Say Goodbye to Ranch Steak, Hello to Fresh Water Pools (and other enhancements!)

[BurBunny]

Hi all!

 

Just got notified of some enhancements coming to Royal Caribbean, including dining changes, fresh water pools and other added benefits. Time to celebrate!

 

Food and Beverage Enhancements

 

We have implemented a new luncheon dining option in the main dining room

 

called "Royal Brasserie 30" The idea is to offer a less formal lunch

 

setting with 30 minute plated service from start to finish . This program

 

is intended to reduce long lines that occur at times in the Windjammer Cafe

 

during lunch hours.

 

The bistro style menu offers such items as fish and chips , quesadillas,

 

seafood pasta, Ruben sandwich, barbecue spareribs and grilled salmon.

 

We have increased our investment in food and have upgraded the quality of

 

the lobster and beef onboard all RCI ships . The Ranch steak has been

 

removed from the menu. All new menus are in place and are beautiful ,

 

with artwork from the ship depicted on the cover.

 

We are introducing a new Portofino menu on RD and Vy Class ships this month

 

.

 

ONBOARD ENHANCEMENTS

 

We are in the process of converting all salt water pools to fresh water.

 

We have introduced a new "team Cleaning " concept that will be rolled out

 

fleet wide by September

 

Two stateroom attendants work together to clean and service staterooms

 

Guests have two staterooms attendants to call upon, this will offer

 

improved efficiency and guest satisfaction.

 

Attendants spend more time on the floor , as one member of the team serves

 

as a dedicated 'linen runner" to replenish supplies.

 

 

 

European Experience

 

We have added local music , local food selections and local fashion shows

 

Ship photographers will be accompanying shore excursion s in Europe

 

We are adding a second international ambassador on board our European

 

sailing's to enhance the language experience and support foreign speaking

 

guests.

 

 

 

We have added three new RCI production shows this season (West End to

 

Broadway, Tango Buenos Aires and City of Dreams)

 

We have introduced the Explorer Academy , where guests can take ice

 

skating lessons from professionals , take music lessons from members of

 

the orchestra, take dance and theater lessons from the production staff.

[London, Canada]

Where did you get this information from? Hope it is true about the salt water pools being changed to fresh water.

[Toto2Kansas]

Thanks for the info Burbunny, nice additions!

[BurBunny]

London - from a very reliable inside source. Let's say it came from the powers that be at RCCL ;)

[cruisingsaw]

Just wondering how to tip the team that will be cleaning our stateroom. On Carnival we were told that the money we prepaid was for the cabin steward and not her assistant. We decided to tip him on our own.

[London, Canada]

Thanks for the info BurBunny...will pass this info onto my daughters that wished the pools were freshwater...they are cruising for their first time in Feb with DH and I and they love to swim...they wanted to experience the salt water in the ocean first before the pool and we are at sea the first day....

 

This is great news for them.

[hstrybuf]

Hi Amber!! :D Wonder why they got rid of the ranch steak? ;)

 

Thanks for the info. I'm looking forward to seeing how they work on the Navigator!

[camreesmom]

Fresh water pools will be nice.....they are one reason why we want to try out Princess. Thanks for the info.

[melandjay]

We experienced the team concept on our June 27th Mariner cruise. Upon arrival in our room, we noticed photographs and names of our two stateroom attendants but I never met either one during the cruise. I actually briefly spoke to one of the gentlemen when he knocked on our door one morning we decided to sleep late. I forgot to put the "do not disturb" card in the door slot so he assumed we were out of the room. One other time I saw him down the hallway. I never saw the other gentleman. I saw neither on the final night and left the tip envelope on the coffee table when we left the ship.

 

Now, that being said, I am quick to add that the room was cleaned very well twice a day and the only complaint all week was that our ice bucket disappeared one day and night. That was the only time we tried to contact a stateroom attendant by calling the provided phone number but no one answered. Bottom line to us is that our room was clean, they provided clean room towels and pool towels each day and we were never bothered so we were OK with the lack of personal contact.

