The Tipping Point for Royal

[John&LaLa]

Spinal surgery one year ago. Going down is actually harder than going up. Balance issues. I can go up one level, two if I push it. But I need handrails and and am very slow.

 

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[Milwaukee Eight]

Why shouldn't the loyalty program benefit the corporation, the purpose of the business is to make money.

 

 

 

Well said. Why can’t people get it? It is a business to make money. To provide for stockholders.

 

 

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[CruisingNole]

Well said. Why can’t people get it? It is a business to make money. To provide for stockholders.

 

 

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A lot of posters seem to think it's all about them and just cannot believe that the company would do *insert complaint here* because of their loyalty status. They complain, nothing changes, and they keep handing fists full of cash to the company just so they can get a few free drinks, on board discounts and other "perks" that pretty much any average joe off the street could receive by spending a minimal amount of additional money.

 

It's quite genius, actually. However research has been indicating the millennial generation doesn't give a hoot about loyalty programs. They simply want the best product at the best price and don't care which company it comes from. Royal's current strategy reflects this.

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

A lot of posters seem to think it's all about them and just cannot believe that the company would do *insert complaint here* because of their loyalty status. They complain, nothing changes, and they keep handing fists full of cash to the company just so they can get a few free drinks, on board discounts and other "perks" that pretty much any average joe off the street could receive by spending a minimal amount of additional money.

 

It's quite genius, actually. However research has been indicating the millennial generation doesn't give a hoot about loyalty programs. They simply want the best product at the best price and don't care which company it comes from. Royal's current strategy reflects this.

 

 

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I don't think I spent a lot extra, if any, on my status. For the most part my loyalty was to my home port. Royal just happened to have some great ships there. [emoji6]

 

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[Milwaukee Eight]

I don't think I spent a lot extra, if any, on my status. For the most part my loyalty was to my home port. Royal just happened to have some great ships there. [emoji6]

 

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Now that is a topic for a different thread...

 

The famous Florida Pinnacles...... we heard this term lots on the Freedom Presidents Cruise, I think there is some who think we should be punished for living in Florida and close too at last count, five ports.

[CruisingNole]

For the most part my loyalty was to my home port.

 

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I'll second that!

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

The first thing I do when boarding is find a pool attendant, tip them VERY well, and ask them to make sure chair hogs are booted quickly.

 

Every RCCL ship I have been on in the past 2 years has "post-it notes" on chairs warning people what time their things will be removed. And then they are removed. Every ship.

 

I take excellent care of pool attendants, though, so maybe my experiences are better than most.

I've tipped the towel attendant

 

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[CruisingNole]

The first thing I do when boarding is find a pool attendant, tip them VERY well, and ask them to make sure chair hogs are booted quickly.

 

Every RCCL ship I have been on in the past 2 years has "post-it notes" on chairs warning people what time their things will be removed. And then they are removed. Every ship.

 

I take excellent care of pool attendants, though, so maybe my experiences are better than most.

 

 

This is actually a great idea. Give the pool attendant some cash, eye some "hogged" chairs and then ask him/her to return 30 minutes later and remove the personal items if no one has returned.

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

Now that is a topic for a different thread...

 

The famous Florida Pinnacles...... we heard this term lots on the Freedom Presidents Cruise, I think there is some who think we should be punished for living in Florida and close too at last count, five ports.

Jacksonville is just Carnival last I heard.

 

Palm Beach does the Bahamas 2 night cruise. [emoji23]

 

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[John&LaLa]

This is actually a great idea. Give the pool attendant some cash, eye some "hogged" chairs and then ask him/her to return 30 minutes later and remove the personal items if no one has returned.

 

 

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When I was younger, a buddy of mine would offer $20 to the occupants of a table at a bar for their seats.

 

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[MandyMooToo]

I'm sorry that you had to sail with the poor, huddled masses. Perhaps you need a luxury line with smaller ships.

 

:')This made me think of sailing steerage...on Titanic.

