Aos doa

[Mamakim76]

Whilst I agree there should have been more visibility of crew i have never seen a large amount of people assisting on the last day other than to keep stair wells open and to keep people from cutting. The instructions the day before and the announcements should be sufficient. Ie where to be and at what time.

 

I think I am not clear on what else you feel needed to be coordinated.:confused: If we ever want priority disembarkation we speak to the concierge or la the day before to advise what we need so they have time to coordinate a time to meet to get priority departure. Otherwise we get off at our own speed.

 

That being said if the ship had arrived on time they had plenty of time to get luggage off ready to be collected, customs cleared etc. in order to get everyone off when there is a late arrival it really is all hands on deck helping out with things they may not normally do/fall under their job description.

It was not a normal situation so expectations need to be adjusted.

 

Did you speak to the concierge prior to the last day to explain your requirements regarding priority departure and what you were looking for?

 

There are times we want to utilize it, other times we want to just hang out. Some ships are more efficient with departure than others due to the size of the port and amount of customs people working as they are only allowed to allow so many off at a time. To compare two totally different ships sailing to two totally different ports is not really comparing apples with apples.

 

My overall point is don't expect much on departure day:) by learning not to expect much you can't get too disappointed

 

I do have to agree that the disembarking on Sunday was a complete cluster. It was really bad, the worst I have seen. Because we came in so late, I was completely for the people that had flights to get off the boat first. It was such a complete mess though because they would tell us to go to one area then another. I was in a wheelchair, due to a fall on the ship, so I was suppose to be on deck 4. We waited and waited, finally after all of the people with flights were off, which ironically, was everyone it seemed, they let everyone else go. There was NOBODY and I mean nobody to help us down to get off the ship and into the luggage area. We were assured there would someone to help us, as we had our carryons, there was nobody. It was really sad that the cab driver was much more helpful and pleasant to deal with than anyone in the luggage area or the port.

[ewenix]

Your cruise started on time and ended timely as well.

 

Hmm. My family and I finally were able to fly home last night. There were others from the ship on our flight back and some still in the hotel. So I am going to disagree with your "ended timely" statement.

 

We were booked with choice air and should have been home Sunday afternoon.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[Spurschick]

That's part of the first frustration.. We did talk with her the night before and she told us to meet at portofinos and she would walk us off at 730. Then when we were going to be late, she told us she would be in portofinos at 7 to start helping with flights and not the lounge.. She never did show up in portofinos. She eventually showed up in the Concierge lounge around 8. She told us to be down at imperial lounge at 11 and she would walk us suite guests off.. Met with the other suite guests and she never showed up.. So I called her around 1130 a d the story then changed to that a crew member would be down there walking us off, and she told the other suite guest we were with that she'd be down there.. Needless to say, neither one happened. It is what is is.. Like I said, I don't want a refund or anything crazy like that, just a future cruise discount and id be fine.

 

I am sorry that this was the case and I would have been frustrated in your situation although your original statement didn't really make it clear that you had an arrangement to meet someone and that she didn't show up at the arranged time, I do however not envy the fact the concierge had hundreds of guests they had to attend to all in the same situation as yourself. Yes I would make a complaint but I am still trying to work out why you want a credit off a future cruise for it:confused:

There is a difference between something that warrants a formal complaint and expecting compensation because that is what a future cruise credit is. By making the formal written complaint you may be pleasantly surprised by what they offer.

 

In all our cruises I have only made a formal complaint once when my husband had a long piece of melted plastic in his rice on the last night in the MDR. We sent the food back and were told someone would come talk to us, no one did so I emailed Miami to inform them the situation to ensure quality control was maintained in the future. My DH was lucky he spotted it before taking a forkful! We got $100 off next cruise and an apology. But the apology would have sufficed.

