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Could we start a list of perks that were discontinued?


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On my RCCL cruise last month on the Rhapsody, they didn't even provide towels by the pool. You had to bring down the ones placed in your room and return them to your room, or you were charged for them :(

 

 

Is this practice a gentle chair hog control practice?

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  • 3 weeks later...
On ar last cruise we had a guy sitting outside of his cabin with the luggage with only boxers:eek: Found out later he got locked out & had to go downstairs to find his wife & or kids:D How Embarassing:p

 

What you mean this option is no longer available ? ?

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

on Crown Princess april 07 - pool towels, passenger talent show, pooldeck party streamers, 2pm "high tea"

 

on HA Volendam sept 06 - comment cards, pool towels

 

on RCCL Radiance OYS april 06 - passenger talent show

 

 

so....maybe some things don't change, just too much to do that you don't notice!

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Don't many lines still have soft serve ice cream? :confused: I have been on Celebrity and HAL and seen it on both.

 

Jim, I am puzzled by your suggestion that midnight buffets went away in 1995. They have had them on the two cruises I have been on. Is it that they are not as lavish as before?

 

And I am pretty sure people still get to dine with the captain...my in-laws were chosen for that on Maasdam and I have heard about it happening on other trips too. I guess because there are more people (like Sthitch said) it is no longer as likely that you get that opportunity, though.

 

I think he means the gala buffets- but they real still around back when I took my first cruise, 1998 and until 9/11 there was one on every cruise-now some cruiselines have them-some don't. I don't really miss them though-they were for looking at more then actually eating as we had ate all day. To me they were a massive waste. I would much rather have better quality food a tdinner-then that to gawk at.

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Unless I am somehow misunderstanding "pool towel"...Crown Princess (just off it a few days ago) had pool towels. Saw MANY of them, and this was on a Canada/New England itinerary. Walked past the linen storage room one day, and could see (door was open) shelves of pool towels galore! They are blue & white striped, can't miss 'em. They were also in our cabin closet, though we had no need for them ourselves.

 

Celebrity Cosntellation had them back in Sept. also.

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What fun it has been to read through this site and think about all those past cruise:D

What do I miss? On some longer cruises the ship would spend more than a few hours in port. I remember over night stays in many Asian ports.

Also the newer, bigger ships are now forced to dock some distance from the visited city and it is possible to spend half your time getting to the city and the sights.:(

While Cunard Line still seperates passengers by dining room for the most part the First Class and Tourist seperations have been done away with.

The worst day cruising beats the best day working:)

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Hi all,

 

The saddest thing that I feel has been discontinued with the cruise lines (especially RCCL) is "customer service." I understand the need for the fuel supplement increase but I don't understand the fact that they are not tring to compensate the early advance bookers in any way - they are just hitting us with the additional charge. I have sent several emails and phone calls regarding this matter with even a simple solution of giving the people who booked their cruise before November 16, 2007 an onboard cruise credit for 1/2the amount of the increase (if the increase is $50 extra for the couple, give them $25 in onboard cruise credits) - does this really cost that much out of their pocket, it would possible supply a couple with about 4 drinks or something like that.

 

I feel this is the minimum they should do considering that they did not give us advance bookers any warning or option to pay off the cruise before the fuel supplement went into effect. I feel that "Customer Service" has been discontinued and they do not care about us customers AT ALL.

 

Thanks for listening, cruisefreak13

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I remember when the cruise lines used to ring the chimes to announce that dinner was ready. Then when you walked in there were beautiful ice sculptures and a table with crackers and cavier. At the end of the cruise, our waiter presented us with souvenier menus and a picture of the ship. Funny how elegant it all seemed even though the ships were smaller than the mega ships of today.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok my friends...some of these things I never had..some I did and miss...but come on. Cruising is one of the best Vacation values we can get. They feed you and wait on you and clean your room. I have always had great cruise staff and have made friends. So....If we did not think it was so great we would not be on this board!!! Happy cruising to all of you and calm seas and warm weather....lpt:)

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While this may be true, it doesn't excuse the lack of service. If the pay-per-perk system makes up for the lost revenue of higher ticket prices, then the money would be there for the better service. Seems that the extra money doesn't go to service, but to profits. That is the shame of it.

