What's with the negative reviews?

[lbjen]

I'm a big fan of checking reviews and I try to always post them too.

 

My rule when it comes to reviews is ignore the star count and read what's actually been said. I've seen people leave 5 stars with a comment that they haven't even received an item or been to a place, and 1 star because their item arrived a day late, or they were at a steakhouse but are vegans!

 

Some of the reviews here are fairly old and relate to a ship that has since been renovated, or a program that has since been revised or removed completely. Some of them have been posted by people who went in with an unreal expectation, or by people who just regretted their choice and let it ruin their entire trip.

 

Some bad reviews are warranted. It's important to let the cruise lines know when there are issues. Some of the comments about cabins which have excessive noise are important for those who are thinking about booking them. Again, this is why it's important to read what's actually been said and then assess how accurate or applicable it is.

[BillOh]

Why unfavorable reviews of Royal Caribbean & its current ships?

 

1. Many long time, senior level Crown & Anchor members, remember when Royal had high standards, which set the standard, throughout the industry. I'm glad I cruised in 2006, this was just before the time when things started changing

 

2. Endless pricing increases and obscene mandatory gratuities. <For me its the inconsistent pricing and today BS sales that never end.

 

3. New ships have much less passenger space, as those much loved spaces were converted into cabins. Understood, but not sure I agree totally. I sailed Freedom before and after added cabins, I didn't feel any different. lots of space on Oasis and Allure.

 

4. Steakhouse etc., at $50.00 per person, plus upgrades for Lobster, etc. Another area where Royal is inconsistent, just paid $35 for Chops, but otherwise you're right.

 

5. Fewer trained staffing aboard and inconsistency with customer service on land. agreed

 

6. The failure of the Quantum Class of Vessels: think NCL's dream ships.

 

7. Poor quality meals in Buffet and Main Dining Room, & Room Service: eat much better at home or Golden Corral. Somewhat agree, but again I see inconsistency, I've had really good and really bad.

 

8. Endless nickel & dimming and a loss of those "little extras", which made cruising fun.

 

9. Getting to be a poor value compared with Mexican All-Inclusives.

 

10. Lastly, the only thing still impressive, are the ship's themselves. Royal is becoming like the airlines: American Airlines was outstanding in the early 1980's, but just like American of 2016 RCCL is on the down spiral, (reduction of standards and increased been-counter cutbacks) with hefty price increases, at the same time.

 

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[woodz]

Been cruising for 16 years andana@danafirm.com have been on most of the non-premium lines. Has there been changes? Yes. Have we had some problems? Yes, some very frustrating. Have we always come home with wonderful memories and want to go back? YES If I paid a ton of money for Star class or Haven or any stateroom where I paid for services I didn't receive I probably would complain but since I'm happy with my "steerage" class, I'm good. I don't need to have reserved front row seats, 1st off the ship, go to the head of the line, eat in an exclusive restaurant or someone to wait on me hand and foot. A cruise is what you make it. Make it fun!

[woodz]

"My wife and I are LEO"

 

 

What is a LEO? We are airline people and a LEO is usually an onboard Federal Marshall.

[dwayneb236]

Basically the same, just on the ground.

[makiramarlena]

I've taken one RCL cruise, in 2016. I've read reviews here of that very same cruise, and it doesn't sound like the reviewers were even on the same ship I was on.

 

LEO = Law Enforcement Officer.

[woodz]

Basically the same, just on the ground.

I thought maybe it was a cruise lingo I didn't know about. My DH is an OPS agent in PHX and boards LEO all the time. He says the majority are veryvrespectful and easy to

work with. Thank you for your service.

[riclop]

Quality has gone downhill and yet the prices are much higher.

[NumnuT]

For every bad review, there are at least a few thousand people on that same cruise who had a great cruise but didn't bother to do a review.

[OCruisers]

For every bad review, there are at least a few thousand people on that same cruise who had a great cruise but didn't bother to do a review.

 

(y) Very True!

