Scenic has abandoned Tailormade

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, pontac said:

Just goes to show, you can't believe all you read on this forum! As you haven't been on a Viking River Cruise and I have been on fifteen, I can confirm there is seating for all if they want to sit. 

Not just this forum.  Douglas Ward's River Cruising guide (current 2021 edition) says:  "Although the lounge seating includes large armchairs and sofa seating, it unfortunately doesn't quite accommodate everyone at once (for talks, for example) when the vessel is full"  [p. 110]  

[Canal archive]

I must admit this is what various friends have told me when cruising on a full boat.

[Cruisegal5]

Thanks for all the info. To all who are sailing fright now, how is it? Sailed Crystal before they went belly up and picked Scenic for the promised luxury.

[1of4]

On 5/23/2024 at 12:06 PM, DougK said:

 

I fear you're going to be disappointed. On this cruise at least, the daily activities flyer is available on the TV. The cruise director told people to just bring it up on the TV, and take a picture of it on their phone to have it with them. Paper copies are available on request at reception, but that's not the default approach.

That’s what we were told in April too (to take a photo from the tv). But they also said Tailormade was just being updated and since we were the first cruise of the season it wouldn’t be available for another month. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Edited May 31 by 1of4

[franski]

I am happy they are abandoning this.  We are just back from an AMA cruise - and so enjoyed the Quiet Vox.

 

One fact with the Tailor Made that they don't highlight is the fact that you are using your own phone...  This is a real issue if you don't take your phone with you.  My Dh leaves his phone at home when we travel, so we had to ask at the desk if they had a phone he could borrow. He was not the only one on that cruise that had to borrow a phone.

 

Ok, it is "nice" to have the extra travel info available outside of the organized excursions, but I  didn't expect to have to provide my own equipment for the tour.  This is a good move IMHO.

 

Fran

[pontac]

2 hours ago, franski said:

One fact with the Tailor Made that they don't highlight is the fact that you are using your own phone... 

 

This was one of my criticisms of my first Scenic cruise. I wrote*:

 

I felt Scenic expected passengers to do too much, it felt very self-service and down market. You were expected to download Scenic apps to your phone to listen to guides, and you were responsible for charging your phone to do so – the app drained batteries. Charging two phones used two sockets. Viking supplies a hearing devices and a charger for both that uses only one socket. I got fed up and borrowed a phone with the app from reception.

 

QuietVox is going to be a great improvement. The Tailormade transmitter used by the guide was poor at best.

 

* Review of Beautiful Bordeaux 11 day cruise on Scenic Diamond from 17 August to 27 August 2022 with comparisons to Viking - River Cruising - Cruise Critic Community

 

[Canal archive]

I will put and have done before the opposite case we cruised on one of the first time uses of the Tailormade system with the experts on board to assist plus since there inception I for one was more than happy to use my own phone and it’s ancient its battery did not run down any faster. Others on board then and since we’re using borrowed from reception phones. So some didn’t like the system and some did, horses for courses. It’s subjective. Using your phone also means you’re not traipsing around with the bulkier QV system. 
I just thought I would put a different perspective on what is now a defunct subject thread.

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, Canal archive said:

I will put and have done before the opposite case we cruised on one of the first time uses of the Tailormade system with the experts on board to assist plus since there inception I for one was more than happy to use my own phone and it’s ancient its battery did not run down any faster. Others on board then and since we’re using borrowed from reception phones. So some didn’t like the system and some did, horses for courses. It’s subjective. Using your phone also means you’re not traipsing around with the bulkier QV system. 
I just thought I would put a different perspective on what is now a defunct subject thread.

I guess it was ahead of its time.  For DW and me it worked perfectly [even though we're early boomers] – we keep our phones charged overnight and never ran out of battery, and it was great to just put the phone back in my pocket when we were done.  [After we got separated in Florence in the pre-cell phone days, I consider having our phones with us and active on the T-Mobile roaming ... priceless!]

 

Those more adept at Apple technology even had the option of using wireless earbuds.  And the Tailormade App wasn't just a Quiet Vox replacement, it had other great features like port maps and site info.  I hope that part at least can live on.

[Canal archive]

We do have ear buds but must admit took a bit of getting used to them, DH evidently- don’t laugh - has narrow channels so they do occasionally tend to fall out. Yes the port maps and included walking routes were an absolute bonus. My DH because of his employment has had Mobile phones since there inception and they were huge, we sent our eldest off inter-railing around Europe with friends before our little itty bitty machines. Would I do that now as the world is, yes but only because of the mobile phone but I digress. In the beginning as it were we all kicked in and helped each other obviously it didn’t help. I do think that it could be either a cost implication or copyright on some of the content. We may never know but to my mind a failure of a huge step forward.

[pontac]

 

On a rethink, I am of the mind that Tailormade was ahead of the curve.

 

I walked to the shops yesterday, and it seemed that more than 50% of people had earbuds and their eyes glued to a phone screen.

 

When the school children came out nearly all of them were on their phones. That generation will expect to use their phones.

 

I don't know what technology Tailormade used but for what I wanted - to hear the guides - it was poor. But I suspect the technology is still changing, and the effort of maintaining Tailormade software for both Apple and Android and their frequent updates while keeping it backwards compatible for cruisers with older model phones was becoming increasingly complicated.

 

City guides and maps are on the internet, What3Words will  pinpoint any location to within 3 metres; having and maintaining maps and guides on Tailormade is unnecessary.

 

Meanwhile I am delighted to have the reliable compact Quietvox  on a lanyard for my upcoming Scenic trips.