RCCL Doesn't Care

[ukbpl]

I've cruised 10 times always with Royal. Time for me to try some different cruise lines after this. I may come back to Royal or maybe I will find a new favorite! 

[Paulxyz2004]

12 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

 

Really?  Did you even bother to read the details?

 

Yes, really, yes I did.

So what´s your point?

[Paulxyz2004]

11 hours ago, broberts said:

 

 

It's my belief that the attitudes suggested by these posts act as enablers of poor corporate behavior. 

 

Suggesting that the OP is at fault for not accepting the situation with a smile is nuts. I doubt any of us would be happy with the situation. Most of us would make the best of it and figure something out, but none of us would be happy that the vacation we planned and paid for was not the one we got.

 

Not sure why you quoted my post with your response. What´s wrong with waving bye bye to the OP and wishing them an enjoyable time on NCL?

Why would this act as enabler of poor corporate behavior? I think it´s right there the opposite of this. Actually RCI got hurt at the only spot you can hurt them - in their pocketbook by taking your business elsewhere.

Can you tell me where I suggested the OP is at fault? The OP figured out they were better of with NCL. Nothing wrong and actually I applaude them for doing this. I might have done the same in their situation, but as long as I´m not in their situation I´m not following them along.

[Pratique]

24 minutes ago, Paulxyz2004 said:

Why would this act as enabler of poor corporate behavior? I think it´s right there the opposite of this. Actually RCI got hurt at the only spot you can hurt them - in their pocketbook by taking your business elsewhere.

It would take a mass defection to achieve that. A handful of customers defecting to another cruise line for the reasons cited above isn't going to amount to a hill of beans. In fact, the cruise line may be happy to see them go, fewer unsatisfied customers to deal with. Voting with your wallet may make you feel better. If I defected from every airline that has caused me grief over the years I would have run out of airlines by now.

Edited December 16, 2018 by Pratique

[grandgeezer]

32 minutes ago, Pratique said:

It would take a mass defection to achieve that. A handful of customers defecting to another cruise line for the reasons cited above isn't going to amount to a hill of beans. In fact, the cruise line may be happy to see them go, fewer unsatisfied customers to deal with. Voting with your wallet may make you feel better. If I defected from every airline that has caused me grief over the years I would have run out of airlines by now.

 

Two different scenarios here, for many reasons you might have to fly. I can think of no reasons you have to cruise. We've voted with our wallet. I come back to the boards because I'm still allowed to voice my opinion based on past experiences, 46 cruises and 472 days at sea over six cruise lines. It's sort of like seeing an accident on the freeway, you feel sorry for the people but you just have to look.

[bobmacliberty]

3 hours ago, SRF said:

 

The point is, if you stay with Royal, you are accepting their actions.

 

If you go to another line, and enough people do this, they will change.

 

Complaining here will not change how they do things.  Vote with your dollars.

 

I agree that complaining here won't help.  People somehow think that posting drive by rants will hurt Royal.  Voting with your dollars won't change things though unless a VERY large number of people do the same, which is unlikely.  Royal will still sail full and make a lot of money.  Might make you feel better to go elsewhere, which is definitely worth something.  Do what makes you happy.

[broberts]

3 hours ago, Pratique said:

It would take a mass defection to achieve that. A handful of customers defecting to another cruise line for the reasons cited above isn't going to amount to a hill of beans. In fact, the cruise line may be happy to see them go, fewer unsatisfied customers to deal with. Voting with your wallet may make you feel better. If I defected from every airline that has caused me grief over the years I would have run out of airlines by now.

 

Losing customers, satisfied or not means losing revenue. No company wants or is happy to lose revenue.

 

Voting with one's wallet is precisely the right action. Not doing so is giving in to the bullying.

 

[Pratique]

25 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Losing customers, satisfied or not means losing revenue. No company wants or is happy to lose revenue.

 

Voting with one's wallet is precisely the right action. Not doing so is giving in to the bullying.

 

I respectfully disagree. Revenue isn't everything. The cost of retaining a dissatisfied customer may exceed the benefit. For example, giving the dissatisfied customer of a canceled cruise a price-protected stateroom on a different ship with additional OBC may result in less revenue than selling the same cabin to a different customer at a higher price with less or no OBC.

 

Voting with your wallet has no effect on a business as large as Royal Caribbean. It won't make a dent in their revenue, at least not one they will deem noteworthy. If it did, they would be trying harder.

Edited December 16, 2018 by Pratique

[broberts]

4 minutes ago, Pratique said:

...

