Liberty of the seas - huge disappointment

[Cruisebylandorsea]

Praying for your daughter's recovery.


Does anyone know when the Legionaire's disease exposure happened?

[pcur]

[quote name='Tranquil Waters']Unfortunately, being a for-profit company, revenue is ALWAYS going to take priority over customer satisfaction. Only when the satisfaction falls to the level that it affects revenue will there be a change...... It is as it is. :([/QUOTE]

I disagree. I had dinner with the Hotel Director on board the Rhapsody: a very forthright and honest man. He told me he worked for several big hotel chains in Africa and Europe (like Sheraton, Marriott, Hilton), and he had never ever seen a company so dedicated to customer satisfaction. He said they live and breathe according to those survey cards.

I find that frequently on cruise ships the right and left hand don't communicate. The Customer Service Desk is sometimes the last to know what really causes the problem. So, I repeat what I've said before on other threads here: call the department responsible for the problem; don't just go to Customer Relations, who hands off the request to someone to hand off to someone else.

Start with the manager of the area where the problem is located, and ask to speak to someone in engineering if it's mechanical. You didn't know the real problem until late in the cruise, but the manager of the H2O zone would probably have had a better shot at getting a clear explanation to you.

The Hotel Director is another good source: he's the head guy over it all.

I'm sorry this happened to you and your daughter, but when they sail ships 50 weeks out of 52, they have to take care of maintenance while the cruises are in progress sometimes.

If they closed the H2O zone, I don't understand why they are obligated to provide something else. There isn't another "something else" to provide, and they do have the other children's programs.

[amybeth4]

[quote name='Cruisebylandorsea']
Does anyone know when the Legionaire's disease exposure happened?[/QUOTE]

No, because we were all told different things. On the 11/1-8 cruise we received a letter the night of 11/2 saying everything would be shut down for the rest of the week because someone the previous week had been sick. (Actually the letter MIIIIIGHT have said 2 weeks prior but I THINK it said the prior week.) The OP on this post said it happened the week before her 11/8 cruise, which meant it happened during OUR cruise.

It MIGHT have happened during our cruise but maybe they didn't want to freak everyone out having 4,000 pax think someone had Legionnaires' Disease on our cruise.

Or it happened the week before and they just TOLD the 11/8 cruisers that it happened during our week.

[KarinaGW]

I'm sorry that the OP was disappointed but, I think this is part of the problem with sailing for the ship rather than for the cruise experience or the ports.

The ship is subject to all kinds of things that the cruise line is not able to control. And, what happens is exactly what happened here.

This is not a land-based vacation. Essentially what you have is a standalone island with its own ecology that has to be bowed to for the safety of its inhabitants.

I don't know (nor do I want to) of equivalent things that could happen on Oasis. But, the reality is that if some water-borne (or air-borne or contact-borne) disease happens on a ship whether 20, 200, 800, 2500, or 6000 pax, things are not going to happen optimally for the passengers.

This, I think, is the problem with the "masses" being encouraged to embrace cruising without realizing all that it may potentially imply.

PS. As a mom. my mission was always to figure out something to keep my rugrats occupied without benefit of an H2O-zone. I managed. I do, however, sympathize on a much larger scale with her daughter (as long as her doctor really okayed the hot tub). But, again, what are they supposed to do? Cancel the cruise because they cannot provide hot tub access? Most cruisers (and, I'm sorry OP's daughter (even if that's one of the reasons they picked it)), most of the [B][I]hundreds[/I][/B] of passengers can manage without them. Whether or not it was because the hot tub relay switch failed or there was a disease...neither is a reason to cancel a cruise. If skipping a port can happen at the cruise line's discretion, then certainly a hot tub failing is one of those annoying things too.

And, really, would the OP [I]REALLY[/I] have cancelled the cruise if they had gotten there and found out...or would they at least have had a little prep time to wrap their heads around it?

