Cruise only- When things go wrong

[jenni011573]

I was on this same cruise as well and though information was not good we all tried to take it in stride. The hardest part was not knowing if we were getting off the ship. My husband and I were staying in Barcelona overnight and leaving on Friday morning to the effects for us were nothing but good. People who were stranded please don't hate me I am just telling you another side of a story.

My husband and I were not stressing at all since we knew that we were staying an extra day in Spain. We figured if we were still on the boat on Friday morning than I could start stressing but until then we just went with the flow. We had our bags ready to go outside our room then inside our room then back outside our room then they were gone.

We lounged in the indoor pool area with friends and it was so quite and peaceful. People were told to stay in public areas but no one considered the salarium public I guess.

The buffett was open for breakfast and lunch. Dinner was very scarce which I thought was wrong being that we were on set eating schedules on the cruise. 5:30 and 9:00 dinner seatings. They had hot dogs out which did not sit well at all in our stomachs but that was the worst of it for us.

Finally they started calling colored tags and we remained in the solarium area until our tags were called at 9:30pm.

While waiting I walked on deck and there was no movement really except for a few passengers getting off the ship. The luggage of those guests waiting to get on the ship were from my view cornered off and not being touched and no one was even going near them. I just saw crew working to get our bags off the ship.

Getting to the hotel was not an issue. Taxi's were at the ready and our hotel forewarned us not to eat the seafood that night due to no fresh fish in Barcelona from the strike.

Our flight out was on Delta direct to JFK and home. When we got to the airport we were already prepared for them to make us an offer for about $500 each and next flight with layovers back to ny if we gave up our seats on our direct flight. We were willing to except it and were quite surprised when the woman at Delta asked if we would like to spend another night in Barcelona at a 4 star hotel, they will give us travel vouchers, 125 Euros for food and $1000 each in Delta Money plus a direct flight the very next day to JFK. My husband and I looked at each other and said "sure". When they gave us our new tickets they also gave us bulkhead seats for the topping on the cake. In all they paid us over $2000 to stay in Barcelona how could we turn that into a negative?

The next day Saturday they made the same offer to us but we turned it down we were ready to go home.

My husband and I learned on past vacations to always give ourselves some extra time before and after a cruise for that just in case scenerio. It worked for us this time and was actually profitable. This pays for us to go to Hawaii out of LA for our next cruise ontop of 2 other flights one to England, one to Washington DC.

I am so sorry for those who missed there flights or there time on the ship. It is terrible what so many people went though.

I must admit that Royal should have been a little more honest and upfront about what was occuring. Even in the morning when I went for coffee and heard the announcement I went back to our cabin and my husband said the announcement never went into the cabin or the hall ways only public places. I called up a few friends from our dinner table and they also did not hear the announcements. This happened twice before I went down to customer relations and asked that they please put it in our rooms so we know what is happening. They finally said it would be on the TV.

The other annoyance was the room stewards wanted to just make our bed. When I came to get our luggage I found that anything we had in the bathroom Shampoo, razor, Toothbrush charger, makeup was thrown away. Yet the garbage in the room was still full. I am trying to figure that one out but again it was only really $35 I am complaining about and nothing compared to those who payed thousands with stress. It is just that even the staff had no idea what they were doing and there was a lot of yelling going on on deck 7 between the room stewards and their management.

The cruise itself was wonderful.

[jbond]

It is just that even the staff had no idea what they were doing and there was a lot of yelling going on on deck 7 between the room stewards and their management.

The room stewards had a particularly tough day. They had to try and get the staterooms ready because no one really knew when we would be debarking and they also had to move the luggage, first into the holding area on the ship and then finally onto the dockside. A pretty full day for them.

[FlorenceItaly]

One thing this thread has taught me is when the time comes for me to take a European cruise, I WILL schedule at least one day post cruise. I do not want to even chance an occurance such as this.

 

Marie

[jenni011573]

I agree about the room staff. I felt horrible for them and even spoke to my room steward Grace who explained that they were not given direction and were being pulled in all directions. The dining room staff was suppose to have the morning and afternoon off but were unable to and they were not happy because they had a longer than normal day. It was tough for just about everyone on the go around. I agree that Royal should have been better prepared but...like the rest of Corporate America things just fall through the cracks and it hurts the little people like us travelers and the crew.