[Cruising89143]

Glad to see the changes. They all sound great.

[maxxboy]

IMO, of all the new changes having freshwater pools is the best of all. I'm very glad to hear that.

[pcur]

BurBunny:

 

DH wants to know if they still will have some kind of steak that can be ordered every night if you don't like what's on the regular menu.

 

He tolerated the Ranch Steak pretty well, and liked to order a Caesar salad almost every night.

 

Thanks!

[abridalmaven]

Fresh water pools get nasty after a few days, even the best filters can not get out the slime from suntan lotion! I have freinds who stopped cruising the lines that had fresh water pools for that reason. And if kids use then accidents do happen!:(

[gambler]

Thanks for the info Bur!!!

I do not like the team concept, we always enjoy getting to know our room steward and their personal attention. How do you tip in this case? Half to each?

On our 5/31 cruise, the "Ranch steak" was replaced with the "Royal steak", maybe a 1/2 step better at best.

[Tristan]

Have they changed the salt water pools on Voyager already?

 

I *LOVE* salt water pools.....this is very disappointing to me.

[funduo]

Thanks for the infor Bur - I have not hear that yet. Any idea when the changes are to take place on the Voyager?? we sail in 17 days (YEA)

[DMorris]

Very interesting. I wonder if everything will be in place when we sail on the AOS in November. I am also wondering about the tipping of the room stewards. Anyone know if the tip amounts will change? Have no problem tipping extra just would like to know.

[superjerryw]

I think you need to read between the lines here. As far as the stateroom attendants working in a team of two, this is something that actually started a while ago. It is not a real enhancement as the two attendants are collectively responsible for more cabins than they were when they worked alone. I don't recall the exact number, but in the past an attendant was responsible for 15 cabins. Now the team of two is responsible for 40 cabins. You will definitely see them on the fllor more as they now have more cabins to clean and it will taken them longer to get the job done.

 

I really like the part about the ship's photographers going along on shore excursions. Another chance to sell the passengers more photos. I'm sure they will tell the passengers they need to wear some sort of ID sticker while on an excursion so the photograhers can pick them out of the crowd.

 

Bistro style service in the dining room just means fast food. This also means potentially more people in the dining room and more work for the dining room staff. Waiters and assistant waiters that may have had an afternoon off in the past will no longer have that time off.

 

If you read between the lines this is really cost cutting and revenue enhancement. It's amazing how the PR people can try to give this a totally different spin.

[Bonnie Voyager]

We had the "team-cleaning" on Explorer this April and it worked out great for us. We had wonderful service and both our Stewards were very much visible and quite pleasant and fun to be around. Our cabin was cleaned twice daily and we always had turn-down service and towel animals at night. We had no complaints at all!

[luckymomx2]

Wow, I hadn't heard of any of this until just now! I like the idea of fresh water pools best. I really enjoyed the fresh water pool on DCL. Does anyone know the time frame on this. I don't sail until next May so I would hope by then!!

[GreggNKara]

Have they changed the salt water pools on Voyager already?

 

I *LOVE* salt water pools.....this is very disappointing to me.

 

Me too...its the best, salt water is the best!!

[yarlenna]

Is today April 1?

[lauren0309]

Is this for real?!

[isujim]

Thanks for posting this information............I guess we'll all see how it goes and judge for ourselves...........I think most of these are in right direction.

[Host Jacquelyn]

I hope RCCL does a better job than Princess in keeping their freshwater pools "fresh". By 1:00 in the afternoon on Princess, the water was so murky and gray with a thick film of suntan lotion :eek: I noticed this everyday on the Golden, and longed for the saltwater pools on RCCL which are constantly replenished. Also, they kept the pools very warm on Princess, so it was like taking a dip in a very dirty bath...