Anthem keeps docking us around

[denatravels]

Look ma, the post whoring thread of the day that has as usual veered off into personal insults and postings that have nothing to do with the initial post.

 

 

 

Biker, who feels a bit sorry for the mods this week.

 

 

Seriously!!! My other thread I was following got shut down, and I just found this--I'm trying to keep on top of the info for Saturday's trip, and every thread turns into this ridiculous nonsense.

[Biker19]

I just realized that no one mentioned the thread title is misspelled in the opposite way to the other "d*cking" thread recently. I wonder if that was intentional?:cool:

[cavkc]

I really feel for you all, I would have been in bits and want off pdq. That said I can understand that it will take some time for rccl to arrange.

 

However I am quite surprised that they are only giving you 50% off your next cruise.

 

We were due to sail with Celebrity a few years ago, from LA to Hawaii for our honeymoon, when 2 days prior to sailing the cruise was cancelled due to technical issues.

 

We were already in Mexico, leaving 24 hours later for LA and as we are from the UK were a long way from home. It was also an Easter weekend, so getting any flight was almost impossible. Therefore, we tried to make the changes as simple as possible. We flew to LA as planned, then flew to Honolulu and stayed there for 2 weeks in a hotel rather than a ship!

 

That afternoon, with my new husband trying to placate me at having our cruise cancelled, we thought we would relax and go snorkelling. Long story short, I broke my arm, so we didn't have the best of days!

 

The point of the message, though is this. Everyone on board was given a full refund, although as I recall it did take a few weeks to come through, AND a 100% free cruise, in the same category of cabin. It was rather nice to have a free 2 week cruise, in a suite, for 14 nights in the med the following summer.

 

Personally, I think rccl should do the same for you guys.

 

Good luck guys, thinking of you all

Edited February 10, 2016 by cavkc
spelling error

[Biker19]

So, the more the merrier. Everybody put their big boy and big girl panties on and don't take things in an anonymous forum personally.

 

It does get a bit old after a while.:cool:

[ZandZ]

The Met is NOT free, and neither is the Ferry. EVERYTHING in NYC is very expensive- a one way subway ride is up to $2.75 per person.

SI ferry is free.

Loads of free or low cost things to do in NYC. You are right on the cost of a subway ride but you could get an unlimited as well.

 

Not disputing it, NYC is an expensive place to visit. And for the folks with very limited funds the suggestion isnt the best. For people with travel insurance, and use of credit cards its not the worst suggestion. Yeah they will spend some money but they got here for free, didnt they?

 

Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk

[Wilda]

Agree that the OP must be frustrated, tired and just ready to come home. I can't imagine what that experience was like.

 

And now for some Wednesday morning quarterbacking...here is a USA TODAY perspective on how RCI handled the situation. The problem with these types of articles, whether accurate or not...is that hindsight is always 20/20. At the end of the day everyone is safe and that is what really matters, right?

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/02/09/royal-caribbean-anthem-cruise-storm/80051782/

Edited February 10, 2016 by Wilda

[Biker19]

[ZandZ]

Sorry dont mean to be beating this horse.. not sure why ppl posted that the si ferry isnt fun when its cold. Its used by thousands of ppl to commute to work. Its got big windows and is heated...

 

 

Sorry to add to the uselessness that this discussion has become

 

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[tbill]

Wait so if you are in a storm with hurricane force winds as I was on The transatlantic on Anthem It should have ruined my vacation? Well it didn't.

 

Captain Andersen was in charge on that sailing too, he did a wonderful job at keeping us informed with multiple weather reports, sailing into the wind. slowing down and speeding up. My other half got very sick. I enjoyed every sway and bounce. I would have been comfortable on this cruise. I would have not felt my cruise would have been ruined. SHIP happens, especially when it comes to mother nature.

 

 

These passengers feared for their lives. The damage on the ship speaks for itself. I don't think that many people enjoyed or were comfortable with anything that was happening on the cruise. Their trip was canceled, they are returning home. That is a RUINED vacation. Some people don't have anymore vacation time from work for the rest of the year to reschedule the cruise. Then there is the fact that they were told they would be back at 6:00 a.m on Wednesday, go ahead and make travel arrangements only to then be told they now wouldn't be arriving until at least 15 hours later. I don't think anyone affected by that are enjoying anything right now.

 

It seems that the current situation is quite different than your experience. I haven't heard anyone on the ship yet saying they enjoyed this horrific experience.

