They Changed My Itinerary!

[nalatrixie74]

i'm curious, the itineraries being changed, is there a port day after st. thomas, or sea day? i'm just wondering the likelihood of my cruise changing, and i'm confused by why the change needs to happen. i understand they need more time to get places, but why arent they choosing to stay in st thomas, but just leaving there early instead of going to sj and leaving there early? 

[springfire]

21 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

You really think RCI views taking a ship out of service for months until it can get into a dry dock as an alternative?

Months?  It would take one week to fix this problem, Royal has had this issue before and they know what they have to do to fix it.  I would be happy to let them cancel my cruise to get this situation corrected.  I do understand why Royal will not do it, they will not give up the revenue, wall street will not allow for it.  So Royal stays with their decision to mess up cruises for a year for those who cruise on the Allure.  It is a lousy situation for Royal and their customers.

[mugtech]

And those of us looking to take our first Oasis class cruise have just taken Allure off the list.

[timf2001]

3 hours ago, nalatrixie74 said:

i'm curious, the itineraries being changed, is there a port day after st. thomas, or sea day? i'm just wondering the likelihood of my cruise changing, and i'm confused by why the change needs to happen. i understand they need more time to get places, but why arent they choosing to stay in st thomas, but just leaving there early instead of going to sj and leaving there early? 

 

The changes are a result of the amount of time it takes to sail between Florida & the Bahamas and the eastern Caribbean islands.  The destination islands are all located in close proximity to one another, so it's easy to sail between them overnight without going full speed.  Usually they allow for two sea days on the way down but only one day back, which means they have to run faster to get back.

 

Puerto Rico is over 50 nm closer to Florida than St. Thomas which equates to about 3 hours travel time, so by switching ports and leaving a couple hours earlier, they can make up the time lost by having to go slower.

[oxymoron11]

They kept St. Kitts which is farther away than St. Thomas. Is it because they make more revenue on excursions etc. in St. Kitts?

[FLACRUISER99]

4 hours ago, springfire said:

Months?  It would take one week to fix this problem, Royal has had this issue before and they know what they have to do to fix it.  I would be happy to let them cancel my cruise to get this situation corrected.  I do understand why Royal will not do it, they will not give up the revenue, wall street will not allow for it.  So Royal stays with their decision to mess up cruises for a year for those who cruise on the Allure.  It is a lousy situation for Royal and their customers.

Since it only can be fixed in Europe no way it could be fixed in a week. What's the big deal anyway many cruise ships are slower with all their propulsion then Allure is at her reduced speed.

Edited May 4, 2019 by FLACRUISER99
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[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, springfire said:

Months?  It would take one week to fix this problem, Royal has had this issue before and they know what they have to do to fix it.  I would be happy to let them cancel my cruise to get this situation corrected.  I do understand why Royal will not do it, they will not give up the revenue, wall street will not allow for it.  So Royal stays with their decision to mess up cruises for a year for those who cruise on the Allure.  It is a lousy situation for Royal and their customers.

I am aware that it could be fixed in a week. My point was that they are not going to take a usable ship and sideline it until they can get it some place where it can be fixed. Freeport is broken. It is not an option. European ship yards don't hold places open just in case some cruise line happens to need them. What do you want RCI to do? If they need to make changes to itineraries in order to make 7 day cruises work at a reduced speed that is what they will, and are, doing.

[Ocean Boy]

48 minutes ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

Since it only can be fixed in Europe no way it could be fixed in a week. What's the big deal anyway many cruise ships are slower with all their propulsion then Allure is at her reduced speed.

What difference does it make what other ships have for cruising speeds? All that matters is that Allure needs to alter its itineraries in order to travel at its reduced speed.

[FLACRUISER99]

5 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

What difference does it make what other ships have for cruising speeds? All that matters is that Allure needs to alter its itineraries in order to travel at its reduced speed.

Agreed, I was just trying to point out that the reduced speed an Allure is not that slow and as you say the itineraries have to be adjusted.

[Nashna]

Royal Caribbean needs to acknowledge that this is a large inconvenience for their Allure cruisers.  On another forum, a couple is posting about their cancelled St. Thomas wedding and are scrambling to come up with an alternative on San Juan.  We have family members who prefer all-inclusive resort vacations who agreed to this cruise based on a beach day in St. Thomas and St. Kitts  Replacing all day in St. Thomas with a short stay in San Juan is not acceptable.  On our 7 day June 23rd sailing, we only have three stops.  We were already planning to stay on the ship in Nassau.

