OPEN LETTER to Royal Carribbean

[JohnGaltny]

Don't leave us! My perfect cruise would be johngaltny, sailorjack, azaficionado (missing on this particular thread but still....) and jc. :D

 

The letter was well presented and I am frankly baffled at how people can totally misread it as threatening. Oh wait - yes I can. Being blunt and clever seems to throw off way too many people these days. A sad reflection of either reading comprehension or a missing sense of humor.

 

I too have found that letters such as this can get a response. Personally, in the last 10 years or so I have written American Airlines and a certain furniture company regarding some classic screw ups. Both times, I would say my letter and tone compared to the OP's. Both times, I received responses which I considered appropriate to my situation. I still fly AA almost exclusively based on how they valued my concerns. The furniture company - not so much and I use my ability as the resident of a large city to urge friends and acquaintances not to do business with them at all costs.

 

Thanks Wolf. I'm not going anywhere and I can more than handle that crowd.

 

Frankly, I'm not looking for anything in particular but, like you, I do expect some sort of serious (non-form) acknowledgement from RCI. It's still a bit soon but by next week I think I should hear something. We shall see.

 

Funny how nobody noticed that I also complimented particular staff members right in the letter. Oh well. SOPA lives.

Edited June 4, 2014 by JohnGaltny

[wolfganghowell]

Yep, I get it. And yes, you can always handle yourself well here. Your avatar helps - I just "hear" House's voice. ;)

[SolsticeAZ]

Don't leave us! My perfect cruise would be johngaltny, sailorjack, azaficionado (missing on this particular thread but still....) and jc. :D

How do I get on that cruise? I mean, I would hope AZAficionado would take me, but after 24 years of marriage, there are no guarantees!!

 

In all seriousness, I've been lurking on this thread for a while. I think the letter was well-written, articulate, and an excellent example of how best to bring problems to a company's attention. I would hope (but also doubt) that my clients would write me similar letters if and when I screw up. And I have been both surprised and entertained by how outraged some folks seem to be over it.:D

[crazypriest]

Hello.... I have been reading with some interest John's experience and am thankful that there are others that think a long the lines I think and operate with travel companies... Thank you John!!!!

 

Two cruises ago... a cruise my wife and I titled The "Interesting" Cruise... it seemed that everything that could go wrong (without anyone dying) did... water in the room... tuxedo very late.... laundry folded but not washed.... we made the decision to stay with Royal after they made it clear to us that they heard our concerns and sought to address them...

 

I will be interested in the response you get..

 

Blessings,

 

Ernesto

[Funbobby68]

IMO , since I have not had the pleasure to sail with John , but from what I take from this is , his letter was written with much thought ,and without a doubt all the people that responded negatively would pen the same kind of letter if the shoe was on the other foot , and I'm sure some would also be demanding the world , in return for their troubles . I did have an issue with royal on a sailing a while back and I can say that ,they went above and beyond when it came to making things right ,during the sailing and after , so much so I don't even consider sailing with any other cruise line

So don't sweat it John , got your back ! LOL

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[JohnGaltny]

Thanks all.

 

SOPA and the Carribots are just a persistent rash we all need to tolerate in order to benefit each other. Like viruses and Congressman, they just never go away.

 

How do I get on that cruise? I mean, I would hope AZAficionado would take me, but after 24 years of marriage, there are no guarantees!!

 

In all seriousness, I've been lurking on this thread for a while. I think the letter was well-written, articulate, and an excellent example of how best to bring problems to a company's attention. I would hope (but also doubt) that my clients would write me similar letters if and when I screw up. And I have been both surprised and entertained by how outraged some folks seem to be over it.

 

Solstice, as I'm guessing you're a business person, I am sure you "get it". I always wanted to hear the problems since it was my name (with others) on the door. BTW, I'm married 32 years and wife still let's me go as long as I don't point her out on board.

I'll let you know when we sail again and I'd be thrilled to have you and hubby on that cruise. Can we get Sailor Jack to go so I don't have to write a review (there being no purpose to it if he's there)?

