Symphony - terrible / no shows / Covid ?

[grandgeezer]

On 12/27/2021 at 11:57 PM, DevonfromAcme said:

 

Not sure what is "unethical" about it?  From what we know so far:

 

-- The crew CANNOT social distance.  There is literally not enough square footage below decks to keep them apart.

--  Covid is spreading among the crew.

-- Positives among passengers are minimal.

-- The number of positive crew members is impacting the ability of ships to dock at scheduled ports.

-- RCI is offloading positive crew members to isolation ships at St Martin and Coco Cay to minimize infection and allow sailings to continue onward.

 

I'm just not sure what's unethical about this?  What, exactly, are you expecting RCI to do as an alternative?

If the cruise line was serious about the health and well being of their crew, they would find a way to social distance them. If it means changing some of the cabins, say on deck 3 from use by passengers to crew cabins, so be it. Or they can make social distancing work using the space they have now and crew accordingly. Either way, that would reduce the number of passengers, which would show up on their bottom line.

[Maitaivegas]

On 12/25/2021 at 11:38 AM, RoyalC said:

That is what I heard. The CD did not say during the Q&A but that is what I read also. It fell behind the curtain right? Was anyone hurt? I heard someone might have been but that was one post on CC.

I believe One of the dancers got hurt.

What I read here is that screen is expensive so Covid is probably a good excuse not to have to replace it.

[ReneeFLL]

On 12/29/2021 at 8:15 PM, MrMarc said:

Or you could say something like: Hey, I just found out all the movies are free, so tell anyone that doesn't know so they can watch the free movies.  There is a huge difference on how it will make you and everyone around you feel.

Why do you think you know better than him on how to relay info? 🙄

[Cruisership]

    I'm so sorry that all of the shows on your sailing were cancelled.  I was aboard the Dec. 18-23 sailing. The morning of boarding all guests were sent an email at 2am about embarkation being delayed 2 and a half hours due to Covid cases onboard the ship, and that the ship had to be clean and sanitized.  Many didn't see the email.  Embarkation was a nightmare, but debarkation was a breeze.  This was a 5 day sailing going to Coco Cay and Cozumel.

 

  When we boarded the ship, the app no longer showed ice skating, laser tag, or escape room being offered.  They were cancelled, and other activities were scheduled at limited times.  They offered Hair Spray, Hiro, comedy shows, trivia, karaoke, and Ice Skating 2.0.

 

We couldn't dock at Coco Cay due to high winds. Instead the Cruise Director scheduled 2 trivia games.  The venue was super crowded.

 

 We weren't disappointed that some shows and activities were canceled. (I would have been very disappointed if all shows were cancelled and paid such a high price for the sailing.)  When I went to the website to book the cruise, the boardwalk balconies were less expensive than an inside cabin.  I booked the boardwalk balcony, and absolutely loved it.  It was a total of $645 for 5 days per person.  The ship is absolutely beautiful, the service, entertainment that was available, and dining was top notch. 

 

I would have been very disappointed if all shows were cancelled and paid such a high price for the sailing. 

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by Cruisership

[Slidell_Cruiser]

I believe it’s time to shut this down, as a TA …most of my clients are very disappointed with the current Cruise experience, short staff, limited entertainment venues and lack of “Normal” shipboard activities…Quest, Line Dancing, Meet and Mingle, Captains Party, Guest choir and flash mob dance, cooking and booze demonstrations, no books in the library and the list goes on…add the masks, availability of pre Cruise tests, port of call denials and you have an abyss in lieu of a WOW.

I personally have had 25 cancellations and still have 13 on the books….BUT…

If you go, Enjoy and Stay Safe…..but this is not Cruising……

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, Cruisership said:

I would have been very disappointed if all shows were cancelled and paid such a high price for the sailing. 

Welcome to CC.

[bajathree]

52 minutes ago, Slidell_Cruiser said:

I believe it’s time to shut this down, as a TA …most of my clients are very disappointed with the current Cruise experience, short staff, limited entertainment venues and lack of “Normal” shipboard activities…Quest, Line Dancing, Meet and Mingle, Captains Party, Guest choir and flash mob dance, cooking and booze demonstrations, no books in the library and the list goes on…add the masks, availability of pre Cruise tests, port of call denials and you have an abyss in lieu of a WOW.

