Royal Caribbean, A Lie is a Lie

[Anton]

37 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

I saw that posted on another site. And I saw a photo of what appears to be a passenger wearing one. At first I thought it was a joke, and the jewelry was fake. But did someone pay $39,000 to advertise Royal Caribbean?

 

sorry  to go off topic. 

m

It’s supposedly true.  They will sell the giant diamond ones on every ship and they include a cruise as part of the $39,000.  No word on cabin category.  They will also sell a normal size version for people who have fashion sense and less money to waste.

[HBE4]

10 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

There always has to be someone who feels the need to write a polite and rational post.🙄😉😁😇

 

Sorry,  what I meant to write was boycott Royal. 😄

[Ocean Boy]

17 minutes ago, robmtx said:

 They've been upfront with their cost cutting changes. As much as I don't like those changes, I still cruise with Royal because the overall experience change has been minimal 

 

 

I disagree and this is where I see the problem. I think people, for the most part, are understanding of cutbacks and costs as we all live in the same universe. The problem with RCI, and probably all other cruise lines is that they are not upfront. Every cutback and price increase is somehow spun as being done to enhance the cruise experience and people are smart enough to see through it. If they would just be upfront there just "might" be far less grumbling.

 

When my office gets behind and people end up having to wait we can say that an emergency set us behind (occasionally true) or we can simply admit to having screwed up the scheduling today. We tend to find people are quite forgiving with the latter explanation. The truth works.... for the most part.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

2 hours ago, little britain said:

Exactly - very fattening and unhealthy ! 
 

Cream in coffee always reminds me of the 1970s/80s when you were served it when you went out to dinner - a real luxury and a treat to a child! 
 

65% of milk sold here is skimmed. 

 

You'd be shocked to see and hear how people order their coffee at Starbucks. Very fattening indeed. 

[Ocean Boy]

1 minute ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

 

You'd be shocked to see and hear how people order their coffee at Starbucks. Very fattening indeed. 

Makes a little half & half look like someone could be some sort of health nut!.😀

[robmtx]

7 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I disagree and this is where I see the problem. I think people, for the most part, are understanding of cutbacks and costs as we all live in the same universe. The problem with RCI, and probably all other cruise lines is that they are not upfront. Every cutback and price increase is somehow spun as being done to enhance the cruise experience and people are smart enough to see through it. If they would just be upfront there just "might" be far less grumbling.

 

Thank you for the respectable challenge to my post.

 

This is Marketing tactics true in any industry. "To add value, we're increasing prices." Always the case. Netflix price increases are money grabs but the consistently tell the users this is to bring you improved offerings. Yeah whatever Netflix, it's a cash grab!

 

Or Spotify just this week: So that we can keep innovating, we are changing our Premium prices across a number of markets* around the world. These updates will help us continue to deliver value to fans and artists on our platform.

 

Marketing! What they really mean is they will raise their price now because they feel they can do it without losing too many customers. We do it in my company...when we're ready to raise rates we get Marketing to spin it into a nice fluffy press release that talks about how great we are and that our customers love us, so what's the harm in a few more bucks out of their pockets.

 

I agree though, every single one of these companies should just say "Hey look, we have huge debt to pay back and so we're passing along that problem to our customers." 

 

The kicker? When the debt is repaid will we see a return of services or discounts? HELL NO! lol

 

 

 

 

[little britain]

2 hours ago, MandyMooToo said:

Half and half's equivalent exists in other places, it is typically equal to (or very closely equal to) single cream or light cream elsewhere.  I typically use milk in my tea and half and half in my coffee 🤷‍♀️

Half and half is not available in either Tescos or Sainsburys, the largest supermarket chains in the UK 

[little britain]

1 hour ago, sgmn said:

I was just about to post the same,  Berni Inns in the 70s with their floater coffees. The height of sophistication 😁

And those funny coffee lid filters! Showing our age! 

[SailorMarg]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

Hopefully, the cruise lines don't figure that out.

They already have.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

1 hour ago, RyderJ201 said:

People will not stop paying. People will not stop cruising. I understand supply and demand just fine without an idiot's guide. I also understand delusional wishful thinking. Cruising is becoming more main stream. The big ships with slides etc are being pushed by cruise lines to compete with theme parks etc. And it's 100% working. The ship has sailed. It's not going back to old levels of demand and pricing.

Then maybe you shouldn't make it sound like you don't understand?  You don't think demand is ever going to drop.  Could be.  We've stopped going to Disney because the trips just aren't as enjoyable and are MUCH more expensive.  That could happen to cruises also.  But, Disney is still bringing in the guests, and cruises could continue to also.   

39 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I disagree and this is where I see the problem. I think people, for the most part, are understanding of cutbacks and costs as we all live in the same universe. The problem with RCI, and probably all other cruise lines is that they are not upfront. Every cutback and price increase is somehow spun as being done to enhance the cruise experience and people are smart enough to see through it. If they would just be upfront there just "might" be far less grumbling.

That's called "spin" or "marketing".  EVERYTHING a company says should be taken with a grain of salt, just like you do with a politician.

39 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

When my office gets behind and people end up having to wait we can say that an emergency set us behind (occasionally true) or we can simply admit to having screwed up the scheduling today. We tend to find people are quite forgiving with the latter explanation. The truth works.... for the most part.

So your company does the same thing.

[not-enough-cruising]

4 hours ago, little britain said:

No, it half cream/ half full fat milk 🥴… and even worse it comes in little uht cartons so it isn’t even fresh stuff!! 
Best avoided! 

