Explorer...Undercover Boss Needed?

[vacationlover_mn]

On 1/2/2020 at 9:08 PM, Iamcruzin said:

My company participated in Undercover Boss and I can tell you first hand that it is all scripted. You are basically using it to advertise your business.  One employee won a beautiful home. Unfortunately she couldn't afford the taxes and upkeep  on her salary and she had to sell it and pay capital gain tax. Another winner was terminated shortly after for stealing. It was  real eye opener to see how these reality shows work. 

 Thanks so much for sharing this.  I will be removing this show from my DVR.  I hate scripted reality shows 😞

[PIR8LUVR]

On 12/29/2019 at 11:08 PM, LadyLion_AP said:

Current on Day 3 of our 9-night NYE sailing on Explorer of the Seas.

 

A little background: My family travels in 3 generations at/near Xmas every year beginning a little over a decade ago (as hubby was deployed to Germany for 2 years & we spent Xmas overseas). We alternate cruise & land vacations each year. 

 

This is our 3rd Xmas cruise with RCCL but have cruised with RCCL multiple times & on most classes of ships.

 

Why I suggest Undercover Boss?

I read the not so great reviews ahead of time so came prepared. I’ll preface my noticings with the fact that we ARE having a great vacation because we’ll be certain to. We work very hard, have invested in a lot of extras to make our vacay even nicer, and we enjoy spending time together...and we LOVE the Ocean!!!!

 

The ugly:

- The ship is not in the best shape. One  example....There are actually windows TAPED shut. (Easy to get past but it definitely doesn’t represent the product well. I’d be embarrassed if I was in charge here!)

-  Overall worst service we’ve experienced on any ship & any cruise line. Yes. Some employees are spectacular but too many are not!

- Worst dining experiences in any venue....by far! We’ve eaten in the MDR, Chops, Giovanni’s, & Johnny Rockets thus far. Giovanni’s has had the best service so far but the food is not comparable to Giovanni’s on other ships. All family members have this opinion.

- My husband still hasn’t met our room steward.

- None of us can tell you the cruise director. Granted we haven’t gone to most shows but that’s typical for us on ships other than Oasis or Quantum class. We have usually seen and/or met the cruise director multiple times by now.

- All of the “little things” are missing: Invitations/Reminders for specialty diners in the stateroom (good thing I wrote them down as my Reservations aren’t accurate on the TV), greetings from the staff, periodic check-ins from the room steward, etc.

- Internet is the worst! We use it mostly to text but hubby does have to work at least one day this cruise. What’s funny is I thought I lost this post to spotty internet twice. Would be surprised if there ends up being duplicate posts!

 

These things probably sound minor as you read it but experiencing it is interesting to say the least. Hubby & I both said today....Had this been our 1st RCCL Cruise, it would certainly be our last. As a reference point....Our two Carnival cruises years ago far surpassed this cruise in quality of product! RCCL should be aware that if this is someone’s first experience, they might be completely turned off.

 

So...As I plan to enjoy the last 6 days on this ship...I plead to RCCL....send an Undercover Boss to this ship & determine if you’re comfortable with this particular representation of your product!

 

Sounds similar to our experience on Brilliance the week of Christmas. I wondered if they just switched out crews or something.

[Iamcruzin]

On 1/4/2020 at 6:54 AM, vacationlover_mn said:

 Thanks so much for sharing this.  I will be removing this show from my DVR.  I hate scripted reality shows 😞

Our show aired in 2012. Just yesterday a customer commented on seeing it. This has happened several times over the years. So while the show is basically an infomercial game show it does build  awareness and the public eats it up. They go on and on about how generous the owner is and ask if I know him. This was probably the best advertising investment companies run. Nobody talks about the radio and TV ads. They probably go get a snack during those spots or fast forward. People actually watch this show. 

[Ocean Boy]

It is unfortunate to read these sorts of things about Explorer. I have not been aboard in years but the ship was our first RCI cruise and it was an amazing time. The ship will always be special to me.

[EmmasNana]

When is dry dock scheduled for this ship? We will be on her in Aug. & Sept.

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, EmmasNana said:

When is dry dock scheduled for this ship? We will be on her in Aug. & Sept.

 

March/April 2020.

[EmmasNana]

2 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

March/April 2020.

Good, thank you!

