Brilliance delayed docking/boarding

[ducklite]

20 hours ago, jeffreys1 said:

Next sailing is a full charter but Not Harley Davidson.  It is a music cruise, Cruise to the Edge.

http://cruisetotheedge.com

 

This.  A friend works for one of the bands--and yes, he'll be paid to cruise this week--the band he works for doesn't play until Thursday.

The ship was eight hours late coming into port.

[island lady]

Just now, John&LaLa said:

 

But I wanted to get up at 4am and drive to Tampa. 😉

 

LOL...Bella was glad you were not gone long. 

[island lady]

Just now, tallnthensome said:

Is the fog in Tampa usually only an issue in the winter months or all year round?

 

RCI only has ships in Tampa during the winter cruising season.  

[Snit13]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

RCI only has ships in Tampa during the winter cruising season.  

With all of the new ships they are building one would think they could at least leave one ship in Tampa for those of us who live on the West Coast of FL and enjoy cruising on Royal.

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, Snit13 said:

With all of the new ships they are building one would think they could at least leave one ship in Tampa for those of us who live on the West Coast of FL and enjoy cruising on Royal.

 

That would be nice, but I think there are too many summer options in Europe for the smaller RC ships.  I suspect that the European itineraries are probably more profitable for the company.

[island lady]

Just now, Snit13 said:

With all of the new ships they are building one would think they could at least leave one ship in Tampa for those of us who live on the West Coast of FL and enjoy cruising on Royal.

 

I totally agree.  I, of course, prefer sailing out of PC...but really don't mind the two hour drive to Tampa.  Would much rather do that then to deal with the traffic on the 3 hour drive to Ft. Lauderdale.  

[island lady]

Just now, Host Clarea said:

 

That would be nice, but I think there are too many summer options in Europe for the smaller RC ships.  I suspect that the European itineraries are probably more profitable for the company.

 

That's true.  Tough to find the cute little ships in the summer...unless you want to hop a flight.  

[irisheileen]

I never realized that this was a problem in Tampa. So statistically how often does this happen? Anybody willing to throw out a percentage number in speculation?

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, irisheileen said:

I never realized that this was a problem in Tampa. So statistically how often does this happen? Anybody willing to throw out a percentage number in speculation?

 

I've never seen a percentage, but it usually happens once or twice each winter.

[cruisegirl1]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

I totally agree.  I, of course, prefer sailing out of PC...but really don't mind the two hour drive to Tampa.  Would much rather do that then to deal with the traffic on the 3 hour drive to Ft. Lauderdale.  

 

2 hours ago, Snit13 said:

With all of the new ships they are building one would think they could at least leave one ship in Tampa for those of us who live on the West Coast of FL and enjoy cruising on Royal.

Please take this in the kindest way, but I hope you realize than many would be so happy to  drive just several hours to catch a ship. My shortest drive is 8 hours, and anything other than PC ( 8 hours)  or Tampa (9 hours) requires a flight.  Many CC friends and other cruisers only have the flight  option adding hundreds or more  in airfare and a pre cruise hotel stay.  Our upcoming Symphony cruise from Miami  is costing at least  $1,200 more just for the travel arrangements ( in coach) and pre hotel stay for 2.

 

enjoy

m

[jamon]

Does anyone know if the Brilliance is visiting Key West or what changes they have made to their ports since they left so late from Tampa.....thanks

[cruisegirl1]

19 minutes ago, irisheileen said:

I never realized that this was a problem in Tampa. So statistically how often does this happen? Anybody willing to throw out a percentage number in speculation?

 

13 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I've never seen a percentage, but it usually happens once or twice each winter.

A few years ago, it happened to  us, but the opposite.     In the early evening the captain announced that we would be returning into the channel early to avoid anticipated fog.  That meant most venues closed  at 9PM such as the casino, shops, photo gallery, etc.  As I recall, we disembarked at the usual time. 

 

Staying on board an extra day sounds great, but in theory it is huge hassle for most passengers.  

 

m

[island lady]

22 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

 

Please take this in the kindest way, but I hope you realize than many would be so happy to  drive just several hours to catch a ship. My shortest drive is 8 hours, and anything other than PC ( 8 hours)  or Tampa (9 hours) requires a flight.  Many CC friends and other cruisers only have the flight  option adding hundreds or more  in airfare and a pre cruise hotel stay.  Our upcoming Symphony cruise from Miami  is costing at least  $1,200 more just for the travel arrangements ( in coach) and pre hotel stay for 2.

 

enjoy

m

 

Simple fix.  I had that problem when I lived in Michigan many years ago.  I moved to Florida....you are welcome to become my neighbor.  😉 

 

But actually almost half of my booked cruises involve flights.  I have flown several times to Alaska, and many times to PR.  There are also many, including us in the near future, that fly to "down under" Asia, Europe.  You are not alone.  

[Saab4444]

23 hours ago, jamon said:

Does anyone know if the Brilliance is visiting Key West or what changes they have made to their ports since they left so late from Tampa.....thanks

They are in Key West today.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Saab4444

[jamon]

thanks..do you know if they will be going to cozumel.....

