What happened to the daily "newspaper"?

[labeachcomber]

Just recently off the Oasis. It's been about four years since I've sailed Royal Caribbean, but I noticed that they no longer have a daily "newspaper" available at guest services or in the library. There used to be a 8-10 page daily paper printed out from some type of news service that would have enough stuff to satisfy your daily craving to know what was going on in the world. It certainly wasn't on par with the NY Times, but for being on a cruise it was satisfactory. I believe it was printed in multiple languages as well. What happened to it? Is this just another example of cutbacks?

[gerif]

Yup - gone the way of the dodo bird.

[39august]

Yes. This has been gone for at least 4 years.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

We really miss that on RC.

 

***

[onlyonetrevorfrancis]

Just a slightly different perspective from someone new to RCI, I really enjoyed getting away from everything on our recent Liberty cruise and did my best to avoid any news on the stateroom TV.

 

I appreciate your point though :)

[Ashland]

That went away a couple of years ago...we miss it too.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I think it is the thing my DH misses the most. He does not get to see many sporting events on the TV. But, he used to like to keep up with what is happening. We really miss it.

[Wilda]

Initially we also missed it. DH now has a digital subscription to the local newspaper so he downloads it every morning onto the iPad and reads his paper on the balcony! May not be everyone's cup of tea...it works for him!

[labeachcomber]

Just a slightly different perspective from someone new to RCI, I really enjoyed getting away from everything on our recent Liberty cruise and did my best to avoid any news on the stateroom TV.

 

I appreciate your point though :)

Yes, to each their own. I like to know what's going on in the world, even if I'm on vacation. Ignorance is bliss for some, but I like to be informed.

 

Initially we also missed it. DH now has a digital subscription to the local newspaper so he downloads it every morning onto the iPad and reads his paper on the balcony! May not be everyone's cup of tea...it works for him!

So I assume you get the unlimited internet package? I'd like to know the news, but I'm not sure if I want to pay for internet every day for it. Sounds like a relaxing routine your husband has!

 

I made the suggestion to RCI that on Oasis for the "On Air" scrolling message board that just tells you facts about the ship, they should use that opportunity to have a constant newsfeed, kind of like what you might see in Times Square. We'll see if that ever takes traction. There's only so many times I need to read that Oasis can hold 6296 passengers, etc...

[Wilda]

I think we paid $70-$80. We would log onto the Internet in the morning, download the paper onto the iPad, then log off. He could then take his time reading it ;)

[Tucker in Texas]

Celebrity still has it down by the front desk or did the last time we were on the ship. They usually put it out around 11:30. There would be quite a crowd standing around waiting for it to be put out.

 

Tucker in Texas

[Eileen2]

On our April T A I asked about the newspaper and was told it was "not available" by someone at customer service. I later discovered there was a paper but it was about $2 or $3. { not sure of the amount because I didn't buy it. I did see a few passengers reading it and I believe you could purchase it in Cafe Promenade.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

On our April T A I asked about the newspaper and was told it was "not available" by someone at customer service. I later discovered there was a paper but it was about $2 or $3. { not sure of the amount because I didn't buy it. I did see a few passengers reading it and I believe you could purchase it in Cafe Promenade.

 

Thanks--I will look for that. DH would be very happy.

[teralin]

On a recent RCI cruise, they provided photocopies of the Sun and the Times in the concierge lounge for the use of concierge guests and selling copies of these papers to everyone else.

[davy jones]

You can get news on the news channels on the cabin TV.

[tlatrice]

You can get news on the news channels on the cabin TV.

 

I was just thinking this same thing. If it's just a matter of being 'informed' aren't Fox, CNN and HLN all avaialble?

[poncho1973]

On the sports side, I haven't been on a Royal ship yet that didn't have Sportscenter playing somewhere every day. Often on the giant pool screen.

 

The bigger ships have sports bars where it plays all the time. The smaller ones you just have to find it.

