Just off the Symphony. Bar service and hours were unacceptable

[martini_guy]

First off, I really liked most aspects of the ship in general. Booking on the newest/largest ship in the fleet I did expect it to be at least be to a certain standard. Eventually I would've settled for even an average standard. My first experience on the ship was going to the English pub to get a drink. My total wait was over 20 mins even though less than 10 people were in the bar. Other people in the bar told me they had to wait similar or longer. Throughout the whole trip bar service was extremely slow, and most bars closed at midnight or earlier which I've almost never heard of. Bartenders refused to tell me when they were closing and some bars just seemed to close at whim. After 3 nights I asked to get my drink package cancelled as it's clearly a scam as drinks are only available for 9-12 hours at best and they refused. I would like to start a class action suit against them. I will NEVER go on a Royal cruise again. The food is sub-par anyways but why have to deal with this $70/day drink scam when I have to spend 10 hours of waiting time per cruise just lining up for overpriced drinks?

[OneWord]

Terrible.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

5 hours ago, martini_guy said:

First off, I really liked most aspects of the ship in general. Booking on the newest/largest ship in the fleet I did expect it to be at least be to a certain standard. Eventually I would've settled for even an average standard. My first experience on the ship was going to the English pub to get a drink. My total wait was over 20 mins even though less than 10 people were in the bar. Other people in the bar told me they had to wait similar or longer. Throughout the whole trip bar service was extremely slow, and most bars closed at midnight or earlier which I've almost never heard of. Bartenders refused to tell me when they were closing and some bars just seemed to close at whim. After 3 nights I asked to get my drink package cancelled as it's clearly a scam as drinks are only available for 9-12 hours at best and they refused. I would like to start a class action suit against them. I will NEVER go on a Royal cruise again. The food is sub-par anyways but why have to deal with this $70/day drink scam when I have to spend 10 hours of waiting time per cruise just lining up for overpriced drinks?

They need to limit  alcohol consumption!😱

Shareholder value rules!👍

Edited February 4, 2019 by Thorben-Hendrik

[bouhunter]

We just spent two weeks on Freedom and never waited for more than 5 minutes for a drink.  

 

Good luck finding a lawyer for that lawsuit.

Edited February 4, 2019 by bouhunter

[kam2718]

Did all bars close at midnight?  I would assume less traveled areas where a bar is would close early but I bet the casino bars were open late....

 

Seems kind if silly to file a lawsuit about wait times to get a drink.  

[debgreg]

When we were on last May in Europe the Disco didn't close until 3am, the pub usually stopped at 1am I think , some service was slow and I have always found on Royal some staff are a bit surly but hey, I guess they are in work and wont always be having a good day. If I'm waiting a while I go to the bar and get it myself as I have no patience whatsoever ha ha

[papaflamingo]

I'm curious..did you bring this to the attention of the Food and Beverage Manger on board or any other supervisor?  

[little britain]

When I was on in September Boleros was open till 3am.....

💃🕺🍹🍸🥃

[Paulette3028]

8 hours ago, martini_guy said:

First off, I really liked most aspects of the ship in general. Booking on the newest/largest ship in the fleet I did expect it to be at least be to a certain standard. Eventually I would've settled for even an average standard. My first experience on the ship was going to the English pub to get a drink. My total wait was over 20 mins even though less than 10 people were in the bar. Other people in the bar told me they had to wait similar or longer. Throughout the whole trip bar service was extremely slow, and most bars closed at midnight or earlier which I've almost never heard of. Bartenders refused to tell me when they were closing and some bars just seemed to close at whim. After 3 nights I asked to get my drink package cancelled as it's clearly a scam as drinks are only available for 9-12 hours at best and they refused. I would like to start a class action suit against them. I will NEVER go on a Royal cruise again. The food is sub-par anyways but why have to deal with this $70/day drink scam when I have to spend 10 hours of waiting time per cruise just lining up for overpriced drinks?

There is a long list of bars that serve cruisers on a ship. You mention the English pub.....so later what was the service like at another bar.  Many times, cruisers say that when they frequent the same bar a few times and the bar staff becomes more familiar with them the service they receive improves dramatically. 

 

 As another poster responded to you, I also have to ask.....to whom did you go in the first three days to complain about bar service.....the Hotel Manager, the Food and Beverage manager, someone else?   The bars located in the Promenade on departure day, probably have limited staff for the beginning of the day....they expect less cruisers on board (early) and some of the staff gets time off when in port/on change over day.  As that first day, moves along and by the time of Muster Drill and everyone ready to rock and roll immediately after Muster Drill.....I would have expected, more standard staffing at ALL BARS and facilities.  

 

But it starts with who did you talk with on board?    