[djneph]

To the OP:

I used to work for RCI in customer service, answering letters guest wrote. You should definitely write a letter to RCI. That being said I will explain what you will probably get based on my experience working their. All amenities on a cruise ship are seen as extras (ie not guaranteed - not what you paid for). You paid for a room and meals for X Nights. Now the ship offers extra things like pools, flowriders, rock walls, ice skating, shows - but the company sees those things as extras.

I understand your fustration about not being able to use the amenities and the dissapointment. However, when you right your letter do not say the only reason you booked the cruise was because of hot tubs and H2O zone, because it will come off as hyperbole (I am not saying its right/wrong just giving you advice as to how the agents think - based on the fact I was one and heard all kinds of stuff in the years I was there). Don't DEMAND anything; ask for a gesture of goodwill (these are corporate buzz words they train us to use) Do explain you daughters medical and how she was looking forward to using the hot tubs to soothe her aking muscles.

Normally you will just get an apology - but since you have sailed 20+ times, I would expect an FCC for about 10% to 15% (20% if you get a REALLY generous agent) of the cruise fare you paid. Remember if you had a 3rd/4th guest in a room they will only get 10%/15% of their reduced rate (ie. $450).

RCI does not give refunds for "service failure" - even though in the company's eyes this was not a service failure (again not saying its right/wrong just giving you the corporate trained employee mind frame). Remeber there were all kinds of others things available to do on the ship with your family.

Again, I understand you dissapointment. I just wanted you to get an "inside" view of what to expect. I hope you continue to sail RCI and that you and your family enjoy a better cruise next time. If you have any questions let me know.

[stitchisbad]

First and foremost let me send my congrats to your daughter, a fellow breast cancer survivor. I know where you are coming from. i had planned a big family trip for the summer before I was diagnosed. We went on a cruise 17 days after my first chemo dose because it was all paid for. My hair fell out 2 days before we left. That trip went ok but I was not at my best. The following summer booked a big Disney vacation and had the worst stay ever at the Boardwalk(for 500 dollars a night). I had really looked forward to it and it was awful. As miserable as she feels she is so lucky to be alive. The joint pain is awful, it does get a little better but I am at 4 years and I still move around like an old woman at times. Femara was the first drug I was on and the switched me to Aromasin and the pain was more tolerable. Have her ask her Dr. they are both Aromatase inhibitors. Lyrica also might help with her pain. Email me if I can answer any questions.This is a path I am travelling down also and as a nurse with a lot of physician friends maybe I can help make her journey a little smoother. DebM [email]jamounger911@aol.com[/email]

[TimATL]

grammyandpoppy, you said in the review of your cruise that the bar servers were concentrating on serving members of their own race at a platinum crown and anchor event, and that's the reason you only got one drink. Am I re-stating that correctly? That's pretty surprising that you found that to be the case.

[KarinaGW]

[quote name='TimATL']grammyandpoppy, you said in the review of your cruise that the bar servers were concentrating on serving members of their own race at a platinum crown and anchor event, and that's the reason you only got one drink. Am I re-stating that correctly? That's pretty surprising that you found that to be the case.[/QUOTE]

[B]If anyone is politically correct or sensitive, as God as my witness stop reading now because I am going to offend you. CC moderators what I am about to say is absolutely true.[/B].

Read the OP's review. How the he** would the OP know that they are concentrating on serving people of their own "race"? Hispanic is a) not a race and b) even loosely, would cover a dozen different countries. And, honestly? Some of the absolutely worst prejudice I [B][I][I]EVER [/I][/I][/B]witnessed was island Black immigrants vs African American "natives'. Holy cats, it was some of the worst commentary I ever heard. This really sounds like someone who was already unhappy trying to find more to support her position.

