Explorer diverting to Trieste disembark

[little britain]

17 hours ago, seagbrook said:

We are also joining Explorer of the Seas on 28th May ! Flying into Bologna on 27th from Heathrow and stopping overnight in Bologna. We have a van booked for 6 of us from Bologna to Ravenna for the Sunday. We have been watching and reading the terrible news of floods in Ravenna and now the after effects of the cruises being diverted. It now appears the Heathrow Security staff are striking this Sat too so who knows what disruption that will bring.... I'll wait to hear news of where we need to be on Sunday folks ! Good luck everyone.

Captain has just announce returning to Ravenna on 28th - at top tier event this morning on Explorer

[seagbrook]

5 minutes ago, little britain said:

Captain has just announce returning to Ravenna on 28th - at top tier event this morning on Explorer

Fantastic news 🥳 thank you !

[Billy Baltic]

17 hours ago, seagbrook said:

We have a van booked for 6 of us from Bologna to Ravenna for the Sunday

Apologies for going off topic but may I ask who you are using and if they were recommended?

[seagbrook]

My husband booked it, we went through booking.com . Not used them before for transport but we have all the driver details and contacts so far so fingers crossed ! 

[scottraveller]

Brilliant brilliant brilliant

 

[crazyank]

35 minutes ago, little britain said:

Captain has just announce returning to Ravenna on 28th - at top tier event this morning on Explorer

Outstanding news!! Many thanks Little Britain

[little britain]

1 hour ago, Billy Baltic said:

Apologies for going off topic but may I ask who you are using and if they were recommended?

Vqtravels.com

 

[ajtaylor29]

On 5/21/2023 at 11:59 PM, Coralc said:

Crystal went out of business, rather suddenly. I guess their ships are docked somewhere. Interesting! Thanks. 

I keep getting emails from Crystal (we sailed her once a few years ago) announcing that they are resuming cruising (i think under new ownership?) and inviting us to book. Hmmmm. If their ships are still parked.....are they waiting to resume once enough people send money?!? I haven't paid much attention to these e-mails since we already have more cruises booked and can't handle another one right now?!?

[MeHeartCruising]

On 5/22/2023 at 7:47 AM, pstone1 said:

The crew did an amazing job with a very difficult situation.  Overnight, they arranged bus transfers to get cruisers to the Bologna & Venice Airports, and the Trieste Train Station from the Trieste Commercial Dock.  Everyone with Royal paid transfers were automatically scheduled with departure times for busses taking them to their destinations.  Everyone else went to the Train Station on shuttle busses.  
 

Crew were available in a Conference Room for hours to answer questions and help with changes.  Multiple announcements were made, a departure schedule with Luggage Tag Departure times was delivered to everyone’s cabin, and there was information on the TV.  Guest Services was fully staffed and they were busy!

 

The Windjammer opened around 3am for breakfast and the MDR also opened early.  We found everything incredibly smooth.  We were on Deck 9, Midship, and had to depart from the forward gangway.  There was no problem wheeling our bags down the hall and no wait to get an elevator.  Downstairs, there was a bus waiting for the short (15 minute) ride to the Train Station.  

 

As Trieste was a Commercial Dock, there were no luggage services, so you did have to get your bags to Deck 1 where Security scanned you off the ship.  We were surprised to see Crew waiting right there to take bags and load them on a bus sitting right at the bottom of the ramp.   
 

The entire process was incredibly smooth for what must have been a logistical nightmare.  The EX crew went above and beyond to make an unsettling situation as easy as possible.  Many worked through the night and still had to welcome the next guests with smiles later in the day!  We are grateful to all of them!

 

I know some cruisers were annoyed due to a longer bus ride or a plan change at the eleventh hour, but in our opinion, Royal did everything they could to make the process as easy as possible.  The terminal in Ravenna was unavailable due to the terrible flooding.  People in Ravenna lost lives, homes, and property,  Our thoughts are with them.

This was my experience as well. However, I was shuttled to Venice Airport.   Our disembark time was more than an hour later than estimated, but given the circumstances, I had no complaints.  My flight was not until 3:30, so obviously it was more important to get people with earlier flights to the airport.  I understand those who had to go all the way to Bologna had very long shuttle rides.  While unfortunate, there wasn’t much of a better option, unless the passenger chose to change their plans at their town expense. 

Edited May 24, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[scottraveller]

Sitting in my hotel in Ravenna having had an interesting journey here. Eventually got to Heathrow T5 as our motorway was closed in sections at the time we left home. It was a case of back roads etc but we arrived only 15 mins late. As the T5 security staff strike was on we had a bit of trepidation prior to arriving at the airport. However, the folk who manned the strikers posts did a great job manoeuvring everyone through and although it was extremely busy we go through with a bit of time to spare. The flight was uneventful. Organised a transfer with the hotel and that went very smoothly.  Ravenna is a nice place with a lot of history which we will explore tomorrow. 
 

I received an email tonight from RCI confirming that we will be sailing from Ravenna on Sunday. Not sure why the email was delivered on the Friday before the sailing on the Sunday but still relieved about it. Weather here is stunningly gorgeous with hot, sunny weather which is fab 

[gumshoe958]

5 minutes ago, scottraveller said:

Sitting in my hotel in Ravenna having had an interesting journey here. Eventually got to Heathrow T5 as our motorway was closed in sections at the time we left home. It was a case of back roads etc but we arrived only 15 mins late. As the T5 security staff strike was on we had a bit of trepidation prior to arriving at the airport. However, the folk who manned the strikers posts did a great job manoeuvring everyone through and although it was extremely busy we go through with a bit of time to spare. The flight was uneventful. Organised a transfer with the hotel and that went very smoothly.  Ravenna is a nice place with a lot of history which we will explore tomorrow. 
 

I received an email tonight from RCI confirming that we will be sailing from Ravenna on Sunday. Not sure why the email was delivered on the Friday before the sailing on the Sunday but still relieved about it. Weather here is stunningly gorgeous with hot, sunny weather which is fab 

Glad you made it safely. Given BA’s meltdown over the last 24 hours, you were lucky you even managed to leave the UK!

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[scottraveller]

Thanks gumshoe. Yes the famous BA IT system. Noticed there was a number of flights cancelled today but we were very lucky which I’m relieved about