Have I "outgrown" cruising? Or am I just done with Royal Caribbean?

[rebeccac]

You might want to consider Virgin Voyages.  They may look more expensive at first glance, but soda, wifi, gratuities, exercise classes and all dining (except for a few items) are included.  And the dining is on par (or better) than the specialty restaurants on most lines.  Right now the itineraries are somewhat limited, but the ships are very nice.  

[CuseJeff44]

7 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I think some just enjoy being unhappy in life

What does that mean?

I've been on 6 cruises. 5 were great. This one wasn't. So I like being, what., 5/6th happy?

[taglovestocruise]

37 minutes ago, CuseJeff44 said:

Problem is, I don't feel inclined to reward RCI's incompetence by putting money into their pockets via Celebrity. Sigh. I dunno, 

May be time to up your game and try something in Royals fleet that is not some of the smallest and oldest that you seem drawn to. 

[CuseJeff44]

2 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

May be time to up your game and try something in Royals fleet that is not some of the smallest and oldest that you seem drawn to. 

 

Possible. But is the issue the mentality of RCI these days? or is it just on those smaller ships? Or is it the industry in general? That's really where I am trying to land. My issues seem to be less with the size than they are with what RCI is doing WITH it and what their current priorities are. 

 

And as an aside, this is the first cruise I've been on where the Voyager class would be considered "old" I think. Most of them were over a decade ago. 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by CuseJeff44

[PhillyFan33579]

9 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I think some just enjoy being unhappy in life

I agree with you 100 percent. I have been on 13 cruises since last August. All of them had issues, some minor, some more significant. However, non of these issues impacted my cruise experience and I enjoyed every cruise and I am looking forwarding to the seven cruises I have booked the rest of the year. I have been around long enough to know some people are going to have a good time no matter what while other people are going to be miserable, or at minimum have lots of complaints, no matter what 

[Mary229]

Though we are about as far apart as possible in style and reasons for cruising I share your sentiment.  I cruise to travel but after a few more of the DH’s bucket list cruises I am done.  The ships are a convenient way to get to where you are going but if you are sailing the Med, the Caribbean or Alaska there are now so many options there is no reason to cruise there anymore.  When we started cruising that wasn’t  the case, there were few flights to the islands and little in the way of quality lodging and food.  That has all changed.  You can hop over to an all inclusive on Southwest and be there in a few hours. 

[CuseJeff44]

5 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I agree with you 100 percent. I have been on 13 cruises since last August. All of them had issues, some minor, some more significant. However, non of these issues impacted my cruise experience and I enjoyed every cruise and I am looking forwarding to the seven cruises I have booked the rest of the year. I have been around long enough to know some people are going to have a good time no matter what while other people are going to be miserable, or at minimum have lots of complaints, no matter what 

 

This is sort of insulting and minimizing. I have been on 6 cruises. The first 5 I loved. I noticed some significant changes this time around and for the first time found my enjoyment significantly impacted, and was trying to get the perspective of other cruisers to see if others are seeing it? If so, is it only RCI? Or is it all cruise lines? 

 

Seriously I specifically invited anyone not interested to skip the post. 

Edited July 29, 2022 by CuseJeff44

[Jerseygirl1416]

5 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I agree with you 100 percent. I have been on 13 cruises since last August. All of them had issues, some minor, some more significant. However, non of these issues impacted my cruise experience and I enjoyed every cruise and I am looking forwarding to the seven cruises I have booked the rest of the year. I have been around long enough to know some people are going to have a good time no matter what while other people are going to be miserable, or at minimum have lots of complaints, no matter what 

I remember when you were always complaining about Carnival so there’s that

[SimplyAlbert]

We were on the Adventure in 2017 and both thought the quality of the food wasn't good then.  Sorry to hear that it hasn't improved.  Neither my husband or I are picky eaters and I wouldn't describe us as "foodies," but we thought most of the food was just ok (think Golden Corral type food), and some was just completely inedible.

 

I would try a different line.  We've been cruising mostly NCL now and like the food/atmosphere much better.

