No more free WOW bands on Anthem

[karmacats]

 

This is exactly the type we got on quantum - i didn't even realize there were other styles. I don't think ours had the muster station printed on it.

 

These do come in multiple colors. The gold ones were supposed to be reserved for suites, but my entire group of friends on quantum ended up with gold ones, even though half of us were in suites and the other half were not. At some point i was browsing through the jewelry store with a friend and the guy who worked there made some comment along the lines of "you can afford this necklace, you have a gold band!" which i thought was kind of obnoxious. So, i am kind of hoping they stopped the gold-bands-only-for-suites thing. (FWIW, my friend told the guy she was not in a suite, and the price of the necklace magically dropped by 50%. needless to say, she still did not buy it.)

[Cruisin' Ya Ya]

I don't think they'd let cruisers use them from one guest to another. Imagine the hygiene issues, not to mention I wouldn't want to use another person's band.

 

I agree on that idea, but even if the person keeps their own band for future cruises, the muster station is on it, so theoretically, would RCCL assign the same muster station because of the WOW band?

[Turtles06]

I agree on that idea' date=' but even if the person keeps their own band for future cruises, the muster station is on it, so theoretically, would RCCL assign the same muster station because of the WOW band?[/quote']

 

Of course not. The muster stations are assigned by cabin. Look on the back of the cabin door; there's a deck plan showing the location of the muster station for that cabin and the primary and secondary routes to get there.

[cot427]

While I respectfully disagree with RCI's decision to charge for the bands and think if they more fully committed to them (i.e. Portable terminals for every server), they would pay for themselves (with accelerated adaption, increased revenue and more detailed data on guest patterns and flow), I have two specific issues with the way they went about doing this:

 

- The change in policy should not have applied to guest already booked, or at the very least, to those already paid-in-full and past the payment due date.

 

- As the bands are marketed as a guest convenience, there should have been an option, put in place in advance, to pre-purchase the bands and have them waiting for you in your stateroom (as they were when they were included at no extra cost), so you would not have to be inconvenienced by possibly having to wait in a long line to purchase them.

 

It just feels like the move was so poorly thought out.

 

This is just my opinion.

 

These are my thoughts as well. I would hope that they are fully committed to the bands, as they are "future technology."

 

I actually did a short project on RFID use in the travel industry for on of my masters classes and I will say that the actual bands are relatively low in cost (a few dollars, if that, max.) The real expense is the infrastructure to read the cards (doors, portable readers.) So they already have the door capability. They just need to add a few more readers from what I've read. I think it would be irresponsible to scrap the idea this early on. Plus, I think they are integrating it into Harmony, which is a much larger ship (more expense.)

 

I also agree with you about the option to order online. Then it should be waiting for you in the room. There is so much to do once on board, it doesn't make sense to make guests go to the shop (which is not open until the late evening of embarkation day) to get the band. Perhaps if they had a table set up like they do with drink packages, and then move them to the shop later on, that would be okay.

[Turtles06]

These are my thoughts as well. I would hope that they are fully committed to the bands, as they are "future technology."

 

I actually did a short project on RFID use in the travel industry for on of my masters classes and I will say that the actual bands are relatively low in cost (a few dollars, if that, max.) The real expense is the infrastructure to read the cards (doors, portable readers.) So they already have the door capability. They just need to add a few more readers from what I've read. I think it would be irresponsible to scrap the idea this early on. Plus, I think they are integrating it into Harmony, which is a much larger ship (more expense.)

 

I also agree with you about the option to order online. Then it should be waiting for you in the room. There is so much to do once on board, it doesn't make sense to make guests go to the shop (which is not open until the late evening of embarkation day) to get the band. Perhaps if they had a table set up like they do with drink packages, and then move them to the shop later on, that would be okay.

 

I agree with most of what you've said (and I've said in earlier posts that it's insane not to let people order the bands in advance it they have to pay), but having just sailed on Anthem, it's not just "a few more readers." If the goal is to not require people to have to take the bands off and hand them over in order to use them, then every server in every restaurant and theatre, and every bartender, would need to have them. That's far more than a "few" people.

 

Right now, every reader that can read a sea pass card can read the bands, and just as you have to hand over your card in the instances I just noted, you also have to hand over your band. So the question is whether the goal is to make is so that the bands don't have to be handed over.

 

In European restaurants, even little ones, servers have portable credit card readers. Surely it's feasible for RCI to have portable readers for the WOW bands.