[dougp26364]

I was on this same cruise as well and though information was not good we all tried to take it in stride. The hardest part was not knowing if we were getting off the ship. My husband and I were staying in Barcelona overnight and leaving on Friday morning to the effects for us were nothing but good. People who were stranded please don't hate me I am just telling you another side of a story.

My husband and I were not stressing at all since we knew that we were staying an extra day in Spain. We figured if we were still on the boat on Friday morning than I could start stressing but until then we just went with the flow. We had our bags ready to go outside our room then inside our room then back outside our room then they were gone.

We lounged in the indoor pool area with friends and it was so quite and peaceful. People were told to stay in public areas but no one considered the salarium public I guess.

The buffett was open for breakfast and lunch. Dinner was very scarce which I thought was wrong being that we were on set eating schedules on the cruise. 5:30 and 9:00 dinner seatings. They had hot dogs out which did not sit well at all in our stomachs but that was the worst of it for us.

Finally they started calling colored tags and we remained in the solarium area until our tags were called at 9:30pm.

While waiting I walked on deck and there was no movement really except for a few passengers getting off the ship. The luggage of those guests waiting to get on the ship were from my view cornered off and not being touched and no one was even going near them. I just saw crew working to get our bags off the ship.

Getting to the hotel was not an issue. Taxi's were at the ready and our hotel forewarned us not to eat the seafood that night due to no fresh fish in Barcelona from the strike.

Our flight out was on Delta direct to JFK and home. When we got to the airport we were already prepared for them to make us an offer for about $500 each and next flight with layovers back to ny if we gave up our seats on our direct flight. We were willing to except it and were quite surprised when the woman at Delta asked if we would like to spend another night in Barcelona at a 4 star hotel, they will give us travel vouchers, 125 Euros for food and $1000 each in Delta Money plus a direct flight the very next day to JFK. My husband and I looked at each other and said "sure". When they gave us our new tickets they also gave us bulkhead seats for the topping on the cake. In all they paid us over $2000 to stay in Barcelona how could we turn that into a negative?

The next day Saturday they made the same offer to us but we turned it down we were ready to go home.

My husband and I learned on past vacations to always give ourselves some extra time before and after a cruise for that just in case scenerio. It worked for us this time and was actually profitable. This pays for us to go to Hawaii out of LA for our next cruise ontop of 2 other flights one to England, one to Washington DC.

I am so sorry for those who missed there flights or there time on the ship. It is terrible what so many people went though.

I must admit that Royal should have been a little more honest and upfront about what was occuring. Even in the morning when I went for coffee and heard the announcement I went back to our cabin and my husband said the announcement never went into the cabin or the hall ways only public places. I called up a few friends from our dinner table and they also did not hear the announcements. This happened twice before I went down to customer relations and asked that they please put it in our rooms so we know what is happening. They finally said it would be on the TV.

The other annoyance was the room stewards wanted to just make our bed. When I came to get our luggage I found that anything we had in the bathroom Shampoo, razor, Toothbrush charger, makeup was thrown away. Yet the garbage in the room was still full. I am trying to figure that one out but again it was only really $35 I am complaining about and nothing compared to those who payed thousands with stress. It is just that even the staff had no idea what they were doing and there was a lot of yelling going on on deck 7 between the room stewards and their management.

The cruise itself was wonderful.

 

 

I only wished we had been as smart as you. There was one poor man I recognised from the cruise who was at the Delta counter on Friday morning begging for a way home. That's when I learned that Friday's flight was badly overbooked. I was wishing right then that I had planned an extra day in Barcelona. Not only would we have not missed our flight and have to fight our way back home but I could have been counting up all the extra's we'd have received if we'd have been able to take a bump.

 

I'll always plan a to leave a day after from now on.

 

Of course, this does not release RCI from all the lie's they were tossing around to those of us they told they'd take care of us, then did none of the things they told us they would do.

 

RCI should have just been up front and told all the cruise only passengers we were on our own. Then we could have gone about business making arrangements for hotels and flights home. I'd have been content with that. Not happy with the situation but, the strike wasn't their fault.

 

What I'm upset about is RCI telling us not to do anything, they'd take care of it. Then finding out they'd done nothing and having to do it all myself anyway on the fly in a foriegn country. It was not a fun 48 hours for us at all.