[Crazy planning mom]

It may be time to take a break from cruising.

You can always try again in a year or two when hopefully supply and service aren't shortchanged.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Totally agree with most of the OP.

 

Wifi: can never understand why people need to have streaming wifi on a holiday. Supposed to be family time and relaxing time, no work and just chill. Its expensive and i always see lots of people complaining about the coverage.

Specialty resturants: Way too expensive i feel for the food. Granted i dont indulge in fine dining so the MDR or even Buffet is fine for me. 

 

The quality of food i feel could possibly be down to global supply issues,, so hopefully will get better but i doubt it with the current Costs of food globally.

 

Venues closing for covid.......i wish they wouldnt but if most of the lifeguards are in quarantine then pools will close. 

 

Hand washing: is good system on anthem having the wash starions but i guess at peak times its a long queue. Although at the MDR was just hand sanitizer..........so why cant rhat be done at the buffets.  

[PompeySailor]

5 minutes ago, CuseJeff44 said:

 

This is sort of insulting and minimizing. I have been on 6 cruises. The first 5 I loved. I noticed some significant changes this time around and for the first time found my enjoyment significantly impacted, and was trying to get the perspective of other cruisers to see if others are seeing it? If so, is it only RCI? Or is it all cruise lines? 

 

Seriously I specifically invited anyone not interested to skip the post. 

There are a few on here that will bash any critique of Royal.

Hey it’s bloody Cruise Critic for someone’s sake. 

Its called Cruise Critic not Cruise Cheeleaders. SMH

 

Maybe it’s time for this site to be rebranded and renamed.

 

There  are a few on here that have never experienced anything bad or negative EVER.

They are the ones where you could spill your drink over them and they would apologize for you doing it.

They could miss every port, be served cold food, not get the cabin they were assigned and moan about people wearing shorts in the MDR

And it would have been the best cruise ever.

 

Oh and when they sailed that ship 10years ago (not recently) it was amazing and zero issues, with no knowledge or current experience of what is happening in the present.

 

I predominantly sail Royal but have strayed and am straying more and more in the future.

MSC is a good alternative to try and I would recommend giving it a go.

 

We have had Excellent,  very good, good and one or two below par cruises in our cruising lifespan.

And we have had the bad one as well.

 

Don't give up on cruising, as others have said give another company a crack

Happy Days!
 

Thanks for your honest review 👍🏻
 

p.s. Bring on the Pom Poms 

 

[lovesthebeach2]

Sorry this cruise was bad, especially when it was the first one post Covid.

we’ve taken 6 since the restart and I have to agree with things you noticed. The food isn’t as good, even in the couple of speciality restaurants we tried. We did a transatlantic on Odyssey to Rome and I had a glass of wine on day 1 and then it was out of stock the next 13 days. I loved the ship and crew, and food isn’t important to me, nor the out of stock wine that I liked, there were many others to drink. But we didn’t have a full ship, and the ship is beautiful, so none of the other things mattered.
But I realize you were expecting a great cruise after not cruising for so long. It my be time to take a break and do land trips until things get back to normal 🤞

 

[CuseJeff44]

10 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Totally agree with most of the OP.

 

Wifi: can never understand why people need to have streaming wifi on a holiday. Supposed to be family time and relaxing time, no work and just chill. Its expensive and i always see lots of people complaining about the coverage.

Specialty resturants: Way too expensive i feel for the food. Granted i dont indulge in fine dining so the MDR or even Buffet is fine for me. 

 

The quality of food i feel could possibly be down to global supply issues,, so hopefully will get better but i doubt it with the current Costs of food globally.

 

Venues closing for covid.......i wish they wouldnt but if most of the lifeguards are in quarantine then pools will close. 

 

Hand washing: is good system on anthem having the wash starions but i guess at peak times its a long queue. Although at the MDR was just hand sanitizer..........so why cant rhat be done at the buffets.  

 

Re Wifi- 2 teen boys. And unfortunately my job is very very had to just detach 100% from. it is what it is. End of the day, all I ask is, if you sell a service called "Surf and Stream", it should actually work. 

