Funky Chicken

On Oasis now. All 3 of us were sick beginning Tuesday evening. 24 hours of cabin quarantine. It became clear midday yesterday that things were escalating. 

We have all bounced back and had dinner in the MDR tonight. Doing our best to chalk it up to bad luck and not let it ruin the week. The full refund is nice too.

Some have also reported overhead noise in Deck 10 cabins-everything from the chairs and chaises getting straightened out late at night to noise from the fitness center above.

We like to be on a deck with cabins above and below. We like to be midship and convenient to elevators. We like to be Starboard.

We book 5Cs, deck 7 Starboard. Anywhere between say 7560 and 7584. Our upcoming Fantasy cruise is the third time on that ship in the same basic area.

I think you also need to consider weather and how far in advance you book.

We cruised in January 2013 and booked onboard for April 2014. After the onboard discount the two cruises were very similar in cost but the weather in April made the trip much more enjoyable. Our upcoming cruise (April) is costing about 15% more than the prior two-chalk that up to price increases. We will check the future bookings desk onboard but I am reaching the point where we may make other plans.

I love DCL but the price are really painful lately. Esp this coming Oct when the Dream goes to dry dock. Losing those cabins really jacks up the price for the rest of the fleet.

 

I am diamond on RCI and love RCI but the product has really degraded lately. Disney is the closest thing to cruising in the early 90s in regards to service and quality and they know it. They have a unique product. A large ship line with at least service close to the olden days. On top of that, the Disney brand. I am willing to pay 1000-1500 more for that per cruise but not more. Everyone is different in what they will tolerate, but clearly the market is tolerating the DCL prices.

Based on the times we are able to sail, the DCL premium is about what you stated ($1000-$1500). DCL's increases seem to be concentrated in high season which is not when we cruise anyway. We also have the option of *GT rates because our sailings tend to not sell out before the 75 day cutoff. Our January 2015 VGT rate for a Fantasy 7 day Eastern was under $3K for 2A1C including port fees and we were assigned a cat 5A cabin that would have run $4700 had we selected it beforehand.

And yes, the market is tolerating DCL's high season pricing. The small fleet is not hurting that.

To me, a good bartender is one that doesnt ignore your existence for 20+ minutes as you are waiting on a drink when clearly they arent very busy at all. They serve drinks that you dont have to question whether or not they even have alcohol in them and they do it with a smile.

 

There was plenty of "good" bartenders all over the ship on Freedom three years ago. This year I could count them on one hand and have fingers left.

Thank you for this post. That is my point exactly. I like to have a handful of friends behind the bars or on the pool deck for the sake of SERVICE.

Before my first cruise nearly 20 years ago a friend told me to have a handful of 5 dollar bills to use as tips over the first 24 hours onboard. By the end of day one I had a friend on the pool deck, in the Schooner, and in the MDR on Majesty. They knew what I liked (and what my new wife did) and whenever I was around I got a little eye contact and a smile acknowledging us.

That's the piece that I felt was missing on Freedom last week. We weren't on a package. I could have afforded to drink whatever I wanted, but the vibe I got was that the bar staff is bummed out about the direction things have taken.

There was no hustle or upbeat attitude at Labadee-the guys with the Labadoozies were moping around like Eeyore. I hardly saw any bar servers around the main pool or in the solarium. In nearly every instance where in the past bar service would have been offered with some level of interest or enthusiasm (Bingo, Friendly Feud, theater shows, ice show), nobody approached us.

The packages are getting in the way of personal attention? Lol

How is this funny?

I always try to connect with a bartender or two aboard ship. A little friendliness and a cash tip early on gets me a nicer pour and faster service. It's no different than a local bar at home.

Did you order any "lousy" $12 cocktails? Just curious, because I've seen a few people insulting the quality of the drinks, but I found the ones I tried to be very good. I'd rather have paid less than $12 plus 18% for them, but they were good.

My wife had a $12 Margarita at Olive or Twist. She didn't have a lot of praise for it.

Another thing that I noticed is that shipwide the bartenders didn't seem to be interested in striking up much conversation or building rapport.

It seems like the packages are getting in the way of personal attention. I don't know how the gratuities work with a package-does a bartender receive 18% on every drink poured, or is everything pooled? I always try to leave my extra tips in cash so that they actually go to the server involved (especially in the MDR where I will see him/her consistently).

On Freedom this past week, if it had liquor in it at all, it was 10.00 + 18%. Even a simple vodka and orange juice, gin and tonic type drink. Their frozen drinks like the lava flow, labadoozie etc were all 12.00 + 18%. Bloody Marys were also 12.00 + 18%.