 

But honestly, we sailed on another line, with friends, this past fall and it was on a smaller ship. Smaller than what we are used to anyway, and there were always elevator issues. Lines/crowds, people getting cranky over them, etc. We took the stairs a lot which was probably a good idea with all the food and drinks we were consuming! But again, we are fairly able bodied as my husband has cancer, but he is doing very well right now so we climbed up and down on the stairs. It happens on large and small ships. maybe not in the luxury class though:eek:

[STANMELB]

We attended the Pinnacle Luncheon with an Officer during our January 2018 Oasis Cruise. There was an 11 year old child at our table that was Pinnacle. She reached Pinnacle status at the age of 9.

[BamaGuy44]

I always consider the first comment of a person to be their true feeling

 

So we can assume your other post where you hope the OP gets a serious illness, and lament the fact that it's illegal to kill them is your "true feeling"?

 

 

Yeah you're really taking the moral high ground on this one.

[cruisegirl1]

As I wrote this, I new that I would have offended some and I sincerely apologize for not adding that all who look "able bodied" may not be so. I totally get this and do not make light of anyone and their incapacity to make it up or down a floor or two. My apologies and I am sorry to hear about your cancer.

 

Thanks for taking the time to come back and make this nice statement.

 

M

[jagwebb]

I just got off the Freedom this past Sunday. This was our 3rd time on Freedom and we love the ship. I will agree with some of what the OP stated. The food in the main dining room has definitely gone downhill. The choices are repeated, night after night, although under different names. We even ate dinner in the Windjammer several times because nothing looked appealing in the dining room, which was a first for us. I think several on these boards, across all ships, have said similar things about the dining room food. I was hoping they were wrong but sadly - I did not find that to be the case.

 

Chair hogs - yes. Although, I did not find it to be any worse than previous cruises. I did witness the pool attendant remove towels several times throughout the week.

 

We booked a guarantee room this time and so our cabin was very far forward on a low floor, which is not something I would have normally chosen. However, I was pleasantly pleased with the room and location. And one reason is because the forward elevators are used much less than those in aft. I will agree that elevators are crowded on almost every ship I've been on. But I did notice that the elevators stopped on almost every single floor this time because of people riding it for one floor. I don't presume to question if it is needed or not but it was something I observed this time that I had not really in the past. So, in my opinion - for this particular trip, the elevators were used much more frequently than I have experienced in the past.

 

I had read many negative reviews on Freedom in the past few months and was a little apprehensive about cruising on her again because of them. But the ship is still beautiful, the crew was helpful and friendly for the most part, our weather was perfect, and we had tons of fun. Yes, after cruising with RCCL for the past 15 years - I do notice some things are not what they used to be. But I suspect that this is the case with most of the other mainstream lines as well.

[Cigar King]

We were on Freedom in January, The port aft elevator was not working then. From reading other posts it is still not working. That must add to traffic jams/waiting periods.

 

That's interesting. We were on in March and it was out still. I wonder ho long it will be out?

[vacationlover_mn]

Just to chime in on the "apparently able bodied" thing... 90% of the time I am a spry, fit, early 40ish person. However, after days of lots of walking, or if I wear high heels for too long at night, my Morton's Neuroma flairs up in my left foot, and walking is very, very painful. One day, you might see me running the track... and the next day you might see me taking the elevator up one flight of stairs. I may look perfectly fine, but sometimes my left foot is in unbearable pain.

[alfaeric]

Just to chime in on the "apparently able bodied" thing... 90% of the time I am a spry, fit, early 40ish person. However, after days of lots of walking, or if I wear high heels for too long at night, my Morton's Neuroma flairs up in my left foot, and walking is very, very painful. One day, you might see me running the track... and the next day you might see me taking the elevator up one flight of stairs. I may look perfectly fine, but sometimes my left foot is in unbearable pain.

OUCH. I've had that, and thankfully managed to stop getting it. Probably due to about 1/2 miles I ran 10 years ago when I was your age.

 

I actually (the phantom pain in my foot) feel for you.

