So we are going on the Vision in a few weeks

[CruisinShips]

and I took a shot, a preemptive strike, if you will...I wrote a letter to RCCL to express my concerns about all of the negative reviews I have been reading and to urge someone in customer relations to read them. Told them we are loyal Royal cruisers, we have booked suites on our last three cruises, this is our second this year, but we are very nervous about this one and based on what we have read, we would probably opt out of this cruise if we had the ability.

 

Perhaps a little dramatic, but I was going for impact.

 

Well, I got back a very nice response, the usual customer service stuff....they value our business and appreciate our loyalty, and they aren't aware of any ongoing issues but always strive to be the best they can be, and our feedback is very important to them, etc. And then she wrotethis:

 

"Guests who may not have had a particularly pleasant experience on their sailing, for whatever reason, are more apt to write a poor review and find fault with all aspects of their vacation. The vast majority of our guests have nothing but complimentary and exemplary reviews of Royal Caribbean International's staff, food, ships and service. We take our guests’ evaluations and suggestions very seriously and distribute Guest Satisfaction Surveys to each of our guests after their cruise vacation."

 

And that shows me they just aren't really listening.

 

I responded by thanking her for her kind words and response, but if they read this forum in particular, they would see it is full of people who are very loyal to RCCL and are expressing more their disappointment over this particular cruise in comparison to prior RCCL experiences, and that the repeated negative comments are reflective of what should be considered REAL issues that I am hopeful they will hear and take seriously.

 

That was a few days ago, and I haven't heard back.

 

All that being said, we are ready to go on the short 5 night cruise next month with smiles on our faces and the hope I can come back here with a glowing report.

 

Just thought I'd share.

[Agutaya]

I too was a bit concerned with many negative comments about Vision too as we're sailing on her later this year. I started to read every review or thread that I could to find out more information. I found that there were also many posts that were saying good things about Vision and the service on her.

 

I know that the quote from the letter is the required positive spin but it is also probably true. Those who have had some difficulties are more likely to talk about them. Those of us who had no problems (or only minor glitches) take it for granted and don't "write home about it." Maybe if more of us who have had a good time would write quick, fair reviews it would give more balance to the issue.

 

Please do sail with a smile on your face and an expectation of a good cruise. I look forward to hearing back from you on your return.

[Baby_Bear]

I was just on the Vision last month for a 4-day cruise. I thought the ship was beautiful. Food and service were hit and miss, but overall, it was more positives than negatives. I don't think you should be concerned. I attached a link to my review below, with pics. Hope this helps.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2061687

[FLACRUISER99]

and I took a shot, a preemptive strike, if you will...I wrote a letter to RCCL to express my concerns about all of the negative reviews I have been reading and to urge someone in customer relations to read them. Told them we are loyal Royal cruisers, we have booked suites on our last three cruises, this is our second this year, but we are very nervous about this one and based on what we have read, we would probably opt out of this cruise if we had the ability.

 

Perhaps a little dramatic, but I was going for impact.

 

Well, I got back a very nice response, the usual customer service stuff....they value our business and appreciate our loyalty, and they aren't aware of any ongoing issues but always strive to be the best they can be, and our feedback is very important to them, etc. And then she wrotethis:

 

"Guests who may not have had a particularly pleasant experience on their sailing, for whatever reason, are more apt to write a poor review and find fault with all aspects of their vacation. The vast majority of our guests have nothing but complimentary and exemplary reviews of Royal Caribbean International's staff, food, ships and service. We take our guests’ evaluations and suggestions very seriously and distribute Guest Satisfaction Surveys to each of our guests after their cruise vacation."

 

And that shows me they just aren't really listening.

 

I responded by thanking her for her kind words and response, but if they read this forum in particular, they would see it is full of people who are very loyal to RCCL and are expressing more their disappointment over this particular cruise in comparison to prior RCCL experiences, and that the repeated negative comments are reflective of what should be considered REAL issues that I am hopeful they will hear and take seriously.

 

That was a few days ago, and I haven't heard back.

 

All that being said, we are ready to go on the short 5 night cruise next month with smiles on our faces and the hope I can come back here with a glowing report.

 

Just thought I'd share.

Why are you wasting your & RCI's time?