 

I drank a few really good margaritas at Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville Falmouth for 8.00 a piece. It is now cheaper to get your drink on at the tourist trap places like Margaritaville and Senor Frogs than it is to do it on the ship.

We were on Freedom last week as well.

We got a very hard sell on drink packages after boarding. I knew that we wanted the soda package only, primarily for the freestyle machine cups. I also knew that we would not likely drink the value of the package but I was cool with that-the freestyle machine also offers choices that you can't get anywhere else on the ship (Powerade, flavored ginger ale and lemonades, flavored Dasani).

We were presented with a package menu that had the Ultimate Package in big letters up top and lower level packages down below, but the soda package was not being offered. I had to ask THREE TIMES for it before they even acknowledged that it was an option. Once they realized that I was not being upsold they completed my receipt and shoved three cups my way.

We bought a few glasses of wine at dinner and a handful of other drinks along the way. We carried 2 bottles of wine onboard and had a glass on the balcony before dinner most nights.

There is no way I can justify an alcohol package. I'd rather drink a $6 beer than a lousy $12 cocktail and pay as I go. On a Western, there are 3 days to drink off the ship.

A very un-educated comment. Apparently you know nothing of the laws against discrimination.

Raising fares is not specifically discriminating against anyone.

It's easy to say that Quantum is 80% booked for summer. it SHOULD be.

Newest ship in the water

Smaller than Oasis/Allure

High Season for families

Sailing from a port that is drivable for many affluent Americans and provides easy international flight access for others

Only here for a limited time before she leaves for the Far East

I think 80% is a weak showing myself.

How do you keep people coming back? Service, not price. Anybody in sales would rather deal with a repeat customer. you don't see nearly as many people complaining about overpaying as people complaining about the decline in food/service/amenities.

At the end of the day there are 23 ships to fill every week. They are going to get filled one way or another. People can't spend onboard if they are not onboard.

I got off Freedom yesterday morning.

We got the canned speech about the survey on Thursday or Friday-"If we don't get a 10 they keep some of our money".

If this is in fact the way things happen, I guess that is RCI's prerogative. Here is the inherent problem with it, though.

You are forcing guests to be billed for gratuities. Sure you can go and have them removed, but most people won't do that. The implication is that the gratuity is compensation for services rendered, not a conventional "tip". The "suggested" amount is not a suggestion-it is what you are charged unless you make a conscious effort to stop it. People can't be trusted to do the right thing and cruise lines basically require us to pay their employees for them.

The system is inherently flawed and has been since the switch to a "suggested" gratuity that is anything but. We used to budget for tips and leave that money alone in the safe, and then decide what to do on the last sea day. We never stiffed anybody, and we were in control. That's gone forever.

Generally a great week. Weather picture perfect.

Embarkation and Debarkation were stellar. Arrived at Terminal 1 garage around 10:30. Parked under cover on level three. We were aboard by 11.

Proceeded to table to buy soda package. Forced to insist that we did not want the pricier packages more than once-they don't list the soda package on the menu they use when reviewing options. Begrudgingly handed our cups. Glad we had them for the freestyle machines-not a great value but very convenient.

MDR food was pretty good. Handling of our allergies (wife is gluten intolerant, DD9 can't have eggs/shellfish/nuts) was not so good. It took a couple of days for the MDR staff to really understand, and the Windjammer was pitiful.

Windjammer had a small gluten-free section set up at lunch on embarkation day, so we felt like we were off to a good start. But NOOOOOOOOO-it wasn't even there on port days. Why bother at all if you don't plan to do it every day? Are we supposed to not eat lunch on port days? ??????????

Ship was clean and looked nice. Most staff we interacted with were really nice and helpful.

Ended up with great tablemates-not always the case when you are 3 seated at a 12 top. We looked forward to dinner (early, deck 4) every night.

Ice show was great.

Saw a few instances of really rude guest behavior-I guess it happens on every sailing, but it stuck out a bit because it was generally a nice group.

Played a couple of rounds of "Watch the drunken Pinnacle level guest stumble out of concierge happy hour at Olive Or Twist and drop appetizers all over the floor". Good times.

Freedom is a really nice riding ship, if that makes any sense. The weather was mostly great if a little windy at times, but the ship feels good to sail on.

For anyone still wondering about propulsion, we hit 24 knots rounding the Keys around 4PM on Saturday with a light headwind. We also had a spectacular sunset over the Miami skyline Saturday night-one of those times that reminds you why you like cruising so much.

We would sail on Freedom again. We are admitted DCL fans (with a cruise booked for next April) but still really enjoyed ourselves. I don't expect RCI to equal DCL for Kid's programs, because I am not paying for those things. My daughter enjoyed the offerings, made a lot of friends, and had a great time. She did miss not having a slide at the pool.

