Report Brilliance (3night Med cruise after the Strike)

[German Wunderkind]

Hello

 

I just want to give you a report about our 3 night Mediterranean Cruise on Brilliance of the Seas.

 

The plan was leaving home on Thursday October 27th and fly directly to Barcelona where we would land at 11.30 am and then board the vessel for a 3-night trip to Ajacco, Palma de Mallorca and then back to Barcelona where we wanted to fly back home at 1pm.

 

Like I said that was the plan but everything changed when I heard on Wednesday evening at 7pm that the Spanish fisherman were blocking all Spanish ports including the port of Barcelona.

So I phoned Royal Caribbean in Miami and my American Travel agent and both had no information what so ever about the blockade.

 

Here on Cruise Critic other members already posted about that issue and that the German office did not know anything as well.

At approximately 10.30pm there was an update of the RCCL website and it know said that the passengers for the cruise on the next day should fly to Barcelona because Brilliance would go there for the turnaround.

 

So the next morning we flew to Barcelona with some minor things happening on the Lufthansa flights.

Nothing spectacular but we landed about 30 minutes late.

When we got out of the baggage claim area there was a young lady waiting for passengers of Brilliance of the Seas.

We asked here about the situation because late that night someone wrote here at Cruise Critic that the fisherman and the Spanish government were close to an agreement.

 

Well, unfortunately there was no agreement at noon so everybody would go to the harbor first where we would get more information.

So we waited for the shuttle bus to arrive and the next “problem” came up.

Part of the highway into Barcelona downtown area was closed due to extensive rebuilding. So instead of the normal 20 – 25 minute drive the bus had to go right through the downtown area to get to the harbor. That would make it a 45-minute ride.

No problem at least because Brilliance was not in port so no hurry at all. We came to the port at 2pm and were greeted by some RCL people who said that the strike of the fisherman was not over yet but they expected it to be over very soon.

We already were able to check in the luggage and were invited into the Terminal area.

There Check-In counters were not manned and we were told to sit down and wait for new information. We were provided with sandwiches and something to drink.

At about 3pm someone said on the PA-System that the strike was still going on and that Royal Caribbean was providing a continues shuttle bus into downtown area so that people could stroll around there instead of waiting in the terminal.

I think that was a great idea and a lot of people took the opportunity to go into downtown and I think another reason was that at the same time they said that the Check-In process would not begin until 8pm. So that would mean 5 hours in the Terminal.

We stayed there and waited and waited and waited. The Terminal was filling up again when someone came around at 5.15pm and said that the port was open again and that Brilliance was on their way. I asked her at what time the Check-In process would start and she said to me that normally it would take them 4 hours to disembark everybody and clean the staterooms in order to start he embarkation. That would start the process at 10pm.

Brilliance was finally docked at the pier at 5.45pm. At about 7pm a lot of people came back and at that time someone announced over the PA-System for the first time that Check-In would start not before 10pm.

Well we waited and waited and approximately 9pm the first passengers started to build a line in front of the Check-In counters. A short time after 10pm there was loud applause and yelling because the first Check-In people showed finally up and opened the counters.

There are about 25 to 30 counters available for Check-In but there were only a handful of people working. So the lines did not get any shorter. Someone went to the counters shortly before 10pm and he came back to his waiting family with the seapass cards shortly after 12am!

We waited in one of the seats for the cues to become less long and shortly after 12am I cued up at one of the counters and got our seapass cards within 15 minutes.

 

So off we were to our short cruise.

We finally came into our cabin at 1am and went straight to the Windjammer to get something warm to eat.

Windjammer was open until 2am for eating.

We finally left port at 3am mostly unnoticed I would presume by tired passengers.

 

Muster drill was scheduled at 9.30am that morning so we got ready for that only to find out that it was postponed to 11am because of the late departure.

At the muster drill the captain also said that we would not go to Corsica because there was no way he could make it in time for us to enjoy the island. Instead he was trying to get into Palma de Mallorca earlier that our scheduled time of 12pm on Saturday.

 

Later during the day the captain said that we would go to Palma de Mallorca at 8am instead of 12pm which was fine for most of the passengers and that everybody would receive a $100 onboard credit this problem which was actually not in produced by RCCL.

I thought that that was really nice of the company. The only problem was how do you spend $100 per person in 24hours on a ship.