[robtulipe]

While I respectfully disagree with RCI's decision to charge for the bands and think if they more fully committed to them (i.e. Portable terminals for every server), they would pay for themselves (with accelerated adaption, increased revenue and more detailed data on guest patterns and flow), I have two specific issues with the way they went about doing this:

 

- The change in policy should not have applied to guest already booked, or at the very least, to those already paid-in-full and past the payment due date.

 

- As the bands are marketed as a guest convenience, there should have been an option, put in place in advance, to pre-purchase the bands and have them waiting for you in your stateroom (as they were when they were included at no extra cost), so you would not have to be inconvenienced by possibly having to wait in a long line to purchase them.

 

It just feels like the move was so poorly thought out.

 

This is just my opinion.

I agree wholeheartedly.

This information is still currently on our Set Sail passes for our Jan.3rd Anthem cruise. A lot of cruisers will be looking for and complaining about the lack of their WOW bands in their cabin.

 

[ATTACH]368943[/ATTACH]

Edited November 17, 2015 by robtulipe

[robtulipe]

Edited November 17, 2015 by robtulipe

[JezzaC]

I agree wholeheartedly.

This information is still currently on our Set Sail passes for our Jan.3rd Anthem cruise. A lot of cruisers will be looking for and complaining about the lack of their WOW bands in their cabin.

 

[ATTACH]368943[/ATTACH]

 

Since it is documented there and RCL hasn't send information they are quite weak on charging for the WOW bands. At least they should inform the passengers before hand. Another thing is that is it worth spending time in guest relations due to few bucks.

[robtulipe]

Since it is documented there and RCL hasn't send information they are quite weak on charging for the WOW bands. At least they should inform the passengers before hand. Another thing is that is it worth spending time in guest relations due to few bucks.

 

I agree that being I know about this I won't be surprised if the bands aren't in our cabin and won't bother trying to get them, especially at a cost, from guest services. Others onboard who don't about the change in policy, charging for these band, will likely go to guest services to get what they think are their complimentary WOW bands and won't be wowed by what they are likely to be told. I suspect the staff there will be getting lots of complaints. I definitely would if I had already gone to the bother and was already at GS re this.

As you likely know passengers don't sign and hand in the Quantum class ship Set Sail or do a check in with an agent as done with other older class of ships. Your luggage receipt is attached to it and you use the pass to get onboard so the passenger will have the above WOW band printed information easily available.

[Shak]

I really like the idea of WOW bands but RCI can keep them for $5. I have been cruising with sea passes that are free for over 20 years now and OK with that.

 

Shak

[MaritimeR&R]

- The change in policy should not have applied to guest already booked, or at the very least, to those already paid-in-full and past the payment due date.

 

 

I agree totally with this. It's not the charge itself, but rather the principle.

[Wildcatfish]

If you don't get a WOW Band, and you don't check in at a desk ,where do you get the traditional 'card' that is used as your room key & onboard charges?

[denatravels]

If you don't get a WOW Band, and you don't check in at a desk ,where do you get the traditional 'card' that is used as your room key & onboard charges?

 

 

From what others have said, it's in your room. You can use the paper docs to charge to the room before you get it.

[Turtles06]

If you don't get a WOW Band, and you don't check in at a desk ,where do you get the traditional 'card' that is used as your room key & onboard charges?

 

Your sea pass card will be in a sealed envelope outside your cabin door (and any other cards will be on the bed). Until cabins are ready, you use your set sail pass to make any purchases on board. No big deal and quite easy.

[Wildcatfish]

Thanks denatravels & Turtles06! Appreciate your help.

[MisterBill99]

Fellow cruiser Sanz contacted RCCL about this and reported the results in our 1/3/16 roll call thread. I think it's worth posting here.

 

Spent 1/2 hour discussing with RCCL corporate and they indicated the new policy is in force on Anthem and it is within their right to not provide the WOWBands. It was also mentioned that an internal memo indicated that no exceptions to the policy or compensation were to be provided.

 

From the tone of the conversation it seemed that they wanted reduce the usage of WOWBands.. not sure if there are technical issues or else the whole concept is not well thought out, as it seems they have limited usefulness.

Edited November 20, 2015 by MisterBill99

[MisterBill99]

At some point i was browsing through the jewelry store with a friend and the guy who worked there made some comment along the lines of "you can afford this necklace, you have a gold band!" which i thought was kind of obnoxious. So, i am kind of hoping they stopped the gold-bands-only-for-suites thing. (FWIW, my friend told the guy she was not in a suite, and the price of the necklace magically dropped by 50%. needless to say, she still did not buy it.)