[Lovincruisin1321]

Wow! I'm just reading this and my only thought is that you have put so much energy into telling us this story. Why don't you take it a couple of steps further and contact RCI headquarters and share this with them? You may be compensated for the terrible customer service you recieved. In addition, you would be helping out your fellow cruisers, so this does not happen again. RCI is responsible for this awful situation.

 

Thanks for all of this and don't let it damper your future cruises!

[dougp26364]

Wow! I'm just reading this and my only thought is that you have put so much energy into telling us this story. Why don't you take it a couple of steps further and contact RCI headquarters and share this with them? You may be compensated for the terrible customer service you recieved. In addition, you would be helping out your fellow cruisers, so this does not happen again. RCI is responsible for this awful situation.

 

Thanks for all of this and don't let it damper your future cruises!

 

I have, 7 pages worth to the CEO, president, C&A and Customer service.

 

Customer service was at least prompt in making the decision to reimburse my hotel expenses and I can be glad I didn't get shipped 70+ km out with no way other than an expensive taxi fare back.

 

The only future cruises it will dampen will be with RCI. I'm just not overly thrilled with our W. Carib. cruise right now. Nothing against the hard working staff on the cruise ships that get caught up in these snafu's as well but right now, RCI is anything but on my favorites list.

[NRG]

Doug, I just wanted to thank you and the others who posted their experiences on this cruise. I have learned alot and plan to remember this story when we make arrangements for the Med cruise we hope to take in 2007 to celebrate our 25th anniversary. No matter which cruise line we book, we will certainly plan to stay an extra day and will not travel without an international cell phone. Eventually I hope you will recover from the horrible end and have only happy memories of a wonderful cruise.

[piper]

My heart goes out to all of you that suffered on this cruise. We were on the sailing right before yours (Oct. 3) and I'm thankful we didn't have to endure what you did.

 

After reading all of the posts regarding the international cell phones, my advice is to call your carrier and BE SURE you have coverage in the areas you will be travelling. We thought we did as my husband's phone is international. Little did we know that ATT/Cingular doesn't have coverage in ANY of the ports we were in. We think T-Mobile does.

 

So, in all of the lessons that we have learned from your terrible experience, expand the one of the international cell phone.

 

Good luck with getting any compensation for your troubles.

[dougp26364]

My heart goes out to all of you that suffered on this cruise. We were on the sailing right before yours (Oct. 3) and I'm thankful we didn't have to endure what you did.

 

After reading all of the posts regarding the international cell phones, my advice is to call your carrier and BE SURE you have coverage in the areas you will be travelling. We thought we did as my husband's phone is international. Little did we know that ATT/Cingular doesn't have coverage in ANY of the ports we were in. We think T-Mobile does.

 

So, in all of the lessons that we have learned from your terrible experience, expand the one of the international cell phone.

 

Good luck with getting any compensation for your troubles.

 

Actually, I'm thinking that renting a satalite phone would be better. With a cell phone you'll need to be within range of a tower. I think the satalite phones will work pretty much anywhere, even when you're out to sea.

 

As for compensation, I'm really not all that interested in anything other than the extra expenses we are out. That's why we purchased travel insurance, to help defer those little extra expenses that sometimes pop up. Through this experience I've found that travel insurance does so much more than reimburse for losses incured.

 

RCI didn't fight to hard when I asked them to reimburse the hotel expenses. I did have to explain to them that the only people on the pier directed us into cab lines rather than bus lines for hotels and that their letter only stated that they'd provide for two nights hotel without explaining HOW they were going to provide it. That's really the last bit of compensation I expect from them.

 

True they have promised $250 vouchers for anyone who exercised option #2 (which we did), but I'm not holding my breath on that one. If and when we see them I'm sure it will be long after the fact and I will have forgotten about them.

[Coral]

Gosh - I now feel guilty complaining about my Golden Princess disembarkation in NYC....

 

Doug - I am impressed how you handled everything. I know I would have lost it. To everyone else - I am also impressed and glad you are all home safely.

 

I am glad I always buy travel insurance and I am very impressed with how Doug's company handled their situation. I will also take everyone's advice to spend an extra night in a hotel after disembarking from an European cruise..

 

Thank you for sharing your experiences - I think we have all learned a lot here.

[Mitchie872]

Wow, I am certainly happy all you guys made it home ok. That sounds like some ordeal but you all seemed to have held it together and made it through. I really do hope the RCI compensate you for all your troubles.

WOW

[Sea Day Cruiser]

 

The international cell phone is definitely a great idea.

