Flowrider Charges

[Engineroom Snipe]

36 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

When it came to increased gratuities twice in almost a year, with reduced service, there was no survey.    

Yes, that one was rammed through, damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead.

 

Unintended consequences could be more cruisers tipping directly and canceling automatic gratuities. RCI loses control over the compensation process.

 

They are now saying to tip on top of automated gratuities for exceptional service which seems to be an oxymoron.

 

If I was a gambling person (of which I am not), I would not bet against you getting a shorter line at the Flowrider if there are new additional fees attached.

 

The thing that I always find fascinating is, "What will be the next currently included item or experience which will transition into a pay for experience?"

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

On 1/7/2024 at 11:34 AM, Engineroom Snipe said:

Another hot topic item rears its ugly head again, "Give me freedom, or give me free pizza!"

 

I tend to find it interesting that many items are "floated for questioning" by Royal surveys which almost beg for "can we get away with this without people getting upset?"

 

Enough people go into meltdown over the "it is just a question, we do not intend to do it yet" finds them saying it was never intended to be and "nothing to see here cruiser, please move on."

 

🤣

 

I think I've received one or 2 of those surveys.  The part that makes me LOL is I'm pretty sure they ask you to agree to non-disclosure of the contents.  Obviously, non-binding, yet still, it is absolutely stunning how fast the outrage appears on CC and FB. Makes me chuckle.  😃 

Edited January 12 by Steeler Nation At Sea

[Engineroom Snipe]

8 hours ago, Steeler Nation At Sea said:

 

I think I've received one or 2 of those surveys.  The part that makes me LOL is I'm pretty sure they ask you to agree to non-disclosure of the contents.  Obviously, non-binding, yet still, it is absolutely stunning how fast the outrage appears on CC and FB. Makes me chuckle.  😃 

Maybe RCI knows from past history that it will be leaked on this board and then troll to take the temperature of the cruisers?

 

 

🤔

[Mum2Mercury]

On 1/7/2024 at 5:14 AM, A&L_Ont said:

When it comes to RC it’s easier to be cynical. 

Then what are you doing here?  If you dislike /distrust Royal, why give them your business? 

On 1/7/2024 at 7:28 AM, firefly333 said:

And then the new hideaway bay came out and includes ... pizza. So there might be a reason we didnt know it was asked.

That is an interesting connection -- not one I'd considered. 

On 1/7/2024 at 8:50 AM, A&L_Ont said:

When it came to increased gratuities twice in almost a year, with reduced service, there was no survey. 

That one hits hard.  I'm still salty about it and likely to remain so.  

On 1/7/2024 at 9:34 AM, Engineroom Snipe said:

Unintended consequences could be more cruisers tipping directly and canceling automatic gratuities. RCI loses control over the compensation process.

Yeah, I'm one of them.  I thought I'd always go the easy, fair route -- prepay and never think about it again -- but we'll share a room with our adult daughter on our next cruise, and I'm very unsure about whether we'll be packing up/down the sofa bed ourselves once a day.  I really hate this option, but I'm going to tip once we're onboard so I can see what kind of service we get first.  I've never, ever had bad cabin service, but I'm "holding out" until I see how this goes.  

[mil76]

I'd probably be OK with this if they used a demand-based model similar to what they have done on North Star.  During off-peak times it's free (day one after boarding, port days, etc.), but a charge during peak times like sea days to limit the crowd.  I usually plan my Flowriding based on when I think it won't be crowded, but I would probably shell out a few bucks here and there on a sea day if it meant I could get more than one run in an hour.  

 

In reality Royal would probably find a way to screw it up and make it boogie board or mixed wave for a fee at all times as a way to kill off stand-up once and for all.