You could say no problem for me but you cannot drink for $100 per person. And if you are not a person that buys staff that nobody needs the things you can buy onboard are a little bit limited. For example spa appointments were gone in an instant.

 

Mallorca was really nice and we had great weather for almost beginning of November. It was sunny and we had temperatures of 26 degrees Celsius.

 

Due to the late departure the entertainment was also mixed up and we only had one production show, which was Tango Buenos Aires.

I don’t know if they moved it from the Jewel of the Seas where I saw only 6 weeks before or if the brought it out on a second ship but I think this show is a must when you cruise on Brilliance.

Even if I thought that the show was a little bit better on Jewel it was still a fabulous show.

 

Some last things about Brilliance.

It is know equipped with WiFi Internet access in different areas so you can use your laptop in these areas to connect to the Internet.

She clearly shows some wears in certain areas and I hope when I come back to her in 12 days some of the more obvious areas are fixed.

 

I hope that my return journey home will be without any hassle, delays or problem because we already had enough on the really short cruise.

If you have questions about Brilliance I’m happy to try to answer them.a

Have a great evening and a nice weekend. Keep on cruising.

G.W.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Hello GW!!!! Wow, you sure got off to a rocky start making a short cruise even shorter!!! It's a shame a strike out of control of RCI effected the cruise with such an impact that was most likely hard to enjoy in such a short time! However, I know you love the Radiance Class ships and what little time you did have on board the Brilliance was a treat. ;)

 

I do hope the return trip is better....have a great time and safe travels.

 

***

[claven]

How was the flight into barcellona?

[dougp26364]

Interesting in that on the ship, they told us the strike was over at noon. I was wondering why the fisherman were still blocking the port after the strike was supposedly over. According to what you state, RCI was telling people at the pier the strike wasn't over but telling people on the ship it was. It really makes me wonder if I should ever believe anything I'm told by RCI again.

 

We had a wonderful cruise on BOS but when things started to go wrong I feel that RCI really let us down. This report that they were telling passengers on the pier something different than what we were told on the ship just adds one more frustrating piece to an ugly puzzle.

[German Wunderkind]

This report that they were telling passengers on the pier something different than what we were told on the ship just adds one more frustrating piece to an ugly puzzle.

When we came to the pier they first told us that the government and the fisherman had come to an agreement but that the local fishermen in Barcelona were still on strike because of some fines they had to pay.

I did not understand it completely but they expected that the blockade would be over in late afternoon.

That was what the reps of RCL told us on the bus in front of the terminal.

At 4pm or so someone announced over the PA-System that the strike was not over yet and that they expected it to be over in a couple of hours.

So I don't know when the Spanish fishermen reached an agreement and whether or not the fishermen of Barcelona blocked the harbour even longer and for what reason.

I think the only fault is that RCL and especially the port agent in Barcelona should have told RCL days in advance that there might be some problems in the port because of unhappy fishermen.

Otherwise information was not good but still ok because they simply did not know when disembarkation would be completed so that we actually could check-in.

 

claven

The whole trip back was like a dream compared to our trip to Barcelona.

We were called of the ship at 8.40am; there was no cue at all either in the Centrum area or at the gangway.

We left our lounge and were of the ship and in the baggage claim area within 4 minutes. We waited for 3 minutes for our luggage and went outside to grab a cap to the airport.

There was a huge cue for the taxis but it kept moving very rapidly and within 15 minutes we were off to the airport.

Cost for the cab was 22 EUR and it took about 15 minutes.

The arrival area is in my opinion very small and crowded in Barcelona (at least Terminal B which I use all time) but the departure area is enormous and has a lot of shops and food outlets. You can easily spend 2 hours there until your flight leaves.

Flights were on time and we had the fastest connecting flight to our home airport ever.

Just 23 minutes of flight time. You couldn't even get a drink on that flight.

 

ArizonaCruiser85374

Hi Linda,

Nice to hear from you again! Hope you had some great cruises.

I would love to go to Hawaii again but I simply don't find the time.

I read about the Rowdy Reunion Cruise on the Jewel in 2006. Are you on that cruise or are you planning to go?

 

Have a great day and keep on cruising.

G.W.

[dougp26364]

I have been told that RCI knew about the strike 4 days in advance. I have an E-mail from our hired driver dated 10/25/2005 telling us of the strike and that we'd need to find alternative transportation arrangements for when we would be able to get into port. Therefore, I am positive they knew at a minimum two days in advance of the potential problem.

