Does quality vary between ships?

[JTJT1]

To preface, we are somewhat new to cruising. Aside from a few sporadic sailings on Freedom & DCL ten-fifteen years ago, we have sailed Harmony in 2019, Harmony  fall of 21 & Indy this week. 
 

We want to book another for this fall with a larger group of family. There is of course a significant price difference between Harmony & Indy. However, this weeks sailing was less than stellar. The first night at dinner was fantastic. Then it went downhill. We also had a problem with the drain in our room that we reported the first day. Despite follow up, it was never resolved. We still enjoyed ourselves, but service/cleanliness in general  was much better on Harmony. 
 

Is this a typical “you get what you pay for” situation, or was this most recent experience just bad luck?  We would ideally like to book several rooms on Indy, but if service on Harmony is that much better, we will stick with Harmony. 
 

 

[RockHoundTX]

Does quality vary between ships? Absolutely. There is definitely a "feeder" system by which new employees get trained on smaller ships and the best get "promoted" to the largest/newest ships. I primarily sail on Liberty and they lost 1/3 of the crew (in particular, the best/most experienced crew) when Symphony came out. 

 

However, quality also varies week to week even on a single cruise. I have been on a B2B where you would think you were on a different ship it was so different. I asked one of the "Leads" what was going on and he said it was a rotation week. It was explained that all new wait-staff rotate (cannot remember if it was 1 month or 3) between Windjammer, room-service, and specialty restaurants (Sorentos, etc.). As such, a lot of folks that had been in WJ where no longer there and the folks that replaced them were inexperienced. New employees tend to be put in WJ so that they can practice their English, get comfortable interacting with passengers, etc.

 

Finally, if by "quality" you mean food, that also varies week to week. It depends on what showed up at the dock that week. The head chef also makes a difference. On Liberty there seems to 3 main chefs that rotate. When the Jamaican head chef is there the food is noticeably better (and noticeably worse with the French chef). Why does the head chef make a difference given that the meals have been the same for 10+ years? I am not entirely sure. Just know based on my experience that it is.    

[boscobeans]

YES.

And at every level and venue on every ship. 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, JTJT1 said:

To preface, we are somewhat new to cruising. Aside from a few sporadic sailings on Freedom & DCL ten-fifteen years ago, we have sailed Harmony in 2019, Harmony  fall of 21 & Indy this week. 
 

We want to book another for this fall with a larger group of family. There is of course a significant price difference between Harmony & Indy. However, this weeks sailing was less than stellar. The first night at dinner was fantastic. Then it went downhill. We also had a problem with the drain in our room that we reported the first day. Despite follow up, it was never resolved. We still enjoyed ourselves, but service/cleanliness in general  was much better on Harmony. 
 

Is this a typical “you get what you pay for” situation, or was this most recent experience just bad luck?  We would ideally like to book several rooms on Indy, but if service on Harmony is that much better, we will stick with Harmony. 
 

 

We were on Indy last week and had spectacular service snd a great cruise.  

 

Sorry yours was less than stellar but those experiences are really a one off and can happen on any ship. 

[Oceansaway17]

Well, the quality of the ship can vary given the port and weather conditions.

And the quality can vary in entertainment from ship to ship.

And the quality of the staff and guest can fluctuate.

And the quality of the ship can vary given its age.

 

I guess in the end, pick an itinerary that sounds interesting at a price you can agree with, and hope for the best with everything else.

 

And given the state of the world these days, if you are lucky to get on any ship, make the best of it and enjoy the view.  Because many folks do not have the time or money or health to sail.

 

[JTJT1]

6 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Well, the quality of the ship can vary given the port and weather conditions.

And the quality can vary in entertainment from ship to ship.

And the quality of the staff and guest can fluctuate.

And the quality of the ship can vary given its age.

 

I guess in the end, pick an itinerary that sounds interesting at a price you can agree with, and hope for the best with everything else.

 

And given the state of the world these days, if you are lucky to get on any ship, make the best of it and enjoy the view.  Because many folks do not have the time or money or health to sail.

 

Wasn't complaining. We are fortunate in many aspects to have opportunity to travel often. The itinerary doesnt even matter, as I am happy not even getting off the ship 😂  However, some who we will be traveling with us this next trip are not as fortunate and I want to ensure they get the best value for money spent. 

[Oceansaway17]

5 minutes ago, JTJT1 said:

Wasn't complaining. We are fortunate in many aspects to have opportunity to travel often. The itinerary doesnt even matter, as I am happy not even getting off the ship 😂  However, some who we will be traveling with us this next trip are not as fortunate and I want to ensure they get the best value for money spent. 

oh did not think you were complaining and my reply was to the whole thread not just you.

