Allure and propulsion problems.

[FLACRUISER99]

Where are the Like and "Love" buttons!!!!! The armpit of the Caribbean!

Been there a few times over 21 cruises and if I never see it again I would be extremely happy!

 

Any stop in Nassau (or Freeport) imho is a ship day.:D

It's fine if you don't like Nassau and I respect your opinion. However I don't like you using terms like "The armpit of the Caribbean!" as Nassau is one of my favorite ports. How would you like it if someone posted "insert derogatory remark here" about Wauwatosa, WI. BTY the Bahamas are not even in the Caribbean! Edited October 30, 2013 by FLACRUISER99

[sweetpee_1993]

Hideout11, glad you are not concerned about an itinerary change, but those who booked Atlantis packages, Blue Lagoon and other private excursions should be concerned. Good of you not be be concerned when folks who have planed to spend the day on the magnificent beaches of St. John are now looking at about 2 hours there. At least if the cruise line was upfront, valuable time and money may not have been lost by cruisers. It's not that these excursions might be cancelled, worse yet, those who have spent considerable money will have paid a lot for limited time on their excursions. Are we expected to cruise for a week with only one full day, St Martin, in port. Or worse yet, are we to be left guessing about what to do?

 

Exactly. Disappointing. We elected to go ahead & cancel our St. Thomas sailboat charter. I'm sure we'll get around to the Eastern on Disney so we'll look them back up then. It's the not knowing what to expect that gets me. I feel bad waiting until the last minute to notify the charter owner. I'm sure there's plenty of things he'd love to plan for the day before a holiday with his family. You know?

[vital1]

It's fine if you don't like Nassau and I respect your opinion. However I don't like you using terms like "The armpit of the Caribbean!" as Nassau is one of my favorite ports. How would you like it if someone posted "insert derogatory remark here" about Wauwatosa, WI. BTY the Bahamas are not even in the Caribbean!

 

I know this was not directed at me, but I would think, "wow, this person needs a vacation STAT if he/she/it gets so upset over someone's opinion (that he/she/it supposedly respects) over a city/town on an island in the ATLANTIC. And by the way, Wauwatosa, WI can't be "insert derogatory remark here" because I live in that derogatory remark......Mississippi.:D

 

Seriously, loosen up your shorts some. We are all in this life together and remember, not one of us will get out alive.:eek:

[CleveRocks]

I'll be boarding Allure in about 88 hours from now. So will BND. We're sailing a Western itinerary. But if the ship feels any different, I'm sure both of us will end up posting here about it.

 

I'm no cruising expert, but I was on Allure last August/September for a hurricane-shortened cruise. It was supposed to be a 7-day Western but it ended up a 5-day what they called simply "Caribbean" cruise, one stop in Cozumel and one stop in Nassau.

 

Loved our stop in Nassau, by the way. It was my first time in the Bahamas since Coco Cay all the way back in 1993. Since this was a hybrid itinerary, we had a relatively long stop at Nassau (something like 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) We spent a nice long day at Atlantis ... enjoying Aquaventure, taking in the cool aquarium, enjoying the beautiful beach and ocean, etc.

 

It was one of the highlights of our cruise.

[shadbrew]

I just checked online and our itinerary has not changed. So was the problem fixed and is the itinerary back on track...or just what? Will RCCL post a (truthful and accurate) announcement somewhere? This is an Eastern Caribbean cruise.

Edited October 31, 2013 by shadbrew

[reney313]

I just checked online and our itinerary has not changed. So was the problem fixed and is the itinerary back on track...or just what? Will RCCL post a (truthful and accurate) announcement somewhere? This is an Eastern Caribbean cruise.

 

It "sounds like" the last 2 Eastern Itineraries have been notified when they boarded (or shortly after) of the change.

 

My cruise is not until January, but I am keeping an eye on what happens.

 

I can easily change to Megan's Bay in St. Thomas instead of Trunk Bay in St. John, although I will be disappointed. If I were on Oasis, I wouldn't have to make that decision. My final payment is this upcoming Tuesday. I'm trying to decide how important that is to me at this point. We have our air booked and it would cost to change the week we fly in. I'm thinking I should just plan to not book the St. John excursion and play it by ear when we board. Hopefully all will be fixed by then and we won't have to deal with this.

