Last week was a very special week across the Royal Caribbean fleet. From Asia to Panama, Australiato South America and from the UKto the Caribbean, more than 25,000 crew members on twenty-two ships personally pledged to “Answer It Royally” for our guests.
While our crew has always been focused on delivering the WOW! and personalizing the service they provide to each and every one of our guests, this past week was a re-affirmation of a long standing commitment to service excellence. In fact, this year marks the ten year birthday of GOLD Anchor Standards, which are the framework for delivering the Royal Caribbean experience. To celebrate this milestone, we are renewing our focus on Gold Anchor Service by introducing a new “O” in the GOLD credo, which encourages our crew to “Own the Guest Experience” at every opportunity.
“Answer It Royally” week began with twenty two “Champions” from the shoreside leadership team visiting “their” ship to officially kick off our shipboard pledge week. Each Champion, supported by a shoreside Apprentice, will partner with a ship throughout the year to ensure that, together, we’re doing all possible to honor our dedication to continuous improvement, innovation and an unparalleled guest experience. We are constantly amazed by the many ways our crew members already “Answer It Royally” for guests as well as for us every time we go onboard. This may be as simple as remembering faces and names or how I like my coffee from day to day … or even from visit to visit … or as incredible as a Stateroom Attendant who created cards on her personal time for all of the mothers in her section sailing over Mother’s Day. Our guests consistently tell us that this type of special interaction with our crew and the exceptional GOLD Anchor Service they receive creates memories that last a lifetime and are the reason they keep coming back to us.
In addition to the impact that our never ending focus on “Answering It Royally” will have for all of you, we tend to be somewhat of a competitive bunch so, of course there will be a competition across the fleet. The “Royal Cup” will be awarded to the ship and Champion team that performs best based on feedback from our guests about how we “Answered It Royally” during their vacation.
Comments from our guests are extremely valuable to us and praise received for crew members who have gone above and beyond is the most meaningful form of acknowledgement. To make it easier for our valuable Crown & Anchor Society guests to personally recognize a crew member when they receive warm and engaging personalized service while they’re onboard with us, we recently launched ”Royal WOW! Awards”. We’re thrilled that our guests can be involved in such a robust recognition program for our crew members. The response to the program has been overwhelming and we thank all of you for honoring our crew. We’re certain that the Sea Is Calling you and we can’t wait for every opportunity to Answer that call Royally.
For more amazing images of our crew Answering it Royally, click here.
Last sunday we arrived from the trip to the Caribbean on board the Alure of the seas” there are a few comments
that I don’t think you will publish:
1. Your agents are not good to book reservations, I do not know if RC instruct them to select thier dinner time
but you should leave to desire of the passengers the time to have dinner!!!!
2. Your vessel is very good when it comes to accomodations but it locks is room for all passengers to attent the different shows.
3. the number of shidren is to high and your accomodations is directed to the children not to the adult population that is the main bread of your customers.
4. The ports of call with exception of Cozumel has nothing to show and simple is a waste of time..
5. I am almost sure that I prepaid the gratuites when I book my trip but when I asked your customer service on the ship tey id not know a refer me to the AGENT. You should in control of all these arrangements and your agent.
Regars,
Juan Acosta
First off, if you were in the Allure last week than I was on the same cruise. The ship is a Dreamworks cruise and is geared for children. But children primarily spend their time either in the camp or at the boardwalk. The childrens activities are geared so the adult passengers with children have things to keep the children occupied . The shows were tight , yet you never had the feeling that you were with six thousand other passengers. Also you always have the choice of set dinner times in the main dining room, or my time dining which you decide which fits for you. I thought Labadee was beautiful, but I also think that the ship is so amazing that you could always find something to do on board if you were not pleased with islands. As a repeat Royal Caribbean customer I am sorry for you disappointment. I would never travel any other line.
Thank you for sharing your opinions with us, Juan.
We just returned from Southern Caribbean Cruise March 11-18 Adventure of the Seas.. All the staff was excellent.
Some that stood out was our Captain (A Fellow Canadian) , Cruise Director , hostess on my time dinning check in and our outstanding waiter Chris.
Cheers
Best crew on the seven seas!!! Way to go, great pics!
We’re glad you like them, Mary. Thank you.
