Royal playing games

[zebra36]

11 hours ago, Jt4428 said:

I expect it not to be an issue in the first place.  That's what I expect.

That is my take also. They make it sound as though they are doing you a favor and never come close to admitting their mistake and apologizing.

[jencruzin]

13 hours ago, keishashadow said:

Is it possible that line was the MTD that didn’t make reservations? 

Who knows? It was still a line containing the same people that was in it before and after we ate early seating.

[Engineroom Snipe]

13 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

Yes, on most ships early traditional dining has all the seats so MTD is not scheduled to start until 6:45 or so.  If there are vacancies (early diners not utilizing the MDR that might), it might be possible that some MTD guests will be seated earlier.

 

If the app were improved, the dining system could work better.  Imagine: as a traditional dining guest just by tapping a button on the app you could inform the MDR that your party would not be using your assigned table that evening as you have other plans (the MDR table would be immediately available to other guests, if needed).  Imagine: rather than joining a queue, MTD guests could tap a button on the app to signal they’d like a table; they would get an appropriate wait time via the app and a notification when their table was available (claim within 10 minutes).  More guest satisfaction, no more long lines, and good for bars, shops and casino.   

"Imagine all the people living life in peace..." (John Lennon)

 

Great ideas but you know how difficult it is to get anything RCI IT to work. With my luck, I would go to confirm my choice on the app "that I am waiting at the MDR", ready to be seated, and the app acknowledges that I canceled my reservation."

 

😠

 

 

[mugtech]

1 hour ago, zebra36 said:

That is my take also. They make it sound as though they are doing you a favor and never come close to admitting their mistake and apologizing.

Then perhaps cruising will always disappoint you.

[PWP-001]

10 hours ago, Jt4428 said:

I'm not going to go back and forth but my post was about the rep not wanting to give me the obc even after i spoke to him not an IT glitch.

 

I'm pretty sure I'm on your side with this... and I'm focusing on how you were treated when you requested a supervisor, never got to speak with one, but after a time on hold the original person honored your request but did so using words that prompted you to think:  "how dare him!"

 

I can tell you that I've had a number of conversations with different departments on the telephone where the employee has managed to say something that really angered me.

 

The best example happened on board in Café Promenade about 4am when I dispensed a cup of coffee in my glass mug and then added milk.  The employee was standing right there as I did so, and watched me take a drink.  I told him the coffee was not hot.  At that hour it's common since few people are drinking coffee and that thermos of coffee may have been brewed and standing for several hours.  But his response to me was:  "Maybe it's because you put so much milk in it." 

 

My eyes rolled in the back of my head because his intonation and words were received by me as if this was the first cup of coffee I've ever drank, that I don't KNOW how much milk I normally can pour into hot coffee, that I don't know the shade of my coffee that I drink every day for easily forty years....

 

Rather that spouting out any of those thoughts, I did express annoyance as I set my mug down, reached for a fresh cup, dispensed coffee, drank some of the black coffee, and then screwed my face up in a sarcastic smile to tell him: "No, the coffee is not hot!"  And to drive it home, mimicking his initial reply:  "MAYBE it's been sitting here for several hours and has just gone cold.  So can we have a fresh one???"

 

Allow me one more.... On my 3rd or 4th sailing on Liberty during a 3 month period, when a particular slot machine wouldn't recognize my sea pass, I approached the cashier and asked her to call an attendant to help me with the issue, sea pass in hand.  She reached for my sea pass and read my name, called for an attendant and stated words I specifically don't remember to quote here but that implied I probably just didn't know what I was doing.  I replied to her:  "That's right, I'm stupid and I don't know what I'm doing."  As it turns out it was a known issue that 3 new machines required a special white card be created and assigned to me so that points would accumulate. A manager was involved and the process was long enough for me to realize something.  I explained to the manager my interaction with the cashier and pointed out to him that when she asked for my sea pass, if she simply glanced down at the bottom of the sea pass, she would have seen PRIME, SIGNATURE, or MASTERS and that should have been a clear indication to her that the passenger wasn't new to the casino and probably did know how to use a sea pass in a slot machine. I asked him:   "So who's the stupid one in all this?"

