Just off Empress- never again!

[kruzerci]

 

Then cruisers have to be 'mentally prepared and realistic' that even if the promotional material says something, it just might not be all working at 100% and this ship surely had enough pre-sailing issues to have people in this mindset.

 

You do realize that Cruise Critic members are a tiny tiny tiny portion of overall cruisers... and the vast majority of passengers have no idea when a ship is going into dry dock (or what a dry dock is), what is planned for the dry dock, and which sailing is first after dry dock... Right?

 

Royal Caribbean needs to have their "ship" together by the time the first passengers hit the gangway. There is no excuse for people have to be "mentally prepared" and "realistic" for things to go wrong on their vacation.

[pstone1]

Lately doesn't seem easy to have a ship set sail with no issues after a drydock or on its inaugural sailing. Empress seems to have had its unfair share of setbacks.....we can blame it on poor management or poor planning by management or poor engineering planning on management....but not on cruisers, for sure.

 

Then cruisers have to be 'mentally prepared and realistic' that even if the promotional material says something, it just might not be all working at 100% and this ship surely had enough pre-sailing issues to have people in this mindset.

 

I don't have any excuses however for improper training, and that seems like something that I am hearing. Bartenders not knowing what drinks are part of the 3 drink/coupon perk for Diamonds during certain hours, is inexcusable. How to make sure that servers are trained to refill water glasses without waiting ridiculously long. These should just be standard training issues and they had plenty of time to do extra training.

 

How any ship handles a Diamond event/Top Tier Event, is usually in the hands of the Hotel Director in conjunction with the Food and Beverage Director. They make changes to scheduling sometimes due to the number of C&A members on board. Why there wasn't a place to hold a Diamond event needs to be asked of the Hotel Director....and it should be asked of them.

 

I guess no one has gone to a new or remodeled hotel in a prime location to find the scaffolds still around the hotel and work still going on.....I sure have and they did not lower the 5 star rate they charged and did not do anything to 'accommodate' anyones dissatisfaction. They had plenty of time to let me know, and I could have changed my hotel in that city for my trip, but that did not happen.

 

For the 500th time, none of us booked an inaugural cruise!!! There should have been 2 months of cruises before ours. This should have allowed plenty of time to iron out issues. When we learned we would be first, it was after final payment and we would have been assessed a penalty for canceling. The Empress was not ready to sail and she should not have. We should have been cancelled and been given a refund or price protection on another sailing. Period.

[Peachy59]

You do realize that Cruise Critic members are a tiny tiny tiny portion of overall cruisers... and the vast majority of passengers have no idea when a ship is going into dry dock (or what a dry dock is), what is planned for the dry dock, and which sailing is first after dry dock... Right?

 

Royal Caribbean needs to have their "ship" together by the time the first passengers hit the gangway. There is no excuse for people have to be "mentally prepared" and "realistic" for things to go wrong on their vacation.

 

For the 500th time, none of us booked an inaugural cruise!!! There should have been 2 months of cruises before ours. This should have allowed plenty of time to iron out issues. When we learned we would be first, it was after final payment and we would have been assessed a penalty for canceling. The Empress was not ready to sail and she should not have. We should have been cancelled and been given a refund or price protection on another sailing. Period.

 

Totally agree with all of this!

[John Reid]

Lately doesn't seem easy to have a ship set sail with no issues after a drydock or on its inaugural sailing. Empress seems to have had its unfair share of setbacks.....we can blame it on poor management or poor planning by management or poor engineering planning on management....but not on cruisers, for sure.

 

Then cruisers have to be 'mentally prepared and realistic' that even if the promotional material says something, it just might not be all working at 100% and this ship surely had enough pre-sailing issues to have people in this mindset.

 

I don't have any excuses however for improper training, and that seems like something that I am hearing. Bartenders not knowing what drinks are part of the 3 drink/coupon perk for Diamonds during certain hours, is inexcusable. How to make sure that servers are trained to refill water glasses without waiting ridiculously long. These should just be standard training issues and they had plenty of time to do extra training.