[TimeToGetNauti]

The first thing I do when boarding is find a pool attendant, tip them VERY well, and ask them to make sure chair hogs are booted quickly.

 

Every RCCL ship I have been on in the past 2 years has "post-it notes" on chairs warning people what time their things will be removed. And then they are removed. Every ship.

 

I take excellent care of pool attendants, though, so maybe my experiences are better than most.

 

I have never thought of this. Gonna try this in a couple weeks.

[vacationlover_mn]

OUCH. I've had that, and thankfully managed to stop getting it. Probably due to about 1/2 miles I ran 10 years ago when I was your age.

 

I actually (the phantom pain in my foot) feel for you.

 

I actually have a rare and super fun "double neuroma". They removed one,nerve, hoping that would fix it. It's a little better now, but I still have issues if I'm too "mean to my foot".

[ricka47]

Jacksonville is just Carnival last I heard.

 

Palm Beach does the Bahamas 2 night cruise. [emoji23]

 

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Jacksonville is just Carnival. Years ago, Celebrity had one of their older ships (Zenith or Horizon)? sailing from JAX. But, no longer.

[griffy116]

We're Diamond on RC and so through reciprocity are Elite on Celebrity. We were fortunate enough to take two cruises last year. One on RC and our first cruise on Celebrity. We travel as a family, so three generations. We were invited to the Helipad for a sail-away, which is something we had never had happen on RC. The crew is wonderful, but so is the crew on RC. The food was good, but I didn't consider it a step up from Royal's food or selections. There were things we like on Celebrity and on Royal and things we didn't like on both lines.I don't consider a 30 minute wait a deal breaker. I do see the chair hogs, but it happens on all the lines occasionally. I met nice people on both lines. I waited for elevators on both lines. I don't think the elevator carried about my status on either line. I couldn't care less about a Diamond breakfast or the free drinks if I attend some of the events. I seldom have 3 drinks in the Diamond lounge and we usually skip it because we have friends along who aren't Diamond. I'm perfectly happy with my 3 drinks on my SeaPass card. Besides, I had a drink package so the 3 drinks were useless. When we returned home and were ready to book our next cruise, we chose the Allure with RC. Don't get me wrong. I'd go on ANY cruise line and my loyalty status isn't really anything that merits bragging rights. I love spending time with people on their first cruise and hearing how excited they are instead of hearing how the food quality has dropped dramatically. I didn't cook it or have to clean up afterwards.

[Milwaukee Eight]

We're Diamond on RC and so through reciprocity are Elite on Celebrity. We were fortunate enough to take two cruises last year. One on RC and our first cruise on Celebrity. We travel as a family, so three generations. We were invited to the Helipad for a sail-away, which is something we had never had happen on RC. The crew is wonderful, but so is the crew on RC. The food was good, but I didn't consider it a step up from Royal's food or selections. There were things we like on Celebrity and on Royal and things we didn't like on both lines.I don't consider a 30 minute wait a deal breaker. I do see the chair hogs, but it happens on all the lines occasionally. I met nice people on both lines. I waited for elevators on both lines. I don't think the elevator carried about my status on either line. I couldn't care less about a Diamond breakfast or the free drinks if I attend some of the events. I seldom have 3 drinks in the Diamond lounge and we usually skip it because we have friends along who aren't Diamond. I'm perfectly happy with my 3 drinks on my SeaPass card. Besides, I had a drink package so the 3 drinks were useless. When we returned home and were ready to book our next cruise, we chose the Allure with RC. Don't get me wrong. I'd go on ANY cruise line and my loyalty status isn't really anything that merits bragging rights. I love spending time with people on their first cruise and hearing how excited they are instead of hearing how the food quality has dropped dramatically. I didn't cook it or have to clean up afterwards.

 

 

 

We have been invited to the Heli pad for a sail away on Oasis Class, Freedom. It was a Suite and P party. Lots of fun.

 

 

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[mugtech]

Stopped at 30 minute wait... that's nothing

For sure

[Joebucks]

The only real concern I see is a decline in MDR. That's a tough pill to swallow.