Issues I have encountered over the Years

[rolloman]

We love cruising and feel it is by far the best value. That being said, as I am just a few months away from hitting my 50 cruise mark, I was thinking back to the crazy "minor" things that have happened to me. Some may be preventable, some just bad luck. Hopefully someone who may read this might get some value out of what to watch out for. Here goes.....

 

• Ordered chops steak in the main dining room and after an eternity of waiting they tried to slip past me a regular anytime menu sirloin steak.
  
• Twice I have been charged for full mini bar charges even though we never touched the mini bar/refridgerator.
  
• Twice after the cruise was completed, I was charged $25.00 for towels "assigned to my room", even though we never use them.
  
• Had a passenger swipe my winnings off the roulette table and make a break for the exit.
  
• Assigned a D1 cabin filled with choking cigarette smell from previous passengers. Room attendent said all they did was sit in the room and smoke the entire 7 day cruise.
  
• Called to naughty room for luggage and had to open up luggage to be searched for alcohol. I did not bring any so there was no alcohol to be found. Waste of about an hour.
  
• Used babysitting service, while walking through the promenade saw my unattended child sitting in her stroller in one of the shops. Turns out the babysitters were busy shopping instead of attending to my child.
  
• Towards end of cruise my room attendant came by to collect my tux. Trouble is the tux was my tux not a rental. He left and said he would have to talk to his manager. I never heard anything back.
  
• Won the end of cruise snowball jackpot bingo and was given 400.00 dollars even though it was guaranteed via the daily paper to be minimum 1000.00. We didnt say anything, collected the money and left happy to win what we won, yet oddly a call to my room departure morning from staff saying they were sorry there was a misprint in the paper. Looking back this has to be the smallest snowball jackpot for a seven day cruise on record.
  
• Cruised solo and asked for a large table. Was assigned a table for four, sitting with a family of 3 who were extremely upset as to why I was at their table. To this day this is the only time I swapped tables.
  

[lrn2cruise]

The one that made me giggle:D was sitting at the table with a family of 3! I can imagine sitting there with people who have no clue who you are. Did they end up adopting you?

 

The:eek: for me was the baby shopping. I would be horrified!

 

The rest seem to me to just be bad business :mad:

[bbbearden]

Wow, you have had some interesting experiences. I to loved the dining issue, as a family of three, we would have probably made you our new best friend for the rest of the cruise:D

[ollienbertsmum]

Sitting with a family of 3 - that is quite weird :D

 

 

The babysitter - that has to be a bit worrying, the judgement of someone who would risk going to the shop with the child - the chances of getting caught have to be quite high.

 

The winnings being stolen is odd too - again, how would they think they would escape ? in a life boat??

 

The advice is helpful though.

[rolloman]

Sitting with a family of 3 - that is quite weird :D

 

 

 

One other funny thing about that was it was an 11 day cruise!!!!

[Sparky74]

We love cruising and feel it is by far the best value. That being said, as I am just a few months away from hitting my 50 cruise mark, I was thinking back to the crazy "minor" things that have happened to me. Some may be preventable, some just bad luck.

 

I love your attitude, rolloman.:) The scenarios you listed would be deal breakers for many on these boards. It seems like you won't let anything ruin your vacation. Good for you!

 

The most important thing to take on a cruise is a PMA (positive mental attitude)!

[Familygoboston]

We love cruising and feel it is by far the best value. That being said, as I am just a few months away from hitting my 50 cruise mark, I was thinking back to the crazy "minor" things that have happened to me. Some may be preventable, some just bad luck. Hopefully someone who may read this might get some value out of what to watch out for. Here goes.....

 

• Ordered chops steak in the main dining room and after an eternity of waiting they tried to slip past me a regular anytime menu sirloin steak.
  
• Twice I have been charged for full mini bar charges even though we never touched the mini bar/refridgerator.
  
• Twice after the cruise was completed, I was charged $25.00 for towels "assigned to my room", even though we never use them.
  
• Had a passenger swipe my winnings off the roulette table and make a break for the exit.
  
