Royals ITdepartment

[Herb L.]

How long does it take for the it department to correct the error so that a booking can be made using explorer? I know you can call to make a booking but I like to look at ALL possibilities before booking.

[setsail]

11 minutes and 33 seconds

[leaveitallbehind]

Magic 8 Ball says "Highly Unlikely".

[irishgal432]

They have an IT department?

[MrsP_29]

Without knowing exactly what issues you are having, I would suggest clearing your cache. Or use Chrome. I use both in my laptop because some sites work better on one or the other but by not both. I have one other idea but haven't tested it yet. Perhaps later today I will.

[Scottee25]

As someone who works in IT and has been very critical of RCCL's website, I would like to play devil's advocate here. The problem with most companies is that IT falls under the realm of CFO and not COO (where it really belongs). Bean counters generally don't like IT because they are an expense to the company rather than a revenue source. Most look to cut IT budgets wherever possible to keep costs down. Most do not see the importance of IT until there is a problem. Unfortunately, a lot of those problems can't be fixed at a moment's notice. They take time and resources. Resources most IT departments lack. It's more than just hiring a handful of developers to come in and fix the problem. Hiring developers is expensive and time consuming too. This is a long term issue that RCCL should put forth the effort expand its IT department. If they aren't willing to add more full time developers, they should find a firm that will work on individual projects for them. While this approach can be a lot more expensive, these developers do not need to be hired by RCCL and once the contract is finished, no longer are an expense. I know I am not telling RCCL anything they don't already know but I thought I would share for the rest of you who may question why RCCL's site is so problematic at times.

[leaveitallbehind]

As someone who works in IT and has been very critical of RCCL's website, I would like to play devil's advocate here. The problem with most companies is that IT falls under the realm of CFO and not COO (where it really belongs). Bean counters generally don't like IT because they are an expense to the company rather than a revenue source. Most look to cut IT budgets wherever possible to keep costs down. Most do not see the importance of IT until there is a problem. Unfortunately, a lot of those problems can't be fixed at a moment's notice. They take time and resources. Resources most IT departments lack. It's more than just hiring a handful of developers to come in and fix the problem. Hiring developers is expensive and time consuming too. This is a long term issue that RCCL should put forth the effort expand its IT department. If they aren't willing to add more full time developers, they should find a firm that will work on individual projects for them. While this approach can be a lot more expensive, these developers do not need to be hired by RCCL and once the contract is finished, no longer are an expense. I know I am not telling RCCL anything they don't already know but I thought I would share for the rest of you who may question why RCCL's site is so problematic at times.

 

While I am not at all challenging your position, if RCI has adopted that attitude it would be counter intuitive to a company that depends as heavily as it does on it's website for its brand, market position, and ultimately it's sales. That should contradict that very CFO's responsibility to profits! But then again, given the typical weekend wesite conditions and customer complaints on this forum alone........:rolleyes:

[island lady]

:evilsmile::evilsmile: Royal's IT demons....coming to a frustration near you!! :evilsmile::evilsmile: ;p

[Scottee25]

While I am not at all challenging your position, if RCI has adopted that attitude it would be counter intuitive to a company that depends as heavily as it does on it's website for its brand, market position, and ultimately it's sales. That should contradict that very CFO's responsibility to profits! But then again, given the typical weekend wesite conditions and customer complaints on this forum alone........:rolleyes:

 

I hear what you're saying but, even with the website down, this doesn't stop people from booking cruises with RCCL. They can always call to make a reservation. I don't know the numbers but I would be curious to find out how many people actually book via the website? How many book through a TA? How many book directly through RCCL's call center? How many book via 3rd party sites? While we may have a vocal majority here that use the website almost exclusively, that doesn't mean that is how most others book their cruises.

 

You also have to take into account ROI. This is an area we always have to look at when our users come to us with an enhancement request/bug. How much would it cost to fix the problem? How much is it costing us to not fix the problem? Since we don't have infinite amount of time to work on requests, we have to weigh the precedence of each request. When it comes to matters of ROI, we look at more than just if it's cheaper to fix rather than leave alone. We also look at how long it would take for the fix to pay for itself. If something doesn't pay for itself in 12, 18, or 24 months, there is a good chance there is not enough ROI to implement that fix. Other times we look at the rate of return on a project such as how much time will the enhancement save our users.