When have your crews not answered Royally? OK, I have only been on 6 of your ships so far but have received nothing but outstanding treatment on each and every cruise. Your crews are the best trained, the most courtiest, most knowledgable and some of the friendliest people I have had the pleasure of meeting. And before someone says it, yes I have cruised on other lines and have found they wanting. Keep up the great work and like Arnie ‘I’ll be back’.
We cruised on Explorer last Oct. and we had the best crew ever! Especially our waiters, Saudi and Carlos. We are cruising on Explorer again this coming August and have requested them again. We are so hoping we get them!!!!
I would like to take ths time to say that the Royal Carribbean, ant The Majesty of the Sea has answered the call royally.
My wife and I were aboard her last Oct and because of the crew,and a special thank you to Roland Sayers our stateroom attendent who done an outstanding job. We have booked another trip aboard her this Aug 20th. Our trip had started off a little shaky, but because of Roland and the great crew aboard the ship it was nothing but great. Looking forward to seeing Roland aboard again this year.
Thank you, James. We look forward to having you back onboard.
We are looking forward to a cruise with Royal Caribbean sometime in the future. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with our 2 children, their spouses and our 4 grandchildren in a penthouse suite with an adjoining mini-suite on the Norwegian Jewel 1/28-2/4/12. We found out too late that NCL really stands for NORWEGIAN CRUISE LIES! Hopefully, some day we will be able to have the Royal treatment……because cruising like a Norwegian leads to Nightmares!
interested in taking cruise
Hi Tonia, for information on where to begin when planning a cruise, please click here. We hope to have you onboard someday!
i traveled several times with your cruise line LOVE IT ! i am a gold member under another name and have been trying to get it changed to my new name will be cruising within the year probably around july or august please look into this member ship thing for me and see what we can do i enoy your cruises to Hawaii, and the Carribean Islands thanks so much Cynthia Robinette ps: my member ship was uner Cynthia Williams
Hi Cynthia, please contact a Loyalty Representative at (800) 526-9723 and they will be more than happy to help you out. Thank you and we can’t wait to have you back onboard.
We went on a 7 day cruise out of port canaveral on the Freedom of the seas; to the eastern caribean. It left Feb 26 thru March4. The first cruise for us; it was spectacular. The crew was excellent and everything looked brand new every day. Very clean ship. We are going again next year . Thanks Royal Caribbean for the best vacation ever. The person that stands out the most for me was Graham the cruise director. What a kick he and his staff were. See you next year. Tom
During our recent cruise on Freedom of the Seas, everyone answered it royally. The ones who were exceptional were : Ben our cabin stewart, rm 7548, Huny and Jake in Galileos Main Dinning, Emma on the Cruise director Staff and Kathryna on the Schooner bar staff! We gave Ben our wow card but wish we could have given them all the card! Boy did I miss them when I went back to reality, laundry, making my own bed, fixing dinner! We can not wait until we get to sail with RCI again!
The hard working crews that make RCI so popular and make them so much money deserve paid sick leave. We heard that when they are sick and miss a shift they do not get paid and work 7 days a week for their contracted time. That made us sad, they are away from family, and friends and have to work every single day with a smile on their face.
We just got back from our last “Emerald” cruise and are now “Diamond!” Yea!!! Can’t wait til the next one in November
Everything was fabulous from our dinners to the relaxing venue of the Solarium. LOVE it! We are die hard Royal Caribbean cruisers.
Congratulations on becoming a Diamond member, Vicki. We’ll see you onboard in November.
We have sailed on Radiance of the Seas twice in the last 6 months and I must say it wasn’t good…..it was terrific.
Thanks for bring this ship to Australia.
Even though we love Radiance and her Crew, Voyager is on the way down under next season and we have booked as we must try.
Don’t worry Radiance we are planning our cruise after that with you, see you soon. Great ships, great crews and a great company well done RCI – Above and Beyond is an understatement.
We are pleased to hear this, Stan. You’ll have to be sure to tell us about your onboard experience with Voyager of the Seas when you get back.
We have been on four cruises. Three with RC and one with another cruise line. i cannot tell you how much we regret that one cruise! RC has always gone above and beyond in the customer service department. We are gold members and now have sister and brother-in-law hooked on RC as they went with us on the Jan. 2012 cruise. Your crew does an outstanding job and they have everything to be proud of for the awesome jobs they perform. We will be answering the call of the sea again next year!
Thank you for your kind words, Carolyn. See you next year.
