Time to find a new cruise line? 'professionalism'???

[EugeneOregonDad]

Time to find a new cruise line? RCCL has been extremely unprofessional regarding port cancellations. They haven't been going to Haiti for weeks, yet as of this afternoon, I can still reserve cabanas and jetskis. *****????

Edited January 13, 2022 by EugeneOregonDad
name

[3kidsncats]

They probably have staff out with covid in their corporate sector just like most companies.  

[AustinCruise]

Please find a reasonably priced cruise line that is meeting everyone’s expectations right now and let us know?

[Retired LEO]

Welcome to Cruise Critic

[chengkp75]

I haven't seen any business exhibit true professionalism in the last 20 years or so.

[thrifty99]

I understand your frustration as Royal has always done a mediocre  job of informing customers of changes. Many times I’ve found out about a change in my cruise from posts here versus communication directly from Royal.
 

I wouldn’t call it lack of “professionalism”… I’d call it the worst IT department in the industry.  Their computer system should be able to handle some of these situations / changes / communication much better than they do.  But we still greatly enjoy the cruising experience with Royal. 

[asalligo]

The OP is right. No reason to not expect better from RCCL. We make excuses for companies far too often these days when the reality is they just want to make as much money as possible and cut everywhere they can. 

[barbeyg]

In all fairness, we are in an ever-fluid time right now.  No company can predict what next week with bring with Covid as an influencing factor.  I give a lot of slack right now to the companies I do business with, because of this.   I personally will set my expectations higher when we get thru the brush-fire reactions going on currently.  

[bajathree]

I laughed when I read this comment from Jason Liberty in a recent travel agent webinar:

 

Despite the challenges of Covid, Mr. Liberty was adamant about not allowing it to compromise what passengers can look forward to onboard its ships.

"I think it's very important to note that even through this entire journey, we have not, and we will not, compromise our guest experience."

[JT1962]

Things are too uncertain now.  We have decided the best option for us is to take a refund on currently booked cruises, if possible and not book any additional cruises for the next 3-4 years and see if things are somewhat back to normal. There are plenty of great vacation options other than cruises now. 

[Iamcruzin]

Use Covid as an excuse for lack of communication  if you want but even before covid people were complaining about the same  lack communication issues and blamed the IT department.  There is no reason for them to pretend that Labadee will be a port of call. Just fill in the space with to be determined.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Iamcruzin

[Ocean Boy]

What difference does it make how "big" a company is or what its market share is? They have 20 something ships. If an itinerary changes what is so hard about sending out an email to everyone with a reservation informing them of the change and then adjusting the itinerary on the website as well as the cruise planner? People bend over backwards to defend corporations as if they are doing us a favor by supplying us with a service. We pay for those services.

 

In fairness to RCI, they did it correctly for the changes to my upcoming sailing. So they have the ability. I wonder when the OP is sailing? If it is not for awhile then maybe RCI is hoping to have Labadee up and running by then.🤔 If so then they have really done nothing wrong if there has been no official itinerary change.

[alfaeric]

19 minutes ago, asalligo said:

The OP is right. No reason to not expect better from RCCL. We make excuses for companies far too often these days when the reality is they just want to make as much money as possible and cut everywhere they can. 

We make excuses because there are few alternatives that meet all of the expectations.  

 

If you find one, please post it.  Especially if they can compete on every level- cost, features, ports, etc.  Especially the cost part

 

The one constant for me being on this board over the time I have been here are the posts that claim how RCCL has been a bad thing to them and they are going someplace else.  And at the same time are the posts that have come to RCCL FROM someplace else for the exact same reasons.

 

My impression of that information is that every single cruise lines has some kind of compromise that makes them less attractive.  And you'll never find a cruise line that offers ultra premium service, food, cabins, etc anywhere near the large cruise line prices.  Interior cabins on ultra premium cruises are more expensive than many suites on RCCL, Carnival, or NCL.  You may get the food, but the entertainment will be lacking thanks to the size.

 

OP, I wish you luck.  But I'd expect that someone from Viking will be sailing at RCCL because of the cost sometime soon.  And some service issue will be the catalyst.  

