Oasis of the Seas Inaugural Season Extended

[LauraS]

Cruise Critic has just posted the following news:

Oasis of the Seas Inaugural Season Extended

Read the entire news article... (http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2981)

[Host Elizanessie]

Although the date for the Inaugural doesnt really bother me...hey whatever/whenever I will be on it...but I do think RCCL timed this wrong.
To do this less than a week before Christmas is just not right, as so many cruisers are away cruising or travelling and perhaps wont be able to be contacted to be told of this change.

To have a 4 nighter revenue sailing before the Inaugural is way out of line also. Ok yes I have booked both sailings but it doesnt stop me from being disappointed with RCCL. It doesnt seem fair to charge such a high rate for the 5th Dec sailing when there is a revenue sailing before it.

How can RCCL justify calling the 5th Dec sailing the Inaugural?

I am very glad though that RCCL announced this change of Inaugural date before flights opened for booking.

[divaofdisney]

I also received a call yesterday afternoon from RCCL and spoke with the representative about the change in dates. I was very polite and nice to her but also let her know too how very disappointed I was about the 4-day being the actual 1st sailing. She said she was getting a lot of calls from upset people! I think if many more people speak up then perhaps something could be accomadated. Like many of you, I do feel a bit cheated and sad that I am just not able to afford an addt'l 4 days -for us the cost is just too much.

[bgsimp]

This was the wrong thing to do. If they felt they had to do this, they should have put the 4 night after or just made it a full week. I can see alot of people upset about this. To fly to Florida for a 4 night cruise to be on "The Inaugural", is too pricey. Many people can't afford an 11 night cruise or get the time off.:mad:

Thank goodness my DH loves me and we were able to swing the 11 nights. I must say that I am really excited now to be spending 11 nights on the Oasis. It should be awesome !!! :D But, this is not coming cheap.:eek: I did switch from a D1 on deck 14 to a D7 on deck 11. That did save me $842.00 off of what it would have cost.

RCI, you really should look at leaving the true inaugural a full week. Alot of the ones booking this are "Loyal Royals" and you need to look at what you are doing. :(

[Cruiser Forever]

Here is an article about ALLURE second in the Oasis class of ships.

http://216.247.229.94/html/News%20Articles%20Current/12-12-08-Royalcaribbean.htm

[alonzo14]

Although the date for the Inaugural doesnt really bother me...hey whatever/whenever I will be on it...but I do think RCCL timed this wrong.
To do this less than a week before Christmas is just not right, as so many cruisers are away cruising or travelling and perhaps wont be able to be contacted to be told of this change.

To have a 4 nighter revenue sailing before the Inaugural is way out of line also. Ok yes I have booked both sailings but it doesnt stop me from being disappointed with RCCL. It doesnt seem fair to charge such a high rate for the 5th Dec sailing when there is a revenue sailing before it.

How can RCCL justify calling the 5th Dec sailing the Inaugural?

I am very glad though that RCCL announced this change of Inaugural date before flights opened for booking.


Liz, those are my sentiments exactly!!! We haven't decided yet what to do. But our inaugural group has been split up some. This is a disappointment and takes away the joy from going on an inaugural!:( I was very excited about going. I've gotten to know some great critters. I have to decide if I'm willing to pay this much for the inaugural now!

[cruisingator2]

Not happy at all with RCI over this change. Good luck to Royal getting those prices for a four night to Labadee. Looks like we will more than likely cancel the entire reservation and book something else. Actually Princess has a 14 night cruise on the Caribbean Princess out of San Juan for much less than what we would have paid for a seven night on the Oasis. Might be time to try Princess.

[ichur]

I also received a call yesterday afternoon from RCCL and spoke with the representative about the change in dates. I was very polite and nice to her but also let her know too how very disappointed I was about the 4-day being the actual 1st sailing. She said she was getting a lot of calls from upset people! I think if many more people speak up then perhaps something could be accomadated. Like many of you, I do feel a bit cheated and sad that I am just not able to afford an addt'l 4 days -for us the cost is just too much.

We did not get a call from RCCL but did change to the 5th of Dec Oasis cruise. I hope that they did not include the 4 extra days before the 5th. We have an important meeting on the 2nd of Dec 2009 that we should not missed. We to are disappointed not to be on the 1st sailing. We tried to get a two week cruise by keeping the 12th and adding the 5th and they said we couldn't do it, without a huge price increase. I too am sad I can't go on the actual 1st sailing and don't think it is fair for those of us who have been so excited about being on the Inaugral sailing of the Genessis class ship which became the Oasis. As a stockholder, as well, I don't think they are doing right to keep bookings on RCI's ships.:confused:

Irene & Miles

[techdiver]

Upset as well at this turn of events. After making three maiden voyages; the Diamond Princess, the Veendam, and the Majesty OTS we found the Majesty to be the most memorable. Since then our efforts to make another maiden voyage with RCI have been repeatedly sabotaged by the company. Last one before this was the Mariner OTS. We ended up keeping our one week later sail date, but here it is again. Will visit TA tomorrow and decide whether to cancel, change, or go back to other cruise lines.