[robtulipe]

I just realized that no one mentioned the thread title is misspelled in the opposite way to the other "d*cking" thread recently. I wonder if that was intentional?:cool:

 

I Thought so when I first saw this thread. :D

 

Where is Anthem this morning? :confused:

The NY harbor web cam page doesn't seem to show it there and this is the last position I see it at on Marine Traffic site at just before 10am yesterday.

 

Edited February 10, 2016 by robtulipe

[tbill]

insure my trip dot com.

 

I have always purchased the insurance, either from the cruise line or independently. Fortunately, I have never needed to use it.

 

I can recall in my 20's taking my step-kids and waiting until the day before we sailed to purchase because I didn't have the money until then. For some reason, I have always felt it critical regardless of whether I drive to the port or fly, if I'm healthy and young, and the cost of the cruise.

 

This is one of those scenarios (unexpected weather causing either a delay in return or returning early) that can be covered--make sure to read through the different policies and call and ask questions if you are unsure. In addition, an accident at a port on an excursion, unexpected health issue onboard, etc. Actually, the thought of cancelling within the final payment window and not going on the cruise has been the least of my worries. Yet, I know I'm covered for that too.

 

It is up to each person individually of their risk tolerance for traveling without adequate insurance.

 

FWIW, you can get a cheaper one that doesn't cover major med evac and healthcare costs and really just covers for the trip interruption/cancellation. You can also insure just the health/med evac too.

 

Thank you! I purchased a policy. First time ever.

Edited February 10, 2016 by tbill

[captaincupcake64]

 

This should be the logo for this site........

Love it!

[tbill]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is ABSOLUTELY free if you don't have the money to pay. There is a suggested entrance fee.

 

Plenty of students and seniors use the free admission. My Uncle was a docent there for twenty years before his death. In case you don't know what a docent is: http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/career-and-volunteer-opportunities/volunteer-opportunities

 

The Staten Island Ferry is FREE.

 

Maybe you should buy a NYC guidebook before you reply?

 

You can buy a 7 day unlimited MTA card for $15.50 which includes bus transfers.

 

Most all churches in NYC are free.

 

You can walk the Brooklyn Bridge for free.

 

Central Park is free.

 

You can go to the top of Rockefeller Center to the Rainbow Bar at 65 for the price of a drink.

 

St. Paul's Chapel is free.

 

St. Patrick's Cathedral is free.

 

You can eat cheap if you stay out of Times Square, Midtown, and other tourist destinations. Don't know where to eat? Walk two blocks west of Times Square.

 

Would you like me to keep going?

 

I lived in Manhattan part time for five years. I know where the good, free stuff is.

 

 

Most of your suggestions are churches or outdoors. It is going to be freezing out. Churches are not for everyone and I ordered a vodka and cranberry at the Rainbow Room, cost was $20 + tax and tip. That was 10 years ago.

 

A couple of days in NYC is going to cost more than a couple of dollars.

[Big_G]

I was on the Anthem sailing prior to this one. There is a 100+ page roll call thread on CC because RCI also dropped the ball big time in terms of communication (and, for many, compensation).

 

It was my first sail with RCI and my last. Which is a shame because I loved the ship but I could not believe the way RCI treated its passengers.

 

1. Our cruise was cut one day short (12 nights to 11). We paid $4500 for our cabin, we got $200 in OBC.

 

2. RCI refused to provide any information about potential itinerary change. It provided conflicting information to different customers, and finally said that it would release the itinerary AT PORT CHECK-IN.

 

3. Finally, one day before the check-in, RCI relented and emailed to SOME passengers the new itinerary...which was completely unrecognizable. We bought a Western Caribbean cruise with 6 ports, we got an Eastern one with 5 ports. People--those who got the email, anyway--scrambled to cancel/book new short excursions for the ports.

 

I'm omitting a lot of the details, but in short, it was clear that RCI's left hand did not know what the right hand was doing, and the decision makers at the company showed a staggering lack of respect and consideration for their customers. So yeah, never again.

 

While I'm completely sympathetic to the plight of the Anthem passengers this week, sometimes itinerary changes happen that aren't the cruiseline's fault. Itinerary change can be logistical nightmare and I can understand why no one would be notified before sailing. I understand it's disappointing but don't have much sympathy for foot stomping over shorting a 12 day cruise by one day because of a snow storm. Happy sailing... maybe? Try from Florida next winter. :)

Edited February 10, 2016 by Big_G

[CrzGrl62569]

I cannot believe the hateful, ignorant comments on here. The people calling for this captain's firing are pissing me off. Smh

[xpcdoojk]

It does get a bit old after a while.:cool:

 

It got old the second day, but still entertaining, and still the boys and the girls need to wear their big boy and girl pants. It is super tedious now when a few posters post, and we all know which ones I mean.:D:eek::rolleyes:

 

JC

[CrzGrl62569]

I really feel for you all, I would have been in bits and want off pdq. That said I can understand that it will take some time for rccl to arrange.