We buy it by the 1/2 gallon fresh from the refrigerated section at the grocers. Definitely very fresh

[HicksRA]

I’m on Allure now as well and one thing that I find humorous is the butter rationing. The metal tin on your table used to be crammed full of butter pats. 
Now the max seems to be 3. And if you use those you have to ask for more. They begrudgingly take the tin and bring it back with 2 more. 
Was there a problem with people stuffing their purses with butter??  

[RedIguana]

Even half and half is a step down. I buy coffee cream by the pint and half and half by the half gallon as a backup. I chose to sail with Royal over other lines such as CCL or NCL because I felt the product they offered was more suited to what I was looking for. Better quality food and wine, escargot and French onion soup every night, excellent service from the staff, etc. If Royal wants to reduce their product down to CCL or NCL level (or maybe the MSC model?), there  is no reason not to just sail on CCL or NCL, or even look for a line that has was Royal use to offer. Since the restart I have been on Princess, Celebrity, and HAL, to go along with my 4 Royal cruises. The more Royal finds itself in a race to the bottom (or become Carnival 2.0), the more of us will go to alternate lines that still offer what Royal used to. We would prefer Royal to be Royal though, and not carnival 2.0. 

And princess had real coffee cream.......

[SquishTheWhale]

2 hours ago, MandyMooToo said:

Most people using it in their coffee ony use a tablespoon or so, not a large portion.  

Oh I see thank you. I drink my coffee black, but obviously as the other option here is milk then people have quite a lot. Next time I'm in the US I'll have to try some!

[MandyMooToo]

36 minutes ago, little britain said:

Half and half is not available in either Tescos or Sainsburys, the largest supermarket chains in the UK 

I didn't say specifically the UK, just other places.  Half and half is popular in Canada as well as the US and in other countries it is pretty much equal to light cream or single cream.  

[Jetdriver787]

3 hours ago, Anton said:

And be careful not to get impaled by the massive diamond and gold logo anchor on a chain* he’s been wearing.  
 

*$39,000 and soon to be available for sale on all ships. 

Will that be $33,150 with the Diamond+ 15% discount?

[MandyMooToo]

2 minutes ago, Jetdriver787 said:

Will that be $33,150 with the Diamond+ 15% discount?

That discount is only for Pins and suites, sorry.

 

[SquishTheWhale]

7 minutes ago, MandyMooToo said:

I didn't say specifically the UK, just other places.  Half and half is popular in Canada as well as the US and in other countries it is pretty much equal to light cream or single cream.  

Right I see now as we do have single cream, just isn't something people would put in their drink. We'd use it for cooking or baking etc.

[Jetdriver787]

45 minutes ago, little britain said:

Half and half is not available in either Tescos or Sainsburys, the largest supermarket chains in the UK 

Even if it was, it would now be "Quarter & Quarter" and still cost 30% more!

[zoepipes]

17 hours ago, island lady said:

 

And also ironically...I have stock in RCI. 😄  

And with milk being switched out for 1/2 & 1/2 I can only assume your RCL stockprices are soaring with all the money they're saving!  And don't get me started on my quest for potato chips on my last cruise (although they never promised to have them) 😆

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by zoepipes
added texxt

[Ocean Boy]

54 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Then maybe you shouldn't make it sound like you don't understand?  You don't think demand is ever going to drop.  Could be.  We've stopped going to Disney because the trips just aren't as enjoyable and are MUCH more expensive.  That could happen to cruises also.  But, Disney is still bringing in the guests, and cruises could continue to also.   

That's called "spin" or "marketing".  EVERYTHING a company says should be taken with a grain of salt, just like you do with a politician.

So your company does the same thing.

What are you talking about? My point was I learned long ago that being up front and honest goes a long way. Spin it into whatever you want.

[kirtihk]

23 hours ago, bradpole said:

Actually to someone who drinks coffee, it is a “horror.”  
 

I experienced the same on Adventure last September.  To some people this could seem incredibly trivial and stupid, but to others, myself included, this is no different than serving warm beer to a beer drinker.  Some people are wine snobs, perhaps a beer snob…I consider myself a coffee snob.  Milk in my coffee is not the same as half and half!  Did this ruin our cruise?  Nope, it was just annoying.  

Coffee snobs would "explode" if someone contaminates their coffee with anything.

Edited July 26, 2023 by kirtihk

[angelsfort]

19 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Most definitely, but this is a dairy product to dairy product.  People would avoid the dairy at all costs of they have allergies.
 

Not like they filled the milk container with a peanut product for example. 

Not necessarily true... I am lactose intolerant for the most part.  But I can tolerate A LITTLE...  so I use half & half because it has LESS lactose than regular milk does and I tolerate it better.

half & half is exactly that, it's half milk and half cream (and cream has very little lactose in it)

[angelsfort]

I go into the all of the other cruiseline boards to see the chatter going on about their particular line and I am never dissappointed!  EVERY cruise line has a bunch of folks who are upset about changes being made to the line and they also have those loyal fans that just roll with the punches.  I promise there is not a single forum in here that doesn't have complaints and issues rolling around...  

It doesn't matter which cruise line you are on, if you are someone who nitpicks and finds fault in everything, you won't be happy with any line and you may as well just stay with the one you're on.

[RyderJ201]

1 hour ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Then maybe you shouldn't make it sound like you don't understand?  You don't think demand is ever going to drop.  Could be.  We've stopped going to Disney because the trips just aren't as enjoyable and are MUCH more expensive.  That could happen to cruises also.  But, Disney is still bringing in the guests, and cruises could continue to also.   

That's called "spin" or "marketing".  EVERYTHING a company says should be taken with a grain of salt, just like you do with a politician.

So your company does the same thing.

???