RCI no longer going to Lifou?

[LuckiePuris]

I'm a TA - this is the current info. At this stage only affecting Explorer and Voyager sailings until further notice. Smaller RCI ships are okay.

 

 

 

Why?

 

All cruise ships calling into Lifou anchor offshore and use smaller boats which hold around 100 people (known as tenders) to transport guests to shore.

 

 

 

Unfortunately works to build a larger tender platform in Lifou to accommodate tenders capable of handling large ships the size of Explorer of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas have not been completed, and Royal Caribbean has taken the decision to cancel calls to Lifou by Explorer of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas.

 

 

 

How many cruises will be impacted?

 

A total of 26 cruises on Explorer of the Seas (15 cruises) and Voyager of the Seas (11 cruises) in 2016/17 have published Lifou calls and will be impacted.

 

 

 

Thank you for your understanding.

 

 

 

Our Redeploys Team will be in touch in regards to Compensation being offered for the first 4 sailings that are affected….

 

 

 

More Details below…

 

 

 

How many cruises will have a sea day instead of Lifou?

 

4 cruises on Explorer of the Seas (2 cruises) and Voyager of the Seas (2 cruises) will have a sea day

 

instead of a call to Lifou. Unfortunately alternative replacement ports are not available on these cruises.

 

 

 

Will any compensation be offered to booked guests on itineraries where Lifou is replaced with a sea

 

day?

 

Guests booked on EX 10-Nov-16, 29-Nov-16 and VY 30-Nov-16 where Lifou is replaced with a sea day

 

will be compensated with a US$100 onboard credit per stateroom.

 

VY 28-Dec-16 reduces to only 2 ports of call as a result of cancelling Lifou therefore guests will be

 

compensated with a US$200 onboard credit per stateroom.

 

 

 

Will booked guests be able to cancel their reservation without penalty as a result of Lifou being

 

replaced with a sea day?

 

Standard cancellation penalties will apply as per our Terms and Conditions.

 

 

 

What happens to guests now impacted by the Minimum Age to Travel Restriction?

 

For cruises involving 3 or more consecutive ‘sea days’ (where the ship is not in port, including days spent

 

‘scenic cruising’) infants must be at least 12 months of age on the first day of the cruise.

 

As a result of substituting Lifou for an additional sea day, the following 3 cruises will now fall under the

 

Minimum Age to Travel Restriction.

 

Guests affected by this change will be contacted directly to discuss the above alternate cruise options

 

and compensation.

 

 

 

Are cruises in 2017/18 affected?

 

No 2017/18 cruises are affected by this change.

[LuckiePuris]

If that were the case surely the other lines would have cancelled as well, you would think, not just Royal.

 

The current pier can't handle the volume of tenders and passengers on explorer of the seas and voyager of the seas.

 

It can however still handle the volume of passengers on the smaller shops. For this reason, only visits by the big big ships have been cancelled.

 

From my understand it's not safety reasons to build a new larger pier, but for logistics.

[LuckiePuris]

My friend is on the Explorer on the 2nd November and they are getting Mare instead of Lifou. We are on the Explorer immediately after (10th November) and apparently we are getting an extra sea day instead of Lifou although havent heard anything official yet.

 

I'm a TA and am also on your cruise. Can confirm that no alternative port is being offered on 10 Nov cruise. An extra sea day (for relaxing!) and compensation as per my earlier post.

[mrs and mrs]

All cruise ships calling into Lifou anchor offshore and use smaller boats which hold around 100 people (known as tenders) to transport guests to shore.

Unfortunately works to build a larger tender platform in Lifou to accommodate tenders capable of handling large ships the size of Explorer of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas have not been completed, and Royal Caribbean has taken the decision to cancel calls to Lifou by Explorer of the Seas and Voyager of the Sea

 

 

 

 

So are you saying that larger ships have larger tenders, or more tenders. I would have thought the tenders were standard size, industry wide.

Sorry for being pedantic. But that's how it reads to me.

Edited September 8, 2016 by mrs and mrs

[Aus Traveller]

Maybe, to disembark the larger number of passengers within a reasonable time frame, they would need to use more tenders and tie up two at a time at the jetty.

[Cruisegroover]

Interesting to see what Celebrity do - so far in March for the cruise I'm booked on its still Lifou.

[Dizziedi]

Maybe, to disembark the larger number of passengers within a reasonable time frame, they would need to use more tenders and tie up two at a time at the jetty.

 

Yes, I think you are right. Whilst I don't remember going to Lifou on the Explorer - in order to get so many off the Explorer within a reasonable time frame they had a minimum of four tenders in the water and that often meant two (and in some cases, three) tenders tied up the jetty at once and other(s) waiting to get in.

 

Cheers

Di

Edited September 8, 2016 by Dizziedi

[awesome girl]

Darn, I would love to miss Lifou, we are going on Dawn Princess in

November, it would have been nice to go to another island and I too

would sooner go somewhere else rather than Noumea.:mad:

[mrs and mrs]

Darn, I would love to miss Lifou, we are going on Dawn Princess in

November, it would have been nice to go to another island and I too

would sooner go somewhere else rather than Noumea.:mad:

 

Lol,i get your humour.:)

Well ya just goin have ta go arnt ya girly.:eek::p:)

[Russell21]

There's only one Princess cruise scheduled to go there up to the end of this year - Dawn Princess 6th November out of Sydney. It will be interesting to see if that changes.

 

If they are replacing the wharf I assume they'll pull out all the stops to get it finished as quickly as possible. The locals would miss the extra revenue the cruise ships bring.

