Problems with Royal Caribbean?

[CruisingChick]

The food just didn't seem as good, the staff seemed very short and not as friendly as normal,the lobby desk people weren't as helpful and the staff just seemed curt

 

The food on our Liberty cruise in October was not good at all.

 

The food was much, much better on our Anthem cruise 3 weeks ago. Different menus, better quality and all around a big improvement.

[Jonjhawk]

IMO your post is spot on!

 

Another thing that we were not thrilled with is that they brag about all of the activities offered but they are open for very limited times so lines are so crazy it's hard to participate. Some things you can reserve in advance but who wants to worry about tons of reservations on vacation? On vacation you want to do what you want when you want. Not very doable on Royal.

 

Royal needs to realize that they are not the only game in town. They really need to step it up! We will be changing it up too. We had family booked on the Oasis and we are seriously thinking of changing to NCL Breakaway.

 

 

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What ships were you guys on?

[WrightWay Cruiser]

What ships were you guys on?

 

 

Anthem

 

 

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[Jonjhawk]

Im wondering if it is more the big ships rather than the smaller sized ships people are having problems with

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Am I the only one who read both of these posts and thought "huh"??? LOL!!!

 

I was responding to a post (which I quoted) stating that you had to go on a mega ship before you knew if you liked it or not.

[fishertwin]

I have been on about 15 royal cruises over the last 10 years and many other cruise lines and definitely notice the cuts in service and food . On our cruise out of Florida in march the food was very good but cool in the main dining room 2nd seating . The reason 1 poor waiter taking care of 3 tables of 8 and 1 table of 2 . An assistant waiter that could not keep up filling water glasses and handing out rolls . She never removed a plate or handed out any food but did learn everyone's name . She also did tables for 2 waiters so about 50 people .The waiter worked his butt off , everyone ordered extra everything 2 to 3 meals each and ate a little off each plate and usually after he brought the food from the kitchen he had to go back for more .Oh that looks good can you get me that also ! 1 person feeding 26 people ,2 settings per night with no help . Royal does not pay him ,tips do . Royal however decides how much help is available . They definitely need more help in main dining room . It was always got desert over an hour and a half after setting down . 2 times the ran out of desert items so he would just bring a substitute. We were not the last table to leave but probably the in the last 20 each night .

In the windjammer for breakfast, plenty of help and empty tables ,even announcements during peak periods to leave your table if you are finished eating . regular breakfast food was available except for free orange juice is now some kind of Orange Juice melody . Don't know how much they save but it must be millions . I will definitely be sailing on other brands ,or back to all inclusive resorts for my next vacation .

[renza]

We are finding the quantity and quality of the food on royal and carnival going down hill. We just returned from our carnival breeze cruise and found the food the be warm and good. Not great but good. We were on royal last June and found the food much worse on oasis. We r returning to royal this June on the allure. Carnival now puts a pitcher of water on your table and the rolls on your table. Yes it makes the service staff have to do less but it worked great for us. We love royal ships and entertainment but love carnivals food and food options and cabins better.

[dbevmac]

We just came off a spring break cruise on Oasis. I felt the service was excellent in MDR was great. Food was very good. We did one Specialty restaurant, 150 Central Park, and I wish I had saved the money and ate in MDR that night.

[Paulette3028]

We are finding the quantity and quality of the food on royal and carnival going down hill. We just returned from our carnival breeze cruise and found the food the be warm and good. Not great but good. We were on royal last June and found the food much worse on oasis. We r returning to royal this June on the allure. Carnival now puts a pitcher of water on your table and the rolls on your table. Yes it makes the service staff have to do less but it worked great for us. We love royal ships and entertainment but love carnivals food and food options and cabins better.

 

We have been on 19 cruises over the past 12 years to know that things have changed. Interesting to read that you feel Carnivals food quality has gone down hill, since you are also mentioning Royals. I don't mind smaller portions, because I can order more than one thing if I so choose do, but I seem to be eating all day, so no need to, unless I want to try something.

 

On our Navigator cruise over Thanksgiving on the first couple of nights bread was served by the asst waiter and water glasses were being filled (although slowly). By the 3rd or 4th night, they did just put the rolls in a basket on the table. They were still filling the water glasses by a staff member. That cruise was packed; it was at its maximum passenger capacity. But that never impacted our dinner service much although I could see that making that small change in service could/would help the staff considerably with a very full sailing. Food was fine -- we typically eat in the MDR unless a ship has Izumi.

[nelblu]

Hello everyone,

i have been on 8 cruises total 6 with Royal Caribbean and 2 with carnival cruise line. On our last cruise on Oasis during Spring Break last year we noticed the service and food wasn't as good as it used to be. We noticed this on our cruise 4 years ago as well. I started reading the message boards and have found many people were experiencing the same thing. I was wondering if anyone else was having similar problems or what people's experiences like have been lately. I also wondered if it was just spring break service or if it was just the ship. please let me know if you've had any problems with Royal Caribbean lately as well. We are starting to look into another cruise and just wanting to make sure Royal Caribbean is still the way to go. Thanks!

 

Just off Oasis and we ate in the MDR 5 of the 7 nights. We found the taste & quality to be very good, as a matter of fact a bit better than our Oasis Feb. 6th. The Veal Osso Buco was to die for on the last night, fisherman platter (lobster) was excellent, plus a 2nd helping and the Rack of Lamb was exquisite. Also, ordered brownie sundae form the children's menu, when the dessert menu was not to my liking.

 

The other 2 nights we ate at Giovanni's and Chops Grille.

[mollyeilis]

The food just didn't seem as good, the staff seemed very short and not as friendly as normal,the lobby desk people weren't as helpful and the staff just seemed curt

 

Same experience on Freedom recently. :(

 

 

We did start off with a Coast Guard inspection so Day 1 was all weird. But it continued. No one really seemed to be listening. I state things very clearly, most of the time, and they would answer the question they thought they heard. Then I would repeat my exact words, and they would hear the actual question. It was just odd.

 

As for food, since we're vegetarian we get the same same same things each time. And this time, bleah.

 

I think we'll mainly skip the MDR on our cruise in December. They have more options for us there.

 

 

Always attacking the short people. NOT NICE.

 

:eek:

 

Seriously. :)