Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best approach.
This sentiment applies to many areas, but it’s often suggested in the business world as a way to encourage innovation and growth.
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In the cruise industry, it turns out that this idea is something cruise lines should consider as they evaluate their approaches to promoting passenger satisfaction.
The cruise industry has long focused on guest-centric service as a way to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty, which has led crew members to be very accommodating to passengers. In some cases, maybe too accommodating.
To some passengers, the fact that crew members are trained to be so focused on guest satisfaction actually leads to less satisfaction in certain aspects of the cruise experience.
Although many cruisers appreciate how friendly, kind, and attentive crew members are, passengers have noticed that crew members tend to let bad passenger behavior slide due to concerns about guest satisfaction. And that negatively impacts the cruise experience for many other passengers.
Royal Caribbean cruisers recently made this clear in a Reddit thread discussing unpopular cruise opinions.
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Many Royal Caribbean passengers think the pool deck experience could be improved.
Image source: Dukas/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Royal Caribbean cruiser’s opinion on enforcing rules proves popular
“The staff who won’t enforce the rules out of fear of upsetting customers are actually ruining it for other customers. (Examples: kids in the solarium and towel saving chairs at the pool),” CatsMoreCatsCats suggested in the Reddit thread.
This unpopular opinion turned out to be quite popular – 340 Reddit users upvoted it to show their approval.
“Yes! My wife and I had a bunch of issues like this on our last cruise,” intensityjunkie agreed. “We told the staff of a few things while it was still happening and they did nothing.”
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For most cruisers (on any cruise line), lack of enforcement regarding cruise line rules that pool deck chairs can’t be reserved is the biggest problem.
“Agreed. My biggest issue is the chair hoggers. They should have some sort of storage for people’s things so that people in the pools and people at the bars don’t have to sit them on chairs to hold place,” ejperry135 wrote.
Many cruise passengers are adamant that the cruise experience would be better for everyone if cruise lines required crew members to enforce this rule.
Should cruise lines drop the ‘customer is always right’ mentality?
Similarly, another highly upvoted comment in the Reddit thread suggested that cruise lines shouldn’t encourage crew members to be accommodating to cruisers who mistreat them.
“Crew shouldn’t have to be polite to unruly people. They aren’t slaves, and too many people treat them like they are,” MatchaCatLatte wrote.
“This yes! Treating them so nicely is like rewarding that ridiculous behavior,” RonDiDon agreed. “They need some on board disciplinarians because it seems they need to be treated like unruly children.”
To many cruisers, the “customer is always right” approach isn’t the right one.
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And that’s a notion that Virgin Voyages’ founder and business mogul Richard Branson has long suggested with his business philosophy that puts employees first.
When he launched the Virgin Voyages cruise brand, Branson and his team wanted to disrupt the cruise industry, and that didn’t just mean sailing adults-only cruises with modern, boutique style.
Virgin Voyages strives to deliver a better crew experience that leads to a better passenger experience. And cruisers have noticed. There’s a general consensus among experienced cruisers that Virgin Voyages crew members seem happier than those who work for other cruise lines, and that makes their passengers happy, too.
Whether other cruise lines will follow Virgin’s lead is yet to be seen, but it’s clear that many cruisers and crew members would applaud better treatment of crew members across the industry.
