First RCCL Cruise: Terrible Disappointment

[Thetrail]

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.

OK.....:rolleyes:

[WendyVF]

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.

 

That's the right attitude. You have to compare apples to apples. RCCL's ships are really nice and I enjoy the difference occasionally if the price is right. If it means I can cruise multiple times a year, I'm great with Carnival! We cruise for the vacation, relaxation and the islands!

[JimAOk1945]

However, if this ship and voyage are what the company is putting forward, count this as my LAST cruise on this brand. EVER.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your disappointment. It sometimes takes awhile to get used to the differences between cruise lines. However, I think you will find there are a lot of similarities.

 

You're on a remarkable itinerary. Don't let the food be the determining factor of your overall enjoyment of this cruise.

[Paul65]

Sorry that you're disappointed in the cruise so far, but perhaps it will get better. I don't think that you should have expected Royal Caribbean to be an entirely different level of service from Carnival, though. Sorry that you went into with that expectation.

 

That said, if you wanted to see places like Hong Kong and Singapore, you won't get there on Carnival.

[pspercy]

That one is certainly in the running:).

 

Don't delay !

 

I booked Anthem last April for 10/2016. Prices have already risen such that the cheapest Inside is now higher than our balcony:eek:

[Merion_Mom]

(from his roll call)

 

He seemed to be prepared for a difficult embarkation in Hong Kong. And for the fact that it is a repositioning cruise. At least he THOUGHT that he was. ;) :)

 

Hi there!

 

My wife and I are recently retired and relocated here to the Philippines from Las Vegas in the US.

 

We are taking our first cruise in the Asia/Pacific area, and this will also be our first trip aboard a Royal Caribbean ship!

 

We took our first cruise in 2012 and were immediately hooked. Due to our location, Carnival was the most accessible cruise line so all of our cruises to date have been on Carnival ships. In fact, all of our trips were out of the Long Beach port until our retirement cruises (B2B) out of Miami last November.

 

We are also flying to Hong Kong on the 12th, and would certainly be interested in meeting up with some folk there. Anyone know if you can buy SIM cards for iPhone 4s in Hong Kong? That would help us get in touch with folks!

 

Doug

 

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm sure you'll see my lovely wife posting on here pretty soon. She's really excited about getting to know new friends and having some people to chat with prior to the cruise.

 

I did a little research, and discovered there are SIM cards available for purchase at most convenience stores, including the 7-11 at the airport, so that's what we'll do! It's nice to have the ability to hop onto messenger or send an SMS message when trying to get organized.

 

We're staying at the Royal Pacific Hotel as it was recommended by a friend of ours who travels quite a bit for work. As for sights, etc. since this is our first time ever in Hong Kong, we want to visit the iconic Victoria Peak. Other than that, we don't have any firm plans.

 

I've been reading the same reviews as everyone else concerning the substandard quality of the Hong Kong based cruises, but I'm less concerned for this trip due to the fact that it is a repositioning voyage as opposed to a regular holiday outing. Also, it would appear that many of the disappointed reviewers likely got off to a bad tempered start due to the embarkation process in Hong Kong. Having read the stories, we will be ready for a chaotic morning and won't let that put us in a bad mood.

 

We've always been "the ship is our destination" cruisers, but would really like to join in on some of the planned outings in HCMC and BKK, especially if some of our tour mates have been to these places before!

[ken_nyc]

Oxman sorry your expectations are not being met! It is only the first day of your cruise so maybe it will get better!

 

We have cruised on both lines, being Carnival was the first line that we went on and we love the actual Royal Caribbean ships better. As far as service and food goes Royal Caribbean was better than Carnival in some areas but not worse. Don't forget everyones tastes and likes vary, you have people that love certain restaurants and hotels and others that dislike the same ones. Never set the bar so high that it will be a disappointment if it is not met.

 

You are on vacation so you have to not let things bother you or it will ruin your whole experience.

 

If you are that upset I suggest that you email Royal Caribbean with your complaints so that they know where the problems are (this goes for everyone who has problems on their cruise). If they do not get the complaints, they will not know where to improve.

[Merion_Mom]

Oxman sorry your expectations are not being met! It is only the first day of your cruise so maybe it will get better!

 

We have cruised on both lines, being Carnival was the first line that we went on and we love the actual Royal Caribbean ships better. As far as service and food goes Royal Caribbean was better than Carnival in some areas but not worse. Don't forget everyones tastes and likes vary, you have people that love certain restaurants and hotels and others that dislike the same ones. Never set the bar so high that it will be a disappointment if it is not met.

 

You are on vacation so you have to not let things bother you or it will ruin your whole experience.

 

If you are that upset I suggest that you email Royal Caribbean with your complaints so that they know where the problems are (this goes for everyone who has problems on their cruise). If they do not get the complaints, they will not know where to improve.

