the ship was our biggest complaints. Instead of building new ships all of the time, why don't you take some of that money and keep the older ones in better shape, or sell them. I can remember RCI on my first trip... We couldn't get over the fact that almost everywhere we looked (behind the scenes, for the most part) there were crew members cleaning, painting, wiping something down all day long. We were in a junior suite and didn't enjoy the balcony for all of the salt built up on the banister and furniture. With paying extra for the JR suite, I would have thought that it would have been part of the every day clean up. The wood in the room was well worn and the bed was very uncomfortable (hard, and we could feel the crack where the bed comes together). We had to ASK for robes (even though we were Diamonds and in a JR suite) and for stationary (come on, really?). RCI seems to be slowly but surely taking away all that makes them the special company we've come to know and love. You took away the nice welcome back gifts, lowered the crown and anchor amenities, even took away the stationary, the mints on the pillows, and so much more. Those were all the things that made us "feel" like "royalty". I have brought SO MANY people to RCI cruising. Many first time cruisers have joined us, and we always recommend RCI when someone says they are thinking of cruising. But, its not like it used to be. NOW, with that in mind, it brings out our biggest point... WHY is RCI trying to keep their prices down so much and then it forces you to lose the great things that make her what she was always known to be? The prices havn't gone up with the economy. We've said it many times... Raise the price a little if you need to in order to pay for those little things that makes a person walk off that ship feeling like they were just treated so special that they can't wait to come back! I'm wanting to come back less and less, the more you cut things, truly... Keeping your prices a little more than the other cruise lines will make the people that don't care about the classiness take Carnival again. Instead, I'm hearing more and more good things about the ships I always looked down on. Sure, because Royal Caribbean is lowering its prices to fill all of these new ships and consequently having to cut costs - then its quality is no better. So "WHY NOT" try the other cruise lines??? I'm really disappointed, and from what I heard from other long time cruisers (in the diamond lounge), so are they. This is serious, RCI, you might want to re-think what you are doing here...

 

With all of that said, the entertainment was superb! But unfortunately, that leads me to another complaint. When we choose the Main dinner seating, we should be able to finish our meals and go to the show and not have to STAND to watch it! I don't know if its My Time Dining people filling it up or its all of the people choosing to go to the Windjammer (for the better food selections), but it is out of control. Please look better into this because this was NOT unique to this ship. Its been a problem for several cruises now. We shouldn't have to inhale our entree, skip our dessert and run to the other end of the ship to try to find a seat period, let alone 2 together!!!!

 

I'm not trying to get some onboard credits on my next cruise because I'm complaining... I'm trying to get RCI to look at these complaints seriously and reconsider all of these cuts in amenities instead of just letting your price be a little more than the other cruise lines, because you want people to FEEL like "Royal" Caribbean cruisers... If you do, I know we'll still pay extra to be on it, otherwise, we might as well lose our faithfulness to RCI and try the other cruise lines.

 

Great letter, it shows how you feel! When a customer sends a letter like this, it gets attention.

[luvscruising2007]

OP, just a question to clarify something.

You said you did early dining, that is usually around 6pm on most ships. Did you try to go the show that is scheduled for late dinner seating, which is around 7pm or 7:30. The later show is usually for early diners and is scheduled around 9pm. That is the only reason I can see that you would have to stand.

I have not really experienced such disappointment on a cruise so I can't relate. I hope your next cruise is better no matter which line you choose.

[spiritkat090909]

Here's another option.

 

You stated that one of the issues you had was with seating & indicated that you weren't opposed to paying more for the things that used to be included. (I agree.) Although trying Celebrity is a good suggestion, and may be a better fit, you might also want to pay the extra for at least a Grand Suite category. It is my understanding they get reserved seating.

 

I actually think a lot of people would agree with the general message in your original post. It's simply that the majority understand that to keep the prices low, some things must go. The same quality that I booked ten years ago (for more money than I pay today), is now only to be had on a luxury line like Crystal & Regent.

 

Bottom line is you have to pay more to get more. Those options are out there, one simply has to find them.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I'm actually more interested in how they respond.

 

It will take them time to both read and then provide some form of responsive content to the multiple points made in the correspondence.

 

Based on personal experience of dealing with RCI via e-mail....it would be reasonable to expect a response within a week. That said, I've seen it take up to 3 weeks before getting an e-mail in return.

 

In any case...feedback for a service-based experience is a good thing.

[Aquahound]

I'm actually more interested in how they respond.

 

A certificate for $50 off a future RCI cruise.

 

Isn't that the canned response for general complaints? ;)

[critterchick]

Wow, sure looks like I'm in a minority with my opinion. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I was just stating my thoughts. You all have valid thoughts. I guess I should take a refresher course in english too :p:D.

 

I don't get the impression that anybody is offended. I feel the same way you do about the MDR, which is why I am willing to lay the surcharge to dine in the specialty restaurants. The food is ok, but the chaos of a Radiance class MDR bothers me. The waitstaff have too many tables to properly serve them and the rooms are too small so that tables are too close together, another obstacle to good service and making a quiet dining experience (we get a table for 2 in MTD) impossible.

 

I would just leave it that you are Diamonds. Many people have made it to Pinnacle in far less time while still working full time, and it's a comment that is likely to cause the reader's eyes to roll and discount the rest of your (IMO) very valid concerns.

 

I have thought for several years that the long-time loyal cruiser isn't what RCI wants to attract, unless they are the kind who always bring a family and pay for all of the recreational extras (spa, excursions, cupcakes, etc.). The more the new builds are the destination instead of the transportation to fun and/or exciting ports, the more I'm convinced of that.

 

But we have been sufficiently wowed by the level of service and the level of effort that the staff and crew on most ships put into their work that we keep returning. We have started sailing more Princess because they are similar and more convenient to where we live, but all things being equal, we would still pick RCI.

Edited October 22, 2013 by critterchick

[SICruiseGirlNYC]

I feel the same way you do. We recently returned from a cruise on the Splendour of the Seas (10/5-10/12/13) and really found the food the in MDR lacking. There were a couple of nights that I couldn't find anything that interested me on the menu. We decided to go to Chops 2 nights and had dinner in Santorini instead of the MDR.

 

As far as the condition of the ship - it appeared to be in good shape. The only thing I noticed was alot more rust on the outside of the ship and our balcony had a piece of glass that was cracked. I didn't see anyone painting the exterior of the ship like I've seen on all of my previous cruises.

[derekmcsd]

Polly, we sailed with you on Freedom in October of 2011. I know how much you love this cruise line. For you to say these things it must be true. I hope we have a better experience on the jewel in March.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[roysmith99]

We cruised Grandeur in 2010 before she was fully refurbished and that was our best cruise ever - even with issues which the staff dealt with at the time, when we raised them.

 

On every cruise we have taken we have had issues, but we speak with the crew and they are always handled. If you do not like the menu, you have two options: ask what else is available (the wait staff always have a separate list) and before you go into the dining room, check the menu and if you don't fancy what is on it, go to the Windjammer.

 

Friends who we introduced to cruising three years ago tried P & O this year and basically said exactly the same about them as the OP did in this thread.

 

I have written letters to Royal Caribbean, but have done this whilst on the cruise, so that the team can deal with issues whilst onboard - some things they can fix, some just go with the territory.

 

I tend to accept a level of problems, like no stationery (I take a few sheets of paper and a pen anyway) or reminding the cabin attendant we shoud have bath robes - mind you they are never big enough to fit me.

 

Maybe our next cruise will be a disaster, who knows, if it is, so be it.