Lack of Dreamworks on Anthem of the Seas

[SausPud]

I do request that those onboard the Anthem, who feel that having Dream Works featured on this ship would be of benefit to younger kids, please put those comments on the comment cards before you leave your cruise.

Those cards go directly to Royal Caribbean staff and to their offices.

If there are enough of them, they will do something about it.

They (supposedly) listen to their guests feedback.

Thank you in advance!

 

It has worked for Jamie's being ala carte and worked for dynamic dining classic.

I suspect Dreamworks gets put on when she goes stateside and they say it's due to complaints but that was their plan all along.

[Overtyme]

It is looking more likely that the Anthem is not built for the under 5's in mind. There is other ships better equipped for the little one's but not this one.

 

I whole-heartedly agree there! It's quite the departure for Royal Caribbean, who boasts about family friendly ships and family vacations.

 

I would love to go on another Oasis Class ship, but I really have been looking forward to a cruise longer than 7 nights during the Summer. Also, we live in New York, so getting to/from the pier by car is a big plus (and saves us on airfare for 4, plus hotel).

[Over Land & Sea]

I do request that those onboard the Anthem, who feel that having Dream Works featured on this ship would be of benefit to younger kids, please put those comments on the comment cards before you leave your cruise.

Those cards go directly to Royal Caribbean staff and to their offices.

If there are enough of them, they will do something about it.

They (supposedly) listen to their guests feedback.

Thank you in advance!

 

When we go in August we intend to start chipping away at guest services, cruise director etc from day 1. There are 3 families going all with young kids so we are going to have a lot of fun drumming up a mutiny, in a light hearted way of course.

They are going to have to send out for more comment cards.:D

[Over Land & Sea]

Where was the spoiler alert?

You can't drop a bombshell like that without a warning!

I could have spilt my cup of tea.

I hope you are joking and Puss is really in it.

 

I'm booked up for the Wimbledon tour next year. Might see you there? ;)

 

ooops my bad, maybe you should start a thread on the Shrek the Musical website to get him in it.

[MisterBill99]

They are going to have to send out for more comment cards.:D

Comment "cards" are electronic these days. You get an email the day that you disembark.

 

Personally I think that emailing Michael Bayley in advance would be more effective. Tell him that you have a reservation and are thinking of canceling and switching to another ship because of lack of DW. If they get enough of those maybe they'll realize that they have a real problem.

[SausPud]

When we go in August we intend to start chipping away at guest services, cruise director etc from day 1. There are 3 families going all with young kids so we are going to have a lot of fun drumming up a mutiny, in a light hearted way of course.

They are going to have to send out for more comment cards.:D

 

Under official Maritime Law, it only takes 2 people to start a Mutiny. So your crew could do this with ease.

 

Maybe contact the newspapers and say they have a mutiny onboard the ship due to the lies being spouted by RCCL over Dreamworks.

The Sun and Mirror in the UK would probably print it, as they have nothing better to do.

With the evidence there is, and what RCCL have said on the matter, it would make a great story for them to publish. Shame RCCL into doing something about it, before the summer holidays.

HEADLINE - School Childrens Holidays ruined by Royal Caribbean Ogre!

[Over Land & Sea]

Personally I think that emailing Michael Bayley in advance would be more effective. Tell him that you have a reservation and are thinking of canceling and switching to another ship because of lack of DW. If they get enough of those maybe they'll realize that they have a real problem.

 

For the record messrs. Bayley, Goldstein & Fain never responded to my emails & I did cancel the first of my two Anthem cruises.

The reason we are still going in August is that we are traveling with two other families who were not able to cancel as they booked after August 2014 and whose cruises are fully paid.

Anyone who booked a cruise on Anthem for between her maiden in April & the August cruises were actually required to make final payment before the ship had even been delivered to RCCL. As a result the chips are stacked in the favour of RCCL.

That's why this thread has been getting so many hits as people who have not booked or at the deposit stage can make informed decisions based on facts. Meanwhile the company still brazenly advertises Dreamworks in brochures and most bizzarely on the boat itself.

[MisterBill99]

F

The reason we are still going in August is that we are traveling with two other families who were not able to cancel as they booked after August 2014 and whose cruises are fully paid.

Anyone who booked a cruise on Anthem for between her maiden in April & the August cruises were actually required to make final payment before the ship had even been delivered to RCCL. As a result the chips are stacked in the favour of RCCL.

I've never heard of anything like that, is that UK specific??

[MisterBill99]

The Sun and Mirror in the UK would probably print it, as they have nothing better to do.

With the evidence there is, and what RCCL have said on the matter, it would make a great story for them to publish. Shame RCCL into doing something about it, before the summer holidays.

HEADLINE - School Childrens Holidays ruined by Royal Caribbean Ogre!

I can't imagine said article would get a lot of sympathy when the crux of the story is that the kids went on a cruise, even if they weren't able to do much of the stuff.

 

Is there a reporter in the UK who covers cruises like the guy at USA Today does in the US? If so I would suggest contacting them. Or maybe contact the USA Today guy. I already emailed the person who runs an RC blog but did not hear back from him (he might be on a cruise based on posts I am seeing on the blog).

[Overtyme]

Great ideas- probably nobody is going to contact the papers. I don't think that anyone wants to stick their neck that far out.

Soooooo ...... Comment cards people ..... Comment cards! Fill them out! Get the complaints rolling from within!

[MisterBill99]

Great ideas- probably nobody is going to contact the papers. I don't think that anyone wants to stick their neck that far out.

Soooooo ...... Comment cards people ..... Comment cards! Fill them out! Get the complaints rolling from within!

