Podcast Cruise 6.0 Review Show is up

[disneysteve]

The team has posted their review of Podcast Cruise 6.0.

I was a little nervous to hear this because I knew there had been some issues but I'm glad to hear that they all gave the trip high marks overall. We had a great time, really enjoyed the ship, the food, the activities, the ports, and most of all, the people we were traveling with.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

I very much enjoyed this show, and recognized you, Steve, OKW Lover (Jeff) and Val, Jobie, and I think that's all I remember. Hoping to join you all some day, for sure. Glad a good time was had by all, but can't believe what happened to Kevin, and Ryno. Pete and his Mom's embarkation story worried me, since I walk with a cane, and can't stand for long periods of time either. Not magical experiences, for sure. But glad it was enjoyable overall.

 

[Jobie]

I very much enjoyed this show, and recognized you, Steve, OKW Lover (Jeff) and Val, Jobie, and I think that's all I remember. Hoping to join you all some day, for sure. Glad a good time was had by all, but can't believe what happened to Kevin, and Ryno. Pete and his Mom's embarkation story worried me, since I walk with a cane, and can't stand for long periods of time either. Not magical experiences, for sure. But glad it was enjoyable overall.

Yup I was on there! It was a great time. Even though it seemed like there were a lot of negatives, notice not everyone experienced the same negative. It was spread out as different issues. Overall it was a great cruise. RCI has some things they need to fix IMO (this was my 6th cruise with them) but it was still a great time.

And nothing can replace the time we all had getting to know each other and hanging out together. Hopefully one of these days you can go on one as well!

 

[disneysteve]

notice not everyone experienced the same negative.

As I mentioned in my review, there were definitely some inconsistencies. Our embarkation process was excellent. I was really impressed with how efficient it was. Clearly, Pete had a very different experience. Many people raved about Chops and went back several times during the week. Then Kevin and crew had a big fail with the service there. In fact, one couple that was with Kevin that night had been there a couple of nights earlier and loved it.

RCCL needs to get things more uniform so that everyone gets a similar level of service as much as possible. And as they said on the show, the whole guest recovery system needs to change. They need to empower front line crew to handle guest recovery themselves whenever possible.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

As I mentioned in my review, there were definitely some inconsistencies. Our embarkation process was excellent. I was really impressed with how efficient it was. Clearly, Pete had a very different experience. Many people raved about Chops and went back several times during the week. Then Kevin and crew had a big fail with the service there. In fact, one couple that was with Kevin that night had been there a couple of nights earlier and loved it.

RCCL needs to get things more uniform so that everyone gets a similar level of service as much as possible. And as they said on the show, the whole guest recovery system needs to change. They need to empower front line crew to handle guest recovery themselves whenever possible.

Just out of curiosity, how did you get to the port? Just wondering if the issues Pete had was because he took a car service and that is not how RCCL is set up to handle, vs like a bus transfer system which they are

(don't get me wrong, no one should be treated how Pete and his mom were, just wondering if arrival method might have driven the inconsistent experience)

 

[Jobie]

As I mentioned in my review, there were definitely some inconsistencies. Our embarkation process was excellent. I was really impressed with how efficient it was. Clearly, Pete had a very different experience. Many people raved about Chops and went back several times during the week. Then Kevin and crew had a big fail with the service there. In fact, one couple that was with Kevin that night had been there a couple of nights earlier and loved it.

RCCL needs to get things more uniform so that everyone gets a similar level of service as much as possible. And as they said on the show, the whole guest recovery system needs to change. They need to empower front line crew to handle guest recovery themselves whenever possible.

Yes, guest recovery is the number one thing they need to work on! My guess is that they have had many customers complain and complain about silly things, that many of the staff has grown hard towards customers. A good example of this was when I went to the captain's Q&A they had passengers who kept complaining about the rocking of the ship. One even at one point questioned if the stabilizers were adequate enough or not for the ship. Another person complained to the captain about the wind on their balcony. It all seemed silly to me and these are things that are completely out of control of the staff.

Having so many of these types of complaints, if you are not careful you can create a "me vs them" attitude when dealing with complaints, always thinking the customer is just trying to take advantage of you. I know when I worked in retail this was an easy attitude to fall into due to the ridiculous complaints I heard all the time. It can make the genuine complaints get ignored.

The best way to combat this is to empower the employee to solve every issue. If the employee feels empowered to fix issues, even the "dumb" ones, without having to jump through hoops with management, I think it makes it easier to really focus on the real "complains". This is not to excuse the non customer-service, but the service industry can be hard. Also, it might be easy to develop a "I don't care" attitude when you know your tips have already been paid for and after a week you will not be seeing these clients again.

Service was great, until you had an issue.

 

[disneysteve]

Just out of curiosity, how did you get to the port?