 

perhaps you should pick another ship other than Indy or Harmony.  I know both go out of Canaveral so then that begs the question if you would like to wander over to CCL newest Mardi Gras.  I have heard great things about that ship too.  And ya know the disney ships go out of PC as well.

[John&LaLa]

5 hours ago, JTJT1 said:

To preface, we are somewhat new to cruising. Aside from a few sporadic sailings on Freedom & DCL ten-fifteen years ago, we have sailed Harmony in 2019, Harmony  fall of 21 & Indy this week. 
 

We want to book another for this fall with a larger group of family. There is of course a significant price difference between Harmony & Indy. However, this weeks sailing was less than stellar. The first night at dinner was fantastic. Then it went downhill. We also had a problem with the drain in our room that we reported the first day. Despite follow up, it was never resolved. We still enjoyed ourselves, but service/cleanliness in general  was much better on Harmony. 
 

Is this a typical “you get what you pay for” situation, or was this most recent experience just bad luck?  We would ideally like to book several rooms on Indy, but if service on Harmony is that much better, we will stick with Harmony. 
 

 

 

Wait for the Wonder release 

[Eddie Wilson]

I personally believe that the quality of the entertainment ties directly to the size of the ship.

 

I am not educated in the performing arts, but just personal experience shows me the smaller the vessel the more likely entertainment is forgettable.  I still like to attend shows and will in the future, but when I come home and talk to friends about my cruise I don’t mention the entertainment if it is forgettable.

 

Interesting the higher quality staff are graduated to larger ships, I did not know that.  Is it the same with so called headline entertainment?

 

Eddie

[SRF]

17 hours ago, RockHoundTX said:

Does quality vary between ships? Absolutely. There is definitely a "feeder" system by which new employees get trained on smaller ships and the best get "promoted" to the largest/newest ships. jammer, room-service, and specialty restaurants (Sorentos, etc.).

 

Funny though, Grandeur has historically had a FANTASTIC crew.  And it is a small ship.

[lovesthebeach2]

12 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Wait for the Wonder release 

That’s what I was going to suggest. When we were on Odyssey when she was first sailing, you could tell the crew was experienced. 
in conversations with some of them, they all said they were moving to Wonder.  New ships seem to get experienced crew. 

[trey420]

Make sense to know your job and have to learn a new ship. Than have a crew that must llearn both things at the same time.

 

 

 

[kernow]

We've found it varies hugely between ships and even the same ship can be great one year and less so the next. I don't think it has anything to do with 'newness/size of ship or the price you've paid but rather the actual crew that are onboard at the time and how they are feeling. We've had crew tell us that it can depend on senior staff onboard too, a change in Captain or Hotel Director can make a big difference to morale on the ship.

 

My favourite ever RCL cruise was a TA on Splendour in 2015, one of the smallest, oldest ships in the year before she left the fleet. The crew from the top down were wonderful, food was great, atmosphere was lovely, I wish it was always so perfect.

 

 

[sgmn]

11 hours ago, Eddie Wilson said:

I personally believe that the quality of the entertainment ties directly to the size of the ship.

 

I am not educated in the performing arts, but just personal experience shows me the smaller the vessel the more likely entertainment is forgettable.  I still like to attend shows and will in the future, but when I come home and talk to friends about my cruise I don’t mention the entertainment if it is forgettable.

 

Interesting the higher quality staff are graduated to larger ships, I did not know that.  Is it the same with so called headline entertainment?

 

Eddie

It's true the smaller ships in Europe don't have the big production/west end shows but the itineraries are usually port heavy with very long days in port and lots of sightseeing. Often there is just one sea day.

Depends if you are using the ship as THE destination or just a very nice means to get to the multiple destinations of the ports

Edited February 26, 2022 by sgmn

[LXA350]

In general RCL offers the same basic product throughout it's fleet. Hence, the food quality at Windjammer at Main Dinning and at chops which you get on each cruise ship should offer the same quality fleet wide. When it comes to cabins, here the difference starts, sailing on Oasis Class from Harmony and above and all the Quantum Class ships the cabins have nicer decorations including bathrooms. Further when looking at Suites, here all Oasis and Quantum Class ships offer a superior experience compared to the rest of the fleet with Coastal Kitchen, etc.

 

It depends what you are looking for, is it only the food and the service for non suite rooms, here any ship of the fleet should offer the same standard of service. Hence you can be lucky and get a great food experience on Grandour one cruise and on your next cruise on Wonder a absolute inferior experience which is due to human factors of that sailing, meaning due to quality delivered by crew etc. If you look for a inovative cruise experience where the ship should be the most innovative then you need to look at Harmony and newer Oasis Class and Quantum Class; hence on those you also pay a premium for all the extra innovation found on those ships.

