Highly unusual incident on the Anthem of the Seas.

[ReneeFLL]

On 11/4/2022 at 6:33 AM, StarAFire said:

I am on this sailing. This was a planned thing. It was in the app since day 1 when we started the cruise. We are doing immigration as we finished our Coco cay and Nassau stops the 2 days prior. So this is our first US port of call.  I think majority of folks on my sailing are in FB vs this site. But there were tickets, and even a sheet of instruction delivered at least a day or so earlier. Announcements etc.

 

Because my family choose to stay on the ship in Miami instead of going off. We were in the Last Call group at 10am. And according to the sheet they expected to complete immigration for everyone by 10:30am. But instead we were all standing out in the sun, for several hours because 33 PASSENGERS decided that this didn’t apply to them and had to be hunted down. Like literally someone posted that they saw one guy sitting on their balcony. Another girl was just at the pool!!   And so for my family at least, we didn’t get back on board until almost 2pm😞. Long lines everywhere even when trying to get back on the ship as they wouldn’t let anyone back on. At least some folks who went earlier got to be in the air conditioned terminal and sitting on chairs. We were outside in the heat. None of the Rccl employees were outside with us. They stayed in the air conditioned terminal. So no one was telling us what was happening. We only knew about the 33 folks cause others that happened to be in the terminal were overhearing from employees. Outside we knew nothing and didn’t even get water or anything. Once we got back onboard, the capt made an announcement on board to apologize and said a letter would be sent to try and make up for some of this. 
 

this is first time I got off ship for this. But last time I did this when sailing RCCL in Asia and I think immigration came onboard and they called us by floors. I am going to say that was a lot more comfortable then this round

I hope the 33 passengers got nothing!

[Another_Critic]

1 hour 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

So Int & OV were inconvenienced less than Balconies and Suites?  🙄

[Sunshine3601]

7 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

So Int & OV were inconvenienced less than Balconies and Suites?  🙄

Good point!  I agree everyone, except the 33 idiots, should receive same OBC no matter what they paid for their cabin.😃

[Duck Down]

We were on the cruise as well. The actions of a few, ruined it for many.

 

First, A lot of people did not read or understand the communication prior to getting off the ship. It was actually noted when we first got on that we would have to clear customs in Miami.

 

The night before arrival in Miami, we were left a communication as well as a piece of paper (Immigration Ticket) with our Zone to get off the ship. We were given Zone 14 with a time of 9:30 - 9:45 AM.

 

It specifically stated that if you were not getting off the ship, to disregard the ticket, and get off when "Last Call" was announced at 10-10:30 AM.

 

We originally wanted to get off early to go to South Beach because i had to be back on board for 1 pm for a work meeting. Because of our Zone 14 9:30-9:45 AM time slot, we decided to stay on the ship, go through customs, then stay on the ship for the day.

 

They made a few announcements in the morning to WAIT until last call if you are staying on the ship. Quite a few people did not understand/listen and were stuck sitting in the terminal until everyone cleared. It ended up they were the lucky ones as they had seats.

 

We joined the lines around 10 for "Last Call" to disembark for customs. While walking through the terminal to go to customs, we saw a huge number of people sitting in the chairs waiting to get back on the ship. The actual process through customs was quick and efficient. In no time we were cleared and outside the terminal. Then we saw the line.....

 

The line was long and not moving. We were in the line for hours outside the terminal. A positive was there was a roof over our heads blocking the sun, and there were large fans blowing down. Many people had issues standing in the line. Our backs were starting to hurt, and my sciatica was yelling at me.

 

Terminal staff started pulling those in wheel chairs and walkers into a fast track line into the terminal.

 

It seemed that after a couple of hours, the line started to move. We found out it was only to get to other lines that were not moving.

 

Lines:

1.) Outside the terminal waiting to get in.

2.) Inside the first floor waiting to go up the escalator.

3.) Second floor waiting to go through security. This is where there was finally some communication from RCCL. One of the ship staff started to address the crowd. He only got out out "Sorry for the delay" before the crowd erupted with pent up frustration. There were boos, swearing, and chants of refund. He had to walk away. 

4.) Post security waiting to get up top the third floor.

5.) Third floor waiting to get onto the gangway.

 

We finally got on the ship close to 1:30 PM. I missed my meeting, and we went to lunch. Others took even longer to get on the ship.

 

During the dinner, the head waiter for the dining room came by asking how our day was. We had a good laugh after telling him he should not be asking that question that night. He said he was one of those searching for the missing passengers.

 

There was not an official announcement from RCCL as to what happened or the reason for the delay. When we got back to the cabin later that night, there was a note stating that they were issuing an onboard refundable credit due to the "boarding delay".

 

It was quite a day.

 

 

 

[Swath]

The People who had booked trips had it easy by comparison we had to go to the theater and wait there but that was also communicated poorly

[Cyndi874]

I was on this cruise and have been waiting to post since the event was ongoing, but was unable to log into Cruise Critic until right now.

 

For a bit of closure as for what happened to the final group of four passengers that were hiding on their balcony- (and this was after the other 29 passengers had finally been found and left the ship)

 

According to a couple of employees in the Miami immigration terminal (NOT Royal Caribbean employees but Immigration terminal employees) 

 

The four passengers that were hiding are being charged by Immigration for obstruction of the Immigration process. 

 

I don't really know the specifics of what that means, I would imagine at the very least, it would be a hefty fine for all four of them. (Assuming none are minors- I don't know that detail. I would not be surprised if they were detained and removed from the ship and immigration terminal for at least a few hours. 

 

I would be extremely surprised if they were allowed back onboard the ship. After all, they were in violation of the cruise contract and cost RCCL thousands of dollars and created a literal nightmare situation for not only 5000 passengers- but also every single crew member all the way from every cabin steward who had to hear 5000 people complaining to them over the next several hours, to the Guest Services employees who had to deal with a line of furious people trying to get refunds for missed excursions, spa bookings, Northstar reservations, or just to angrily vent, the Windjammer and other food venue employees who had to deal with thousands of hot and HANGRY passengers, to the Captain who had to publicly apologize over the ship announcement system more than once (I heard two announcements after I was onboard) and write/send out an apology letter to every stateroom.

 

I cannot imagine a reality in which those four passengers would be allowed to sail with Royal Carribean again anytime soon.

[davy jones]

1 hour ago, Cyndi874 said:

I was on this cruise and have been waiting to post since the event was ongoing, but was unable to log into Cruise Critic until right now.

 

For a bit of closure as for what happened to the final group of four passengers that were hiding on their balcony- (and this was after the other 29 passengers had finally been found and left the ship)

 

According to a couple of employees in the Miami immigration terminal (NOT Royal Caribbean employees but Immigration terminal employees) 

 

The four passengers that were hiding are being charged by Immigration for obstruction of the Immigration process. 

 

I don't really know the specifics of what that means, I would imagine at the very least, it would be a hefty fine for all four of them. (Assuming none are minors- I don't know that detail. I would not be surprised if they were detained and removed from the ship and immigration terminal for at least a few hours. 

 

I would be extremely surprised if they were allowed back onboard the ship. After all, they were in violation of the cruise contract and cost RCCL thousands of dollars and created a literal nightmare situation for not only 5000 passengers- but also every single crew member all the way from every cabin steward who had to hear 5000 people complaining to them over the next several hours, to the Guest Services employees who had to deal with a line of furious people trying to get refunds for missed excursions, spa bookings, Northstar reservations, or just to angrily vent, the Windjammer and other food venue employees who had to deal with thousands of hot and HANGRY passengers, to the Captain who had to publicly apologize over the ship announcement system more than once (I heard two announcements after I was onboard) and write/send out an apology letter to every stateroom.

 

I cannot imagine a reality in which those four passengers would be allowed to sail with Royal Carribean again anytime soon.

I certainly hope that that is the case.  There were many people who had pretty bad experiences.

[artvlay]

I would be curious if we will ever know what happened to the four passengers.

 

So what were the final refunds that RC gave the passengers? 

 

[Coralc]

Hmm. Interesting about the four passengers. 

[Sunshine3601]

Glad to hear the 4 people hiding out are being charged.  What idiots!!!

[latserrof]

On 11/7/2022 at 10:36 AM, not-enough-cruising said:

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 

It appears that in this case, as on our NCL cruise, the delay was caused not by DHS, but by the cruise lines' failure to "get everyone off the ship on a timely manner."

 

One poster above (who was aboard this cruise) said "The actual process through customs was quick and efficient. In no time we were cleared and outside the terminal."

Edited November 9, 2022 by latserrof
addend

[ace2542]

On 11/3/2022 at 5:42 PM, AltarEgo said:

A closed loop sailing from New Jersey aboard the Anthem of the Seas has disembarked all passengers in Miami for Immigration check ins. A passenger that is on board now said the reason given he was " RCL claimed it would save time when we disembark back in NJ."  So far, no official announcement or explanation has been given to the passengers by Royal Caribbean for the change in Immigration policies or procedures.

Sounds like they may have been trying to catch illegals who may have boarded to take the cruise?

[njkruzer]

1 minute ago, ace2542 said:

Sounds like they may have been trying to catch illegals who may have boarded to take the cruise?

No, standard with 1st US port.  Still shouldn't have taken this long.  Passengers weren't given enough info and then there were the passengers who chose to ignore the instructions to get off.  Also the set up for immigration review.   We did immigration onboard in Boston but only half the passengers.

[RedIguana]

1 hour ago, ace2542 said:

Sounds like they may have been trying to catch illegals who may have boarded to take the cruise?

I just have no idea how this statement makes any sense.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, RedIguana said:

I just have no idea how this statement makes any sense.

If you would have read some of his other posts, it would.

[RandomUser123]

17 hours ago, artvlay said:

I would be curious if we will ever know what happened to the four passengers.

 

So what were the final refunds that RC gave the passengers? 

 

$100 OBC for Inside or Oceanview rooms

$125 OBC for balcony rooms

$200 OBC for Suites

 

And $25 each for 3rd or 4th guests. 

 

We got $150 OBC since we were in Oceanview room and had our 2 kids with us.