When did this happen? Empress of the Seas

[travel12]

My husband and I have been booked for several months now for the February 27 2006 sailing of the Empress. This morning we were discussing which tours we would like to take. When we displayed the itinerary , it has changed. St. Barth's is gone replace by Antigua and Grenada has been replaced with a second sea day. I thought these changes were supposed to take place after the 2006 season. I am really disappointed as St. Barth's was the one new port that we hadn't been to , and I wanted to return to Grenada for a specific reason. ( and they need the tourism dollar) . When did this itinerary change take place. Is anyone else unhappy?

[Retired not Expired]

This happened a little over a week ago. There's another thread about this about a week ago. Granada was due to the storm damage. A shame, cause like you say, they could use the tourism. Don't know for sure about Antigua. Maybe because it's a docked port rather than tendered so for safety reasons. I don't really like the extra day at sea but can live with it.

[travel12]

Would it be worth a letter To Royal Caribbean to protest the changed itinerary. The original itinerary was what drew us to book. Antigua doesn't really appeal as we have been there several times, and an extra seat day is not worth missing Grenada.

[Retired not Expired]

I have my doubt that it would do any good. The way I understand it, all next season itineraries are tentative until June 30 when they are set. I believe part of it is due to getting the info from the port as to how many and when other ships are due there and the availability of being able to dock.

 

This is not the only ship to have itinerary changes. I've read other threads where ships have been changed from eastern to western Caribbean with some changing every port. I guess we got off lucky but disappointing. We, too, picked this cruise strictly for the itinerary.

[travel12]

There are a lot of people registered for the Meet and Mingle for this cruise. Any thoughts from any of you regarding this itinerary change. I definitely am not impressed. Heh RCCI this is your chance to show support for a struggling country. Grenada needs the tourism sector to recover. If everyone pulls out, then the country will never recover. It is so beautiful

[negc]

There are a lot of people registered for the Meet and Mingle for this cruise. Any thoughts from any of you regarding this itinerary change. I definitely am not impressed. Heh RCCI this is your chance to show support for a struggling country. Grenada needs the tourism sector to recover. If everyone pulls out, then the country will never recover. It is so beautiful

I know what you are saying and have some sympathy, but to be realistic, if the storm damage in Grenada has drastically affected its ability to handle an influx of tourists, keeping to the original itinerary could seriously delay its recovery. Also, can you imagine the reaction of passengers when they arrive at this destination and find how limited the resources are? Grenada's infrastructure has never been great and will need time just as much as money to restore things to normal. As it is there are many who get very upset when the islands don't fit their "Disneyized" idea of the Caribbean. You can just imagine the posts from those cruisers after a stop on an island still reeling from the effects of a hurricane. Let the island recover from the devastation and I am sure the cruiseline will return. In the meantime, it is worth remembering that you are booking a cruise on a ship and you have no guarantees that it will sail a specific itinerary.

[beachguy]

Would it be worth a letter To Royal Caribbean to protest the changed itinerary. The original itinerary was what drew us to book. Antigua doesn't really appeal as we have been there several times, and an extra seat day is not worth missing Grenada.

 

(Beachchick here)

 

You can write a letter if you want, but I doubt it will make a difference. The cruise contracts clearly state that RCI can alter the itinerary of cruises for any reason (or no reason). In this case, there was really nothing RCI could do about the fact that significant storm damage has caused problems. There may be other factors involved as well. A heavily damaged infrastructure is extremely unlikely to be able to accommodate cruise pax. It may seem like it's a long way off, but it is likely to take many months before the damage is repaired to a level where cruises will be able to port. (I don't know about St. Barths; could be a change in fees or that the port isn't available or any number of things. Heck, RCI may have gotten a better offer to change ports.)

 

You can complain if you want to, but these things happen. If you are truly unhappy, I suggest you cancel and rebook something else. It's far enough out that you won't have any penalty.

 

Hope you have a good, if altered, cruise.

 

beachchick

[superjerryw]

Would it be worth a letter To Royal Caribbean to protest the changed itinerary. The original itinerary was what drew us to book. Antigua doesn't really appeal as we have been there several times, and an extra seat day is not worth missing Grenada.

If your cruise is not until Feb 06 you have not made final payment and you are not in the penalty phase. Since the itinerary no longer appeals to you, why not just cancel and find something more to your liking.

[Lightsluvr]

We are on an April 11-day sailing and our itinerary was also changed. (Dropped St. Barts and Grenada - added Antigua and a sea day.) I found out about the change on the RCI website - then called our TA who advised it was because of the storm damage. My TA ( a cruise specialist) said RCI "might" change it back as they get closer to sailing, but he had heard nothing yet. You might express your opinions to RCI and keep checking their website. Let us know if you get an explanation directly from RCI.

Lightsluvr

[rcicruiser]

For a sailing in Feb 06, I do not think it is stoem damage

[kenandlaura06]

Wasn't Grenada hurt pretty badly in a storm???

[RogueWV]

I can understand the change in intinerary with Grenada being hit hard by Emily but don't add a day at sea. They should add another port for example St. BARTH!!!!!!:mad: Being stuck onboard a 3.5 star ship for another day is not what I would call an acceptable substitute. I called and got the "we could care less about you not being happy about the changes" routine.:mad: One change would tolerable but dropping St.Barth AND Grenada.:eek: Unbelievable! :confused:

[travel12]

For those that care and want their itineraries back to where they began here is the e mail address for RCCL customer service. If enough of us voice our concerns, maybe they will listen

 

web_cruise_comment@RCCL.com

[travel12]

Sorry all. Someone at RCCL st me up and gave me an e mail address that doesn't exist. If anybody has an e mail address for customer service please pass it along.

 

Thanks,

Brenda

[CathyG]

We did this cruise last January and are doing it again this coming January. I for one am glad of the changes. Even tho we did this cruise originally to see St. Barts, I was a little disappointed. It is a pretty little island but there's very little to do there and what there is is very costly. We rented a taxi on our own and toured the island and then went to Shell Beach which was small. They did have a bar but no bathroom facilities. Granada is a Sunday stop and there is nothing open. They really need time to recover from the hurricane damage.