Serenade of the Seas - 300+ staterooms cancelled

[Cindy]

Amazing. Bad communicating from RCI-- have you been in a vacuum? Had the Carnival fiasco totally slipped your mind.

They ALL have bad -- PR be real. You would think they would have some routine down for dealing with PROBLEMS. They don't pre-plan the What if's.....

 

They don't, and my take on it is communication isn't something that any of the mass market cruise lines do well. When things are normal they do a good job, but when they have to think "on the fly" they fall apart.:(

 

I thought that would happen. We were just so tired though. I'm just glad I kept my emotions in check and didn't full on bawl the entire time. Hubby was angry but remained upbeat which helped a lot.

 

I'm so sorry your honeymoon has been ruined twice!:( You seem to be trying really hard to take it in stride...good for you, because I know you have to be extremely disappointed.

 

Maybe next time, you should call it anything but a honeymoon!;):eek:;)

[Cuizer2]

I'm sorry if that was unclear - we should receive a refund in about 3 weeks and a voucher in about 2 months, which is valid for a year.

 

My husband's just going to go back to work in a few days. I work from home, so I'll just begin like normal tomorrow. :-/

 

That is good for you. But for some people, their vacation time is lost. Refunding the cost of the vacation does not replace the lost days.

[knittinggirl]

It was my post, I got bad information from my parents and haven't been able to figure out how to go back and edit/delete that post. I guess that is a limitation of the site here.

There's about a 20 minute window for editing posts.

 

We've had a few late boardings, and they really should have contacted us. Especially since we must give them our phone number and email with check-in. One time, we'd given our cell phone number on the royalcaribbean.com check-in, and they still left a message on our home phone.

 

We had a three-day delay due to fog, but were able to arrive on that ship on time. And we also had the boarding at 5 PM due to fog. Couldn't even get into the parking lot, because the cars were filled from the previous cruise. For the poster that is considering Galveston, I think we've had a total of three fog delays out of Galveston.

 

At least the Serenade didn't have to be towed back to port.

 

Anybody know if they could open their doors with their room keys in the affected area? Are you talking about all decks in that forward section?

 

That is good for you. But for some people, their vacation time is lost. Refunding the cost of the vacation does not replace the lost days.

 

With a few hour drive, they may be able to return to work. But for us, we make the drive to Galveston in two days.

Edited January 25, 2015 by knittinggirl

[Cuizer2]

Naw i think i read it right. You like Carnival and that's great. I like them also. You missed the point. Just because you like them and cruise them all but 1 time does not make them superior.

The little spinet about people on RCI (many people) and your "IN FACT" is not a fact and MANY is how MANY 2 -3 all. Many got info from Carnival people because RCI wasn't communicating --- come on now.

You know your not suppose to lie on the internet. There not allowed to put anything on the net unless it's true --- remember.

Laura (of CCritic fame) has posted a link to RCI about the problem. Rather then rumor hit the link.

 

As a public service, would you be willing to make your cruise history into three columns, so it takes up less room?

[Cuizer2]

It was essentially the entire aft of the ship. I'm in 8515. So it affected all decks in this portion (Give or take, they didn't show us an exact map).

 

https://nerdythirtysomething.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/rccleffup.jpg

 

did this just affect cabins on the lower forward decks? or all forward cabins?

 

Aft or forward? If the theater is affected, that is forward.

[tanikwish]

That is good for you. But for some people, their vacation time is lost. Refunding the cost of the vacation does not replace the lost days.

 

Refunding the cost of the vacation doesn't replace any of this mess.

[reallyitsmema]

There's about a 20 minute window for editing posts.

 

We've had a few late boardings, and they really should have contacted us. Especially since we must give them our phone number and email with check-in. One time, we'd given our cell phone number on the royalcaribbean.com check-in, and they still left a message on our home phone.

 

We had a three-day delay due to fog, but were able to arrive on that ship on time. And we also had the boarding at 5 PM due to fog. Couldn't even get into the parking lot, because the cars were filled from the previous cruise. For the poster that is considering Galveston, I think we've had a total of three fog delays out of Galveston.

 

At least the Serenade didn't have to be towed back to port.

 

Anybody know if they could open their doors with their room keys in the affected area? Are you talking about all decks in that forward section?

 

 

 

With a few hour drive, they may be able to return to work. But for us, we make the drive to Galveston in two days.

Door locks are battery operated so would not be affected at all by a loss of power.

[tanikwish]

Aft or forward? If the theater is affected, that is forward.

 

I had it backwards. It's the entire forward of the ship. According to one story, the theater, gym and medical facility were affected.

[knittinggirl]

Door locks are battery operated so would not be affected at all by a loss of power.

Just wondering. We had a power loss in a hotel w/ the electronic locks, and I couldn't get into the room w/ my room key.

[Cuizer2]

With a few hour drive, they may be able to return to work. But for us, we make the drive to Galveston in two days.

 

Not everyone who was displaced lives in a Gulf Coast state or one of the boarding states. For all who were displaced, this is a major disappointment. For some, it means not only a major disappointment, but also the loss of five days of vacation time that cannot be replaced.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Cuizer2

[Cuizer2]

Refunding the cost of the vacation doesn't replace any of this mess.

