RCCLI/Freedom Of The Seas Cruise 8/31;The Good, Bad, and Ugly

[lance32]

My fellow GLTB cruisers who go on RCCLI, just a warning they will not allow a person with a different last name to cancel anything on another persons seapass account, this means that even two partners, who have different last names will have a problem. Let me explain my problem along with a mini review of my recent cruise and let you decide!

 

The problem: I booked two airport transfers on the cabin TV to take us from the ship at The Port Of Miami To Fort Lauderdale Airport. My friend, not partner decided that we should use a Private car Service like we had upon arrival at FLL Airport on 8/30 one day prior to the cruise. On the second sea day caused by one of the Hurricanes, too many names to remember which one, the captain told us that due to the weather that we would not visit Labadee Haiti, RCCLI Private Island. Though Dissapointed about not going Zip Lining This was an act of god. During the second sea day on Tuesday 9/2 I left a very enjoyable trivia game during a break to go to the Customer Service Desk to cancel this transfer. I was immediately told that my friend would have to go to the desk to cancel this transfer. I became angry because a hetcouple would not have this problem. I uttered an expletive which was not even one of george carlins list of words not to say on TV! lol. The agent called security because I evidently violated RCCLI guest conduct policy, which is not posted anywhere.

As I am savy I walked away to kool down and avoid the cruise line security officers. The word was God..... dont want this post pulled. I was next escorted into the office of The guest service manager, who I will not name due to posting rules. If you want to complain for me he is on the FOS, not to hard for and indentity to be established. I found myself locked in an office with this man, certainly no Gentelman, and a witness who I believe was gay, and also a Concierge for the Diamond Customers which are RCCLI top cruisers, who have a special lounge available. I did not lie, so I admitted my mistake as a human. This rude person got nasty then and wanted me to write a statement which I refused. I believe the folowing to be true:

1. This man is Homophobic, and the other man who I think was gay did not stand up for me.

2. This man and I use this term loosely told me that "Americans such as myself have an attiude problem"

3. Not being Hispanic, and being an American found me being treated as would an enemy combatant would be at camp Gitmo.

4. I was not intoxicated, not physically abusive, nor did I do any other damage.

5. Technically I was held under false arrest.

 

At this point my recourse seems nill. I paid for the trip in cash, so I cannot dispute the charge.

Since this problem occured in International waters most US Law Enforcement does not have jurisdiction unless a capital crime has been committed.

Through family connections an investigation is proceeding, which will include an immigration check of this individual. Other than a background check, I have no recourse, so I wanted to warn fellow family cruisers about this incident.

 

The Moral here is never to use bad language on RCCLI as this could ruin your trip as it did to mine.

 

Now for the cruise details.

Ship was nice, cabin was ok, small but had a balcony. Hard this early to provide any more info on cruise. please feel free to ask me any questions, I promise to provide full review soon.

peace,

lance 32

PS If you would like you can go to The RCCLI website and complain on my behalf by emailing them. MY Cruise was ruined, my friend was angry, and I had a lousy vacation. I am looking for some token apology. I will probably take this story to the media if RCCLI does not settle this problem to my satisfaction. Thank you all for reading this.

 

Also I am suffering from what seems to be PTSD which is scary.

Thanks again friends!:)

[ATLfuzzy]

Ouch!

 

I'll make sure not to curse at any staff on my next cruise. Doesn't sound pleasant...

[lance32]

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to respond, what is your favorite cruise line for being most gay friendly excluding all gay cruises such as Atlantis?

Peace,

lance32:)

[ATLfuzzy]

I've gone on RC and Celebrity, and found them both to be quite hopsitable.

[02143]

3. Not being Hispanic, and being an American found me being treated as would an enemy combatant would be at camp Gitmo.

 

I'm sorry for this experience. Can I ask, what did you mean by this? You think they treated you badly because, in part, you aren't Hispanic?

[lance32]

Hi,

Unfortunantly I meant no harm by my statement that you questioned. Under the advice of My Attorney, and An International Law Enforcement orginization, I cannot further comment as to the incident, so not to prejudice my legal, and other options in this matter. Sorry if I offended you.Hope your cruises are better than my Second and possibly my last.

peace,

Jon P:)

[lance32]

Hi,

Unfortunantly I meant no harm by my statement that you questioned. Under the advice of My Attorney, and An International Law Enforcement orginization, I cannot further comment as to the incident, so not to prejudice my legal, and other options in this matter. Sorry if I offended you.Hope your cruises are better than my Second and possibly my last.

peace,

Jon P:)

[02143]

No problems. I hope you find a satisfactory resolution.

[lance32]

:) Update: I received a very nice apology from a member OF RCCLI Corporate Guest Relations staff. As there are many other issues in my life, ie Lehman Brothers AIG, etc I am going to put this issue to bed. I was offered a bottle of wine as a token apology which is nice. Will I cruise again at all remains in question at this point. Hope all readers of this thread are not affected by the recent problems on Wall Street.

