Hurricane updates

[CruiseLand]

5 hours ago, Mattnvick said:

 

 

I can catergorically say had i been on the ship and MSC had given me 100 refund and private jet home i would be doing a happy dance.

 

However i am a realist and know that wouldnt happen.  

 

Having said that i can also categorically tell you had i  been on this sailing ,  had 6 days having fun but then  realised  that millions of people are about to get slammed by a major cat 4 hurricane and could lose everything, I would have happily slept on the airport floor if it meant i could get on a flight out of what is going to become a diaster zone and get home safely. 

 

 

Of course I feel bad about everyone will be effecting by this storm. Both in US my own country and other people on the islands. You was having fun and making fun of people on the Seaside that is not right. You are not on the ship so do you really know what happen? Why other cruise company can handle this better? I don't have an answer but I think the person like me and other 2000+ people would like to know. I don't care about refund just miss inform that we got is not acceptable. We do not purchase Internet so we do not know anything about storm until Thursday at 8:30 pm when the first time Captain decided to let everyone know that you need to get out of the ship. I am sure he knew about it before Thursday at 8:30 pm. They keep repeated the same information from 8:30 to 11:30 around the ship and inside the cabin really loud in 7 languages. The repeated info was to make sure you sign the paper to get out of the ship and they need it by midnight. The paper work delivered to us at 11:45 pm so we have 15 minutes to make decision and packing. We have 2 elderly 70+ years old and a young child to care for. For that shot period of time to get ready is a nightmare. If you looked at the paper from MSC you will see what they said. Basically we (MSC) knew you might cannot find any hotel, car rental or flight back home because of the holiday weekend and the storm but we (MSC) will dump you out anyway. It is not our(MSC) problem after you leave our(MSC) ship. it is your own problem to find whatever you need for your safety. MSC did not let people know or use their Internet until 11:30 pm after people said they need to book the hotel, change the flight or rent the car. Did this behavior acceptable for some company that said we are (their customers) one of their family members?

[CruisingFox27]

15 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Currently on Armonia.  Captain Hansen was on the intercom into the cabins at 0815 to tell us the change in plans.  It was repeated in at least four languages.  There was a session in the theater for English speakers (please only one per cabin...there are 1100 of you and only 550 seats...).  On the screen was the projected track...  They considered many options and the best one was to go back to Costa Maya and Cozumel.  Too much swell at Grand Cayman.  They need to refuel at Costa Maya.  If people need to leave at either Mex port they will assist.  No airport at Costa Maya, so recommend Coz and will pay for ferry to Cancun.  No refund of port fees for Key West but no extra fees for the repeat calls.  New cruise cards issued Monday.  We will not be charged gratuities for the extra days.  Did I forget anything?  Probably.  They taped the meeting and it is looping on the TV.

 

Thanks for the update, stay safe.

POM is now apparently closed to incoming ships. Seaside departed early evening yesterday, ahead of her scheduled departure time. Hopefully all of the passengers were able to board for their cruise.

[Mattnvick]

1 hour ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

Thanks for the update, stay safe.

POM is now apparently closed to incoming ships. Seaside departed early evening yesterday, ahead of her scheduled departure time. Hopefully all of the passengers were able to board for their cruise.

 

Closed and Dorian just been upgraded to a CAT 5. No- one seemd to think or contemplate  this would happen. 4 is bad enough. This is a monster and i hope everyone in its path is safe. Not looking good for the Bahamas 😢😢

[CruisingFox27]

44 minutes ago, Mattnvick said:

 

Closed and Dorian just been upgraded to a CAT 5. No- one seemd to think or contemplate  this would happen. 4 is bad enough. This is a monster and i hope everyone in its path is safe. Not looking good for the Bahamas 😢😢

 

Eyewall has reached the Abaco Islands with wind speeds of 175mph. Incomprehensible!

Thoughts with all of those in the path.

[Mattnvick]

6 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

Eyewall has reached the Abaco Islands with wind speeds of 175mph. Incomprehensible!

Thoughts with all of those in the path.

Brutal. Do you know had far those islands are from Ocean Cay? 

