Bad Customer Service RCCL- Quantum of the Seas

[Pilot Fish]

very annoyed at RCCL regarding roll-out of Dynamic Dining and Shows. I sent a letter to the CEO. In turn he gave the letter to someone in Executive Guest Relations. Spoke with the person who assured me everything would be handled. A week goes by no response from this person. Just called him again and found out that he has done nothing This lack of service will destroy this brand. This will be my 5th RCCL cruise and another 5 on Celebrity so I am not a NEWBIE. These guys need to get there act together. I imagine the first day on board will be a nightmare with hundreds of people lining up to make changes. Please don't tell me to be patient as this is a horrendous procedure. Cruises are supposed to be stress-free. RCCL has figured out a way to make it just the opposite. I urge everyone to call their executive offices 305-539-6000. Thats the only way they will change things

[hitaway4]

very annoyed at RCCL regarding roll-out of Dynamic Dining and Shows. I sent a letter to the CEO. In turn he gave the letter to someone in Executive Guest Relations. Spoke with the person who assured me everything would be handled. A week goes by no response from this person. Just called him again and found out that he has done nothing This lack of service will destroy this brand. This will be my 5th RCCL cruise and another 5 on Celebrity so I am not a NEWBIE. These guys need to get there act together. I imagine the first day on board will be a nightmare with hundreds of people lining up to make changes. Please don't tell me to be patient as this is a horrendous procedure. Cruises are supposed to be stress-free. RCCL has figured out a way to make it just the opposite. I urge everyone to call their executive offices 305-539-6000. Thats the only way they will change things

 

First off...I'm sorry you're having trouble. Secondly, there shouldn't be many lines on the ship because everything is electronic, even while you are on the ship. Need to change a time? Look at your cellphone, IPad, In-Room TV or computer to change your reservations. I'd imagine the majority of the people changing dining at the desk are technologically challenged.

 

As far as shows...they all have not been released yet. There is a Webinar on June 11th and it's about entertainment so we should be getting the jist of the remaining shows.

 

As far as having choices and having to book dining. There are plenty of other ships in RCCLs fleet that offer traditional dining/cruising. I applaud RCCL for moving WITH technology instead of being BEHIND it.

 

With that said, technology takes a little time to perfect and get working properly. It's definitely frustrating and hopefully they have IT working on making the system smoother.

 

 

It's amusing when people state, that Quantum/Anthem or Dynamic dining is going to ruin RCCL and "the brand". I'm sorry, but if people can't comprehend that differences in ships is a must, then they don't know business. Here is my example of a brand having different products.....Craftsman makes tools. You have a nail that you need to hammer in. They make a hammer, and they make a nail-gun. Some may be more comfortable with a hammer, and some might like to use a nail-gun. They produce both the hammer and the nail-gun to please a larger amount of people. Nail-gun people get their nail-gun. People who like to use a hammer...get that.

Edited June 5, 2014 by hitaway4

[marci22]

First off...I'm sorry you're having trouble. Secondly, there shouldn't be many lines on the ship because everything is electronic, even while you are on the ship. Need to change a time? Look at your cellphone, IPad, In-Room TV or computer to change your reservations. I'd imagine the majority of the people changing dining at the desk are technologically challenged.

 

As far as shows...they all have not been released yet. There is a Webinar on June 11th and it's about entertainment so we should be getting the jist of the remaining shows.

 

As far as having choices and having to book dining. There are plenty of other ships in RCCLs fleet that offer traditional dining/cruising. I applaud RCCL for moving WITH technology instead of being BEHIND it.

 

With that said, technology takes a little time to perfect and get working properly. It's definitely frustrating and hopefully they have IT working on making the system smoother.

 

 

It's amusing when people state, that Quantum/Anthem or Dynamic dining is going to ruin RCCL and "the brand". I'm sorry, but if people can't comprehend that differences in ships is a must, then they don't know business. Here is my example of a brand having different products.....Craftsman makes tools. You have a nail that you need to hammer in. They make a hammer, and they make a nail-gun. Some may be more comfortable with a hammer, and some might like to use a nail-gun. They produce both the hammer and the nail-gun to please a larger amount of people. Nail-gun people get their nail-gun. People who like to use a hammer...get that.

 

Their website still sucks.

[rjrpar]

very annoyed at RCCL regarding roll-out of Dynamic Dining and Shows. I sent a letter to the CEO. In turn he gave the letter to someone in Executive Guest Relations. Spoke with the person who assured me everything would be handled. A week goes by no response from this person. Just called him again and found out that he has done nothing This lack of service will destroy this brand. This will be my 5th RCCL cruise and another 5 on Celebrity so I am not a NEWBIE. These guys need to get there act together. I imagine the first day on board will be a nightmare with hundreds of people lining up to make changes. Please don't tell me to be patient as this is a horrendous procedure. Cruises are supposed to be stress-free. RCCL has figured out a way to make it just the opposite. I urge everyone to call their executive offices 305-539-6000. Thats the only way they will change things

 

Very good post. Although I agree with another poster who says this won't ruin RCCL, I find the reservation system and the need to book so many reservations frustrating and I will avoid these ships in the future.