 

It's not the end of the world, but it does lead to uncertainty for those of us with upcoming cruises. At least I already know i can't smoke on my balcony or at the indoor venues (other than the casino). I was all excited in March 2013 when I booked. Then the new smoking policy came out and I started stressing about how that would change my habits--so I went to Vegas to cure that---now I started to get excited again and the #1 thing I wanted to do in port may be in jeopardy. I'll get over it, I'm sure.

[Knolmom]

We are sailing the Allure Eastern itinerary on the 10 th. I just called RCCL, after e mailing them twice, and they are still denying that there is a problem or that itineraries have been affected. In addition, I created a new thread here asking why RCCL would be deceptive, and why despite an ongoing thread, there has been no mention of the adjusted itineraries in the CC news. Needless to say, the thread was not published. They did not even say that there was an existing thread. Nothing has come up since I created the thread at 2PM today? strange?

[vega]

If you have facebook, there's a post currently going on about the situation re: the Allure and Eastern Caribbean. RCCL is denying it and staying very quiet. Please feel free to jump in and express your thoughts, as this seems to be one sure way to get them to listen up.

(I'm sailing on 11/24, Eastern Caribbean, and very upset about this change in itinerary. I'd rather they cut out Nassau but give us more time in St. Thomas).

[Knolmom]

A travel agent who is traveling on our Allure sailing just posted that the Allure arrived in St Thomas at about 11:30 AM today but folks did not disembark until much later.

[bilyclub]

If you have facebook, there's a post currently going on about the situation re: the Allure and Eastern Caribbean. RCCL is denying it and staying very quiet. Please feel free to jump in and express your thoughts, as this seems to be one sure way to get them to listen up.

(I'm sailing on 11/24, Eastern Caribbean, and very upset about this change in itinerary. I'd rather they cut out Nassau but give us more time in St. Thomas).

 

Where on facebook?

[lvstitch]

A travel agent who is traveling on our Allure sailing just posted that the Allure arrived in St Thomas at about 11:30 AM today but folks did not disembark until much later.

 

I was watching the cameras on the ship and at sapphire beach. I don't know how far sapphire beach is from the port but the excursion (the one I have booked) got there about 1pm. The other issued I noticed about everything being pushed back by at least 1.5 hours is that it gets dark there about 5pm, so today they had less than 5 hours of daylight on the island. The ship left a little after 7pm.

[Knolmom]

I was unable to find the chat or discussion on Facebook. I fail to understand why Cruise Critic would not be interested in reporting this as news, especially if RCCL is denying it and CC res have posted to the contrary.

[vega]

Go to the Royal Caribbean page on Facebook, look on the right, there should be a post, among many posts by fans, started by "Svetlana Finkelshteyn" on this topic.

[vega]

I was unable to find the chat or discussion on Facebook. I fail to understand why Cruise Critic would not be interested in reporting this as news, especially if RCCL is denying it and CC res have posted to the contrary.

 

Is there any way to escalate this to the Cruise Critic folks so they can intervene on our behalf?

[vega]

The original facebook post was started on 10/29 at 8:24 pm, so if you keep scrolling till that date/time, you'll find it.

[MASCREW]

The original facebook post was started on 10/29 at 8:24 pm, so if you keep scrolling till that date/time, you'll find it.

 

Can you post a link directly to the FB topic?

 

As far as I can tell, the only post from the 29th has nothing to do with the Allure and her problems......

 

I'm on the 11/10 Eastern sailing, so this is a very important topic to me and my family!

 

Thanks in advance!

[sailinglisa]

I know this was not directed at me, but I would think, "wow, this person needs a vacation STAT if he/she/it gets so upset over someone's opinion (that he/she/it supposedly respects) over a city/town on an island in the ATLANTIC. And by the way, Wauwatosa, WI can't be "insert derogatory remark here" because I live in that derogatory remark......Mississippi.:D

 

Seriously, loosen up your shorts some. We are all in this life together and remember, not one of us will get out alive.:eek:

 

Thanks for defending me. To FLACRUISER99 - I KNOW that the Bahamas aren't part of the Caribbean but many cruisers on these boards think they are in the Caribbean so I adjusted my comment to them. And yes, it is my opinion that Nassau and Freeport are that bad....been there and done it.....way more than once and have experienced the bad and the ugly. jmho.

