Royal Caribbean no longer going to Glacier Bay

[AKStafford]

Here’s the story :

https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/royal-caribbean-removes-alaskas-glacier-bay-from-select-cruises.html

[Coral]

I wonder why they failed to sign.

 

I have a friend who worked for RCCL and said that they wanted really badly to get permits. This was several years ago.

[geoherb]

That would be a major disappointment to me if I had booked a cruise that had Glacier Bay on the itinerary at the time I booked it. The substitutions they announced would not make it up.

[strickerj]

There's a thread on this in the RCL forum (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2706765-glacier-bay-2020/), and from the looks of it, customers aren't happy that no compensation or even change fee waivers are being offered. IMHO, that's pretty absurd considering the Glacier Bay sailings were heavily marketed and command a price premium, and this change seemed to be entirely at the discretion of RCL - kind of reeks of bait and switch.

[AlanF65]

4 minutes ago, strickerj said:

There's a thread on this in the RCL forum (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2706765-glacier-bay-2020/), and from the looks of it, customers aren't happy that no compensation or even change fee waivers are being offered. IMHO, that's pretty absurd considering the Glacier Bay sailings were heavily marketed and command a price premium, and this change seemed to be entirely at the discretion of RCL - kind of reeks of bait and switch.

I was B2B on Radiance after Glacier bay was announced, the price for the B2B dropped about $1,300 over two months, some of the people that booked early thought they were going to Skagway and were disapponted.

 

I canceled my RCI yesterday when it was final they weren't going, I made two reservations on different HAL sailings. one a NB and one a 14 day without Glacier bay but a nice section of ports and Zodiac excursions at Misty Fjord, Hubbard, Tracy arm and Inan islands.

 

Yesterday I accepted that it was too late to get a good price for a NB and SB that worked for me with or without days in Seward so I did the 14 day and I miss Glacier Bay.

 

I am now looking  at a 7 day out of  Juneau for  September next year with 3 days in Glacier bay on Uncruise. with the OBC that I received from HAL its a lower price than my royal B2B. I was able to move my Glacier wind reservation to another day, had to cancel my Kenai Fjords excursion on the B2B day. I am disappointed as I was really looking forward to seeing GB and Hubbard twice.

 

I think anybody that made reservations based on the Glacier bay  itinerary should get some compensation and if enough people speak up Royal may change their minds ( they have reversed themselves many times). My future Alaska sailings will be on another line unless they get a decent itinerary that is longer and different ports.

 

 

 

 

 

[strickerj]

2 minutes ago, AlanF65 said:

I was B2B on Radiance after Glacier bay was announced, the price for the B2B dropped about $1,300 over two months, some of the people that booked early thought they were going to Skagway and were disapponted.

 

I canceled my RCI yesterday when it was final they weren't going, I made two reservations on different HAL sailings. one a NB and one a 14 day without Glacier bay but a nice section of ports and Zodiac excursions at Misty Fjord, Hubbard, Tracy arm and Inan islands.

 

Yesterday I accepted that it was too late to get a good price for a NB and SB that worked for me with or without days in Seward so I did the 14 day and I miss Glacier Bay.

 

I am now looking  at a 7 day out of  Juneau for  September next year with 3 days in Glacier bay on Uncruise. with the OBC that I received from HAL its a lower price than my royal B2B. I was able to move my Glacier wind reservation to another day, had to cancel my Kenai Fjords excursion on the B2B day. I am disappointed as I was really looking forward to seeing GB and Hubbard twice.

 

I think anybody that made reservations based on the Glacier bay  itinerary should get some compensation and if enough people speak up Royal may change their minds ( they have reversed themselves many times). My future Alaska sailings will be on another line unless they get a decent itinerary that is longer and different ports.

 

 

 

 

 

That's a bummer, but hopefully you still have a good time. I was considering Royal when I saw they were going to Glacier Bay but ended up getting a better deal on HAL instead. (HAL's smaller ship and subdued atmosphere were more attractive to me anyway.) Needless to say, if I had ended up booking RCL, I'd be pretty miffed right now.

[AlanF65]

2 minutes ago, strickerj said:

That's a bummer, but hopefully you still have a good time. I was considering Royal when I saw they were going to Glacier Bay but ended up getting a better deal on HAL instead. (HAL's smaller ship and subdued atmosphere were more attractive to me anyway.) Needless to say, if I had ended up booking RCL, I'd be pretty miffed right now.

I am excited about the HAL ports and visits, plus the 4 Zodiac trips to get up close and personal at the glaciers and other locations are pretty cool.

I like HAL's smaller ships and I don't need all the shows and bells and whistles, I am there for the ports and relaxation.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by AlanF65

[Italy52]

1 hour ago, AlanF65 said:

I am excited about the HAL ports and visits, plus the 4 Zodiac trips to get up close and personal at the glaciers and other locations are pretty cool.

I like HAL's smaller ships and I don't need all the shows and bells and whistles, I am there for the ports and relaxation.

 

 

Please report back on this board and let us know how the Zodiac trips went.  We were considering the Maasdam 14-day cruise at one time --- this was before the Zodiacs were added as excursions so curious to learn about the experience.

[masterdrago]

Well, that might do it for us as long time RCI cruisers. Our next trip to Alaska (late 2021) had a must see Glacier Bay attachment on it. Guess we'll be cruising another line. Now looking at HAL itineraries. Sad, since we were now Diamond.

Edited November 7, 2019 by masterdrago