 

Wolf, Priest and Bobby thanks also. I appreciate the support and I will indeed keep my promise. You will hear whatever happens whenever it does. You'll also hear once a week if what happens is nothing.;)

Edited June 4, 2014 by JohnGaltny

[Luv06012012]

We went on Freedom last year and also encountered sheets with dried blood on them on our first day. They swapped them out, but it is disturbing regardless. Thankfully...it was our only issue for our entire week!

[LetsGetWet!]

Thanks all.

 

Wolf, Priest and Bobby thanks also. I appreciate the support and I will indeed keep my promise. You will hear whatever happens whenever it does. You'll also hear once a week if what happens is nothing.;)

I've only posted once, very early on, to say I thought your letter was well written. Have been just watching ever since - often with amusement, at the "Carribots" as you've aptly coined the term! While we're primarily RCI loyalists ourselves, we'd never want to be the blind Carribot style! Will continue to watch this thread and hear your response when you (hopefully) receive it! :cool:

[JohnGaltny]

I've only posted once, very early on, to say I thought your letter was well written. Have been just watching ever since - often with amusement, at the "Carribots" as you've aptly coined the term! While we're primarily RCI loyalists ourselves, we'd never want to be the blind Carribot style! Will continue to watch this thread and hear your response when you (hopefully) receive it! :cool:

 

Thanks. :cool: You'll be hearing from me and it appears we have beaten back the vengeful horde, at least for now.

Edited June 4, 2014 by JohnGaltny

[RosieRoo]

I read your letter with much interest. I was also on the Explorer last week and I too saw some yellow staining on the sheets. Unfortunately, because of another major issue I totally forgot about the sheets!

[JohnGaltny]

I read your letter with much interest. I was also on the Explorer last week and I too saw some yellow staining on the sheets. Unfortunately, because of another major issue I totally forgot about the sheets!

 

WOW Rosie, I'm sorry that happened. In my case I honestly think it was laundered but not inspected properly. In my son's room it was not even changed.

 

I'm definitely sorry you had a problem worse than that but, unless you can handle the torches and pitchfork crowd, please don't tell me here.

[xpcdoojk]

Don't leave us! My perfect cruise would be johngaltny, sailorjack, azaficionado (missing on this particular thread but still....) and jc. :D

 

The letter was well presented and I am frankly baffled at how people can totally misread it as threatening. Oh wait - yes I can. Being blunt and clever seems to throw off way too many people these days. A sad reflection of either reading comprehension or a missing sense of humor.

 

I too have found that letters such as this can get a response. Personally, in the last 10 years or so I have written American Airlines and a certain furniture company regarding some classic screw ups. Both times, I would say my letter and tone compared to the OP's. Both times, I received responses which I considered appropriate to my situation. I still fly AA almost exclusively based on how they valued my concerns. The furniture company - not so much and I use my ability as the resident of a large city to urge friends and acquaintances not to do business with them at all costs.

 

Wolfie, I have zero outrage over his letter. My only concern was and is true of all posts in this forum where people make claims, that neither you nor I can verify if they are true or not. I have never condemned him writing a letter, in fact my first comment on what he claimed was that it was gross. My issues are not with writing a letter. My issue is posting dirty laundry in public and then acting like you are doing a service. He may well be doing us a public service, but a person who claims to be John Galt would be far less interested in public adoration....:D

 

Again, I do not have the privilege of knowing the OP. I do view things posted here with great skepticism (as all should), but my issues are definitely not about writing letters to a business manager who a person is unhappy with a product or a service that they purchased with their hard earned money.

 

I don't even care that the OP posted anything he posted. I just find most of it beyond humorous. I do find it telling the way people throw around slams at other posters and get away with it. Calling people cheerleaders, Carribots, and other things are just as wrong as me calling JG a liar and a fraud. I don't do it, and I don't celebrate those who do. I get kind of sick reading it anytime anyone has an opinion that someone doesn't agree with. Getting labeled as an unthinking robot kind of irks me. Even though the forum may be full of them.:eek: The OP however does display my ultimate pet peeve the desire to shut others with differing opinions up. I don't want to shut anyone up, and I find it to be a childish way to interact in a public forum that is supposed to support the free flow of information. Do I need to count the number of posts in just this thread where someone (not just JG) post cheerleader or Carribot or other slams with the intent to marginalize people who do not agree with the poster. Tiresome it is.....