 

At the end of the day, after I've had a chance to cool off, I've realized that in almost all cases the employee most likely did not mean to convey the harshness in which their communication was received.  I chalk it up to cultural divide.  It's like being approached by a waiter or waitress in a foreign who asks:  "What do you want?"  It's a bit jarring when normally you'd hear, "Have you decided?" or "Can I take your order?"  But I know and appreciate they were being accommodating by practicing their English and didn't intend it to be harsh.   

 

The only evidence I see of "Royal playing games" is there decision to off-load more of their customer support offshore.  Sure they must be saving millions, but at the expense of more aggravated guests trying to resolve a problem with an individual that's not well-trained in how to approach these situations.

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

"Imagine all the people living life in peace..." (John Lennon)

 

Great ideas but you know how difficult it is to get anything RCI IT to work. With my luck, I would go to confirm my choice on the app "that I am waiting at the MDR", ready to be seated, and the app acknowledges that I canceled my reservation."

 

😠

 

 

LOL, yes, Royal does need to improve their IT department.  I think it would be a good investment, thought I’m not holding my breath

 

[mjkacmom]

2 hours ago, zebra36 said:

That is my take also. They make it sound as though they are doing you a favor and never come close to admitting their mistake and apologizing.

I find with customer service many places they are instructed not to apologize or admit fault.

[Big_G]

Old enough to remember walking into MTD anytime between 5:30 - 6:30 and being seated right away. Then we did a stretch of Oasis Class suites and Celebrity suites. Fast forward to Serenade last November and holy cow! What a mess. Ended up in specialties and the WJ every night except the last night. The last night we walked right in.

[HicksRA]

45 minutes ago, Big_G said:

Old enough to remember walking into MTD anytime between 5:30 - 6:30 and being seated right away. Then we did a stretch of Oasis Class suites and Celebrity suites. Fast forward to Serenade last November and holy cow! What a mess. Ended up in specialties and the WJ every night except the last night. The last night we walked right in.

The reason you could walk right in on the last night is because it was “tip night” and everyone went to the Windjammer…. 😆

[lovesthebeach2]

21 hours ago, Jt4428 said:

I have 2 reservations on Oasis for August 13th of this year.  We had booked on board last year so we received some on board credit + I own shares in RC so there was additional $100 for my stateroom.  I was online checking my account and the on board credit was not listed.  I called the Crown and Anchor #, got through right away and the guy tells me I'm not entitled to the on board credit for the on board booking.  I tell him I have everything in writing on my booking and let me speak to a supervisor.  He puts me on hold again and comes back and says okay, we're giving it to you.  How dare him?  It's as if they were doing me a favor.

 

Also, we always book traditional late dining for 8:00 which is on my reservation.  So he says that my reservation for dining is 7:30.  I asked him did they change traditional dining from 8 to 7:30?  he doesn't answer me.  I said I do not want MTD at 7:30, this isn't that, correct?  He insists that it isn't.  Does anyone know if that is true that is true that they changed the traditional late dining from 8 to 7:30?  He said the early seating is 5 not 5:30.  My daughter and I were just on Navigator about a month ago and late seating was 8.

 

Thanks in advance.

 We’ve been on a few cruises since January and noticed they are trying to get early seating in earlier than what was originally on the booking. What said 530 on the booking, became 515 and then they said they’re open at 500 and we can come in then if we choose. I think this was because of MTD. The ones that show up at 5 are half way down by 530 so they can start the MTD in earlier. It’s not an issue for us. It’s been like this in our experience since January 

[Big_G]

13 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

The reason you could walk right in on the last night is because it was “tip night” and everyone went to the Windjammer…. 😆

 

LOL...We actually joked about that while eating dinner. 😁

[Engineroom Snipe]

38 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

The reason you could walk right in on the last night is because it was “tip night” and everyone went to the Windjammer…. 😆

During those early MTD years, I believe they made us pay our "gratuities" ahead of time if we wanted my time dining. Do you remember that?

[not-enough-cruising]

2 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

During those early MTD years, I believe they made us pay our "gratuities" ahead of time if we wanted my time dining. Do you remember that?

They still require that in certain locales