[Spurschick]

I do have to agree that the disembarking on Sunday was a complete cluster. It was really bad, the worst I have seen. Because we came in so late, I was completely for the people that had flights to get off the boat first. It was such a complete mess though because they would tell us to go to one area then another. I was in a wheelchair, due to a fall on the ship, so I was suppose to be on deck 4. We waited and waited, finally after all of the people with flights were off, which ironically, was everyone it seemed, they let everyone else go. There was NOBODY and I mean nobody to help us down to get off the ship and into the luggage area. We were assured there would someone to help us, as we had our carryons, there was nobody. It was really sad that the cab driver was much more helpful and pleasant to deal with than anyone in the luggage area or the port.

 

Sorry to hear you injured yourself and hope you are recovering.

I am also sorry you did not get the assistance you needed. yes someone should have helped you off but they would not have been able to take you through the luggage and port, that should have been the responsibility of the ground staff due to security.

 

Once you left the ship were there any RC ground staff in luggage that could have got you assistance? It's been a while since I last finished a cruise in SJ so don't recall the port very well!

[Spurschick]

Hmm. My family and I finally were able to fly home last night. There were others from the ship on our flight back and some still in the hotel. So I am going to disagree with your "ended timely" statement.

 

We were booked with choice air and should have been home Sunday afternoon.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

Who did you have insurance with RC or another?

The responsibility to get you home is really down to the insurance company. Choice air can only get you on the next available flight they have access to. That's why I use a company that get me out ASAP (yes I have been stranded before due to flight cancellations so I understand the situation)

 

Unfortunately PR is not the easiest place to get flights in/out of.

[Mamakim76]

No. We asked someone that was at the port with the luggage what do we need to do, specifically with the wheelchair and he didn't have a clue. He went and asked someone else so the porter added my husbands bag to his load of luggage so my husband could help me in the wheelchair. His answer to me was there would be people outside to help, there was nobody. The taxi can driver was the biggest help with us, as we also had my three daughters with us. He waited on my husband after we were loaded in the taxi so he could find someone back inside to take the wheelchair. It was awful.

[kahluatoo]

I can't find Adventure on the live ship map anymore. Where did it go? There is a line of the route it took, then stopped like MH370.

[LMaxwell]

I can't find Adventure on the live ship map anymore. Where did it go? There is a line of the route it took, then stopped like MH370.

 

The ship must be beyond AIS receiver range. Most if not all ships "disappear" when they are beyond radio range of the AIS equipment.

[kahluatoo]

The ship must be beyond AIS receiver range. Most if not all ships "disappear" when they are beyond radio range of the AIS equipment.

 

Hmm, interesting. There are other ships in very similar paths or close by. I just saw it come back on the map though.

[Spurschick]

No. We asked someone that was at the port with the luggage what do we need to do, specifically with the wheelchair and he didn't have a clue. He went and asked someone else so the porter added my husbands bag to his load of luggage so my husband could help me in the wheelchair. His answer to me was there would be people outside to help, there was nobody. The taxi can driver was the biggest help with us, as we also had my three daughters with us. He waited on my husband after we were loaded in the taxi so he could find someone back inside to take the wheelchair. It was awful.

 

Normally we see one or two RC representatives between luggage claim and immigration. They are ground staff though, not onboard crew. Like I say I think unfortunately there are restrictions on who from the ship can be in those areas. I'm glad you had a nice taxi driver.

 

Out of interest was it easy enough to get a taxi for 5?

We will be a party of 5 after this year from San Juan?

What is it like getting off the ship in general through immigration/customs

[jcl410]

At 2300EDT the Adventure of the Seas was showing up on marinetraffic.com.

 

She was at N 17deg 56'/W 63 deg 42' doing 13.8 knots at 108 deg. She' s about 114 miles from St. Johns.

 

Aloha,

 

John

[Mamakim76]

Normally we see one or two RC representatives between luggage claim and immigration. They are ground staff though, not onboard crew. Like I say I think unfortunately there are restrictions on who from the ship can be in those areas. I'm glad you had a nice taxi driver.

