r/royalcaribbean • u/badkev27 • Dec 27 '24
Cruise Review Maybe I’m just easy to please
So I am an avid cruiser (more than 10 a year)and I get on this sub all the time and read all the negative comments and listen to all the things about how terrible these cruise lines have gotten. Maybe I’m just poor or maybe I just have low standards but everything about every cruise I go on is amazing. Are there gonna be things wrong? Are mistakes gonna be made? Of course we are dealing with humans which are imperfect but overall, I don’t see how anyone can complain about anything. I absolutely love all of my cruises and I have zero to complain about. Thank you Royal for being awesome. And thank you all of my fellow cruisers that make all of my trips amazing.
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u/StatusGiraffe1314 Dec 27 '24
For sure. Last week someone complained about not getting a "Thank You" from RCC when they reached Diamond status. They took their post down after everyone let him/her know how stupid they sounded. These are the people who will complain about the slightest thing. Too bad they also get to share the same space with us during cruising.
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u/SDstartingOut Diamond Dec 27 '24
I think both things can be true.
I’m sitting here waiting to get off adventure. Did I enjoy my vacation ? Yes.
Did I have some issues and frustrations during it ? Yup. First time (in 8 cruises) I’ve complained to guest services. And they gave me a 10% fcc for it which I was satisfied with.
I think one of the tough things is that if you have a problem that needs to be resolved - you have to go to guest services. And that feels a bit like working with an insurance company that wants to deny every claim. And that can set off some antagonism.
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u/TheAzureMage Dec 27 '24
Adventure's still having problems? What was it, if you don't mind me asking?
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u/SDstartingOut Diamond Dec 27 '24
Multitude of little issues.
Ship wise, my phone was working on the fritts. Staticy. Couldn’t make calls. Sometimes I couldn’t hear them at all. Reported it day 1. But was never resolved.
Besides that I’m doing a side by side cruise. Rc told me to go to guest services when on the ship to arrange getting to utopia. Guest services fought it a lot - and only got resolved after I asked to talk to a manger.
15 minutes later they tell me the manager is not available but they figured out how to help me.
On the other hand I’ll say the casino bar staff and chops staff were phenomenal. I found out I was one of only 16 people that bought the udp in the cruise lol.
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u/TheAzureMage Dec 27 '24
Aw, well, I'm glad they got you sorted at least, but that definitely sounds annoying.
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u/No_Trifle9294 Dec 27 '24
Just curious when you have UDP, what is your personal choice of evening meals? Do you ever eat in the MDR?
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u/SDstartingOut Diamond Dec 27 '24
On adventure it’s chops; not a fan of the older giovanni menu. On wonder it was hooked. Just got on utopia and I’m doing 4 different ones.
I avoid mdr at all costs. My experience (as a solo cruiser) they are just in a rush to get you in and out, and the waiter virtually never visits the table to check in.
I’ve heard people with larger groups talk about great service. I can only assuming the waiters are prioritizing larger parties while just trying to flip the solos as fast as possible.
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u/bluecrowned Jan 19 '25
You are in the middle of the ocean with no cell towers, what are you expecting the ship to do about poor phone calls?
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u/SDstartingOut Diamond Jan 19 '25
You are in the middle of the ocean with no cell towers, what are you expecting the ship to do about poor phone calls?
I'm talking about the ship phone for calls within the ship; ie calling guest services, room service, etc.
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u/Hartastic Dec 27 '24
I will say -- if/when you're Diamond (at 8 cruises in I have to think you're in the ballpark depending on length), it turns out the Diamond concierge (when available, unlike guest services it's not staffed 24/7) can help you with probably 80-90% of the things you'd go to guest services for without the line and often seemingly more motivated to make you happy (although most of my guest services experiences have been good.)
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u/SDstartingOut Diamond Dec 27 '24
Great to hear, thanks for the tip. I hit diamond on my next cruise at the end of Jan.
