I simply can't believe how buggy RC's website is (and for how long it's been).

[CruisinShips]

It's just amazing to me that they can't get it fixed. I have used Chrome, IE, Firefox and my Safari and Chrome browsers on my iphone/ipad. I often get blank (or partially blank) pages when trying to check cabin availablities. I've emptied caches on each.

 

Also, sometimes on one browser it will show a certain category of stateroom as being available, and on another browser it doesn't.

 

Makes no sense that they could allow this to happen over a long period of time.

[1interpreter]

We keep having issues EVERY SINGLE TIME we try to log on to our C&A account. It just always tells us that our email and password isn't valid even after we change it. We can call C&A to get help from them logging on, and then the very next time we try it, we have the same issue. This has been going on for a year now. We are on Safari, but I have recently installed Chrome so I will give that a try and see if it makes a difference.

[ThirstyCruiser]

I'm left wondering, do they just not know? Do they know its a lousy experience but don't care? Or do they know its an issue, but don't know how to fix it.

[BecciBoo]

Ditto...I've been trying to mock book for a week and get the white screen immediately, no matter the day...:mad:

[GTO-Girl]

I did a mock booking last night.......balcony prices were the exact same as they are this morning......yet the price last night was $2500 vs $1800 this morning!!!

 

Makes me wonder how you will ever know what the real price will be????

 

Crazy!!!!!

[squadron]

I'm left wondering, do they just not know? Do they know its a lousy experience but don't care? Or do they know its an issue, but don't know how to fix it.

 

I phoned R CI - complaining and was told it would be fixed soon!!!(several weeks ago). When I said I wanted to compare various cruises to find the one I wanted was told to ask a TA to do it. didn't get that I wasn't going to ask a TA to compare all Caribbean cruises from a certain port so I, not them, would choose the best one for me. This AM got an email about the new Alaska cruises for 2018/19. When I tried to bring up info - Sorry - this page isn't available!

[realtyman95]

I don't want to sounds like one of those "typical complainers", because I love my cruising experiences with RCCL - but for the money they charge for cruises and the money they spend on new ships, you would think they could spend just a tiny fraction to correct their web site issues. Very frustrating and has been happening for well over a year and half.

[Clarea]

I'm left wondering, do they just not know? Do they know its a lousy experience but don't care? Or do they know its an issue, but don't know how to fix it.

I've said this before, I think they have some defensive programming to make it hard for us and robots to easily check pricing. I suspect they know how bad the experience is, but they have chosen to have other priorities.

[Maraprince]

1. One of the couples on my roll call called RCI to check on something and were told that their cabin number did not exist on the Anthem!!!! This is the cabin they were assigned by RCI. I did a mock booking and found out 2 things: Their cabin does exist and is on the same deck as mine.
   
2. My cabin shows up as available??? However, in the reservation section my cabin number is correct. Cannot reserve anything as yet as we need to wait until 90 days out
   

 

Verified with my TA that I do in fact have my cabin and was assured that the mock booking would not have allowed me to complete the process.

 

I can sympathize....:(

 

MARAPRINCE

[bUU]

I think we can rest assured that it is far more complex a challenge than it may seem to us from the outside. There's a very lengthy thread complaining about problems with Holland America's website (I think some people are going on the third day that they cannot book excursions), and I bet we can find similar concerns expressed about the websites of other cruise lines. Most recently, the big challenges come from the fact that instead of passengers accessing it from either Mac or Windows, and three or four browsers from each, now there are mobile OSs from Apple, Microsoft and Google, literally dozens of browsers available on each platform, and we're even beginning to see a strong expectation that everything work on Linux as it works on Windows. Layer on top of that completely independent systems that have to work seamlessly with each other (standard travel agent systems, airline systems, loyalty program, perhaps something specific for operations, maybe something different for finance, etc.) and it actually is pretty remarkable.

[realtyman95]

I think we can rest assured that it is far more complex a challenge than it may seem to us from the outside. There's a very lengthy thread complaining about problems with Holland America's website (I think some people are going on the third day that they cannot book excursions), and I bet we can find similar concerns expressed about the websites of other cruise lines. Most recently, the big challenges come from the fact that instead of passengers accessing it from either Mac or Windows, and three or four browsers from each, now there are mobile OSs from Apple, Microsoft and Google, literally dozens of browsers available on each platform, and we're even beginning to see a strong expectation that everything work on Linux as it works on Windows. Layer on top of that completely independent systems that have to work seamlessly with each other (standard travel agent systems, airline systems, loyalty program, perhaps something specific for operations, maybe something different for finance, etc.) and it actually is pretty remarkable.

 

Granted those are all valid points, but none are unsurmountable. The multiple operating systems, various web browsers, and different mobile operating systems/platforms are problems that all websites face today. A company the size of Royal Caribbean should have these issues resolved by now.

