Rhapsody Rough Seas

[RuthieG]

Well. We will be getting our cruise fare back, just a question of when!

[insidecabin]

Also have a read of the ABTA code of conduct, RCI need to comply with that.

 

I think they(RCI) are quite good but they need to along with other cruiselines remember they have obligations.

 

Worst for messing with Passengers rights seem to be P&O they have a history of changing(bait and switch) on a lot of itineraries.

[Lazz]

This is what can happen in "rogue wave" events where there can be a deep trough ahead of the wave. The extreme case is the ship "breaks its back" and sinks. Lots of examples over the years:eek:

 

I believe this is one of the theories behind the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on the Great Lakes.

[MindyJohn]

So far they have agreed to pay for the flights home that we had originally booked and the ones we took (they arranged flights via Paris, we stayed in Paris for a few day extra, then flew home.) The hotel in Corsica was paid for by RCCL.

 

We are still awaiting our refund of the cruise fare. We have not yet been refunded for the dining package and excursions that we booked before boarding. We also have no decision re an independent excursion we booked.

 

The Future Cruise Certificate has arrived, as it doesn't cover fees, and apparently can't be used as deposit, we will have to spend £500+ just to use it.

 

What irks slightly at the moment is that the affected passengers who were moved to other cabins and continued their cruise got the same refund and future cruise certificate that we got. We would rather have stayed on board, but were not given a choice.

 

We have no problems with what happened on board, but will be glad when everything is resolved now we are back home.

It definitely seems unfair that those who were accommodated in other cabins for the remaining 8 days of the cruise received the same compensation as those of you disembarked at Corsica. I would be very irritated about the inequity of that.

 

Sent from my XT1064 using Tapatalk

[chengkp75]

I believe this is one of the theories behind the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on the Great Lakes.

 

Actually, the hogging failure theory in the Fitzgerald case was caused by the ship "shoaling" where the middle of the ship was supported by a shallow shoal while the waves receded and left the bow and stern unsupported. Bit different from this happening in the open ocean. Based on the review of ROV dives and video, the NTSB has noted that the hatches were not completely latched down, a common Great Lakes bulker practice, and the seas stove in the hatches and flooded the holds.

[loubetti]

Actually, the hogging failure theory in the Fitzgerald case was caused by the ship "shoaling" where the middle of the ship was supported by a shallow shoal while the waves receded and left the bow and stern unsupported. Bit different from this happening in the open ocean. Based on the review of ROV dives and video, the NTSB has noted that the hatches were not completely latched down, a common Great Lakes bulker practice, and the seas stove in the hatches and flooded the holds.

 

Yes, chief, but ultimately the "EF" was likely swallowed by a huge wave, likely due to the reasons you gave above. She just dove under and broke up.

 

Capt. McSorley didn't have a chance to issue an SOS.

Edited May 8, 2016 by loubetti

[Merion_Mom]

We didn't book as a package, we booked our flights independently so as far as I can gather we will just have to suck up the flight to Barcelona, hotel, and transfers. Our insurance won't cover anything, we are just waiting at the moment to find out if we can get "Legal Advice" under our policy to check everything out. At the moment our biggest outlay is £160 on excursions that we may or may not get.

 

Thanks for the advice on that website, have never heard of it before. We are going to try to book leave at a time where there are lots of cruises which match the dates so we can try for a good deal :-)

 

Any responsible tour operator will refund your money. Be persistent.

 

Even more importantly, keep after your insurance company. Their main goal is to keep blocking you, hoping that you'll give up. DON'T.

[Merion_Mom]

It definitely seems unfair that those who were accommodated in other cabins for the remaining 8 days of the cruise received the same compensation as those of you disembarked at Corsica. I would be very irritated about the inequity of that.

 

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Everyone thinks that RCI's last name is inconsistency.

 

Actually, it's inequity.

 

:(

[MindyJohn]

Everyone thinks that RCI's last name is inconsistency.

 

Actually, it's inequity.