[gatour]

On a few cruises I have encountered a particular bar where service seems lackluster.   If after a couple of tries, I moved to another bar and have always found one that had acceptable service.

[martini_guy]

4 hours ago, kam2718 said:

Did all bars close at midnight?  I would assume less traveled areas where a bar is would close early but I bet the casino bars were open late....

 

Seems kind if silly to file a lawsuit about wait times to get a drink.  

The Trellis and Schooner bars closed at midnight the night before every port day. The pool bars closed incredibly early. Usually they were close by after dinner. The English pub was never open much later than 1am. Boleros was open past 1am once. Casino bar was open until 2am but I don't like hanging out in a smoke filled room.

 

I guess this ship is more geared towards old people that don't like to stay up and enjoy life.

Edited February 4, 2019 by martini_guy

[martini_guy]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

I'm curious..did you bring this to the attention of the Food and Beverage Manger on board or any other supervisor?  

I complained to one of the head bartenders at the Trellis bar. He said the hours are set. 

[debgreg]

26 minutes ago, martini_guy said:

The Trellis and Schooner bars closed at midnight the night before every port day. The pool bars closed incredibly early. Usually they were close by after dinner. The English pub was never open much later than 1am. Boleros was open past 1am once. Casino bar was open until 2am but I don't like hanging out in a smoke filled room.

 

I guess this ship is more geared towards old people that don't like to stay up and enjoy life.

So when we were on after the pub we went down to the comedy club which became the disco and it was open until 3am ?

[not-enough-cruising]

26 minutes ago, martini_guy said:

 

I guess this ship is more geared towards old people that don't like to stay up and enjoy life.

Maybe you should look at Carnival. I guess I’m one of those people that like to cruise to relax, not burn the midnight oil. 

[jneitzel1]

We were on Symphony for New Years. Best trip we have ever had. Bar service in every part of the ship, including the English bar on Promenade, and On-Air, could not have been better. We never waited at all, in fact they were bringing me drinks. 

And the ship was at max capacity. 

[jneitzel1]

Follow up. The bars never closed that I saw. Shorter bartender in the English bar said they were working until 7 am New Years Day morning. 

We rarely left any bar before 1 am...and they weren't closing any time soon.

Jeff

 

[Joseph2017China]

11 hours ago, martini_guy said:

First off, I really liked most aspects of the ship in general. Booking on the newest/largest ship in the fleet I did expect it to be at least be to a certain standard. Eventually I would've settled for even an average standard. My first experience on the ship was going to the English pub to get a drink. My total wait was over 20 mins even though less than 10 people were in the bar. Other people in the bar told me they had to wait similar or longer. Throughout the whole trip bar service was extremely slow, and most bars closed at midnight or earlier which I've almost never heard of. Bartenders refused to tell me when they were closing and some bars just seemed to close at whim. After 3 nights I asked to get my drink package cancelled as it's clearly a scam as drinks are only available for 9-12 hours at best and they refused. I would like to start a class action suit against them. I will NEVER go on a Royal cruise again. The food is sub-par anyways but why have to deal with this $70/day drink scam when I have to spend 10 hours of waiting time per cruise just lining up for overpriced drinks?

I went to a bar the other night, and the price of a beer was about the same as on the ship.  Since the overpriced drinks are about the same on the ship as on the land in many places, I would wonder how you plan on doing a class action lawsuit and under what grounds?  Too expensive?  Than why did you pay for it?   Takes too long to get a drink?  I never walked up to a bar, ask for a drink, and have it take 20 minutes.  Table service is what yo wanted than maybe the 10 feet to the bar was too far to walk?  There is always at least one bar open to 3am, and you can find drinks before 12 noon, so I'm thinking bars are open 17 hours out of 24. 

[jerseyjjs]

It also could've been the passengers on the particular sailing you were on weren't bar people.  Did you notice if the bars were relatively empty the entire cruise? BTW, did you stop by Playmakers?

[martini_guy]

5 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

I went to a bar the other night, and the price of a beer was about the same as on the ship.  Since the overpriced drinks are about the same on the ship as on the land in many places, I would wonder how you plan on doing a class action lawsuit and under what grounds?  Too expensive?  Than why did you pay for it?   Takes too long to get a drink?  I never walked up to a bar, ask for a drink, and have it take 20 minutes.  Table service is what yo wanted than maybe the 10 feet to the bar was too far to walk?  There is always at least one bar open to 3am, and you can find drinks before 12 noon, so I'm thinking bars are open 17 hours out of 24. 

Even a cheap beer like Bud light is $7.99 on the ship. You can get them for $3 at any bar in the US, or $2 if there's a special.

 

The issue here is that they're intentionally shortening the hours to be unreasonably short. There should be more than the casino (cancer) bar open until 3am. Not one bar is open 17 hours. Most bars open at either 11am or 3pm. Boleros is often 3pm-1am.

