What are you most upset about in the Cruise Industry?

[jbethel11]

Feel free to keep a collective discussion of things that upset you in the industry. Please respect each others' opinions, and value everyone!

 

What upsets me:

Prices are too high for "anticipated" ships that fail to live up to the hype upon delivery!

[thunderingherd11]

My biggest complaint is the availability of chairs on the serenity deck.  More chairs reserved then folks in the area.  

[Purvis1231]

I could complain about some of the cutbacks until I realize I am paying almost the same for my 20 anniversary cruise that I did for my 10th anniversary cruise. So I will have to rant about the chair hogs.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Purvis1231
typo

[PhillyFan33579]

36 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

I could complain about some of the cutbacks until I realize I am paying almost the same for my 20 anniversary cruise that I did for my 10th anniversary cruise. So I will have to rant about the chair hogs.

 

When we were on Sunshine last month, I saw a dozen or more people’s towels and stuff removed every day when we were laying outside. I left one time to use the bathroom. I couldn’t have been gone for more than 5 minutes and there was already a time warning sticker on my chair. 

Edited March 23, 2019 by PhillyFan33579

[Sturmin]

The cutbacks, not in perks but in understaffing of the ships. Making fewer workers do more. The room stewards offer morning or evening service, and yes I know you can have both if requested. The pizza pirate only had one person working probably 90+% of the time with long lines and slowwwww service. The deli had more people working but still seemed understaff as well as the bar staff. Just seems like less people working with less customer handling skills. On the last carnival cruise, there were fewer smiling crew members and almost no one had time to visit and say where they were from. The MDR was the exception with wonderful staff that really made the dining experience.

The second thing are the cruisers themselves. Seemed like more entitled people who lack common courtesy and self control.

 

[glrounds]

17 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

The title of this thread will likely lead to disagreements. For example, I find it hard to believe anyone who has cruised for awhile would complain about the cost of a cruise, since cruise prices have remained pretty static for the last 10-15 years. 

 

Excellent point, PhillyFan. Static indeed for decades, IMHO. My first cruise on Carnival in the mid 80s we paid $499 DO for an inside cabin on the TROPICAL. Last cruise on the SPLENDOR the price was the same for an inside cabin. There are no miracles. Just bargains even today.

[leaveitallbehind]

43 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

The title of this thread will likely lead to disagreements. For example, I find it hard to believe anyone who has cruised for awhile would complain about the cost of a cruise, since cruise prices have remained pretty static for the last 10-15 years. 

Actually, adjusted for inflation, in our experience more like 25 years+.  What isn't the way it was back then is a different discussion, however...........

Edited March 23, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[leaveitallbehind]

41 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

When we were on Sunshine last month, I saw a dozen or more people’s towels and stuff removed every day when we were laying outside. I left one time to use the bathroom. I couldn’t have been gone for more than 5 minutes and there was already a time warning sticker on my chair. 

That is fortunate and a bit of overkill on the cruise line's part, but at least they (as does Celebrity in our experience) are taking a step in the right direction with doing something about chair hogs.

[ldubs]

Habitual complainers.  

[Gwendy]

If I had one thing it would be single supplement, however if anything upset me that much I would choose another type of holiday, single supplements there too.

[GUT2407]

Nothing really, but if there’s anything it’s the limited number of accessible cabins and that there’s no such thing as a guarantee in accessible cabins

[mnocket]

The general trend across cruise lines to chip away at service levels and food quality.  Yeah, I know they do this to keep the prices down and profits up, but it still bugs me every time I hear about another cutback.  Recent examples that come to mind include....

 

1. Princess removing the chairs from balcony cabins.  I think this is likely an attempt to discourage room service by making it impractical - unless you like eating your meals while sitting on the bed.
2. Charging for room service and offering poor breakfast choices.
3. Deterioration in bar service. I suspect that the introduction of beverage packages has decreased the incentive for cruise lines to staff up to "sell" drinks since most are now prepaid.
4. The quality of mixers used at bars.  Princess has the worst pina coloda and margarita mixes.  How much would it cost to use better quality mixers....  and how about some fever tree tonic water?  Should getting a full can of soda even be a discussion point?
5. Food quality.  I don't expect fine dinning on a cruise ship like days gone by, but isn't it a bit much to replace the steak on the everyday menu with a hamburger?  And where do cruise lines get those cold cuts they serve in the buffets and why no more sushi? Why is fresh brewed coffee no longer served in the main dinning rooms?  

There's more, but I think you get the idea.  Yeah, it's all little things and cruising is still a great vacation value, but I don't like the direction things are heading.  And, yes I know, not every cruise line has made all of the above cutbacks, but they have all been made by one line or another.

 

MY GOSH!  I JUST REMEMBERED MY #1 GRIPE.

Cruise line websites.  I just can't figure out why this industry as a whole does such a poor job with their websites.  It makes no sense.  Things often don't work like they are supposed to, but just as disappointing is that they seem to be designed by people who have no idea how people actually use a website to research their cruise options.  The travel industry generally does an excellent job serving their customers with online services.  It's a total mystery to me why the cruise industry just can't seem to get it right.

[MicCanberra]

While I agree with the website issues, my gripe is with the cruise industry is how they have different conditions and such depending on where you live. Regional pricing I can understand but the conditions like when cancelling times with the % of refund, with final payment dates, with re-faring due to price drops, with actually booking  through a TA and such.

[Aplmac]

9 hours ago, Purvis1231 said:

I could complain about some of the cutbacks

- until I realize I am paying almost the same for my 20 anniversary cruise

that I did for my 10th anniversary cruise.

.

You're lucky that Carnival could keep the dollar-number much the same

but somebody somewhere is making up for that shortfall.