Since you folks (who actually have real interest in this, as opposed to me who's just an outsider) are too wimpy (and I say that in the nicest way) to complain to the press, I just sent some private messages to the USA Today cruise writer on Twitter. I'll let you know if he's going to look into it.

 

So far as I'm concerned, the more interesting thing to look into here is why Anthem doesn't have DW and whether this says something about the future of the DW/RCCL relationship. That's what makes it an interesting news story.

Edited June 10, 2015 by MisterBill99

[Overtyme]

That's awesome MisterBill! It'll be great to see if they take any interest.

[Overtyme]

I sent an email to the Miami Herald's Marjie Lambert regarding this issue.

She was terrific and is looking into this.

In the meanwhile, (so I'm not paraphrasing her response), from her email:

 

"Meantime, if you or someone you know booked a trip based on these ads, I'd encourage that person to write to Christopher Elliott, who writes the Travel Troubleshooter column and often helps people get refunds (or tells them why they can't). His website is http://elliott.org/, and you can write him at elliottc@gmail.com"

 

I encourage everyone that fits into this category to email Christopher Elliott.

Also, it would probably be beneficial to CC Marjie, since she's researching this.

Her email address is mlambert@miamiherald.com

 

Regards,

Scott

[MisterBill99]

That's awesome MisterBill! It'll be great to see if they take any interest.

Sadly, he did not respond, and I was unable to find an email address for him. But it's good to see that you got someone interested. I also emailed her and gave my suggestion of looking into the bigger picture of the relationship between the two companies. Hopefully she is able to speak to someone that you haven't been able to and get some real answers.

Edited June 11, 2015 by MisterBill99

[Overtyme]

Sadly, he did not respond, and I was unable to find an email address for him. But it's good to see that you got someone interested. I also emailed her and gave my suggestion of looking into the bigger picture of the relationship between the two companies. Hopefully she is able to speak to someone that you haven't been able to and get some reason answers.

 

 

One other nice thing is that they're right in the backyard of Royal Caribbean's Headquarters!

 

I'm hoping that the article (if one comes about), could end up on the desks of several executives in those offices.

[beachnative]

I've enjoyed reading this thread….you people would make a great study for a college course.

[marylizcat]

I've enjoyed reading this thread….you people would make a great study for a college course.

 

I hope you did not intend to be as rude as that sounds!

 

Maybe reading the thread do not give you an understanding of the issues here.

[SausPud]

Seeing that Mister Bill (Thanks), has contacted the USA media on this, I have decided today (got board at work and thought this was more fun to do than working) I got intouch with the following UK people:

Watchdog (BBC TV Show)

The Sun (Newspaper)

The Mirror (Newspaper)

The Mail (Newspaper)

 

The three newspapers have the highest publications in the UK and if one runs with it, the others normal follow suit.

 

I will update with any responses I get.

[Overtyme]

Seeing that Mister Bill (Thanks), has contacted the USA media on this, I have decided today (got board at work and thought this was more fun to do than working) I got intouch with the following UK people:

 

Watchdog (BBC TV Show)

 

The Sun (Newspaper)

 

The Mirror (Newspaper)

 

The Mail (Newspaper)

 

 

 

The three newspapers have the highest publications in the UK and if one runs with it, the others normal follow suit.

 

 

 

I will update with any responses I get.

 

 

That's awesome! I sent an email to the Miami Herald yesterday (see a few posts above).

They're going to look into it, but encourage that those affected send an email (see details a few posts back).

[Overtyme]

One more note: While assembling my email yesterday, I included a bunch of links.

Where it comes to online information, Royal has gone back and changed sites that read "Quantum Class" to read "Quantum of the Seas" and others that were specific to Anthem of the Seas have had Dream Works removed.

As one poster pointed out, however. There are cached versions of these sites out there, which show the way that it used to be.

[kevinyork]

One more note: While assembling my email yesterday, I included a bunch of links.

Where it comes to online information, Royal has gone back and changed sites that read "Quantum Class" to read "Quantum of the Seas" and others that were specific to Anthem of the Seas have had Dream Works removed.

As one poster pointed out, however. There are cached versions of these sites out there, which show the way that it used to be.

 

 

Heres a couple of the cached pages. The web addresses show Anthem and the webpages advertise dreamworks.

 

Also the brochure page.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Overtyme]

Thanks Kevin! These are great!

[AtlantaCruiser72]

As Dreakworks is a licensed product I wonder if there were issues with the UK regulators / license holders when the Quantum debuted last year that led to excessive costs. Perhaps RCCL and Dreamworks decided to delay introduction until it arrives in the U.S. to avoid dealing with those regulatory issues/costs again. While this doesn't help those cruising out of the UK this summer it could explain the situation.

[Overtyme]

I agree Atlanta, but it would be great to know if DW is coming onboard stateside.

As you mentioned, it won't help the UK cruisers, but it would at least provide us some insight and maybe some stress relief for those of us in the states.

[MisterBill99]

As Dreakworks is a licensed product I wonder if there were issues with the UK regulators / license holders when the Quantum debuted last year that led to excessive costs. Perhaps RCCL and Dreamworks decided to delay introduction until it arrives in the U.S. to avoid dealing with those regulatory issues/costs again. While this doesn't help those cruising out of the UK this summer it could explain the situation.

They have DW on Oasis and Allure and they'be been to Europe, no? Why would the UK be any different? Is there any evidence that DW has licensed their stuff to a different company in the UK? Seems very unlikely to me. And I was about to suggest it might be due to the expense since it's DW employees who run the stuff, but I think even that is unlikely.