 

How any ship handles a Diamond event/Top Tier Event, is usually in the hands of the Hotel Director in conjunction with the Food and Beverage Director. They make changes to scheduling sometimes due to the number of C&A members on board. Why there wasn't a place to hold a Diamond event needs to be asked of the Hotel Director....and it should be asked of them.

 

I guess no one has gone to a new or remodeled hotel in a prime location to find the scaffolds still around the hotel and work still going on.....I sure have and they did not lower the 5 star rate they charged and did not do anything to 'accommodate' anyones dissatisfaction. They had plenty of time to let me know, and I could have changed my hotel in that city for my trip, but that did not happen.

 

More flawed logic.

 

As many have posted, the folks who experienced this diminished yet full-priced vacation did not book it as an inaugural cruise.

 

Do those who book inaugural cruises or first out of dry dock get a reduced rate? Why should they have a reduced experience? And why is it passenger responsibility to keep track of dry dock schedules?

 

Hotel example doesn't work either. Just finished a trip with work going on at both hotels. My room was fine in each case, in good repair with everything working. Additionally, the hotel under renovation is usually not the self-contained vacation a cruise is.

 

The Uncasville Best Western is being completely renovated. We had a great night's sleep, and their renovation had no bearing on our visit to the Mohegan Sun.

 

The hotel outside of Boston we stayed in next was having a section remodeled. Our room was fine and there was no impact on our tour of Boston.

 

And, by the way, both hotels advised of the work being done when we booked on their site.

 

Again, why should cruisers be prepared for a diminished experience when they pay full price?

[Big_G]

You do realize that Cruise Critic members are a tiny tiny tiny portion of overall cruisers... and the vast majority of passengers have no idea when a ship is going into dry dock (or what a dry dock is), what is planned for the dry dock, and which sailing is first after dry dock... Right?

 

You mean to say we're really not that important??? :eek:

Royal Caribbean needs to have their "ship" together by the time the first passengers hit the gangway. There is no excuse for people have to be "mentally prepared" and "realistic" for things to go wrong on their vacation.

While I understand sometimes finishing touches need to be done on the first sailing, this is way over the top. This ship was under rehab for close to three months.

[TravlGrl]

For the 500th time, none of us booked an inaugural cruise!!! There should have been 2 months of cruises before ours. This should have allowed plenty of time to iron out issues. When we learned we would be first, it was after final payment and we would have been assessed a penalty for canceling. The Empress was not ready to sail and she should not have. We should have been cancelled and been given a refund or price protection on another sailing. Period.

 

Paula, you took the words right out of my mouth! I have no way of saying it better. THANK YOU!

[lr657]

Lately doesn't seem easy to have a ship set sail with no issues after a drydock or on its inaugural sailing. Empress seems to have had its unfair share of setbacks.....we can blame it on poor management or poor planning by management or poor engineering planning on management....but not on cruisers, for sure.

 

Then cruisers have to be 'mentally prepared and realistic' that even if the promotional material says something, it just might not be all working at 100% and this ship surely had enough pre-sailing issues to have people in this mindset.

 

I don't have any excuses however for improper training, and that seems like something that I am hearing. Bartenders not knowing what drinks are part of the 3 drink/coupon perk for Diamonds during certain hours, is inexcusable. How to make sure that servers are trained to refill water glasses without waiting ridiculously long. These should just be standard training issues and they had plenty of time to do extra training.

 

How any ship handles a Diamond event/Top Tier Event, is usually in the hands of the Hotel Director in conjunction with the Food and Beverage Director. They make changes to scheduling sometimes due to the number of C&A members on board. Why there wasn't a place to hold a Diamond event needs to be asked of the Hotel Director....and it should be asked of them.