I guess the area where the trip fell short was in the food allergy department, because Disney has that DOWN. I realize that doesn't matter to a majority of people, but we ran into people every day saying the same thing. It is a factor that is not going away, and will likely only get more important as time passes. The funny thing is that we sailed on Navigator in 2012 and had a much better allergy experience. I don't know if it is a ship by ship thing, but RCI really needs to look at this issue and develop some consistent guidelines for how to accommodate those of us with allergies.

Just off Freedom yesterday with a 9 year old.

If anything the ship felt less accomodating to kids than others. The kid load was very light compared to the week prior which was the last real spring break week according to the staff at Adventure Ocean.

It's all in the week you sail.

I'm not asking them to save my money or discover things. I'm asking general questions about the ship and cruise as well as questions about the excursions that they are selling I expect them to be able to answer questions about what they are selling I would not expect them to answer questions about something they are not selling that would be silly.

I am not disagreeing with you on this point. The people on the phone should have more answers than they do. They should have more details than they do. You have every right to expect better service on the phone than you are getting from them.

You are NOT going to get it. Get over it.

I don't see anybody coming to RCI's defense in this thread. Most of us agree with you. Nobody's picking a fight with you over that.

The lack of information on the phone is not going to change between now and the day of your sailing.

You can continue to circle back around to this issue after 7 pages of people trying to guide you and continue to be disappointed with RCI.

That's not going to make your trip better.

It's time to change the conversation to "how can I get what I need" instead of "RCI can't/won't give me what I need".

Or not.

Your call.

I just read all six pages of this thread. I am respectfully offering the following observations.

In each of your posts (OP), there are undertones of frustration, which is understandable.

There are also references to how hard you work and "Bloods and Crypts" all over the place. It's "Crips" by the way.

You come off like a very angry person. You may or may not be one, but the internet is not three dimensional. Nobody can hear you speaking the words you write, so all anybody has to go on is the text itself.

It sounds like you really need this vacation!

I am the first to admit that RCI has a piss poor website. It is truly embarrassing for a company of this size to not have their IT presence together. This is why I use a travel agent for RCI cruises. I book trips on another line direct thru their website because it WORKS. RCI's doesn't. That's the way it is. Next.

I have never bothered to call them for planning and assistance. I wouldn't expect somebody sitting in a call center to be able to do anything except try to sell me something.

The answers to all your questions (and the relief from your anger/frustration/ranting) are here and elsewhere on the internet.

There has been good advice given all thru this thread, and I will repeat it for you.

TripAdvisor is a FANTASTIC resource for information on what to do on specific islands, with reviews from people who both

A) WENT THERE AND DID THINGS

and

B) Felt compelled to share their experiences whether good or bad.

I have been on 3 cruises since 2012 on both Royal and Disney. The info I got from TripAdvisor was absolutely invaluable-it made our trips what they were, and it came from people like you and me who just want to have the best trip possible. I found out everything from how much a cab should cost to how to make sure our allergy requests are honored to which of the beaches on a given island would be the best fit for us. A couple hours of searches and I had everything I needed to hit the ground running. My wife was astounded when we stepped off the ship and I knew exactly where to go and what to do on our own, and NO Cruise line would have helped me get that done.

It's not their job to help you save money and discover things in a given port that they aren't SELLING. The staff onboard is usually better, but by the time you are onboard you may not have a chance to do the most popular things. That's why our plans are made before we ever set foot on the ship and in most cases we do things separate from the ship's excursions. The only time I will defer to a ship's excursion is in an instance where I am concerned about getting back to the ship on time.They will hold the ship at port for a ship-booked excursion but if you go out on your own, they WILL leave you behind. I have personally watched that happen, and I am sure many other posters here can say the same thing.

These forums can help you get your head wrapped around what to expect on the ship 1000 times better than the talking head at RCI's 800 number.

You are not going to get what you want by calling them. It DOESN'T MATTER whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. It just IS. Why keep banging your head against the wall?

You are the one paying for this vacation. You are the one traveling. You are responsible for your own enjoyment and making the best of whatever may come along.

What kind of vacation do YOU want? Figure it out using the resources that WILL answer your questions instead of continuing to complain that RCI is a horrible company and go make it happen. It's your money, it's your stress level, and it's your vacation.

I hope you sort it out and enjoy yourself despite the rocky start.

We like both. Disney does certain things very well, but at a price. If you have children under 12, especially girls, you need to try DCL.