[VMIMarine]

Okay, Okay, I confess....

I have about 15 alias names and post negative reviews so I have more room on the ship, especially at the bar and on the dance floor.

I figured if I could scare away enough people, I would have a much better experience in the smaller public spaces; I would get better service for my obscene mandatory gratuities; by the time I am diamond, the lounge will be empty and with fewer passengers the few trained members of the staff could pay attention to ME!

[bUU]

Some folks have too high of expectations, romanticized fantasies of cruising, or a single bad experience that snowballs in their mind and permeates their memory of the cruise. Others are just Negative Nancys, and Complaining Chucks in life anyway.

 

However, if even in good or average reviews of a ship there's a common thread on complaints, it's probably a good idea to at least be aware, if you've booked the ship and look for avoidance or work around.

That's key: I look for specifics and corroboration. Overall assessments or vague expressions of dissatisfaction need to be taken with a grain of salt, and even specific maladies, if only reported by one reviewer, also should be discounted unless corroborated in some objective manner.

 

That's not to say folks shouldn't share those insights. On a recent visit to a state park lodge, we had a series of bad experiences and broken promises. We posted these as a FB review. Some of what we wrote was corroborating prior reviews (such as, "We didn't see roaches, as a previous reviewer indicated, but rather small insects that could be mistaken for roaches.") Some of what we wrote were problems unique to our visit (such as a failure of the plumbing system resulting in no water whatsoever). A subsequent comment to our review (actually, an apology from the lodge manager for the incident and an assurance that he's working hard to reduce the occurrence of such incidents) provided corroboration, thereby making my posting of the comment without corroboration worthwhile. However, to be clear, I wouldn't expect anyone to necessarily factor it into their decision until the corroboration was posted.

 

The negative reviews I see today don't differ that much (in context) from those I recall from nine years ago, twelve years ago, etc. Yet after reading those earlier reviews we still had great cruises. I think what you related regarding holding reasonable expectations, avoiding fantasizing cruising, and not allowing individual problems to color the entirety of the cruise are key. So much of what people complain about can be believed even without corroboration because it is a condition that was to be expected; i.e., the complaint was that unreasonable expectations weren't satisfied. It is sometimes hard to read past the negative tone of the review and see that what the writer is describing is a normal situation that doesn't warrant complaint.

 

I only put trust in the 2-4 star reviews.

Also a really good idea. 1 and 5 star reviews can too often be just an attempt to affect the overall rating.

 

I look to see how long they've been cc members and if they have any other reviews or posts before deciding if the review is legit.

I used to rely on that, but what I found is that past a certain point, a good portion of long-time members have an agenda, either in support of one specific cruise line or opposed to how one specific cruise line is managed, and their posts and reviews are colored by that agenda.

 

I've found the most useful reviews are from folks who have cruised a number of different cruise lines, with no strong affinity for any one line.

Edited March 15, 2017 by bUU

[slyster]

I think it has to do with expectations. Prices have gone up on cruises quite a bit in the last several years. The quality of the food is not what it was like several years ago. On top of that specialty restaurant prices go up while some feel the quality of the food goes down. The cost of beverages have gone up and now they are charging for room service which they never did unless it was late night. I think this is why you have more people unhappy. At the same time, you have a cruise line that has been innovative, building new ships, adding more to the cruise experience. All that comes at a price.

 

Am I unhappy with RC? No..though, I have noticed a difference in quality of food, it's still a heck of a lot better than what I eat at home. Eating a filet mignon and a few appetizers (chops) for $30 is still much cheaper than it would be if I were at home. It disappoints me a bit that they nickel and dime, but in the end its my choice to cruise with Royal Caribbean and in all my cruises, I have never had a bad cruise experience. I guess it doesn't take much to make me happy. LOL! I could always go elsewhere, but I don't have a desire to.

[bUU]

Quality has gone downhill and yet the prices are much higher.

Actually, cruise fares have gone up much slower than the rate of inflation. [source: Fodor's the Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises By Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff, Linda Coffman.]

