A new year brings a new post to the Ask Adam blog series. To see the responses to November’s Ask Adam post, click here, or if you have a question you would like to ask Adam regarding Royal Caribbean (or even what he’s been up to) please follow this link to our Facebook Discussions Page and submit your questions there.
When the Royal Caribbean itineraries are developed for the upcoming season, does Royal Caribbean coordinate with Celebrity Cruises to try and reduce duplicate schedules or to spread out ship allocations to open up more ports and itineraries for the parent company? Adding the Celebrity 10 ships to the Royal Caribbean 22 for scheduling purposes, and then seeing where the schedules overlap, could permit the reallocation of one or two ships from either fleet to other areas for year-round or seasonal deployments. There are times when the Caribbean and parts of Europe seem saturated with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ships – as well as with ships from the other companies. – Jim M.
While the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity teams do work together by sharing information and best practices, it is ultimately up to each brand to decide what deployment is best suited for their guests. We do review the day by day itineraries with our sister brand to see if there are any adjustments that can alleviate port congestion and improve the experience for all of our guests.
Mr. Goldstein, I received information, perhaps just a rumor, from my travel agent that only people who attained a certain level in the Crown and Anchor Society (Gold, Platinum, Emerald, Diamond) will now receive the status and not the additional members sailing in the same cabin. Evidently there was some suit/action/complaint from a lady who lost her Diamond status when her spouse died (he had the higher status) and she was upset she lost his status (info passed to travel agent by one of your Vice Presidents). Is it true that now, only the member of the society receives his/her status when sailing and not the rest of the members in his cabin? Case in point: My wife is Diamond (about 30 points behind me), and shortly I will be Diamond Plus…if the above is true…when we travel together she is not going to like the fact than I can go the concierge lounge and she cannot (even as a couple) when we share the same room and reservation number? If this is untrue, it might be wise to get the correct information to your agents. Respectfully – Charlie S.
Hi Charlie, tier status is based by relationships in our system, not on who people are staying with in a stateroom. In the case described above, a husband and wife are set up to be in the same Crown and Anchor Society relationship and therefore will receive the equivalent tier status. Nothing has changed, so indeed a rumor.
The port of Saint John, New Brunswick now has two cruise terminals and there has been talk that a cruise line will use this location as a departure point. Many people do not want to travel by air or car to locations in the New England area of the US in order to take a cruise. Is this something that Royal Caribbean has or is considering for the future? People from all of the Atlantic Provinces, Quebec and Maine may look at using this port for a southern cruise. – Pamela W.
Thanks Pamela for your comments and interest. Saint John is a wonderful destination and the folks from the port are great to work with and have made good investments but we do not have any plans to utilize the port as a departure point at this time.
Dear Adam, my wife and I have been Diamond Plus members for a number of years. We recently received an email for a sales event for 12-12-12 which offered an onboard credit of $12 per day for any cruise sailing in 2012 or 2013. We immediately contacted our travel agent and told her to book us on the Jewel of the Seas sailing January 5, 2013 for five days to take advantage of the offer. We were just a little shocked when she got back to us later and told us that Royal Caribbean’s offer did not apply to Crown & Anchor Society members using any Crown & Anchor discount. Whenever we receive something from your company, we are always told that we are receiving the offer because we are your “best customers”. Why in the world would your company make a special offer that applies to everyone but your “best customers”? Perhaps this is why we find ourselves sailing on other lines more and more often in the last few years. – John W.
Dear John W, thank you for the note, we truly appreciate your loyalty and welcome feedback that allows us to provide the best cruise vacation to our preferred guests. The cruise sale advertised on 12-12-12 was not combinable with any other offer or promotion, therefore not eligible to apply Crown & Anchor discounts collectively. We look forward to seeing you onboard in the near future.
Any plans for larger Royal Caribbean ships to homeport at Singapore, since Legend of the Seas has been here for quite a while? The last was the Voyager of the Seas for a short period only. On a side note, why does Royal Caribbean tender Phuket instead of docking, as there is a port available? – Jer N.
Hello Jer, thanks for your comments. Mariner of the Seas is in fact scheduled to operate an entire season from Singapore for the 2013-14 winter season. Mariner of the Seas will arrive in Singapore on June 1, 2013 for short period before heading to Shanghai. She will return to Singapore on November 10, 2013 and stay the entire winter offering a series of three to seven night sailings.
Phuket is a port with limited infrastructure and the dock location cannot accommodate the larger ships. In addition, the dock location is not downtown.