In January we sailed on the Navigator of the Seas and were given WOW cards when we embarked. We used them both to honor staff who went above and beyond. We sailed on on the Jewel of the Seas in March and were not given any WOW cards; we are Diamond members. When we asked for WOW cards during our cruise, we were told that you have to ask for them at embarkation, they are no longer just given out to C&A members. What gives?
Thank you for voicing your concerns, Marty. Please contact our Crown & Anchor Society desk at (800) 526-9723 and they will gladly answer any questions you may have.
Cruised3/9/12-3/19/12 on the Explorer on the Seas out of Bayonne,Nj. Our waiters, Jo Rhonda and Stacy were the best part of our whole cruise. Our stateroom attendant made us feel we were in his way. Out of ten nights he made 2 towel animals.Not a big letdown but on my previous 4Royal cruises we pleasantly surprised with one ever night. In the Windjammer cafe every waiter was cranky and tired. Tables were always dirty. This was my third cruise on Explorer and I do believe the crew needs a Big Pep talk.Smiles would be appreciated!
My husband and I have been cruising with Royal Caribbean since 2002. We have thoroughly enjoyed each an every RC vacation. We especially like the Southern Caribbean – leaving from San Juan. We are Diamond members and appreciate the benefits of our status with your loyalty program. We don’t consider any other type of winter vacation. Each and every member of the crew does an excellent job of ensuring a great vacation. It is very obvious that the guest experience and enjoyment is their priority. We look forward to sailing with Royal Caribbean every year.
Thank you for staying loyal to Royal, Judi. We appreciate your comments and are excited to have you back onboard.
RRCL IS JUST SIMPLY THE BEST!!!! I AM A PLATINUM MEMBER ALMOST TO THE EMERAL STATUS. YOU ALWAYS ANSWER IT ROYALLY. LAST YEAR WE WENT ONE WEEK ON NCL EPIC AND ONE WEEK ON THE OASIS. BIG WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY ON THE EPIC. NO COMPARISON TO ROYAL CARIBBEAN. WE WERE SOOOO HAPPY TO BE AT ‘HOME’ ON ROYAL CARIBBEAN!!! THE STAFF WERE FRIENDLY, AND WENT OUT OF THEIR WAY TO PLEASE. I HAVE BEEN ON RHAPOSDY, ADVENTURE, VOYAGER, NORDIC EMPRESS AND OASIS. SOME OF THEM TWICE!! GOING ON THE JEWELL IN OCTOBER. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND WE (MY Family) will continue cruising. We have also been on 3 celebrity cruises.
We just went on our second Royal Caribbean Cruise. The 1st one was a 7 night on the Navigator in 2004, just me and my wife. It was a fantastic experiance and due to a hurricane in Miami our cruise got extended another 2 day. Everything was wonderful. We loved the Navigator.
So we decided to give Royal Caribbean another try. This time a 5 night on 3/17/12 on the Jewel. We went with my 2 little kids and some other family memebers. Everyone had a fantastic time. No one else had been on a cruise before and they were amazed at the facilities on board as well as all the activities available. The kids had a blast in Adventure ocean and in the pools. They just wanted to keep going back. They loved the Adventure Ocean Staff especially Miss Natasha and Jungle Jenny. The shows were fun, the dancing great and they even did a “Make a Wish Walkathon” which was really a nice thing to do. We went to Cozumel but could not port at Costa Maya due to rough seas. We were bumbed at first but everyone understood why once the Captain explained the situation. Nonetheless, there were plenty of things to do on board to keep everyone entertained for this extra day at sea.
We would like to thank our Room attendant Harold John and our waiters Jonathan and Jovo. The one-on-one attention they gave made us feel very special. They were great!!
Also, thanks to the rest of the staff on the ship for making the cruise very enjoyable. We can’t wait to do another cruise. It will definatly be on Royal Caribbean. We haven’t tried any other cruise line, and from our experiance so far, there is no need to try another. 5 days was too short so the next one will be a 7 day cruise.
Thank you Royal Caribbean and see you soon.
We appreciate your warm comment and are happy our staff was able to give you the Royal treatment. We’re looking forward to having you back onboard soon.
