May, 2008
“The Cook doesn’t eat in the kitchen”
This cook does. I took my own advice. For the past 2 months I have been talking to employees in town hall meetings and sharing with our home based agents, in my “Bits from Brad” section of the “business center,” of the “value of cruising”. Two weeks ago I took my family on Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas which departed from Barcelona on a 7 night cruise returning to Barcelona after stops in the south of France, Livorno (Pisa, Florence), Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples (Capri, Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi) and Palermo, Sicily.
Cruising is the GREATEST VALUE in travel today. It makes sense why our sales are bucking the economic storm that we read about and personally experience everyday. It now makes sense why Goldman Sachs picked Royal Caribbean as one of their top 10 stocks for the balance of 2008. However, sometimes one interprets value as a decent product that exceeds your expectations. And there is nothing wrong with this interpretation. Our experience though rates as a fantastic trip, a superb experience that borders on a “luxury” experience, that I would do again, and that also happens to be the GREATEST VALUE in travel today. I say this for many reasons which I detail below. For those of you who have heard me define luxury, you recall that it is simply a 7 letter word – SERVICE. The SERVICE I experienced on the Voyager of the Seas was every bit as good as I enjoy at a Ritz Carlton - my favorite chain for Service. If one was to experience this service at a Ritz, a Four Seasons or on board one of the small luxury lines, they would say to themselves this is the reason they pay up for that experience. Please do not take my words lightly here. My cabin attendant and my waitress at my table could NOT have provided more service. My superlatives on service are not accorded for someone doing their job. I do not simply throw out these words – so let me give you three examples that permit me to shower the word SERVICE on the Voyager of the Seas.
As many of you know, I am recovering from Shoulder (Rotator Cuff) surgery that I had 7 weeks ago. Each day at 6 PM I went to my exercises. On the first day (departure day), I asked my cabin attendant for ice and she helped me put it in the plastic bag that I brought on board to ice the shoulder after the work out. Each day, without prompting, she had ice not only waiting in my cabin but in the plastic bag that I had brought on board. This is SERVICE.
On our first evening in the dining room, we ordered a bottle of wine prior to dinner. We asked for a couple of cheese plates as this is something we enjoy with our wine prior to dinner. Each night, again without prompting, there were two cheese plates on our table. This is SERVICE. I would have ordered a bottle of wine anyway, but what a great subtle way of encouraging wine sales. I sincerely doubt that our wonderful waitress knew that this gesture sealed the deal on us ordering wine each evening.
On the last day of the voyage – our only day at sea – we lucked out with a beautiful day and sat up on deck to enjoy the weather. It amazed me how quickly used glasses, cups, silverware, paper and dishes were picked up when anyone put food down next to their chairs. This is SERVICE.
We did experience the Portofino restaurant one evening. Suffice it to say that the space is very nice and the presentations of food are an upgrade to what one receives in the main dining rooms. However, the food is not an upgrade and we cancelled our second reservation there. They sell it for a $20 per person upgrade. For me, it was worth the change in environment but advise your clients of my comments. In these economic times, tell them to save their money.
The Windjammer Café where most people experience breakfast and lunch is a great presentation for the “buffet”. One can get eggs and omelets made to order. Coffee and tea is delivered to your table so one does not have to get up after bringing their food back to the table from the buffet line. Last December I experienced a couple of nights on Cunard’s new Queen Victoria. Royal Caribbean does a far superior job in handling the presentation and quality of food in their “buffet” experience than Cunard.
Johnny Rockets is a great respite from the buffet. The Voyager also has a place to get coffee, donuts, cookies, sandwiches and pizza (all included in the price) on the Promenade that is open all day – from breakfast to late at night. The pizza looks bad and tastes close to how it looks, but the rest of this food was decent. My overall assessment of the food on board the Voyager of the Seas is that it is OK. The food experience is not Gourmet, but one should not be expecting this. I think the food quality met my expectations. We did ask our dining room captain to make us Chicken Kiev one night (yes, you can ask for special requests). The chef made it and the Kiev was superb.
Another great surprise (for me, as I do not remember this when I sailed on the Adventurer) is room service. Room Service is included – no surcharge (I couldn’t believe this) and we had coffee delivered to our room every morning. I think room service is open 24 hours, but don’t hold me to this. However, get this – they called each morning prior to delivering the order. What a great SERVICE (back to that word). So, not only was it delivered at the time promised, but they give you a courtesy call so you can throw on a robe to answer the door.
We had two cabins – a standard outside balcony cabin on deck 8 and a “junior suite” on deck 10. The junior suite is an aggressive description for our cabin as it really just contained a small sitting area a step away from the bed, but this was more than adequate for an itinerary that had only one day at sea. I found both cabins to have lots of closet space – more than you could possibly desire. The outside balcony cabin had adequate drawer space and the junior suite had more drawer space and storage space than one could use. The bathroom in the junior suite had a full bath and the shower pressure was amazing. I am not a fan of the tacky combination shampoo/conditioner that they paste to the shower wall. The bathroom also had plenty of storage area in two roomy compartments that book-ended the mirror. The outside balcony cabin just had a shower. However, back to the comparison with Cunard’s new Queen Victoria. This bathroom felt much bigger. Kudo’s to Royal Caribbean on the shower door enclosure in this bathroom versus the flimsy curtain that the Queen Victoria had in their standard outside balcony cabins. In that case the curtain was always hitting up against my body and it felt uncomfortable and unsanitary.
I wish Royal Caribbean could perfect internet access in the cabins. While it is available in several areas throughout the ship, I would love the convenience and privacy of working in my cabin.
The public space on the Voyager is fantastic. The ship was full and I always found a seat in the area where I wanted to go. The music at the different venues was “comfort” music and quite enjoyable. They have a fantastic fitness center and spa. I just wish they would open up the fitness center prior to 6 AM. This is just a pet peeve of mine. It has nothing to do with supervision as between the time I arrived at 6 AM each morning and left at 7, there wasn’t any supervision.
We sailed from Barcelona to Barcelona with stops in the South of France, the western coast of Italy and in Palermo, Sicily. The first stop was in Villafranche – a lovely port equidistant between Nice in Monaco. The problem is that you have to tender (take a boat) to shore and the first boat is not until 10 AM. This is a short day as you must be back on the ship by 6 PM. I think Royal Caribbean does a poor job in handling the disembarkation. If you do not buy one of their optional tours, you have to wait in line until all the tour passengers disembark. We had to wait a full 45 minutes. This meant we did not board the tender until 10:45 AM. Between waiting for the tender to fill up and the short trip to shore, we did not arrive until 11:10 AM. Either Royal Caribbean has to arrive at this port earlier or they must have more tenders operating as soon as the ship is cleared for passengers to disembark. Alternatively, you can recommend to your clients to take one of the optional tours. I am not a fan of these in general, but in this particular town you do not need a tour to visit Monaco, Nice or Cannes. In Villafranche, there is a train station within a 7 minute walk of the pier. You can take a train in any direction.
Rome, or the port of Civitavecchia, which is the gateway to Rome for ships, is about 1 hour, 15 minutes from downtown Rome without traffic. Royal Caribbean offers several tours of Rome. Royal Caribbean offers several tours of Rome and an option of just transportation to and from Rome. However for those who have been to Rome or would like to explore Rome on their own, it is less expensive for 4 people to hire a cab for the day. Cabs are plentiful in Civitavecchia and will stay with you all day. We were four, had been to Rome before, and loved the flexibility of creating our own schedule.
In Naples, consider taking one of the Royal Caribbean tours unless you are just going to hop a ferry to nearby Capri. You do not need a tour to see Capri and this is very much a walking experience. If you intend to explore the Amalfi coast – Sorrento (a charming town), Pompei, Positano (a town built into the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea – they made postcards from towns like Positano) or one of the other towns along the Amalfi coast, consider a tour. Naples is also not the safest of the Italian cities. Additionally, renting your own car will test every skill you have behind the wheel.
In Palermo, I stumbled upon this small travel company operated by Alessandra and Antonio. Alessandra lived in Great Britain for 5 years and speaks perfect English, as does Antonio. They operate tours all over Sicily as well as Southern Italy. I highly recommend you contact them for yourself or your clients. It will be a fabulous experience and potentially less expensive than a tour arranged through Royal Caribbean Contact Alessandra at
alantrip@libero.it. Their website is
www.alantrip.comLastly, make sure you put in your clients Crown and Anchor number in the reservation. Their on board savings certificates really add up. Everything from discounts at Johnny Rockets, Ben and Jerry’s, a bottle of wine, free drinks, discounts on the Spa and at the Photographer – this is a true value that should be SOLD to past guests of Royal Caribbean.
My family and I had a wonderful experience, highlighted by a terrific physical product (the Voyager of the Seas) and SERVICE worthy of accolades at resorts and cruise ships that enjoy a luxury reputation.
Brad