 

 

 

Out of interest was it easy enough to get a taxi for 5?

 

We will be a party of 5 after this year from San Juan?

 

What is it like getting off the ship in general through immigration/customs

 

 

It was easy getting a taxi for 5 as they use a lot if those large passenger vans and some many vans as taxis. We get a porter when we get off the ship and it was easy. Lines were not long but we were also the last group to get off the ship and there were not very many passengers left.

 

 

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[robtulipe]

sorry posted before I was done.

anyway I can't agree with this statement. You went on your cruise as planned . You stayed in st maarten for 2 days which I would love. usually staying on the islands is short and never long enough. You came back as planned even though you have a slower time coming back. The people on the 23rd sailing couldn't even check into the ship until 4pm and while waiting they had to stand in the heat with no water and no bathroom. People were fainting and ambulances had to take them away. They were stuck in San Juan for 3plus days. They had no idea if they were actually going to leave or not. They definitely do deserve to get all the compensation that they did.

The week before they missed 2 islands yes they also should be compensated but I certainly hope you dont expect the same compensation. Should you get more than 300.00? Yes I do believe you should. What should you get ? I have no idea maybe ask for a discount on a future cruise. That would make me pretty happy. I'm sorry you had that bad experience and I hope you made the best of the situation.

I don't agree as the previous cruise not only did not get into the ports they were scheduled to go to, it came back into SJ late so that many missed their original flight home. IMO it was a much worst situation and cruise that the current one which allowed those on board to enjoy SJ and PR, which is a better port especially at night than St. Maarten, for two complete days.

On one of our cruises out of SJ we weren't allowed onboard until around 2pm due to issues with the ship being cleared by CBP and did not get any compensation for the 3 hours we had to wait. It should be those on the first getting the better or at least the same compensation as the current cruisers.

Spurschick, most taxis in SJ are full size vans so getting service for five or even six is no problem at all. We've done this a few times there.

Edited March 27, 2014 by robtulipe

[Missus Makkem]

I can't find Adventure on the live ship map anymore. Where did it go? There is a line of the route it took, then stopped like MH370.

 

That is a very unfortunate comparison.

[chengkp75]

Hmm, interesting. There are other ships in very similar paths or close by. I just saw it come back on the map though.

 

Virtually everyone here on CC places unlimited faith in commercial AIS reporting sites like Marine Traffic and others. Please remember that these sites are a private business, not the governments that monitor the AIS system. These sites do not subscribe to all land stations (it costs to get signal feed from the land stations), so their reporting is somewhat spotty.

 

As others have said, the AIS system depends on VHF radio, not satellite, so outside of 20-40 miles from an AIS land station, not just from any point of land, the signal will be lost. Atmospheric conditions will also affect AIS reception, as it does with any radio signal.

[mo&fran]

Virtually everyone here on CC places unlimited faith in commercial AIS reporting sites like Marine Traffic and others. Please remember that these sites are a private business, not the governments that monitor the AIS system. These sites do not subscribe to all land stations (it costs to get signal feed from the land stations), so their reporting is somewhat spotty.

 

As others have said, the AIS system depends on VHF radio, not satellite, so outside of 20-40 miles from an AIS land station, not just from any point of land, the signal will be lost. Atmospheric conditions will also affect AIS reception, as it does with any radio signal.

The free marine traffic site does rely on land based AIS stations, but for a fee you can get receive full coverage data from satellite receivers. At least, that is what they advertise.

[skiiergirl]

I don't agree as the previous cruise not only did not get into the ports they were scheduled to go to, it came back into SJ late so that many missed their original flight home. IMO it was a much worst situation and cruise that the current one which allowed those on board to enjoy SJ and PR, which is a better port especially at night than St. Maarten, for two complete days.

On one of our cruises out of SJ we weren't allowed onboard until around 2pm due to issues with the ship being cleared by CBP and did not get any compensation for the 3 hours we had to wait. It should be those on the first getting the better or at least the same compensation as the current cruisers.

