First RCCL Cruise: Terrible Disappointment

[Oxman]

All of our previous cruising has been on Carnival. Based in no small part on information/discussions on this website, we were expecting a new level of enjoyment.

 

Unfortunately, aboard Voyager of the Seas from Hong Kong to Singapore, we have been experiencing a terrible letdown.

 

The food and service are, in a word, horrific.

 

There is no organization in the dining rooms, the food in Windjammer is tasteless and unappealing, we didn't even have a room service menu in our cabin. Our cabin steward is spread over far too many cabins; he doesn't manage to get our cabin made up until very late in the afternoon.

 

In addition, our Meet and Mingle party has vanished into non-existence. We have received no information about a place/time. Nobody on board even knows what I'm talking about when I ask.

 

We were certainly looking forward to adding RCCL to our cruising toolkit. However, if this ship and voyage are what the company is putting forward, count this as my LAST cruise on this brand. EVER.

[Andros]

Sorry you are having a less than desired cruise. Maybe the itinerary is new,just not sure. I do know if you set your expectations too high that you are basically setting yourself up for disappointment. I hope things improve over the next however many days. Don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy yourself. Your sailing from Hong Kong to Singapore something people can only dream of doing. Best Regards......

[Oxman]

I agree that setting expectations too high is a bad thing. However, I'm simply comparing our current experience with our past experience on Carnival. The service and food aboard are far below what we experienced in the past. Maybe that's what you get cruising is Asia. If that's the case, then we know what to expect in the future. And that makes the cost far too high for the value of the product.

[Merion_Mom]

Look on a hook on the wall behind the cabin door. That's where the room service menus should be hanging. (the breakfast menus)

 

The regular "books" should be in the center vanity drawer.

 

In addition, the menus should be on one of the channels on your interactive TV.

[Merion_Mom]

It is no excuse, but repositioning cruises can have some glitches, as crew become accustomed to a new routine.

[MADflyer]

Meet and mingle times can be checked prior to sailing, but once the sailing has embarked they are no longer shown.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/ccConfirmedPartyList.do?src=CCC

 

It would seem the meet and mingle would have been on the 16th at 10 AM in the High Notes lounge.

 

The Group Coordinator on the ship is the officer responsible for managing the invitations and guest services should have known to contact this manager.

[Merion_Mom]

I think that it may be worth mentioning that the OP embarked on his cruise on the 14th and he posted this on the 15th.

[champagne123]

This may sound like an ignorant question, having never been on a TA...but with the ships being in different countries, is the food supply from those countries?

 

In other words, here in the US, most of the food is supplied by the vendor Sysco....American food. So, what I am getting at is, can the quality and types of food be very different than what we are used to?

[sparks1093]

I agree that setting expectations too high is a bad thing. However, I'm simply comparing our current experience with our past experience on Carnival. The service and food aboard are far below what we experienced in the past. Maybe that's what you get cruising is Asia. If that's the case, then we know what to expect in the future. And that makes the cost far too high for the value of the product.

 

I understand what you mean, I have only sailed on NCL and CCL so far, but from all that I've read about RCCL the experience is miles ahead of either of those lines so that is what I'll be expecting. Hope things improve for you.

[champagne123]

I understand what you mean, I have only sailed on NCL and CCL so far, but from all that I've read about RCCL the experience is miles ahead of either of those lines so that is what I'll be expecting. Hope things improve for you.

 

Shame on you..:eek: Lol. You are in a very doable driving distance to Cape Liberty. BOOK THAT CRUISE on the ANTHEM. :eek:

[BillOh]

 

In addition, our Meet and Mingle party has vanished into non-existence. We have received no information about a place/time. Nobody on board even knows what I'm talking about when I ask.

 

 

 

Did you sign up for it? I assume you participated in the roll call for that sailing? They are supposed to put a note in your room if you signed up. But to validate your point, I've had the notice not show up twice and the meeting time changed and not notified. Most of the crew will have no idea what you are talking about, but if you ask for the Groups coordinator that person usually does.

[papaflamingo]

I understand what you mean, I have only sailed on NCL and CCL so far, but from all that I've read about RCCL the experience is miles ahead of either of those lines so that is what I'll be expecting. Hope things improve for you.