 

I guess no one has gone to a new or remodeled hotel in a prime location to find the scaffolds still around the hotel and work still going on.....I sure have and they did not lower the 5 star rate they charged and did not do anything to 'accommodate' anyones dissatisfaction. They had plenty of time to let me know, and I could have changed my hotel in that city for my trip, but that did not happen.

 

Please don't continue to say that any of us were not "mentally prepared or realistic". This was not supposed to be the inaugural sailing when we booked it. This ship had plenty of extra time while the galley was being "upgraded" to make sure that the plumbing, electric, air conditioning, ect was all in working order. There was also plenty of time to properly train the staff and order adequate provisions to feed the passengers on the ship. We were advised what Diamond benefits would be available by the LA after boarding the ship. What we were told did not occur. In my mind, there is no excuse for any this. The ship was obviously not, and still isn't ready to sail.

 

I hope that eventually all this problems can be corrected. She is a beautiful ship and can be enjoyed by many if she is able to function properly.

[Paulette3028]

You do realize that Cruise Critic members are a tiny tiny tiny portion of overall cruisers... and the vast majority of passengers have no idea when a ship is going into dry dock (or what a dry dock is), what is planned for the dry dock, and which sailing is first after dry dock... Right?

 

Royal Caribbean needs to have their "ship" together by the time the first passengers hit the gangway. There is no excuse for people have to be "mentally prepared" and "realistic" for things to go wrong on their vacation.

 

I absolutely realize the CC members make up probably less the 5% of cruisers(maybe I am being generous on that percentage) but they are the ones participating here.

 

Most cruisers on board who don't know are probably doing a great job bellyaching at GS for some compensation and they don't tell others what they got. Not making this as a disparaging statement, either, so please don't take it that way.

 

I can tell you from my personal perspective, when I get an accommodation made for me, I don't usually flap my jaw and advertise what happened to my benefit to those outside of my party (who I probably got the accommodation for as well).

[LMaxwell]

I absolutely realize the CC members make up probably less the 5% of cruisers(maybe I am being generous on that percentage) but they are the ones participating here.

 

Most cruisers on board who don't know are probably doing a great job bellyaching at GS for some compensation and they don't tell others what they got. Not making this as a disparaging statement, either, so please don't take it that way.

 

I can tell you from my personal perspective, when I get an accommodation made for me, I don't usually flap my jaw and advertise what happened to my benefit to those outside of my party (who I probably got the accommodation for as well).

 

Whenever I have received compensation I felt it was owed due to a shortcoming of the service provider. I don't feel like any special exception was made for me, nor do I feel that I need to keep it quiet. Quite the opposite actually. If someone else ends up in the same or similar position to me they should have the information available knowing what a company is prepared to do in making amends. Isn't that a fundamental purpose of this community?

 

Whenever someone HAS told me they are doing something special for me I am quick to correct them and let them know they aren't doing me any favors, they are merely responding to a shortcoming on their end to make me whole, and while I appreciate them owning up to it, I do expect to be made whole in those situations and do not want to be made to feel I've put anyone out for bringing up an issue. Telling a customer with a wink and a nod that you are hooking them up is a subtle form of customer shaming really and it pegs my fertilizer meter.

 

Hopefully by the time Royal releases some more itineraries and figures out what they want to do with this ship the functional issues are rectified AND Royal makes good on the amenities they advertise on their website. Paying guests have to hold companies accountable or they will try to get away with giving the least amount possible despite what they have promised. It happens all the time.

 

After all, fair is fair. If they don't want to provide something, they should not advertise it. If they advertise it, they should provide it. Right?

[ReadinCatLady]

Lately doesn't seem easy to have a ship set sail with no issues after a drydock or on its inaugural sailing. Empress seems to have had its unfair share of setbacks.....we can blame it on poor management or poor planning by management or poor engineering planning on management....but not on cruisers, for sure.