 

Airlines are not responsible for weather delays.  However, they are responsible for mechanical delays and are forced to compensate travelers when their equipment malfunctions causing cancellations.  Cruise Lines should have the same responsibility.  One family member is truly concerned that the ship is not seaworthy.  Royal Caribbeans handling of this maintenance issue does not give confidence.  I would cancel this cruise for our family of 19 if we had an option to do so.  Unfortunate, we are hostage to Royal Caribbean's incompetence.  

 

I have been on sailings where cruise ports were canceled due to weather or port restrictions.  We were disappointed but were aware that the situation was beyond the cruise line's control.  In 43 sailings this is the first time we have had a port canceled due to a ship malfunction that was known to be a problem years in advance.  

[RW_MI]

37 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

What do you want RCI to do?

 

I'm new to this discussion, but I'd personally like to be able to cancel my November cruise without penalty if this affects the itinerary. (I realize they may choose to cancel it and fix the issue then if possible.)  I book with the knowledge that we may not make ports due to weather.  But to sail with a changed itinerary and reduced port times, all the while still having the risk of missing ports due to weather, isn't acceptable to me.  For those who choose not to cancel, there should be some compensation...OBC or whatever.  

 

I haven't researched the azipods enough yet, so at this point, I'm somewhat concerned about starting out with a known mechanical issue, given that there could be more. What happens if a second azipod has issues and we hit a significant storm?  Maybe research will answer that in a positive way.

[AL3XCruise]

6 hours ago, RW_MI said:

I haven't researched the azipods enough yet, so at this point, I'm somewhat concerned about starting out with a known mechanical issue, given that there could be more. What happens if a second azipod has issues and we hit a significant storm?  Maybe research will answer that in a positive way.

I wouldn't worry.  The power required to move a ship increases exponentially with speed, so the requirement for a given amount of power is normally dictated by what speed is required.  With one pod out of service, the ship has plenty of propulsion for pretty much any situation, and the speed difference (though enough to throw a kink into the schedule) isn't as much as you'd expect.  Keep in mind most cruise ships only have two propulsion units to start with. 

 

Power requirements for docking are generally much less.

 

While loosing a second pod is unlikely, if it were to happen the most likely impact would be a much more significant decrease in speed.  Some of the experts on here can probably describe the ship-handling challenges associated with the scenario, but I'm pretty confident it isn't something to loose sleep over (other than your cruise may come to an early but safe conclusion).

 

12 hours ago, springfire said:

It would take one week to fix this problem, Royal has had this issue before and they know what they have to do to fix it.  I would be happy to let them cancel my cruise to get this situation corrected.  I do understand why Royal will not do it, they will not give up the revenue, wall street will not allow for it

 

Assuming the repair can only be done in drydock (which is an assumption on our part, but a reasonable one), the ship would need to reposition to Europe.  So a one week repair becomes a three week event, and that is assuming a drydock is available.  As you said, it would be expensive.  I also don't think 20,000 people would agree with you about cancelling their entire vacation because of one port of call, but that is yet another assumption!  

 

I will agree that, from a customer service standpoint, some kind of compensation would be warranted.  This is especially true for people who booked after RCI was aware they would need to amend the itinerary but before they published it.  Issues, including mechanical issues, are part of cruising.  But selling a cruise that you know cannot be completed as scheduled seems disingenuous to me.  It may be a simple case of poor internal communication or indecision, but RCI should try to make it right.

[5thgirl]

Would be great if I was given the option to change without the deposit penalty. I'd even pay more for a different cruise if I knew I didn't have to eat $400.

[sailor05]

All I know for sure is this will be our last on Royal for a long time. We've recently done Carnival and Norwegian and must say we LOVE those cruise-lines. With their newer ships getting larger (which we love), there's no reason to do Royal again. We enjoyed one of two sailings on the Oasis and was hoping this would be a great cruise as well. However, I booked this for St Thomas alone and am not nearly as excited about leaving next week now it's cancelled. We've been to San Juan many times and with a 7-2 port time, doesn't leave a lot of time for people like me who don't want to get up at 6 am to enjoy a port. We'll just hang out on the ship. Royal's loyalty benefits suck so that's certainly no reason to continue as we're building up our loyalty benefits on the others as well. 