I went on a cruise with RC recently….and I was at the very least disappointed. Mind you this was my first cruise; and what a sorry one it was. Don’t get me wrong, customer service was great from the staff, but if I knew it was catered to a more mature, older crowd, I wouldnt have bothered going at all. Its DEFINITELY not meant for 20 somethings like myself. I will definitely book a cruise with another cruise line! Oh let me not forget, that we missed our 2nd destination, Coco Cay cause of the weather, which I understand….but from what I gather from others who experienced RC before, they dont even make it CocoCay most of the time!! So what does that tell you?? How about pick another destination, or just stay in Bahamas (Nassau) for 2 days!!! Another note, the music selection is wack! I know its suppose to be universal, I get that, but quit playing the same songs and doing the same dances all cruise long! Change it up!!! It gets old, believe me!! Lastly, I accidently left behind my ipod! I realize as soon as I got to the airport, the day I got off the ship (Monday), so I called RC right away…I gave a clear, precise description of it and what room I was in, and everything!!! Im still trying to figure why it took them til that Sat to call and tell me it wasnt found!!! I know for a fact thats where I last had it!!! I dont understand why they didnt have someone on it right away to find it!! I told u the day I left, for pete’s sake! SMH…I honestly think someone on the ship has themselves a nice ipod! And you cant expect me to believe that days or weeks later its gonna turn up!! Dont tell me that foolishness!! If by some small chance its found, RC will have my sincerest apologies!!! Overall, RC…not the way to go!
What ship did you sail on? That could make a huge difference as to what sort of crowd is on board. The Majesty and Monarch are definitely more adult oriented cruise ships. Voyager class and beyond are definitely more teen/kid friendly. Personally, I can’t think of a single ship that wouldn’t be of anyone’s taste in the entire Royal Caribbean line unless you’re the type that simply wants to get drunk, party, and act reckless throughout the entire vacation. I prefer those people give competing cruise lines a call
My wife and I have been on a bunch of Royal Caribbean cruises…too many to remember the exact number. I can say for sure we are Diamond members. Our last cruise was in October aboard the Majesty. While I can think of a lot of words to describe the experience, “WOW” and “royal” are not on the list. And it’s not because it was a short cruise or because it was on an old ship. It’s about the extremely poor service, and in some cases, complete lack of service.
Now here’s my problem. My wife and I are ready to get out of town for a few days and the first thing that came to mind was to get back aboard Royal Caribbean, as we usually do a couple of times a year. That thought brought all the memories of the October cruise back to mind and suddenly, another Royal cruise doesn’t sound like such a good idea.
I would like to think that “Answer It Royally” is more than just branding, but I have my doubts. I realize you don’t respond to anything other than compliments on this blog, but is there some way you can give us a reason to cruise with Royal Caribbean again?
We’re sorry to hear about your experience onboard, Greg. Please contact our Guest Relations department at 1-800-256-6649 and thank you for helping us address your concern as quickly as possible.
We are experiencing the WOW experience at this time with our upcoming April 14 TA on the Voyager of the Seas. Three weeks out from the sail date, fellow passengers started getting emails and phone calls about major remodeling work being done on the ships while we are at sea. The casino, Studio B, shops on the Promenade all will be closed. Just today 4 days out from the sail date, fellow passengers are being told that our departure time is changing from 5pm to 9pm. So I guess we miss out on a dining room sitting and whatever else that comes along with a delayed boarding.
The reason I mention that my fellow passengers have received this information, is that I have not been contacted. I am the one to book the cruise with a RCCL’s Royal Vacation Planner and the only one to correspond with RCCL. Emails sent to my Royal Vacation Planner, C & A, and Adam Goldstein himself have gone unanswered since March 30. This is my WOW experience.
My adult son and I sailed on the Allure of the Seas January 2012. It was our first time sailing with Royal Caribbean and it was the best vacation we’ve ever had. I would like to sail again on the Allure or the Oasis to other ports outside of the Caribbean. I understand the ships are very large and are restricted to certain ports. That being said, does RCCL intend to sail these two ships to other destinations such as Europe, Australia or South America?
Hi Andrea, we’re glad to hear you had such a great time on your cruise with your son. For now, we have no plans to move either Oasis or Allure out of the Caribbean. Thank you.
My wife and i are looking forward to our first RCL cruise in Sept from Honolulu to Sydney on the Radiance. Have heard that it is a great ship . We have a balcony on deck 8. Normally we cannot afford these on Princess .Can RCL have a ship based in Sydney year round ? I’m sure it would be well patronised
Thanks for your suggestion, Peter and Sandra. Have a great cruise.