 

Grass is always greener.

[xpcdoojk]

As usual, I just say, go and enjoy your cruise on whatever line you prefer.  

 

Or stay and be a baby Ruth in the pool.  

 

Both are legitimate options.

 

The first will make me like you more.

 

Good luck.  

 

JC

[AustinCruise]

Btw - I was notified of changes for my Nov trip. Oddly, royal sent everything to my TA and she had to forward it.  A few items she admitted to forgetting to forward. 

[Ourusualbeach]

Depending on when the cruise is Royal may not yet have an alternate port.  It makes no sense for them to cancel Labadee now and substitute Port B and then 3 weeks later have to change Port B to Port C.  Port situations are extremely fluid right now and ever changing.  Realize that they have limited staff so avoiding redoing the same thing multiple times is not in their best interest.

 

I do agree that they should remove items from the cruise planner so that people aren't spending money that will eventually have to be refunded.

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, AustinCruise said:

Oddly, royal sent everything to my TA and she had to forward it.

Not really odd, that's kinda the norm.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, thrifty99 said:

I’d call it the worst IT department in the industry.

that's because you haven't experienced MSC's IT dept and CS dept. 🙂

[bajathree]

2 minutes ago, AustinCruise said:

Btw - I was notified of changes for my Nov trip. Oddly, royal sent everything to my TA and she had to forward it.  A few items she admitted to forgetting to forward. 

Royal can only send out info to whoever they have the contact info for. A lot of times they don't actually have the passengers contact info. If the reservation was made though a TA and the TA only used their contact info then that is who will get the correspondence.

[firefly333]

I'm disappointed in customer service real life almost everywhere. Rcl we all too often hear its IT. Lol I can buy excursions to caymans jamaica roatan cozumel all for march 27. If I buy a best of jamaica or 7 mile beach excursion do ya all think they will be a go. It's been at least 3 months since they changed our itinerary but they just added the new excursions and didnt remove the old ones. 

 

Just have to ignore stuff. Stressing out isnt good for me.

[Husky1987]

Not sure why you even have a question mark in your post.  If I thought a company was unprofessional in their dealings with me, I wouldn't spend another dime supporting them.

 

Some people will put up with anything for a cheap cruise.  And then come on CC and loudly proclaim "Hey everyone, look at me...I'm leaving!!" before booking another one.

 

 

[birdylady]

I have to admit, if I had dealt with Royal IT before our first cruise, we probably would never set foot on one of their ships. Thankfully that wasn't the case. BUT I will say, Royal IT is horrid.  That's why I was SO surprised that not only did I get a text about our cancellation, but both hubby and I got emails from Royal. WOW!   This amazed me as we NEVER get communications from them on any changes.  As a matter of fact, on more than one occasion, my FCC was written and sent to my father!  I am an adult, never sailed while living with them OR under my maiden name. And, last time I checked, Dad is a he and I'm a she.  Hmmmm.  Great job Royal IT.

 

So, ultimately, when dealing with Royal IT, I just assume the worst and occasionally am pleasantly surprised.

Erika

[Biker19]

20 minutes ago, birdylady said:

So, ultimately, when dealing with Royal IT, I just assume the worst and occasionally am pleasantly surprised.

Would be nice if everyone had this mentality - nah, what am I saying, then we'd lose the entertainment of rant threads.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

37 minutes ago, birdylady said:

As a matter of fact, on more than one occasion, my FCC was written and sent to my father!  I am an adult, never sailed while living with them OR under my maiden name. And, last time I checked, Dad is a he and I'm a she.  Hmmmm.  Great job Royal IT.

that's definitely a Mess. With a capital M.

 

 

In regards to our latest cruise, a lot of RCI communications came addressed to our minor child instead of me or my DH. I don't know why.

[Jkaczanowski]

Royal IT is a joke. I somehow get my in-laws’ royal up emails.  Understandable on their first cruise as I paid for it and I assume the travel agent somehow used my email for both rooms.  But how the heck do I get it when it’s their third cruise (a casino cruise) and I’m not even booked on the ship?  And, yes, FIL has his own app and email account.