 

There is necessarily more differentiation in the marketplace now. As more and more middle-class Americans have the desire to cruise, RCI, CCL and the rest ensure that they have products to offer those who could not afford an upper-middle-class cost. For the deluxe experience, they offer specialty restaurants now, and more suites and more suite categories, etc. If you want that superior experience, it's still available, and with the upcharge probably no more expensive than it used to be, adjusted for inflation.

 

I am a bit surprised that RCI doesn't leverage the fact that it has two big fleets serving North American customers to provide distinctly different products, Royal Caribbean perhaps serving the middle-class market and Celebrity perhaps serving the upper-middle-class market. (CCL actually is a bit more of a mess, with way too much overlap between Carnival, Princess and Holland America. However, this is non-sequitur.)

[SamFritz]

Royal set my expectations with the service they gave me on my early cruises. On almost every cruise now I feel like they've taken something else away. I still think they offer a great vacation value, but it is not the same experience it was ten years ago.

 

 

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[dwayneb236]

Royal set my expectations with the service they gave me on my early cruises. On almost every cruise now I feel like they've taken something else away.

 

I'm new on Royal so I am basically blissfully ignorant. I wasn't there for the early years so I haven't missed anything or noticed any declines in anything. I've very happy with them. No baseline to compare to other than my Carnival cruises. My wife raved about Royal over Carnival so I'm going with that. As I've mentioned before, whatever gets her on a boat I'm fine with.

[bUU]

I'm new on Royal so I am basically blissfully ignorant.

I'm not new to Royal Caribbean, but more importantly I'm not new to change. When we aren't cruising we tend to visit the same vacation destination year after year. And guess what? It's changed a lot over the last twenty five years. We're now paying about ten times as much, for starters. And of course they've removed things and changed things we liked. They've also added things, and made changes that made things better. It's part of what is normal. (And yes, there are folks on the forums focused on that vacation destination express their ire about the changes, year after year after year... but they still go back. Hmmmm.)

[KamiKake]

I'll be honest, DH and I are very interested to see what Royal Caribbean has to offer. We sailed on Holland America this past Christmas and found it to be just our speed. There were some things we wished were different of course, but thoroughly enjoyed it and would love to book on them again. That said, their Christmas cruises for this coming year just didn't fit, so we decided to try out RCI. We would be lying if we said we weren't a bit nervous, but are definitely willing to try something new! If anyone has cruised both, we would be interested in the differences and what to expect! Thanks!

[jgperegrine]

My first cruise was over 30 years ago and I can tell the quality of service has gone down hill. Last year we had a very good experience on the Allure, and last week we had a poor experience on the Jewel. However, we had a good time overall thanks to the ports and the great people we met on board. I read many of the reviews about the Jewel before we left and they were correct. Such as (to name a few) the main shows were horrible, and the food was nothing to write home about. We still choose that cruise because of the itinerary. However, I wish I would have listened to the reviews and choose another ship. There are some people that think cruising is the greatest, and no matter what happens there ok with it, and there are others that expect an experience.

[George C]

I'll be honest, DH and I are very interested to see what Royal Caribbean has to offer. We sailed on Holland America this past Christmas and found it to be just our speed. There were some things we wished were different of course, but thoroughly enjoyed it and would love to book on them again. That said, their Christmas cruises for this coming year just didn't fit, so we decided to try out RCI. We would be lying if we said we weren't a bit nervous, but are definitely willing to try something new! If anyone has cruised both, we would be interested in the differences and what to expect! Thanks!

 

We cruise a lot, we got tried of RCCL and tried several other lines Princess several times, Celebrity and 4 cruise on Hal now we are back home with RCCL. Biggest difference is entertainment way better on RCCL, I think food is hit or miss on both lines, although we love the Pinnacle grill on Hal which is better than Chops on RCCL. RCCL Giovanni's is excellent, what RCCL ship are you taking? People on Hal tend to be a little older RCCL has all ages