[CruisingFox27]

11 minutes ago, Mattnvick said:

Brutal. Do you know had far those islands are from Ocean Cay? 

 

A good way North, exactly how far i don't know or how far reaching the storm is. Latest predictions do show it heading north rather than directly at Miami. Hopefully it'll turn further and land impact is minimal. 

[BermudaBound2014]

Red dot is ocean cay. Gray dot is Abaco islands. Based on the scale on my computer it appears to be about 250 km (150 miles) away.

 

[BermudaBound2014]

I marked approximate location of Ocean Cay in blue. This puts it in the 'moderate' rain amounts.

 

[Mattnvick]

8 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I marked approximate location of Ocean Cay in blue. This puts it in the 'moderate' rain amounts.

 

Thank you. Selfish i know to be even be thinking of Ocean Cay when all these people in other Bahamian Islands are preparing for the storm of their lives. I was just curious. Im guessing at some point down the line MSC may issue an update on how it fared. 

[ssmea03]

On 8/31/2019 at 10:21 AM, exm said:

Listen, I missed a day at Nassau and had a crappy Friday stuck in Miami without most cruise benefits. However, about 1,000 left the ship and paid for hotels. They were rushed off the ship as late as Friday around noon while MSC already knew the change of plans. That should be unacceptable to anyone reading here.

 

 

It seems to me that it was USCBP that refused to change their plans, not MSC. Even if they did know that condition X-RAY wasn't going to be declared at noon. MSC did change their plans once the port remained at condition YANKEE, although the ship was on lock down until Saturday morning. Leaving when condition X-RAY was declared at noon on Saturday.

[BermudaBound2014]

28 minutes ago, ssmea03 said:

It seems to me that it was USCBP that refused to change their plans, not MSC. Even if they did know that condition X-RAY wasn't going to be declared at noon. MSC did change their plans once the port remained at condition YANKEE, although the ship was on lock down until Saturday morning. Leaving when condition X-RAY was declared at noon on Saturday.

 

While i'm sure this is just an innocent mistake, the above information is incorrect. Firstly, the port did enact condition XRay conditions on Thursday and extended them on Friday. Second, MSC changed their plans long before condition YANKEE was given. (thankfully).  

 

Here is, what I believe to be, the accurate timeline:

 

On Wednesday, August 28 Condition Whiskey was enacted. 

 

On Thursday, August 29th the POM did enact condition X-Ray. Note: This did not mean the port was closing. See below.

 

On Friday, August 30th, the POM extended condition X-Ray. See below

 

On Saturday, August 31st, the POM issued condition YANKEE. 

"MIAMI — Effective 12 p.m. Saturday, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) set port condition Yankee for the Port of Fort Pierce, Port of Miami, Port Everglades and Port of Palm Beach due to the expectation of sustained gale force winds of generated by Hurricane Dorian that may arrive within 24 hours.

At Port Heavy Weather Condition Yankee, all vessels greater than 500 gross tons (GT) must depart the port unless the COTP has approved a request to remain in port.  Terminals and facilities must cease all cargo operations and secure handling equipment within the next 12 hours. Bulk liquid terminals must ensure all transfer hoses and loading arms are drained, flanged and secured."

 

Note: As of today, Sunday September 1st, the port is closed. 

 

Here are some references to support above; plus a great link to better understand what conditions mean if interested:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ssmea03]

22 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

While i'm sure this is just an innocent mistake, the above information is incorrect. Firstly, the port did enact condition XRay conditions on Thursday and extended them on Friday. Second, MSC changed their plans long before condition YANKEE was given. (thankfully).  

 

Yes, thank you Bermudabound, I did have my X's and Y's mixed up.

[Essiesmom]

Bahamas Paradise lines was offering evacuation from Grand Bahama on Grand Celebration.  $69pp.  She appears to be halfway between Key West and Cuba.  

[CruiseLand]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

While i'm sure this is just an innocent mistake, the above information is incorrect. Firstly, the port did enact condition XRay conditions on Thursday and extended them on Friday. Second, MSC changed their plans long before condition YANKEE was given. (thankfully).  

 

Here is, what I believe to be, the accurate timeline:

 

On Wednesday, August 28 Condition Whiskey was enacted. 