 

:(

Most of the time it seems we discuss inconsistency from ship to ship, but obviously it's SOP anywhere, anytime. When guests are able to complete their cruise, my common sense says FCC of the amount of their cruise is adequate compensation for their inconvenience, distress and possible change in cabin category. Maybe giving away the store is a good way to encourage everyone to turn the page and "forget" it ever happened.

 

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[insidecabin]

For those that stayed the loss of what was bought would be a lot less, primarily disruption say one day and any cabin downgrade.

 

What that is worth could discuss all day but I think most would agree full refund and 100% fcc is generous.

 

For those that could not remain it does appear so far that they will make good and for uk pax a 100% fcc is more than required by regulations.

 

Disruption and inconvenience varies person to person, those with limited vacation time much more so than those that can take trips when they want jumping on the next available cruise laid by refund and planning the fcc.

 

We got some fcc from the Oasis TA fiasco it was hard finding something eventually we lucked out being in Miami when th Majesty had a super deal on a 4n, cheaper than a hotel.

[RuthieG]

We agree that the FCC and refund are sufficient, it has just shown us that there are events that cannot be insured for, our insurance company are quite correct. A token gesture from Royal Caribbean for those if us disembarked would have been appreciated through, even an extra £50!

[RuthieG]

In fact I was tempted by the 45 euro bottle of champers in the Minibar in the Corsica hotel, but I stuck to the 5 euro can on Coke

[MindyJohn]

In fact I was tempted by the 45 euro bottle of champers in the Minibar in the Corsica hotel, but I stuck to the 5 euro can on Coke

 

Love it !

[RuthieG]

I have written a long and rambling account about what happened on the Rhapsody on 25th April. I can only talk about what we experienced, we were very lucky not to have been amongst those injured, and if it looks like we are a bit happy in the photos I can only blame over-tiredness!

 

A bit about us… were are in our late 30s, no children yet, and over the last three years have taken 6 cruises including 2 Transatlantics. This was our first Royal Caribbean cruise.

 

My husband and I boarded the ship in Barcelona on Sunday 24th April, for a nine night cruise. Our stateroom was an Inside cabin on deck 3, on an inside corridor, which runs parallel to the Port corridor's. We had chosen this as it is the only deck with cabins both above and below it, and had selected the indoor corridor due to less people passing by, and to be nearer to the middle of the ship.

 

 

After sailing from Barcelona the captain advised in an announcement that we would encounter “adverse” weather that evening, on our route to Corsica, and that if we were sensitive to motion to take our usual precautions. There was some motion during the evening, but we were not concerned, having experienced worse on our transatlantic cruises and on the Bay of Biscay. There was slightly more creaking of fixtures and fittings than I had experienced on other ships, I put this down to the ship being 19 years old. Meals and entertainment went ahead as usual. The swimming pools had become wave pools, at nine thirty one passenger stood on the pool steps in the solarium as the waves crashed in to him, looking like he was at the edge of an ocean. The outside decks were closed at 11pm.

 

We retired to bed just after 11pm, and again whilst aware of the motion of the ship were not concerned.

 

At midnight, an announcement was made in to the corridors that everyone including non-essential crew was to return to their cabin. We were informed later that the staff and crew had also been told earlier to ensure that their cabin portholes were closed. (Can they be opened?! I'm not sure about this bit)

 

Our location was here http://osmand.net/go?lat=41.615376&lon=6.709062&z=9

 

I slept intermittently through the night, whilst my husband slept soundly. Some objects moved slightly, and there was some creaking.

 

I woke at around 0430, to the sound of lapping water. Thoughts went through my head…. Water from the toilet? A bottle of water falling over? I switched a light on to investigate, and got out of bed. Then my feet got wet. “There is water in our cabin….” I said, still half asleep.

 

Then two tannoy messages went out in the corridors… an “Alpha Alpha Alpha” message to a cabin on our deck, (we knew this to be a medical emergency from previous cruises) followed followed swiftly by a “bravo Bravo Bravo “ message.” These messages, even from inside our cabins were more urgent sounding than we had heard before.