[petesweet]

[quote name='amybeth4']
Or it happened the week before and they just TOLD the 11/8 cruisers that it happened during our week.[/quote]

[SIZE=3]Or they might have just learned about another case. Illnesses don't always crop up according to schedule.[/SIZE]

[Moeve]

OP this might not be what you want to hear but Legionaires is really nasty and bearing your daughters condition in mind what would you have rather had RCCL do what it needed to do to clean up the system and perhaps wait for spare parts or simply ignore the situation and run those spas and other water elements all the while exposing your daughter fragile immune system to a desease which would probably have killed her?

I know when one is on vacation and things go wrong one won't be happy but in a case like this I would prefer the health of all passengers to take first place over their enjoyment of certain part of the cruise.

[beastiemom]

[quote name='Moeve']OP this might not be what you want to hear but Legionaires is really nasty and bearing your daughters condition in mind what would you have rather had RCCL do what it needed to do to clean up the system and perhaps wait for spare parts or simply ignore the situation and run those spas and other water elements all the while exposing your daughter fragile immune system to a desease which would probably have killed her?

I know when one is on vacation and things go wrong one won't be happy but in a case like this I would prefer the health of all passengers to take first place over their enjoyment of certain part of the cruise.[/quote]

Again, I don't think that the OP thought that, if in fact Leginoaires was the reason that the pools were shut down, that RCCL was wrong. What her frustration was, and rightly so, was the manner in which RCCL handled the situation. IF they would have told them the problem immediately so that they had the chance to make some decisions (i.e. reschedule-they drove to the port and OP said they could have rescheduled without a problem-I have no reason to doubt her on this) or communicated the problem consistently, accurately (honestly), and acknowledged the inconvenience, she wouldn't have been upset. As it stood, they got different answers each day, the water activities were closed a substantial portion of their trip and OP is still not sure what the story was.

Look, everyone understands that these problems creep up. And nobody would argue that passenger safety should be priority. These things are out of RCCL's control, and they should not be critizied for that. However, the problem was with the decision, but how they chose to handle the problem. That is what they had control over, and where in OP's (and my) opinion they dropped the ball.

[cruzedude]

[quote name='beastiemom']Again, I don't think that the OP thought that, if in fact Leginoaires was the reason that the pools were shut down, that RCCL was wrong. What her frustration was, and rightly so, was the manner in which RCCL handled the situation. IF they would have told them the problem immediately so that they had the chance to make some decisions (i.e. reschedule-they drove to the port and OP said they could have rescheduled without a problem-I have no reason to doubt her on this)[/quote]

If you fail to board you lose 100% of purchase price? Correct?

I mean for that to make sense one would have to believe the lack of hot tub is so bad it would be better to lose 100% of cruise price then to sail without a hot tub.

[amybeth4]

[quote name='cruzedude']If you fail to board you lose 100% of purchase price? Correct?

I mean for that to make sense one would have to believe the lack of hot tub is so bad it would be better to lose 100% of cruise price then to sail without a hot tub.[/QUOTE]

I'm wondering the same thing. How can you show up at the pier, decide not to cruise, and then NOT lose 100% of your money?

[BroncosFan2010]

Sorry you did not have a good time. It sounds like your expectations were high and you were let down. Crap happens.

[Moeve]

You are however assuming that things were in their control - lots could have gone wrong like cleaning up the system only to find these bacteria (not sure if that is the correct terminology) had not been completely nipp in the behind and maybe parts had to be completely replaced and they didn't have them in stock or they were ordered and for some reason were late. Even I have has things held up by US customs for no reason at all. They could well have been waiting for something a stupid a 10 cent part for all you know. If they had expected it in port during embarkation it would have been too late to do anything about the OP and her family anyway. They didn't have that choice. The possiblities are endless.

I am simply saying it is possible that this was well out of their hands and because this is to be considered dangerous especially to someone just completing cancer treatment I would have felt it OK for them to make the call rather to proctect me and my health than complain about not being able to use a facility.