• Assigned a D1 cabin filled with choking cigarette smell from previous passengers. Room attendent said all they did was sit in the room and smoke the entire 7 day cruise.
  
• Called to naughty room for luggage and had to open up luggage to be searched for alcohol. I did not bring any so there was no alcohol to be found. Waste of about an hour.
  
• Used babysitting service, while walking through the promenade saw my unattended child sitting in her stroller in one of the shops. Turns out the babysitters were busy shopping instead of attending to my child.
  
• Towards end of cruise my room attendant came by to collect my tux. Trouble is the tux was my tux not a rental. He left and said he would have to talk to his manager. I never heard anything back.
  
• Won the end of cruise snowball jackpot bingo and was given 400.00 dollars even though it was guaranteed via the daily paper to be minimum 1000.00. We didnt say anything, collected the money and left happy to win what we won, yet oddly a call to my room departure morning from staff saying they were sorry there was a misprint in the paper. Looking back this has to be the smallest snowball jackpot for a seven day cruise on record.
  
• Cruised solo and asked for a large table. Was assigned a table for four, sitting with a family of 3 who were extremely upset as to why I was at their table. To this day this is the only time I swapped tables.
  

 

You have certainly had a run of crappy luck ( except with gambling where you seem to win quite a bit;))

 

This statement above in red is beyond alarming; :eek: and I hope you reported it immediately onboard! I have never used the babysitting services onboard for this reason ( in a land based program I can at least check that the local laws are being followed; CPR certifications, training, supervision levels etc, but no such luck onboard- you get who you get and you have no idea how fit they are to care for your most precious thing. ) But it seems to me that is pretty agregious and I would hope would be at least against RCLs "Policy" since you have no laws to protect your children in these kinds of arrangements. Please do tell us what their response was...I would love to know how they handled that, it's slightly more serious than passing off a cheap steak because someone forgot to run to Chops:rolleyes:

[LBumb]

not a bad list for fifty cruises

[johneeo]

• Had a passenger swipe my winnings off the roulette table and make a break for the exit.

That is a hard one to believe.

 

What happened? How about some more info on this one.

[KathyPet]

THese issues all happened on RCCL?? And you keep sailing with them???

[Ocean Boy]

THese issues all happened on RCCL?? And you keep sailing with them???

 

Why not? It seems like a fairly short list for 50 cruises.

[rolloman]

That is a hard one to believe.

 

What happened? How about some more info on this one.

 

It was fairly simple, I put 25 bucks down on black and it hit, the dealer paid and while I waited (as you are supposed to do) for him to pay out everyone else who hit, a guy standing behind me took the chips and walked briskly away. I went after him and said I don't think so and he gave me my chips and said my bad dude.

[rolloman]

You have certainly had a run of crappy luck ( except with gambling where you seem to win quite a bit;))

 

This statement above in red is beyond alarming; :eek: and I hope you reported it immediately onboard! I have never used the babysitting services onboard for this reason ( in a land based program I can at least check that the local laws are being followed; CPR certifications, training, supervision levels etc, but no such luck onboard- you get who you get and you have no idea how fit they are to care for your most precious thing. ) But it seems to me that is pretty agregious and I would hope would be at least against RCLs "Policy" since you have no laws to protect your children in these kinds of arrangements. Please do tell us what their response was...I would love to know how they handled that, it's slightly more serious than passing off a cheap steak because someone forgot to run to Chops:rolleyes:

We did nothing about it other than not use the service for the rest of the cruise and I have not used it since. We were always hesitant about using it in the first place so it gave us a reason to never use it again.

[Familygoboston]

We did nothing about it other than not use the service for the rest of the cruise and I have not used it since. We were always hesitant about using it in the first place so it gave us a reason to never use it again.

 

That's an excellent reason not to! Probably that " baby" is mostly grown up without any lasting trauma :D But I make a habit of reporting people who endanger children ...actually in my state, I'm required to;)

 

I notice you are sailing Disney...I was very impressed with their programs...there is no fooling around with child safety there!

[reney313]

Not too bad a list for nearly 50 cruises.