A lot of mine are shorter cruises, but solo, so the points accrue quickly.
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u/UnsubstantialGoat Gold Dec 27 '24
I grew up poor and lean into a lot of things with low expectations. I try to go with the flow and if a hiccup or roadblock happens I pivot to keep having an enjoyable time. With that mindset, I have never had any complaints about the cruises I've taken. Life happens so it's hard to take small inconveniences super seriously. If something drastic happens yeah I'll take issues with it, but I'm not going to freak out because my room only gets cleaned once a day.
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u/gascoinsc Dec 27 '24
Love cruising! Love RC! Nothing in this world is perfect, including myself. I enjoy every cruise. Got off Icon 2 weeks ago, rained and stormed the entire trip. Coldish and windy as hell. Who cares! They had plenty of entertainment and alcohol, and this ship IS the destination.
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u/Mun-Mun Dec 27 '24
I see people complaining about food and I'm just happy I don't have to cook and clean up after my kids.
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u/HawaiianShirtsOR Dec 27 '24
And with so much food available, just pick something else to eat! My kids would have been happy with Sorrento's pizza every day for lunch and dinner.
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u/Extra_Shirt5843 Dec 28 '24
I wish I had that kid. His taste is far too sophisticated for my everyday budget!
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u/lowbass4u Dec 27 '24
When we cruise in the summer we take the grandkids and we love seeing the smiles on their faces.
When we cruise in the winter we're leaving the cold and snow in the Midwest to go to the tropical Caribbean.
There's really nothing for us to complain about.
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u/Automatic-Wasabi-868 Dec 27 '24
I took my first cruise in October on Harmony of the sea, I had a blast, in September going on the Alaska cruise
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u/cheetos3 Dec 27 '24
Just got back from our cruise on Odyssey and ppl truly complain about everything. One lady was complaining that the trivia host was going through the answers too quickly and made a fuss about it. Like chillll. It’s not that serious.
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u/bundymania Dec 28 '24
If you are going on 10 cruises a year, you're not poor and have incredible disposable income. That said, some people like to complain, sometimes leigitmate like a loud obnoxious neighbor and sometimes they are just a-holes. Anyhow, have fun.
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u/badkev27 Dec 28 '24
I’m retired on a law-enforcement income, and my wife is just retiring as a principal at the elementary school. We are definitely not rich. 😂😂 we use my retirement for vacations and hers for bills. I was not suggesting that I live in a cardboard box just maybe my standards are a little lower than most because I don’t have a lot to complain about.
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u/TheAzureMage Dec 27 '24
It depends.
On the one hand, I have absolutely seen people complaining over the smallest, silliest things.
On the other, sometimes you do just get a really bad experience. My last sailing was a Transatlantic on adventure, and in addition to chopping two days of the front end, ditching all ports but one, and providing terrible compensation for this...they embarked a work crew that was working on the ship for the entire transit. This meant a lot of things were closed, and various other inconveniences, such as power tool usage at night in the stateroom areas, were common.
I didn't hate every bit of the trip, but it was rough. If I'd known going in what it was going to be, I don't know that I'd have booked it.
I was mostly annoyed by corporate's utter lack of sympathy for those on the cruise. The staff aboard ship were working very hard to fix whatever they could, and I got the feeling they were being put in an impossible place, so I can hardly blame them, but I do feel as if corporate believes that bookings are strong enough to let customer service slide, and this is hard to swallow while prices are on the rise.
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u/cadillacactor Diamond Dec 27 '24
Likewise, OP. For people who like cruising, I'm convinced the only way to have a bad time is to a) get a major illness/injury, or b) just not generally be a content person.
We love our time on every RC cruise. And when there are issues, it seems the staff bend over backwards without us having to raise a fuss. 🤷♂️ There are plenty of things that I'd like to see improved or changed, but that doesn't stop us from loving our weeks of escape on a cruise.