 

 

[PhillyFan33579]

10 minutes ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

I remember when you were always complaining about Carnival so there’s that

When have I complained about Carnival? I have been on 33 Carnival cruises and enjoyed all  of them, although it has been 4-5 years since I have been on a Carnival ship. What I have said is at this point in my life I find the experience on RCI to be better than Carnival. But saying I prefer RCI does not mean I don’t think Carnival doesn’t offer a good product, especially considering their price point. I have been on Celebrity several times but I still prefer RCI. That doesn’t mean I don’t like Celebrity, I have two Celebrity cruises booked in the near future, but right now I still prefer RCI overall.  

[Bxc53]

I appreciate the OP's candor.

 

We are booked on Quantum in October , our first cruise in several years. We are hoping for a better experience but not really expecting a miracle .

Travel and hospitality / tourist industries seem to be universally sub par in current conditions. The current airline experience is infamously bad. Hotels are hit and miss.

Even Disney, arguably the gold standard for customer experience, seems to be struggling.   Is this the 'new normal'? Hope not.

 

It seems to be the time to have modest expectations.. But to paraphrase the old saying:  "The worst day cruising beats the best day working"..

[firefly333]

38 minutes ago, CuseJeff44 said:

What does that mean?

I've been on 6 cruises. 5 were great. This one wasn't. So I like being, what., 5/6th happy?

You should have known not to complain here. You would be attacked. I get a little burnt out and then alternate with carnival since that's my other choice out of Galveston.. ncl has prima coming in.

 

I think just having a change helps. ..though I'm not going a good job myself 3 carnival then like 13 rcl. .I would alternate more but with pre testing I dont feel like i can book one of each. ..hopefully soon. 

 

I liked the food a lot on ncl the 3 i did. Or celebrity..time to change it up. I feel like you myself. Like I need to change it up more. .. looking. 

[barbeyg]

A break sounds like it is in order for you.  I'm sorry your cruise didn't live up to the first 5, but I can also tell you that a few of our cruises weren't as great as others.  Not disappointments, we aren't easily disappointed, but not what we expected.   Sometimes that just happens.   Happens on land vacations too. 🙂

 

Also, as others have mentioned, if you sail RCI again, you might want to try a larger ship, just for the variety of restaurants, entertainment, etc. 

[Jerseygirl1416]

12 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

When have I complained about Carnival? I have been on 33 Carnival cruises and enjoyed all  of them, although it has been 4-5 years since I have been on a Carnival ship. What I have said is at this point in my life I find the experience on RCI to be better than Carnival. But saying I prefer RCI does not mean I don’t think Carnival doesn’t offer a good product, especially considering their price point. I have been on Celebrity several times but I still prefer RCI. That doesn’t mean I don’t like Celebrity, I have two Celebrity cruises booked in the near future, but right now I still prefer RCI overall.  

Maybe you should go back and look at your posts. I’m not going to bother. I distinctly remember you complaining pretty regularly on the Carnival boards mostly about the clientele on Carnival and how you wouldn’t cruise them anymore. I’m not judging you for those feelings but I’m not going to sit back and not call you out when you judge someone else for complaining.

[LGW59]

45 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I agree with you 100 percent. I have been on 13 cruises since last August. All of them had issues, some minor, some more significant. However, non of these issues impacted my cruise experience and I enjoyed every cruise and I am looking forwarding to the seven cruises I have booked the rest of the year. I have been around long enough to know some people are going to have a good time no matter what while other people are going to be miserable, or at minimum have lots of complaints, no matter what 

Sounds like you are OK with mediocrity, but  like the OP, most of us are not.  Frankly it’s because those of us who aren’t afraid to speak up when service is not up to par, then the quiet ones will benefit from us.  Enjoy accepting mediocrity, most of us will not.

[meadowlander]

54 minutes ago, CuseJeff44 said:

 

Possible. But is the issue the mentality of RCI these days? or is it just on those smaller ships? 

