Rci Are You Listening???

in the hope that the people at rci monitor this board i would like to share my feelings and hope someone hears.

we sailed the voyager of the seas on 9/4/05 to bermuda. were supposed to have two days in bermuda. an executive decision by the captain had us leave bermuda one day early due to the fact that the voyager was an unusually large ship with an exceptionallly large draft and if the hurricane nate, which was out in the seas several hundred miles from bermuda were to cause any disruputions such as high winds etc. the voyager might have trouble leaving the port. there were two other celebrity ships in hamilton and i am not sure if they left as well. i am not unhappy with the choice made by the captain for whatever reason he deemed appropriate....he is after all the captain. what i take some issue with however, is the fact that by sailing out early and adding another sea day rci made lots of additional money they would not have made otherwise. in bermuda the ship cannot serve alcohol or have any gambling while in port. once the ship took off however the casinos were in full swing and the shops and the bars etc. lots of additional revenue was generated for rci. lots!!the folks onboard however missed more than one half of their short two day stay in bermuda. rci, don't you think it might be appropriate to pass on something in the way of a future credit or something to your guests who contributed to all the extra revenue you pulled in due to the circumstances. after all it was the passengers who lost out while rci actually had a huge gain. one day some free drinks (almost ,if not totally alcohol free) were passed around. some folks never even knew about it. come on rci, can't you do better than that?

I am not so sure that RCI would have ended up with what you describe as a huge gain in this situation. I have to believe that there are incremental costs of operating a vessel at sea vs. in port. I.E. fuel, cost of food consumed, etc. If RCI were to hand out a $100 on board credit or something of that nature due to a weather related problem you would just end up seeing that back in increased cruise prices.

You could always try and get a little bit of money back off of them buy purchasing some stock. Any increased profits would impact the stock price and maybe make you some money back.

Just one guys humble opinion.

Chris

Actually the cost to operate at sea are less. They pay a lot of money in port fees to park those ship.

Not to be uncaring, but this is a risk you take in cruising during bad weather season. I'm sorry, but I do not believe that RCI owes you a credit. I highly doubt that their decision had anything to do with making additional profits, and any money they made off extra drinks and whatnot should go to them. I kinda doubt anybody FORCED folks to gamble and drink more. Sorry, but my opinion is that they should not have to "pass along savings" to you.

I hope you decide to cruise again despite this disappointment, however!

I know how you feel, but the contract clearly said that no monetory compensation for weather related changes. It happened to us last year on Caribbean Princess, when itinerary was changed twice to avoid the harricanes and we end up with 5 days at sea and half a day in Jamaca and half a day in the Bahamas - both places we could live without. We still had a very nice cruise. To keep pax happy they had an extra Seafood buffet with lobsters, crabs, shrimp and all kind of fish, which were very tasty.

GRCruise. Good thought. I would not have initially thought about the increased fuel costs and the cost of feeding 3200 people. I'm sure very few eat onboard while in Bermuda. Of course the Celebrity ships in port only carry 1300 people each and that size ship is my favorite.

The Celebrity ships were considerably smaller AND Hamilton is a sheltered harbor, while Kings Wharf is not - that's something the OP fails to understand. Bermuda officials might very well have insisted the Voyager leave port so as to avoid damage to the port itself.

Having said that, you chose to cruise during Hurricane season - I don't think missing one day in port could be that traumatic.

The Celebrity ships were considerably smaller AND Hamilton is a sheltered harbor, while Kings Wharf is not - that's something the OP fails to understand. Bermuda officials might very well have insisted the Voyager leave port so as to avoid damage to the port itself.

 

Having said that, you chose to cruise during Hurricane season - I don't think missing one day in port could be that traumatic.

Their ships are doing 3 days at sea to avoid the hurricane - YUK!

Bermuda officials might very well have insisted the Voyager leave port so as to avoid damage to the port itself.

Thanks for bringing this up- I had not thought about that!

come on rci, can't you do better than that?

A little sarcastic, aren't we ? I loved it !

As a Royal Caribbean Lines shareholder, I agree that not every gripe should be rewarded with monetary compensation. Pay your money, read the contract, and then hope Mother Nature doesn't ruin your cruise.

Go 'Boys

"in bermuda the ship cannot serve alcohol"

Somebody told you a big old lie because I can surely vouch for the fact that alcohol is served as long as your room charge is in good standing order (even when you're not)

I did not think about writing to RCCL when due to the hurricane we missed Belize and had to go to the Bahamas instead. The Bahamas is my least favorite port but you have to take the good with the bad.

again...i am not complaining about the choice to leave bermuda, please understand that. the fuel costs by the way are the same because the trip from bermuda to port liberty was the same..in fact they took two days to do it instead of one to give us the extra sea day so if anything they used less fuel by cruising at a slower speed. we were told that by bermuda law they could not serve liquor or have gambling while in bermuda. the bars were closed as was the casino. most people have breakfast on board on cruise days and return for dinner. the only meal that i would say that is missed by a large majority of people is lunch. the cost of lunch to feed that additional amount of people could never equal the amount of drinks that were being poured all over the ship for that additional day. the casino also brings in huge money on sea days. as do the photos, the games etc. i am not intending to be sarcastic....just honest. gerif....losing one port day when you have only two in one location was a big deal to most of the cruisers i met. when you go to a good restaurant and sometimes to no fault of the establishment there is a messup, the classy ones send over a little something to your table, or treat you to a dessert or something of that nature just to leave a better taste in your mouth when you think of the experience. it's good business! jwlane...my keyboard has two shift keys....i just don't choose to use them.....it's kinda my style. forgive me that. rci did what they thought was best...it's their job to protect their passengers....that makes good business sense. i just think it would have made even better business sense to leave them feeling less taken advantage of by the situation. a little gesture would have gone a long way .

to spite it all we had a great time. hey ,maybe a free group picture of us all at our extra sea day would have been in order. sorry, couldn't resist a LITTLE sarcasm. see, i told you my shift key works!