 

I would tone down my expectations. RCCL is similar to NCL and CCL. Each cruise line has their pluses and minuses. If you expect RCCL to be "miles ahead," I think you might be disappointed. Read the boards, filter the comments, both positive and negative, and you'll have realistic expectations.

[Starry Eyes]

I think that it may be worth mentioning that the OP embarked on his cruise on the 14th and he posted this on the 15th.

 

Wow. That is quick judgement about speed of service.

[ryano]

all that I've read about RCCL the experience is miles ahead of either of those lines so that is what I'll be expecting. .

 

You are going to be terribly disappointed then. :o I dont have much experience with other lines but people that say RCCL is "miles ahead" of similar competition like Carnival and NCL are wearing blinders likely and are RCCL pom pom wavers. Even though the RC ships Ive been on so far are MUCH nicer than the old Carnival ship I went on, I dont find the service, food or anything else to be all that different and certainly not "miles ahead".

 

Lower your expectations some and have a good time :) You will likely find that RCCL is very similar to your experience on other mass market cruise lines.

Edited October 16, 2015 by ryano

[Big_G]

Me thinks sparks1093 is pulling people's leg.

 

 

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[sparks1093]

I would tone down my expectations. RCCL is similar to NCL and CCL. Each cruise line has their pluses and minuses. If you expect RCCL to be "miles ahead," I think you might be disappointed. Read the boards, filter the comments, both positive and negative, and you'll have realistic expectations.

 

You are going to be terribly disappointed then. :o I dont have much experience with other lines but people that say RCCL is "miles ahead" of similar competition like Carnival and NCL are wearing blinders likely and are RCCL pom pom wavers. Even though the RC ships Ive been on so far are MUCH nicer than the old Carnival ship I went on, I dont find the service, food or anything else to be all that different and certainly not "miles ahead".

 

Lower your expectations some and have a good time :) You will likely find that RCCL is very similar to your experience on other mass market cruise lines.

 

Yes, my expectations will be reasonable because fortunately I try not to pay too much attention to that kind of thing, but I can certainly see where someone would expect a much better experience based on the reviews and what is said on the boards.

[sparks1093]

Me thinks sparks1093 is pulling people's leg.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Not leg pulling so much but I can see how someone's expectations could be inflated based on comparisions between the lines. I was just pricing a cruise for 2/2017 and RCCL is comparable in price with CCL and NCL is hundreds more than either of them, so I would expect an experience similar to what I've had.

[sparks1093]

Shame on you..:eek: Lol. You are in a very doable driving distance to Cape Liberty. BOOK THAT CRUISE on the ANTHEM. :eek:

 

That one is certainly in the running:).

[Miamia65]

Last year when we cruised the singapore to sydney repositioning cruise a lot of staff debarked the ship at the end of their contract and were not replaced until the ship got to sydney. It was explained as a change over of staff from one region of the world to another. It did impact service here and there but we didn't care because we were cruising on RCI.

[cot427]

I think that it may be worth mentioning that the OP embarked on his cruise on the 14th and he posted this on the 15th.

 

I noticed that too! Didn't give it much time before the complaints came rolling in, did they?

 

I seem to read that a lot. People have only been on one cruise line and their first time on the new one almost starts off bad because they are looking for comparisons and things they can fault.

[Paulette3028]

All of our previous cruising has been on Carnival. Based in no small part on information/discussions on this website, we were expecting a new level of enjoyment.

 

Unfortunately, aboard Voyager of the Seas from Hong Kong to Singapore, we have been experiencing a terrible letdown.

 

The food and service are, in a word, horrific.

 

There is no organization in the dining rooms, the food in Windjammer is tasteless and unappealing, we didn't even have a room service menu in our cabin. Our cabin steward is spread over far too many cabins; he doesn't manage to get our cabin made up until very late in the afternoon.

 

In addition, our Meet and Mingle party has vanished into non-existence. We have received no information about a place/time. Nobody on board even knows what I'm talking about when I ask.

 

We were certainly looking forward to adding RCCL to our cruising toolkit. However, if this ship and voyage are what the company is putting forward, count this as my LAST cruise on this brand. EVER.