 

I hope you JG and I can all take a cruise together and share a nice bottle of wine. Since, he is apparently a wonderful human being....:D

 

jc

Edited June 4, 2014 by xpcdoojk

[JohnGaltny]

Wolfie, I have zero outrage over his letter. My only concern was and is true of all posts in this forum where people make claims, that neither you nor I can verify if they are true or not. I have never condemned him writing a letter, in fact my first comment on what he claimed was that it was gross. My issues are not with writing a letter. My issue is posting dirty laundry in public and then acting like you are doing a service. He may well be doing us a public service, but a person who claims to be John Galt would be far less interested in public adoration....:D

 

Again, I do not have the privilege of knowing the OP. I do view things posted here with great skepticism (as all should), but my issues are definitely not about writing letters to a business manager who a person is unhappy with a product or a service that they purchased with their hard earned money.

 

I don't even care that the OP posted anything he posted. I just find most of it beyond humorous. I do find it telling the way people throw around slams at other posters and get away with it. Calling people cheerleaders, Carribots, and other things are just as wrong as me calling JG a liar and a fraud. I don't do it, and I don't celebrate those who do. I get kind of sick reading it anytime anyone has an opinion that someone doesn't agree with. Getting labeled as an unthinking robot kind of irks me. Even though the forum may be full of them.:eek: The OP however does display my ultimate pet peeve the desire to shut others with differing opinions up. I don't want to shut anyone up, and I find it to be a childish way to interact in a public forum that is supposed to support the free flow of information. Do I need to count the number of posts in just this thread where someone (not just JG) post cheerleader or Carribot or other slams with the intent to marginalize people who do not agree with the poster. Tiresome it is.....

 

I hope you JG and I can all take a cruise together and share a nice bottle of wine. Since, he is apparently a wonderful human being....:D

 

jc

 

XP, I'll share that bottle of wine (or Jack Daniels) anytime. I am neither the altruist nor the demon which is your apparent dichotomy. I am simply a person with a well developed BS meter who suffers fools not well. Given the intelligent discussion in your posts, I do not believe you a fool, thus this intentionally explanatory response not merited by a few of our contributors to this thread.

 

As for my credibility and whether these things are "my opinion", I clearly delineated between the two in my letter. The sheet problems were not opinion, they are facts. The "feel of the trip" is subjective and labeled as such at all times.

 

I suggest that people are entitled to their own opinions and I am, in fact, a First Amendment absolutist in that regard. However, neither you, nor anyone else, is entitled to their own facts. Read my other Royal reviews and then ask yourself what motivation I could possibly have to make up that story. Then decide my credibility for yourself.

 

Public adoration is nice but not an objective. Public information, perception and decision are objectives and (by the way) TOTALLY consistent with John Galt.

 

Will meet you aboard anytime and share a giggle.

Edited June 4, 2014 by JohnGaltny

[wolfganghowell]

jc - I hear you. I am basing my thought process on the exact same criteria for both of you. I don't know either of you but I have read both of you through the years. Based on my interpretation of your previous posts (and jgny as well), I find you both to be amusing yet thoughtful writers who don't suffer fools, can defend yourself admirably in a cyber bar fight and will remain relatively good humored when attacked for stating an opinion that you both have maintained is entirely your own.

 

So....I don't think there is an axe to grind here. I am willing to accept the story at face value and I hope it's just "one of those things" that can happen since sometimes humans eff up and gross things happen in public places like hotels, restaurants and cruise ships. And it would be a good reminder for corporate to at least memo housekeeping that they better do a dang good job of checking their materials.

 

I still think we would make one heck of a dinner table - or at the very least an interestingly loud table in a bar one night. :D

 

carry on....

[RosieRoo]

I'm definitely sorry you had a problem worse than that but, unless you can handle the torches and pitchfork crowd, please don't tell me here.

 

I wouldn't think of it!

 

As for the sheets, I didn't think they were dirty, just old and stained.

Edited June 5, 2014 by RosieRoo

[xpcdoojk]

jc - I hear you. I am basing my thought process on the exact same criteria for both of you. I don't know either of you but I have read both of you through the years. Based on my interpretation of your previous posts (and jgny as well), I find you both to be amusing yet thoughtful writers who don't suffer fools, can defend yourself admirably in a cyber bar fight and will remain relatively good humored when attacked for stating an opinion that you both have maintained is entirely your own.