Spurschick, most taxis in SJ are full size vans so getting service for five or even six is no problem at all. We've done this a few times there.

 

I would be sad over missing ports but would be thrilled to have two days in St Maarten! Soooo much to do! For the folks on the current cruise, I'm sure at least a few had gone down a few days early so had already done the SJ sightseeing. Now maybe they should have paid the change fee for the flights that folks missed and had to pay change fees on and definitely should pay one night's hotel for anyone that couldn't get a flight out after the late arrival. Otherwise, I feel the compensation (that was posted on here) seems fairly generous.

[chengkp75]

The free marine traffic site does rely on land based AIS stations, but for a fee you can get receive full coverage data from satellite receivers. At least, that is what they advertise.

 

I've seen and used these "fee based" ones, and in my experience, they don't work any better than the free ones on the internet. Satellite AIS (S-AIS) has a lot of technical issues resulting from the explosion in the number of AIS transceivers in use today, and targets can get lost unless the provider has a lot of computational power, so the best are government entities, and they (USCG, for instance) will not share data with commercial entities.

 

To clarify, ships in range (line of sight) receive AIS notification of all ships around, and this data is used on the radar to identify targets, similarly to how commercial airliners have transponder tags that put the flight info on air traffic control radars. So AIS will work way out at sea, but just between ships.

Edited March 27, 2014 by chengkp75

[Ocean Boy]

I understand that plans have gone awry, but why does it always seem that when something doesn't go as planned, many times boils down to "someone owes me something?" If RCI cancelled the entire cruise, then yes, I think they owe the passengers a full refund. Otherwise, if they are rearranging ports as needed, then a credit of some sort should suffice. Yet another reason to have insurance.

 

 

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Welcome to the new America. Maybe the attitude has something to do with the unending and escalating number of lawyers on TV with their 1-800 phone numbers drilling these thoughts and expectations into people's heads.

[robtulipe]

I was on march 16 sailing. We got a $300 onboard credit- not a credit for a future cruise Two of us in a balcony room. Missed Aruba and curaçao-technically two ports but they were the major reason most passengers booked that sailing.

 

I would be sad over missing ports but would be thrilled to have two days in St Maarten! Soooo much to do! For the folks on the current cruise, I'm sure at least a few had gone down a few days early so had already done the SJ sightseeing. Now maybe they should have paid the change fee for the flights that folks missed and had to pay change fees on and definitely should pay one night's hotel for anyone that couldn't get a flight out after the late arrival. Otherwise, I feel the compensation (that was posted on here) seems fairly generous.

 

Those on current cruise are getting a full refund plus a 50% credit of their current fare for use on a future cruise and the cruisers on the previous cruise get only $300 OBC per cabin. I don't see the logic for that much difference in compensation for two very similar situations.

Friends of ours who were staying with us at the Great Bay Resort just outside Philipsburg, that's the large white low rise hotel across the bay from the cruise piers, weren't trilled with their walk into Philipsburg early one evening when a couple of thugs on a motorcycle grabbed the wife's strap of her purse which was over her shoulder, pulled her down to and dragging her along the road pavement which broke her shoulder and bruised/road rashed her. Yes, the thieves got her purse and the local police were really nonchalant about it when they were called about it stated it happened quite often and told our friends they shouldn't have been walking the 1/4 mile or so into town at that hour of the evening. It was around 7pm.:eek:

That was the last time we've stayed on that island after doing so previously nor would we ever stay there again.

IMO, Puerto Rico has a lot more to offer than St. Martin/Sint Maarten.;)

[ValerieJo]

Those on current cruise are getting a full refund plus a 50% credit of their current fare for use on a future cruise and the cruisers on the previous cruise get only $300 OBC per cabin. I don't see the logic for that much difference in compensation for two very similar situations.