[TC1957]

I am convinced senior management doesn't care and they have absolutely no incentive to fix it and make it user friendly. People keep booking cruises.

 

The same applies to other cost cutting measures. Obviously those are impacting the onboard experience for a large percentage of passengers but the ships stay full. Why in the name of horse feathers would they spend more to improve that experience when there is no apparent repercussions for not doing so?

 

Until ships start sailing with empty cabins on a consistent basis nothing will change. When you break it down to the basics...it is the consumer's fault things are the way they are.

[bUU]

Granted those are all valid points, but none are unsurmountable.

Of course, but there needs to be a value proposition in doing so. If getting a software system 99% right costs X, getting it to 99.5% right could cost 2X, and getting it to 99.9% right could cost 10X. Holland America's situation is serious - most people if not all cannot buy things that they're trying to sell. That's a three-alarm fire. Caching issues and rendering issues (which could account for all the issues mentioned earlier in this thread) that are limited to a handful of users here and there don't rise to that level of priority. Also, price differences are almost surely the system working as it is supposed to. I booked a cruise yesterday on Royal Caribbean's website and put a few excursions into my cart without a single hiccough, and I did it all on a 7" tablet, so that's pretty good. However, while I was initially shopping for my cruise, I may have put temporary holds on up to three different cabins. That could affect what other users see in terms of availability and even in terms of pricing, since category pricing would adjust to the temporary hold placed on the last available cabin in a sub-category.

 

A company the size of Royal Caribbean should have these issues resolved by now.

That's just not the case. My company is larger than Royal Caribbean. By a lot. I can tell you that our software isn't 100% perfect. It just isn't.

[ONECRUISER]

I've said this before, I think they have some defensive programming to make it hard for us and robots to easily check pricing. I suspect they know how bad the experience is, but they have chosen to have other priorities.

Both good point's...

[Hobiecat01]

We have had issues on several cruises with ordering packages, etc. after payment in full. We called our designated Cruise person at RCCL and were told right up front, "Call us directly to order anything after full payment and we will take care of it." They know the site is buggy... we know the sight is buggy... why they don't just fix it or rewrite the entire system I don't know.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[CruisinShips]

Of course, but there needs to be a value proposition in doing so. If getting a software system 99% right costs X, getting it to 99.5% right could cost 2X, and getting it to 99.9% right could cost 10X. Holland America's situation is serious - most people if not all cannot buy things that they're trying to sell. That's a three-alarm fire. Caching issues and rendering issues (which could account for all the issues mentioned earlier in this thread) that are limited to a handful of users here and there don't rise to that level of priority. Also, price differences are almost surely the system working as it is supposed to. I booked a cruise yesterday on Royal Caribbean's website and put a few excursions into my cart without a single hiccough, and I did it all on a 7" tablet, so that's pretty good. However, while I was initially shopping for my cruise, I may have put temporary holds on up to three different cabins. That could affect what other users see in terms of availability and even in terms of pricing, since category pricing would adjust to the temporary hold placed on the last available cabin in a sub-category.

 

That's just not the case. My company is larger than Royal Caribbean. By a lot. I can tell you that our software isn't 100% perfect. It just isn't.

 

Sorry, but with all due respect, that's excuse talk. It's not necessarily about cost to do proper coding. It's about using capable people and about tolerating mediocrity. You can buy hundreds of millions of items on Amazon.com with a couple of clicks and ship it where you want and pay for it how you want. Rarely is there an issue. On Royal's website, you search for a particular ship and a date, and when you try to see what cabins are available, you will sometimes get a blank page, sometimes get a page with unclickable and empty buttons, and sometimes get a "system is down" page. That should be completely unacceptable to any major business that encourages online sales of their product.

 

There are certainly far more complex websites out there that work well with various browsers and platforms.

[TC1957]

I think we can rest assured that it is far more complex a challenge than it may seem to us from the outside. There's a very lengthy thread complaining about problems with Holland America's website (I think some people are going on the third day that they cannot book excursions), and I bet we can find similar concerns expressed about the websites of other cruise lines. Most recently, the big challenges come from the fact that instead of passengers accessing it from either Mac or Windows, and three or four browsers from each, now there are mobile OSs from Apple, Microsoft and Google, literally dozens of browsers available on each platform, and we're even beginning to see a strong expectation that everything work on Linux as it works on Windows. Layer on top of that completely independent systems that have to work seamlessly with each other (standard travel agent systems, airline systems, loyalty program, perhaps something specific for operations, maybe something different for finance, etc.) and it actually is pretty remarkable.

 

And sites for Amazon, Overstock, etc. all face the same access issues. I don't know of a single person who has had an issue conducting business on their site.

 

Again...management does not want to expend the resources to make it user friendly and function consistently when there is no need.

[Desert Cruizers]

I always use chrome to access their site, it is a waste of time other wise.