[gmerick]

Can't figure out how they could charge for flowrider.  On most days, the stand-up crowd shows up about 5-10 minutes before scheduled time and sit arround talking.  When the crew show up some ambitious person starts us off.  Usually only about half a dozen active riders, so keeping track of who's on the wave is never a problem.  Most folks skip occasional turns.  New folks get rotated in, the folks who are most entertaining get encouraged to take extra time.  We coach and cheer on those that struggle.  We also have about 50% spectators on the shore bench.  

What would you charge for?  Per turn on the wave? Per minute on the wave?  Gate admission for the hour?  

I kinda think this thread was started by a troll just to stir controversy.

[A&L_Ont]

3 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Then what are you doing here?  If you dislike /distrust Royal, why give them your business? 

 

 

I’m responding to you quoting me twice. 

I don’t dislike nor distrust RC. It’s just easy to be cynical by some of their actions. It’s not the people, it’s their practices at times for me. 

 

3 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

That one hits hard.  I'm still salty about it and likely to remain so.  

 

And I think you have the same feels about RC as I do. I’m long past the 2 increases but some, like you, don’t like it and it still resonates. 

Edited January 12 by A&L_Ont

[cruiseboy89130]

1 hour ago, gmerick said:

Can't figure out how they could charge for flowrider.  On most days, the stand-up crowd shows up about 5-10 minutes before scheduled time and sit arround talking.  When the crew show up some ambitious person starts us off.  Usually only about half a dozen active riders, so keeping track of who's on the wave is never a problem.  Most folks skip occasional turns.  New folks get rotated in, the folks who are most entertaining get encouraged to take extra time.  We coach and cheer on those that struggle.  We also have about 50% spectators on the shore bench.  

What would you charge for?  Per turn on the wave? Per minute on the wave?  Gate admission for the hour?  

I kinda think this thread was started by a troll just to stir controversy.

Just have to buy a wrist band for the morning or afternoon session!

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Tbh it wouldnt surprise me now.  I remember my first time on Royal and was told it was free, a big surprise for me at the time, but seeing how Royal are charging for everything i suppose it could eventually be a paid activity......with a 18% graturity on top.....😂, and small charge for watchers.......

[Engineroom Snipe]

5 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

 and small charge for watchers.......

 

That's when I move to a different spot and break out the binoculars and security takes them away using the "privacy" clause.

 

😬

[gmerick]

34 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Just have to buy a wrist band for the morning or afternoon session!

Seems easy, but once you have done FlowRider a few times and have graduated to Stand-up, the idea won't work.

There are 5 types of sessions:

Boogie - a couple dozen passengers aged from Jr High to Sr Citizen show up - possibility to get maybe 2 rides on the wave in an hour.  

Mixed - Same deal as boogie, but add in some folks riding a surf board. - a total zoo.

Stand-up - described above, there's a possibility of 6 or more turns on the wave (I've even had the entire hour to myself once).

Buy a wristband for the hour, and get 2 to 10 rides?  How could it be kept fair?  

 

And here's where they are already charging for Flowrider:

Class - 6 passengers and 2 crew - lots of help, $65 - done it twice.

Buy-out - $500, but you and your friends have exclusive use for the hour - watched it from the deck.

 

 

[cruiseboy89130]

1 hour ago, gmerick said:

Buy a wristband for the hour, and get 2 to 10 rides?  How could it be kept fair?  

Man - you are complicated! One band per day each valid for either the moning sessions 9-14 or one for afternoon sessions 14-18 - you go to whatever session you want to go to and that is on the cruise palnner!

No need to be fair - since when is life fair? Since when is Royal fair?

If you are lucky - they will limit the bands sold ...to 200 max for half a day!👌

Edited January 12 by cruiseboy89130

[mil76]

5 hours ago, gmerick said:

Can't figure out how they could charge for flowrider.  On most days, the stand-up crowd shows up about 5-10 minutes before scheduled time and sit arround talking.  When the crew show up some ambitious person starts us off.  Usually only about half a dozen active riders, so keeping track of who's on the wave is never a problem.  Most folks skip occasional turns.  New folks get rotated in, the folks who are most entertaining get encouraged to take extra time.  We coach and cheer on those that struggle.  We also have about 50% spectators on the shore bench.  