This is an amusing story but are you really saying that prices in the on-board jewelry shops are negotiable?

[Turtles06]

Fellow cruiser Sanz contacted RCCL about this and reported the results in our 1/3/16 roll call thread. I think it's worth posting here.

 

Spent 1/2 hour discussing with RCCL corporate and they indicated the new policy is in force on Anthem and it is within their right to not provide the WOWBands. It was also mentioned that an internal memo indicated that no exceptions to the policy or compensation were to be provided.

 

From the tone of the conversation it seemed that they wanted reduce the usage of WOWBands.. not sure if there are technical issues or else the whole concept is not well thought out, as it seems they have limited usefulness.

 

Thanks for posting this info. It never ceases to amaze me how poorly some businesses fail to understand the value of corporate good will.

 

As to the "limited usefulness" of the WOW bands, that's only because RCI hasn't fully committed to the technology. But where they work, they're great.

[denatravels]

Thanks for posting this info. It never ceases to amaze me how poorly some businesses fail to understand the value of corporate good will.

 

 

 

As to the "limited usefulness" of the WOW bands, that's only because RCI hasn't fully committed to the technology. But where they work, they're great.

 

 

If they were more useful, perhaps people wouldn't mind paying for them.

[IntoTheOcean]

Thanks for posting this info. It never ceases to amaze me how poorly some businesses fail to understand the value of corporate good will.

 

This is exactly it. If RCI's stance is that they are within their legal rights, then they have truly missed the point. The companies I choose to do repeat business with are ones that have earned my trust; companies that I feel treat me with respect, as I do them and their representatives.

 

While I am sure RCI is well within their rights in making this change, their lack of effort in transparently communicating this with adequate notice, along with their apparent desire to ignore the concerns some of their clients have, has me questioning whether spending my hard-earned money with them in the future is a smart choice.

 

Let's face it. RCI never gave the WOW Bands away. The cost has been factored into the overall price you pay for the cruise. So with them changing their policy for those already booked, it appears that everyone is still paying for it, and those who wish to try it will have to pay twice. And while I realize $5 is such a small amount in comparison to what I paid for the cruise, it concerns me that RCI seems so willing to sacrifice the trust of some of their clients over it.:(

Edited November 20, 2015 by IntoTheOcean

[Turtles06]

This is exactly it. If RCI's stance is that they are within their legal rights, then they have truly missed the point. The companies I choose to do repeat business with are ones that have earned my trust; companies that I feel treat me with respect, as I do them and their representatives.

 

While I am sure RCI is well within their rights in making this change, their lack of effort in transparently communicating this with adequate notice, along with their apparent desire to ignore the concerns some of their clients have, has me questioning whether spending my hard-earned money with them in the future is a smart choice.

 

Let's face it. RCI never gave the WOW Bands away. The cost has been factored into the overall price you pay for the cruise. So with them changing their policy for those already booked, it appears that everyone is still paying for it, and those who wish to try it will have to pay twice. And while I realize $5 is such a small amount in comparison to what I paid for the cruise, it concerns me that RCI seems so willing to sacrifice the trust of some of their clients over it.:(

 

Exactly right. It's not the amount of the money, it's that how you treat people, particularly over small amounts of money when people have already paid large amounts to you, can really tick people off. I don't understand why they are doing this to people who are past final payment, and certainly not without a really good explanation.

 

Having received one of the last "free" WOW bands (we were on the TA, the last saiing before they started to charge for them), I feel as though I should mount mine in a display case. :p

[conandrob240]

So, if Wow bands aren't part of the deal (and, as a result will go away), what exactly are these vast technological advances that distinguish Quantum class? I thought these ships were supposed to wow you with amazing technology. What is that amazing technology?

[The_Big_M]

From the tone of the conversation it seemed that they wanted reduce the usage of WOWBands..

 

If that were true they would do the same with Quantum.

 

This change is only on Anthem.

[conandrob240]

Well, right now it is. I am sure Quantum will soon follow unless thy get tremendous backlash.

[Turtles06]

So, if Wow bands aren't part of the deal (and, as a result will go away), what exactly are these vast technological advances that distinguish Quantum class? I thought these ships were supposed to wow you with amazing technology. What is that amazing technology?

 

Upload your own security photo, check in in a few minutes via a roving agent with a tablet, Royal iQ app, Voom internet, among other things. Frankly, the WOW bands are pretty minor