[Herb L.]

Let's face it they do not care. The top leaders should care because somewhere along the line it will bit them in the a**.

[bUU]

Sorry, but with all due respect, that's excuse talk.

With respect, it isn't. The user error (users thinking that availability and price changes are errors when they're actually accurate reflections of available un-held inventory) and imperfections (the caching issues and other glitches) is the reality of the discipline. Even Amazon has its problems on occasion, and they have more money than God to throw at their software.

 

There are certainly far more complex websites out there that work well with various browsers and platforms.

How do you assess how complex a website is? (Incidentally, Amazon.com is a rather simple website as compared to hotel, airline and cruise line websites.)

 

And sites for Amazon, Overstock, etc. all face the same access issues.

Overstock doesn't face any issues. They don't develop and maintain their own website. Amazon does that for them.

[CruisinShips]

With respect, it isn't. The user error (users thinking that availability and price changes are errors when they're actually accurate reflections of available un-held inventory) and imperfections (the caching issues and other glitches) is the reality of the discipline. Even Amazon has its problems on occasion, and they have more money than God to throw at their software.

So you're suggesting that repeated cache errors, "glitches", whatever you want to call it are supposed to just be an acceptable "imperfection"?

 

When day after day, a user can clear their cache, go on the Royal site, select a specific cruise, follow the prompts page by page....how many cabins, how many cruisers, select a cabin category....and then [insert Family Feud wrong answer buzzer sound here] hit a blank page or a partially blank page, and be left with no options other than to "X" out and try again from the beginning...that's just an acceptable "reality of the discipline"?

[GJM]

Glad it just isn't me. I have been trying for days to check on certain cruises and I keep getting the white screen. Or a message saying it "can't process my request, try again later". I am thinking they just don't want me to book a cruise!

[SailingSal]

I always use chrome to access their site, it is a waste of time other wise.

 

No matter what I do, I can't use chrome. I have called and received help to get into our cruise planner. Every time I call to book a cruise or an excursion I explain that this would NOT be necessary if their web site was working correctly. I get an apology and a, "we are trying to fix this".

What is most crazy is that I never had a issue until the last year - makes me wonder why? Too many new ships and products?

One would think that each time the web site is up-dated it would be better; faster; and easier. HOWEVER the RCCL site has only become more frustrating; more time-consuming; and completely broken!

[bUU]

So you're suggesting that repeated cache errors

The effect of caching isn't an "error".

 

When day after day, a user can clear their cache, go on the Royal site, select a specific cruise, follow the prompts page by page....how many cabins, how many cruisers, select a cabin category....and then [insert Family Feud wrong answer buzzer sound here] hit a blank page or a partially blank page, and be left with no options other than to "X" out and try again from the beginning...that's just an acceptable "reality of the discipline"?

I made the point earlier that Holland America's current problem is a three-alarm fire because it is preventing customers from buying things - because it is demonstrably revenue-impacting. Unless they're blind, they can plainly see this in the daily revenue numbers, because everyone is experiencing the problems. How close is this one scenario you describe here to that? How much is the impact of what you're experiencing visible in the daily revenue numbers from website-driven sales? Priority is naturally directly proportional to what percentage of website users are having that problem, so we have to factor that in, because again, we live in the real world and have to deal with real world limitations.

 

As I made clear, I did all those things you describe here yesterday without problem. What's different? How many people had your experience versus had my experience, yesterday? As product manager, I regularly am on the other side of the concerns you're expressing. If no one can reproduce a problem reported by a handful of users out of five thousand, at one customer out of two fifty, what do you really expect anyone to do about it? Just using common sense, what is the most likely explanation if the problem is that limited? And without the daily revenue numbers, why assume that the problem is actually widespread?

 

Incidentally, I would have tried to do them again right now but, "Royal Caribbean reservations are currently down for scheduled maintenance". Maybe they're applying a fix to your specific problem. And they've relayed to several of you that they have been working on the issue. It's not like they've ignored it. They keep trying different fixes. It's clearly a very complex system, like I suggested it was, not simple like you insinuated it was.

 

Please also contrast the problems that are incidents of customers being unable to make purchases with the other problems mentioned, such as "sometimes on one browser it will show a certain category of stateroom as being available, and on another browser it doesn't," which as stated could be 100% correct functionality in both browsers. Do you see the difference? It's important that folks do see the difference between things not working the way you like and things not working correctly. It is probably not a good idea to talk about different problems with the website in the same thread, since the scenarios could be completely different from each other, ranging from a massive system failure on one side and user error on the other.

Edited March 15, 2017 by bUU

[HighlandBoy]

It's one thing to have buggy interface but a completely different one to have out of date information. I just clicked on a link for up coming events and the only thing there was about an on-board poker tournament that the closing date for was March 2010.

 

Now I wonder if I can place a bet on who will win. :-)