[chengkp75]

22 hours ago, kernow said:

We've had crew tell us that it can depend on senior staff onboard too, a change in Captain or Hotel Director can make a big difference to morale on the ship.

This.  As others have noted, the lines generally go with single source for provisions, regardless of home port, to keep quality consistent across the fleet.  Maintenance of the ship, and the cruise experience is greatly affected by crew morale.  Many here on CC complain about, or rate Captains on how much they interact with the passengers.  And while this gives the passengers the "Love Boat" experience, the Captains, Hotel Directors, and Chief Engineers that interact more, on a daily basis, with their crew, especially front line crew, will have a far larger effect on the passengers' cruise experience than a few seconds greeting passengers around the ship.  While front line crew appreciate praise from passengers, both they and the "back of house" crew (like the plumbers who didn't fix the OP's drain), know that praise from their supervisors is what really matters in getting raises and promotions.

[WeMissSeaView]

I will get to test this out.  Currently on Enchantment, will get on Freedom and then get on Wonder.  Will see if things get better as the ships get bigger.

[twangster]

Service has often been better on smaller ships compared to larger ships.  Empress was a small ship in her final days in the fleet but had some of the best service.  The crew loved that ship and even now after the restart when you find a crew who served on her they'll say they loved their time on her despite some of the worst crew cabins in the fleet. 

 

A smaller crew more quickly grows into a cohesive family.  On Oasis class crew can go their entire contracts and not meet all other crew members on board, or so they tell me.   It's less of a family feeling on the mega ships.

 

The only word of caution I'll offer the OP is right now on any ship may not be a fair comparison to pre-shutdown cruising.  There are still lingering effects of crew shortages and turmoil from the impacts of Omicron.  Crewing a ship right now has not been always been ideal as they scramble to get crew on board during the pandemic restart.  They've had to alter their normal HR processes to adapt to these crazy times.  Prior to the shutdown they were staffing ships like a well oiled machine.  Now there are bends and twists they have to work through to crew a ship.  In time it will once again start working like a well oiled machine.

[cruiseguy1016]

On 2/26/2022 at 8:33 AM, kernow said:

We've found it varies hugely between ships and even the same ship can be great one year and less so the next. I don't think it has anything to do with 'newness/size of ship or the price you've paid but rather the actual crew that are onboard at the time and how they are feeling. We've had crew tell us that it can depend on senior staff onboard too, a change in Captain or Hotel Director can make a big difference to morale on the ship.

 

My favourite ever RCL cruise was a TA on Splendour in 2015, one of the smallest, oldest ships in the year before she left the fleet. The crew from the top down were wonderful, food was great, atmosphere was lovely, I wish it was always so perfect.

 

 

 

Above is the best answer. The newer/bigger ships will have more to offer i.e. bumper cars, skydiving simulators, more dining options, etc. but the smaller ships can have a more pleasant, intimate feel. It's not always the ship or it's amenities that make a great cruise, it's the crew working on the ship. One of our most enjoyable cruises was on Majesty. The ship was (comparably) very small but the crew made you feel like you were the most important thing in their lives at the time. 

[SRF]

On 2/27/2022 at 6:26 AM, LXA350 said:

In general RCL offers the same basic product throughout it's fleet. Hence, the food quality at Windjammer at Main Dinning and at chops which you get on each cruise ship should offer the same quality fleet wide.

 

We had a conversation with the Chef in Giovanni's Table on our last cruise.  We had made some comments to the waiter about minor issues (not sending food back, but questioning).

 

It was a slow time so the Chef came out.  And he told us that RCI puts out the recipes complete with pictures of how each dish should look, and they get audited.

 

One of our comments was that the grilled shrimp had no grill marks, they looked like boiled shrimp.  He agreed that it made no sense, but that is how RCI showed the dish.  He insisted on taking my GFs dish back and giving her GRILLED shrimp. 😄

 

They also pre-make the carbonara, which both the Chef and I agreed was a travesty. 😄

 

[SRF]

On 2/27/2022 at 8:44 AM, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

Above is the best answer. The newer/bigger ships will have more to offer i.e. bumper cars, skydiving simulators, more dining options, etc. but the smaller ships can have a more pleasant, intimate feel. It's not always the ship or it's amenities that make a great cruise, it's the crew working on the ship. One of our most enjoyable cruises was on Majesty. The ship was (comparably) very small but the crew made you feel like you were the most important thing in their lives at the time. 

 

Also on the smaller ships, you keep seeing the same crew.  There aren't that many of them.  So they get to know you and you to know them.