 

And, I never said anything derogatory about where you live. And I never would because I have never been there. I have been to Freeport and Nassau numerous times and have been subjected to the bad/terrible in these ports so I do feel justified in stating my opinions of those ports of call.

[Wilda]

I just checked online and our itinerary has not changed. So was the problem fixed and is the itinerary back on track...or just what? Will RCCL post a (truthful and accurate) announcement somewhere? This is an Eastern Caribbean cruise.

 

I'm on this sailing also. There have been two posters that gave conflicting information about port times. I have looked high and low and cannot validate any of the information about a change to port times.

It is not a deal-breaker for us because we don't have excursions booked. For those passengers that do have excursions booked....particularly independent of RCI tours- it could be a problem.

[vital1]

And, I never said anything derogatory about where you live. And I never would because I have never been there. I have been to Freeport and Nassau numerous times and have been subjected to the bad/terrible in these ports so I do feel justified in stating my opinions of those ports of call.

 

I know you haven't said anything derogatory about where I live, but if you did it'd be OK.....even if I didn't agree with you (but I'm pretty sure you would hate it if you ever visited here). HA! Everyone has their opinions and that's what keeps the world an interesting place.:)

 

Back on topic...... I cancelled my cruise in May. I booked on a whim because my DS14 said he wanted to try out the Allure. I came back to CC and started reading all I can about it, but have decided it'd be a better ship to sail with a group instead of just us 2.

 

The propulsion issue was also a factor in my cancellation because we like to do land based vacations on STJ and when we don't, we like to do an Eastern itinerary just to get our fix. The thought of only a couple of hours there really sucks. If you really love STJ, you should look into a land based vacation there. The villas are reasonable in the "off season" which runs April 15 thru mid-December. You really will feel like you've died and gone to heaven!!! So many beaches to explore, trails to hike, donkeys/goats to avoid in the road, but you must watch out for the thieves on the beach.....those mongoose really will steal your stuff right out of your bag:eek: I recommend v r b o period com or homeaway period com for villas.

 

I wish y'all luck on your sailings!!!!

[vega]

Here's a link to the facebook post - https://www.facebook.com/#!/royalcaribbean/posts/10151988203651397?comment_id=30216973&offset=0&total_comments=10&notif_t=feed_comment

 

I know RCCL is monitoring these posts closely but they are not commenting....

[reedl]

Is there any way to escalate this to the Cruise Critic folks so they can intervene on our behalf?

 

How would Cruise Critic folks fix a ship's propulsion issue?

[MASCREW]

Here's a link to the facebook post - https://www.facebook.com/#!/royalcaribbean/posts/10151988203651397?comment_id=30216973&offset=0&total_comments=10&notif_t=feed_comment

 

 

 

Thanks!

[MASCREW]

If we want any real feedback from RCL, we should all get together and keep posting on their Facebook and twitter pages, soon enough they will provide something other then the typical response.

 

Either that, or they will be damn busy deleting posts all day. LOL

[rcrdale]

How would Cruise Critic folks fix a ship's propulsion issue?

 

I agree with this. I know it is something that people are worried about. But, IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!!!! People, you will be on vacation. Just sit back and relax. I am doing a B2B on the Allure in less than a month and I had some things planned for St. Thomas and Nassau. I just changed my plans, no big deal.

 

I guess people are just setting things up for "what will you give me because my vacation has been ruined by this".

 

Maybe RCCL should just cancel everyone's cruises and send the ship to Europe to get fixed. Let it be out of service for a few weeks and see how many people start complaining. You are still getting your cruise, just losing a few hours in port. Big Deal.

 

Let the flaming begin. :)

[lvstitch]

I expect absolutely no compensation. I know RCI has the right to modify or change the itinerary however they need to. My biggest fear is that my cruise will be cancelled.