What would you charge for?  Per turn on the wave? Per minute on the wave?  Gate admission for the hour?  

I kinda think this thread was started by a troll just to stir controversy.

Try going on a single Flowrider ship on a holiday/peak kids week.   The scenario you describe would be when I wouldn't expect them to charge, but those Day 7 sea day afternoons where there are 40 people in line would be a time they could charge a fee to do that session, and limit it to a certain number of people.  You get a specific colored wristband to show you paid for that session, and off you go.  I have bought the Key a few times when it was reasonable just for the exclusive hours on the Flowrider, and I know of others who have done it as well, so this isn't a new concept.

 

The way I see it, stand-up Flowrider on RCCL is an endangered species anyway.  The only reason it is still around is because there is a segment of loyal to Royal customers where stand-up Flowriding is a major part of their cruising decision making.  I for one have been "No Flow - No Go" for years.  You have lawyers who have whole practices dedicated to suing cruise lines, and Stand-Up Flowrider is a cash cow for them.  Due to the lawsuits, Royal has put more and more rules in place, to the point where they have made it harder for noobs to even try stand-up, so the overall pool of people who care to do stand-up is already shrinking.  I love an empty Flowrider queue as much as the next person, but don't think the higher-ups in Miami didn't notice all those hours of 6 people sitting on the bench at the 2nd Flowrider waiting their turn to use something that takes up prime deck space, costs a million dollars to install, thousands of dollars to run/maintain and millions of dollars in litigation didn't play into their decision to install only one of them going forward on the biggest cruise ships in the world.  They still put one on since it is a differentiator with their competition, but all those young families going cruising on RCCL for the first time aren't going to care if they can only boogie board. 

 

I saw the future when I cruised on Spectrum out of Singapore a few weeks ago, and they had three one-hour stand-up sessions the whole cruise, and boogie boarding was mobbed with that all important young families with children demographic the rest of the time.  When I asked about it they said "Welcome to cruising in Asia".  Basically they don't have that segment of the market who cruise for stand-up Flowriding there, so they have all but phased out stand-up on those cruises.  In this new reality, unless RCCL finds a way to squeeze incremental revenue out of stand-up Flowriding, expect it to become more and more rare in the future.

[SanzD]

6 hours ago, gmerick said:

Can't figure out how they could charge for flowrider.  On most days, the stand-up crowd shows up about 5-10 minutes before scheduled time and sit arround talking.  When the crew show up some ambitious person starts us off.  Usually only about half a dozen active riders, so keeping track of who's on the wave is never a problem.  Most folks skip occasional turns.  New folks get rotated in, the folks who are most entertaining get encouraged to take extra time.  We coach and cheer on those that struggle.  We also have about 50% spectators on the shore bench.  

What would you charge for?  Per turn on the wave? Per minute on the wave?  Gate admission for the hour?  

I kinda think this thread was started by a troll just to stir controversy.

Promise I'm not a troll trying to stir controversy.  I only cruise every other year and wondered if the travel agent I spoke to was speaking the truth since I know things have changed since our last cruise.

[LobsterStalker]

On 1/12/2024 at 1:31 PM, A&L_Ont said:

On 1/12/2024 at 9:49 AM, Mum2Mercury said:

Then what are you doing here?  If you dislike /distrust Royal, why give them your business? 

 

 

I’m responding to you quoting me twice. 

I don’t dislike nor distrust RC. It’s just easy to be cynical by some of their actions. It’s not the people, it’s their practices at times for me. 

 

On 1/12/2024 at 9:49 AM, Mum2Mercury said:

That one hits hard.  I'm still salty about it and likely to remain so.  

 

And I think you have the same feels about RC as I do. I’m long past the 2 increases but some, like you, don’t like it and it still resonates. 

Ya it did seem this was a bit "Pot calling Kettle black"