 

My experience on Adventure in May was not what I hoped it would be. Despite that I am sailing Adventure again in September and will lower my expectations based on the May cruise.

 

In March I sailed Enchantment and I found the service on that cruise to be outstanding, the best service on Royal except for perhaps my first cruise.

 

 

[Tatka]

Maybe we are biased as we are addicted to cruising with now 53 cruises. We could not wait for cruises to restart so we went to A/I in Mexico. It was one of the best resorts during COVID and overall good quality chain. Iberostar Paraiso Lindo Resort  For a very cheap price. $1800 for 7 days during Thanksgiving 2020 and $2200 for 9 days in March 2021 with flights . We liked it (we did not like A/I when we tried 20 years ago). It was really nice, but entertainment was not as good, and it was the same place for all days. That is why in 2003 we switched to cruising! These were COVID times and prices where really down. Now it is much much much higher! Our domestic resorts of similar quality cost arm and leg!

 

Since restart we cruised 7 times

 

• Celebrity Edge
• Anthem of the Seas (3 times)
• Oasis of the Seas (2 times)
• Enchantment of the Seas

 

I honestly have not seen much of downgrade. Maybe small things here and there, but same goes for resorts after COVID, Also for cruises we do not need to fly... and prices of flights have risen dramatically.

 

We will be on Adventure soon for 9 day cruise to Canada. So maybe my opinion will change. I will try to post updated here.

 

[xpcdoojk]

2 hours ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

I haven’t heard of too many happy with Adventure this summer. I think it’s a combination of summer sailing (huge crowds), older ship, maybe less experienced crew and maybe a crappy F&B officer. 
 

I’ve sailed a few mainstream companies and found that they are all more similar than they are different. The differences in my opinion are in the specific ships. I now only book newer ships that get overall good reviews. And I never sail in the summer and after a Christmas cruise never on a holiday either.

 

I’m sorry you weren’t happy with your cruise. Hopefully the next one will be better.

 

 

We were on the 13 night repositioning cruise before it went to NY/NJ.  I found the food to be pretty good.  The internet worked well enough I could stream NHL playoffs and Formula Race.  

 

We did the 5 night dining package, and 3 nights at Giovannis and 2 nights at Chops is way too much of both.  😆  

 

I avoid summer cruises like the plague so, who knows what happens when 1000s of New Yorkers with kids get on a ship.😇

 

jc

[warburg]

Greetings, Everyone from South Beach, twenty minutes from Port of Miami.. A recent article outlined the growing number of complaints from disappointed passengers addressing the same issues that bothered CussJeff. The cruise lines are caught in a terrible economic spot. The lock down was a total disaster.  Today's economic reality is also horrific.  In my opinion, Royal should decide. if it wants to keep its passengers happy and provide the expected product. If not, the line will accept losing CussJeff and others who feel as he does. To his credit, he's spoken up. One onion ring each and no burger at all has an Oliver Twistish quality to it. In February I sail on Odyssey in a junior suite. I will report on my experience as CussJeff has done. At the moment, I am optimistic and expect to have a good time. 

Mary

[Jimbo]

3 hours ago, CuseJeff44 said:

This is going to be a little bit of a random download / trip report so feel free to skip past it if that isn't of interest to you 🙂 It's also a LOT of complaining, so again, feel free to skip if that's not your cup of tea.

 

After far too many years away from cruising, and a cancelled COVID trip, we finally got to sail on the Adventure of the Seas this past week on a 5 night Bermuda cruise. This was our 6th cruise, and all of them have been on Royal. The first 5 we loved and always felt it was money well spent. This time, everything changed. 

 

Topline takeaway : I always felt that even though the cruise came along with upcharges and added costs, I still got the impression that the Cruise line cared that I had a good time in the end. I always felt appreciated and respected as a passenger, and a vacationer, and even though it wasn't an all-inclusive, I always felt that their number one goal was my happiness. Yes. I know their goal is to make money, but they used to be so much better at still leaving me feeling that I got value. 