I can't agree with the OP.....Ask yourself......Would you want to really get stuck in the middle of a hurricane? I think not. ;)

It may not have been the total decsion of the captain, Miami contols what and where ships go when dealing with hurricanes. Safety is the first and foremost concern of passengers and crew. If you can't handle itinerary changes due to weather maybe you should not cruise during hurricane season. :D

***

I don't want to sound disrespectful, but this sounds just like a part of America today that wants something for nothing. Everyone knows, or should know, that itineraries can be changed, specially in hurricane season. This is like some asking for something from the cruise line because it rained while we were in ########. If this was the case, nobody could afford cruises because the cruise line would be giving everything away.

Tim

please, please reread my posts again arizona cruiser. i have said again and again i take no issue with the captain's choice. i am happy he made that choice. i am discussing something really different here. this post is about revenue and any disparity that this necessary change may have caused. flaming me is easy. much harder i guess to try and see the point i am trying to make. just one more time...i would not want to find myself in a hurricane and trust that the captain or whomever the powers in charge might have been made the absolute right choice. not my issue at all.

Sorry, I posted about the same time as you did. Maybe I am not understanding your post again.

Tim

Eeniemeenie, I was on this cruise. I didnt have a problem with the captain leaving early, actually (although A free drink would have been a nice gesture. Geesh...) . But this was a mediocre cruise all around in my book (much of it not RCCL fault). I'm going to try to get a review up at some point in the next day or so.

To those who feel the need to pounce, keep in minfd. Not everyone chooses to go during cane season. Some of us happen to have anniversaries during that time. Some of us cannot otherwise afford to go. And just because something is written in a contract doesnt mean it is morally right. I dont think eenie is saying RCCL was obligated to do anything, but it would have been nice if they did something.

A little sarcastic, aren't we ? I loved it !

 

As a Royal Caribbean Lines shareholder, I agree that not every gripe should be rewarded with monetary compensation. Pay your money, read the contract, and then hope Mother Nature doesn't ruin your cruise.

 

Go 'Boys

Yes eeniemeenie, we're listening. I'm also a RCI shareholder, and therefore, one of the owners. After reviewing your post, I hereby find the following.

1. Please, never take another cruise during hurricane season.

2. Please, seek psychiatric help to get over your "entitlement syndrome".

3. Please. read your post into a tape recorder, and play it over & over untill you finally realize how preposterous your statements are.

4. Please, join the Crown & Anchor Society and we will be sending you discount coupons for select cruises year round.

It's been a pleasure responding to you in my highly unofficial capacity!

jlabramo...i think most folks onboard did not have a problem with it either. it's the gesture thing i am talking about. i will look forward to your review.

Just a thought...just because people are on the ship during a sea day doesn't mean they have to go to the casino or buy more alcohol. But, for the sake of good PR, RCCL could swing for some free cocktails or something like that.

in the hope that the people at rci monitor this board i would like to share my feelings and hope someone hears.

 

we sailed the voyager of the seas on 9/4/05 to bermuda. were supposed to have two days in bermuda. an executive decision by the captain had us leave bermuda one day early due to the fact that the voyager was an unusually large ship with an exceptionallly large draft and if the hurricane nate, which was out in the seas several hundred miles from bermuda were to cause any disruputions such as high winds etc. the voyager might have trouble leaving the port. there were two other celebrity ships in hamilton and i am not sure if they left as well. i am not unhappy with the choice made by the captain for whatever reason he deemed appropriate....he is after all the captain. what i take some issue with however, is the fact that by sailing out early and adding another sea day rci made lots of additional money they would not have made otherwise. in bermuda the ship cannot serve alcohol or have any gambling while in port. once the ship took off however the casinos were in full swing and the shops and the bars etc. lots of additional revenue was generated for rci. lots!!the folks onboard however missed more than one half of their short two day stay in bermuda. rci, don't you think it might be appropriate to pass on something in the way of a future credit or something to your guests who contributed to all the extra revenue you pulled in due to the circumstances. after all it was the passengers who lost out while rci actually had a huge gain. one day some free drinks (almost ,if not totally alcohol free) were passed around. some folks never even knew about it. come on rci, can't you do better than that?

Sorry eeniemeenie, ;) RE: revenue....yes they made more money, sorry they didn't give free drinks or credits for the early departure.

When I was on the Navigator last year during Hurricane Frances, we had 2 extra days at sea and then another 2 days added cause we could not return to port. We had no credits of any kind, no free drinks, nothing. Not only did they make more money in sales/drinks/casino it cost us more in tips for the 2 extra days!

***

Why do cruisers feel that they have this right to ask for money, credit, or anything free when all terms and rights are outline in such great detail in the ticket booklet? How would you have felt if they did stay and caught caught (heaven forbid) and you lost days at work, missed a flight, etc? I guess RCCL would owe you for that decision as well, right? You made the decision to cruise during hurricane season and RCCL did what they deemed necessary for your safety and the condition of their ship. If you are unhappy, right directly to RCCL and express your concern. You never know, they might respond favorably to you. Or, just don't sail with RCCL. This is not just directed at eeniemeenie, but most of you take complain just because you feel you are owed something. I have never expressed this feeling to date and I promise not to do it ever again. I will get off my soapbox now. Happy sailing everyone.

kenlorjus