[cruisinfromtampa]

On 2/4/2019 at 11:09 PM, CatLadyFemme said:

Did y'all ever get back? I can't believe they were expecting an arrival time of after 6pm and wanted you out of your cabins by 1:30. This makes me nervous for our March 4th sailing!

We live in Tampa, and since we started cruising regularly 2 years ago, we've done 6 sailings out of Tampa.  We've only had an issue once, and it was last December on the Rhapsody sailing that got to sit overnight.  I'm not saying the chances are 0%, but I wouldn't stress out about it.  It's very rare.

[CatLadyFemme]

3 minutes ago, cruisinfromtampa said:

We live in Tampa, and since we started cruising regularly 2 years ago, we've done 6 sailings out of Tampa.  We've only had an issue once, and it was last December on the Rhapsody sailing that got to sit overnight.  I'm not saying the chances are 0%, but I wouldn't stress out about it.  It's very rare.

That makes me feel a bit better. Fingers crossed!

[pstone1]

On 2/5/2019 at 2:23 PM, cruisegirl1 said:

 

Please take this in the kindest way, but I hope you realize than many would be so happy to  drive just several hours to catch a ship. My shortest drive is 8 hours, and anything other than PC ( 8 hours)  or Tampa (9 hours) requires a flight.  Many CC friends and other cruisers only have the flight  option adding hundreds or more  in airfare and a pre cruise hotel stay.  Our upcoming Symphony cruise from Miami  is costing at least  $1,200 more just for the travel arrangements ( in coach) and pre hotel stay for 2.

 

enjoy

m

 

We live 10 minutes from Port Canaveral but only sail from Florida occasionally.  We fly to cruise much more than we drive to cruise.  It's just our preference though, as we are motivated more by itinerary than convenience.  I admit that it's nice having the option to hop on for a three night weekend cruise or two each year without taking any leave from work!  😀

[Saab4444]

4 hours ago, jamon said:

thanks..do you know if they will be going to cozumel.....

They left Key West at 2 pm and should be in Cozumel tomorrow.

[cruisegirl1]

8 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Simple fix.  I had that problem when I lived in Michigan many years ago.  I moved to Florida....you are welcome to become my neighbor.  😉 

 

But actually almost half of my booked cruises involve flights.  I have flown several times to Alaska, and many times to PR.  There are also many, including us in the near future, that fly to "down under" Asia, Europe.  You are not alone.  

We considered a move to Florida a few years ago but never took the leap. Haven’t given up on it yet. 

 

M

  

[Christinampl]

On 2/4/2019 at 11:21 AM, ZoeyVictoria said:

Just met some very pleasant women on the elevator who were able to confirm that the drink package still works.

 

 

That may have been my friend and me since I remember telling a few people in the elevators that they were accepting the drink package.  I hope your inconvenience was not "too" bad since I heard some horror stories of folks dealing with airlines. 

Edited February 7, 2019 by Christinampl

[ZoeyVictoria]

14 minutes ago, Christinampl said:

That may have been my friend and me since I remember telling a few people in the elevators that they were accepting the drink package.  I hope your inconvenience was not "too" bad since I heard some horror stories of folks dealing with airlines. 

 

It probably was you.  We actually enjoyed most of the delay.  It was my sister’s first cruise and I had purchased insurance.  That morning I purchased the $29.99 internet (2 devices for one day) so we could notify our families and my sister asked her daughter to change her flight.  It took her 2.5 hours while we drank tea in the WJ, but in the end Delta moved her $125 flight to the following morning for no charge.  We made a reservation at the Godfrey and were upgraded to water view.  The hotel was very nice with the exception of the bathroom, which seemed to receive very limited attention when everything else was renovated.  We ate there, good food at surprisingly low cost.  It took literally 19 minutes to take my sister to the airport at 4:00 a.m. and return to the hotel.  I felt bad for the people who arrangements were more complicated and were not covered by insurance, but overall it just added a day to our time together and I won’t hesitate to sail out of Tampa again.

Edited February 7, 2019 by ZoeyVictoria

[orville99]

On ‎2‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 2:09 PM, irisheileen said:

I never realized that this was a problem in Tampa. So statistically how often does this happen? Anybody willing to throw out a percentage number in speculation?

We've sailed out of Tampa 9 times, and got fogged out in the gulf once, and fogged in on the bay side once (and we wouldn't have been fogged in on that one if we didn't have to delay our departure by more than an hour waiting for President Carter and his extended family to get on board. We actually were on the sun deck watching the bridge approach when it suddenly disappeared in the fog).

[irisheileen]

58 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We've sailed out of Tampa 9 times, and got fogged out in the gulf once, and fogged in on the bay side once (and we wouldn't have been fogged in on that one if we didn't have to delay our departure by more than an hour waiting for President Carter and his extended family to get on board. We actually were on the sun deck watching the bridge approach when it suddenly disappeared in the fog).

Interesting. Goes to show you never know what's going to happen on a cruise!

[island lady]

Just now, cruisegirl1 said:

We considered a move to Florida a few years ago but never took the leap. Haven’t given up on it yet. 

 

M

  

 

Ready to welcome you when you do!  :-)