Activities and amenities closing

[tunafish]

We decided to branch out and try RCCL last year and so far finished 3 cruises all on Oasis class. What was really surprising are the things being constantly closed to the point of frustration. On cocoa cay day - towel station next to gangway closed at 11am. The ship is docked till 5pm. Please go the pool deck towel exchange when you are ready to go ashore. Same towel station may randomly close during the day - go find another one. One side of climbing wall was never open. Pool close at 7 - please get out and go to another one. All attractions that they push in their commercials - all have limited hours: carousel, Abyss etc.
Why they can not open things all day? I can not believe it is manpower. There was a useless function of the person before the security point to tell people where to go or 3 people waving "have a good day" just outside, but no one to man the towel station. Only two people operate climbing wall or abyss, one for the carousel. What gives? 

[Biker19]

28 minutes ago, tunafish said:

What gives? 

RCI is running the ship differently than you would.

[cruisegirl1]

37 minutes ago, tunafish said:

We decided to branch out and try RCCL last year and so far finished 3 cruises all on Oasis class. What was really surprising are the things being constantly closed to the point of frustration. On cocoa cay day - towel station next to gangway closed at 11am. The ship is docked till 5pm. Please go the pool deck towel exchange when you are ready to go ashore. Same towel station may randomly close during the day - go find another one. One side of climbing wall was never open. Pool close at 7 - please get out and go to another one. All attractions that they push in their commercials - all have limited hours: carousel, Abyss etc.
Why they can not open things all day? I can not believe it is manpower. There was a useless function of the person before the security point to tell people where to go or 3 people waving "have a good day" just outside, but no one to man the towel station. Only two people operate climbing wall or abyss, one for the carousel. What gives? 

Most people do leave the ship for Coco Cay  by 11. Also, a lot of people simply exchange their towel in  afternoon,  have it in the cabin,, and then have a fresh towel with them in the morning. No need to even get a towel.

 

They likely need two people for activities in case one person is called away. 
 

The activity opening/closing is clearly stated in the compass. There should be no need for any confusion or disappointment. 
 

m

 

 

[time4u2go]

44 minutes ago, tunafish said:

I can not believe it is manpower.

Then what do you think it is? 

[broadwaybaby123]

It is 100% related to manpower.  COVID caused a lot of shortages all over the world in almost every industry, including cruises.  If someone is out sick, someone else has to be pulled from somewhere else to work that station.  Plus with all the negative press that the cruise lines got from COVID, not a lot of people want to work in the travel industry, so now you have nobody to replace the people who left during the pandemic.  They have to do more with less.

 

Not everyone is trained on how to do every job either.  For example, you can't pull someone from the Activities staff to cover in the Infirmary when the medical staff is out, simply because they don't have the medical background needed to prescribe medications.  Conversely, the medical staff may not be able to cover for the Children's Activity Staff, depending on the requirements of the job (some might require a degree in education).  Now, if it's something like needing more bartending staff in some of the locations, that's a little different: you might be able to pull a bartender from another bar, but there again, that now creates another coverage issue....who would be covering that person's station?

 

If there's nobody to backfill some of those positions, then the station has to close.  Also, it depends on the weather too: for example, if it's raining out, they're probably not going to get a lot of business from any outdoor bars, so it would make more sense to close them.  Also, some of the outdoor activities and attractions might have to be closed, not only for passenger safety, but there may not be a lot of interest in that particular activity in certain weather conditions.

 

Regardless of the reason, the new times are usually very well publicized, either through the app, Cruise Compass, announcements, or RCTV.  It should not come as a surprise if the venue is closed.

[shof515]

1 hour ago, cruisegirl1 said:

The activity opening/closing is clearly stated in the compass. There should be no need for any confusion or disappointment.

ive been on many many cruises where whats posted in the compass does not match reality.

 

yes on paper the hours is listed however if the person manning that thing now needs to be somewhere else. well too day that station will now closed

[Ret MP]

1 hour ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Most people do leave the ship for Coco Cay  by 11. Also, a lot of people simply exchange their towel in  afternoon,  have it in the cabin,, and then have a fresh towel with them in the morning. No need to even get a towel.

20 minutes ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

It is 100% related to manpower.  COVID caused a lot of shortages all over the world in almost every industry, including cruises.  If someone is out sick, someone else has to be pulled from somewhere else to work that station.  Plus with all the negative press that the cruise lines got from COVID, not a lot of people want to work in the travel industry, so now you have nobody to replace the people who left during the pandemic.  They have to do more with less.

 

Not everyone is trained on how to do every job either.  For example, you can't pull someone from the Activities staff to cover in the Infirmary when the medical staff is out, simply because they don't have the medical background needed to prescribe medications.  Conversely, the medical staff may not be able to cover for the Children's Activity Staff, depending on the requirements of the job (some might require a degree in education).  Now, if it's something like needing more bartending staff in some of the locations, that's a little different: you might be able to pull a bartender from another bar, but there again, that now creates another coverage issue....who would be covering that person's station?

 

If there's nobody to backfill some of those positions, then the station has to close.  Also, it depends on the weather too: for example, if it's raining out, they're probably not going to get a lot of business from any outdoor bars, so it would make more sense to close them.  Also, some of the outdoor activities and attractions might have to be closed, not only for passenger safety, but there may not be a lot of interest in that particular activity in certain weather conditions.

 

Regardless of the reason, the new times are usually very well publicized, either through the app, Cruise Compass, announcements, or RCTV.  It should not come as a surprise if the venue is closed.

 

They likely need two people for activities in case one person is called away. 
 

The activity opening/closing is clearly stated in the compass. There should be no need for any confusion or disappointment. 
 

m

 

 

I agree 100% with what you two said/typed.  I really do.

 

BUT, I believe that we still need to call, write, survey, .............. about how disappointed, advertised or not, we are at the cutback, lack of staff, staffing shortages, whatever.  Why?  Because they are saving money while they are working their way through the staffing shortage and they may get to like it and not work very hard at correcting it or not at all.  Remember the "squeaky wheel" concept.

 

I haven't experienced what has been presented by the OP, YET.  Believe me, if it effects me negatively in a major way, I'll be on it like stink on s$&#.  To be honest, towels aren't a major thing for me, not the pool towels.  But, I fully understand that it is a big/major issue for some people.  

 

THEY = RCCL's mothership!

[PhillyFan33579]

3 hours ago, tunafish said:

We decided to branch out and try RCCL last year and so far finished 3 cruises all on Oasis class. What was really surprising are the things being constantly closed to the point of frustration. On cocoa cay day - towel station next to gangway closed at 11am. The ship is docked till 5pm. Please go the pool deck towel exchange when you are ready to go ashore. Same towel station may randomly close during the day - go find another one. One side of climbing wall was never open. Pool close at 7 - please get out and go to another one. All attractions that they push in their commercials - all have limited hours: carousel, Abyss etc.
Why they can not open things all day? I can not believe it is manpower. There was a useless function of the person before the security point to tell people where to go or 3 people waving "have a good day" just outside, but no one to man the towel station. Only two people operate climbing wall or abyss, one for the carousel. What gives? 

Sounds like you should go back to the cruise line(s) you sailed on before branching out to try RCI. One thing that is great about the cruise industry is there are numerous cruise lines that sail from the states, so you have plenty of options when deciding which cruise line you like best.