Didn't you read my review?

We spent a few nights pre-cruise at a hotel in Cape Canaveral and used their shuttle to get to the port. We pulled up, the driver unloaded our luggage, the porters took it from there, and we got in line for security. The line was long but moved quickly. We had no trouble at all (although I can certainly understand that an older person or anyone with mobility issues would have found the process challenging). Given the high number of elderly and disabled passengers, they definitely need a separate check in area for the guests who aren't able to stand in the regular line.

 

[Jobie]

Just out of curiosity, how did you get to the port? Just wondering if the issues Pete had was because he took a car service and that is not how RCCL is set up to handle, vs like a bus transfer system which they are

(don't get me wrong, no one should be treated how Pete and his mom were, just wondering if arrival method might have driven the inconsistent experience)

My port experience was meh. I did not have good direction on where I needed to drop of my luggage. The side I pulled off on said "Pick Up" or something like that, so I was afraid I was at the wrong spot. I asked the porter if I was in the correct spot to drop off, and he said yes. So I opened my trunk and backseat. He then just stood there not helping me unload my luggage. We had a lot of luggage (was a 14 day trip for us). He did not lift one bag. In the past, the porters almost always want to grab all of the bags and not let me pick up any myself. I still tipped the guy (although I felt foolish doing so) because I wanted to make sure my luggage got onto the ship.

Everything from then on was good for us. No other issues.

 

[disneysteve]

Also, it might be easy to develop a "I don't care" attitude when you know your tips have already been paid for and after a week you will not be seeing these clients again.

That's a very dangerous attitude - that you won't be seeing these clients again. The business very much depends on repeat guests. If the first experience is a bad one, you certainly won't be seeing them again, but if you give great service, you may see them over and over and over.

 

[disneysteve]

I just want to stress that although we're picking on a few negatives, this was a great cruise. I would happily get right back on the ship and do it all again. And I think the team did a good job of conveying that as well.

 

[OKW Lover]

Just out of curiosity, how did you get to the port? Just wondering if the issues Pete had was because he took a car service and that is not how RCCL is set up to handle,

Val & I drove our personal car to the port. When we pulled into the place we were directed where to go to unload (they tell you what number to drive to) and there was a porter there waiting to take our bags. We tipped him and then drove around to the garage parking entrance. This is very similar to what we do for a DCL cruise. I did notice several car service type vehicles dropping off people while we did this and the process seems the same. Not sure why Pete's driver has problems.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

Coming from someone who was not on the cruise watching the podcast I thought the issues sounded pretty significant i.e. bloody sheets to f bombs and yelling at guests.
I think Kevin is a much more gracious person then I am, to have a company I have shown significant loyalty (and brought business to) to accuse me of scamming them I thought he deserved several apologies above and beyond the bottle of cologne. Kevin is so well spoken and I always find him to be very reasonable.
I am really surprised that Kevin, Pete and John did not receive better service or recovery, not because of who they are but they were bringing a huge group! I would have thought the group sales dept would say, "Let's do what we can to ensure every podcast cruise is with us from now on." A few comped meals, a room upgrade for Pete's mom, clean sheets and they would have invested in a great partnership. But what do I know?!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Didn't you read my review?

We spent a few nights pre-cruise at a hotel in Cape Canaveral and used their shuttle to get to the port. We pulled up, the driver unloaded our luggage, the porters took it from there, and we got in line for security. The line was long but moved quickly. We had no trouble at all (although I can certainly understand that an older person or anyone with mobility issues would have found the process challenging). Given the high number of elderly and disabled passengers, they definitely need a separate check in area for the guests who aren't able to stand in the regular line.

My port experience was meh. I did not have good direction on where I needed to drop of my luggage. The side I pulled off on said "Pick Up" or something like that, so I was afraid I was at the wrong spot. I asked the porter if I was in the correct spot to drop off, and he said yes. So I opened my trunk and backseat. He then just stood there not helping me unload my luggage. We had a lot of luggage (was a 14 day trip for us). He did not lift one bag. In the past, the porters almost always want to grab all of the bags and not let me pick up any myself. I still tipped the guy (although I felt foolish doing so) because I wanted to make sure my luggage got onto the ship.

Everything from then on was good for us. No other issues.

I did read your review Steve - meant the question more broadly than just to you but I obviously did not word it well

Obviously small sample size but it does seem like they were set up to deal with people coming from shuttles more than those coming from individual cars

I thought the show was great overall and I think it was excellent how they interviewed an number of the guests traveling with them

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I just want to stress that although we're picking on a few negatives, this was a great cruise. I would happily get right back on the ship and do it all again. And I think the team did a good job of conveying that as well.