 

Could someone tell me where and how to get an international cell phone and how they work? I don't even have a regular cell phone, so any help would be appreciated.

[dougp26364]

Could someone tell me where and how to get an international cell phone and how they work? I don't even have a regular cell phone, so any help would be appreciated.

 

I found this site for renting either international cell phones or satalite phones. http://www.telestial.com/ The satalite phones that work anywhere are $89 per week plus a per minute usage charge.

 

The international cell phones should work just like a regular cell phone. The difference is they will work in a particular country using their particular tower frequency. Foriegn countries towers work on a different frequency than those used in the US. Many of the newer phones sold in the US have the ability to work overseas but, you have to pay your provider to "unlock" that feature of your phone and have the proper card installed in your phone for it to work on oversea's towers. You'll also have to deal with whatever roaming charges your carrier has to use it oversea's. For many people, the fact they would use it infrequently makes it more cost effective to just rent a phone whenever they go out of country.

 

The problem with an international cell phone is that they work off of towers to pick up and send signal's. There are no towers in the middle of the ocean. Therfore, the ship will have to be in range of a tower on land for you to use the phone while on the ship. Something that doesn't happen often unless the ship is in port. That could be a problem if you find out you'll be late and you're last day is a sea day. It could also be a problem if the port has a black out feature (jamming device) that won't allow for signal to be sent. We ran into this in Corfu Greece. Even the ships computers wouldn't connect to any online services.

 

A satalite phone doesn't need to have a tower. It sends a signal that, apparetnly, is picked up and received directly from a satalite orbiting the Earth. Therefore they'll work anywhere in the world so long as they have a satalite to bounce signal off of. There are phones that will only work in certain region's and phones that will work anywhere. They are quite expensive to purchase. Regional phones run $600 to $700 while worldwide phones run $1,600 from what little I've seen. I'm sure someone here may know of a place they can be found cheaper.

 

One cruiser we were with had purchased an international phone for $99. I don't believe it had a monthly service charge to it but only had a per minute charge if they ever used it. I saw on the site above that they sold a refurbished cell phone for $99 that could be used internationaly. I did not check to see what sort of service pack was available with it.

[jbond]

Could someone tell me where and how to get an international cell phone and how they work? I don't even have a regular cell phone, so any help would be appreciated.

I have an international cell phone. It worked absolutely perfectly during our extended stay in Barcelona. I used it while at sea to inform our daughter back in California that we had problems and booked our charter flight with it. I would never leave home without it. We have also used it in the Caribbean, Mexico and Panama. It cost $99 one time buy. You are then only charged if you use it. You can get all the details at http://www.mobal.com

[Ms. B]

If you use Cingular Cell phone service and have a GSM phone you can have Cingular hook you up with the ability to make and receive calls while travelling in Europe. The per minute rate is not that bad either. We were on the Brilliance this summer and our Cingular phones worked fine in all the ports that we stopped at in Europe.

 

I always plan to arrive the day before the cruise but have never considered staying a day after the cruise ends. Will definately take this into consideration for future cruises. I'm so dissapointed to hear about how RCI handled (or should I say mishandled) this situation.

[Sunnystone]

This thread has become very interesting reading for the many of us who are booked on the Millenium TA departing on 11/18 from BCN. It appears that the itinerary has changed and we now have 3 days in BCN. Ive heard about people taking bets on whether we will have a ship or not upon arrival. At this point I'm thinking about making some back up BCN hotel plans thanks to your thread. Also, we will have our Cingular Cells ready and waiting for Europe use.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

I found this site for renting either international cell phones or satalite phones. http://www.telestial.com/ The satalite phones that work anywhere are $89 per week plus a per minute usage charge.

 

Wow! Thank you for all the information. You really spent some time on this and explained a lot and it's going to be very helpful, probably to others as well as to me. Thank you!

[Pat848]

I have been looking at international cell phones for my Med cruise next year. I went into Mobal which you suggested and saw the $99 phone.

I do not have a cell phone (which drives my children crazy). I just want the international phone for security and do not plan on making calls with it unless something arises like what you encountered. Are you saying that if I buy this phone I will not be charged any monthly fees or not charged anything if I do not make any calls?

I would appreciate any help you can give me on this.

[jbond]

Are you saying that if I buy this phone I will not be charged any monthly fees or not charged anything if I do not make any calls?

I would appreciate any help you can give me on this.

