Onboard Marina Now

[shepherd really]

8 hours ago, mauibabes said:

Pre AND Post Covid in my experiences, 7 segments/85 days and counting.

Yes they do follow up but they can miss some sometimes.  
Enjoy your cruise,

Mauibabes

And I'm sure they respond the same way whether you are a Diamond or Presidents Circle or just a first-time cruiser. 😎 

[basor]

2 hours ago, shepherd really said:

And I'm sure they respond the same way whether you are a Diamond or Presidents Circle or just a first-time cruiser. 😎 

We have had the same level of response to our mid cruise survey from our first time cruise on and we are not even close to Diamond or President's Circle now....pre and post COVID.  If appropriate,  contact from the appropriate personnel to clarify a comment. 

[grifdoglover]

Not sure why some people will get a visit from the head pastry chef over a bad scone (my goodness he would be busy with all the cookie complaints) and why some people get a great response while others like me are not contacted or get the platitudes.  I just feel that negating others experiences is for lack of better phrase is defending the indefensible.  Their experience is their experience and should not be disregarded.  We were on the Regatta in Alaska and the Captain or others didn’t announce arrivals, when cleared to go aboard or what floor to use to get off.  We were not the only passengers frustrated…but the shrugs and dismissals when addressing it on board just added insult to injury.  

[EJL2023]

22 minutes ago, grifdoglover said:

Not sure why some people will get a visit from the head pastry chef over a bad scone (my goodness he would be busy with all the cookie complaints) and why some people get a great response while others like me are not contacted or get the platitudes.  I just feel that negating others experiences is for lack of better phrase is defending the indefensible.  Their experience is their experience and should not be disregarded.  We were on the Regatta in Alaska and the Captain or others didn’t announce arrivals, when cleared to go aboard or what floor to use to get off.  We were not the only passengers frustrated…but the shrugs and dismissals when addressing it on board just added insult to injury.  

I have to say you sure do seem to have an inordinate amount of bad luck.  

[LHT28]

24 minutes ago, grifdoglover said:

Not sure why some people will get a visit from the head pastry chef over a bad scone 

It was his choice  not ours  but  at least he followed up on the comments

 

[ak1004]

1 hour ago, grifdoglover said:

Not sure why some people will get a visit from the head pastry chef over a bad scone (my goodness he would be busy with all the cookie complaints) and why some people get a great response while others like me are not contacted or get the platitudes.  I just feel that negating others experiences is for lack of better phrase is defending the indefensible.  Their experience is their experience and should not be disregarded.  We were on the Regatta in Alaska and the Captain or others didn’t announce arrivals, when cleared to go aboard or what floor to use to get off.  We were not the only passengers frustrated…but the shrugs and dismissals when addressing it on board just added insult to injury.  

 

We were on the Regatta last September, never had any issues, a wonderful cruise. Then we read two one star reviews named "disaster" and "awful cruise". It was almost like we were on different sailings.

 

Maybe matter of perspective? Some people always look for glass half empty..

[EJL2023]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

We were on the Regatta last September, never had any issues, a wonderful cruise. Then we read two one star reviews named "disaster" and "awful cruise". It was almost like we were on different sailings.

 

Maybe matter of perspective? Some people always look for glass half empty..

Much more fun being a victim! Let’s face it, some people are NEVER happy. Seems a few of them lurk around on CC. 

[basor]

1 minute ago, EJL2023 said:

Much more fun being a victim! Let’s face it, some people are NEVER happy. Seems a few of them lurk around on CC. 

Agree and if you post anything positive about your experience, you are labeled an "O cheerleader" and so your experience is not to be considered.  It would be exhausting to live life in a glass 1/2 empty existence.  Nothing is perfect but we try to put the less than positive experience into perspective and move on - take a deep breath, count our blessings and have a glass of wine!