 

I told my husband to get up and get dressed, I put some towels against the door, and phoned guest services , “yes we aware of the issue on deck three and are dealing with it. “ There was maybe two inches of water near the door of the cabin, and with the movement of the ship it was lapping up the the bed. We dressed, and moved shoes and bags on to the bed, getting ready to evacuate if needed. A few minutes later there was rapid knocking on the door, a crew member told us “ you need to leave your cabin, please dress in warm clothing and leave.” The corridor had about three to four inches of water in it, and I remember thinking a) it doesn't smell, thank goodness it isn't waste water and b)where is it coming from? My husband’s abiding memory is of room service trays from last night's snacks floating down the corridor.As we left our corridor to the forward stairs he looked left and saw medical teams in the corridor with stretchers, and people preparing to access cabins using crow bars if doors were not answered.

 

We made our way to the nearest stairwell (forward) and followed other passengers to the Centrum where we took seats and waited. There looked to be around 100 people, but but was difficult to tell as we were spread over three decks.

 

Towels appeared quickly, with blankets and pillows following. Officers checked our cabin numbers with us, and how our cabins had been affected.

 

At 5am the captain (Captain Dimas) put out a tannoy announcement, we can only assume that this went to the whole ship, and into the cabins. He advised us that five cabin windows on the port side had been broken (can't remember the exact terminology he used ) and that water had got in hence there were cabins affected by water. Passengers were advised that the situation was under control and to remain in their cabins. He also stated that 7 passengers had been injured and were being looked after by the medical team.

 

The atmosphere in the Centrum from what we could see was calm, most people had dressed although a few still had their pyjamas on. A few people had brought a bag, some sat with a table full of medical supplies, some had brought a book. There were at least two families with babies, and a fair few children.

 

Bottles of water were distributed, along with more blankets, pillows and robes, then coffee and pastries appeared. People from the Cruise Director’s team, and other officers, were very visible and checked in with us regularly.

 

 

At 0630 the coffee shop on our level opened, and the guests coming for their early morning caffeine fix didn't even look twice at all the people wrapped up in blankets in chairs!

 

At around 0645 we were approached by the Activities director, we were in high enough spirits to joke that ‘ you had better not be getting us to do a zumba class!” . (I think we were a little overtired by this point) He advised us that the Shall we Dance lounge (deck 6 aft) had been set up for us, and he escorted us round there. Phase two of the day now started.

[chengkp75]

Crew portholes (technically "port lights" since they cannot be opened) have metal "dead light" covers that are clamped over the glass to provide a watertight cover. Most ships have these for the passenger port lights (oceanview) below the promenade deck, but they are not permanently in place, and are stored nearby. These "windows" will have swing bolts around the frame to bolt the cover in place. I'm sure this is what was used for the broken windows.

[RuthieG]

We arrived at Shall we Dance (the lounge at the aft) and again were able to pick up blankets. Coffee, water and pastries were available. There were sofas here so we lay down and tried to have a nap, unfortunately some passengers found lots to talk about, and chatted to their friends loudly, with no concern for those of us obviously trying to sleep.

 

 

Giving up, we headed for breakfast in the Windjammer buffet. We decided to go down to deck three to see what was happening, and from the lift lobby saw the crew removing twisted metal from the badly damaged cabins.

 

 

When we returned to the lounge a buffet breakfast had been set up, even including hot dishes!

 

For the next few hours, we sat and waited. Officers again were very visible and wandered the lounge , asking if anyone had anything they needed or anything they needed help with. We asked simply for a toothbrush and toothpaste, and were provided with an amenity kit with these items plus a comb and shaving kits shortly thereafter. Being able to brush my teeth went a long way to clearing the sleepy fog for me, such a small thing that meant a lot.

 

One of the officers chatted to the group sat in front of us, answering their questions, then half way through, he said ‘Oh by the way, I am the captain “.

 

The captain was announced by the Cruise Director, (some formality even now) and he talked to the room using a microphone for perhaps 15 minutes. He explained that he had been on the Bridge since 2300 hours the previous evening, and what the weather predictions had been. The weather had been as predicted ( he gave wind speeds and wave heights.) He explained about ballast,and that the wind had all been blowing against the Port side. At the time that the windows were broken, the bow of the ship was on one swell, and the aft on another swell. At the midship point on deck three the force caused the window to break. He Said that he could say for certain that it was not a wave that had caused the damage as he had been on the bridge and could see the sea conditions.

