Just Off Indy

Fire away any questions and I'll help if I can. Also, sadly, while RCI is still a great line to cruise with, they have slipped in the details. Maybe it was just the ship or the sailing, but I found many things different and not in a good way. Perhaps they are silly things, but they are things that mattered to me. No towel animals at nightly turndown. I was sent a correspondence greeting me as a first time cruiser with them. (I am Diamond level and am not a snob about it, but I do expect them to know it's not my first time sailing with them.) The Loyalty Ambassador was never there during their posted office hours. I went numerous times and was told to come back later etc. I had to ask for certain amenities like the robes and the beverages that were to be in my cabin. In the past they would send something like a "thank you" (chocolate covered berries or the like) and that never happened on this sailing. Even though we had recorded that we would be celebrating our anniversary. To me, it's the special things like this that always made me feel like it was a "welcome home" on the seas. Some staff was exemplary, but most fell flat of even greeting you or making eye contact while passing you. It was sad to me to feel like the above standard practices I have come to love about RCI might be a thing of the past. I hope not!!!

Hope your experience was just for that particular cruise and your next will still have your usual amenities and service. Thanks for your feedback!

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Wow - sorry to hear that both the room steward and loyalty ambassador had issues. Was the crew distracted by the recent Noro outbreak? We had a good room steward and received the correct items when we sailed Indy last month. Did you mention the loyalty mix up with your room steward? This has worked for us in the past if we want robes and our welcome aboard pop/water.

Did you use the diamond lounge or ask the concierge?

Thanks

Wow - sorry to hear that both the room steward and loyalty ambassador had issues. Was the crew distracted by the recent Noro outbreak? We had a good room steward and received the correct items when we sailed Indy last month. Did you mention the loyalty mix up with your room steward? This has worked for us in the past if we want robes and our welcome aboard pop/water.

 

Did you use the diamond lounge or ask the concierge?

 

Thanks

I know towards the end everyone was stressed about the noro. It wasn't a pleasant experience. I do think that my room steward left much to be desired. He was a bit dismissive when asked about certain things, but then with other issues he was great and right on it. He did quickly bring the robes that evening at turndown.

I did use the diamond lounge a few times quickly. Diamond lounge and toddler aren't exactly congruous so I tried to limit my time there. I did seek the Diamond Concierge out also, but we never seemed to connect. Which I'm sure was mostly my fault since I wasn't super available to keep popping in or wait if she was busy. Between a toddler and sick husband I was definitely distracted.

Just off of the Indy as well... Firstly, I will say that I have been on about 10 cruises in my life and this is my first one with RCl.

I have to say that I was not wowed about my experience; while still taking in to consideration the stresses of the noro outbreak. I will agree with OP about the friendliness or lack there of of the staff.

I was fortunate no to have been sick while on this cruising. I am not sure if I will cruise with them in the future.

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We just left Harmony of the Seas today. About the towel animals. I am 74, but still enjoy the animals and we were fortunate to have them every night except the first and last. One night we were given adorable little reindeer towels with funny faces and sparkly pipe cleaner antlers. Our son and daughter-in-law were given one in their cabin also, so maybe it was ship wide.

That you didn't get towel animals might have been due to the unfortunate situation on your cruise or it might have been due to your particular cabin attendant.

Independence was one of our favorite ships, but Oasis Class ships call to us now. I do feel sad that conditions are slackening on the Indy these days or at least on your cruise. It did used to be a very special ship. I hope they can get their act together soon.

I know towards the end everyone was stressed about the noro. It wasn't a pleasant experience. I do think that my room steward left much to be desired. He was a bit dismissive when asked about certain things, but then with other issues he was great and right on it. He did quickly bring the robes that evening at turndown.

Between Thursday and Friday I had so much Purell on my hands that I thought they were going to crack open from dryness. No self service drinks in Sorrento's Cafe Promenade had run out of Vitamin Water. Everyone on the ship was so paranoid about Norovirus and the staff was wiping everything down constantly so that any rail or banister touched was cold and wet 90% of the time. That said there were still salt and pepper shakers on the table in the MDR.

