If you could get rid of one thing...

[dsrdsrdsr]

What's wrong with art auctions? Or line dancing, or bingo, or ballroom dancing, or shuffleboard, or speciality restaurants, or childrens' clubs, or all the myriad other functions that I never use? I have no objection to the cruise line running these activities so long as they have no objection to me being somewhere else. I'm not going to worry because someone a hundred yards away is using the spa when I don't want to.

[cruisemom42]

High solo supplements. :loudcry:

[jimdalva]

Get rid of 'blocking the gangway at every port by photographers who stop you to take your picture'.

 

Why cant they wait until you exit the ramp, then take their pictures.

 

Sometimes the line to disembark at a port of call gets severely backed up because of them.

[CanDaSh]

Get rid of art auction and loud silly games at the pool.

 

 

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[Aquahound]

And if you can't afford all inclusive luxury lines, then at least acknowledge that having to pay for any extras you may want is why the mass market lines are affordable to you. Without it, they would be all inclusive, and then you wouldn't be able to afford them. Choosing a cruise line because it is affordable and then complaining about what makes them affordable is a fools errand.

 

You sure are having trouble with the context of this thread, aren't you?

 

One more time....if there was one thing I would get rid of, if I could, it would be the nickel and dime culture of mass market cruise lines. To further explain, the in-your-face money grabs like when they solicit during a spa treatment or while eating dinner. Just like what TCcruising02 said in post #10.

 

So do you have an answer for the OP? What's the 1 thing you would get rid of?

[calliopecruiser]

I find this thread interesting, because I've never been on a cruise with an art auction or silly games by the pool. I guess either because I've cruised mass market lines several decades ago, or luxury lines more recently. I must have missed that :)

 

I would get rid of "lectures" that are really sales promotions for upcoming ports. I used to hate those!

[sloopsailor]

You sure are having trouble with the context of this thread, aren't you?

 

One more time....if there was one thing I would get rid of, if I could, it would be the nickel and dime culture of mass market cruise lines. To further explain, the in-your-face money grabs like when they solicit during a spa treatment or while eating dinner. Just like what TCcruising02 said in post #10.

 

So do you have an answer for the OP? What's the 1 thing you would get rid of?

 

My answer to the op would be - rude people. Especially ones who push to be in front, or don't respect that the people around them also want to enjoy their cruise. The rudest are the rule breakers who book a cruise that has rules and then deliberately ignore them for their own convenience, even if it affects other people around them. Balcony smokers are the worst, followed by loud, obnoxious people who disturb everyone around them.

 

Back to my original response: I can't understand why people would choose a cruise line because they are affordable, and then complain about being asked to pay for extras that aren't included with the lower price. If the cruise lines didn't earn profits by trying to sell those extras, they would have to raise the price of the cruise for everyone. And then the same people would complain about the rising cost to cruise.

 

I don't like the sales pitches either, but understand why it is being done. All I have to do is say "No thanks" and they walk away. And I can continue to enjoy the lower cruise fare because of those people who DO buy these items. If I am so bothered about those sales pitches, I can book an expensive all inclusive luxury cruise and avoid them. And, pay through the nose for the privileged of not being asked to buy stuff. :)

Edited March 4, 2018 by sloopsailor

[Bizmark'sMom]

Get rid of 'blocking the gangway at every port by photographers who stop you to take your picture'.

 

Why cant they wait until you exit the ramp, then take their pictures.

 

Sometimes the line to disembark at a port of call gets severely backed up because of them.

Another of my pet peeves. Why can't they stand off to the side? Those wanting photos can go and have them taken. Those of us who aren't interested can move along unimpeded.

[jocap]

It's a bit like reading a newspaper- I ignore the sports section, and drop the business section on the floor, but OH will look at those first. Neither of us read the celebrity pages...but they all sell papers and appeal to others.

Same with a cruise ship- announcements go over my head because I know what I'm doing and what I'm spending, but others like to hear them.

Happy on any ship, anywhere... :)

[beachbum53]

I would get rid of hard selling practices where someone approaches you while you are in the middle of having a meal. I do not like that at all. I don't mind booths being set up, but I do mind having a meal interrupted in order to try to sell something. I like sailing on RCL, but do not like being interrupted in the middle of a meal. I didn't experience this on the other lines.

 

I'm curious as to when and where you've experienced this. In all of our cruises, we've never been approached at dinnertime by someone trying to sell something. The wine steward may stop by to ask if we'd like some wine with dinner, or our waiter might ask if we'd like something from the bar, but I would hardly classify those polite queries as a "hard sell".

[lenquixote66]

A lot of cruise ships these days are filled to the brim with activities, facilities and utilities but you do hear people complain that cruise ships have gone overboard with these things. Have you ever been on a cruise where you thought if they just removed this one thing, the whole experience would be better? Are there things cruise lines persist with that you wish they would drop already?:confused:

 

Alcohol

[TNcruising02]

I'm curious as to when and where you've experienced this. In all of our cruises, we've never been approached at dinnertime by someone trying to sell something. The wine steward may stop by to ask if we'd like some wine with dinner, or our waiter might ask if we'd like something from the bar, but I would hardly classify those polite queries as a "hard sell".