[KAA951]

We were on board with you this cruise and I am finally where I can use the internet!

 

I completely agree with your comments regarding this cruise, staff and condition of the ship.  My theory from what our Steward told us -that 1/2 the crew was in their last 14 days of their contract and we’re leaving-.  Many were just worn out, already had their minds on their upcoming break and plain just didn’t care any more.  It was hit and miss- some great staff and some others who just ignored you.

 

(My opinion, if you start to slack on attention to detail and upkeep on the ship you send a message to the crew that it is okay for them to slack off in other areas too.)

 

We had the worst check in experience we or our family has ever had.  We were cruising with my in-laws, who are D+, and who had made all the arrangements for our family and my brother-in-laws family.  However, when we got ready to board the ship my in-laws weren’t in the computer system and didn’t have sea pass cards etc.  They were carrying paper copies of all the reservation data- which I think helped- But it still took forever (and a lot of stress) to get worked out.  The staff claimed it was a computer issue...  Even after they got things worked out at check in and received temporary cards- they still spent the first few days dealing with getting their account (and D+ status) working properly.

 

This was our family’s first cruise since we had reached diamond so we were looking forward to lounge access!  Unfortunately, we were greeted by a letter telling us there were more than 600 people on the cruise who had diamond access.  The lounge was crowded the whole cruise, but Jorge was good about letting people sit out in Dizzy’s (Crown Lounge) and grab drinks and snacks from the lounge- though we understand this usually isn’t permitted.

 

I took this opportunity to completely unplug from the net and email- and encouraged the rest of the family to do so too.  The last two days, I took advantage of the 2 days of complimentary internet service and was glad I didn’t pay (much) for it.  I paid $8 a day more for the high speed “Voom” “streaming” service, but it was almost unusable.  As a tech nerd, I ran some diagnostic programs on their wi-fi set up and internet connection.  On their “streaming” service my download speeds were averaging 600 kbs- with many disruptions and drops.  No one will call that “streaming” speed- which I would consider 20 Mbs or more with a stable connection.  I also found they had more than 3,000 devices on their system all vying for a piece of the data stream- totally oversold the capacity they had which explains the problems. They also had technical issues handing off to different nodes of the wi-if system as you moved around the ship- it appeared that some nodes might have been completely off line.  
 

Anyway- we didn’t let any of this ruin our cruise! We still had a great time and will be back again on RCL!

Edited January 5, 2020 by KAA951

[LadyLion_AP]

Final update....

Our family had a great cruise overall!

 

It was definitely hit or miss with customer service/care....especially during the first-third of the cruise. Internet was always a miss. Food was hit or miss (I understand the subjectivity here).

@KAA951 Several crew members also told us they were leaving soon. Some gave us exact dates in January.

 

I still believe this experience is not an accurate depiction of the typical RCL cruise AND I know it’s important to be honest about the disappointments. If no one complains about the not-so-good experiences, subpar experiences will become acceptable! I’m certainly not okay with that. I work hard for my money! 😀

 

We will cruise Royal again (of course) but will be extremely hesitant to book on a ship headed to drydock or with so many negative reviews (especially from passengers who LOVE cruising & LOVE to talk about it)! In 14 cruises...I’ve never given a bad review....so this was sad to do. I feel terrible for the outstanding staff on the ship who are still committed to making the experience a great one! We (hubby& I) paid over $800 in gratuities ALONE. The service should meet the standard at all times!

 

Again...great cruise overall with many things we needed to see past to have a great experience. Some crew members were simply fantastic! Super fun activities (at times). Ok entertainment. NYE was a blast! Izumi & Giovanni were great places to eat (although food at Giovanni was not the same quality overall as other RCL ships). Ate at both restaurants twice. Wasn’t happy with Chops. Didn’t return after the first visit. MDR staff stepped it up during the last half of the cruise! Ate there 3 times.

 

LOVED the ABC Islands....especially Curacao!

 

Thanks to all who took time to read and comment...Also to those whose experiences were not the same as mine. Lucky you! I’ve also had such luck in the past! 😊

 

P.S....Loved cruising over NYE...We [the family] have concluded we prefer NYE cruises to Christmas cruises!

 

That’s all folks. 😝

Happy New Year & Happy cruising! 

[sisocialworker]

thanks for sharing..till next time