[Sweetpeax2]

I was on the vision 10 night bermuda cruise earlier this month and too was very concerned about all the negative reviews. While there were some minor issues (MTD and room issues) we still enjoyed this cruise and have some great memories. This was our first royal cruise (cruised Disney and ncl before)and like I said we enjoyed it, but definitely not like our other ones. Loved the itinerary though and if you have kids the kids clubs was awesome! My kids loved it there.

[dorisis]

Most of the negative posts I have read have been about cutbacks. That is true on this forum and on other forums. Cruise lines are highly competative and must satisfy passengers and stockholders. Rcs main competitor is Carnival and they also have lots of gimmicks to lure new customers. Some pricing is very deceptive and some advertising is even more deceptive.

[bonsat]

and I took a shot, a preemptive strike, if you will...I wrote a letter to RCCL to express my concerns about all of the negative reviews I have been reading and to urge someone in customer relations to read them. Told them we are loyal Royal cruisers, we have booked suites on our last three cruises, this is our second this year, but we are very nervous about this one and based on what we have read, we would probably opt out of this cruise if we had the ability.

 

Perhaps a little dramatic, but I was going for impact.

 

Well, I got back a very nice response, the usual customer service stuff....they value our business and appreciate our loyalty, and they aren't aware of any ongoing issues but always strive to be the best they can be, and our feedback is very important to them, etc. And then she wrotethis:

 

"Guests who may not have had a particularly pleasant experience on their sailing, for whatever reason, are more apt to write a poor review and find fault with all aspects of their vacation. The vast majority of our guests have nothing but complimentary and exemplary reviews of Royal Caribbean International's staff, food, ships and service. We take our guests’ evaluations and suggestions very seriously and distribute Guest Satisfaction Surveys to each of our guests after their cruise vacation."

 

And that shows me they just aren't really listening.

 

I responded by thanking her for her kind words and response, but if they read this forum in particular, they would see it is full of people who are very loyal to RCCL and are expressing more their disappointment over this particular cruise in comparison to prior RCCL experiences, and that the repeated negative comments are reflective of what should be considered REAL issues that I am hopeful they will hear and take seriously.

 

That was a few days ago, and I haven't heard back.

 

All that being said, we are ready to go on the short 5 night cruise next month with smiles on our faces and the hope I can come back here with a glowing report.

 

Just thought I'd share.

 

You should be concerned. CC has not uploaded most of the reviews, including ours, of the Bermuda cruise last week. Stay tuned for more critical reviews. For the amount of money you will be spending, I think you can do much better. The cruise--its service, food, entertainment--were mediocre at best. We are done with Royal will be returning to Celebrity or other cruise lines in the future.

[KirkNC]

We been on many cruises and I am sure you could find negative reviewss on all of them but we have enjoyed everyone. I find the key is to go with the flow and recognize that not everything will be perfect.

[maxs mom]

Well.....we were on Vision for two weeks in February and every aspect of our cruise was wonderful. As matter of fact.....we seriously considered staying on for a third week. We are booked for 10 days next month and can't wait to get back on board. I just can't believe some of the reviews I've read are about this wonderful ship! I will see for myself soon and will post a thorough review.

[1992cruiser]

Yes, there will be negative reviews for every cruise, but if you read cc daily, the amount of negative reviews for Vision is way past the norm. I would be nervous about sailing on her again. I had a great time on my last Vision sailing in May, but it was not even in the same league as the same 4 night cruise on the Liberty a few months prior (just talking about service, not the ship).

[CruisinShips]

Why are you wasting your & RCI's time?

 

Thanks for your comments. Very nice.

[CruisinShips]

Well.....we were on Vision for two weeks in February and every aspect of our cruise was wonderful. As matter of fact.....we seriously considered staying on for a third week. We are booked for 10 days next month and can't wait to get back on board. I just can't believe some of the reviews I've read are about this wonderful ship! I will see for myself soon and will post a thorough review.

 

That's great to hear. Thanks.

[flpenguin]

We were on the June 9 10 day cruise to Bermuda. The Vision is a smaller ship but it was kept clean and we had 2 connecting ov rooms with adequate room. There were a few kinks the first 2 nights with mtd but everything was worked out and had fabulous service the rest of the trip. We did try the dining room for breakfast one sea day morning and will never do it again. Really slow service and husband never got his food. We just went and woke the kids up and they ate in the windjammer. Most of the crew were hustling the whole time. We had an enjoyable cruise but probably won't do that size ship again. We did it for the ports not for the ship.