Having just cancelled our January trip on the Disney Fantasy due to illness, I am not thrilled to hear that there is still a mechanical issue with Freedom. We are 68 days out and paid in full. Hopefully they can make this repair on the fly.

Traveling with children?

We have been on Fantasy 2x. Last RCCL cruise was Navigator 1/2012. Freedom booked for this coming April, Fantasy for April 2016.

We LOVE the Fantasy. We also enjoy RCCL. For the week you are looking at the price delta is not that large.

I think you would enjoy either. I like the Western itinerary better than that Eastern one (not a fan of St. Maarten or Cococay).

On our upcoming cruise we will be spending our third pirate night eating at Palo.

We head to Meridian for sail away and get a 6:00 reservation. Then we pick up our daughter at the club and she has a late dinner from Flo's on the pool deck before the fireworks.

It's our favorite night, and not because it's pirate night!

Fixing the propulsion systems would be a good place to start.:)

We really enjoyed Paradise Beach. We were there in January 2012 and the ocean was a little cool/rough. Having a nice big pool for our then 6 year old daughter turned out to be a huge plus.

Our check ran about $60 for admission, food, and a few drinks. The service was attentive without being pushy, the bathrooms were very clean. We would go back there in a heartbeat and probably will this coming April unless we try Chankanaab instead. The big water toy thing is not for us and AI is a waste as well.

Trying to understand why you feel that MSC did the right thing by calling you, but DCL emailing you (just like they do EVERYONE who manages to not have this happen) qualifies as, in YOUR words, "No Notification Whatsoever"?

Most people don't answer their phones unless they recognize the caller-I don't. I use my voicemail as a screener. If you booked directly thru DCL and did it thru their website, you never spoke to anyone up to that point-now they are supposed to call you? What if you weren't home? What if your kid deleted the voicemail? Would it still be DCL's fault if they never sent you an email but they just couldn't reach you by phone?

I use a TA. I only use a TA for the OBC. Not suggesting that a TA can't be incredibly helpful in many cases, and certainly would have been in this one, but I don't need help with planning/cabin selection/excursions or anything else. If it were not for the OBC I would book directly thru the DCL website and never pick up the phone.

You were not singled out. You dropped the ball.

Have had two-RAERAER and AERAERA. We always go to Palo early on Pirate night and meet up with DD9 for the Pirate party later. I guess we preferred AERAERA because we like AP and breakfast on disembarkation morning is in the same restaurant that you dine in the night prior. I wouldn't request it though-not enough real difference to bother.

Been on Fantasy twice. First time I bought a day pass. Second time I ran to buy a weeklong pass right after boarding. I used it daily.

I also used the locker room to clean up for dinner to give DW and DD a little space in the cabin.

Next time I might skip the weeklong pass but will certainly go more than one day.

So, I am a 49 year old male with a wife and a daughter. I have an admitted bias towards Disney as an entity.

At this point in my life, vacations are a high priority item. My time off is limited, and I work in a 100% commission industry.work for me and for my My wife and I have lost 3 of our 4 parents in the last 34 months. I need my time off to serve my family's relaxation and rejuvenation needs.

When I step onto that ship, I am one of a few thousand people seeking escape from their daily lives. I find it most relaxing to be surrounded by like-minded vacationers. This is the Disney difference for me, especially as it pertains to DCL. (The parks can be another story.)

With very rare exceptions, the people we meet on DCL ships are nice. They are generally well mannered and polite. I like the demographic-I am comfortable with it. I don't mind that certain aspects of the DCL experience (the bias toward family, lack of casino/risque shows/drinking contests, and frankly the lack of giveaway pricing) create a draw for people I am comfortable being on that ship with for a week.

If the things that Disney consciously omits from their ships and their experience bother you, I understand. The fact is they have a small fleet-far fewer cabins to fill every week. They have a pretty astounding rate of loyalty based on exactly what it is that they are offering.

I remember sitting out on the deck of the Fantasy on Pirate night on our first trip. It was January, so not really hot out. We had eaten early at Palo and our daughter was hungry when we picked her up from the Lab, so we got her a cheeseburger and a lemonade and she sat on the edge of the dance floor eating and watching the movie, happy as a clam. I had zero worry about some drunken idiot tripping over her. Other families were milling around, just relaxing. There wasn't anything special happening at that moment except for everyone being pretty content and relaxed and happy.

That was the point in time when I really sensed the difference. The service was great up to that point, we were generally happy with the food and the activities, we had enjoyed the ports. It may not make any sense to you but just being out on the deck mingling with nice people from all sorts of places (love the Canadians that vacation in January!) and feeling relaxed and safe was the real difference.

I will still cruise with other lines, but DCL sets the standard for family vacations.