Voting with your wallet has no effect on a business as large as Royal Caribbean. It won't make a dent in their revenue, at least not one they will deem noteworthy. If it did, they would be trying harder.

 

All us serfs should simply knuckle under and gladly give the nice corporation the revenue it deserves? 

[Pratique]

1 minute ago, broberts said:

 

All us serfs should simply knuckle under and gladly give the nice corporation the revenue it deserves? 

No. I didn't write that and you know it. I didn't suggest anything remotely like that. In an earlier post that you obviously didn't read I wrote that voting with your wallet may make you feel better. Do what you need to do. But I don't know what else you're expecting to happen by stomping off in a huff. The cruise line may not even know why you left them. But even if they do know why (voting with your wallet), they may have already made the decision that you were asking for more than they were willing to give you. Once you have decided to vote with your wallet, there is little to no hope of you coming back anytime soon anyway. So the incentive for the cruise line to modify their behavior is gone.

 

It's impossible to make everyone happy. Every single day Disney loses customers who are unhappy about some experience at their parks and resorts (I know because I used to work there). Yet their business is better than ever, to the point where the parks are reaching capacity on more and more days every year. Likewise Royal doesn't seem to be having any problems filling their ships with passengers willing to pay the prices they are asking.

[akcruz]

1 hour ago, Pratique said:

I respectfully disagree. Revenue isn't everything. The cost of retaining a dissatisfied customer may exceed the benefit. For example, giving the dissatisfied customer of a canceled cruise a price-protected stateroom on a different ship with additional OBC may result in less revenue than selling the same cabin to a different customer at a higher price with less or no OBC.

 

Voting with your wallet has no effect on a business as large as Royal Caribbean. It won't make a dent in their revenue, at least not one they will deem noteworthy. If it did, they would be trying harder.

 

Agree, and would bet that for each passenger who "takes their dollars elsewhere" Royal gains one who has done the same with another cruise line.

 

Is it right what was done to the OP, no, but Royal is not the only line doing it unfortunately.

[DfDinLA]

RCCL made a business decision and subsequently so did you.  It's not personal, it's just business.  Enjoy your cruise.

[Pratique]

55 minutes ago, akcruz said:

 

Agree, and would bet that for each passenger who "takes their dollars elsewhere" Royal gains one who has done the same with another cruise line.

That's almost certainly true. Most people I know who cruise at all are always trying different cruise lines. I don't know anyone personally (other than my wife) who's cruised with the same line more than twice.

[BirdTravels]

On 12/13/2018 at 8:33 AM, CruiseDawg18 said:

We booked our Spring Break family vacation on Oasis of the Seas in April of this year for the March 31, 2019 sailing.  RCCL cancelled our cruise for ship maintenance and left us with very few alternatives.  One choice was select a sailing on another week in March or April which we couldn't even consider unless we were willing to take our three kids out of school for a week which is frowned upon by the State.  Don't need DFCS showing up on my doorstep.  The next was to book for the same week on either Allure or Rhapsody.  Allure is the same class of ship so we jumped on that right away only to learn there were no rooms available that could accommodate our family.  That left Rhapsody, a ship half the size of Oasis with much fewer amenities and we weren't inclined to change to this ship for the same money we paid to sail on Oasis.  Spoke to the executive team at RCCL and asked if they would put us on Harmony for the same week but they said it was a bigger ship, more amenities, etc. than Oasis and they would have to charge us prevailing rates which would be an additional $2300.  They had no problem dropping us a class of ships but weren't willing to go up in class for their cancellation.  We have since booked on Norwegian Cruise Lines Getaway ship for the March 31, 2019 sailing.  I am very disappointed with the attitude I received from the RCCL team and this starts at the top with their CEO Michael Bayley.  He has lost touch with his guests! 

Sounds like they offered you every opportunity and you find reasons to turn them down. Then, you significantly downgrade by booking the Gwtaway. 

[broberts]

28 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Sounds like they offered you every opportunity and you find reasons to turn them down. Then, you significantly downgrade by booking the Gwtaway. 

 

Major step down to Rhapsody or lateral move to Allure for an additional $2300 = "every opportunity"?  Do you own shares? 

[Merion_Mom]

47 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Sounds like they offered you every opportunity and you find reasons to turn them down. Then, you significantly downgrade by booking the Gwtaway. 

 

I think that you seriously misread the post.  They had a reservation on Oasis.  They can only sail that week, because that is the week of their children's school's spring break.

 

RC offered Allure, but there are no cabins on Allure to accommodate the family.

 

RC offered Rhapsody, with no money back, and Rhapsody is hardly equivalent to Oasis.