To however assume a cruiseline would cancel a whole sailing on the resumption that MAYBE a part doesn't make it, or it might be an incorrect delivary or anything else could happen is totally imaginary and would never happen or you and I would be paying at least 3 times what we pay now - just in case

[beachlovergirl]

We were on the Oct 24rd to Nov 1st sailing on the Liberty. All of the hot tubs and the H2O zone were open the whole cruise. No letters about Legionaires on our cruise or that it had been on prior cruises either.

Dee

[02143]

[quote name='petesweet'][SIZE=3]Or they might have just learned about another case. Illnesses don't always crop up according to schedule.[/SIZE][/quote]

Legionnaires' tends to be multiple cases at once in a true outbreak... two in consecutive weeks would have been two outbreaks, which is unlikely. But I'm not a doctor, just traveling with one in a week on Liberty.

[02143]

[quote name='TimATL']grammyandpoppy, you said in the review of your cruise that the bar servers were concentrating on serving members of their own race at a platinum crown and anchor event, and that's the reason you only got one drink. Am I re-stating that correctly? That's pretty surprising that you found that to be the case.[/quote]

Whoa. What an accusation to make.

Any time you're at a cruise reception and drinks are free, it can be damn hard to get one. It's simply supply and demand. People will hover outside the door to the kitchen to get a drink as they come out.

I sympathize with OP about her disappointment with the cruise, but I hope she'll reconsider her theories about why she didn't get a drink.

[PC168]

Hope everything back to normal by now as we will be going in 3 weeks. Last time we board Liberty and I didn't have a chance to goto the solarium/hot tubs.

[sandytoes03]

[quote=G'ma;22072818]So, upon arrival at the pier for checkin, if there had been signage or if someone had said the Zone and hot tubs were closed, you and your family would NOT have checked in but would have returned home?

I think not.

With so many things to do on a huge cruise ship, this is small bananas.[/quote]

No it's not! Those passengers paid for something they weren't able to use. I LOVE using the hot tubs on cruises, and I'm sure kids would LOVE the H2O zone. I would've been very upset if I was on this cruise.

[Moeve]

[quote name='sandytoes03']No it's not! Those passengers paid for something they weren't able to use. I LOVE using the hot tubs on cruises, and I'm sure kids would LOVE the H2O zone. I would've been very upset if I was on this cruise.[/QUOTE]

Sandy we all understand that BUT the point is that Legionaires when it happens takes time to get rid of and I would prefer a cruiseline to tell me I cannot use a facility to protect my health.

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

Personally, after just googling this disease, I'd be more concerned with being exposed than I would about the hot tubs being closed.:eek:

Yeah it sucks that some of the activities were not available, but if there really were cases of this disease,and that person/persons used the water facilities, RCCL had no choice...it sounds very serious, and can be very deadly.

[barbie5401]

[SIZE=4]As a new cancer survivor - we have been told not to use the hot tubs in case of infection - so I don't understand why everyone was so upset. We were on the Liberty 10/10 and I didn't use the pool or the hot tubs just to be safe![/SIZE]

[grammyandpoppy]

Something got lost in translation. On the 6th night of our cruise, we were told the REAL REASON all the hot tubs and H20 zone were closed was equipment - that they had to get a part from Finland. This whole business with Legionnaire's was not the reason the things were closed. According to a highly respectable source, equipment was the problem.

As far as sucking it up, our grandson's fare for the cruise was over $500 - no H20 zone for 6 our of 7 days, minimal children's program and lots of macaroni and cheese. You think its fair -

[grammyandpoppy]

[quote name='02143']Whoa. What an accusation to make.

Any time you're at a cruise reception and drinks are free, it can be damn hard to get one. It's simply supply and demand. People will hover outside the door to the kitchen to get a drink as they come out.

I sympathize with OP about her disappointment with the cruise, but I hope she'll reconsider her theories about why she didn't get a drink.[/QUOTE]

We were not the only passengers noticing this - others were commenting on this loudly!