When you do online check-in, why can’t you print luggage tags from the application when you print your Seapass documents? Several other lines give you this ability without your travel agent having to send you a 25+ e-doc just to get your luggage tags. – Robin P.
Hi Robin, we are currently working with our IT department to allow guests to print embarkation luggage tags when completing online check-in. We are also working on adding an embarkation luggage tag to the SetSail Pass itself which guests print after the completion of online check-in.
Hi Adam! I’m Brazilian and have cruised with Royal Caribbean in the last four years. Unfortunately, this season, I will need to go back to another cruise line after cruises here with Splendour of the Seas (twice), Mariner of the Seas and Vision of the Seas. I love Royal Caribbean, especially Splendour of the Seas, and would adore to board her again, but want to see new things too, since she will be here again doing exactly the same route. I see a lot of speaking about the South American market, the interest and everything else, but nothing good ever happens. When will Royal Caribbean wake up and answer our expectations in this meaning? – Daniel C.
Hello Daniel, I appreciate your loyalty. We are pleased with Splendour of the Seas and her loyalty in Brazil. If you have not been on her recently then I would urge you to do so as she underwent a significant revitalization prior to last season.
You are correct that the South America market is strong and cruising is popular; however infrastructure in the region is limited, and costs are exceptionally high, which does hinder our ability to add capacity or change ships.
I just wanted to know if you have a smoking lounge for people who want to enjoy an after dinner cigar? My cigar club wants to go on a cruise and I told them I would ask. – Dwayne B.
Hi Dwayne, we have designated smoking hours and areas on all of our ships, you can find this information on the back of the Cruise Compass once you board. Also, some of our ships have a cigar lounge.
I would like to see Cosmic Bowling on a large ship. I think avid bowlers would love the challenge of bowling at sea and pay the surcharge. – Jacki G.
Hi Jacki, thanks for the suggestion, we will be sure to pass this on to the correct department.
Have you ever thought about having a cruise leave from Trinidad? – Jake K.
Hi Jake, we have no immediate plans to do so. Thank you
Thanks to everyone for submitting questions, and remember if you have a question you would like to ask, please click here. If you have a customer service related issue, the quickest way to obtain a response is to fill out our contact form here: http://bit.ly/c44GkU
Do you ever plan to do different itineraries for the Allure and Oasis of the Seas?
Same question for ships leaving from bayonne, NJ? Thanks.
No, large ships cannot go under the bridge. We have been told that new Sunshine ship, the first one will be all weather ship and most likely come to Bayonne. We will wait and see.
Thank you for your comment, Serguei.
Hi Iris, at this time we have no plans to alter either Allure or Oasis of the Seas current itineraries. Additionally, we have no plans to add any more ships to leave from Bayonne. But please keep up to date with our Facebook page for any updates! Thank you.
Does Royal have any plans to return sailing to Mexico? We live in Alaska and 1 7 day to Mexico is a convenient and thrifty was for us to get some sun in winter and enjoy the outstanding service on RC.
Hi Robin, thank you for your input, we will pass this comment along.
Is there anyway to make Choice Air more affordable so that we can cruise from Europe as we have done in the past? We have our third cruise on the Independence booked but if the airfare is prohibitive, my husband will cancel our cruise, which will break our family’s hearts. The cruise is so reasonable but the air fare is not.
Have you had much of an interest in Antarctica? I know there are environmental issues, and I am sure a lot of paperwork and arranging, but if you offered 1 cruise a year, and advertised it well in advance, I am sure you would fill a ship. Such a unique and once in a lifetime cruise. Then you could claim all 7 continents….
There is a 14 day Celebrity cruise that leaves out of Buenos Aires that goes down to Antarctica along with a few other ports. Search for South America cruises. The next ones that I saw leave Feb 3rd and Feb 17 of 2013. There may be others; I did not look.
hi we will be going on a cruise in march,,, are we allowed to bring on our own bottles of alcohol… we have been give different stories so if you could inform us that would be great …
Hi Barb- yes, you are allowed to bring 2 bottles of wine or champagne onboard per stateroom. For more information, please click here.
Hi Adam,
What about bottles of water or cola? Can either or be brought on board? Reading the FAQs it would appear the answer is no. However, seeing that you can bring wine/champagne onboard–we are wondering if we are wrong?
thanks!
Why are there no late spring/summer cruises out of New Orleans? The last cruise departure I see is April 19 and they resume in late fall. My husband and I prefer RC and are within driving distance, but must use another cruise line if we want to book during this time period and avoid air fare costs.
