Royal Caribbean Changes!!!!
 

Went on Royal Caribbean Many time and loved it so much that I get a group every year together to go with us! Wow this year was a bummer. I understand that cruising is interpreted different for many people. To me its the once a year vacation that we go on to have fun, sun, dancing, and relaxing and of course the food! This year Royal Caribbean made so many changes that the cruise felt awkard or different to me. It wasn't really fun, music was scarce, the 2-for-1 drinks only from 330-430 in 2 bars both on each side of casino. No more announcement from cruise director so you have to carry Compass or watch. Although they have 3-4 that I notice electronic compasses around ship. (waste of money for cruise line). Also, food was ok not great seems like a lot of same thing. In the main dining room on formal nights don't entertain anymore only have piano and violinist playing softly. So many people didn't dress up for formal nights. staff actually said they were upset that they don't sing and dance anymore! When we arrived on cruise on prior sailing. There was immediately someone playing steal drums and cocktail servers going around selling drinks not this time. I was disappointed on the changes. it definitely wasn't for the better but It was worse.

The best thing on there was the H2O zone and Casino and of course The adventure Ocean Rocked! I can't say enough about adventure ocean! They were amazing with my Girls I have a 3 and 4 year old. They have a program that they can have lunch and dinner with them and its opened until 10. for free. My kids never wanted to leave. I even took them to the main dining and at 640 (early dining 6) they would meet outside of one of the 3 dining rooms and take your kids up. to play. so we can enjoy rest of dinner and show.

I felt like the activites weren't a good selection.

We went on Independence of the seas and the ship itself was ok but seems like the cruise line made some bad changes!

Forgot to add missed a port (grand cayman) completely ok with that. But the other 2 ports weren't as good! Falmouth we took a tour and it stunk. it was the best of Falmouth and Montego bay. We also did Labadee it was ok. we rented a cabana and went simming bad bad choice. Royal Caribbean gave us a cabana way out no biggie. when my husband and a bunch of other people went swimming knee deep to waist deep water there were all rocks so they all decided to swim and some guy got cuts up and down his chest bleeding and screaming this is a death trap and my husband decided he can't walk because he was stepping on too many rock and ended up trying to swimm and cut both hand and arms that the medical facility had to come and bandage him up. ended being coral reefs knee deep. Be aware!!!!

We returned nearly a week ago from a cruise on RCCL Quantum of the Seas, their new 'smart' ship, what a joke. Hated the new dynamic dining, and while the cabins were nicely decorated, the ship itself was rather blah. Can't find much good to say other than never again. We're over big ship cruises.

Thanks for these updates - in the midst of planning our next family cruise - probably won't be with RC.

OP just signed up and in February and fist and only post is a bash against RC.....HHMMMM....always sounds fishy.

These type posts about cruises are amusing. One gets, for less than $100/day lodging, food, activities. Often for much less when flexible and shopping around. Then they complain that they did not have organic Earl Grey tea or the towels were blue instead of red. Or that they did away with all you can eat lobster night. It is still a great bargain if one avoids the add-ons, and there are luxury cruise lines if you want a different experience.

Don't discount comments just because they are a "first timer" on this blog. I 100% agree with all the RC complaints. We've done about 6 RC trips in the last4 years. In January we went on the Oasis (did the Allure about 2 years ago, similar ship/class/size). The change was dramatic. Tips are now automatically placed on your cabin bill...and you must opt out of the tip charge and can only do so on the last day...and if you do, prepare to hound RC to get the charges reversed...it took 6 weeks. We gave cash to the room attendant who was very attentive, etc. The rest of the crew was marginal at best, especially waiters/bar tenders. You would also notice a huge difference in service if you did or did not boost the already built in 15% on any bar tab...and if you were dumb enough to buy an all you can drink package, good luck finding a waiter poolside to get you a refill. The officers seemed to hide away, never once in 7 days saw any gold stripes! The point is, the vibe has changed....the crew used to be super motivated and eager to please when a huge tip at the end of the week was at stake, which we always gave quite happily...we are over RC for now.

The auto tip had been in place for years and years. Its nothing new.

Sorry your experience was not up to par but in all fairness the Allure rates 7th. per a readers poll at cruise critic for best in large ships. The reviews are very good.
http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/...cfm?ShipID=530

The Oasis is a smidge behind.
http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberre...hip&ShipID=368

We've done both the Oasis and the Allure and will be doing the Anthem across the Atlantic in October. Obviously these trips take on vastly different dimensions depending on the participant.

Lots depends on your cabin location, size, etc., and your taste in entertainment. I continue to read these reviews as well as those on sites like CruiseCritic with several grains of salt.

Over the past 30 years we've had varying experiences on a variety of cruise ships across several cruise lines. I think perhaps it helps not to rely on the cruise to do EVERYTHING for you.

We are back from Baltic Sea cruise Serenade of the Sea from 7/26/2015 to 8/9/2015.
Foods and services were excellent. The staff worked so hard with smiles. Great entertainment too. We trust RCCL.

We have a cruise planned on at the oasis of the seas in about a month so I will return then and post our experience

Definitely depends on the ship as well. Even if it's the same company it can be difficult to keep the exact same standards on every ship.