 

So....I don't think there is an axe to grind here. I am willing to accept the story at face value and I hope it's just "one of those things" that can happen since sometimes humans eff up and gross things happen in public places like hotels, restaurants and cruise ships. And it would be a good reminder for corporate to at least memo housekeeping that they better do a dang good job of checking their materials.

 

I still think we would make one heck of a dinner table - or at the very least an interestingly loud table in a bar one night. :D

 

carry on....

 

I am trying right now to convince the lovely bride of 33+ years to go to Galveston for Labor Day and take the Navigator. Prices because of hurricane season are super low. My very brilliant wife has discerned why I want to take this cruise (flowrider and my not near an ocean mid life crisis) makes me seek out these kind of opportunities. Especially when they are only a 12 hour drive away... Have done the Navigator one time on a TA, and currently have a hold on an aft corner cabin on deck 7. Big balcony. Perfect for wine or my preference Irish Whiskey (am German descent). So, why don't you and JG join us.... of course, I still have to convince my wife that Jamaica is worth going back to....

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

On another topic, I am not a CEO, I am just a lowly VP, and when my boss retires in 3 or so years.... I may be able to converse with JG at the CEO level....

 

:D

 

I am sorry for that thar lord. God bless the pygimies down there in New Guinea

 

jc

[klfhngr]

This reminds me of the time we found a doo-doo stain on the PILLOW case at a nice resort in Cancun upon checking in! We called the Front Desk, they acted like it was no big deal! Housekeeping came in, looked at it in disgust, changed it, and left! No sorry from ANYONE! Guess what? We've never been back! We weren't asking for anything back, but an apology would've been nice.

[JohnGaltny]

Xpc

 

I'm calling my TA tomorrow to Possibly book Adventure OS for 6 days out of San Juan on May 3, 2015. Interested?? It will depend a lot on RCIs response or not.

Edited June 5, 2014 by JohnGaltny

[JohnGaltny]

On another topic, I am not a CEO, I am just a lowly VP, and when my boss retires in 3 or so years.... I may be able to converse with JG at the CEO level....

 

:D

 

I am sorry for that thar lord. God bless the pygimies down there in New Guinea

 

jc

 

Nothing lowly about a VP or a plumber or carpenter for that matter. All can be intelligent. All can be dumber than dirt.

 

I responded to you on the basis of intelligent criticism. I responded to the others on the same basis.

[Cindy]

Thanks Wolf. I'm not going anywhere and I can more than handle that crowd.

 

Frankly, I'm not looking for anything in particular but, like you, I do expect some sort of serious (non-form) acknowledgement from RCI. It's still a bit soon but by next week I think I should hear something. We shall see.

 

Funny how nobody noticed that I also complimented particular staff members right in the letter. Oh well. SOPA lives.

 

 

I recently sent RCI a letter praising several crew members and almost everything from my April Navigator cruise, but also explaining a couple problems we experienced with our cabin (the problems were brought to the attention of the on-board staff). I was very pleased and somewhat surprised with Royal Caribbean's response to my letter.

 

I sent my letter on April 25th, received a confirmation/form letter that they were researching my concerns on April 28th, and spoke with an executive in guest relations on May 7th. I thought the length of time for a response was reasonable, and the actions taken were appropriate or even an over-reaction for the circumstances surrounding my complaint.

 

I hope you have the same positive response!

[xpcdoojk]

My vacays are pretty much locked in until 2017. Got the River cruise this fall to Romania, Hungary and Austria. Have a trip to Canada in a couple of weeks for fishing, then we have a hold on the Labor Day weekend on the Navigator. 2015, the two cruises in my signature. My DW needs a new car, and that probably means a trip to Germany either Stuttgart or Munich next summer. Then in 2016 in the middle of the winter a trip to NY City for our 35th anniversary followed, possibly, with a cruise on the Anthem. Might have a week or two to play with that summer. 2017 is wide open....

 

Plus for an RCI cruise I need a flowrider, so I can continue to be the old guy hanging 10 on the cruise.

 

jc