 

On Thursday, August 29th the POM did enact condition X-Ray. Note: This did not mean the port was closing. See below.

 

On Friday, August 30th, the POM extended condition X-Ray. See below

 

On Saturday, August 31st, the POM issued condition YANKEE. 

"MIAMI — Effective 12 p.m. Saturday, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) set port condition Yankee for the Port of Fort Pierce, Port of Miami, Port Everglades and Port of Palm Beach due to the expectation of sustained gale force winds of generated by Hurricane Dorian that may arrive within 24 hours.

At Port Heavy Weather Condition Yankee, all vessels greater than 500 gross tons (GT) must depart the port unless the COTP has approved a request to remain in port.  Terminals and facilities must cease all cargo operations and secure handling equipment within the next 12 hours. Bulk liquid terminals must ensure all transfer hoses and loading arms are drained, flanged and secured."

 

Note: As of today, Sunday September 1st, the port is closed. 

 

Here are some references to support above; plus a great link to better understand what conditions mean if interested:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for this accurate information. So now I knew for sure that MSC Seaside Captain knew about the Whiskey alert on Wednesday but not let us know to prepare for this storm and the port is not close on Friday like they was given info to us. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by CruiseLand

[spearnreel]

Ratio is 1:1,000. As in we will always have 1 negative opinion on the food, the shows, the room temp, the whatever's and in this case, how the guests feel things should have transpired during the eye of this storm. The other 1,000 satisfied guests mostly stay happy and quiet. I was on the Irma cruise on Divina and MSC couldn't have been more professional and accommodating during the rather difficult and challenging time. Life is so much better when we can focus on all the great positive things going on around us instead of nitpicking the very tiny things we decide to take issue with.

[Mattnvick]

13 minutes ago, spearnreel said:

Ratio is 1:1,000. As in we will always have 1 negative opinion on the food, the shows, the room temp, the whatever's and in this case, how the guests feel things should have transpired during the eye of this storm. The other 1,000 satisfied guests mostly stay happy and quiet. I was on the Irma cruise on Divina and MSC couldn't have been more professional and accommodating during the rather difficult and challenging time. Life is so much better when we can focus on all the great positive things going on around us instead of nitpicking the very tiny things we decide to take issue with.

 

I was interested with all those complaining and saying how horrendous MSC was and how great NCL was doing what was happening on their board.

 

Whoa.........talk about a "brown" show. A guy booked in the haven supposed to be sailing yesterday (1st) was still being told at 11pm the night before to go to the port for 9am as his sailing on Breakaway was going ahead.

 

I actually think POM was closed at that point??.....people on board had their arrival time changed 4 x and now they are going to NOLA!!  When someone asked guest services about their car being in Miami the response was get a flight back there and see after if they will reimburse you.....

 

So in that context MSC did quite well. It seems every hurricane is handled differently by cruise lines.

 

As you said theu handled it well when you were on Divina. RCI did crap regards Liberty over the storm that slammed Texas a couple of years ago. This time they did very well. 

 

There seems to be no consistency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2019 by Mattnvick

[CruiseLand]

Funny is the people are talking negative about the people complaining about MSC Seaside were not on this sailing but keep Blah Blah Blah .... talking negative about people that on that sailing complaining. After all this site is Cruise Critic, the place that cruisers can give their experiences and reviews of the cruises they took. It is not a cheer leading place. I guess it is fun to just come here to criticizing someone else that report their experience and think that you are better than someone else.

[CruiseLand]

Tell the true, I do not know about this Alert codes info before and don't know where to look for. Thanks goodness for posting about this.

The facts is the fact and cannot be change. 

Whiskey alert was sent to the ship on Wednesday. Why don't let any passenger know? not all of us pay for expensive Internet. Most people on the ship don't even know there is a hurricane out there.

