Royal Caribbean & FOD - A few complaints

[BehrHunter]

I just got off the Mariner after a weeks cruising the Mexican Riviera. This was my first time on RCCL. In the past I have cruised Princess and found them to be very "family friendly" with organized meetings at different times almost every day, including a dinner with the entertainment director. Royal Caribbean? Not so much.

 

If it was not for this board, I would know nothing about the FOD meetings on board. The only clue as to where to look, is a little notice in the daily compass about a bulletin board outside Cafe Prominade with group messages. It was hard to find and you would not easily stumble upon it.

 

First off, most people have no clue what a FOD or "Friends of Dorothy" meeting is. That was the heading of the message. A more universal GBLT or simply Gay/Lesbian would make a hell of a lot more sense. FOD certainly doesn't help anyone with a language barrier. Even a couple of guys from England had no clue.

 

Secondly, the 10PM timing of every meeting sucked. It is right in the middle of all the nightly activities. Most shows started around 10-10:30PM so if you wanted to catch a show, you didnt have very much time to meet and mingle. It was also late if you had and early excursion. Most mornings I was up at 6 or 7AM. By the time 10PM rolled around, I was beat.

 

I know RCCL wants to keep all private group activities off Compass, but c'mon, how about a few options? A different meeting time each day in different locations on the ship would be great. A pool side gathering or piano bar meeting is really not that hard. It would be simple to list all the times for the week on one card. Perhaps even a dinner with RSVP reservations so the dining room knows how many people to prepare for. It doesn't need to be hosted. People can just show up if they like.

 

The guys that did show up this week were a really nice bunch. Its a shame more people didn't know about the gatherings.

[BrianTom]

I agree with you completely. Royal Caribbean really does a poor job with it. In the past we were able, as passengers, to post a more convenient time in a more desirable place to have a FOD meeting. While we were not having it posted in the Cruise Compass it sure solved the time and place problem IF a FOD found it to read. I don't know if it was the Red Hat Society or the FOD's that became a PITA to them but if you go to that board they usually have a permanent card that is laminated for both groups. It is a poor solution but at least they are treating every group the same, except for the Friends of Bill W. group, their meetings get mentioned in the Cruise Compass. I guess that is ok since it can be a life saver for some rather than a social connection like we are looking for.

 

Lastly, Princess is the BEST with a FOD meeting. Keep that in mind when booking future travel.

 

Tom

[ehfl]

The whole point of the boards, is that you can post whatever you want. If you don't like the term FOD, then just write in your prefered term...they even provide the pencils.

 

If you don't like the time, then just add another meeting with your own time.

 

I've been on lots of ships, where there are multiple meetings...afternoon and evening.

 

In the time it takes to complain about a percieved problem, you can grab a pencil and solve it yourself.

[BehrHunter]

The whole point of the boards, is that you can post whatever you want. If you don't like the term FOD, then just write in your prefered term...they even provide the pencils.

 

If you don't like the time, then just add another meeting with your own time.

 

I've been on lots of ships, where there are multiple meetings...afternoon and evening.

 

In the time it takes to complain about a percieved problem, you can grab a pencil and solve it yourself.

 

The problem is that most people do not know about the board or what the hell a FOD meeting is, but you are right. I should have put a line thru it and called it a GBLT meeting.

[MiamiSpartan]

NCL is also very good about it, and they say both FOD and GLBT in the newsletters....

[Schplinky]

The problem is that most people do not know about the board or what the hell a FOD meeting is, but you are right. I should have put a line thru it and called it a GBLT meeting.

 

 

You also could just have chosen your own time and venue and called in GLBT or whatever you liked. We like RCL a lot as a cruise company but if having your travel operator introduce you to the other gays onboard is a make or break proposition for you, I'd head toward Princess. It's the only line we've sailed that hosted the GLBT (a staff member and free champagne).

[jjb415]

You also could just have chosen your own time and venue and called in GLBT or whatever you liked. We like RCL a lot as a cruise company but if having your travel operator introduce you to the other gays onboard is a make or break proposition for you, I'd head toward Princess. It's the only line we've sailed that hosted the GLBT (a staff member and free champagne).

 

I've never sailed with Princess, so this is the first that I have heard of a hosted event with champagne provided. Sounds very nice. :)

 

My impression of FOD meetings for most cruise lines is a chance to generate some revenue, which is no surprise and not a negative thing in my mind, because I have met many great people and had lot of fun at FOD cocktail times.

 

Additionally, it may be a credit to Royal Caribbean by allowing us to set our own times and places to get together, call them what we like, and not turn them into a revenue opportunity. Just a thought.

[etoile]

I've never sailed RCI, so I can't speak to the posting board - it seems silly to me, but I dunno.

 

Your complaint about the term FOD, though, is very common. I would say at least once a month, this board sees a complaint about that. :) And you're right: Friends of Bill W. implies that alcoholics are ashamed; Friends of Dorothy says the same about gays. It's also a very outmoded term that not everyone knows, especially younger folks. But the cruise lines persist in using it, and no one seems to be able to get them to change.