 

There is a lot of factors to look at and I don't feel that RCCL is purposely allowing their website to have the problems it has. However, it would appear they lack the resources to fix it to a satisfactory level. If it was really costing them that many reservations, then I am sure it would be fixed by now. I doubt they are losing that many reservations though.

[leaveitallbehind]

I don't know the numbers but I would be curious to find out how many people actually book via the website? How many book through a TA? How many book directly through RCCL's call center? How many book via 3rd party sites?.

 

Just specific to this question, not just with RCI but as a cruise industry as a whole, it has been reported that 75% of all cruises are booked through a TA, be it live "brick and mortar", on line, or big box. The call center will typically ask if you have a TA want to be referred to one as well.

[Scottee25]

Just specific to this question, not just with RCI but as a cruise industry as a whole, it has been reported that 75% of all cruises are booked through a TA, be it live "brick and mortar", on line, or big box. The call center will typically ask if you have a TA want to be referred to one as well.

 

If that is indeed the case, then I can understand why their website may not be their number one priority. It's quite an inconvenience to the rest of us when it doesn't work, I'll agree.

[cleopetra]

Scottee25, As a former IT person, I agree with you wholeheartedly. A good IT department needs lots of costly resources and management with a good overall vision. It also needs a good QA (Quality Assurance) whether by a separate department and/or time for thorough testing by the developers before it is put into real world use. I get the feeling RC's IT has neither. It always makes me cringe at the complaints on the boards and while some may be merited, I always think of the stress those programmers are likely under. Changes probably get announced before IT has a chance to completely update systems and so it comes across as half done. I don't think IT is given much, if any notice, for some of these changes or the timelines they are given to do these changes are unrealistic.They do their best for the big stuff but some of the details take a while longer to get done. I would also rather have them doing the ship's navigation and other internal ship's programs properly before any public website. I have a feeling that the IT dept is dealing with a hodgepodge of older systems that are difficult to update which are then used to feed the website. Users think everything is easy when it is not necessarily so, even for a so-called 'simple change'. Plus most IT departments that I have worked in are request driven so if there is no request for a change from other departments, it does not get done. Okay, rant over. Thanks for defending IT and giving me a chance to vent. LOL

[TominNC]

Having trouble tonight using Chrome or IE to get their site to work correctly.

[rt1092]

I can't get on to see prices of cruises with Google Chrome or Internet Explorer. Originally Google was a problem but IE worked. Using Google you can't even do "online checkin".

WE have 12 more cruises booked for 2017/2018, and if they don't fix the problem They will be our last. I always book direct with Royal. Not through a T/A. If 75% book though a T/A . I guess some beancounting jerk. Figures the other 25% don't count. And they can afford to do without them.

Once someone goes elsewhere it's almost impossible to get them back.

[lucymorgan]

As someone who works in IT and has been very critical of RCCL's website, I would like to play devil's advocate here. The problem with most companies is that IT falls under the realm of CFO and not COO (where it really belongs). Bean counters generally don't like IT because they are an expense to the company rather than a revenue source. Most look to cut IT budgets wherever possible to keep costs down. Most do not see the importance of IT until there is a problem. Unfortunately, a lot of those problems can't be fixed at a moment's notice. They take time and resources. Resources most IT departments lack. It's more than just hiring a handful of developers to come in and fix the problem. Hiring developers is expensive and time consuming too. This is a long term issue that RCCL should put forth the effort expand its IT department. If they aren't willing to add more full time developers, they should find a firm that will work on individual projects for them. While this approach can be a lot more expensive, these developers do not need to be hired by RCCL and once the contract is finished, no longer are an expense. I know I am not telling RCCL anything they don't already know but I thought I would share for the rest of you who may question why RCCL's site is so problematic at times.

 

I agree to a large extent. However, it is difficult to know where the fault lies. The IT department's leadership should have the influence and credibility to influence the C level and above executives. And/or .... the issue may be that IT is simply seen as a service (like electricity or phone) not as a competitive advantage (or disadvantage). If this is the case then the COO, CFO and above will hopefully soon (before they lose their own jobs!!) realize the impact all of these problems are having on the profitability and reputation of the company.

 

What is required here is leadership!