I personally have had 25 cancellations and still have 13 on the books….BUT…

If you go, Enjoy and Stay Safe…..but this is not Cruising……

I absolutely have to agree with you. I have been on 3 sailings post pandemic. The first was Celebrity Edge in June with right around 1100 passengers ...the next Odyssey in Sept again with right around 1100 passengers and then in Dec on Allure with 3400 passengers. The first 2 experiences were very good to excellent everything was fully open and running. Protocols with 1100 passengers worked well and I was telling people this is the time to go cruising. Service was wonderful ...crew was in great spirits and happy to be back working. Felt more safe on the ship than on land. Then Dec Allure experience with 3400 passengers changed that feeling. The first night on the ship I could see that protocols weren't working with this amount of people. Some areas were jam packed like sardines...other areas socially distanced with restrictions....made no sense. The service was a mixed bag...from very good to very poor. Moral overall seemed down...crew seemed a bit stressed....big contrast to the prior 2 sailings....we could notice the difference and it changed the mood. While shows and most entertainment were up and running it seemed like the shows just weren't "fresh" like they used to be. Some parts were altered due to COVID protocols. There was not a quest ...70's party was in studio B instead of the promenade and the overall feeling of the experience seemed off. We even felt a difference in the food quality....there were substitutions for items and some of my favorite dishes were just off and not good. While we loved our 2 prior sailings this one turned us off. I saw from that sailing that they were going to be future issues....from the jam packed venues to the moral of the crew, to the overall poor quality. That sailing was also just prior to the new masking rules. I guess my feeling was correct cause it didn't take more than a few short weeks to see what's going on now. We have decided at this point to take a 6 month cruise pause and see where things go...just too much going on and when the experience is diminished it's time to find alternatives. 

[Cruisership]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Welcome to CC.

Thank you so much!

[ticketsunlimited]

3 hours ago, Slidell_Cruiser said:

I believe it’s time to shut this down, as a TA …most of my clients are very disappointed with the current Cruise experience, short staff, limited entertainment venues and lack of “Normal” shipboard activities…Quest, Line Dancing, Meet and Mingle, Captains Party, Guest choir and flash mob dance, cooking and booze demonstrations, no books in the library and the list goes on…add the masks, availability of pre Cruise tests, port of call denials and you have an abyss in lieu of a WOW.

I personally have had 25 cancellations and still have 13 on the books….BUT…

If you go, Enjoy and Stay Safe…..but this is not Cruising……

Shutting down is extreme and will never happen if it hasnt already.  Reducing capacity like it was at start up is more realistic and will definitely help.  I think they are working towards that.  Your cancellations are working in their favor to get capacity lowered.  I know it dont help your bottom line but things will get better.

[danielwje1]

Has anyone contacted RC yet and if I wanted to complain, how would I go about it ? 
 

i assume they have a guest relations department ? 

[MrMarc]

10 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Why do you think you know better than him on how to relay info? 🙄

I don't.  My point was you can be negative or positive about the same thing.  It affects both you and the people you are communicating with.  His choice, I was just pointing out a way to look at teh positive aspect (free movies) rather than the negative (no communication).  

[ticketsunlimited]

14 minutes ago, danielwje1 said:

Has anyone contacted RC yet and if I wanted to complain, how would I go about it ? 
 

i assume they have a guest relations department ? 

I am sure they are expecting your call

[MrMarc]

11 minutes ago, danielwje1 said:

Has anyone contacted RC yet and if I wanted to complain, how would I go about it ? 
 

i assume they have a guest relations department ? 

Email: royalguestrelations@rccl.com    Customer Relations: 800-256-6649  or MBayley@rccl.com

[Heidi pour another Beer]

Why would anyone want to shut this down? The information is valuable for those who want to make an informed decision regarding cruise travel with the current circumstances surrounding us. Things are changing rapidly.

[Maitaivegas]

1 hour ago, danielwje1 said:

Has anyone contacted RC yet and if I wanted to complain, how would I go about it ? 
 

i assume they have a guest relations department ? 

I’m calling Monday, I want to cancel and get a refund.

I don’t want a FCC since I wouldn’t be on this cruise line if it wasn’t for my DD

[DrSea]

15 hours ago, Slidell_Cruiser said:

I believe it’s time to shut this down, as a TA …most of my clients are very disappointed with the current Cruise experience, short staff, limited entertainment venues and lack of “Normal” shipboard activities…Quest, Line Dancing, Meet and Mingle, Captains Party, Guest choir and flash mob dance, cooking and booze demonstrations, no books in the library and the list goes on…add the masks, availability of pre Cruise tests, port of call denials and you have an abyss in lieu of a WOW.

I personally have had 25 cancellations and still have 13 on the books….BUT…

If you go, Enjoy and Stay Safe…..but this is not Cruising……

Wow. I am surprised that a TA thinks that we should shut down. Kudos to you. I respect that. I see so many youtubers who are TA who want to keep cruising going due to personal/financial motives. SMH.

 

I am glass half full. I want to go cruising as I have room in my schedule right now. But if we shut down cruising, then I can buy stock at SUPER cheap prices.

[Iamcruzin]

22 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

If the cruise line was serious about the health and well being of their crew, they would find a way to social distance them. If it means changing some of the cabins, say on deck 3 from use by passengers to crew cabins, so be it. Or they can make social distancing work using the space they have now and crew accordingly. Either way, that would reduce the number of passengers, which would show up on their bottom line.

I'm wondering what % of passengers are sailing on FCC's from 2020 on?  No new revenue with that.

[cruisingguy007]

Just say no to shutdowns! The lines can't survive another shutdown. Those that feel uncomfortable should stay home and let those who are willing to cruise, cruise. It irks me when people think they should decide for everyone else as king maker. Stick to controlling yourself and shutting yourself down from travel and let others decide for themselves. 