 

I have also been told part of the problem getting passengers off of the ship was that they comingled arriving and departing passengers luggage, creating a situation with port customs officials. If that's true that is something that NEVER should have happened and was well within RCI's control.

 

There have been a few other reports trickling in and it is becoming painfully obvious that RCI told so many lies to so many people that it is embarrasing.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Hi GW......Sorry you won't be joining the Hawaii cruise, as much as we would like to cruise with the Radiance Reunion on the Jewel, I won't have the vacation time in combination with our Hawaii cruise.

 

I am happy to hear you had a quick safe trip home.....a 23 minute flight is my kind of travel!! :D The very reason we are doing the round trip San Diago to Hawaii ...... I could never fly to/from Hawaii and DH won't fly over water so this is perfect! ;)

 

***

[critterchick]

I'll add my 2 cents' worth here rather than starting a new thread. The embarkation process was an absolute disgrace. We knew of the strike several days ahead because our ferry from Genoa was turned back at the port and we had to return to Genoa, then take a train to Milan and fly to Barcelona. Because we had a two-day buffer, we weren't worried about missing the ship, only that she would be diverted to Marseilles and our little jaunt would be cancelled.

Armed with the knowledge of the strike, we called RCI in Miami to inquire if there was anything special we should do. Strike? what strike? The customer service representative had no knowledge of the strike. We had sailed on Monarch of the Seas on the day that three crewmembers died in an onboard accident, and the CSR was similarly clueless, so we weren't all that surprised that they had no idea. The night before the cruise, we called Intercruise, RCI's port agent, who stated that they hoped the matter would be resolved, but that Brilliance might be disembarking in Marseilles if it was not. They suggested we call back in an hour. So we did, with no further updates. We called the morning of the cruise and there was still no news, so we went to see the Sagrada Familia and walk about, then checked out of our hotel and had them store our bags. We called again at 3:00 pm, and the agent told us we should get down to the pier for check-in because the strike had been resolved. So we did, only to find that they were telling people to go away and come back at 8:00 pm. There were shuttle buses available to take people to the bottom of Las Ramblas, the major tourist street, but we weren't checking our luggage, and they didn't have any way to secure it for us.

We consulted our Rick Steves' guide to Spain, which advised that the train stations have storage lockers. So we hailed a cab, went to the Francia station, stored our bags (4.50 Euro for up to 24 hours) and walked up to the Picasso museum. We had a lovely time there, then found a tapas bar & had some wine & munchies. We returned to the pier at 7:30, only to discover that they had been telling people to return at 10:00 p.m. Oh well. We settled in for the wait. RCI was providing sandwiches, water and soda, which we didn't need thanks to stuffing our faces earlier.

A little before 10:00, somebody came over the PA system and announced that we would commence check-in 15 minutes (they said that they could not check in boarding passengers until the last disembarking passenger left the ship, which sounds like they need some new software engineers). All hell broke loose as the crowd stormed the check-in desk to be first in line. I was in the loo at the time of the announcement, and when I came out, people were packed in to the check-in area about 10 deep all the way across the terminal.

Whoever made that announcement was just plain ignorant of crowd management. When we had late boarding on the Monarch (see above), the person who controlled the boarding preceded every announcement with "do not get up," then stated how the process would work. As a result, boarding, although late and time-consuming, was conducted in as orderly a fashion as possible. We had no such luck this time. There weren't even any guide ropes in place to keep people in order, although at this point, the crowd might have toppled them, anyway.

Notwithstanding the announcement, it was another full hour before there check-in began. At that point, they started picking out elderly, handicapped and family cruisers to give them priority boarding. Then the signs lit up with "suites", "Platinum/Diamond" and "family" stations. Then the signs changed five times. We finally were able to check in at midnight.

Not only was there virtually no communication, but we were reminded at every opportunity that none of this was RCI's fault. This is simply false. The strike of course was not their fault, but it was painfully obvious that there was no Plan B in place, and that is inexcusable. There were a great number of first-time cruisers onboard, and I don't think any of them will sail RCI again. I can't say as I blame them, but as a shareholder and loyal customer, that bothers me. Throwing $150 per person at every problem that arises really doesn't solve the underlying problem, which is that they cannot handle emergencies.