X-Ray alert sent on Thursday about 48 hours of possible port closing which means after 12 pm on Saturday. MSC Seaside docked at the port of Miami around 7 am on Friday and make any possible to kick all passengers out even though MSC Seaside knew that Ship can stayed in port until Saturday which was the day we all supposed to disembark. Even let people out on Saturday their is a time for the ship get out of the port. MSC should give the real information to customers. MSC Seaside did not tell the true and knew from beginning that the ship can stay at port until Saturday afternoon. Why MSC Seaside do that? Because MSC Seaside can get the new set of customers on the ship on Saturday without loosing the profit. MSC Seaside knew because of the storm and labor days weekend there were shortest of staffs so it was easier if many guests on the 8/24 already left the ship. That was I see and it is my opinion.

 

Whoever thinking of book the new cruise with MSC please think twice before you book it. It is cheap cruise but you definitely get for what you pay for or get less for what you pay for. It was not worth it for us.

[Mattnvick]

2 minutes ago, CruiseLand said:

Whoever thinking of book the new cruise with MSC please think twice before you book it. It is cheap cruise but you definitely get for what you pay for or get less for what you pay for. It was not worth it for us.

 

Just curious do you consider Norwegian cheap (as in dollars)?

 

Having sailed with them i certainly do not. They were telling pax at 11pm on Saturday night when POM was already closed to come to the port next day at 9am to board their ship for a cruise.

 

Is that any better?

 

As i said every time each cruise line seems to handle it differently sometimes better sometimes worse.

 

There is no consistency with any major cruise line out there.

 

Thats a bigger issue in my mind than anything else.  You could pay a lot more money and be treated the same or worse. You could pay less and be treated better. Or it could all be the complete opposite.

 

Thats why im loyal to no one. 

 

 

[exm]

12 minutes ago, Mattnvick said:

 

Just curious do you consider Norwegian cheap (as in dollars)?

 

Having sailed with them i certainly do not. They were telling pax at 11pm on Saturday night when POM was already closed to come to the port next day at 9am to board their ship for a cruise.

 

Is that any better?

 

As i said every time each cruise line seems to handle it differently sometimes better sometimes worse.

 

There is no consistency with any major cruise line out there.

 

Thats a bigger issue in my mind than anything else.  You could pay a lot more money and be treated the same or worse. You could pay less and be treated better. Or it could all be the complete opposite.

 

Thats why im loyal to no one. 

 

 

 

You really had to be on the Seaside to understand what happened. Thursday around 8PM the captain made an announcement about a change of plans. Then for the next 2 hours we were blasted in 5 languages about 'options' we needed to make before 11PM (I will leave out the fact that my 3 young kids stayed awake because all of these messages). The options were:

1. Disembark on Friday

2. Stay on ship and be brought to a safe place.

 

The ship's decks were a zoo Thursday evening. Confusing people all around us. My family decided for option 2.

 

Come Friday, the ONLY announcements in the morning were barking orders to get people off the ship. Finally around 1:45PM (60 minutes after the last people left) we heard the announcement we would be staying in port and disembarking as scheduled. No apology, no compensation. On Friday we couldn't get off the ship, could not use the restaurants until dinner, kids club was closed until dinner, all pools but one were closed and probably a bunch of other stuff too.

 

We were 'lucky' we didn't spend hundreds of dollars on a Friday night hotel for those who left.

 

My biggest problem is (forget about the above for a second): if MSC knew on Friday morning (they must have) that the ship was to remain docked, why didn't they announce this early morning? THAT is the thing that bothered me the most: not me having a underwhelming Miami day, but the poor people that rushed off the ship on Friday.

 

[Mattnvick]

3 minutes ago, exm said:

Then for the next 2 hours we were blasted in 5 languages about 'options' we needed to make before 11PM (I will leave out the fact that my 3 young kids stayed awake because all of these messages)

 

So you wanted it only in English and if you didnt speak English then to hell with you, you dont deserve to know and my kids need to sleep???

 

Is that what you are saying??? Cause it sure sounds like it. 

 

Wow. Unbelievable

 

Any sympathy i may have had just disappeared right there. With that attitude you probably shouldn't have even been on MSC -  an Italian cruise line - and it looks like you  didn't do your homework as any one who did knows the announcements are given in multiple languages. 

 

 

 

 

[exm]

7 minutes ago, Mattnvick said:

 

So you wanted it only in English and if you didnt speak English then to hell with you, you dont deserve to know and my kids need to sleep???

