dcmetal02 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 25, 2019 9:03 am
JoAnnamayhem wrote: ↑Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:34 am
After I saw the Kalmah tote being offered my mind quickly changed regarding standing on line for a ticket!
This will be my first cruise so I obviously haven't experienced the merch queue but just from a numbers perspective, I can't understand why the lines would be so long. At a typical show that is 3-4 hours long, there's 400-500 people and there is never really any merch lines. The cruise has 3000 people and spans multiple days. Logically, how can there always be a line?
Sorry for the newbie question just trying to understand.
It's a good question. The problem is, there are 60 or 61 bands onbroad and on average, each band brings 2 items each. (T-shirts, maybe CDs, accessories, etc.) Some bands bring no merch and some bands bring 3 or 4 items. You also have 70K logo merch there, too. The merch area takes up a HUGE portion of the top level of the main dining room.
There are many things to choose from and you get a "personal shopper" when you get to the head of the line, and they grab your selections as you walk along, look at the merch and choose stuff. Even for someone who has already decided what they want the process takes time, let alone someone who walks in "cold." Unfortunately, it can't be done any other way because all purchases must be processed through Royal Caribbean's point-of-sale system and added to your shipboard balance due (and of course RC gets a cut).
The numbered ticket system they started two (?) years ago was an improvement, but IMO their implementation meant that many people who missed their number being called -- the current number is displayed around the ship -- didn't bother showing up at all, and lots of sales were lost that way. In practice last year, some people WERE allowed in after their numbers had been called, and some were turned away. After a certain point, people aren't quite as fanatic about getting in and the numbers start clicking up faster and faster....
My suggestion to them was to allow anyone who had missed their number being called to show up later -- after they'd gotten up to #500, say -- and be "worked into" the line. It was shot down on Facebook, though.