Anyone else noticed more disorgnization lately?

[JWestShuh]

It has been a few years since our first cruise, which was with Royal. We just got off of our second cruise, and we noticed quite a difference in customer service. I am wondering if this is an isolated event, the ship we were on (Serenade), or if others have noticed a decline in the past few years.

 

Our stateroom attendant did a lovely job, while our first went above and beyond to make things nice for us. Our wait staff for My Time dining was absolutely amazing and I have nothing but compliments for them. They made that experience fantastic!

 

The overall mood on the ship was a bit more disorganized and less helpful when we had a question when compared to our last cruise I found. We saw arguing between staff (which certainly happens at my place of employment - I just haven't seen it on a ship before).

 

Something that will leave a lasting impression was the service desk. I had a question about the timing of a cruise excursion and making a flight - as the flight was changed last minute and the excursion was on the last day and included a transfer to the airport. I told the woman the time of my excursion and she argued with me for 5 minutes until I finally had to retrieve my ticket for the excursion to prove that there was an excursion leaving at 9am. She wouldn't check her computers, she just kept saying "No that is not an excursion, No they all leave at 7:20", etc. Luckily when I returned with the ticket another customer service rep was able to assist me, but the one I dealt with earlier had no apology for being rude, just glared at me. I wasn't trying to have an argument, just wanted to ensure I would make it to the airport in time!

 

Then the morning of departure when we were scheduled for our 9am excursion, we met in the theater at 8:45 to meet our group (this time and meeting place was printed on the ticket). Around 8:40 I started to get nervous because no one else had tickets and nothing about an excursion was printed on the large screen. I went to ask an employee, and she said "You missed it! They left at 8! Where were you?" I showed her that the ticket indicated that we were to meet at 8:45. She starting pushing me toward the door saying "Run, run you might be able to catch it!" So my husband and I run, and another employee says "Why are you so late? You are luckily they haven't left yet. You need to be on time for these!" Her walkie went off saying that the excursion left. Needless to say, my husband and I stopped running - and asked to speak to the excursion supervisor. While waiting I showed the woman who told me endlessly that this was our fault because we were late our ticket which stated otherwise. I finally just asked her to admit that Royal made a mistake in our ticket and to stop telling me it was my fault! The excursion supervisor was very helpful, admitting that a mistake was made in printing our ticket and that he would refund our money immediately.

 

Luckily, there are several tour guides outside of the cruise terminal and we were still able to take a tour of old San Juan - and for half of the price of the Royal excursion.

 

We still had a great time on our vacation - this in no way ruined it, but I have noticed a huge difference in organization and customer service when compared to our first Royal cruise and our more recent NCL cruise. Anyone else?

[boulders]

I had a similar experience 2 years ago on the Adventure of the Seas. Same excursion. I was told to go to the wrong place and by the time I figured it out, the excursion had left. We ended up sitting in the SJU airport for hours before our flight, instead of sightseeing. Because of that experience and a few other similar experiences on the same cruise, I won't sail on AOS again.

[mommabean]

I wouldn't let one incident color my whole impression of an entire cruise line...or even an entire ship.

 

We were on Adventure of the Seas for the TA crossing last fall and one day the Capt told us all the port information - where' we'd dock, which side, the weather, which ship would be there (the former Song of America). We got there and something didn't seem right.

 

The next day as we arrived into the next port....the exact same "script" was read, and this time it was correct. There was the Song of America - now the Thomson Destiny.

 

Was the Capt. disorganized? Did someone make him look silly?

 

Would I sail on Adventure again? Next November.

 

Yes, your incident was more of a pain in the neck...but they did give you your money back so I'd just brush it off.

 

Gina

[JWestShuh]

I'm not - as I said, I am not letting this ruin my trip - we make our trips fun and we had a great time. I noticed similar disorganization throughout the ship which was why I was asking if anyone else has noticed it lately since it has been a few years between voyages for us.

[wg6530]

It sounds like the basic problem boiled down to one screw up by the shore excursion people on your ticket. Unbeknownst to you, the first person at the customer service desk may have been trying to provide you with the correct info; your excursion was indeed departing earlier than your ticket indicated. For obvious reasons, you believed the printed info on the ticket, not the customer service personnel. Understandable, but regrettable. One could argue you owe her an apology, not the other way around. Just kidding;); arguing with a customer for 5 minutes is never good.

 

I am glad you got a nice tour and made your plane. My take away lesson: if I am ever in a similar situation, I will go to the shore excursion desk to verify the accuracy of my shore excursion ticket.

[JWestShuh]

I thought that too (about the excursion) - but the excursion she was arguing with me about was one that left at 7 something. They just added the later excursion recently - the one that leaves at 8 something (per the second representative I spoke with that morning). This is the only cruise sponsored excursion we have tried, so I will also be double checking in the future.

[kel3120]

I actually had a bit of a similar thing happen for an excursion that was booked after our Mariner cruise out of LA in 2009. There were no clear directions on where to go to wait (we had to ask several times if we were in the right spot), no announcements that they were leaving, and they acted like we were the ones that were in not paying attention. Luckily for us, we asked soon enough and were able to get out to the tour before they left. Another couple happen to be waiting near us and was feeling the same way.

 

I also have a San Juan tour booked after our Adventure cruise in a couple weeks, so I'm glad I read this. I'll make sure to ask enough questions to know exactly what's going on so we don't run into any problems.

 

Maybe it's not uncommon for problems to happen for tours after departing the ship?