[grifdoglover]

I don’t consider honest reviews especially from those that have sailed O many times victims.  Many list the good and the bad.  I don’t have bad luck I have had good experiences as well.  Once again why are people who do have a bad experience somehow not allowed to express legitimate experiences?  Flight complaints I take with a grain of salt but cold food, lack of service, cutting port times, etc. is quite concerning.  

[grifdoglover]

@Basor some people do defend O no matter what.  I call them O ambassadors not cheerleaders but it’s not fair to dismiss honest bad experiences either that’s all I’m saying.  

[basor]

3 minutes ago, grifdoglover said:

I don’t consider honest reviews especially from those that have sailed O many times victims.  Many list the good and the bad.  I don’t have bad luck I have had good experiences as well.  Once again why are people who do have a bad experience somehow not allowed to express legitimate experiences?  Flight complaints I take with a grain of salt but cold food, lack of service, cutting port times, etc. is quite concerning.  

The key is to post both the good and the not so good to give an honest perspective.  The other important thing is, in this day and age, that the majority of people that post on social media are posting to complain....if you have a great meal at a restaurant, do not take the time to post but have a problem and quick to post.  The percentage of cruisers posting/reading on CC is a tine fraction of the number of people who actually cruise so not necessarily a true representation (good or bad) of any cruise line.   Someone just posted that they were on a cruise and read the reviews posted ( 2) that called the cruise awful and disgusting - they were on same cruise and had a wonderful time and did not experience any of the issues posted by others.  But, they also had not posted a review so based upon reading the posted reviews, one concludes O sailing was a disaster.

[basor]

8 minutes ago, grifdoglover said:

@Basor some people do defend O no matter what.  I call them O ambassadors not cheerleaders but it’s not fair to dismiss honest bad experiences either that’s all I’m saying.  

Are they defending O or simply stating their experience which was different....obviously there will always be a few that are only positive and a few that are only negative.  I find that there are a few O haters that will attack O no matter what.  As they say, ignore the O ambassadors and the O haters and read the O middle ground.

[sitraveler]

10 days of almost perfect weather.   Crew was very responsive to my wants. 20 days if you count the prior segment.  Some glitches on excursions and I didn’t get a concierge bag.   But a wonderful time.  

[Sujormik]

So I’ve been pretty vocal about the things on Marina that have been unsatisfactory. I may well be a glass half empty person and lemme tell ya, it’s not like you WANT to be that person! I wanted to love this cruise. Our last cruise on Azamara in July 2019 was extraordinary (and it had its issues, including frustrating lack of communication) and I expected this to better that.  It didn’t and we are not buying a future cruise while onboard because we don’t see an itinerary we want. We will check out yet another line and hope to find our “forever home.”

 

I do think the crummy ports have something to do with it….I knew we weren’t getting a great one because we wanted to end in Oslo when we do, but some of these days have been little better than meh.  I’m responsible for that, but it did make looking into future cruises with unknown/unpopular ports less attractive.  And with the one 2024 sailing we liked being sold out already, we will be moving on.

 

I’ll probably finish next week with a summary post after I’ve had time to chew it over, but in the meantime I’ve enjoyed engaging with all you O folks and appreciate what you’ve all shared, good, bad and ugly.

[Sujormik]

2 minutes ago, sitraveler said:

10 days of almost perfect weather.   Crew was very responsive to my wants. 20 days if you count the prior segment.  Some glitches on excursions and I didn’t get a concierge bag.   But a wonderful time.  

What’s a concierge bag? The blue one with white handles?  You can have ours if you want it!

[vlthom]

11 minutes ago, sitraveler said:

10 days of almost perfect weather.   Crew was very responsive to my wants. 20 days if you count the prior segment.  Some glitches on excursions and I didn’t get a concierge bag.   But a wonderful time.  

We didn’t receive a bag either.  It wasn’t something that we really cared about, though DH typically uses the bag to bring his gym clothes to the locker room.  We are also on the next segment and are moving to a different cabin tomorrow.  Oddly, there has been almost no information provided for how this process will go.  We asked our cabin attendant about it and she said that we would keep our cabin until the new one was ready, but that’s all we’ve been told, oddly.  I guess that at some point we’ll go to reception to see about getting a new key card.