 

OP asked for Harmony and was turned down.

 

I hardly think that this is a case of "they offered you every opportunity and you find reasons to turn them down."

 

IMO, RC should have offered them the Harmony.

[BirdTravels]

21 hours ago, broberts said:

 

 

It's my belief that the attitudes suggested by these posts act as enablers of poor corporate behavior. 

 

Suggesting that the OP is at fault for not accepting the situation with a smile is nuts. I doubt any of us would be happy with the situation. Most of us would make the best of it and figure something out, but none of us would be happy that the vacation we planned and paid for was not the one we got.

What more would you like?  The OP was offered alternate cruises that they turned their nose up at. They were offered an upgrade if they paid for it. What more would a reasonable person expect?  The cruise line had to rebook thousands of passengers, not just the one complainer. 

[Merion_Mom]

20 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

What more would you like?  The OP was offered alternate cruises that they turned their nose up at. They were offered an upgrade if they paid for it. What more would a reasonable person expect?  The cruise line had to rebook thousands of passengers, not just the one complainer. 

 

What would a reasonable person expect?  A trouble-free move to the Harmony.

[broberts]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

What more would you like?  The OP was offered alternate cruises that they turned their nose up at. They were offered an upgrade if they paid for it. What more would a reasonable person expect?  The cruise line had to rebook thousands of passengers, not just the one complainer. 

 

Well it was the cruise line that decided maintenance was necessary instead of delivering the cruise it had sold. So I suspect a reasonable person would have expected a move to a similar class ship in a similar or better cabin at no additional expense. 

[tennislvr8]

On 12/13/2018 at 8:54 AM, asalligo said:

We are also locked into one specific week for cruising with the family and I would be very upset about this. This is the reason we have ended up on Carnival ships so many times. Seems like they are often the only available option for our week.

 

For those of you who are thinking that they should just take the kids out of school. Our school district refers all cases to the county and you must go see a judge after six absences in a school year. Does not matter that your child is a straight A student as mine is or what they missed that time for unless they have a Dr's note. I have yet to find a doctor who will issue notes for cruises, but I am still looking. 

As a teacher who values education, there is something very wrong with your state and school district. That reporting is beyond ridiculous and an extreme waste of someone's valuable time. Yes there are cases that need reported but 6 absences is not one. 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Some of you act and respond like you have a major stock in Royal.  Not becoming at all.

[cruisinfromtampa]

17 minutes ago, tennislvr8 said:

As a teacher who values education, there is something very wrong with your state and school district. That reporting is beyond ridiculous and an extreme waste of someone's valuable time. Yes there are cases that need reported but 6 absences is not one. 

 

This.  My district sends a letter at 10 days, and using interventions to help improve their attendance rate.  But before a judge at 6? Outrageous.

[PTC DAWG]

I think I missed 3 days in 12 years of school...staying out for a vacation in my day, unheard of.

 

oh yeah, the Getaway is a nice ship too...have fun. 

[clean1owner]

On 12/13/2018 at 7:54 AM, asalligo said:

We are also locked into one specific week for cruising with the family and I would be very upset about this. This is the reason we have ended up on Carnival ships so many times. Seems like they are often the only available option for our week.

 

For those of you who are thinking that they should just take the kids out of school. Our school district refers all cases to the county and you must go see a judge after six absences in a school year. Does not matter that your child is a straight A student as mine is or what they missed that time for unless they have a Dr's note. I have yet to find a doctor who will issue notes for cruises, but I am still looking. 

 

 

What kind of Nazis run your school district?

 

We have always taken our kids out of school for trips. Doing them off season was the only way we could afford them.

 

We always contacted the teachers and got homework ahead of time, which was done on flights and during down times, and turned in when we got home. 

 

Only 1 time we had a principal send a message home that we couldn't do it because it violated the attendance policy, and our daughter could get a lower grade or even be held back because of it. I went up to the school and reminded him that our daughter was a High Potential student since her first day of kindergarten, (at the time she was in 6th grade), and he would have one heck of a time convincing the school board she should be punished for doing well over the required work load. But more importantly, I reminded him who was the parent of the child, and who ultimately has the final decision about whether or not she missed the days.

 

Never heard another word about it.

[asalligo]

9 hours ago, clean1owner said:

 

 

What kind of Nazis run your school district?

 

 

Tennessee. We have lived in several states for work and this is the first one in which this policy is so strict and the school administrators at least contend that this is out of their hands. In previous districts my honor students could get the work they were going to miss and complete it while we were gone.