 

I just checked Julie, we are on it and it hasn't changed yet on my personaliser.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I just checked Julie, we are on it and it hasn't changed yet on my personaliser.

 

They might not notify you until just before the cruise, Bill. Apparently that's what Princess were doing for Istanbul - leaving it until the very last moment to advise people that they weren't going there. There were grumblings on the Princess thread. ;)

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the clarifications LuckiePuris.:D

[OzKiwiJJ]

I just checked Julie, we are on it and it hasn't changed yet on my personaliser.

 

They might not notify you until just before the cruise, Bill. Apparently that's what Princess were doing for Istanbul - leaving it until the very last moment to advise people that they weren't going there. There were grumblings on the Princess thread. ;)

 

Just realised I'd missed LuckiePuris's post. Dawn Princess will probably be OK. We went there on Sun Princess in Dec14 and there were no problems with the tendering then.

[Russell21]

Just realised I'd missed LuckiePuris's post. Dawn Princess will probably be OK. We went there on Sun Princess in Dec14 and there were no problems with the tendering then.

 

We were there at the start of June this year on the Carnival Spirit, no problems.

[Haoie]

I'm on the Radiance; according to the above I'm unaffected?

 

$100 for a port ain't half bad. Especially since I've been there. I would've taken that!

[Dizziedi]

I'm on the Radiance; according to the above I'm unaffected?

 

$100 for a port ain't half bad. Especially since I've been there. I would've taken that!

 

The info I got from the Royal Rep is that the Radiance and Legend would still be going there. It is only for the Voyager and Explorer (size).

 

I haven't seen you on the roll call - have I?

 

Cheers

Di

[The_Big_M]

 

So are you saying that larger ships have larger tenders, or more tenders. I would have thought the tenders were standard size, industry wide.

Sorry for being pedantic. But that's how it reads to me.

 

Although it's not due to the size, there isn't an industry standard. Just like the ships, tenders are built for the specific ship, and there are size variances between ships.

[The_Big_M]

The info I got from the Royal Rep is that the Radiance and Legend would still be going there. It is only for the Voyager and Explorer (size).

 

Yes, same situation as last year.

 

Voyager and Explorer are closer to double the passenger capacity of the Princess sisters, so a bit of a difference in handling.

 

Even on other islands their tender process can be s-l-o-w going.

[Cruzbear24]

I have just checked our itinerary (29th November) and sure enough Lifou has been removed and replaced with another sea day. I haven't heard anything from Royal Caribbean yet but I certainly hope that they have some alternative in mind. :(

 

We are also on Voyager 29th Nov and received an email today re Lifou being dropped and giving us US100 obc to compensate. Have never been to the pacific islands so don't know if we have missed out on a good stop?

Claire.

[The_Big_M]

We are also on Voyager 29th Nov and received an email today re Lifou being dropped and giving us US100 obc to compensate. Have never been to the pacific islands so don't know if we have missed out on a good stop?

Claire.

 

Lifou is better known for snorkelling, although you can also do that other places. If that's not your thing, probably won't miss it so much (not that there's nothing else to do there, just it's also not so different from elsewhere).

[Haoie]

Post from RCI's FB page:

 

Dear guests, while the tender port at Lifou was intended to be ready to receive Voyager Class ships this summer cruise season, unfortunately it will not be ready to receive Explorer of the Seas or Voyager of the Seas until next season. Lifou will be replaced with alternative ports (including Mare, Isle of Pines and Noumea) or an additional day at sea. We are in the process of advising our affected guests - or their travel agent - as soon as possible so they can plan their holidays with certainty.

Please be aware that if you booked via a travel agent, we cannot contact you directly and ask you to please get in touch with your travel agent.

We are truly sorry to have disrupted your holiday plans and apologise for the inconvenience we have caused.

[MicCanberra]

Lifou does have some small items of interest apart from swimming or snorkelling. They have a small church and some great views along with the markets and such that gets set up for the tourists. That said, you are not missing much.

[chester32]

Post from RCI's FB page:

 

Dear guests, while the tender port at Lifou was intended to be ready to receive Voyager Class ships this summer cruise season, unfortunately it will not be ready to receive Explorer of the Seas or Voyager of the Seas until next season. Lifou will be replaced with alternative ports (including Mare, Isle of Pines and Noumea) or an additional day at sea. We are in the process of advising our affected guests - or their travel agent - as soon as possible so they can plan their holidays with certainty.

Please be aware that if you booked via a travel agent, we cannot contact you directly and ask you to please get in touch with your travel agent.

We are truly sorry to have disrupted your holiday plans and apologise for the inconvenience we have caused.

 

Same excuse given last season by RCI not go to Lifou must be a bit slow building new jetty?? Don't know why they have it on the itinerary for Voyager/Explorer

[makawe]

I hope this doesn't affect me on Emerald in January....I have all my ports researched and Lifou was a snorkelling trip at Jinek Bay, so I will be disappointed to miss that.

[CupcakeSusie]

Lifou does have some small items of interest apart from swimming or snorkelling. They have a small church and some great views along with the markets and such that gets set up for the tourists. That said, you are not missing much.

 

Re not missing much ... Lifou is known by snorkellers as one of the world's treasures. So for keen snorkellers we're missing a lot - not having been there before, it's pretty disappointing to miss it. Lifou was one of the factors in us choosing this cruise over others. Other factors came into it too of course, and it's not going to totally ruin our cruise, but it is upsetting.