[Fuzzie]

We too feel cheated by RCCL. This was to have been our first "Inaugural" cruise! We were so looking forward to it that we convinced friends to share it with us. If RCCL cared about their loyal cruisers, they would offer the 4 night cruise @ a REASONABLE price that all of us could afford. We too will be looking @ other cruise lines. We live in the Tampa area so we have a choice of several ports to pick from. RCCL you blew this one!
BJ (Diamond)

[bgsimp]

I don't understand why they even had to make it a 4 night. Why didn't they just make it a 7 night & there wouldn't have been a problem. I would think if they could plan 4 nights this far in advance, they could have planned 7 nights.:rolleyes: We booked the 11 nights, but it wasn't cheap !!! I must say that I am excited about spending 11 nights on this ship, but not everyone can do it.

[Fuzzie]

:mad: Let's hear an explanation from RCCL. How do they feel about messing up the plans of the loyal cruisers who are not at all happy! Waiting to hear........................
BJ
Way to go GIANTS!

[techdiver]

Well, we ended up switching to the Dec. 5th sailing. Reason for the Labadee trip seems questionable, but perhaps they wanted to check out how ship handles the Labadee stop since it becomes part of the alternate itinerary next year.

[bgsimp]

Well, we ended up switching to the Dec. 5th sailing. Reason for the Labadee trip seems questionable, but perhaps they wanted to check out how ship handles the Labadee stop since it becomes part of the alternate itinerary next year.

That's a good explanation. I hope we get some kind of a festive welcome. That would be pretty cool ! :D

[yorkie077]

I am beyond pissed!!! I have been pretty loyal to Royal, no more. Cancelled the 12th and now NCL here I come for good!!!

%$&^ RCCL!!!!!!!!:mad:

[monn_a]

Royal Caribbean did the same thing to us on the Solstice inaugural, we switched to new inaugural date then they added a 2 revenue cruise prior to the Nov 30th inaugural...it's all about the money these days...

[Dan Askin]

Royal Caribbean did the same thing to us on the Solstice inaugural, we switched to new inaugural date then they added a 2 revenue cruise prior to the Nov 30th inaugural...it's all about the money these days...

I was waiting for someone to comment on this being the second time RCCL had moved the "inaugural" back on a splashy new ship. With Solstice the announcement came about six months from launch, so it was entirely possible that quite a few folks had already booked flights booked.

So did you rebook on the new December 5 "inaugural"?

[amel232]

I was waiting for someone to comment on this being the second time RCCL had moved the "inaugural" back on a splashy new ship. With Solstice the announcement came about six months from launch, so it was entirely possible that quite a few folks had already booked flights booked.

So did you rebook on the new December 5 "inaugural"?

Just my two cents, so please don't flame me but my opinion is it could be worse. What if RCCL had a pattern of being late on delivering on inaugurals? I personally don't think a "revenue sailing" is simply about the money. If a ship beats its delivery date, it saved money (on time and under budget, the goal of every project!) which means we save money (or at least don't pay more when a ship is delayed). No buyer would discourage early delivery! But with an early delivery, should they just let Oasis bob around at sea? What should RCCL have done instead? I understand the disappointment but I don't understand what the preference would have been.

Is this not "buyer beware"? or at least "buyer be advised"? If I'm paying money on something that hasn't even moved two feet yet, I can't be surprised if my date is moved, canceled or altered in some way. There's still a chance that they'll find out in the next three months that every fourth toilet becomes a geyser on every other flush when the sun is on the starboard side of the ship and have to delay it for the comfort of the passengers.

I only say this because I do implementation testing and these are the kind of absurd things you find in the eleventh hour and can cause some fascinating delays. So I've learned from my profession to never hold my breath until the new equipment/facility/software etc is up and running full speed.

[amel232]

By the way, are they charging a lot more to add on the 4 day or can pax just switch to a 4 day and skip the 7 day?

[Cuizer2]

There's still a chance that they'll find out in the next three months that every fourth toilet becomes a geyser on every other flush when the sun is on the starboard side of the ship and have to delay it for the comfort of the passengers.

I only say this because I do implementation testing and these are the kind of absurd things you find in the eleventh hour and can cause some fascinating delays. So I've learned from my profession to never hold my breath until the new equipment/facility/software etc is up and running full speed.

This explains the e-mail I received from Royal Caribbean stating not to use the toilet at eleven o'clock if the ship is facing east.