Thanks Steve - and I think that came through in the video (I definitely was worried when I saw those tweets from Pete and Ryno at the beginning of the trip). I think you mentioned this to but if you go into that cruise expecting Disney then, yeah, you might find things to complain about. It is a different product and at a different price point - if you know that going in you can/will have a great time

Does seem like they need to empower their people to apologies and try to remedy situations when guests are upset. Just recognizing that there is something wrong can go a long way (vs accusing the guest of doing something wrong)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Coming from someone who was not on the cruise watching the podcast I thought the issues sounded pretty significant i.e. bloody sheets to f bombs and yelling at guests.
I think Kevin is a much more gracious person then I am, to have a company I have shown significant loyalty (and brought business to) to accuse me of scamming them I thought he deserved several apologies above and beyond the bottle of cologne. Kevin is so well spoken and I always find him to be very reasonable.
I am really surprised that Kevin, Pete and John did not receive better service or recovery, not because of who they are but they were bringing a huge group! I would have thought the group sales dept would say, "Let's do what we can to ensure every podcast cruise is with us from now on." A few comped meals, a room upgrade for Pete's mom, clean sheets and they would have invested in a great partnership. But what do I know?!

I fully agree with you - the lack of apologies/recognition that a guest feels they have been wronged is surprising

Also to your later point with regards to group sales ... it's not even a "don't you know who I am?" type moment or anything but when someone who is with/leading a large group and/or is someone who heads a company that brings you a lot of business, you would think they would say "yeah, you know what, please have your mother who needs a walker enter via the suites entrance with you"

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Val & I drove our personal car to the port. When we pulled into the place we were directed where to go to unload (they tell you what number to drive to) and there was a porter there waiting to take our bags. We tipped him and then drove around to the garage parking entrance. This is very similar to what we do for a DCL cruise. I did notice several car service type vehicles dropping off people while we did this and the process seems the same. Not sure why Pete's driver has problems.

weird that you found it so easy/directions were fine and his driver (from a company he has had good service from before) predicted they would have the issues they did ... definitely seems like he just wasn't coming in the right way or something

 

[OKW Lover]

I am really surprised that Kevin, Pete and John did not receive better service or recovery, not because of who they are but they were bringing a huge group!

Actually, I think they should have gotten better service/recovery just for being regular passengers. The fact that they brought a large group might get them some extra perks here and there, but we are talking about ordinary circumstances that everybody on board should be treated better no matter who they are.

 

[OKW Lover]

weird that you found it so easy/directions were fine and his driver (from a company he has had good service from before) predicted they would have the issues they did ... definitely seems like he just wasn't coming in the right way or something

Yes it is weird. We're familiar with FL Tours and they are a good company. I know Pete's regular driver is also very good. About the only thing I can think of is that perhaps he was at the port very early and they weren't quite into the receiving mode yet? Val & I got tho the port around noon.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Yes it is weird. We're familiar with FL Tours and they are a good company. I know Pete's regular driver is also very good. About the only thing I can think of is that perhaps he was at the port very early and they weren't quite into the receiving mode yet? Val & I got tho the port around noon.

Hmm, in the video he said they got to port at noon and then didn't get on the ship until after 2, that it took them 2 hours. Very strange

Glad it was a smooth process for you - and it was nice seeing you in the video!

 

[Jobie]

Coming from someone who was not on the cruise watching the podcast I thought the issues sounded pretty significant i.e. bloody sheets to f bombs and yelling at guests.
I think Kevin is a much more gracious person then I am, to have a company I have shown significant loyalty (and brought business to) to accuse me of scamming them I thought he deserved several apologies above and beyond the bottle of cologne. Kevin is so well spoken and I always find him to be very reasonable.
I am really surprised that Kevin, Pete and John did not receive better service or recovery, not because of who they are but they were bringing a huge group! I would have thought the group sales dept would say, "Let's do what we can to ensure every podcast cruise is with us from now on." A few comped meals, a room upgrade for Pete's mom, clean sheets and they would have invested in a great partnership. But what do I know?!

If it happened all to one person, yeah. It would have been the cruise from hell. But they happened to different people. Is it an issue? Yeah. Did it ruin any of their vacations? No.

With Pete, it was a bad start, which is never good. Can really slow down your enjoyment to start out that way.

For Rino, it would make you question how clean your room is overall, which would damper your experience. I would probably request a complete scrubbing down of the room even though the reality is someone got lazy with the sheets (gross).

For Kevin, I would never trust buying anything in the shops again. I would still cruise, just not buy in the shops.

The rest of cruise made up for the mis-steps they had. I know I have never had a perfect vacation. There is usually something that goes wrong for me, but I still look at the overall experience.

I would just take from it that there are always issues on a vacation, and don't expect RCI to bend over backwards to make things right for you. Knowing this gives you better expectations, but in my opinion, does not mean to never cruise with them.