FiveFamily

How can Royal say they will hold the line on last minute deals, while on the other side they continually cheapen the experience; less staff / more overloaded and overworked, declines in food quality, increases in paid venues, now even removing access to formally public areas of the ship.

 

HEY ROYAL - Listen up! Some of us are willing to pay these higher prices but we want access throughout the ship, we want sufficient staff to have good service, we want quality improvements in food and a return to some such things as midnight buffets (once a cruise would be nice), better MDR food. You want to charge me for it? FINE. But don't continually chip away at the service and experience and expect to charge me more and somehow convince me I'm getting a premium product because the price is higher without anything of value in return.

 

The erosion of basics "included" in the fare has been especially noticeable over the past five years or so. I get it, it's a race to the bottom in a competitive industry with a lot of berths to fill. No, I will not pay Cunard prices for RCI. I will pay more for RCI than MSC, Carnival, NCL though provided it is a premium product in comparison to those lines. The distinction is getting difficult however.

Don't let the "critics" on cruise critic deter you with their pontificating, dismissive replies. You are absolutely correct, especially as to your comments on dining quality. MDR quality is way down over the last five years. Windjammer is approaching the level of disgraceful, especially at breakfast and lunch. I have commented on this previously. There are of course voyages that can present better dining than the "trend" but the trend downward is a fact. Rationalizing that this is simply "mainstream" cruising and that no one is forcing "you" to book on RCI as some on here suggest are respectfully, replies that are not responsive in the least. By the way, the trend is now seen on Celebrity as well.

Correction on my dates: Explorer 04, Explorer, 2012, Explorer, 2013(Enchantment 2001.) Additionally, Home Lines, 86, Carnival Legend 03, Carnival Legend 05, CB 09, Celebrity Summit 2013. I had my Celebrity date and my Explorer date mixed up. I sincerely apologize for misleading you. My congratulations again to your discovery which allowed me to correct myself.

None of this changes the facts regarding dining decline 2012 to 2013 on the Explorer.

"Previous posting by FiveFamily on February 17, 2012

 

Venturing back to RCI from Princess

 

We are booked on the Explorer of the Seas for the 9 day Bermuda/Caribbean itinerary out of New Jersey. We last sailed on RCI on the Voyager in 2004 for the 9 day itinerary out of New Jersey as it existed then(St. Thomas, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Labadee and Freeport.) We switched to Princess thereafter for its 9 day out of New York primarily because Bermuda was included.) While the Caribbean Princess is not quite the Voyager/Explorer in size, we found the dining quality and service to exceed that which we had experienced on the Voyager. Now that Princess has pulled out of NY for a summer itinerary, we are going back to RCI. While I know its somewhat frowned upon on here to be overly critical of the mainstream cruise lines, I am in the apparent minority that believes that cruise ships in terms of dining and service should maintain at least hotel quality food without surcharge and excellent service. We do go to "premium dining" for at least one night when we cruise but go to the main dining room with "traditional" seating on other nights(as opposed to "anytime" options. My concern is the very apparent trend of less than favorable reviews on the Explorer, from the well known sewage smell in significant areas of the ship to the mediocrity of the dining experience(mostly food quality and selection) and apathetic service. These are not isolated reviews. Is RCI so confident in filling the berths at low prices that it can ignore its declining reputation especially on this ship? I've contacted RCI about the state of the ship and am considering canceling our reservation. No response from RCI as of yet. I am wondering if anyone else is booked on the Explorer before its 2013 drydock and is also considering canceling unless RCI takes some steps to address the concerns. Perhaps someone at RCI reads the cruise boards! "

 

 

In a previous post of yours (posted above) you pointed out that the last time you were on a RCCL ship was in 2004 while on the Voyager NOT 2 years ago on the Explorer as you point out on this thread. :confused:

Thank you for that analysis but I do not believe you have uncovered even a minor inconsistency despite your attempt to shift the issue away from a criticism of the dining quality. To be completely clear, as far as RCI is concerned, , we were on The Voyager in 04 and Explorer in 2011. In 2011, dining was excellent across the board. On most recent voyage, other than those passengers shoveling food into their mouths while still in line at the Windjammer, there was much dissatisfaction as we spoke to many others during our nine day. Again, service great, dining quality way down particularly at Windjammer lunch. MDR - fabulous service but only three really excellent meals out of nine. The rest mediocre. Sorry but it's true.

Haven't seen these things mentioned, so I thought I would share:

 

1. In our Owner's Suite (1600), there was a PlayStation 3. We looked for the games in the CL, but didn't see them. Never got around to asking the Concierge.

 

2. In Labadee, the cabanas at Barefoot Beach have electrical outlets in case you'd like to charge your cameras/devices.

 

Happy Cruising!

We were on the same voyage. Did you also notice the significant decline in Windjammer dining especially at lunch? Entrees were basically "slop." Though service in MDR was fabulous as usual food was mostly mediocre at best. We were on this ship two years ago where dining was considerably better and mostly excellent. It's a shame RCI is slashing dining quality while rolling out innovative new ships. I am curious. As a suite passenger what did you think of the dining quality?