Small touches other lines do that you'd like Royal to do as well

[Adayatatime]

more comedians, perhaps more options for evening entertainment rather than just big shows.

 

Nicer toiletries (p&o do this really well)

 

2 bottles of wine per person rather than per stateroom?.

[librarylady19]

Laundry rooms...every other deck with ironing boards.

 

 

Just sailed Azamara on a med cruise and they had a laundry room - at no additional cost. Didn't think we'd use it, but we did a couple of loads (we also had 2 bags of free laundry as a loyalty perk.) As we were staying in Florence for several nights after the cruise , it really helped with the packing. Would not be a deal breaker for me tho as luggage is less of an issue on Caribbean itineraries

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[time4u2go]

Mints on pillows.

[h20skibum]

Didn't really think about some of the little things they did on the Princess cruise we just took, but here are a few more.

 

1. They also have the vinyl luggage mats.

 

2. Complimentary robes in your cabin.

 

3. When returning from an excursion in a hot climate, they give you chilled towels while waiting to reboard the ship.

 

4. The outdoor movie screen where the staff brings you complimentary popcorn and pizza while you watch the movie.

 

5. Beach towels are in your cabin.

 

I did prefer their ice cream station over Royal's self serve. Laundry facilities were also nice for the longer cruise.

[Missus Makkem]

The icecream station on Adventure always has a member of staff to make and give you the icecream.Always there when station is open.

[richstowe]

OP, you made a great list although some would say that each brand tries to offer a few things that the competition doesn't.

Things to differentiate themselves like Celebrity's cold towels and drinks upon returning to the ship.

 

That being said I love Carnival's afternoon tea service.

Celebrity's lack of constant PA announcements is wonderful as is their incredible home-made ice cream.

 

this was actually serious. :( this is a thing id like to see changed that some other lines do.

I'm not sure why OP didn't take your suggestion seriously. My experience is that all ship brands are very "cheap"

when it comes to casino perks. I believe it would pay them to "throw" a few drinks around.

Do you know of any brand that is more rewarding to its casino patrons ?

Edited June 9, 2014 by richstowe

[Clarea]

The icecream station on Adventure always has a member of staff to make and give you the icecream.Always there when station is open.

We found this very useful. The line was never very long, and the area stayed much cleaner than on other ships where it's self-serve.

[LMaxwell]

 

I'm not sure why OP didn't take your suggestion seriously. My experience is that all ship brands are very "cheap"

when it comes to casino perks. I believe it would pay them to "throw" a few drinks around.

Do you know of any brand that is more rewarding to its casino patrons ?

 

The person I responded to is a well known troll who creates multiple accounts per week and who just likes to disrupt threads and steer them wildly off topic. I can hardly be faulted for not recognizing the one out of hundreds of posts by them that may have actually been made not tongue in cheek.

[DannyDriscoll]

 

I'm not sure why OP didn't take your suggestion seriously. My experience is that all ship brands are very "cheap"

when it comes to casino perks. I believe it would pay them to "throw" a few drinks around.

Do you know of any brand that is more rewarding to its casino patrons ?

 

we have had some disputes about tips and dress code in the past. I gave an honest and on topic reply, some just hold a grudge in disagreements i guess.

 

i will respect his wishes and stay off his thread.

[jenfromjersey]

The ONLY thing I loved on my Princess cruise was the Movies Under the Stars on the pool deck. They would have cushions on the lounge chairs, and put out blankets for when it got chilly, and they had a popcorn cart out passing out free popcorn to munch on while watching the nightly movie. It was so much fun!

[dulcimergirl]

I hope RCL has improved a bit from my last cruise. I did not appreciate having to pay for popcorn at the theater on Oasis.

Actually, Carnival is better in several areas. Robes in the cabin, goodie baskets in the bathroom. Luggage mats, and we still get pillow candies. Everyone, and I do mean everyone acts happy to meet me, and is happy I am aboard. Not so on Rcl. Just saying,

I am platinum on both, I will be enjoying Explorer of the Seas soon.

[ryano]

It would be nice to see a drink upon boarding that you dont have to hand your Seapass over for :D Even if it is a cheap "champagne" or that rum punch you get at the welcome back party.

 

Doesnt Celebrity do that? :confused:

[DonnaK]

Regarding Princess' policy of allowing you to go straight to your cabin upon boarding:

 

This was our experience on the Caribbean Princess:

 

At first, this seemed like a significant advantage. However the trade-off is that the cabins weren’t fully prepared to receive new guests when we arrived. All the doors were propped open to the passageways, and the stewards were all still hard at work. Although the stewards were courteous and gracious to us, we felt that our presence, even in quickly dropping off our hand-luggage, was an imposition on them, hindering their ability to complete their job in a timely fashion.

By mid-afternoon, the bedding in our cabins still hadn't been changed from the previous week (there were hairs in my bed, and stains on the sheets of my daughter’s upper berth), the balcony hadn’t been cleaned, pool towels and other supplies hadn’t been set up yet, etc. When we brought this to the attention of the cabin steward, he said not to worry, it would all be done by evening (and it was), but we had to endure sailaway on our sticky-furnitured balcony, and my mom couldn’t take a pre-dinner nap in the skeevy bed.