[BrianTom]

The whole point of the boards, is that you can post whatever you want. If you don't like the term FOD, then just write in your prefered term...they even provide the pencils.

 

If you don't like the time, then just add another meeting with your own time.

 

I've been on lots of ships, where there are multiple meetings...afternoon and evening.

 

In the time it takes to complain about a percieved problem, you can grab a pencil and solve it yourself.

 

The problem with this system is that most travelers do not know that there is a board to look for. And in addition, they are in different places on different ships. There is no consistency for the location. it is just a bad system. I have posted and changed times only to find that no one shows up for the FOD meeting.

[GXmanDC]

I have only sailed RCI so maybe I am simply accustomed to their system. The board is usually near Guest Relations on the Royal Promenade. Anyone can post any type of meeting they want. On the regular cruises I've seen people post both FOD and GLBT. On the Atlantis RCI charters the meeting names/topics get very interesting.

[CruisinMaterial]

BehrHunter - While RCI does a lot of gay charters they really don't do anything for the gay dollar on mainstream cruises of theirs. Hiding FODs onboard their ships to boards tucked away by guest relations isn't good business practice for attracting gay clients IMHO.

 

NCL does a FANTASTIC job of posting every day in two places their Friends of Dorothy meeting in the FreeStyle Daily. The times vary from ship to ship and so does the meeting places. However, they usually fall during the evening hours and are unhosted. I know Princess hosts theirs but they do theirs sporadically and sometimes you have to ask them to have one daily because they might not otherwise do it.

 

I like NCL. They are a great cruise line and they are very gay friendly. In the future I would suggest sailing with them or with Princess. Take your gay money elsewhere than RCI.

[Schplinky]

I'm not sure that FOD parties are the only sign of a line's gay-friendliness. We take our hints from the waiters, the room attendants and even the photographers. On one line, they seemed determined to pose us back to back instead of in a more "couple-ish" pose where on others, they have asked if we want to hold hands in the picture.

 

I often wonder why FOD meetings trigger such a strong response with some. Does the lack of a Canadian party mean that our NCL ship was anti-Canadian? Are they so unwelcoming that we should take our money elsewhere? In our experience, Canadians make up about ten percent of the average Caribbean cruise and yet they are not demonstrating their love for me, unless you count playing Celine Dion's Titanic song repeatedly.

 

We've sailed a lot of lines and found none of them to be anti-gay in any substantive way. The fact that NCL posted that a party existed (in a bar in a busy area, so you had to guess who was there for what) doesn't make them members of PFLAG exactly.

[CruisinMaterial]

We've sailed a lot of lines and found none of them to be anti-gay in any substantive way. The fact that NCL posted that a party existed (in a bar in a busy area, so you had to guess who was there for what) doesn't make them members of PFLAG exactly.

 

No it doesn't make them members of PFLAG but it does make them more friendly then stuck behind guest relations on some obscure bulletin board.

[BigAl_7]

I know RCCL wants to keep all private group activities off Compass, but c'mon, how about a few options? A different meeting time each day in different locations on the ship would be great. A pool side gathering or piano bar meeting is really not that hard. It would be simple to list all the times for the week on one card. Perhaps even a dinner with RSVP reservations so the dining room knows how many people to prepare for. It doesn't need to be hosted. People can just show up if they like.

 

The guys that did show up this week were a really nice bunch. Its a shame more people didn't know about the gatherings.

 

It's a very strange situation, my partner and I were on the Crown Princess in Nov 08 and there was one hosted FOD advertised in the Patter, then each day had different titles, mostly it was either FOD or GBLT gatherings. We didn't get champagne at the one hosted, but we did meet some nice folks.

 

In May 09 we went on Radiance of the Seas to Alaska and we had met up with fellow GBLT cruisers here and on the meet me on board site. We ended up having our own FOD's between dinner seatings in the Champagne bar and met some REALLY great folks, who we still stay in contact with and hope to go on another cruise with.

 

I think that in general a cruise is what you make of it, and if your gaydar is on and you drop the hints about needing to check out the bulletin boards when you aren't sure, you can get the word around the ship. I won't touch the FOD/GBLT as there is an entire thread on it. Come on OCT, ready to check out a Freedom Class vessel!!!!

 

Alan

[nick2363]

We took RCI Voyager of the Seas out of Barcelona in August '09. The FOD meeting was disappointing - late at night and out of the way. My partner and I were the only ones to show up. The bartender working the bar wasn't even aware that it was supposed to take place there.

 

We wouldn't go again - not because of the lousy FOD meeting - but the ship, food, and service in general was just not what we expected. It was only our second cruise, but it was quite a difference from our first with Holland America.

[Dodsworth]

On my most recent cruise, they schedule the FOD for the fifth day of a seven day cruise. I really think they should have done it sooner but, since it was primarily a Spanish speaking cruise, I doubt anyone knew what it was any way.