 

Then cruisers have to be 'mentally prepared and realistic' that even if the promotional material says something, it just might not be all working at 100% and this ship surely had enough pre-sailing issues to have people in this mindset.

 

I don't have any excuses however for improper training, and that seems like something that I am hearing. Bartenders not knowing what drinks are part of the 3 drink/coupon perk for Diamonds during certain hours, is inexcusable. How to make sure that servers are trained to refill water glasses without waiting ridiculously long. These should just be standard training issues and they had plenty of time to do extra training.

 

How any ship handles a Diamond event/Top Tier Event, is usually in the hands of the Hotel Director in conjunction with the Food and Beverage Director. They make changes to scheduling sometimes due to the number of C&A members on board. Why there wasn't a place to hold a Diamond event needs to be asked of the Hotel Director....and it should be asked of them.

 

I guess no one has gone to a new or remodeled hotel in a prime location to find the scaffolds still around the hotel and work still going on.....I sure have and they did not lower the 5 star rate they charged and did not do anything to 'accommodate' anyones dissatisfaction. They had plenty of time to let me know, and I could have changed my hotel in that city for my trip, but that did not happen.

 

I cruised with Carnival Dream on their inaugural cruise in the Western Mediterranean and stayed on board for the transatlantic crossing to New York for their naming ceremony. 28 days total. Expected some glitches, but they were all minor. This cruise had major problems--rooms flooding, no cold water in some showers, no hot water in others, no 110V sockets working (major problem for my friend with a CPAP).

 

This was not a well managed cruise.

[horseymike]

Mentally prepared ?...this is not supposed to be like going into combat or boot camp. This is a paid vacation, with many people having to travel to the port from distant locations.... Shame on rccl , they know better.

[Paulette3028]

Whenever I have received compensation I felt it was owed due to a shortcoming of the service provider. I don't feel like any special exception was made for me, nor do I feel that I need to keep it quiet. Quite the opposite actually. If someone else ends up in the same or similar position to me they should have the information available knowing what a company is prepared to do in making amends. Isn't that a fundamental purpose of this community?

 

Whenever someone HAS told me they are doing something special for me I am quick to correct them and let them know they aren't doing me any favors, they are merely responding to a shortcoming on their end to make me whole, and while I appreciate them owning up to it, I do expect to be made whole in those situations and do not want to be made to feel I've put anyone out for bringing up an issue. Telling a customer with a wink and a nod that you are hooking them up is a subtle form of customer shaming really and it pegs my fertilizer meter.

 

Hopefully by the time Royal releases some more itineraries and figures out what they want to do with this ship the functional issues are rectified AND Royal makes good on the amenities they advertise on their website. Paying guests have to hold companies accountable or they will try to get away with giving the least amount possible despite what they have promised. It happens all the time.

 

After all, fair is fair. If they don't want to provide something, they should not advertise it. If they advertise it, they should provide it. Right?

 

In a perfect world, everything would go smoothly and perfectly well....but it doesn't. I believe Royal may be trying to push out too many ships at the same time along with drydocks and it stretches the management and staff (internal and perhaps contractor hires) that they put together. That is a bad business move, IMO. But cruisers have to be prepared, in my view, mentally to have delays and disruptions, if they put themselves on a ship as it comes out of drydock or on it first few sailings.....and set realistic expectations for themselves, to minimize 'disappointing feelings'.

 

I realize that people that booked on Empress for June 2016 expected all the kinks to be worked out and as things have gone.....it did not happen that way.

 

I don't feel that Royal did the best job they could in communication or compensation, and I am a shareholder.

[pstone1]

In a perfect world, everything would go smoothly and perfectly well....but it doesn't. I believe Royal may be trying to push out too many ships at the same time along with drydocks and it stretches the management and staff (internal and perhaps contractor hires) that they put together. That is a bad business move, IMO. But cruisers have to be prepared, in my view, mentally to have delays and disruptions, if they put themselves on a ship as it comes out of drydock or on it first few sailings.....and set realistic expectations for themselves, to minimize 'disappointing feelings'.