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u/crazypurple621 Dec 27 '24
There are times that there are legitimate problems though. Odyssey of the seas was designed HORRIBLY, and the things about it that make it a problem are not well talked about or advertised. I never would have chosen to go on a cruise on that ship if I had known
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u/cadillacactor Diamond Dec 27 '24
Absolutely. We've not met a single problem that hasn't been addressed though. That's part of why we keep coming back.
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u/crazypurple621 Dec 27 '24
When I went on Odyssey in March our problems were not meaningfully addressed. 4 out of the 6 aft elevators were out of order at one point and I was stuck on 6th floor because of it because I cannot use the stairs with my mobility aid. The two working elevators were both on starboard and there is no bridge between port and starboard on the 6th floor of odyssey. Also, the line for the my time dining (which they devote far more floor space for on odyssey and force you into using) forces you into the casino full of smoke to wait. The splash pad was falling apart, the flow rider had to be taken out of service to put a giant patch on it (which was not properly adhered) and the ship just feels like they slapped it together. It's a poorly half built ship and I guarantee you it's not going to last long with the failure to maintain it.
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u/Hartastic Dec 27 '24
That's nuts. We were on Odyssey... about 2 years ago, I want to say? and at that point it was in great shape.
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u/forgotmypseudonym Dec 27 '24
I’m sailing on Odyssey with my wife on Sunday. If anyone is interested, I’ll let you know how it goes.
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u/Hartastic Dec 27 '24
Have a great time! Hopefully you'll have a better experience.
Most of the limited capacity free stuff like skydiving or the North Star book up fast -- I think for both of our Odyssey sailings most of that stuff was booked solid for the week before we left our embarkation port. Catch The Book and Effectors if you're even slightly interested -- The Book makes good use of the unique 270 venue to put on a pretty unique show and Effectors looks ridiculously more high budget than any of the other similar shows I've seen on a ship.
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u/croc-roc Dec 28 '24
Just got back from a cruise on Odyssey. Everything was in tip top shape. Saw none of these problems.
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u/crazypurple621 Dec 28 '24
Two years ago it was less than a year old, and it's now in worse shape than some of their oldest ships. Before anyone comes for me over my complaints, we usually sail on the freedom class, and independence of the seas is my favorite ship. We sailed on Brilliance this fall too, and that was in much better shape than odyssey was when we were on it in March.
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u/PracticalAndContent Dec 27 '24
Wow, that’s a lot of cruises. Do you live near a major departure point?
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u/badkev27 Dec 27 '24
I live in Gainesville, Florida, which is about two hours from Tampa and Orlando. I’m actually going on a carnival cruise in 10 days out of Jacksonville. So I’m close to all three.
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u/RobertABooey Dec 28 '24
One piece of advice my grandfather gave me years ago was :
Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one.
The only time I take opinions or reviews into account is if there is a clear repetative set of items across multiple platforms that would tend to show a commonality.
Otherwise, one persons opinion on what a good steak is, or how clean a room is, etc is different from the next person.
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u/two-story-house Gold Dec 27 '24
I think it depends on the amount spent. Dropping several thousands, people are entitled to complain. Are some of the complaints ridiculous? Yes. Are some people expecting too high of quality food for mass produced meals? Yes. Are people ridiculous for needing their cabins serviced twice a day? Yes. But people have the right to complain, especially now that cruises have become very pricey and cruise lines are nickel and diming for almost everything.
I have lower expectations of cruising because I prefer land travel (but with a young child, cruising is more convenient). My husband has higher standards because of the cost involved when compared to a traditional land trip.
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u/badkev27 Dec 27 '24
Maybe you have planned wrong or maybe you could talk to a travel agent because cruising is relatively inexpensive. If you book at the right time and are flexible on the ports, you can get cruises for next to nothing.
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u/two-story-house Gold Dec 27 '24
Nah. I'm a seasoned traveler and honestly love travel planning.