 

It was on Liberty of the Seas three different times while eating at the buffet. The employees would walk up and strike up a conversation by asking how we were dong. At first, I just thought they were begin friendly. Then they would go into their sales pitch. It's annoying. I am not bothered by anything I can walk away from or not participate in. However, I feel like it's an ambush when they do this while I am eating.

[sloopsailor]

I'm curious as to when and where you've experienced this. In all of our cruises, we've never been approached at dinnertime by someone trying to sell something. The wine steward may stop by to ask if we'd like some wine with dinner, or our waiter might ask if we'd like something from the bar, but I would hardly classify those polite queries as a "hard sell".

 

On Grand Princess last June, our first on Princess. On several nights we were approached during dinner to purchase souvenir glasses with pours of the day's wine or desert liquor special. If my memory serves me, it was at least three times on a 10 night cruise. We passed on each. We never experienced this on more than 100 nights on various Celebrity cruises. Don't remember about any other cruise lines.

[iancal]

We did. About eight or ten years ago we stopped packing clothes for formal nights in the MDR. We switched to alternate dining venues where casual was fine.

 

Don't care about the constant flogging of things. It serves to keep the fares lower. We just say no thanks and move on.

[navybankerteacher]

I would get rid of the changes introduced to cruise lines since 1996. All mass market lines took a great product and pretty well trashed it. Good music, creative entertainment, very good food and fine service included in basic fare, intelligent activities and enrichment programs ----- mostly vanished.

 

What an amazing devolution has been accomplished over the past two decades.

[Texas Tillie]

I would get rid of the changes introduced to cruise lines since 1996. All mass market lines took a great product and pretty well trashed it. Good music, creative entertainment, very good food and fine service included in basic fare, intelligent activities and enrichment programs ----- mostly vanished.

 

What an amazing devolution has been accomplished over the past two decades.

 

Check what you paid in 1996 in current dollars. Then check the "luxury" lines today. You can still get what you had then for a comparable fare.

[sloopsailor]

Check what you paid in 1996 in current dollars. Then check the "luxury" lines today. You can still get what you had then for a comparable fare.

 

Exactly! People will happily pay lower cruise fares today for a cruise compared to was typical in the past. Then they complain that the experience isn't as upscale as it used to be. They want champagne and caviar on a beer and pretzel budget. It's unrealistic and they know it. But it doesn't stop them from complaining about the lack of service or amenities they have to put up with today.

 

If they want that same experience, they can still have it. Of course, they will have to pay more for it - just like they did in the past - but that crucial detail is conveniently ignored.

[XBGuy]

Loyalty levels.

[Velvetwater]

I think my generation (20s/30s) want a well priced holiday with lots of options all while sailing the ocean. One might say all the bells on whistles on ships are getting more for your money while the next may say the service and food have taken a driven therefore the whole mainstream industry has.Cruise lines realise this and are appealing to younger markets.

 

I am not going to getting into an argument match about this but I will say it because their must be others thinking it. Cruise lines should get rid of forced tipping (not just because tipping) and pay their staff better. Happier staff not worried about pay and cruisers not having to pay again for services.

[Cruzaholic41]

I’d get rid of boorish people.

 

But maybe I’m not understanding the topic of this thread. Are we supposed to list the one thing we would like the cruise lines to get rid of, or are we supposed to ignore the OP and just go with the idea that there are other options?

 

Seriously, I’m having a hard time understanding some of the posts in this thread discounting those who are answering the question.

[SleepingUgly]

The intangible ... like some of you have said, rude people, but especially chair hogs by the pool, people who treat the buffets like their own personal kitchens (please don't paw / scoop / pick through the food and pick only what you like), and - from what I've read on these board - people who save multiple seats before a show.

 

The tangible ... WiFi. Shouldn't the purpose of a vacation be to get away from it all? I know, I know ... just a pipe dream, but it really would be nice for me to leave work and be able to say, "Sorry, can't reach me for one entire week. See ya, suckers!" But I know it's an integral part of most people's days / lives now (including mine), but just wishing ...

[calliopecruiser]

Shouldn't the purpose of a vacation be to get away from it all? I know, I know ... just a pipe dream, but it really would be nice for me to leave work and be able to say, "Sorry, can't reach me for one entire week. See ya, suckers!" But I know it's an integral part of most people's days / lives now (including mine), but just wishing ...

Sometimes I'd like to have a job that allowed me to do that......but if I did, I probably wouldn't have the money to travel around the world!

[navybankerteacher]

Check what you paid in 1996 in current dollars. Then check the "luxury" lines today. You can still get what you had then for a comparable fare.

 

Not relevant: just as I was willing to pay in 1996 dollars for what was delivered in 1996, I would be glad to pay an inflation-adjusted price for a comparable experience today. The fact is: today's "luxury" lines do not offer what the mass market lines (which is what I referred to in the post to which you respond) offered in 1996.

[Sea Hag]

Photographers.

[shipgeeks]

I would get rid of anytime dining and specialty restaurants. I loved cruising when all the passengers came together in the dining room for one of two seatings. We were a community.