notladjr

I think from a PR standpoint it would smart for RCCL to award the Crown & Anchor points to someone who pays 100% of the cruise cost even though they are not going to be able to go on the cruise. It would seem to me a nice gesture to ease the pain of a person paying for a cruise they did not get to enjoy.

The way some of you have reacted it is as if it is some kind of scheme to cheat RCCL out of something. I doubt there are very many people out there who would book a cruise and not go just to earn C&A points. If so they have way too much time and money! If I pay 100% for a cruise I consider it "completed" by the way.

My one Celebrity cruise was eight years ago in 2008 but my observations about the food compared to RCCL matched yours. I found the food to be better and have more variety on Celebrity. I also greatly enjoyed the small venue music like a string quartet playing in a lounge you passed on the way to dinner ,etc. Celebrity was a little more formal but I actually liked that.

I usually end up cruising RCCL due to the itinerary and pricing but would love to check out one of the newer Celebrity ships like the one you were on.

I am on a business trip so can't tell you the model # of my Midland two way radios but they are the smaller ones I think they are called GMRS type. We used them on our 2012 Mariner of the Seas cruise and they worked fine pretty much every time we used them. The only problem I had was that my wife would forget to turn them on so wouldn't hear the beep when I wanted to talk to her. We were very discreet and if one of us beeped the other we would move to a seculded area to pick up and talk. We did not want to be obnoxious to other passengers. On a large ship I think they can come in very handy. I am glad I saw this thread because I had not even thought about them and I have a Indy cruise coming up in May!

At the risk of getting skewered by some of the rude posters on this thread here are my anecdotal observations about RCCL cost cutting.

I have a full time job so am not as frequent a cruiser as many on this forum but in the last 12 years will have accumulated 36 cruising days on RCCL once I get back from my May cruise. In additon to that I have cruised on Celebrity and NCL one time each. Here are my general observations;

First RCCL cruise was on Brilliance of the Seas in 2002 for her first T/A crossing when she was only about six weeks old. Beautiful ship, great crew, great buffet and MDR food. Enjoyed immensely the midnight buffet with all of the ice carvings, fruit carvings etc that have been phased out.

2nd cruise was four years later in 2006 which was a T/A crossing on Celebrity's Constellation. We did not think anything could top our first modern cruise on Brilliance but Celebrity stepped it up a notch with everything mentioned above about Brilliance even better on Celebrity.

3rd cruise was NCL in 2008. I was not impressed. Nothing horrible but just did not click with us and we thought the food was inferior to our 2002 RCCL cruise and the 2006 Celebrity one.

4th cruise was RCCL T/A crossing on Mariner 2012 and was disappointed to see the Windjammer selection seemed much more limited and repetitive and the MDR food also seemed to be less in both quality and variety. Pretty much on par with the 2008 NCL cruise. Also no midnight buffet with the ice / fruit carvings etc which I found out has pretty much happened industrywide. Also did not have the cool towel animals every day but most days. It may be silly but it was always a treat to come to the stateroom and see what that day's animal was.

I work for a large corporation and know exactly what is going on. CEO's and CFO's are always desperately searching for ways to hit their profit numbers for the fiscal quarter or to hit the analysts consensus prediction because anything less will negatively affect the stock. This cycle of pressure causes these large compnay executives to make poor long term decisions sometimes for the sake of short term gain. I just read an analyst today saying that RCCL is projecting increased net profit from the European market this summer which makes me wonder what they are doing to acheive that. More cutbacks? Even less budget for food?

I understand the need to increase revenue creatlively through things like the speciality restaurants and novel activities beyond cruising (like Quantum's crane, etc) but it is discouraging to see cruise companies diminish the basic cruise experience through some cost cutting measures.

Just my two cents. Let the bashing begin. Oh, by the way I am a RCCL stock holder as I wanted to get the on board credit. LOL Bottom line is that I am now more open to checking out Holland America, Princess, and Cunard than I would have been.

I am crossing my fingers for that phone call. Have never gotten it from RCCL but did the one time we cruised with NCL. Inside is fine but we have really enjoyed a balcony the times we have had one.

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I also want to thank you for the timely review of your cruise on IOS. We are set to sail on her May 4th to the Caribbean and then across the pond to Southampton. I feel like I hit the trifecta because I have never been to the Caribbean and have always wanted to go, I love T/A crossings, and London is my favorite city in the world.

Reading about your time on Indy has gotten me pumped up about my upcoming cruise on her.

Absolutely brilliant travel writing in the tradition of Bill Bryson. I love dry humor / wit and literally had tears streaming down my face from laughing as I lay here in bed with my laptop reading this past midnight a few days before my next cruise (first NCL one).

Thanks so much for posting this review. I assume you are a professional writer? You should compile your travel writings into a book.