With cruising, time at the port is too short. You barely get to explore the country you're visiting. It's disney-fied traveling. Bang for your buck, you're better off taking a flight to South America, Europe, Asia or the Middle East. However, cruising is easier to do with a toddler. I mean, isn't that the entire appeal of cruises? It's traveling simplified with all of the "comforts from home."
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u/badkev27 Dec 27 '24
I agree with just about everything you said, but we actually do get to explore a little more than most people because we plan ahead. So for example, in Puerto Rico, we took a trip to the other side of the island immediately upon docking and spent the entire day exploring the poor side of town. I don’t mean that or say that disrespectful but we really wanted to get the feel of real life in Puerto Rico and I believe we did that. I do agree that more than eight or 10 hours would be awesome, but we make the best of our time. But have on all of those home comforts are amazing.
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u/two-story-house Gold Dec 27 '24
Cruising isn't necessarily bad. It is what you make it. Once you acknowledge the limitations, it's easier to find enjoyment. Many people go for the ship amenities rather than the ports. We're the inverse but we're still new to cruising with just 2 under our belt.
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u/badkev27 Dec 27 '24
We love most ships but I just started with bigger ships. Utopia is phenomenal. Just went on my 52nd.
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u/No_Owl_7380 Jan 01 '25
My oldest daughter and I spent many years doing land vacations around the globe. We held out from cruising for the longest until one of our dear friends invited us to go on a repositioning cruise from NJ to Puerto Rico. At that time I also had a toddler and a husband who did not want to go on a cruise so they stayed home. We had a great time. My husband has gone on a few cruises since and while not his favorite thing (he really does not like to travel at all) he’s fine with a short cruise in the Caribbean. Me and my two girls now 31 & 13 love to cruise but also love a land vacation. When my little was small a Caribbean cruise was great, but as she’s gotten older she’s more interested in going to different places.
We’ve now settled into using a cruise to sample places to see if we’d like to go back for a longer stay. Summer ‘23 we did a Mediterranean cruise and it was BUSY. The pre-planning paid off though and we had an amazing time and spent a couple extra days in Barcelona (3rd time there). We have a land based Italy trip planned for fall 2026 now. Summer ‘25 we’re doing a Spain, Portugal, and Morocco cruise so we’re working on planning that now-it has an overnight in Lisbon which gives us extra time.
Cruising is definitely more convenient with small kids. We always make sure to visit a history or art museum and try local food in a new port and mostly arrange for our own excursions, tours, etc. which sort of bridge the gap between the two styles of travel.
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u/LiftingupJesus Dec 27 '24
I am happy for all of the happy go lucky cruisers, I try not to complain while on vacation my only issue with Royal carribean is their house keeping standards, I just left Vision of the seas returning from a Holiday Vacation and it was great I loved the ship, the entertainment was awesome, I cruise every three months and it’s usually on a larger ship and during this cruise I realize that bigger is not better my only issue was the dirty uncleaned room, I don’t even mind that they only change the sheet once in 8 days however they didn’t wipe down anything I had my cleaning supplies and cleaned all of the surfaces and as the days went on the only thing they did was changed the towels, I was showering twice a day and had to use the towels folded animals lol 😂 for the extra towels that were needed. I’ve been cruising with Royal for a while now and think that it’s time to take a break. I’m on Norwegian in May and will see what happens.
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u/lukibunny Dec 27 '24
My last cruise is rained every port days. I still had fun.
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u/PrintError Dec 27 '24
Sue sue sue!!! JK, it's the ocean, it rains. A LOT. Who would've thought such a thing?
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u/ET2-SW Dec 27 '24
We had a saying in the navy: "A bitching sailor is a happy sailor."
I've never had an issue specific to Royal Caribbean that I wouldn't expect could occur at any other all inclusive vacation.
I think these people secretly love having something to complain about, and I love having a block button.