 

No it doesn't. And settling a wrongful death lawsuit doesn't replace the lost life. All I am trying to say is, there is more lost than just the cost of the cruise and the cost of traveling to/from the ship.

[Cuizer2]

Door locks are battery operated so would not be affected at all by a loss of power.

 

Just wondering. We had a power loss in a hotel w/ the electronic locks, and I couldn't get into the room w/ my room key.

 

I was on the maiden voyage of the NCL Jade. There was some sort of electrical problem in my cabin. Half the lights were out. I was able to get into the cabin, but when I tried to get out, I could not. The ship was in the process of leaving Puerto Vallarta and the captain had the carpenter on standby (he fixes the door while the electrican took care of the lights). I was in a suite, so I ended calling the concierge. She was able to open the door from the outside. However, the inside door handle would not move (even with the door now open).

 

The concierge stayed with me, while we waited for the maintenance people. Once clear of the port, the carpenter and electrican both arrived and had the problem fixed in a few minutes. The carpenter simply replaced the entire door handle and lock. This was the third day of a thirteen night cruise. I did not have any problems for the rest of the cruise.

[matt147]

We're still docked in the same spot by the warehouse. The captain announced earlier that they flew a crew up from Miami and they have been working on the problem around the clock. The Coasties have still not cleared us to sail at this time.

 

RUMOR has it that some of the power has been restored to the affected areas. My feeling is that if they can get the infirmary back online then we will probably be able to sail.

[Thetrail]

Cruise Critic posted a news article.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6164

For something concrete....K.O.:)

[Thetrail]

Maybe someone in Miami misplaced the recall letter. :o

I hardly think it could be a design flaw! Think of the ships in this class and how many total sailings over the years with the Radiance class ships.:cool:

[Thetrail]

We're still docked in the same spot by the warehouse. The captain announced earlier that they flew a crew up from Miami and they have been working on the problem around the clock. The Coasties have still not cleared us to sail at this time.

 

RUMOR has it that some of the power has been restored to the affected areas. My feeling is that if they can get the infirmary back online then we will probably be able to sail.

Well at least it's a "good" rumor, hope it works out....K.O. :)

[stones902]

Really sorry for those affected pax.

 

What I find most frustrating is the lack of information offered by the cruise line. Just reading these threads it encourages speculation and conjecture that may or may not be accurate. I've done quite a bit of PR in my career and can tell you from experience that it is critical to get in front of a story particularly if it is bad news. As of this morning RCI has posted nothing at all about this on their website.

 

 

 

 

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[Janet524]

Really sorry for those affected pax.

 

What I find most frustrating is the lack of information offered by the cruise line. Just reading these threads it encourages speculation and conjecture that may or may not be accurate. I've done quite a bit of PR in my career and can tell you from experience that it is critical to get in front of a story particularly if it is bad news. As of this morning RCI has posted nothing at all about this on their website.

 

ent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

I guess I wouldn't expect anything to be posted on their website since the sail date has come and gone and the guests who would be effected have already gotten the bad news in person.

[Cuizer2]

Really sorry for those affected pax.

 

What I find most frustrating is the lack of information offered by the cruise line. Just reading these threads it encourages speculation and conjecture that may or may not be accurate. I've done quite a bit of PR in my career and can tell you from experience that it is critical to get in front of a story particularly if it is bad news. As of this morning RCI has posted nothing at all about this on their website.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Very true. Yet so many times companies use the head in the sand approach hoping that it will just go away.

[stones902]

I guess I wouldn't expect anything to be posted on their website since the sail date has come and gone and the guests who would be effected have already gotten the bad news in person.

 

 

Certainly the families of current passengers would be interested in accurate information as well as those booked on Serenade sailings in the near future. Depending on the extent of the problem it is possible that this issue could impact the next few weeks cruises.

 

 

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[Cuizer2]

Certainly the families of current passengers would be interested in accurate information as well as those booked on Serenade sailings in the near future. Depending on the extent of the problem it is possible that this issue could impact the next few weeks cruises.

 

 

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And some people might be preparing to leave soon for their next cruise soon. When I cruised out of New Orleans, I arrived two days early. So the earlier Royal Caribbean provides accurate information to their guest the better.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Cuizer2

[alfaeric]

Very true. Yet so many times companies use the head in the sand approach hoping that it will just go away.

 

 

From what I've read, the event happened the last night as the ship approached NO, and that the situation was VERY fluid.

 

To me, it's hard to be clear with the customers when you don't even know what is going on 100%.

 

 

 

 

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[matt147]

Well at least it's a "good" rumor, hope it works out....K.O. :)

 

I've seen approximately 20 people get off the boat with full luggage in the last 30 minutes or so.

 

Edited January 25, 2015 by matt147

[Deptacon]

according to another thread (the poster is on board)the ship is sailing at noon. Stopping at all ports just in reverse order.

[matt147]

I just spoke to our Steward and got some information that sounds legit. The Chief Engineer stays in the cabin next to us and a former (retired) Chief Engineer approached him within earshot of the steward and asked him for an update. Apparently they flew in 3 of the engineers that helped design/build these ships from Finland and they were able to get power back on in at least some of the areas. Some of the affected rooms now have power and a/c again, not sure what decks or exact locations.