 

Is that what you are saying??? Cause it sure sounds like it. 

 

Wow. Unbelievable

 

Any sympathy i may have had just disappeared right there. With that attitude you probably shouldn't have even been on MSC -  an Italian cruise line - and it looks like you  didn't do your homework as any one who did knows the announcements are given in multiple languages. 

 

 

 

 

 

You need to learn how to read. I didn't mention ANYWHERE that I was annoyed by the different languages, I also didn't mentioned it bother me my kids were kept awake. What I did notice is that the 2 hour long announcement blasts (and they were also in your room), was another part of the Thursday night chaos.  Take a chill pill. In fact I'm an European-American and very used to different languages being spoken around, in fact I speak 4 myself.

Edited September 2, 2019 by exm
grammar

[CruiseLand]

1 hour ago, Mattnvick said:

 

Just curious do you consider Norwegian cheap (as in dollars)?

 

Having sailed with them i certainly do not. They were telling pax at 11pm on Saturday night when POM was already closed to come to the port next day at 9am to board their ship for a cruise.

 

Is that any better?

 

As i said every time each cruise line seems to handle it differently sometimes better sometimes worse.

 

There is no consistency with any major cruise line out there.

 

Thats a bigger issue in my mind than anything else.  You could pay a lot more money and be treated the same or worse. You could pay less and be treated better. Or it could all be the complete opposite.

 

Thats why im loyal to no one. 

 

 

I loyal to no one either. I only went with RCI and MSC so I don't know about NCL. I only saw from other cruiser post about their experience on The NCL Sky. I am Diamond to be Diamond plus with RCI. Do I like RCI yes very much. However, It is expensive to sail with RCI when add Disneyland trip with it. So I chose MSC for this trip because it was cheap. I sailed with MSC before on Bellissima for my Euro trip and it was great so I think why not MSC Seaside. I even took my In laws along with me 70+ years old. From strat until Thursday night we had no problem at all even though less food choice and music but we was ok with it because we love the port s of call and food in MDR. However, when situation like this happened MSC Seaside not handle it right as I described on my posts.

Edited September 2, 2019 by CruiseLand

[CruiseLand]

1 hour ago, Mattnvick said:

 

So you wanted it only in English and if you didnt speak English then to hell with you, you dont deserve to know and my kids need to sleep???

 

Is that what you are saying??? Cause it sure sounds like it. 

 

Wow. Unbelievable

 

Any sympathy i may have had just disappeared right there. With that attitude you probably shouldn't have even been on MSC -  an Italian cruise line - and it looks like you  didn't do your homework as any one who did knows the announcements are given in multiple languages. 

 

 

 

 

It was not about multiple languages. I was about repeat the same info from 8:30 pm to 11:30 pm. It said the same thing " We need you to sign the paper and leave the ship." over and over and over on the loop really loud all Thursday night inside and outside cabin. There is no new info given. 

[jollycrewzer]

I was also on the sailing that was cut short. I loved the cruise. Beautiful ship and one of the best crew that we’ve ever had. It was very disappointing to have the cruise cut short by a day at the last minute. I had a very hard time deciding what to do. In the end, the airline had no flights to get us home on Friday and they wouldn’t let us have an open ended return (we didn’t know when we would return). So we opted to get a hotel room in Miami and keep our Saturday return flight. Very disappointing to have to spend the extra money for food, drink and lodging that was already paid for on MSC.

 

That being said, I do believe that MSC was doing, what they thought at the time, was in our best interest. I do not fault them in their decision to sail, not to sail or to sail again. But, what I do have issues with is having to pay port charges for a port we didn’t go to, paying gratuities for services we didn’t receive, paying for a day of the drink package that we didn’t use and a day of internet that we didn’t use. Besides the port charges, these are all things that are charged on a per day basis.

 

I talked to a couple on the NCL ship that came back early.  They received a 20% refund and some future cruise credit. I heard today that a 4 day Carnival cruise came into port today on time but they missed ports due to them being closed. They received a 50% refund and 50% future cruise credit. 

 

I just expected something from MSC, after all they said we are family. So far we have heard nothing.