 

Considering that you are giving your current experience on Voyager ONE day before complaining about it, that causes me to wonder about HOW you could actually be giving a representative 'short review' at this moment. That is just MY opinion.

 

None of the previous cruises that I see listed, were repositioning cruises. I have never been on a repositioning cruise, but from what others who I trust have said, there can be some confusion on the first few days. You may not like that, but it seems to be the case. Perhaps you would have nothing to complain about if you had taken a repositioning cruise on a different cruise line prior to going on this one. Other cruise lines may go through similar issues on the first few days.

 

Make the most of the REST of your cruise!

Edited October 16, 2015 by Paulette3028

[mugtech]

Sorry you are having a less than desired cruise. Maybe the itinerary is new,just not sure. I do know if you set your expectations too high that you are basically setting yourself up for disappointment. I hope things improve over the next however many days. Don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy yourself. Your sailing from Hong Kong to Singapore something people can only dream of doing. Best Regards......

 

I agree it is a dream cruise, but I read other bad reviews about embarking in Hong Kong, and RCCL has only one cruise scheduled in 2016 departing from Hong Kong. I was hoping to sail into the Philippines ports and get off in Singapore, but those cruises are not available in 2016. I wonder why.

[nbsjcruiser]

I understand what you mean, I have only sailed on NCL and CCL so far, but from all that I've read about RCCL the experience is miles ahead of either of those lines so that is what I'll be expecting. Hope things improve for you.

 

Having cruised several times on all 3 lines I can say that the RCCL experience is NOT miles ahead of NCL. In fact I would put the NCL experience slightly ahead. The ship amenities ar similar on both lines but the food is superior on NCL. As far as CCL goes, RCCL used to be miles ahead but the gap has closed in recent years and more because of what RCCL has done than CCL. RCCL's food quality has not been up to par on my last few cruises on them but the ship experience is better on RCCL than CCL. If CCL ever starts cranking out a few new ships with some different on-board options, they could easily over-take RCCL.

[Cindy]

I noticed that too! Didn't give it much time before the complaints came rolling in, did they?

 

I seem to read that a lot. People have only been on one cruise line and their first time on the new one almost starts off bad because they are looking for comparisons and things they can fault.

 

My first RCI cruise was my second cruise, and at first I didn't like it at all. There wasn't anything wrong per se, but we had loved our first cruise on a different line and expected everything but the name on the ship to be the same.

 

It took a few days, but gradually we became accustomed to the different way things ran, and really enjoyed ourselves. We've since cruised with 3 more different lines, and have found things we like and dislike about all of them.

 

That said, I'm a bit surprised anybody would post something like this within the first day after boarding. I have always found the first 24 hours on most ships to be less than perfect, and assume things are even more unsettled if the ship is repositioning. I think the OP should wait until at least half way through the cruise to make definitive judgments.:rolleyes:

[roquejo]

Come on!!!! I just got off Voyager in Hong Kong the day you boarded. Chill and just mingle with your fellow "kababayans" crew in this ship.

 

Voyager is my favorite RCCL ship for Asia and I sailed it three times already. If Voyager doesn't meet your expectations, then you will find Quantum and Mariner even worse.

 

So far I've tried 3 RCCL ships in Asia already and rated Voyager the highest among the 3. Will try Legend of the Seas Asia sailing 2 weeks from now so don't know how it compares with Voyager, Mariner and Quantum.

 

Please note that you are in Asia and RCCL adapts to local culture so it feels different and it is better to compare RCCL's US and Australia sailings with Carnaval and NCL than its Asia sailings.

 

If you want a comparison vs Carnaval based on an even ground, I suggest you try Allure of the Seas sailing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida as you will get RCCL's original culture compared to your current Voyager sailing that has adapted to Asian culture which caters mostly to Chinese guests in this region.

 

Please note that I sail both RCCL and NCL and they are pretty much the same, except RCCL's loyalty program is the best in the industry, by a very far margin, when you reach Diamond and above.

 

I sailed Voyager as Diamond and was pampered with great service, especially from the lounge's concierge staff.

Edited October 16, 2015 by roquejo