funfetti

People who post polite and thoughtful negative feedback (whether it's in video form or on these boards) are trying to make the cruise experience better for all of us. We don't have to agree with it, but I don't really get the "they should have known better" school of thought-- if we all know (or "should" know) something is bad, let's encourage the cruise line to fix it! That being said, I'm glad Ben and David went out of their way at the beginning of the video to point out the food variety and quality differences between Norwegian and Royal Caribbean. This is my main complaint about their content, and it made me stop watching them for a while-- I felt like their tastes and values didn't match my own. They are so positive about their experiences and so measured about anything negative, I assume if they make any mild criticism, in reality, it must have been horrific. Does anyone remember that Margaritaville video that looked like a floating health and safety violation?

I'd like to give credit to Royal: they did fix our dining time before our sailing. We didn't receive an email about it, it just showed up in the app. It's a huge relief to not have to start off a vacation pleading with customer service.

Has anyone received a response from rcldining in the last 10 days? The OP and I are examples of at least two people experiencing total silence. I too received a response 9 months ago, and my post is RCLs answer from today for why it won't be honored. Maybe it is bunk! I hope it's bunk! I wish I had the same experience as you, but I just have a string of unanswered emails and that bunk from their phone "dining team" customer service today

Posting what we have learned for anyone in this situation in the future: - If your reservation is via a travel agency, you must contact your travel agency to make dining changes (including requesting a private table) DO NOT EMAIL rcldining@rccl.com - The rcldining email response team may not inform you that they can't process changes, and may incorrectly state that changes were processed successfully. Rcldining may not respond at all. - For any changes the TA cannot process themselves, travel agents must contact RCL via a travel agent only dining phone line that is only open limited hours (no weekends, 1-5 pm EST today, not sure if this is normal weekday hours or if RCL is following a holiday schedule for President's Day) - Ask your TA to confirm all dining changes in writing... not that anything can or will be done with written confirmation, but at least it's a second set of eyes confirming that RCL has made the promised changes. - As much as I love people-watching, have sympathy for those poor folks waiting in line at the dining room or Guest Services as long as they are not abusive to staff.

Thanks! Definitely not a request we would have made! On Friday, our TA said she is "locked out from making dining changes this close to sailing" and this thread is the first time I've heard you can call about dining assignments. The TA didn't offer to call on our behalf but I'll check back in with her or do it myself today if they're open. We have an afternoon check-in time and the ship looks very full, so I am worried it will be harder to resolve on board.

We sail in 7 days, and we are also in the same "no response from rcldining@rccl.com to multiple emails" situation. Not even an auto generated message. It does make me feel better knowing I'm not the only one experiencing it right now, but honestly, I'm freaking out and I'm probably not going to calm down until after dinner goes smoothly on our first night. Hungry toddlers are not always "go with the flow" people, so I'm in plan/backup plan/contingency plan mode right now before it becomes a problem. (We requested and were confirmed as early dining with a private table but all our recent paperwork now shows My Time.)

I have to correct myself on this! Apparently the Baha Mar day passes do not include access to the hotel complex amenities like the animal sanctuary. Still a great Black Friday deal at 30% off. I appreciate how easy Royal makes it to cancel and/or reprice all this stuff.

We're taking our 3 year old. I think the kids are going to love the flamingos, fish, and touch tanks at the main resort complex too.

Some of my prior purchases were showing as the same percentage off but lower actual prices. Overall, I saved $43 more than the previous best prices YTD. I repriced the classic soda package for two from $148.40 to $131.88. I repriced the 100 photo package from $136.99 to $124.99. I repriced the private photo session from to $164.99 to $149.99. The Baha Mar + Waterpark excursion was 30% off, which seems like a fantastic deal at 118.99 per person. The day passes alone without transportation are $160. We haven't been there since the water park was built, but we are super excited to go back.

To clarify, I believe the announcement about no services being available to children under 5 was made in the May 2022 announcement that Splash Academy was reopening on all ships on June 1.

This thread is a good overview of how things unfolded with the Splash Academy news. It's my impression that NCL obviously didn't make any guarantees about services, but employees were actively coached to deflect, avoid answering, and use ambiguous language. IMO, "no services for under 5s" is an improvement over the "some services, some ships" non-answers from the early days of the restart. I *hate* that consumers have to be skeptical and independently research about everything NCL customer service and personal cruise consultants say. Most people would have no idea any services were limited if they weren't actively reading Cruise Critic forums.

A different way forward for NCL could have been to pursue the market of past/potential cruisers reluctant to return to travel for health reasons. (Grandpa just recovered from cancer and dreams of seeing Alaska with the grandkids!) I do not think NCL has adequately used data science to drive business decisions. There are already plenty of places for the "get back to normal" crowd to spend their travel dollars. Instead of competing there, lean into being a cleaner, safer way to travel. I think NCL could have done this by running one or more ships at 100% vaccination including kids (who are now all eligible! yay!), testing all passengers at the pier, and potentially mid-cruise testing on longer voyages.

We cruise in October and I am feeling... defeated? Like I am leading my newly vaccinated toddler and senior parents directly into a cramped germ warehouse? I don't know. We chose cruising over flying *because* they had enhanced safety protocols. If I could mandate that everyone with vacation-ruining communicable diseases be allowed FCC/refunds and be forced to stay home, heck yes I would do that! Flu? Stay home! Norovirus? Stay home! Covid? Stay home! It's especially frustrating because ships are still reporting staffing issues. NCL kids clubs are still fully closed for under 5s. Ships aren't ready to welcome more people back. Our TA reported they haven't received official notice of the change, so no word on potential cancellation FCC or refunds based on the policy change.

Does NCL do customer or potential customer surveys when building new ships or redesigning old ones? I feel like people would mention it on CC if they'd received a market research survey -- maybe I just missed it, but I have never heard about them actually asking customers what they want. (Just the post cruise customer service ones.) Tex/Mex would be fantastic and it's such an underserved opportunity on the ships. Sit down southern comfort food or upgraded pizza could also be great. (My family would also love a great cheesesteak and fries restaurant, but I'd be worried about the execution turning it into more of a D'Angelos -or worse-- Subway!- at Sea.) Selfishly, I am sad they took the hotpot restaurant out of the Joy when refurbishing for the American market, because I think that could have been such a special experience.

Hate that everyone loves: I hate the Prima. The wide concourse deck and the hot tubs hanging off the side mean none of the balconies will have privacy... even the aft. They could have better met the wants and needs of customers by offering a wider variety of cabin types. VR is going to require continual upgrades or it will look silly and outdated compared to home tech (just ask DisneyQuest!) An indoor pool would have been a huge upgrade when sailing in colder climates. I think NCL is making a mistake ordering more Prima class ships. Love that everyone hates: Spending lots of time in our cabin.