Honey...I'm home : ) (off Grandeur)

[BND]

I apologize in advance.

 

Our seniors are headed to Ocean City for their Senior Trip. :o

 

LOL. You do need to apologize;) I grew up in MD and Senior week was a wild ride.

[RSLeesburg]

You didn't ask me, but there is a priority in which people leave, in that someone goes first and someone goes last. I don't know how the cruise line assigns priority, but I would hope that those with medical conditions be expedited, followed by seniors, families with young children, etc. After these groups, do I think someone who pays $8000 for a suite should get off the ship faster than someone who pays for a regular cabin - sure - which is the way it works, or is supposed to work in normal circumstances, without much complaint.

 

I agree 100 percent. And in such a situation, you need to be patient and have a bit more understanding. I am absolutely amazed that RCI was able to charter that many planes, and get them down, and fly home that many passengers in the timeframe that they did. Just think of all the logistics that were required to make that happen. I am sure that there was a ton of confusion and chaos at the port, but to expect things to be smooth, busy-as-usual is unrealistic. You might be able to train for emergencies at sea, but once you reach port, there are limitations as to how fast and orderly any one can get you home (RCI does not control airplanes, airspace, airports, border control, etc., and all of these need to be coordinated to get you from point a to point b). And to expect better or faster treatment because you are frequent travelers (vs. need) is just arrogant.

[Merion_Mom]

LOL. You do need to apologize;) I grew up in MD and Senior week was a wild ride.

 

Well, at least I can exculpate myself personally. I am not a senior advisor this year. :) I escaped to 10th-grade-land.

[Back2reality]

Um, as a Diamond, I'm pretty sure I know how it works..... We're not talking about a normal situation. In an emergency situation such as this I don't give a flip what you paid. That's not how priorities should be made. Under normal circumstances, priority is by status, but that's not this situation, now is it?

 

I'm only referring to the poster who made the statement about status. Why is that so hard for some to comprehend? It's not about status, it's about NEED!!!!!

 

Read what I quoted the poster said. It's pretty clear that status is important to them, but it should never override the need in a situation like they found themselves in. It was not necessary to even bring up their status. I just found it extremely out of line and elitist.

 

I myself 100% agree!! A fire on a ship, and we are gonna start prioritizing out statuses? I've always thought the status thing has been overrated, but I've met people on the ship who always have to announce their status. Besides, most of the people on the cruises I've been on are higher than Emerald, so the poster still would've been on the lower priorities of status.

[Motleu]

Glad everyone is safe!

[bigeck]

That's for sharing your experience. You have the right attitude when it comes to things like that. Get on with it and make do with what you have. So many people complain about the most trivial thing.

Enjoy your beach break

[Eriksgarden]

I can't believe anyone would even mention their C&A Status on this thread! Wow!

[jorg1]

I can't believe anyone would even mention their C&A Status on this thread! Wow!

 

I totally agree!

 

With all due respect to those who took part in this incident, glad it went well and that no lives were lost, but this selfish attitude is just bad.

 

"First myself and then myself and then myself again, and then the next if it's for my own best interests!"

[Lexi731]

Yes, thorough post, but the part about C&A status kind of bugged me (we're Diamond) and I wouldn't expect what the poster did. And by that, I mean the order of things.

 

I was mainly speaking to the experience of waking up and seeing a fire outside of your aft balcony and the muster drill and the primitive camping done in the cabin - as an aft sailor - that would have scared me to death! I would have also taken a few photos from my balcony of the damage after the fire was out to post...anyways

 

I knew the other part about DYKWIA? Was going to be controversial - and I was really going to let it go - but I see others didn't. So I will respond. (Dykwia by the way means don't you know who I am? and we use it in air travel frequent flyer programs a lot) to describe actions of fellow passengers.

 

I would like to think that i personally would not expect any special treatment because of how much i paid or my status in this type of situation - but we really never know how we will react in the face of crisis - until we are truly there.

 

I believe that under the circumstances RCI did a great job. Was everything perfect? Probably not - but you can not please everyone at every occasion either.

 

Karen

[lucymorgan]

when there is an emergency - every life is of equal value!

[retiredgram]

First and foremost, I am very happy that everyone involved is safe and making their way home. A special shout out to dharma for the great up-to-the-minute reports. We all appreciated it.

 

I can't comment on anyone's onboard experiences with this situation but I do want to comment about the situations reported at the airport and the delays. There isn't an airport in the islands that is set up to handle thousands of passengers trying to depart on a bunch of charters within a 24-hr span. My guess is they don't have the staff to handle the amount of passengers, luggage, etc. I'm guessing they were still dealing with the normal flights they have on any given day as well. While I'm certain the long airport delays added misery to a very difficult weekend, folks need to understand that these small island airports are ill-equipped to handle the kind of demand they just experienced. Dharma, this isn't directed at your comments but at other complaints I've read about regarding departures.

 

Trust me, I am in no way making light of this situation. I just this expectations on the situation at the airport were a bit unrealistic.

 

Once again, so happy everyone is OK.

Thank you for making this statement. I was thinking the same also. Most important, everyone was safe and made it home.

[retiredgram]

when there is an emergency - every life is of equal value!

Like^^ Thank you.

[skittl1321]

Personally, I don't really believe in the 'status' thing, so I think RCL's decision was fine, BUT: once the fire was out, there wasn't really an emergency anymore. Why wouldn't debarkation be based on status, like normal, for people in non-affected cabins? The people in affected cabins had already been moved into hotels, and probably "deserved" the soonest flights, but of the rest of the people, shouldn't it be business as usual?

 

I don't think the poster who brought up the status issue was stating Pinnacle should board the life boats first with the inside cabins going last.

[amster65]

when there is an emergency - every life is of equal value!

 

 

It was'nt on the Titanic...........:(

[wolfganghowell]

Thank you Dharma for your positive account. I realize there were trying circumstances for many but as Host Ann so eloquently stated, getting chartered planes to an island that fast and getting people out took tremendous force of will. Sure, it was unfortunate that not all 2000 passengers could be first - somebody had to be inconvenienced and "last".