 

The bridge had been alerted when they received an emergency (911) phonecall from someone in an outside cabin. The window had broken and they were trapped in the cabin. The emergency teams were dispatched, and they became aware from further calls that more cabins were affected. At least one cabin had to be accessed with crow bars. Ceilings had collapsed, and the wall between two cabins had also collapsed. Seven passengers had been injured, none seriously , and all had been treated by the medical teams. The captain said that the sea water that had come in the open windows was not from waves, but was spray. It had spread down the corridors, and had flooded in to sixty cabins, affecting 137 passengers.

 

Next he explained that the crew were trying to sort as much damage as they could. The carpets were heavily sodden, including a thick foam underlay, and would need to be replaced. The corridors would be filled with equipment, and it was not safe for us to be down there, but if needed anything we could would be taken to the lobby, from where someone would fetch things from our cabin.

 

Internet codes were to be provided, one per cabin for the rest of the day, to allow us communicate with our friends and family. He also stated that he had issued a full statement to Royal Caribbean head office in the US and UK. Showers were available for those that wanted them in the spa, however as the ship had sailed full from Barcelona there were no replacement cabins available for us.

 

Internet codes distributed, of course we all tried to log on at once, and failed! We were invited to use the crew access point, then bandwith was increased. I messaged my mother, then updated my Facebook status that we were fine, it seemed best to do this as we didn't know if any news would have hit the media about what had happened.

 

We arrived at Ajaccio in Corsica at the expected time of around 11am, and an announcement was made that our stop was to be extended until midnight to facilitate the repairs.

 

We decided to get off the ship and spent an hour wandering the town. Returning to the ship we met our tablemates from dinner the night before. We explained what had happened and even though they barely knew us they kindly offered to let us use their cabin to rest and shower. We took their contact details, and while we didn't need to take them up on their offer it meant a lot to us that it was there.

 

 

 

After lunch we found some comfy loungers in the solarium and were able to catch up on a couple of hours of sleep. Back at deck three we were informed that all of our belongings had been packed and taken to the lounge. We were able to sort through our belongings, and nothing was missing that we could see. A number of soaked items had been laundered. We grabbed soap bags and used the spa showers, the spa receptionist even checking that I had shampoo and conditioner. Changing clothes from the ones we had been in for twelve hours was another step to feeling better.

 

We sat and had some drinks in the Crntum, listening to a guitarist. Before dinner we decided to get an update from the lounge, which had become our new home. Our names and cabin number were checked on a list, then we were escorted to an office on deck 4. We waited then were called in to speak to an officer.

[RuthieG]

We were called in to the office where we sat at a desk. An officer gave us a letter and advised that we were to be disembarking the cruise in Corsica. There had been no way that all the repairs could be completed in time for our cabins to be usable. Our cruise was over. We were to be provided hotel accommodation in Corsica with full board, internet and 50 euro of credit until our flights home could be arranged. Four people were due to arrive at the hotel from Royal Caribbean in the UK that evening to assist us. We were asked what post cruise arrangements we had made, and that we would be refunded any costs for them if they could not be cancelled.

 

We were advised that we would receive a full refund of what we had paid for the cruise. In addition to this, we were to be given a certificate for the price we paid towards a future cruise, to be booked within a year (although the letter said to be taken within the year, this is apparently not correct. As it turns out, our voucher has 2 years of validity).

 

Apologies were perfuse. We said that we understand that there wasn't really much that they could do in the situation, and that overall we were impressed with the actions of the crew and staff that day, particularly around the visibility of people to ask and answer queries.

 

Cabins were found for other affected guests and they were able to continue with their cruise.

 

 

 

 

After a quick dinner in the buffet, 20 of us were assembled in the lounge, luggage loaded on to trollies, then we were escorted off the shop to a waiting coach. We seemed to be a mixture of Brits, Irish, Canadians and Australians, with a few other nationalities mixed in. Half an hour we checked in to our rooms at the Radisson Blu. We had a quick buffet dinner (well, that’s why we cruise, to eat loads….), chatted to some of the other guests, then went to bed. It had been a very long day.