[greg_atlanta]

Attached is the notice from the bulletin board of a recent Celebrity cruise (Summit, March 6). The 7:45 pm time was awkward since it was between the fixed dinner seatings, but I think most of "the Dorothys" had select dining (open seating). Basically the FOD gathering never happened, but we met 4 couples in advance via the roll call on this forum. We did meet a few others around the scheduled FOD time but only because the Martini bar happened to be outside the dining room entrance for the select dining section (where people waited when tables were not available).

 

Still a good cruise..... no kids, great food, good service, fabulous spa therapy pool, etc.

[BrianTom]

Attached is the notice from the bulletin board of a recent Celebrity cruise (Summit, March 6). The 7:45 pm time was awkward since it was between the fixed dinner seatings, but I think most of "the Dorothys" had select dining (open seating). Basically the FOD gathering never happened, but we met 4 couples in advance via the roll call on this forum. We did meet a few others around the scheduled FOD time but only because the Martini bar happened to be outside the dining room entrance for the select dining section (where people waited when tables were not available).

 

Still a good cruise..... no kids, great food, good service, fabulous spa therapy pool, etc.

 

How was the energy on the ship? I am not looking for a white party but I have been reading these boards and I am very concerned about the snooze factor. My partner and I are going on the Equinox in 2.5 weeks for 10 days. Only one couple posted on this board for the trip but that was before final payment and they have not posted since. we are early and mid 40's and reading the other boards the 50 and 60 year old hetero's were complaining that it was geared to an older crowd.

 

thanks

[greg_atlanta]

The demographics on the March 6 Summit cruise were younger than I expected -- I'd say average age was upper-40s, not the 60s I expected. But it was spring break for many colleges -- not many student-aged passengers, but maybe their teachers, family, etc. Energy level was decent, but Celebrity is not a high-energy product.

 

Generally longer cruise means older passengers (unless it's a holiday period), but hard to know what to expect with a 10 day cruise. If you're looking to be energized by your fellow passengers stay away from Celebrity and HAL. Personally I prefer passengers that stay out of my way -- and no kids -- so Celebrity and HAL are perfect for me!

[NYCruisers69]

Royal does a decent job keeping people informed. You have to understand that if you are a gay cruiser and you are savvy enough to use this website to chat and mingle with other like minded travelers you are probably not the type of queen who cannot pick out a gay in a crowd and say hey we are meeting at the champagne bar at 5. Also I have posted many of my own meeting times up and usually had a crowd of 20-30 people by the end of the cruise. While yes I mostly travel on the Liberty of the Seas and with that many people you are bound to find some gays, I think it is important not to expect things to be done for us and for us to take the incentive to post events because that makes it allot more fun, and interesting. Also then you get to decide what you feel the day or week calls for. For example the last cruise we were on was filled with gays cause it was the week before the gay cruise but some just were not our speed so, We posted late night cocktails in Olive and Twist(the bar in the crown) for those who enjoy having a relaxing cocktail and then moving onto the club, piano bar, casino , etc. We had a great crowd show up and they were people who enjoyed nightlife but at the same time were a great crowd to meet up with during the day. As long as your card is nothing offensive like "FOD Meet In Steam Room"(which I have seen) then Royal will not take it down. And it gives your the freedom to say LGBT FAMILIES, Gay Couples, etc...

[~Fianna]

I've never sailed RCI, so I can't speak to the posting board - it seems silly to me, but I dunno.

 

Your complaint about the term FOD, though, is very common. I would say at least once a month, this board sees a complaint about that. :) And you're right: Friends of Bill W. implies that alcoholics are ashamed; Friends of Dorothy says the same about gays. It's also a very outmoded term that not everyone knows, especially younger folks. But the cruise lines persist in using it, and no one seems to be able to get them to change.

 

You can chalk me up as one of those. On our last RCI cruise, one of my straight friends had to tell me what FOD was.

 

I would imagine that goes back to the bad old days when using GLBT openly was an invitation for people to show up to gawk and/or harass?

[Schplinky]

The demographics on the March 6 Summit cruise were younger than I expected -- I'd say average age was upper-40s, not the 60s I expected. But it was spring break for many colleges -- not many student-aged passengers, but maybe their teachers, family, etc. Energy level was decent, but Celebrity is not a high-energy product.

 

Generally longer cruise means older passengers (unless it's a holiday period), but hard to know what to expect with a 10 day cruise. If you're looking to be energized by your fellow passengers stay away from Celebrity and HAL. Personally I prefer passengers that stay out of my way -- and no kids -- so Celebrity and HAL are perfect for me!

 

I think there's a fair distinction to be drawn between Solstice class and the rest of Celebrity's fleet, too. We thought the crowd on Solstice was much closer to an RCL crowd without kids than the older people we saw on the M class. I think the "old-school" Celebrity folks who prefer their traditions do not like the Solstice class with it's molecular bar, many specialty restaurants and more contemporary decor.

 

We really do, though!