 

Also, this is not new technology. It's a simple reservation system used by thousands of companies and only the incompetency of the RCCL IT organization is at fault.

[CRUIS4ME]

The website/Dynamic Dining is not working efficiently. The frustrating thing with technology and computer is "no human contact"..."no two way conversations"...."no feedback"....and that is frustrating. I welcome efficiency and technology but it is only as good as the programming and administrative management of the program! This may not ruin the brand.....but it does cause for planning stress when dining times are completely booked for a cruise that is over 9 months out and not fully booked. There is something wrong! Perhaps the rollout of the computerized dining booking shouldn't have been rolled out when it was not fully ready.

[Merion_Mom]

Their website still sucks.

 

Good post.

 

Thank goodness I ALWAYS get good results when I call C&A at 800-526-9723.

 

:)

[Overtyme]

very annoyed at RCCL regarding roll-out of Dynamic Dining and Shows. I sent a letter to the CEO. In turn he gave the letter to someone in Executive Guest Relations. Spoke with the person who assured me everything would be handled. A week goes by no response from this person. Just called him again and found out that he has done nothing This lack of service will destroy this brand. This will be my 5th RCCL cruise and another 5 on Celebrity so I am not a NEWBIE. These guys need to get there act together. I imagine the first day on board will be a nightmare with hundreds of people lining up to make changes. Please don't tell me to be patient as this is a horrendous procedure. Cruises are supposed to be stress-free. RCCL has figured out a way to make it just the opposite. I urge everyone to call their executive offices 305-539-6000. Thats the only way they will change things

 

This is a good post, and you're certainly not to be faulted for expressing your dissatisfaction.

However, there are a few things that I would like to comment on:

 

There's no need to urge people to flood the lines of the executive offices.

This isn't a protest or a movement, this really is not an appropriate response.

It's one thing to express your frustration, and if others join the march, then they do. It's another to actively recruit people to cause a nuisance.

 

I agree with a later post about the site being glitchy, being a real inconvenience.

There's a good chance that ample/proper load/functional testing by IT hasn't been done.

On the other hand, when it comes to internet applications, there are so many factors that come into play.

There may be issues outside of Royal Caribbean, from the hosting company, where the site is being hosted.

There may be connectivity issues from your computer

There may have been too much traffic

You may have tried to do something at a time when there were updates or maintenance was being done.

The list of external factors is pretty large, and while I'm not making excuses, I am suggesting that there may be some circumstances that you're not aware of.

 

There is absolutely no excuse for customer service to have not taken some sort of action and at the very least, they should have had the courtesy to call you with an update.

 

I'm not sure that I get the connection between poor customer service and being a NEWBIE.

Are you suggesting that all newbies should receive poor customer service?

 

There's a pretty good chance that you're not the first to call/write to the same person/people about this issue.

If they're inundated with calls/emails, they may simply have chosen to not respond to people individually because they're formulating a course of action and remediation, and/or working to identify the root cause of the issue before they issue a proper response.

Some times these things take time to figure out.

 

You're vision of the first day, may not be wrong, but for now, it's an emotional reaction to your dissatisfaction with the way that customer service has handled your issue thus far.

 

While I won't tell you to be patient, I would suggest that the sky is not falling and that there is quite some time between now and the time that you board for these issues to be resolved.

 

If this is a systematic issue, when you can't make reservations, neither can anyone else.

 

That said, I personally feel that the necessity to plan every step of your vacation in advance, does take away from the enjoyment leading up to your vacation.

But I also feel that it does allow for more R&R on-board, rather than the traditional running around during vacation.

There are definitely some trade-offs.

[HeidiAmsterdam]

I was quite sad to not have traditional dining. Having one scheduled point in the day gave a sort of structure, which I appreciated.

 

Plus I have kids, and took an early dining time.

 

The IT issues above are well explained, and is a likely depiction of the situation.

 

Having said that, the website itself has a lot of glitches, and doesn't lend itself well to having faith that online reservations with iphone or ipad will actually work. Not to mention, part of the relaxation was leaving the devices locked up in my safe.