Now for the cruise review! Brilliance is a beautiful and well maintained ship. Our cabin, GS 1600 all the way aft, was wonderful, and Anthony, our stateroom attendant, did all that we asked and more. Caterina, the Concierge, was darling, and also went above & beyond. For example, when DH asked if she could get the same-day premium for laundry waived because of the missed day (our late arrival in Barcelona precluded us from doing laundry as planned), she went down the the laundry master with a complimentary laundry chit for us.

We skipped the dining room for dinner, figuring we would blow a few bucks on Portofino's and Chops. A large group had booked both restaurants for Saturday night, so we had to choose. Note: it would have been nice if they had gone on alternate nights so people could do both. We chose Chops and had a wonderful meal. I had the filet, and DH had the prime rib. We ate at the Windjammer upon embarkmen), for lunch one day and for dinner on the last night. The food was generally quite good, although the sushi was awful. I think the strike may have affected their ability to get fresh fish, so they had such lovely items as canned tuna sushi. Ugh.

We didn't go to the main show, but haunted the dance floor a couple of times. There were two very good groups playing dance music each evening. The Rosario Strings were onboard, and I don't get the fuss. The violinist was out of tune every time we passed by.

There was no special event for Platinum & Diamond members. When we asked the Loyalty Ambassador why not, he said those are only for cruises 7 nights or longer. We called him on that, as Monarch has a great P&D cocktail party on every little cruise she does. So he then said that they didn't have the time or space. HA! The Hollywood Odyssey lounge was just about empty every time we went up there. Not a cruise-wrecker, but they do promise an event on every cruise and should live up to that promise.

DH & I each had a hot stones aromatherapy massage. His was wonderful, mine was mediocre. I had to keep asking the tech to apply pressure instead of just placing the stones and pulling on my hair (really!). She tried to describe some product to me, and I just told her to be quiet and let me go.

Fellow passengers were a mix of UK, Spanish, German and a smattering of Americans & other nations. The woman in the cabin below us tossed her apple core into the ocean, which caused me to yell at her. I'm not normally confrontational, but that really hacked me off.

On Mallorca, we did the North Slope & Wine tasting tour, which was informative. The drive to the winery was quite long, but we didn't have any traffic so we were there from Valdemossa in about 90 minutes. The wine was good, and we bought a few bottles home with us.

Embarkation of course was efficient – thank you for coming, now get out. Our cabin steward knocked on our door at 7:30 and I told him we would be awhile (they hadn't even made any announcements at that point). The spa had double charged me for my massage, so we tried to get that resolved, and had to take the purser's word that it would be fixed. We waited in the P&D area until about 9:00 and then joined the taxi queue.

We will sail RCI again (and again and again, I'm sure). I do hope they wise up to their customer service issues before too much longer, though.

[Aquarius2]

Hi All,

 

Well, first of all: I didn't had to swim to the Ship:D !! That was a good Thing...

 

On Approach to Barcelona we already saw the Brilliance anchored outside the Harbour so we knew that Things might get a bit complicated...

 

Arrived at 09.45am at the Port and were immediately informed by RCCL-Reps about the Situation and were approx. 1 hour later to the conference center...what happened there is described by German Wunderkind..

 

We heard that the Strike was over at 4.35pm and were relieved, but we didn't knew what was expecting us...when we came finally back to the port at 10pm, long queues had already formed...and there were alot of unhappy and tired passengers waiting...there were not enough check-in staff and the organisation was really poor (the signage above the counters changed every 10 minutes), once you were in a Platinum & Diamond-Queue, then for Children and Disabled Pax, it was really a mess!

 

So Priority Check-In wasn't observed at all, but at least they tried to give priority to Disabled and Children, but that wasn't really working as well...

 

Got on the Ship at 11.30pm and at 01.30am we still saw people queuing to board...finally sailed at 3am (can't confirm that, as I was sound asleep)..

 

People in Suite even got USD 150 onboard credit, the rest USD 100 and you didn't have to use it all, they would refund you the money not used...(got that info directly from guest relations...couldn't believe it first)...

 

RCCL had blocked Rooms for all Pax, as they knew that either the arriving or departing Pax would need accomodation...

 

A Spa-Staff told us, that she even saw People sleeping on the Floor during the last Stage of the Check-In Process...not a good sign..

 

I'm very sorry what happened to the disembarking pax, really a shame...

 

Well, it was still a nice cruise, but a very exhausting one...

 

Cheers,

Phil:cool: