Forbes article says DCL loses $325 million

[Kwami]

I would expect as much, I have just never seen anyone here mention being part of it, which surprises me with our many frequent cruisers. I have always had the impression from the shorter survey on the ship (without space to add additional comments) that they prefer to keep the feedback fenced in and controlled for whatever reason - maybe because demand was high enough that they figured they didn't need it. Even with the additional research, they still seem to miss some low-hanging fruit that irritates a high percentage of guests.

I've done the longer survey at least three times in the past. Maybe I'm just lucky? I don't know. It asks many questions and has a whole bunch of places to add comments.

Change tends to happen slowly at large companies and with cruise ships, that's probably extra true. They can't change some things without dry docks or new training for the crew or new suppliers.

 

[brentm77]

I've done the longer survey at least three times in the past. Maybe I'm just lucky? I don't know. It asks many questions and has a whole bunch of places to add comments.

Change tends to happen slowly at large companies and with cruise ships, that's probably extra true. They can't change some things without dry docks or new training for the crew or new suppliers.

Sorry - I edited my post slightly while you were responding. I have a bad habit of live editing.

I agree to an extent, but there are some things that are outside of the ship structure itself that could be changed for little cost. For example, staggering the online check-in process, or making it less important to do it right at midnight be assigning port arrival times at the time of booking (first come, first serve or by seniority). A small change there would take little work on the back end and remove a point of major frustration for many. I guess it is frustrating that it is easy for DCL to make changes when it saves money or makes things easier for them as they happen frequently (cut Cabanas dinner, paper navigators, low-quality paper straws, bottled shampoo, pirate night buffet, signed pillow cases, early boarding for platinum's, reducing staff, etc.), but slow to change even small things that could improve the customer experience greatly. It's very similar to how the parks are run. I would love to see the line learn to be more nimble and refocus on the full customer experience from booking to disembarking.