Friends of ours who were staying with us at the Great Bay Resort just outside Philipsburg, that's the large white low rise hotel across the bay from the cruise piers, weren't trilled with their walk into Philipsburg early one evening when a couple of thugs on a motorcycle grabbed the wife's strap of her purse which was over her shoulder, pulled her down to and dragging her along the road pavement which broke her shoulder and bruised/road rashed her. Yes, the thieves got her purse and the local police were really nonchalant about it when they were called about it stated it happened quite often and told our friends they shouldn't have been walking the 1/4 mile or so into town at that hour of the evening. It was around 7pm.:eek:

That was the last time we've stayed on that island after doing so previously nor would we ever stay there again.

IMO, Puerto Rico has a lot more to offer than St. Martin/Sint Maarten.;)

 

Agreed, we were told by both the locals as well as the ship staff, not to go on St Martin after dark. It was Not Safe! Puerto Rico does have much more to offer after dark.

 

I don't understand how people feel the need to comment and tell us what we should feel or what compensation we should receive when they weren't there???

[DonRobertoSanJuan]

Someone earlier on stated that there was a credit (don't know whether it was a credit or OBC) for the ports missed.

 

Even the much ballyhooed "bill of rights" (voluntarily adopted by the CLIA members) only provides the following:

 

2.The right to a full refund for a trip that is canceled due to mechanical failures, or a partial refund for voyages that are terminated early due to those failures.

 

So, since the previous cruise was not terminated early, there is no reason for a partial refund. The present cruise was delayed by 3 days, so this qualifies for a partial refund, which RCI decided to make a full refund.

 

Regarding the previous cruise, your cruise contract states:

 

By way of example, and not limitation, Carrier may, without liability, deviate from any scheduled sailing and may otherwise land Passenger and her

property at any port if Carrier believes that the voyage or any Passenger or property may be hindered or adversely affected as a result of hostilities,

blockages, prevailing weather conditions, labor conflicts, strikes onboard or ashore, breakdown of Vessel, congestion, docking difficulties, medical or life

saving emergencies or any other cause whatsoever.

 

So the fact that RCI gave a credit, rather than just crediting port fees, is done in good faith.

 

Read the contract, which outlines both the cruise line's and the passengers obligations in the agreement. If you don't like the cruise contract, don't sign it, simple contract law.

 

Of course, Royal Caribbean (and others) have corporate lawyers who put together contracts, in which the clients have no rights: Just pay and hope to get what you paid for. It is too bad such practices are allowed by law.

That does not mean we should not try and fight for what we feel is wrong, especially since it is pretty obvious RCI knew about this pod problem before we left San Juan.

[LMaxwell]

 

I don't understand how people feel the need to comment and tell us what we should feel or what compensation we should receive when they weren't there???

 

It doesn't matter what you "feel". There is a contract in place and RCI met the terms of the contract. They did not OWE you anything, and yet they still made some good faith towards you with the onboard credit. In that regards you are lucky to have gotten anything because you certainly were not entitled to anything. Any other delays or issues arising from the delayed arrival of the ship to debark would be handled by trip insurance.

[robtulipe]

Agreed, we were told by both the locals as well as the ship staff, not to go on St Martin after dark. It was Not Safe! Puerto Rico does have much more to offer after dark.

 

I don't understand how people feel the need to comment and tell us what we should feel or what compensation we should receive when they weren't there???

This happen to our friends in the late Spring so it wasn't even dark out at 7pm.

[LMaxwell]

That does not mean we should not try and fight for what we feel is wrong,

 

Go ahead!

 

especially since it is pretty obvious RCI knew about this pod problem before we left San Juan.

 

How is it obvious? You are hell bent on claiming the cruise line willfully and purposely put you into an unsafe situation, yet you have absolutely no proof of that whatsoever. Claiming it won't make it so. Did you not make all due speed and itinerary on schedule before landing at St.Kitts last week?