Royal has basically said "screw you" to us and others who have called and complained. They've compensated others for missing a port due to weather, so why not throw us a little bone just to say "sorry." It's the thought that counts more than the gift...

THEY JUST DON"T CARE!!!

[springfire]

16 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

 What do you want RCI to do? 

Something!!!  Anything to show they care something about their customers.   Royal has made big changes to the Allures itineraries, changes that extend so far up to 5 months out so far.  it is one thing for a port to be changed for a weather issue but to change the itinerary because they are going to use a broken ship for a year is not acceptable.  Royal has not allowed any changes, refunds or any form of compensation to it's customers.  Royal has advertised these itineraries knowing darn well that the propulsion system was already messed up and that the Allure would never do their advertised itinerary.  I understand Royal has the ability to change the itinerary but what they are doing in this situation seems to be going a little bit to far.  Can Royal advertise a Panama Canal cruise but instead just take you to Nassau and everyone should just be happy because you had a cruise.   I have seen several cruisers cancel and take a big financial hit because of these changes.   Royal has done a terrible job in this situation.

We will be sticking with the cruise regardless but Royal's handling of this situation has been poor to say the least.

[Carnival4U]

20 hours ago, oxymoron11 said:

They kept St. Kitts which is farther away than St. Thomas. Is it because they make more revenue on excursions etc. in St. Kitts?

St Kitts pays them to come to the....

[E23NK1]

I have finally accepted the itinerary change and am moving past the disappointment...trying to not let it ruin or define our vacation...but I do plan on following up with RCCL afterwards. I have already called and complained...I didn't expect anything more than an apology but I will email guest relations.

I think a certain amount towards a future cruise would be an appropriate response from them...but we shall see.

Happy sailing everyone.

 

[gatour]

This isn't the first this has happened and won't be the last.  It has happened on other cruise lines and the response was the same.  Adjust port time/ports until a dry dock is available.

[kelleynicole1978]

20 hours ago, gatour said:

This isn't the first this has happened and won't be the last.  It has happened on other cruise lines and the response was the same.  Adjust port time/ports until a dry dock is available.

True, it does happen.  But at least Carnival gave us each $50 OBC last Summer when they changed a port on us.  RC doesn't seem to care to do a thing to compensate for such a change(s).

 

[sailor05]

5 days to go and still NO word from Royal about this. Several others on FB haven't either. They are setting up the guest relations to have a REAL bad time when potentially thousands find out once on-board.

[danp2482]

This exact thing happened to us back in 2017. Azipod issues made the vessel too slow to make it down to St. Kitts, which was why we booked the cruise. Changed us from St Thomas & St Kitts, to PR & Labadee then the hurricanes hit...we changed again to complete Western Caribbean which most know, usually cost less than an Eastern but no refunds offered or anything like that. While we were on the cruise, a storm came into Western Caribbean and we turned back and sailed around the Bahamas for the week...luckily it was our first time on an Oasis Class. We still had a great time!

[5thgirl]

6 minutes ago, sailor05 said:

5 days to go and still NO word from Royal about this. Several others on FB haven't either. They are setting up the guest relations to have a REAL bad time when potentially thousands find out once on-board.

I'll cross my fingers for you. Let us know what happens!

[kelleynicole1978]

9 minutes ago, sailor05 said:

5 days to go and still NO word from Royal about this. Several others on FB haven't either. They are setting up the guest relations to have a REAL bad time when potentially thousands find out once on-board.

Wow!  You didn't receive the mass email that they sent out?  I'm already pissed.  I'd be even more so if I never received advance notice of this!

 

[kelleynicole1978]

1 minute ago, fyree39 said:

I'm trying to keep an open mind, but it does seem like Royal is being a bit shady about this. Typical business decisions.

I agree about the shadiness.  Over the weekend I booked a "fake" cruise for this December on Allure.  Where does that cruise go you ask?  St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and Perfect Day Coco Cay (Bahamas).  It said NOTHING about Puerto Rico!  This is practically the same cruise I am doing in June (except mine goes to Nassau but it's still Bahamas...).  So what's the difference?  They are just letting people book the cruise thinking they are going to St. Thomas when they KNOW that boat won't make the trip until the issue is fixed.

[renysmom]

On 5/5/2019 at 10:57 AM, Carnival4U said:

St Kitts pays them to come to the....

 

 

They are skipping St. Thomas simply because the docking situation there requires more thrust power which can't be achieved with the 3rd azipods down.  It has nothing to do with St. Kitts.