 

We were awoken at 0620 by a call from someone from Royal Caribbean, advising that we should be ready to depart the hotel at 0730 for our return flight to the UK. Over breakfast we chatted to one of the couples whose window had broken. The lady had suffered cuts to her hands and back ache from the force of the water hitting her. Another mother and daughter had been on deck two, and water had come in through their ceiling and from their window.

 

 

 

 

Our flight itinerary was Corsica to Paris then two further flights back to our home airport, a trip of around 9/hours. We made the decision to stay in Paris for a few days, and told the Guest Relations manager from the ship, who had been disembarked with us. He said that this was fine and to make sure we kept the receipts for our flights back home, as we would still be able to claim these. Apparently the four Royal Caribbean staff from the UK had missed their flight to Corsica , they were due to arrive that morning, and a meeting had been set up for the remaining guests for whom travel arrangements had not yet been made.

[RuthieG]

We flew from Corsica to Paris, then ended up spending 4 days at Disneyland Paris. As you do! This worked for us, easing us back in to the idea of our holiday not being as we had planned.

 

On Wednesday the Rhapsody arrived in Naples. We didn’t.

 

 

We went on a small World cruise

 

 

We got this close to Italy.

 

 

 

Enjoyed some films

 

 

And got this close the day the Rhapsody arrived in Malta

 

[RuthieG]

We are eternally grateful that we were not injured. None of our belongings were lost or damaged. We have annual leave left to take (vacation time is not as tight as for our American friends) and we can afford to pay the costs associated with cruising again. The incident has not deterred us from cruising, although we may pack a grab bag and have a set of clothes ready to wear if we encounter bad weather again.

 

So far, we have received our Future Cruise Certificate for the full value of the cruise (just 2 days after we were disembarked). We have also received the refund of our ship excursions and dining package. Our flights from Venice to Manchester, and from Paris to Manchester have been refunded. We are still awaiting a decision about our independent excursions, and awaiting the actual refund for our cruise. I know that this sort of thing is of interest.

 

We are back to work tomorrow, and will face the question of "how was your holiday"? I'm not quite sure how we will answer!

[BEENSAILING]

I have been following all of your posts.

It must have been very scary for those impacted.

 

The upside (sometimes need to make lemonade from lemons) is you were not hurt; you have refunds - as you should; you have a free cruise - also as you should. Did you have any items damaged which Royal will be replacing?

 

You had a great captain on this cruise.

[RuthieG]

I have been following all of your posts.

It must have been very scary for those impacted.

 

The upside (sometimes need to make lemonade from lemons) is you were not hurt; you have refunds - as you should; you have a free cruise - also as you should. Did you have any items damaged which Royal will be replacing?

 

You had a great captain on this cruise.

 

The only thing possibly damaged is one pair of Birkenstocks, which have some salt residue on them. Suppose I should have a go at cleaning them, I'm sure that they will come up fine.

[insidecabin]

Thanks for the update and mini blog,

 

life sometimes delivers the unexpected, credit due for dealing with this one positively.

[kernow]

Thank you for posting a first hand account, I've been following the thread since the beginning and its good to see that those on the ship (passengers and crew) seem to have handled a difficult situation so well.

 

 

You seem to have made the best of it, even though it wasn't the holiday you had planned. I'm sure RCL will do as promised and you will eventually get back all you are certainly due.

 

Happy future cruising:)

 

Julie

[RuthieG]

Our lovely, much appreciated amenity kits

 

 

And extra time with this little boy

 

[RuthieG]

Crew portholes (technically "port lights" since they cannot be opened) have metal "dead light" covers that are clamped over the glass to provide a watertight cover. Most ships have these for the passenger port lights (oceanview) below the promenade deck, but they are not permanently in place, and are stored nearby. These "windows" will have swing bolts around the frame to bolt the cover in place. I'm sure this is what was used for the broken windows.

 

Thanks you, that makes far more sense now :-)