On the bright side I did love my cabin steward, Johann. He only did two towel animals, a Bulldog and an elephant. the latter of which sat in the corner of my settee until I disembarked this morning.

Indy is getting a lot of bad reviews.

Welcome home.

Thank you for your report.

Keith

No towel animals? Is this a new policy?

Just for info there is a new(ish) company policy about robes in that you have to request them from your steward. This has been the same on the last few cruises we have taken and we've been told it by several stewards. I suppose some robes weren't getting used and then still had to be washed at the end of a cruise so they're trying to cut down on laundry.

Your comments really resonated with me, closely mirroring my 12/3 cruise on Liberty.

And there was no noro outbreak to provide an excuse.

To be fair, my cabin steward, Harris, was excellent. He made daily towel animals (which my wife loves), but overall there was a sense that service on RCI is slipping.

It was our 8th cruise on Royal, and it's the first time I've come off a cruise and thought, "Okay, my next cruise can wait a while. I'm in no hurry for another one."

We had towel animals on the 11/18 Indy sailing and a great steward. Sorry to hear about yours.

Just for info there is a new(ish) company policy about robes in that you have to request them from your steward. This has been the same on the last few cruises we have taken and we've been told it by several stewards. I suppose some robes weren't getting used and then still had to be washed at the end of a cruise so they're trying to cut down on laundry.

This makes sense - thank you for the clarification!

Appreciate the feedback.

 

It was our 8th cruise on Royal, and it's the first time I've come off a cruise and thought, "Okay, my next cruise can wait a while. I'm in no hurry for another one."

Exactly. I always begrudgingly leave the ship and can't wait until I get step foot back on another RCI ship. My husband and I said that it will definitely be a while before we will go again. :( The magic was gone for us.

No towel animals? Is this a new policy?

Not getting a towel animal doesn’t make or break my cruise. I would rather the crew spend their efforts cleaning a sick ship.

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I hope you left feedback cards. I know they take feedback very seriously.

No towel animals? Is this a new policy?

No. More than likely it was just the OP’s room steward. Not all room steward’s even know how to do towel animals. The steward we had on Freedom earlier this year remarked how other stewards were constantly asking her to show them how to do it.

No towel animals? Is this a new policy?

I know how horrible.:rolleyes: :evilsmile:

I sailed on the 12/7/17 Indy before the Noro outbreak. I am not a first timer with RCI. Many small details seemed to be an issue on this cruise ( lack of communication about events in the Compass, and long waits between courses for meals in the MDR and speciality restaurants.) I heard several passengers who were diamond and above discuss how the overall experience was less than in past cruises. I did wonder about an outbreak the day before we departed. Seas were semi-rough and barf bags were placed around the ship. I saw one room attendant and other staff disinfecting a room. Despite all these, I did make the best of it and will be giving RCI another chance on the Navigator soon.

Something I find a bit interesting is that I read posts time an time again about how people give perfect ratings on their post cruise surveys even if there were problems because they don't want to get anyone in trouble. Then when service starts to slip people are upset. Maybe people should just be up front on their evaluations so RCI can head off problems before they get to the point that we are reading about on this thread.

Something I find a bit interesting is that I read posts time an time again about how people give perfect ratings on their post cruise surveys even if there were problems because they don't want to get anyone in trouble. Then when service starts to slip people are upset. Maybe people should just be up front on their evaluations so RCI can head off problems before they get to the point that we are reading about on this thread.

I was not shy to voice my discontent on my post cruise survey, and will also be following up with RCI. And I'm not doing this to complain or cause trouble for anyone. It's so that RCI can be informed of what's going on in their company and hopefully work towards getting these issues back to their (usually) high standards.

I was not shy to voice my discontent on my post cruise survey, and will also be following up with RCI. And I'm not doing this to complain or cause trouble for anyone. It's so that RCI can be informed of what's going on in their company and hopefully work towards getting these issues back to their (usually) high standards.

Bravo.