Yes, that's exactly how it works. You can call their toll free number and talk to a rep. They'll explain the system, but you have to order on line, at least I did.

[Pat848]

jBond thanks a lot for your quick reply. I think I will get it just for "peace of mind". I travel a lot and think it would be a good investment. I went on the Baltic cruise this past May and never thought about it but after reading what happened in Barcelona I figured I would feel more secure with one. Thanks again.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

Yes, that's exactly how it works. You can call their toll free number and talk to a rep. They'll explain the system, but you have to order on line, at least I did.

 

Thanks you for the information. I'm going to look into this also. With two European cruises booked in the next year, it would give me a lot of peace of mind. My cruises aren't until next June and October. Do you know if I buy one now if I can just hold it until then? Thanks.

[VANHOOL]

We too were with Jbond and waited for three hours for a release from the ship. We too were lied to as far as flight bookings,the form we had to fill out

informing our airlines of the ships problem. We too were waiting an hour for the Miami people to book our charter flight. We too tried to call on the toll free number only to find out it wasn't. We were never told of how we were going to be transported to BCN for our flight on Saturday morning. I kept hearing that a Royal Caribbean rep will be there to take care of us....well

he or she never showed up at the Tahiti hotel. Good thing that we charted those two coaches and arrived at BCN early. YEAH RIGHT!!!! Air Europa

reported that RCI was not coming there either.....and that they were only booking us to JFK.....how do we get home from there??? I don't know was the answer from Air Europa..(not their fault) No one from RCI to advise us of anything. HEY...on arival at JFK there were RCI people every 10 feet after we cleared Custom's............Hmmmm the phone must of been ringing off the hook

in Miami. So i'm home and wrote to the CEO and the President of RCI. Yep

you guessed it no call back. Total customer satisfaction...who are they kidding?? At BCN it was get us off and the three day passengers on so they could make more money and let us be someone else's problem. Waiting for the phone to ring.......

 

 

 

Hi Doug,

 

You guys had it easy. We also believed RCI when they told us we would be taken care of and would be bussed to a hotel in the greater Barcelona area, where an RCI rep would meet us and answer any questions we had. I didn't realise Barcelona was such a big city. We were dropped off at 12:30 at night in a 23 euro a night hotel, 80 kms outside the city. We had to stay up until 4:00 am waiting for our luggage. No rep ever showed up. There were approx 80 of us and the taxi fare back into Barcelona was 120 euros/taxi, i.e. two people with luggage. When we finally contacted RCI, we got a "You're on your own" message. The people with us were awesome. We all managed to get reservations on the charter, using international cell phones and pre-paid phone cards. The phones in the hotel couldn't be used for outside calls. My cell phone bill will probably be around $150. We also set up two coaches to go to the airport at the cost of $30/couple. We finally got home a couple of hours ago, Sunday morning.

Like you, I learned somethings. Never leave home without insurance and an international cell phone. Never, never let anyone help you if you can do it by yourself. I was very pleased when RCI said (three times) we'll take care of everything. They just lied and lied, with a smile on their faces.

I haven't talked with my insurance company yet, I just hope that they will pick up the $1400 flight ticket.

One thing you forgot to mention was the three hour delay after Spanish customs had cleared the ship. It was caused by RCI co-mingling departing and boarding luggage!!!

Still had a great trip, but we're rethinking our Jewel cruise next June and Vision cruise next November. I'm still upset about the deceit.

[dsparku]

WOW!! what an experience-and what a great testimony for travel insurance.

I do take issue with your comment that RCI was not responsible for assiting you-it is the responsibility of any company to assist their customers in

resolving any problem that comes up as a result of that customer having business with that company-without the insurance company going the distance with you,RCI would have hung you out to dry on your own-I have this thread bookmarked to see if you get this resolved-kudos to you for keeping a level head and being able to think clear-good luck in resolving this

Dave

[critterchick]

We have Cingular wireless service and GSM phones. It costs $5.99/month to enable the phones to make international calls. We were stuck on a Grimaldi Lines ferry that couldn't get into Barcelona (we were on our way to the 10/27 Brilliance sailing, which we eventually got to), and the phones worked quite well (as we called American Express trying to make alternate arrangements) while we were turned around heading back to Genoa.

 

We cancelled the international capability when we got back. My cell phone bill is going to be horrific this month, but it was totally worth it, IMHO.:eek: