Highly unusual incident on the Anthem of the Seas.

[cruiseboy89130]

3 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

Also if they knocked and got no answer would not immediately try to unlock the door.

Why?

Edited November 7, 2022 by cruiseboy89130

[njkruzer]

Just now, cruiseboy89130 said:

Why?

My guess is that they probably needed permission to break in especially if locked from inside.   

[reallyitsmema]

2 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

My guess is that they probably needed permission to break in especially if locked from inside.   

 

Security can easily open a cabin door, even if it is locked from the inside.  I actually saw security testing the door locks with a master key on Oasis last month.  I was in my cabin about to leave, so was near the door, and I saw the lock that you set, unlock and then relock.  I opened the door and there were two security guys at my door.  They explained what they were doing and apologized if they scared us.  This was a port day but we had stayed on the ship.  Nice to see they test things.

[loman]

6 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

My guess is that they probably needed permission to break in especially if locked from inside.   

If it was locked from the inside then they know they are in there .

Start hammering the door and let the phone ring off the hook. 

That would get their attention you would think.

Incompetence at its finest.

[njkruzer]

20 minutes ago, loman said:

If it was locked from the inside then they know they are in there .

Start hammering the door and let the phone ring off the hook. 

That would get their attention you would think.

Incompetence at its finest.

Agree but you can't drag them out in their undies!  Can you imagine that photo!  Understand i think the behavior of these people are unforgivable.  The solution is not as simple we would all like.  

[DaKahuna]

27 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

Agree but you can't drag them out in their undies!  Can you imagine that photo!  Understand i think the behavior of these people are unforgivable.  The solution is not as simple we would all like.  

 

 Just because you should not does not necessarily mean you cannot.  

 If these people went unpunished, then I am extremely disappointed in Royal Caribbean. 

 

[Sunshine3601]

I guess as time goes on we will hear stories of where the other 29 people were.

[Another_Critic]

58 minutes ago, loman said:

If it was locked from the inside then they know they are in there .

Start hammering the door and let the phone ring off the hook. 

That would get their attention you would think.

Incompetence at its finest.

You assume that everyone can hear.

[loman]

9 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

You assume that everyone can hear.

After a couple of minutes of enthusiastic knocking and still no answer, perhaps the crew should enter the cabin for a safety check. 

I favor RC , but letting this fiasco go on that long is indefensible.

[RandomUser123]

We were on this cruise as well. Our original plan was we were going to get back on the ship once this was done to drop off our passports and kids birth certificates and then go out in Miami for a little beach time and some lunch and shopping (figuring it would be done by 10:30AM based on what the time frame was) but with everything that happened by the time we got back on the ship it was already 1:30PM so we ended up just staying on the ship since there really would not have been much time and we were hungry. We did not want to take our passports and kids birth certificates with us into town because you never know and those are the last things we would want to lose. This was such a mess, there were old people who needed medical assistance, I heard a child suffered a seizure, there was a potential near riot when a large group were chanting "refund, refund, refund..."

[not-enough-cruising]

13 hours ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

I'm thinking a $200k fine would be more than enough.  

There was no $200K fine. There was a voluntary good will gesture that will net

them far more than the investment. 

Edited November 7, 2022 by not-enough-cruising

[davy jones]

We were on the cruise. It was a very pleasant cruise.

 

 While there were many of very bad experiences that day, our experience was not nearly as bad as many.  However, what I did see made me believe that the really bad reports did happen.  The short version is that we went on a shore excursion, arrived back at the ship at 1:30 to a line of several thousand irate passengers and did not get back onboard until 2:30.  I observed a lot of non chaotic anger and dissatisfaction.  The semi order was likely due to the presence of the Miami police.   I'd consider our experience more as an inexcusable inconvenience caused by a combination of poor passenger behavior and incompetence by the US immigration, Royal Caribbean, and Miami port operations.  

 

I will not discuss the rude passengers who are the root cause of the problem other than to say that their cruise should have ended in Miami.  The others should be holding thorough reviews to identify the issues that caused the fiasco and how to avoid them in the future.  I will only comment on Royal because this is a Royal forum and discussion of the other agencies is not appropriate here.

 

From my own experiences in this matter.  The onboard communication from Royal was inconsistent and contradictory.  The day prior to the Miami stop, I went to the shorex desk and specifically asked for guidance on what to do.  We were told to go meet the group at the assigned time (9:15 AM) in the theater and everything would be taken care of.  Later the same day, documents were delivered to our cabin saying that we were assigned to a mandatory immigration time of 8:15 AM on the pier and would not be able to return to the ship until it was completely cleared.  We went back to the shorex desk that evening to clarify this and were told to disembark at 8:15 AM and wait outside to until 9:15 and meet the tour outside the terminal.  

 

Based on the final information, we got up an hour early to prepare for the 8:15 departure.  The 8:15 announcement began and we left the cabin.  At the end of the announcement, it was announced that all shore excursions should follow the meeting time and place on the shore ex ticket (9:15 in the theater).  Fortunately, we heard this before disembarking and returned to the cabin to wait.

 

The same announcement said that those not planning to go ashore could wait until the end to disembark.  While this makes sense, the wording likely encouraged longer than anticipated stays onboard.  

 

Based on our experience, my "advice" to Royal would be to provide consistent, clear communication between internal departments and clear message to the passengers.  They certainly have other things to cover and improve during the inquiry.

 

In my mind it is over, but Royal would be wise to take steps to prevent and/or mitigate future events like this.

Edited November 7, 2022 by davy jones
add a comment at the beginning

[moposh]

On 11/3/2022 at 1:46 PM, reallyitsmema said:

I don't think this qualifies as an "incident".  Isn't it pretty normal for a ship to do its immigration check at the first US port if calls on after being out of the country?

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by moposh

[latserrof]

FWIW, we had a very similar experience in Miami on NCL a couple years ago. Appalling. The cruise line must know that something like this will happen, and that they should take some measures to avoid it.

 

We got $50 OBC and two hours of open bar.

[jessed]

1 hour ago, davy jones said:

We were on the cruise. It was a very pleasant cruise.

 

 While there were many of very bad experiences that day, our experience was not nearly as bad as many.  However, what I did see made me believe that the really bad reports did happen.  The short version is that we went on a shore excursion, arrived back at the ship at 1:30 to a line of several thousand irate passengers and did not get back onboard until 2:30.  I observed a lot of non chaotic anger and dissatisfaction.  The semi order was likely due to the presence of the Miami police.   I'd consider our experience more as an inexcusable inconvenience caused by a combination of poor passenger behavior and incompetence by the US immigration, Royal Caribbean, and Miami port operations.  

 

I will not discuss the rude passengers who are the root cause of the problem other than to say that their cruise should have ended in Miami.  The others should be holding thorough reviews to identify the issues that caused the fiasco and how to avoid them in the future.  I will only comment on Royal because this is a Royal forum and discussion of the other agencies is not appropriate here.

 

From my own experiences in this matter.  The onboard communication from Royal was inconsistent and contradictory.  The day prior to the Miami stop, I went to the shorex desk and specifically asked for guidance on what to do.  We were told to go meet the group at the assigned time (9:15 AM) in the theater and everything would be taken care of.  Later the same day, documents were delivered to our cabin saying that we were assigned to a mandatory immigration time of 8:15 AM on the pier and would not be able to return to the ship until it was completely cleared.  We went back to the shorex desk that evening to clarify this and were told to disembark at 8:15 AM and wait outside to until 9:15 and meet the tour outside the terminal.  

 

Based on the final information, we got up an hour early to prepare for the 8:15 departure.  The 8:15 announcement began and we left the cabin.  At the end of the announcement, it was announced that all shore excursions should follow the meeting time and place on the shore ex ticket (9:15 in the theater).  Fortunately, we heard this before disembarking and returned to the cabin to wait.

 

The same announcement said that those not planning to go ashore could wait until the end to disembark.  While this makes sense, the wording likely encouraged longer than anticipated stays onboard.  

 

Based on our experience, my "advice" to Royal would be to provide consistent, clear communication between internal departments and clear message to the passengers.  They certainly have other things to cover and improve during the inquiry.

 

In my mind it is over, but Royal would be wise to take steps to prevent and/or mitigate future events like this.

We were on this cruise and I agree with most everything you said. We got back from our excursion, which was also a disaster, at 1:30 also and I would guess there was 500 people in line, not several thousand. There was a few people complaining but it seemed quite orderly. We were back on board in 30-35 minutes. I agree everything else was a disaster, the $125 OBC helped a little.  

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

4 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

There was no $200K fine. There was a voluntary good will gesture that will net

them far more than the investment. 

Sound accurate, as now it seems it was all OBC.  So not like real money out of RCCL's pocket.  

[Another_Critic]

8 minutes ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

Sound accurate, as now it seems it was all OBC.  So not like real money out of RCCL's pocket.  

Refundable, so as good as cash.  But of course, some will spend it on board.

[not-enough-cruising]

51 minutes ago, latserrof said:

FWIW, we had a very similar experience in Miami on NCL a couple years ago. Appalling. The cruise line must know that something like this will happen, and that they should take some measures to avoid it.

 

We got $50 OBC and two hours of open bar.

There is really nothing the cruise line can do, other than get everyone off the ship on a timely manner. EVERYTHING else is on DHS 

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

4 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

Refundable, so as good as cash.  But of course, some will spend it on board.

Who said, "refundable?"  We once had $900 OBC after all our offers were combined (those were the days).  Come next to last day we were buying SWAG we didn't need so we didn't have to give it back.  

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

4 hours ago, latserrof said:

We got $50 OBC and two hours of open bar.

Now, you're talking!  

[Another_Critic]

5 minutes ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

Who said, "refundable?"  We once had $900 OBC after all our offers were combined (those were the days).  Come next to last day we were buying SWAG we didn't need so we didn't have to give it back.  

I am referring to the OBC that was issued for the immigration issue on this sailing.  Your $900 OBC has nothing to do with the topic of this thread.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

28 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

I am referring to the OBC that was issued for the immigration issue on this sailing.  Your $900 OBC has nothing to do with the topic of this thread.

Sorry, I expounded.  I knew to what you were referring and who said the OBC for this immigration issue was refundable?  I don't see that reported any where.  

[jessed]

12 minutes ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

Sorry, I expounded.  I knew to what you were referring and who said the OBC for this immigration issue was refundable?  I don't see that reported any where.  

In our letter we got telling us about the OBC, it said it was refundable.

[Swath]

On 11/3/2022 at 2:00 PM, FionaMG said:

It's an 8-night cruise that previously called at Port Canaveral, then Nassau and Coco Cay, so the stop in Miami is the first US port of call after the Bahamas, hence the requirement to do immigration formalities there rather than at the end of the cruise in Bayonne.

From what I've been reading elsewhere, it's not been properly organised - whether that's Royal's fault or CBP's or a combination of both I don't know - and it's an absolute zoo.

I was on this Sailing and YES INDEED  It was Handled like CRAP

Royal gave Room Credit to all aboard

$100 for INT & O.V.

$125 for Balconies

Can't Recall what Suites got

[Sunshine3601]

27 minutes ago, Swath said:

I was on this Sailing and YES INDEED  It was Handled like CRAP

Royal gave Room Credit to all aboard

$100 for INT & O.V.

$125 for Balconies

Can't Recall what Suites got

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