 

I realize that people that booked on Empress for June 2016 expected all the kinks to be worked out and as things have gone.....it did not happen that way.

 

I don't feel that Royal did the best job they could in communication or compensation, and I am a shareholder.

 

Seriously??? I'm no longer going to respond to your ridiculous posts. When a company sells vacations and customers buy vacations - the customers should get a vacation. No excuses. No one paying to go on a vacation cares about corporate management issues, nor should they.

[Lizcourt]

Thanks for the review. Have you been on newer RC ships before? I can imagine that, in comparison to the newer ships, the Empress would seem tiny. My first cruise was on Monarch of the Seas, which at the time was one of the largest cruise ships around, and she seemed huge compared to others we saw. These days, the Monarch is considered small, though, and Empress is even older and smaller.

 

Sounds like they didn't quite get all the renovations up to par, but I would still sail on her in the future, after the bugs are worked out, if it involved an interesting itinerary that you just can't get on the more modern and larger ships.

 

 

My first cruise was also on the Monarch, and I remember thinking that when I first saw the ship it was massive. Having sailed on Carnival Destiny and Oasis since, I'm sure I would have a different view. In fact, years ago I sailed on Empress for a short three day cruise and remember being a little bored even then.

 

However, I think the real change is not expectation of size but expectation of activities and "crowd control." On Monarch, there was only one pool, but we didn't expect more. Every night we went to dinner and then to the show maybe followed by the disco; that's what we thought you did at night.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing the OP; to the contrary I'm agreeing with them. It may be that in this day and age a small ship simply can't meet the level of entertainment and experience that (ironically) RCCL and the rest of the cruise industry has led us to expect from a main-line cruise company, and that RCCL simply should not have thought that a renovation would help Empress meet the expectations they helped create.

[Mattnvick]

I'm sorry but I dont care whether any customer, be they pinnacle or first time cruiser, shareholder or none shareholder, if they have an inside cabin or an owner's suite.

 

No-one should go on an inaugural cruise or a maiden voyage or a cruise that sails for the first time approx 2 months after it was first supposed to sail but sailings were cancelled, mentally preparing themselves to think -

 

Well my toilet may or may not flush. I may have only boiling hot water coming out of my shower or I may have freezing cold water only coming out of my shower or I may have no water at all. I may or may not have a/c.

 

To me those are basic requirements and it shouldn't ever have to enter my head to have to think otherwise and to have that low of an expectation.

Edited June 5, 2016 by Mattnvick

[Lizcourt]

Then cruisers have to be 'mentally prepared and realistic' that even if the promotional material says something, it just might not be all working at 100% and this ship surely had enough pre-sailing issues to have people in this mindset.

 

 

 

Call me a diva, but I am never going to be mentally prepared for the toilet and the electricity in my "hotel" room to not be functioning, even if the stay was complimentary -- which the Empress cruise, I am sure, was not.

[Paulette3028]

Call me a diva, but I am never going to be mentally prepared for the toilet and the electricity in my "hotel" room to not be functioning, even if the stay was complimentary -- which the Empress cruise, I am sure, was not.

 

There have been incidents on every ship I have ever been on that someone had a toilet that did not work and maintenance needed to be called....or a problem with outlets, or the door key became de-magnified or a balcony door that would not stay closed or a window that seems to be broken because it appeared as if the seal was malfunctioning and moisture was between the panes of glass and the list could go on and on .....and it isn't what anyone wants...and pricing has nothing to do with it. These things shouldn't happen ever, but they do.

 

Problems with bar staff and kitchen staff and kitchen preparedness and wait staff.....are all things that have happened as well...and those can be lived with, even if they are disappointments.....they don't fit into the same category as some of those previously mentioned. Brunch service not working out as expected is a problem and better training should have happened.