[EJL2023]

1 hour ago, grifdoglover said:

I don’t consider honest reviews especially from those that have sailed O many times victims.  Many list the good and the bad.  I don’t have bad luck I have had good experiences as well.  Once again why are people who do have a bad experience somehow not allowed to express legitimate experiences?  Flight complaints I take with a grain of salt but cold food, lack of service, cutting port times, etc. is quite concerning.  

From what I can tell, I do not see that you have NOT been allowed to express your bad experiences. 

[grifdoglover]

Criticized? Frowned upon? 

[EJL2023]

2 minutes ago, grifdoglover said:

Criticized? Frowned upon? 

Or consequences?? Like anything, there will be pushback perhaps. Just as those who voice the positive face pushback as being cheerleaders.  It goes both ways! Perhaps those that usually post more positive things are just more positive in everyday life and therefore don’t let the negative ones bring them down. Just my personal observation and opinion. Carry on. 

[MEFIowa]

1 hour ago, basor said:

Are they defending O or simply stating their experience which was different....obviously there will always be a few that are only positive and a few that are only negative.  I find that there are a few O haters that will attack O no matter what.  As they say, ignore the O ambassadors and the O haters and read the O middle ground.

 

1 hour ago, grifdoglover said:

@Basor some people do defend O no matter what.  I call them O ambassadors not cheerleaders but it’s not fair to dismiss honest bad experiences either that’s all I’m saying.  

Would be nice if people would first and foremost discuss the OBJECTIVE factors we can all relate to. Say a toilet floods or doors are broken or missed ports or something like that. As opposed to entirely SUBJECTIVE factors that are specific to one individual's tastes, predilections, expectations, etc. See the long-running thread about COOKIES and their taste! For the most part, I could give a rip about the subjective issues. In one ear and out...the intestines. Both "haters" and "cheerleaders" tend to be all about the subjective. The middle ground is grounded in reality and has realistic expectations. IMO.

[pinotlover]

I posted a lengthy review of my Vista cruise. It was mostly all positive, with only a few hiccups that I believe will be fixed. The food is the food.

 

Cruise Critic is an excellent platform for people to get timely information about various cruise topics and experiences.It is also a huge marketing arm for the cruise lines. Besides the Cheerleaders, remember there are paid Influencers on these Forums trying to steer or redirect conversation. On another website Forum I participate in one must declare if they are itb and/or being compensated for posting. Not the case here unfortunately! 🥹

 

As to many of the challenged posts. If I’m posting on a thread about skiing in Aspen, and talk about how wonderful it is but we’re having 2 days of blizzard , and someone pops up and says “ Well, six months ago we had beautiful weather on the beach in OZ”! What in the world does that mean? How does it matter?

 

Don’t we often see that here? For example, a Thread and discussion about being on the Regatta right now, and what is occurring right now; and someone instantly challenged them talking about a cruise 9 months ago, on a different ship, in a totally different part of the world!!! What does that mean? How does it matter?

[grifdoglover]

@EJL2023the original was about the surveys whether surveys were read or not and O response to comments.  These threads have a way of going off on tangents. 

[ak1004]

21 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

 

Don’t we often see that here? For example, a Thread and discussion about being on the Regatta right now, and what is occurring right now; and someone instantly challenged them talking about a cruise 9 months ago, on a different ship, in a totally different part of the world!!! What does that mean? How does it matter?

 

If it's a different ship, it doesn't matter. If it's the same ship, it does because it could be a matter of perspective. I don't believe that things change so drastically in 9 months on the same ship.

[LHT28]

FULL MOON  weekend🙄

[MEFIowa]

7 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

FULL MOON  weekend

Though that may depend upon which "full moon" you mean. Seen some talk on these boards lately about college kids and alumni on board. Crazy hijinks my ensue.