 

You should like you work for Royal if you're making up all these facts.

Edited February 5, 2019 by martini_guy

[lovescats5]

Are drinks so important that you need to drink until morning?  If it is the service, then go to the bar and don't wait for them to come to you.  I get wanting to party and have a good time.  Maybe you should check what you can bring on board and bring what you like to drink onboard.  Otherwise, try Carnival.  They seem to have the party boats.

[Grandma Dazzles]

Don’t even live in a major city and Bud Light is definitely not $2-3!  You need to re-think your pricing. 

 

If bars being open 17 out of 24 hours isn’t enough for you then you have a problem.  There are multiple bars with different hours. Sorry I don’t think you have a reasonable complaint. 

 

 

35 minutes ago, martini_guy said:

Even a cheap beer like Bud light is $7.99 on the ship. You can get them for $3 at any bar in the US, or $2 if there's a special.

 

The issue here is that they're intentionally shortening the hours to be unreasonably short. There should be more than the casino (cancer) bar open until 3am. Not one bar is open 17 hours. Most bars open at either 11am or 3pm. Boleros is often 3pm-1am.

 

You should like you work for Royal if you're making up all these facts.

 

[jneitzel1]

You said that you would not sail with Royal anymore. 

Problem solved as I see it. 

[MTLCRUISER72]

How can you compare " Buffalo Wild Wings" pricing with a RCI cruise ?? Do they take you on a 7 day cruise and serve you booze 24 hrs a day?  Love to see that!

[FrannyK]

19 hours ago, martini_guy said:

First off, I really liked most aspects of the ship in general. Booking on the newest/largest ship in the fleet I did expect it to be at least be to a certain standard. Eventually I would've settled for even an average standard. My first experience on the ship was going to the English pub to get a drink. My total wait was over 20 mins even though less than 10 people were in the bar. Other people in the bar told me they had to wait similar or longer. Throughout the whole trip bar service was extremely slow, and most bars closed at midnight or earlier which I've almost never heard of. Bartenders refused to tell me when they were closing and some bars just seemed to close at whim. After 3 nights I asked to get my drink package cancelled as it's clearly a scam as drinks are only available for 9-12 hours at best and they refused. I would like to start a class action suit against them. I will NEVER go on a Royal cruise again. The food is sub-par anyways but why have to deal with this $70/day drink scam when I have to spend 10 hours of waiting time per cruise just lining up for overpriced drinks?

We experienced a similar experience on the Anthem a couple of years ago.  The cruise actually started off with one bartender to 200 people in Two70.  It didn't get much better from there.  We are not night owls these days and enjoy a drink or two during the day and it was difficult to find a bar that was open inside the ship.  We ended up going outside to the pool to get drinks most of the time.  Since the advent of the drink package we have never been asked if we'd like a drink anywhere on any RCCL ship except in the MDR or specialty restaurants.  And there are scant bartenders when the bars are open.  We never purchase the drink package.  The difficulty getting a drink and the lessening food quality really has us rethinking our decision to stick with RCCL.  We are sailing on the Indy this coming weekend and giving it another try.

[FrannyK]

19 hours ago, martini_guy said:

First off, I really liked most aspects of the ship in general. Booking on the newest/largest ship in the fleet I did expect it to be at least be to a certain standard. Eventually I would've settled for even an average standard. My first experience on the ship was going to the English pub to get a drink. My total wait was over 20 mins even though less than 10 people were in the bar. Other people in the bar told me they had to wait similar or longer. Throughout the whole trip bar service was extremely slow, and most bars closed at midnight or earlier which I've almost never heard of. Bartenders refused to tell me when they were closing and some bars just seemed to close at whim. After 3 nights I asked to get my drink package cancelled as it's clearly a scam as drinks are only available for 9-12 hours at best and they refused. I would like to start a class action suit against them. I will NEVER go on a Royal cruise again. The food is sub-par anyways but why have to deal with this $70/day drink scam when I have to spend 10 hours of waiting time per cruise just lining up for overpriced drinks?

We experienced a similar experience on the Anthem a couple of years ago.  The cruise actually started off with one bartender to 200 people in Two70.  It didn't get much better from there.  We are not night owls these days and enjoy a drink or two during the day and it was difficult to find a bar that was open inside the ship.  We ended up going outside to the pool to get drinks most of the time.  Since the advent of the drink package we have never been asked if we'd like a drink anywhere on any RCCL ship except in the MDR or specialty restaurants.  And there are scant bartenders when the bars are open.  We never purchase the drink package.  The difficulty getting a drink and the lessening food quality really has us rethinking our decision to stick with RCCL.  We are sailing on the Indy this coming weekend and giving it another try.