Adam, Without value booklets waiting in the staterooms, where will we be able to find a list of “perks” ?
My wife had reserved and paid for a cruise in full including all grats and fees for
RE: Booking # 7349633 NAVIGATOR OF THE SEAS/11/17/2012
We looked forward to this trip and this ship. Unfortunately before we could sail we had some family problems come up and had to get a refund which broke my heart. We were told the check would mail in about 10 business days. After several weeks I called and they said it mailed and it never came so I called back and they kept telling me it was mailed. To keep it short about 6 weeks later and many calls I talked to a supervisor who said the checks were mailed, but were not because I talked to a CSR who said they were Fedexed to me and the Supervisor said they NEVER send checks FedEx. The next day they show up on FEDEX. I was told 5 times the checks were mailed. My biggest problem Is I still wanted to sail on this ship but never was anyone in the mood to try to make things right with me. ALl they ever said is what they cannot do. I have since sailed on Norwegian. I just wanted to make you aware of how our refund was handled and how many times we were lied to. In the process of waiting on the check that we thought was coming we paid or bills then the check never came and we defaulted on a couple of payments which cost us hundreds. I have emailed this before with no response.
Bobby and Robin Harvison
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Bobby. We apologize that your refund took some time and we will be sure to pass this information along to the proper department for review.
We would like to take RCL to St. Thomas, disembark for one week and then reboard the following week, when the ship returns, to then finish the cruise. We’ve been told this is conceivable but we would have to pay twice as much to do so. That answer is ludicrous. Especially if the two boats are not completely sold out.
Adam, take a look at this scenario and tell me what you think.
Mike Cal’
708-372-5154
As a California resident I get a wry smile when I read complaints from those guests who complain about the same itinerary, or a smaller ship, or only a seasonal Royal Caribbean presence at their nearest homeport. I would say to them: Be happy that your region has a Royal Caribbean ship at all. We here in the West would be delighted to be have even a Vision-Class ship within driving distance, something we’ve lacked for the past two years.
My family enjoyed a Thanksgiving sailing aboard Mariner of the Seas out of Galveston 14 months ago. But with the price of airfare going higher, we can’t afford to continue sailing from destinations far away. We would rather save our money to spend onboard your ship. I understand that the demand wasn’t sufficient when Southern California hosted both Mariner and Radiance. I hope that you will show the West Coast some love and figure out a way to make a successful and profitable return to the Golden State.
Thank you for your comment, Andy. Unfortunately at this time we have no plans to return a ship to the West Coast, but we will pass your comment along to the proper department.
Contained at the bottom of this email is a question from the ” Ask Adam Blog ” and Mr. Goldstein’s answer. If a husband and wife are to be placed in the higher Crown and Anchor society of the two , does the same apply to your same-sex couples who are also sailing in the same cabins and under the same reservation number.
For example , a same-sex couple sailing in the same cabin , same reservation number and one is Diamond Plus and the other Platinum , will they both be allowed in the Conierge Lounge. According to Mr Goldstein’s answer ,
“tier status is based by relationships in our system, not on who people are staying with in a stateroom. In the case described above, a husband and wife are set up to be in the same Crown and Anchor Society relationship and therefore will receive the equivalent tier status.”
I have ALWAYS heard on all 14 RCCL cruises that I have been on that ALL persons in a cabin must be of same Crown And Anchor status to be allowed into the designated lounges for the nightly cocktails.
So does Royal Caribbean discriminate against same sex couples. Both my partner and I are Diamond Plus and tier status isn’t a question , but we will gladly move on to another cruise line if RCCL treats same sex couples differently than it does conventional couples.
Below is the ” Ask Adam Blog question and Mr Goldstein’s answer ;
” Mr. Goldstein, I received information, perhaps just a rumor, from my travel agent that only people who attained a certain level in the Crown and Anchor Society (Gold, Platinum, Emerald, Diamond) will now receive the status and not the additional members sailing in the same cabin. Evidently there was some suit/action/complaint from a lady who lost her Diamond status when her spouse died (he had the higher status) and she was upset she lost his status (info passed to travel agent by one of your Vice Presidents). Is it true that now, only the member of the society receives his/her status when sailing and not the rest of the members in his cabin? Case in point: My wife is Diamond (about 30 points behind me), and shortly I will be Diamond Plus…if the above is true…when we travel together she is not going to like the fact than I can go the concierge lounge and she cannot (even as a couple) when we share the same room and reservation number? If this is untrue, it might be wise to get the correct information to your agents. Respectfully – Charlie S. ”
” Hi Charlie, tier status is based by relationships in our system, not on who people are staying with in a stateroom. In the case described above, a husband and wife are set up to be in the same Crown and Anchor Society relationship and therefore will receive the equivalent tier status. Nothing has changed, so indeed a rumor. “
Hi, Todd– To share Crown and Anchor Society status, couples must share the same street address to be considered in a relationship, regardless of the sex.