[WishIwerethere]

Maybe if you are diamond + or staying Ina suite on vision you had no problem with slow wait service or service at the concierge lounge.

 

But service was slow and I had to email RCI three times to get an email post cruise survey. They did say this when I mentioned poor service in my email...

 

"Additionally, I am disappointed to read of your dissatisfaction with the service you received at the bars onboard. This experience is not in line with the type of service that we expect from our staff. Based on these comments, we will take immediate steps to correct the areas brought to our attention."

 

So do they have a service issue or not ?

Edited June 26, 2014 by WishIwerethere

[CruisinShips]

Yes, there will be negative reviews for every cruise, but if you read cc daily, the amount of negative reviews for Vision is way past the norm. I would be nervous about sailing on her again. I had a great time on my last Vision sailing in May, but it was not even in the same league as the same 4 night cruise on the Liberty a few months prior (just talking about service, not the ship).

 

That was my perception as well, and the only reason I expressed concern. I know there will always be negative comments about everything, and experiences will vary as will reviews. But there were more on the Vision than I recall seeing on another ship.

[FLACRUISER99]

Thanks for your comments. Very nice.

It doesn't make any sense (to me) to complain about a cruise that you haven't taken.

[Joe12]

I'm sure your cruise will be fine,

Royal's top cruiser Super Mario Salcedo is sailing on Vision the whole summer, he has sailed over 500 voyages so I doubt he would be sailing Vision if there was a problem

Have a great cruise

Joe

[bonsat]

I'm sure your cruise will be fine,

Royal's top cruiser Super Mario Salcedo is sailing on Vision the whole summer, he has sailed over 500 voyages so I doubt he would be sailing Vision if there was a problem

Have a great cruise

Joe

 

met him on our cruise. he's taken so many royal cruises that he doesn't have a clue what else is out there.

[shellunderwater]

I'm not going to address the OP specificially, but reviews in general.

 

In the reviews I've read, there seems to be a defining event that causes everything else bad to snowball. Someone got treated poorly, and from that moment on, every little thing that is bad gets reported.

 

Now, yes, I'm generalizing, and not ALL negative reviews fall into this category. But it seems that many of them do.

 

That bad event causes everything else to be under a microscope.

 

I guess reviews should be about the negatives, but also the positives. But the flaming reviews, so many of them at least, seem to be all negatives.

 

Does the Vision deserve it? I don't know. It could depend on the itinerary, the experiences (read nationality) of the reviewer, because that affects expectations, and the C&A level. These, I know, are generalizations too.

 

Readers of reviews and these threads need to ponder all of these things before determining if something reasonably meets their own expectations.

 

Someone who is Super Triple Platinum (hehehe) C&A who didn't get the seat they wanted in the MDR and was stuck at a table with a couple who didn't abide by the suggested dress code may just complain about things that someone who is on their first or second cruise would never even notice. Maybe, maybe not. But its something the reader should consider.

 

I've read some bad reviews/posts of the Oasis class ships. But, my experience was anything but.

 

I too am on Vision at the end of the year. I can assure everyone if the service isn't up to par, my DW will be at Guest Services. She'll complain. Oh yeah, she will.

Edited June 26, 2014 by shellunderwater
fixed a spacing issue that caused a spelling error

[The Big Booper]

We were on the 10 day Bermuda cruise in June. We had Late Seating as I would never think of doing MTD on a smaller ship like this. The crowd on this sailing was in large part older cruisers, many from Fl., and they all seem to prefer earlier eating times, either early Seating or showing up early for MTD. I heard from several people that the wait times for MTD were long. We had six people at our table for ten and had great service from the Wait staff. So be forewarned.

 

Our cabin attendant showed up promptly on boarding day, asked us if we needed anything; we gave him what we needed and he showed up within two hours with our extra stuff, and kept up with replenishing our cabin during the week whenever the stuff was needed. He was quite unobtrusive but did his job efficiently and effectively.

 

The Jammie was the Jammie. When taking hot food for breakfast or lunch always stir the serving pot and take stuff off the bottom which will be hotter then food sitting on the top of the pot. Frequently the plastic serving utensils were hotter then the food which shows the staff at least was trying to keep the food hotter.