So, on second thought, as nice as it was to get to the cabin early, it is unacceptable that the cabin wasn't truly ready for us until we returned from dinner. We’d rather have the “inconvenience” of waiting until 1pm to enter a cabin that’s fully cleaned and freshly supplied, with no traces of the previous occupants.

And before anyone counters that this must have been a isolated incident (as the Princess cheerleaders did when I posted this in my review on their board), we took two cruises on this ship, two years apart, and had a very similar experience each time, with multiple cabins on each sailing and different stewards. I am not bashing Princess at all - we actually loved both of our cruises with them, felt it was an equivalent cruising experience to RCI, and we will definitely cruise with them in the future. It's just this particular policy that we had an issue with, and it allows us to view the "waiting until 1pm" policy of RCI in a more advantageous light

Edited June 9, 2014 by DonnaK

[nhraformula00]

They need softer pillows and def softer beds. We were on the Oasis one month ago and had to have 2 egg crate toppers put on the bed.

[squadron]

Oh and one other- on Carnival when you move up a level on their loyalty program, if it happens mid cruise- you get upgraded to that level as a curtosy upon checking in/embarkation- whereas on Royal, you don't get to apply those privileges until the next following cruise.

 

That one I think would be great - nothing like turning diamond one day into the cruise and having to wait until your next time for the extra perks.

[YadaYadaJodi]

Not sure I'm qualified to say since it's been 13 yrs since I sailed on Royal. I am really looking forward to my cruise this fall though and expecting a great time on the Navigator! :D

 

From reading these boards the 2 things it sounds like I will miss from Carnival are:

robes (had them even though we were in inside staterooms & 1st-3rd time cruisers)

pagers - MTD - only had to wait once & it was because I was requesting a particular waitstaff, but it was nice to get a pager and be able to go sit down and wait at the bar right outside the MDR

 

Not that it will ever likely affect me much (if at all) but I agree on the above about the step-up in the loyalty program being honored on the first day of the current cruise where you will meet your milestone like on Carnival vs. having to wait until your next cruise.

 

Other differences I take as options - wouldn't want everything the same. I like having choices.

[MCC retired]

OBC's for Shareholders that are combinable with all other OBC's & Promo's as on all Carnival Corp cruise lines, all sailings .:)

 

Military OBC's for all sailings on Princess & Cunard, also combinable with others.:)

[grab007]

This should be good..:rolleyes:

 

Trap Shooting on sea days!

[LMaxwell]

This should be good..:rolleyes:

 

Trap Shooting on sea days!

 

What cruise line still does that? Haven't seen that on any ship in many, many years.

[grab007]

What cruise line still does that? Haven't seen that on any ship in many, many years.

 

Yeah I did it on Princess back in the 80's. I did see it on Seabourn in the movie Speed 2 and we know how life-like the movies are...!

But it was fun!

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

I didn't get to read through all the suggestions, so I apologize if these have been already discussed, but mine are the following:

 

1) Cold towels and ice water upon arrival back to the ship from port, and

 

2) A Wipeout Cafe-type place by the pool on ALL ships. There should be easily accessed burgers, hot dogs, fries, ice cream and ice water 24/7 right near the pools on deck. IMO.

[cruiseapril]

This is not small- but we'd like to see mini-fridges in all cabins as they do on some lines.

[coordinator23]

I would like to have a Royal cruise where I was treated like royalty again. I believe that the company is being run by the "bean counters" who are only interested in saving money and not in providing an experience, a Royal experience. Some of the things mentioned that people would like, that other cruise lines have, were once stock and standard on Royal. I know the OP's reason for starting this post was to improve Royal's experience, but it has reminded me why I like Princess more than Royal now and has encouraged me to try Carnival (which I have avoided because of their party reputation).

 

I miss many things including: the chocolate on my pillow, a pen and stationary in my room, the plastic shopping bag (especially when I have a wet swim suit), the free filet on the MDR menu, a welcome back gift (we still use many of the totes, toiletry bags, etc we got years ago), and real shampoo, lotion, conditioner, toiletries in general. I have done laundry on board Princess when we went on a cruise tour (kept packing down).

 

My current experience is that if you want to be treated "Royally" you need to cruise on Princess - how "wrong" is that? And Royal is charging for popcorn with the movies?? And a new article appeared today suggesting they will charge for entertainment in the future?? What's up?? I used to be a big cheerleader for Royal, but now I just cheer lead for cruising in general. It is less and less inclusive and has been cheapened in so many little ways.

[ladylikes2cruise]

i like the fact on Carnival, Platinium and above you get 3 bags of laundry cleaned, free of charge on 7 plus days cruise per member.

That six bag perk for the week, for the both of us, has cut down the amount of clothing to bring.

Helps when we have to fly to port.:D

Edited June 9, 2014 by ladylikes2cruise

[cb at sea]

I have to ditto the self-laundry...I would LOVE to have that option on RCI ships! I know many of you refuse to do laundry on vacation, but I don't mind at all...I actually think it enhances my vacation!

 

I would like to see ALL of the "specialty" restaurants gone, and have those lovely items on the MDR menu again. Along with desserts that are delicious, as well as "too pretty to eat"...like they used to be!