Why ndid you quit docking downtown at cozumel, and start docking at the international peir. This makes ut harder ti get downtown.
Why does Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise lines alienate gluten free cruisers with such limited offerings? Other lines I have cruised (NCL, Carnival, Princess) offer better food accommodations. Sadly I am interested in your new ships but will not cruise with you again until I get confirmation that this has been changed. Do you have any plans on expanding your offerings? And if so what would the new offerings be?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We make every effort to accommodate our guests’ dietary requirements whenever possible. Additionally, once you are onboard you can speak with your head waiter and they will do their best to find something that suits your restrictions.
I am sorry to repeat this question you steadfastly refuse to answer,but here goes again.Why does Royal Caribbean not sail the “Mexican Riviera: from Los Angeles anymore?
I have seen many comments in the past about changing itineraries or ships so that people who want to explore other RC ships have this option. It seems that the same ships go to the same ports year after year. For instance the southern caribbean routes never change and with its proximity to the islands it would be a change of pace to see the ships based in San Juan to mix up the schedules to allow visits to other locations.
Hi Paul, thank you for your input and we will be sure to pass your comment along to the proper department for review.
Adam: Thanks for having this BLOG and allowing us to better understand Royal Caribbean. When Celebrity became a sister company to RCCL, I was pleased to be able to transfer my Diamond status over to Celebrity. However, after taking a Celebrity cruise for 14 nights to Hawaii, I was amazed that RCCL would not allow those days to come back in order to increase my number of days towards Diamond Plus. I think you can easily correct this by directing you staff to change this policy immediately. Your input will be greatly appreciated. – KenC
You’re welcome, Ken, thank you for reading. Also, we appreciate you voicing your concerns but, unfortunately, at this time we have no plans to alter our current policy.
I would encourage you to change the policy to be able to include nights on a Celebrity cruise to be added to our RCL Crown & Anchor level. The current policy, in effect, discourages people at Crown & Anchor Diamond or below from taking a Celebrity cruise. Sure, you get the equivalent benefits while on the cruise, but you are not increasing your Crown & Anchor status.
I am currently a Crown & Anchor Emerald level. I do not feel I have any reason to take a Celebrity cruise when I could take a RCL cruise and increase my level.
Ideally, cruising on any of the RCL cruise lines should be increasing points in a common loyalty program.
Ed, at this time we have no plans to change our point system. We do appreciate your feedback and we will certainly pass your message along to the Crown & Anchor Society department. Thank you.
We do like to sail on RC and have done so quite a few times, repeating several itineraries so that we can have the convenience of sailing out of Baltimore. We had one cruise on Celebritybefore they stopped sailing from Baltimore, and found that they were great too. We especially liked the fact that the ship offered large tables in the buffet areas where we had a confortable place to play cards and dominos after the meal time crowds were done.
On the Enchantment of the Seas, there are no tables in the in the Windjammer area to accomodate these activities. In fact the tables are smaller and they close the Windjammer down after the posted dining times so you are not able to go in there at all. The other place to play is on the pool deck where there are a few of the marble topped tables near the ice cream machines (smoking side). It gets rather chilly at times on the sea days, plus they did not turn on the overhead lights in this area in the evening as it began to get dark. We asked some staff members about getting overhead lights turned on and were informed that they couldn’t be turned on as it was a safety issue. This was pretty suprising since there were other lights on all over the pool deck but just not the ones over the tables that we wanted to play on. We discovered that there are a couple of the larger round tables in the Solarium, but have had to wait to use them as others had gotten to them before we did. Could you explain why this would be a safety issue?
The other comment I have is to let you know that we really enjoyed Joe Condrill’s talks on our last sailing in March 19, 2012 (Enchantment). We are taking the same cruise again on Feb 25th, but were disappointed to learn that he had not been booked for this sailing. He told us that he had been waiting to hear about his next assignment but so far had not. been scheduled for this sailing. I just wanted to bring this up because we found his talks about the islands and their unique history were very informative and entertaining, and we felt that it added to our enjoyment of the cruise! Everyone we met said they also enjoyed the talks, so I just wanted to put in a plug to see if he can be added to the Feb 25th sailing! He’s the most entertaining speaker we’ve encountered on our cruises!
