What Happened to RCCL in 11 Years?

[AZAficionado]

Sailed on the Majesty in 2007 and then just got back from Rhapsody yesterday. Prior to that did Vision in 2005. I noticed in '07 a slight change but a big change last week.

 

Gone are the shoe shines

Gone is the Platinum departure lounge with continental breakfast. We did however have coffee but plastic glasses. Fortunately I kept my mug from earlier in the morning.

Gone is enforcement of no shorts sandals or tshirts for dinner in the main dining room.

Gone is the welcome back gift unless you are Diamond or higher I believe. Platinum gets nothing.

 

When did all this go away?

<snark>Back in 2008, duh. Where were you?</snark>

 

Seriously, I applaud many of the the changes they've made. They went from Titanic-era cruising with steerage locked below decks while the "elite" pretend that they are above the masses to "we're all just folk now." They've also been narrowing in on the "discount cruiser", making it so RCCL doesn't take a financial bath when those people cruise. Giving out large amounts of goods & services for free is a really bad business model, or so my MBA tells me.

 

The formal experience is still available with RCCL and you can make the cruise as upsacle/foo-foo/whatever as you want it. You just can't force it on others. And if you want all the bells and whistles: I'm sure Azamara (a RCI line) or Crystal (I go broke just thinking about them) will shine the crap out of your shoes for you. They'll also empty your wallet for you, too (that's complimentary and mandatory ;) ).

 

To be sure, the changes will keep coming and I have no doubt there will be plenty of crying. I know I long for the cruising days of old when there weren't enough life boats - women and children first. Oh, wait. I'm a guy... D'oh. :eek:

[George C]

I was away from RCCL for about 6 years sailing on Hal, Princess and Celebrity , returned in 2014, lack of dress code was biggest thought of the decline, also food on last cruise ( Brilliance) was pretty bad ( in MDR and WJ) , have 2 more RCCL booked for 2017 not sure what we will do after that, kind of forced to eat in specialty to avoid mdr , MDR on other lines were also not impressive. Do enjoy the GS which we feel it is worth the money for the extra room and perks , also almost diamond plus but that will not necessary keep us with RCCL

Edited December 12, 2016 by George C

[Rob0519]

We personally enjoy what we get for our $ in Suites. No real complaints here.

 

 

Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to book a suite. There are many options and amenities available to suite customers that are not available to the rest of the passengers. Comparing the two categories isn't fair. We've sailed in both suite and non-suite staterooms and there is usually a considerable difference in personalized services.

 

We have a family member who is a TA and he tells us the number of complaints from suite passengers has also increased tremendously in the last 5 years.

[kalliekae]

Our first cruise was in 1995. We have seen changes, but none that have really bothered us. Like life, everything changes over the years. We thoroughly enjoy all the amenities that that the larger ships offer so that's a great improvement in the cruising experience for us.

 

If the op truly wants a different cruise experience, I would suggest a TA aboard the Queen Mary. Our friend did a TA last year on that lovely ship and his experiences were very "old world cruising". The staff on the QM never refers to her as a ship. She is an "ocean liner" and his pictures and details made me think of cruising the way it must have been in the Titanic era. Personally, it's a little stuffy and boring for my tastes, but others enjoy separate dining rooms depending upon what class of cabin you have, an extensive library for quiet reading and board games, or lectures by a scientist or author. There are many different types of cruise lines and some will offer the cruise experience you desire, op.

[ColoradoGurl]

For those of you confused by the shoe shine reference, let me explain. Before "freeslob" cruising and "It's my vacation, I can do what I what" mentality took over, dinner was an important social part of cruising. People dressed for dining and enjoyed a leisurely dinner interacting with their table mates.

 

 

 

To that end, cruiselines would have a basket in the closet into which one could place the dress shoes for shining. The basket was left outside one's cabin door at night and the next morning, the shoes would be there, bright and shining.

 

 

 

OP, I know where you are coming from about the RCCL experience. Remember, there has been corporate changes in Royal Caribbean International with the addition of cruiselines under the RCCL family that are now positioned in the market for the socio-economic group that RCCL use to target. RCCL has been now repositioned as an entry level cruise line to compete with Carnival and NCL.

 

 

 

There are cruiselines that still offer the type of experience you remember (although I think the shoe shine basket has disappeared). Yes, you will pay more, but as in anything, you get what you pay for.

 

 

Free slob? Oh you mean those times before people actually took vacations to relax and have fun, and instead took vacations to get away from sitting on their porches, fanning themselves and drinking mint juleps while they watch the "workers" tend to their farms, and go hob knob with the "who's who" of elites, and put on airs and judge everyone who showed up to dinner in last year's dress. Please [emoji849]

 

Times have evolved, and so have people's attitudes about tolerance, acceptance, and the ability for "regular" people to take vacations. There's nothing wrong with people enjoying their vacations in a different way than you do, and what they wear or how they choose to eat their dinner and enjoy the time on their vacation, shouldn't affect your enjoyment. If it does, then you're spending far too much valuable time in your life allowing other people to dictate your happiness.

 

 

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Edited December 13, 2016 by ColoradoGurl

[George C]

For those of you confused by the shoe shine reference, let me explain. Before "freeslob" cruising and "It's my vacation, I can do what I what" mentality took over, dinner was an important social part of cruising. People dressed for dining and enjoyed a leisurely dinner interacting with their table mates.

 

To that end, cruiselines would have a basket in the closet into which one could place the dress shoes for shining. The basket was left outside one's cabin door at night and the next morning, the shoes would be there, bright and shining.

 

OP, I know where you are coming from about the RCCL experience. Remember, there has been corporate changes in Royal Caribbean International with the addition of cruiselines under the RCCL family that are now positioned in the market for the socio-economic group that RCCL use to target. RCCL has been now repositioned as an entry level cruise line to compete with Carnival and NCL.

 

There are cruiselines that still offer the type of experience you remember (although I think the shoe shine basket has disappeared). Yes, you will pay more, but as in anything, you get what you pay for.

 

I agree 98 percent of people are dressed fine, on recent cruise one entire table looked like clowns, only thing they were missing was the red noses. I not saying we need jacket and ties, just dockers and a golf shirts, even some resorts like Sandals do not allow shorts at some restaurants, its not like ship does not have a/c