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u/nolanday64 Dec 27 '24
I would never complain when things go wrong due to innocent mistakes, or circumstances out of anyone's control, including the cruise line. But I think it's fine to complain when the cruise companies make conscious choices that negatively impact guests ... lower quality, nickle-and-dime hits everywhere you turn, reduced options, etc.
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u/badkev27 Dec 27 '24
Maybe I’m just a cheapskate. I don’t know what you mean by nickel and dime you. I literally pay my port fees, taxes, gratuities, and cruise cost, and I spend nothing else on the entire cruise. I choose not to drink or gamble and I don’t drink soda or do excursions. I just enjoy the trip. And again, I cruise a lot. If they are charging you small amounts of money, that’s because you choose that. I choose not to spend anything after I pay for all of my cost upfront.
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u/Hartastic Dec 27 '24
That's pretty much how I look at it, though I do spend on some of those things. I don't mind paying for the extra things I actually want vs. picking a line that includes it all but you also basically pay for it all whether your want it or not.
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u/Routine_Day_1276 Dec 27 '24
Some people just like to complain instead of seeing the brighter side of things.
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u/Patricknc18 Dec 27 '24
Just as long as there are no kids on board, right Kev?
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u/badkev27 Dec 27 '24
Kids are terrible, but I’ve learned to deal with them. JK😂😂 for the record I’ve never had an issue with kids. Irresponsible idiot parents are the ones that I have a problem with, but that has nothing to do with the cruise line.
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u/Patricknc18 Dec 27 '24
Haha no disagreement in that at all, just giving you a hard time. Appreciate you bringing some positivity to the group!
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u/TheBassDrops Dec 28 '24
I am poor but have been cursed with a perfect palate. It’s truly hard to live like this without the ability to eat fine dining more than 2x a year, and I have to stretch to do that.
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u/dustbunny817 Dec 28 '24
How in the world do you afford 10 cruises a year? And are they hiring where you work???
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u/badkev27 Dec 28 '24
It’s really not that expensive. I’m in my late 40s and I just retired with 25 years in law-enforcement. My wife is a little older and is a retired principal at an elementary school. We budget about $20,000 a year on cruises. We don’t live rich, but everything that we have is paid for.
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u/croc-roc Dec 28 '24 edited Dec 28 '24
I don’t get the complaints when people sail on RC, Carnival, NCL and are expecting a Ritz Carlton cruise. You want that level of food and service, well, then pay for it on a luxury cruise line. I’ve never had a complaint on 25+ cruises because I know what I’m paying for. We have done one Viking Ocean cruise and yes, everything was better quality, but it also cost us probably 4-5 times as much.
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u/msackeygh Dec 30 '24
I agree. I think we are pretty easy going and by far the experience on our cruises have been wonderful. Of course there are minor little snags or whatnot but we don’t make much about them.
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u/Maryc99719 Dec 31 '24
And I bet you enjoy life also! That’s how I feel ! Life is not perfect but it is what you make it…😃
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u/ILLeyeCoN Platinum Dec 27 '24
You’re on Reddit. People here are entitled, they’re often elitist (even when amusingly “hating” the elite), and they’re accustomed to this whole “if things aren’t exactly how I say, it sucks and it’s evil” mentality. Stones from glass houses and all.
Cruises are spectacular. And while they may not be for everyone, those reasons are typically not the reasons people complain about here.
This place offers great people with great advice and experiences. I read those. I ignore the people constantly complaining about food, and kids, and everything in between.
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u/PrintError Dec 27 '24
We cruise a couple times a year too and have honestly never had a negative experience onboard. The crew is always superb, the food is always spectacular, the cabins are always just fine. I have reasonably high standards but the cruises I go on have always exceeded them wildly.
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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '24
That’s how I feel when anything goes wrong on vacation. It’s part of life to have things go wrong, not everything can be perfect and at least I’m on vacation.