 

NO. Do not "email Royal Caribbean".

 

You are on board the ship. Go to the appropriate people with your problems.

 

Problem with your cabin steward? Talk to the deck supervisor and/or Head of Housekeeping.

 

Problem with communication about the Meet & Mingle? Talk to the Groups Coordinator.

 

Problem with food? Talk to the Food & Beverage Manager.

 

General problems? Go to Guest Services, deck 5.

 

Don't just complain about things. Talk to people on your ship who can make them better for you.

[ken_nyc]

NO. Do not "email Royal Caribbean".

 

You are on board the ship. Go to the appropriate people with your problems.

 

Problem with your cabin steward? Talk to the deck supervisor and/or Head of Housekeeping.

 

Problem with communication about the Meet & Mingle? Talk to the Groups Coordinator.

 

Problem with food? Talk to the Food & Beverage Manager.

 

General problems? Go to Guest Services, deck 5.

 

Don't just complain about things. Talk to people on your ship who can make them better for you.

 

Yes since you are on the ship I agree with Merion_Mom.

[roquejo]

(from his roll call)

 

He seemed to be prepared for a difficult embarkation in Hong Kong. And for the fact that it is a repositioning cruise. At least he THOUGHT that he was. ;) :)

 

Hell yeah, embarkation in Kai Tak cruise terminal on my last Oct 10 Voyager cruise is the worst among all the embarkation ports I have been.. it was legendary chaotic.

 

But it is not the fault of RCCL but more on for the outsourced intercruises HK company managing the embarkation.

 

What is ironic is intercruises based on Tianjin port are very good and professional and embarkation at Tianjin port is more organized than Kai Tak.

 

First, no C&A line in the initial step where you get your sea pass.. and for the final check, I went into the C&A entrance being Diamond and was stopped by a stupid guard who claims I was cutting the line and asked me to enter again via the regular non C&A line. I initially insisted I am Diamond so I can use the express entrance which was clearly marked for Platinums and up and he won't budge!!! Until I called one of the intercruises staff to tell the guard I can use that express entrance.

 

Sheez... do they ever communicate?

 

They should do something about it as Intercruises HK is giving HK a bad name.

 

I'm embarking again in HK for Legend of the Seas in HK again in 2 weeks but this time it is in Ocean Terminal, Harbour City instead of Kai Tak terminal.

 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that embarkation will be better there.

Edited October 16, 2015 by roquejo

[Scotty G]

NO. Do not "email Royal Caribbean".

 

You are on board the ship. Go to the appropriate people with your problems.

 

Problem with your cabin steward? Talk to the deck supervisor and/or Head of Housekeeping.

 

Problem with communication about the Meet & Mingle? Talk to the Groups Coordinator.

 

Problem with food? Talk to the Food & Beverage Manager.

 

General problems? Go to Guest Services, deck 5.

 

Don't just complain about things. Talk to people on your ship who can make them better for you.

 

Agree 100% !!!

[Cindy]

NO. Do not "email Royal Caribbean".

 

You are on board the ship. Go to the appropriate people with your problems.

 

Problem with your cabin steward? Talk to the deck supervisor and/or Head of Housekeeping.

 

Problem with communication about the Meet & Mingle? Talk to the Groups Coordinator.

 

Problem with food? Talk to the Food & Beverage Manager.

 

General problems? Go to Guest Services, deck 5.

 

Don't just complain about things. Talk to people on your ship who can make them better for you.

 

This is great advice! A thread on Cruise Critic will result in absolutely zero improvement or change, but talking to people on the ship MAY result in improvements.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

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.

 

I found NCL's food to be terrible. Although amenities may be similar, RCI is miles ahead in terms of ship design and flow. YMMV.

[johnjen]

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.

 

One look at my cruising history - there's reasons why we only cruised on one Carnival cruise...pretty much matches very close to what your reasons were for not wanting to cruise RCL again - but one specific thing that amped me on the CCL cruise was us showing up dressed to the nines for formal night - and seeing people wearing shorts - even flipflops, so to us, Carnival was "the walmart of cruise companies."

[OCruisers]

Oxman .... When cruising on RCCL, we go to dinner almost every night in a specialty restaurant because we won't like the MDR food.

[tlatrice]

One look at my cruising history - there's reasons why we only cruised on one Carnival cruise...pretty much matches very close to what your reasons were for not wanting to cruise RCL again - but one specific thing that amped me on the CCL cruise was us showing up dressed to the nines for formal night - and seeing people wearing shorts - even flipflops, so to us, Carnival was "the walmart of cruise companies."

 

:eek:

[ronandannette]

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.