[PigsCanFly]

We were on the Symphony for 2 weeks in November.  It was ~ 50% occupancy.  The entertainment was 'normal' as far as we are concerned.  The Windjammer had a lot of social distancing for seating.  Spacing was also pretty good in the MDR.  The only large crowd packing incident we observer was due to a reported man overboard sighting that required all passengers and crew check in at one of the MDR levels.  They had 4 lines for the passengers and we were packed very tightly in the promenade. (Whatever someone saw was not anybody from our ship fortunately).

In December, we spent 21 days on Rotterdam. It was also not full.  MDS spacing was OK.  Lido was a little less spaced out than Symphony.  Casino did require masks and was enforced.

Both of our experiences were enjoyable.  

We felt safer on the ships than the Dec. airplane trip to and from FLL.  

When we got back up north and saw the current status of covid in NY and Fla, we decided to cancel the 2 cruises we had out of FL in January.

We will be watching where things are going  before making the call on our February B2B on Anthem.

Stay safe & have a Happy New Year!

[Maitaivegas]

29 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Just say no to shutdowns! The lines can't survive another shutdown. Those that feel uncomfortable should stay home and let those who are willing to cruise, cruise. It irks me when people think they should decide for everyone else as king maker. Stick to controlling yourself and shutting yourself down from travel and let others decide for themselves. 

I was so looking forward to my cruise but    Based on prev cruise reports RCL doesn’t care about our safety.

I have negative thoughts regarding people who say “ If you are afraid stay home”. By them saying that, it leads me to think they don’t believe in Covid.

I hate when people wear their masks under their nose. The virus lives in your nose, so cover your nasty nose.

I am at the point that I wish my cruise was cancelled since I know their will be alot of people on my ship.

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Maitaivegas

[cruisingguy007]

18 minutes ago, Maitaivegas said:

I was so looking forward to my cruise but    Based on prev cruise reports RCL doesn’t care about our safety.

I have negative thoughts regarding people who say “ If you are afraid stay home”. By them saying that, it leads me to think they don’t believe in Covid.

I hate when people wear their masks under their nose. The virus lives in your nose, so cover your nasty nose.

I am at the point that I wish my cruise was cancelled since I know their will be alot of people on my ship.

 

You should be able to cancel or move your cruise if you're concerned. Some folks absolutely shouldn't be cruising right now.  We all have our own comfort levels. I was going to cruise Christmas, New Years or for birthday but I decided against it last min (already had cabins picked out) as the information started rolling in from South Africa.

 

I think people say "if you're afraid stay home" because they tired of all the debbie downers and those screaming for the cruise lines to be shutdown again. It makes sense I guess. If you're a relatively healthy person who already had covid, it probably isn't a big risk vs say a elderly person with multiple health problems who wants to take a B2B. Big difference. 

 

Other industries aren't treated the same. No one is calling for the airlines to shutdown or sporting events etc., only cruises. The better solution might be for those who are uncomfortable with their odds or the conditions to shut themselves down from cruising/travel than shut a whole industry down (possibly permanently) because some are uncomfortable. Personal choices are great, so long as they remain personal. It's when folks start trying to decide for others that it becomes a problem. No one is forced to cruise/travel.   

Edited January 3, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[SPacificbound]

There are a lot of high emotions going on right now, but one thing we all need to realize is NO ONE, including RCCL staff and RCCL customers, and the CDC, had and idea that this latest variant was going to rush in and take over, and bring about the worst statistics since we first had COVID hit in the first quarter 2020.

 

I have cancelled more cruises in this two years that I can remember. If I see the writing on the wall again, I will cancel again.

 

I understand disappointment, but in some cases I think people need to also get realistic about expectations. There is absolutely no way that a cruise this week would be the same cruise experience as this time in 2018 or 2019. We have to own our decisions.

 

And no, they don't have an infinite amount of cabins for staff. Staff double up, and they are not on guest decks. I feel sorry for the staff, they are going through hell.

[Jasukkie]

I have no idea if a shutdown will happen but I would love to see changes made. Test at the pier. 100% vaxxed, no exceptions. Enforced masking in inside public areas. Grab and go dining boxes and drop off stations so people can eat outside or in their rooms more easily. Actual social distancing in dining areas. Some of the people canceling now might not if they felt like the cruise line was actually going to help them stay safe. Royal gambled on expanding capacity and lost. From my first cruise in June it was clear no enforcement of masking was going to happen. It's easy to bob and weave and take the steps when there are only 900 onboard, much harder with 4000. 

 

 

[Jj343434jj]

On 12/26/2021 at 7:59 AM, mek said:

Well, he can complain all he wants, but anyone who cruises right now and expects more than a room, some meals, and a view of the ocean is being totally unrealistic.  

Blame it on the cruise lines if you want, but when does common sense kick in?

Then the price should be lowered if we aren't receiving the full package. I'm fine with receiving the bare minimum if I'm not paying for everything else.  

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, Jasukkie said:

 Some of the people canceling now might not if they felt like the cruise line was actually going to help them stay safe.

 

It is probably better that the people who are cancelling do exactly that. You, youself, stated that RCI gambled and ramped up capacity too fast and lost.