Edited June 5, 2016 by Paulette3028

[ctsharpie05]

There have been incidents on every ship I have ever been on that someone had a toilet that did not work and maintenance needed to be called....or a problem with outlets, or the door key became de-magnified or a balcony door that would not stay closed or a window that seems to be broken because it appeared as if the seal was malfunctioning and moisture was between the panes of glass and the list could go on and on .....and it isn't what anyone wants...and pricing has nothing to do with it. These things shouldn't happen ever, but they do.

 

Problems with bar staff and kitchen staff and kitchen preparedness and wait staff.....are all things that have happened as well...and those can be lived with, even if they are disappointments.....they don't fit into the same category as some of those previously mentioned. Brunch service not working out as expected is a problem and better training should have happened.

 

 

The issue with the Empress is widespread. The issues on other ships not so much. This ship was not ready to sail. Period.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Rynerson27]

Why people passionately defend a company worth $16.5 Billion is beyond me.

[Rynerson27]

Opps double post

Edited June 5, 2016 by Rynerson27

[LMaxwell]

In a perfect world, everything would go smoothly and perfectly well....but it doesn't. I believe Royal may be trying to push out too many ships at the same time along with drydocks and it stretches the management and staff (internal and perhaps contractor hires) that they put together. That is a bad business move, IMO. But cruisers have to be prepared, in my view, mentally to have delays and disruptions, if they put themselves on a ship as it comes out of drydock or on it first few sailings.....and set realistic expectations for themselves, to minimize 'disappointing feelings'.

 

I realize that people that booked on Empress for June 2016 expected all the kinks to be worked out and as things have gone.....it did not happen that way.

 

I don't feel that Royal did the best job they could in communication or compensation, and I am a shareholder.

 

Simple yes or no; should Royal be accountable to deliver what its website says (Diamond Event, Daily Brunch, etc...)? Put aside dry dock issues, staff training issues.

[osospoild]

I was on the Empress May 28. Sailed with three other girlfriends. It was meant to be a relaxing cruise, especially for two of us. A husband of one recently died and we were "taking her away from it all for her first birthday without him." Another just finished two major surgeries and we were celebrating her health. Three of us are seasoned cruisers. One, a newly retired travel agent. We've been on inaugural cruises before. Enough said?

 

When things go wrong, as things will, you try to go with the flow. But when you have no AC, a flooded cabin, have to wear gym shoes constantly to try to avoid wet feet from the wet cabin carpet, have to go use one of the public restrooms for the rest of the cruise, deal with sewage smell, get up in the middle of a massage and say: "I can't do this anymore!" because someone moved your massage therapist out of her massage room into a room next to the band and the singer is belting out tunes to pounding music, when table mates do not get their entrées for the meal - not at all -- and this happened more than once, at breakfast, at brunch, at dinner, and on and on. . . . When ALL of those things happen to you on the same cruise, then the limit has been passed. Were we offered compensation for a next cruise? No. We did get sincere apologies from most of the crew though.

 

Never again.

 

Do we matter? Maybe we do, maybe we don't. But this little lady is on the board of directors of an international organization that regularly offers a cruise a year, sometimes two, to its 150,000+ members. Do you think I will say something if someone else says, "How about this cruise on Royal Caribbean?" Again, does that matter? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. But we can take our dollars elsewhere. I know I am.

[ctsharpie05]

Why people passionately defend a company worth $16.5 Billion is beyond me.

 

 

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[sammee]

Why people passionately defend a company worth $16.5 Billion is beyond me.

 

Unbelievable. Maybe the defenders should have been on this cruise. It's crazy. The people who put up with the cruise, I'm amazed. I probably would have lost it.

[Coralc]

Unbelievable. Maybe the defenders should have been on this cruise. It's crazy. The people who put up with the cruise, I'm amazed. I probably would have lost it.

 

I think there is really only one defender, perpetual positive poster, who wasn't onboard.