 

I have only had a few minor things in 12 cruises so I would expect a couple more by 50 ;)

 

I have to admit, I have had many more "minor" issues with my land based vacations. And some major issues too!

 

Although--in all honesty, i would have been to guest services about the babysitting service! That is not only scary but needed to be addressed with the 'babysitters' by the management.

 

Other than that one, I too would have let the rest slide (OK, I would have inquired when getting my bingo winnings were the other $600 was).

[rolloman]

That's an excellent reason not to! Probably that " baby" is mostly grown up without any lasting trauma :D But I make a habit of reporting people who endanger children ...actually in my state, I'm required to;)

 

I notice you are sailing Disney...I was very impressed with their programs...there is no fooling around with child safety there!

 

The next Disney cruise will be our 4th and I agree, when it comes to the kids clubs and nursery they do things first class. Their check in and boarding process though is horrible. No one beats Royal Caribbean when it comes to that.

[KeywestK]

Other than the babysitting issue, everything else, IMO, comes under the heading of s**t happens. But, for the family of 3 who was not welcoming to you at the dinner table, shame on them. If a solo traveler found their way to our table, we would have bent over backwards to make them feel welcome and comfortable. Guess there is no accounting for how thoughtless some people can be....:confused:

[rolloman]

Other than the babysitting issue, everything else, IMO, comes under the heading of s**t happens. But, for the family of 3 who was not welcoming to you at the dinner table, shame on them. If a solo traveler found their way to our table, we would have bent over backwards to make them feel welcome and comfortable. Guess there is no accounting for how thoughtless some people can be....:confused:

Thanks, it was awkward and embarrassing. I sat first and when they came, they said I was at the wrong table and then they went and got the waiter followed by the maitre D who asked for my seapass card. Once it was established I was where I was supposed to be and everyone was seated it became basically a silent seating. I ate quick and skipped desert, wished them a fun voyage and left. Funny thing was it was a horrible table location, stuck behind a walled area. So much for Elite status giving me priority seating.

[matj2000]

The towel charge seems to be a regular thing.

It has been tried on us the last 2 cruises.

They wait until late the last night and add it on.

[mommabean]

Why not? It seems like a fairly short list for 50 cruises.

 

My list is much shorter out of about the same amount of cruises. The list is made up anyway. :) It's a joke.

 

 

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[bbbearden]

Just curious, I have seen many references to the naught room. I may be a bit boring, but try to follow the rules, where is the naught room?

[mommabean]

Just curious, I have seen many references to the naught room. I may be a bit boring, but try to follow the rules, where is the naught room?

 

On the lower deck where all crated luggage goes that is suspected of having contraband. Be it booze, scissors or irons, etc....

 

We've been there often - for nothing. It's a time waster. They let us keep the water, scissors and even a very small bottle of almost gone booze once.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (now used more often because of the bad ad placement on the full CC website)

[bbbearden]

On the lower deck where all crated luggage goes that is suspected of having contraband. Be it booze, scissors or irons, etc....

 

We've been there often - for nothing. It's a time waster. They let us keep the water, scissors and even a very small bottle of almost gone booze once.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (now used more often because of the bad ad placement on the full CC website)

 

Interesting, have noticed talk of the naughty room but did not know where it was at. On our last cruise, my wife had a small pair of scissors for sewing that were TSA complaint, and made through Bush IAH, Heathrow, and Munich, only to be taken by RCCL prior to boarding the ship. They then returned the scissors on Thursday despite the fact the cruise was ending on Saturday. Thought that to be a little odd that they were taken away as a prohibited item and then long before the trip was over.

[maxxboy]

 

 

[*]Used babysitting service, while walking through the promenade saw my unattended child sitting in her stroller in one of the shops. Turns out the babysitters were busy shopping instead of attending to my child.

 

 

 

 

LOL! You should have taken your child while they weren't looking. Then call to "check in". It would have been interesting to hear their reaction.

 

"oh, your baby is...um....well..."

[johneeo]

LOL! You should have taken your child while they weren't looking. Then call to "check in". It would have been interesting to hear their reaction.

 

"oh, your baby is...um....well..."

 

"The little rug rat made a break for it".