 

Inflation looks like this....

.

[sparks1093]

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

While I agree with the website issues, my gripe is with the cruise industry is how they have different conditions and such depending on where you live. Regional pricing I can understand but the conditions like when cancelling times with the % of refund, with final payment dates, with re-faring due to price drops, with actually booking  through a TA and such.

As I understand it a lot of that is driven by local laws and regulations.

 

Regarding cruising itself the only thing that upsets me is that I can't afford to cruise more often. 

[navybankerteacher]

10 hours ago, Purvis1231 said:

I could complain about some of the cutbacks until I realize I am paying almost the same for my 20 anniversary cruise that I did for my 10th anniversary cruise. So I will have to rant about the chair hogs.

While it is true that you might be paying the same price for a week at sea as you did 10 or 20 years ago, the cutbacks when taken together mean that you are not getting the same thing for that price.

 

Sure, it is possible to buy a car for $20,000 today - the same way you could buy a car for $20,000 twenty years ago —- but it sure won’t be the same sort of car.

 

it is pointless to state that prices have not changed when what you get for a particular price is so very different.

 

 

[Joebucks]

People who complain about cutbacks. Seriously. There is nothing more annoying about vacationing than people complaining about fees. Sure cruising might be cheaper than it was 20 years ago, BUT I HAVE TO PAY $6 FOR ROOM SERVICE? NICKLE AND DIMES! To many people, a $200 higher cruise fare would ease them more than $50 in fees. Proving that there is no sense in it.

 

All-inclusive vacationing is overrated. It is a "feel-good" marketing technique that overcharges the average customer. The cruise industry clearly has displayed that the lower prices have worked. The industry would be far smaller if the cheapest interior was $3000 so you can have your wasteful midnight fruit buffet and tableclothes. People like having a choice to consume what they want. Not everyone wants to pay for things they don't need or the gluttony of others.

 

The worst part about these complainers, is everything they complain about, exists from another cruise line. They just don't want to pay for it. Everything should be free. The obsession over fees is ridiculous.

[Hlitner]

Cutbacks!  Give me quality, and charge prices that the will ultimately be determined by market forces.  I have managed to live through much of the life of the so-called cruise industry, having started cruising in the mid-70s.  Over the decades we have seen many changes in the industry which is fine.  But it is only recently (the last 5-8 years) that we have noticed a pattern of cut-backs that really impact the little things that make cruising so special.  Many of our favorite mass market lines (and we have been on most) are driving us away into the hands of the luxury cruise market.  DW and I would actually be very happy to keep cruising the mass market lines (over 100 days a year) if it were not for the little nickel and dime things.  For us it started many years ago with RCCL (now known as RCI) when they  changed their entire philosophy from service and quality based to a mega ship company that seeks a different consumer market.  And then they exported some of their key executives to Celebrity where that line is now following a path of lesser quality (especially in cuisine and entertainment).   HAL is a line that seems to have lost its way and it is becoming difficult to explain their overall philosophy since it varies so much, from ship to ship.

 

Sure, we can react to cutbacks by simply paying more money for better quality lines..which is what we have done.  But luxury lines come with their own baggage and there are many things we prefer on the mass market lines.  But consider that we have an upcoming cruise on Seabourn that actually cost us less then booking a comparable cabin on some of the mass market lines.  In fact, there are all kinds of interesting price variations now which can often make the ultra luxury lines a far better value then many of the decent cabin categories on mass market ships.  Go figure.

 

Hank

[iancal]

Cutbacks.  All of them.  Food, entertainment, and maintenance.

 

Nomenclature.  Calling a room a suite when it is nothing more than a few extra sq. feet added to a standard balcony cabin with perhaps a bottle or two of water thrown and a special boarding line.   Or perks that are essentially cost free to the cruise line but designed to stroke the customer's ego and make them feel elite in some manner.

 

Pricing.  Constantly advertising sales when in fact they are usually not sales but simply a bundling of options.  Or worse...increasing the price the week before so they can have a sale the next week and lower the price down to it's original level.

 

Agree with Hlitler.  The mass market lines like HAL, Celebrity, Princess, etc. are increasing their prices and decreasing the product experience to the point where we also believe that for us, there is more value to be had from the premium lines.

[MicCanberra]

7 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

As I understand it a lot of that is driven by local laws and regulations.

 

Regarding cruising itself the only thing that upsets me is that I can't afford to cruise more often. 

Yes, I appreciate that, but I still wish it wasn't that way.

[sfaaa]

Fail to enforce ship rules and dress code. 

[iancal]

Cruising is not as attractive to us as it was several years ago.   We are travelling much more often but we are selecting other travel products or doing extended independent land travel.   The cutbacks in the mass market lines have impacted our decision. 

 

We view cruising as just one of several travel products vying for our travel dollar. At the moment we still consider cruise products but they are not at the top of our travel list.  Part of it has to do with retirement.  We have far more time.  Spending effectively six hours in many ports does not do it for us.

[Velvetwater]

 

1. The environmental impact (admittedly this is something that is slowly improving)

 

2. The way they pay their crew. They should have a living wage.

 

Every other niggle in my head is tiny compared to these two.

[MCC retired]

New cruise ships are too much like floating amusement parks .

and of course , the entitled chair hogs are worse than ever .

[pris993]

Nothing stays the same, have 60+ cruises lost count, on 8 different lines over 40 years... as things change we avoid the things we don't like and make different choices on board.   For example we skip the MDR now, always do breakfast in our cabin, always book a mini suite, enjoy the buffet some evenings in lieu of MDR, enjoy special dinners on board instead, do tours on our own, enjoy the ship while in port when it is empty.... we basically do our thing.  Approaching cruising this way we have few complaints.