And in doing so you'd be setting up for bitter disappointment, much like it sounds the OP has. I've sailed on all 3 of these lines and likely will again. None of them are either impeccable or horrible. They each excel in certain areas and likewise fall short in certain areas - on balance very competitive. Which line you like most or least will depend a great deal on what means the most to you.

 

FWIW, the worst experience I ever had on a cruise was with Celebrity, and that's almost completely because I had "drunk the koolaid" and let my expectations of how wonderful it would be completely out of whack.

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.

Very accurate to what I've experienced. And NCL actually had the best food and service of all 3, averaging my experiences over the past 5 years.

Edited October 16, 2015 by ronandannette

[Guest maddycat]

I found NCL's food to be terrible. Although amenities may be similar, RCI is miles ahead in terms of ship design and flow. YMMV.

 

There you go. It's all subjective. We all have different likes and dislikes. We cruised with NCL twice and will never cruise on that line again. We weren't happy with the food, service or attitude of the staff.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

There you go. It's all subjective. We all have different likes and dislikes. We cruised with NCL twice and will never cruise on that line again. We weren't happy with the food, service or attitude of the staff.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention anything about service! On NCL, it was subpar at best. Royal's is consistently great IMO.

[dada2199cc]

Carnival cruises I've been on were monkeys throwing organic matter at each other. I joked with a buddy as we were heading to port about my bad first Carnival and that cruise for us was worse. I think the toddlers got free alcohol packages, too!

 

NCL was my favorite for short cruises until I had two bad experiences that left me really disheartened. And I have almost no expectations other than food not being frozen when served (NCL) and some semblance of lounge chair maintenance (Carnival) to reduce chair hogging.

 

Celebrity actually had me and a CSR swearing at each other and the First Officer stepping in and yelling at her for lying to me on the record. My pops is a Celebrity fanatic so I still cruise twice a year with him but that one experience just made me unsteady. Never had a CSR actually starting yelling at me because I was confused about a committed perk.

 

RCCL has never dropped the ball on me. One time I thought it was happening but a quick call to guest relations (not to complain, just to inform them about a concern) had it resolved 500% beyond any fantasy solution.

 

I also prefer RCCL's co-addicts. So many sweet and extremely charitable Pinnacle cruisers has me pretty loyal. These folks have helped me turn a 6.5/10 into an 8.5/10 just by being decent humans.

 

Never did Holland America, yet. Never did Disney, yet. RCCL has been for another dozen cruises at 20-30% below my expected budget, so let's see if the next 100 cruise points allows them to screw up.

[703cruiser]

How is the food adapted in the Asian markets? (Not a rhetorical question, I'm actually curious.)

 

I spend a lot of time traveling around Asia, primarily because I like the food in the region. For me, cruising Asia and expecting great (or even good) food on a cruise ship just doesn't compute. Nothing is going to compare to what you can get on land. To me, the whole cruise food in Asia thing is almost like taking a fall foliage cruise in New England/Canada and complaining that the weather wasn't warm enough to use the pool.

[George C]

There you go. It's all subjective. We all have different likes and dislikes. We cruised with NCL twice and will never cruise on that line again. We weren't happy with the food, service or attitude of the staff.

 

I loved NCL in 80's and 90's Norway was a great ship ( cruised it 7 times) but line went downhill, totally agree with you, will never cruise NCL again.

[CruisesOnMyMind]

One look at my cruising history - there's reasons why we only cruised on one Carnival cruise...pretty much matches very close to what your reasons were for not wanting to cruise RCL again - but one specific thing that amped me on the CCL cruise was us showing up dressed to the nines for formal night - and seeing people wearing shorts - even flipflops, so to us, Carnival was "the walmart of cruise companies."

 

I see you haven't cruised on over 5 years. Be prepared even on Royal you are going to see the shorts and flipflops on formal night. Dressed to the nines although nice to see, is fading by the wayside bit by bit.

[gkny]

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.

 

I definitely agree with you. Just got back from the Serenade and the service and the staff were excellent but the food was just par so didn't gain any weight. What I did on this past cruise was ask what the crew mess was having. The crew mess cook made me adobo pork or chicken almost everynight and they were happy to do so and I'm far from being a diamond.

[gkny]

How is the food adapted in the Asian markets? (Not a rhetorical question, I'm actually curious.)

 

I spend a lot of time traveling around Asia, primarily because I like the food in the region. For me, cruising Asia and expecting great (or even good) food on a cruise ship just doesn't compute. Nothing is going to compare to what you can get on land. To me, the whole cruise food in Asia thing is almost like taking a fall foliage cruise in New England/Canada and complaining that the weather wasn't warm enough to use the pool.

 

If you love Asia, then I'd reccomend the Quantum for you based in Shanghai. It sails all year from there and is geard to the Chinese market and not geared for Americans.