I have downloaded the RCCL app on my iPhone. I was disappointed to find that I can’t see information from my account about my upcoming cruise. I would like to be able to log in on my iPhone as I always do on my desktop PC and be able to see the same account information. It is very frustrating. Please read the reviews in the App Store about this app. In the description of the app it mentions the feature “Find Your Cruise.” This is misleading. It needs to say “FInd A Cruise.” It certainly doesn’t help to find MY booked cruise and look at MY reservation. I might as well just use your website as you can’t really book a cruise directly from your app. The iPhone I have on my phone for American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Delta Airlines all allow me to find and purchase flights for one or more passengers, as well as purchase other extras from the app. Your app serves very little purpose.
It has been my experience that your IT department takes a very long time to implement changes or upgrades to your website (I have been a customer since my husband and I sailed the Nordic Empress on 9/21/1990 during its maiden season!), and it appears to be just as slow with your iPhone app. Version 1.0 has been available since November 13, 2010. When Version 2.0 came out two years later (November 26, 2012), it was “refreshed” with an updated design, and a new color palette. Usually a version update means lots of enhancements – where are they? Please address this issue regarding your iPhone app as to how long (if ever) the app can be linked to an existing reservation, and bookings and changes to a reservation will be available. Thank you.
We will be sure to pass your message along to the proper department. Thank you.
I WAS BLESSED TO BE ON THE INAUGURAL SAILING OF LIBERTY, FREEDOM, OASIS AND ALLURE. WHEN CAN WE BOOK ON THE QUANTUM FOR INAUGURAL SAILING?
I appreciate the additional personalized gift/amenity for being diamond plus but wonder if the selections might be increased. I do not drink alcohol and since the ships are full of great tasting food at any hour I hardly need anymore left in my cabin. Beach towels are nice but hard to pack and I do not need more than one pair of slippers at a time. Anyway to just have a couple more cans of soda? Or sparkling apple cider? The non-alcoholic wines still taste like wine and I cannot do those. Thank you.
Thank you for your suggestions, Allen.
Hi again. The reason I ask is because I have 7 cruises scheduled this year so far, totalling 84 nights. And even I have limits to how many chocolate covered strawberries I can eat.
I called Rccl to find out when the Adventure was being revitalized and was told by three agents at different times that it would be done by Feb 3,2014. With that info, I booked two rooms for Feb 16 th. three diamond members cruising and I have been on the Adventure 5 times. The last time was Dec 2012 and it needs some refreshing. Booked air nd hotel, the saw on a cruise critic board that the revitalization was March , 2014. When I called customer service they said it was wrong and Feb was correct. I asked to please check with a supervisor since it epwas the reason we picked that time to travel. After holding for a bit, she came back and said..yes it’s March. No concern for my airplane tickets purchased, no concern with giving out the incorrect info multiple times to their customers. Said she would put a note I. My reservation. A lot of good that customer service did. Love Rccl, but SO VERY disappointed in this.
Hi Rhonda– We have forwarded this to our Consumer Outreach team for further assistance. We apologize for the misinformation and the service you have received.
Why the Royal Caribbean don’t have any cruise itinerary with a departure port from NYC or Bayonne, NJ? This is a very large populated tri-state area: New York Metropolitan, NJ, and CT, and even PA. Why does your company organize all cruises only from Florida (Miami and Fort Lauderdale)? Why do you ignore the most populated New York Metro area?
A lot of your potential passengers would use your company rather than Carnival, Norwegian, Disney, Holland America, Queen Mary 2.
A lot of seniors, disabled people, and parents with children want to cruise with your company, and try to avoid flight to Florida, because this is very expensive and inconvenient. Last year I have already asked your customer service about this issue, but nobody responded me.
I have asked the same question the Princess cruises as well. We are the gold members of the RC: # 405378031 and # 405378086
Please reply.
THANK YOU.
Thank you for your comment, Leo. You can find cruises sailing out of the New York Area here. Thank you.
I love sailing out of Bayonne, NJ. So when the Explorer of the Seas gets Refurbished will any other ship replace her in the interium? I was so hoping that Quantum of the Seas will be leaving from there. How about from Manhattan? I’m going on Explorer again in May, same cruise as last May. I really hate to fly anymore, cost being one reason. For the cost of airfare my husband and I can take another cruise!