 

Cruise lines have a captive audience so they can basically charge what they want to and many people will pay, which provides a steady and predictable source of income. Budget minded cruisers that are willing to go without or pack their own alcohol, get cheaper massages on shore, etc. are finding that cruising is one of the best travel deals out there. So the Cruise lines are having to find new and inventive ways to make money which we are all seeing as loss of perks. Although the level of service has slipped, long working hours, low pay, assigning more cabins per steward, etc. has more to do with it. None of us would do what they do for that pay month after month with the positive attitude most of them have.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I'm not trying to be negative here because crusie lines have added services and attractions over the years that may make up for these losses. Also I have only been on 8 cruises on various lines. Some may have been discontinued on some lines and not others. Some of these things I don't miss at all. Also I am very pleased that mini-refrigerators are becoming common. If you know of others please post. But these are the things that I think were discontinued:

 

anytime lemonade

 

gifts like fanny packs and win a cruise contests for repeat cruisers

 

fruit basket in the rooms

 

water color prints (suitable for framing) of your ship

 

soft serve ice cream

 

24 hour pizza station

 

some midnight buffets

 

 

Royal Caribbean still has soft serve ice cream anytime after the first day of the cruise, and some of its ships have pizza or at least 24 hour food (most of the ships have 24 hour bakeries). And RCCL still has one midnight buffet for the week-long cruises. I'm very lucky on those three. :-)

 

I do agree with the lack of well-mannered/behaved and well-dressed people on the ships these days. So disrespectful :-/ Sad really but still good to know there's quite a few polite people out there as well.

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  • 1 month later...

RCCL still has free lemonade,soft serve ice cream actually frozen yogurt, and still give gifts to frequent cruisers. At least for platinum level and higher and a lounge with free drinks for diamond members AND more perks for diamond plus and higher. I haven't reched diamond plus yet.

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RCCL still has free lemonade,soft serve ice cream actually frozen yogurt, and still give gifts to frequent cruisers. At least for platinum level and higher and a lounge with free drinks for diamond members AND more perks for diamond plus and higher. I haven't reched diamond plus yet.

 

This is true. We got really nice hats on our last cruise, and our kids got nice size totes that actually zip. As for pool towels- they have always had them (RCCL). Some ships leave them in the cabins, and others are down by the pool. I actually prefer having them in our cabin. Last trip, on port days, we had to go down by the pool to get towels to take on our excursions. As for the midnight buffet, we've only made it to a couple, because I don't stay up that late. The last one was on the Rhapsody in 2006. Our last 2 cruises, I didn't even check to see if it was happening. Seems like they are very wasteful, though. We didn't start cruising until 2000, so I guess you can't miss what you never had.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Most of the midnight buffets were done away with when the ships started to have other places to eat besides the dining room. Remember that, the only place to eat was the dining room. three times a day. B, L, D.Second cruise on the mardi gras was in 1975, $250 inside cabin.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Terrorism has hurt the cruise industry and forced lower prices to keep the ships full inadvertantly making cruising available to many who could not have afforded it before. To sustain the lower prices quality (perks) has been sacrificed for quantity (bodies). Cruises are now sold at wholesale prices using the strategy that most passengers will drink, gamble, massage, buy shore excursions, etc. to make up the "retail" price of the cruise. The quality we had, and much more, that are not now avaliable on the mass market lines are still available on Seabourn, Radisson, Crystal - if you have the money.

 

I dont know if I agree with you on the "terrorism has hurt the industry" but I do agree with everything else you wrote...

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  • 2 weeks later...

We remember well those good old ships. We sailed on them all. We had the time of our lives. Those ships were so innocent, glorious and new to us newly wed. Now 50 years later we are still sailing because of the fun we had.

Three cheers for Regent Cruise line, the Greek shipline and most of all - those grand ships!

Geri & Jack

Canada

Azure 2x

Pegasusx2x

Oceanis 1x

Bolero (I think)

 

 

 

 

 

They all sunk and were owned by Epirotiki . Started sailing on them in 1985 They all did the Caribbean in the winter months and Greek Island and Mediterranean cruises in the summer. They were chartered by Regent Holidays out of Toronto Canada.

They gave out hand woven bags.

They had midnight buffets,

Greek night with free Ouzo

Wine with dinner included all you could drink

And the best thing was that the lugguage was checked in at Toronto airport and we didn't see it again until it arrived in our cabins

Sherrill

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Sitmar Cruises-- oh the service,

Head Waiters that remembered that you preferred Cesare Salad on your next cruise, the type of tea you preferred to drink, spoiled your children

 

The appetizers at the Returning Passenger parties are not as good as they were

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