 

I didn't feel that way at ALL this time around. 

 

First the food. I have LONG defended the food on this cruise line from those who said it wasn't good. It was never 5 star dining, but I always felt well-fed and well taken-care of. Not this time. The quality and quantity of the food in the dining room has declined to the point that I have to agree with the criticism. A shrimp appetizer had 3 small shrimp. That's it. More fun times at Johnny Rockets when we asked "are these starters per person or to share"? He said to share. Then he brings our onion rings. Four small onion rings for four people. *****? And...my wife's burger never came at all. 

 

I also need someone to explain to me. COVID is airborne. How does congregating large groups of people outside the Windjammer so they can wash hands make sense? Seems to be an increase in risk. It would seem that the quick hand sanitizing shots that they did outside the main dining room would make much more sense. I'm also curious why I can't make my own ice cream...sorry, frozen yogurt...cone outside on the pool deck? How is COVID more transmissible in that one spot as opposed to every other surface in the Windjammer? Or on the soda machine touch screens? On the Promenade coffee machine handles? Arbitrary and didnt make sense. 

 

$7.95 upcharge for breakfast room service if it's an egg, but free if its toast. I don't get it. 

 

$200 for a family of four for a premium restaurant now. Oof. 

 

And there used to be SO many more places to get food. Forget about the long gone away midnight buffets, what about even the burgers and dogs poolside? Now, the ONLY place I could find ANY food during non meal hours was the Promenade, and there was always a huge line because of it. 

 

Overcrowding 3,800 people onto a boat despite COVID....fine I can deal with that...but why are you closing half the pools on an AT SEA day? Insanity. People were pouring OUT of the hot tubs. 

 

The WiFi? I paid $400 for 4 devices with "streaming". It was AWFUL. Worked maybe 25% of the time, and not at a speed where anything was streamable. 

 

I could go on (I know this is a total *****-fest and I am sorry)...But It just felt like every possible opportunity to make things harder for passengers, RCI did that thing. And I NEVER felt this way before about RCI. I don't know if cruising just isn't for me any more, or if its just RCI. 

 

Sigh. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Corby114 said:

My family of three cruised on the Adventure Of The Seas June 9th five day sailing to Bermuda. During the short five day sailing in the Windjammer there was a shortage of orange juice and lemonade. On the first sea day I went over to the Solarium Bar for a glass of white wine for my wife. The overworked bartender told me there was no white wine available at his station and no one available to go down to the storage hold and get any. My wife ended up with a glass of champagne. The same day I asked for an absolut screwdriver. He pointed to either Gray Goose or Stoli vodka. I went with the Gray Goose. Every night during this sailing we would end up having a drink or two in the Viking Crown Lounge. A twenty three year female veteran bar steward from Jamaica explained that she was finishing up an eight month contract in two weeks. She told us her direct supervisor was begging her to extend her contract for an additional ten weeks because they were so shorthanded. She explained that her knees were shot and she was considering retirement. She said many fellow employees were being strong armed to extend their contracts.

 

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

 

Princess has been getting some poor reviews as well, in fact some worse involving sewage issues and propulsion problems, in addition to inadequate service to match the increase in travel at the start of the summer.  In October I have one Princess sailing and one RC sailing, so it will be an interesting comparison.

 

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

Though we are about as far apart as possible in style and reasons for cruising I share your sentiment.  I cruise to travel but after a few more of the DH’s bucket list cruises I am done.  The ships are a convenient way to get to where you are going but if you are sailing the Med, the Caribbean or Alaska there are now so many options there is no reason to cruise there anymore.  When we started cruising that wasn’t  the case, there were few flights to the islands and little in the way of quality lodging and food.  That has all changed.  You can hop over to an all inclusive on Southwest and be there in a few hours. 

 

 

Thanks to the OP for your review,  reasons and reviews like this will keep us on the sidelines until at least the end of 2023 when hopefully Royal Caribbean steps up it's game back to the way it used to be.

 

Until then we will just continue to enjoy our land vacations that seem to be a much better value at this time.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Jimbo