 

Further, having spend more than 20 years in the IT industry, the glitches, the functional issues, price loading issues, erroneous errors, errors without error code, capacity and load planning issues speak to a low level of IT maturity that doesn't align with my overall professional perception of RCCL. They should be able to do better, unless of course they've outsourced it all to India, in which case it makes total sense the IT picture doesn't have it's i's dotted or t's crossed. Managing off shore programming, or development is skill and competency unto itself, and most companies are poor at it. Meaning, RCCL IT is mediocre, at its' best.

 

Fortunately, staff on board smile. I do hope they have a back up plan if this dynamic dining pre planning goes pear shaped.:eek:

[Overtyme]

I was quite sad to not have traditional dining. Having one scheduled point in the day gave a sort of structure, which I appreciated.

 

Plus I have kids, and took an early dining time.

 

The IT issues above are well explained, and is a likely depiction of the situation.

 

Having said that, the website itself has a lot of glitches, and doesn't lend itself well to having faith that online reservations with iphone or ipad will actually work. Not to mention, part of the relaxation was leaving the devices locked up in my safe.

 

Further, having spend more than 20 years in the IT industry, the glitches, the functional issues, price loading issues, erroneous errors, errors without error code, capacity and load planning issues speak to a low level of IT maturity that doesn't align with my overall professional perception of RCCL. They should be able to do better, unless of course they've outsourced it all to India, in which case it makes total sense the IT picture doesn't have it's i's dotted or t's crossed. Managing off shore programming, or development is skill and competency unto itself, and most companies are poor at it. Meaning, RCCL IT is mediocre, at its' best.

 

Fortunately, staff on board smile. I do hope they have a back up plan if this dynamic dining pre planning goes pear shaped.:eek:

 

Totally agree.

The dining experience is very individualized though, and as RCCL has introduced specialty restaurants, I think that most people try to dine in at least one or two of them.

 

Once that concept came into play, the traditional dining room concept changed forever, and as RCCL (and frankly, other cruiselines) found this new and exciting revenue stream, there was no turning back.

 

A few years ago on Allure, we probably ate in no less than 3 specialty restaurants on our 7 day cruise, and look forward to trying the new specialty restaurants in the coming years.

 

I recognize that this isn't for everyone, and there are still a lot of people that feel that they've paid for an experience that includes all meals.

 

I also think there's an inaccurate perception that in ALL cases, specialty restaurants offer better food than in the MDR.

This is definitely not true at all. We've had some excellent meals and service in the MDR on our Allure cruise and many previous cruises, and will continue to eat there from time to time.

 

I also found that on past cruises, the MDR was a great way to meet new people and in some cases start a friendship.

It used to be the first time that you would engage in extended conversation with people other than those that you're traveling with, and you knew that you would see them again the following evening to catch-up on the days events and experiences.

I do miss the social aspect of dining with the same people during our cruise.

That may be lost forever as well :(

[nelblu]

Thank goodness that my dining reservations are in place. I have to give a salute and a WOW card to Marlene Prieto of RCL dining. She was having as much trouble booking my last 2 dining avenues as the rest of us. It took some 3 weeks of finally back and forth to resolve my requests.

 

At one point she e-mailed me advising that she was having problems with the 4th night getting me "Grande." I e-mailed her back saying that the 4th night was at Chic per my calendar. She was exasperated and asked me to print the calendar screen and fax it to her. I did and a few days later lo and behold my calendar is correct and complete. Now I'm waiting for the entertainment to open-up.

 

Ps. There was a post on another thread that the Anthem T/A cruises have disappeared--I'm wondering if it too will go to Asia. Probably the Asians wont be as vocal with regarding with the DD problems. LOL

[Overtyme]

Thank goodness that my dining reservations are in place. I have to give a salute and a WOW card to Marlene Prieto of RCL dining. She was having as much trouble booking my last 2 dining avenues as the rest of us. It took some 3 weeks of finally back and forth to resolve my requests.

 

At one point she e-mailed me advising that she was having problems with the 4th night getting me "Grande." I e-mailed her back saying that the 4th night was at Chic per my calendar. She was exasperated and asked me to print the calendar screen and fax it to her. I did and a few days later lo and behold my calendar is correct and complete. Now I'm waiting for the entertainment to open-up.

 

Ps. There was a post on another thread that the Anthem T/A cruises have disappeared--I'm wondering if it too will go to Asia. Probably the Asians wont be as vocal with regarding with the DD problems. LOL

 

Up until now, Royal Caribbean's Bread and Butter had been cruises within the same region.

I'm wondering if the Cruise from the US to APAC is not a fluke, but rather a direction that they're trying to grow.

Think about how many restaurants they have on this ship. There's no way anyone could go to all of them on a single cruise, unless it's a longer cruise.

Those trips are only done during the Winter out of New York, but in the Summer, she has much shorter itineraries.

Also, there are a lot of people that would love to do TA cruises. It would be a whole new market for them, and would allow them to extend to new market segments.