 

However I am quite surprised that they are only giving you 50% off your next cruise.

 

We were due to sail with Celebrity a few years ago, from LA to Hawaii for our honeymoon, when 2 days prior to sailing the cruise was cancelled due to technical issues.

 

We were already in Mexico, leaving 24 hours later for LA and as we are from the UK were a long way from home. It was also an Easter weekend, so getting any flight was almost impossible. Therefore, we tried to make the changes as simple as possible. We flew to LA as planned, then flew to Honolulu and stayed there for 2 weeks in a hotel rather than a ship!

 

That afternoon, with my new husband trying to placate me at having our cruise cancelled, we thought we would relax and go snorkelling. Long story short, I broke my arm, so we didn't have the best of days!

 

The point of the message, though is this. Everyone on board was given a full refund, although as I recall it did take a few weeks to come through, AND a 100% free cruise, in the same category of cabin. It was rather nice to have a free 2 week cruise, in a suite, for 14 nights in the med the following summer.

 

Personally, I think rccl should do the same for you guys.

 

Good luck guys, thinking of you all

 

They received a 100% refund for this cruise and 50% off a future cruise. Is that not enough????????

[A&L_Ont]

 

Biker, I'd say you can post this image on every page and it still would not keep up with the conspiracy theorists.

[kahliasmom]

As I wrote below: The experts are lining up and saying RCI Really Screwed up and people other than Royal Cheerleaders need to know

 

The 168,666-ton vessel should not have sailed southward from New York into the path of the growing weather system, which eventually packed winds of up to 100 mph and created waves higher than 20 to 30 feet, WeatherBell meteorologist Ryan Maue told USA TODAY.

I agree with you completely. One can be loyal to Royal and still be able to use critical thinking skills to look at this situation open mindedly.

[cindy_k]

I'm curious. Will they have to go thru customs? They didn't stop anywhere. No customs would speed up disembarkation.

[chengkp75]

http://blog.weatherflow.com/high-seas-drama-a-royal-mess/

 

Besides the fact that many of their "facts" are incorrect, remember that Anthem was not the only ship out there on that day. Other ships, with less publicity, or less people with cell phones, rode out the same storm. Due to my limited internet here on the ship, I haven't been able to see the storm track until this article, but it does seem to me that the decision to try to outrun the storm and stay in the safer northwest quadrant, running down close to shore was a sound one. Most ships running south along the East Coast will either go far out to sea to avoid the Gulf Stream (which would have placed the ship directly in the storm path, or in the northeast quadrant, the worst), or move inshore to get inside the Stream. Even a change of 20 miles in the storm's actual track (probably not noticeable on the scale of the weather maps presented, would have made all the difference to the conditions at the ship.

[lauren0309]

I'm watching the morning news and they just said the ship is supposed to dock at 9 p.m. Don't know if that is accurate. Just saying what I just heard.

 

I'm sure you are all anxious to get your feet on solid ground.

[chengkp75]

As I wrote below: The experts are lining up and saying RCI Really Screwed up and people other than Royal Cheerleaders need to know

 

The 168,666-ton vessel should not have sailed southward from New York into the path of the growing weather system, which eventually packed winds of up to 100 mph and created waves higher than 20 to 30 feet, WeatherBell meteorologist Ryan Maue told USA TODAY.

 

And this meteorologist from "weatherbell" has what experience in maritime operations? What is their degree in, naval architecture, marine engineering, or maritime safety? They can keep their comments to the weather, not about ships.

[cavkc]

They received a 100% refund for this cruise and 50% off a future cruise. Is that not enough????????

 

I was purely letting people know what we were given.

 

I'm sure there were many people from the UK aboard and as a lot of tickets are non-changeable, it will cost $$$ for them to get home. It is more than possible that the refund does not cover their additional expenses (it certainly didn't ours). Baring this in mind, it's also quite possible that the 50% wont be used, as passengers may not be able to afford the 50% they have to pay, plus flights, hotels etc. So these people will have used their holiday time and arrived back home having had no break.

 

We have since sung Celebrity's praises, things happen in all walks of life, it's how they handle it that matters.

 

Why shouldn't they get a free cruise after what they have been through?

 

Just my personal opinion

[champagne123]

If you live in the North East....put on channel 7 ABC. About to have the captain and pax's interviewed. At least, that is what the commercial said. :)