[marielco]

On our last three cruises (all in Europe) there were newspapers on sale every day. One was the Sun (tabloid) the other The Times (broadsheet). They were not the full papers but pages printed out from the Internet. Despite that they were VERY expensive - around $10/$11

 

A switch from a free service as described by the OP to a charge item.

[labeachcomber]

You can get news on the news channels on the cabin TV.

Uh, yeah, I'm aware of that. But do you want to sit watching CNN international in hopes that you see something you're interested in? A simple glance at what used to be this 8 page summary would allow me to see how the markets are doing, catch up on baseball standings, maybe a fun human interest story, etc.

 

On our last three cruises (all in Europe) there were newspapers on sale every day. One was the Sun (tabloid) the other The Times (broadsheet). They were not the full papers but pages printed out from the Internet. Despite that they were VERY expensive - around $10/$11

 

A switch from a free service as described by the OP to a charge item.

That is crazy. $10 for that internet printout?! Ridiculous. I wonder why they made the decision to no longer provide the service. For a company like RCI, subscribing to the newsfeed couldn't have been that expensive. Maybe this is a question for Adam.

[petesweet]

On a recent RCI cruise, they provided photocopies of the Sun and the Times in the concierge lounge for the use of concierge guests and selling copies of these papers to everyone else.

Do you know about what time they were put out? (Presume Allure would have the same service?)

 

Kathy

 

[Eileen2]

I liked the little news sheet they used to provide. Perhaps Royal decided to save the money on the printing for the "free paper" and are now charging for them. Too bad::( My husband just told me he thought they were charging three pounds for the paper on the Indy not three dollars.} It wont spoil my cruise but I wish they would charge a reasonable fee.:)

[labeachcomber]

I wasn't even aware that it might have been available for purchase on Oasis and wouldn't have thought to look in the RCI store for it. But if it was anything more than $1, I wouldn't have considered it.

 

Guess it's just another example of RCI nickel and diming its customers. Maybe they figured very few people read the news anyway, so why bother paying for the service. It's a shame.

[Thetrail]

I liked the little news sheet they used to provide. Perhaps Royal decided to save the money on the printing for the "free paper" and are now charging for them. Too bad::( My husband just told me he thought they were charging three pounds for the paper on the Indy not three dollars.} It wont spoil my cruise but I wish they would charge a reasonable fee.:)

Not sure where you heard this but it's wrong. RCL does not print the daily newspaper anymore or charge for it. and hasn't for quite some time. Saves tons of paper and everything that was in there or most everything you can see on your stateroom TV, or the internet if you use it, or your WiFi connection if you have one onboard. :)

[labeachcomber]

Not sure where you heard this but it's wrong. RCL does not print the daily newspaper anymore or charge for it. and hasn't for quite some time. Saves tons of paper and everything that was in there or most everything you can see on your stateroom TV, or the internet if you use it, or your WiFi connection if you have one onboard. :)

 

I don't think they were printing 3000 copies of the newspaper. There were maybe 20 or so in each language and you'd have to go early otherwise they'd be gone. But I think it's a generalization to say "everything" is on the stateroom tv. On our Oasis cruise, we had no idea who was leading the Tour de France. Or baseball standings. Or the stock market. We had to guess that George Zimmerman was declared innocent based on some nebulous tweets that we read scrolling across the bottom of CNN International.

 

Yes, if you want to pay $0.75 a minute for the internet, of course you can read all the news you want. Or buy an internet package and get it cheaper. Depends how much you need the news.

 

As the OP, I'm just disappointed it's no longer available. I'm not a news junkie where I have to know everything 24-7, but it'd be nice to know that the West coast hasn't fallen into the ocean or that the market hasn't tanked.

[jagsfan]

I used to enjoy reading the British news along with ours. I miss those little papers. I wonder If they've also quit printing trivia and puzzle sheets, too. Of course, I seem to get Princess and RCCL mixed up.