 

The Park Cafe, in the Solarium Pool complex, had better food then the Jammie but a much more limited menu.

 

For lunch we either ate at the Park Cafe or did the Tutti make your custom salad in the MDR (Sea Days). Twice we did the Jammie. Tutti is the best choice for lunch on the ship. At lunch one day a fellow pax requested a dessert off the menu and did the Tutti along with us. We finished the Tutti and left the MDR. We found out later that she got her dessert 35 minutes after finishing her salad.

 

This is a common theme we heard, that the MDR is very slow for breakfast and standard lunch. so be forewarned.

 

An older couple at our table ate breakfast several times in the MDR as well as lunch. They finally listened to us and switched to the Park Cafe/Tutti salad choices and were satisfied the rest of the trip.

 

The ship has been totally redone and looks beautiful. Tilework, carpeting etc. all looks almost brand new. The world cup was on the big pool screen so we would mosey out from the Solarium pool to the main pool whenever a game was on that we wanted to see. Otherwise we hung out in the Solarium.

 

As for entertainment, the Vision is not the Allure/Oasis duo so what you see is what you get. The best show was the Jersey Boys tribute, with the four performers meeting each other while doing Les Mis on Broadway so there is a basic high talent level there. Don't know if they will appear on this ship again. Otherwise it is the standard RCI singers and dancers doing RCI singer and dancer routines, as well as the usual guest stars. The combos appearing around the ship were good and we could always find somebody we liked and go to their performances.

 

Best show was the new aerialist performers appearing in the Centrum on the final evening aboard the ship. Great show and the rebuilt Centrum with dazzling computer controlled lighting was an effective backdrop. Very crowded so get there at least a half hour early for good vantage points on whichever deck you want to watch.

 

We haven't been on one of these older ships in almost a decade; we booked strictly for the ports, Charleston and Bermuda. The rest we quickly figured how to handle issues and were satisfied. I would rather make the best of a situation and improve our trip then grumble during a long trip; no satisfaction from writing a long complaint letter when the problems are easily fixed while on board.

 

Boone Plantation is a must see in Charlestown.

 

I have to offload our 3 memory cards so I can set up a new photosharing site on the net, Webshots is gone.

Edited June 26, 2014 by The Big Booper

[Oppalopa]

Just saw the movie Jersey Boys this past Saturday. It was great.

[CruisinShips]

It doesn't make any sense (to me) to complain about a cruise that you haven't taken.

 

Does it make sense to attempt to make a company aware of what appears to many to be some recurring and disappointing aspects of one particular ship so they can help both themselves and their customers by looking into it and addressing it?

 

Ideally the cruise line should appreciate being informed if they really want to learn and improve. If I hear a few people have gotten food poisoning at my favorite restaurant from a certain dish, I'd probably make sure the management knows what I had heard before I actually ordered the same dish.

 

You called it me wasting my and the cruise line's time. Thanks for investing your time into reading this thread.

[berylde]

CRUISINSHIPS:

I can understand your concern and why you wrote your letter. The Vision has only been back since May and she has had alot of complaints.

We were on the May 3rd sailing and were one of the ones with complaints. Of all the RCL ships we have been on, it was only our second with negative views.

 

But, why do posters get upset if you post anything but a positive review?

[November28]

Sailing on the Vision in August. Do not like hearing negative comments. I will re[ort after our cruise. We are Diamond and have not had a bad cruise. There maybe things that are not perfect but it is a vacation and much better than being at work. Happy Sailing. Royal should listen to all complaints however and fix things that can be done better.

[FLACRUISER99]

Does it make sense to attempt to make a company aware of what appears to many to be some recurring and disappointing aspects of one particular ship so they can help both themselves and their customers by looking into it and addressing it?

 

Ideally the cruise line should appreciate being informed if they really want to learn and improve. If I hear a few people have gotten food poisoning at my favorite restaurant from a certain dish, I'd probably make sure the management knows what I had heard before I actually ordered the same dish.

 

You called it me wasting my and the cruise line's time. Thanks for investing your time into reading this thread.

I'm going on Vision to Bermuda Sept 1, 2014 and if there certain serious aspects of the cruise that a can't fix onboard I will be the first to let RCI know. I'm sure if you or I had a bad experience it would command more attention(I hope) than someone complaining about something they heard about the ship from an anonymous source on the internet.