Peace,

lance 32

[SLCBoys]

lance...wow sorry to hear you had that incident, things could have been worse, they could have kicked you off the ship. We didn't make it to the M&M since it was so early and never went to the Schooner Bar.

 

My partner and I never had any problems on this sailing. When were you guys in the concierge lounge? We were in there at least a few times a day and every night before dinner. Wilfredo, the concierge was very nice to us, knew we were together and treated us just like anyone else. Were you in the lounge on deck 14 or 9? We didn't go into 9, the lounge on 14 was much better from what we were told. We met another gay couple from the east coast in there and saw a group of 3 latin guys in there that was very obvious but didn't talk to them.

 

Loved the Freedom and all the crew we encountered, all were friendly, smiled, asked how we were both doing and all around pleasant.

 

I was really bummed we didn't get to stop in Labadee, I too was really looking forward to the Dragons Breath Zipline. The next day we saw our credits appear on our seapass accounts. Didn't really care for Jamacia, thought the weather in Grand Cayman was absolutely perfect, wasn't even that humid but Cozumel...holy cow that was so humid. Were you by chance on the Catamaran snorkel tour? I noticed some obvious family members but never said hi...too funny if it was you guys.

[lance32]

Hi Guys,

hope your cruise was better than mine!

I Liked

GRAND CAYMAN

PORTOFINOS

CABIN

FOOD

COZUMEL/TOO HOT THOUGH

 

DISLIKED

CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER

SINGER SCHOONER BAR?NICE GUY LOUSY PIANO BAR TYPE? STR 8 THATS WHY, lol

REALLY LIKED HELIPAD AREA AT BOW OF SHIP GREAT PLACE TO CHILL

Also, NOT ABLE TO UTILIZE CONCIERGE YET/ STILL GOLD

WHERE ARE you guys cruising next?// OCHO RIOS BEAUTIFUL PLACE, LOCALS ARE A PAIN/ ANNOYING ETC lol/ HURRICANES WEATHER NO ZIPLINE!!/ NO LABADEE

What were cc people like on cruise?:)

peace,

lance32

jonparkus@aol.com

[SLCBoys]

The only CC person I met was LibertyGirl...we traded pics before we left and were supposed to meet up at the Intercontinental for drinks the night before but we were out late at a really nice Italian restaurant and had too much to drink so I wasn't going to stumble over to her hotel. After we got on board we went to the Windjammer and she was sitting at the table next to me, calls out my name and we talked there for a bit. That was it, didn't see her again.

 

I agree about Ocho Rios...town was ok, locals were a pain and very annoying. Every other one was offering pot, drugs etc. We spent maybe 1 1/2 hrs in town then went back to the ship the rest of the day. Grand Cayman was perfect, didn't go to the beach, by the time we were off the ship, went to a couple stores we wanted to go back too, hit a bar for a drink then back to ship to change and only had 1 1/2 left before all aboard so stayed on the ship.

 

Cozumel was SO humid, I was dying before we even got to the end of the dock, walked to the one next to us and got on the Catamaran, once we were out of the marina and had some airflow it was much nicer. LOVED that excursion!

 

Our next cruise is on Celebrity Solstice, Jan 25th, booked it while on the Freedom so we could get onboard credits. Our diamond status does transfer over to Celebrity so it will be interesting to see what the differences are. That new ship looks so awesome, I can't wait to get on it. I'm sure it will be very upscale compared to Freedom and hopefully not as many kids or the 700 bitchy & rude 15 yr old girls from Argentina!!

 

Our cabin was awesome, had a Junior Suite, was bigger than the Explorer JS. Not getting a suite on Celebrity, I might have withdrawls!

 

When is your next cruise?

[lance32]

Guys love the JS on Freedom Class. Last year in September I went on LOS during its inaugural season, we had BG cabin, and were upgraded. I missed my JS this time. had an E1 balcony, much smaller and no tub. We were midship last year 10 floor, it was the best. What Italian rest did you go too. We originally were going to Bayside, to Bubba gumps. Then we decided to go to SOBE, and I found review on Bongos+Larios which are part owned by Gloria Estefen. Cuban food was terrible, big tourist trap. I saw Intercontinetal, we stayed at Hyatt Regency which was below what I have found at other Hyatt hotels like in NYC, and LA. Well thanks for answering, waiting till 09 for next cruise. This was my second cruise during hurricane season, and I am thinking that it has plusses and minuse's. BTW Those QUINCENERA girls were annoying, there sweet sixteen. Last year they were much better behaved also from Venezuela. Cant wait to get Diamond Status my friend just hit Platninum. I loved Grand cayman. Well hope to meet you guys in future. What table size, and seating were you at?:)

Peace,

lance 32

aka Jon

[SLCBoys]

We also stayed at the Hyatt, I agree, stayed in better but heck for $67/night had no complaints. We went in 2 days early...ate at Bubba Gumps at Bayside first night and went to Perricone's: http://www.perricones.com/ on Sat night. We took the people mover right to it, it was the best italian I've ever had. If your back there again, go check it out, lots of hotties working there too!

 

I'm sure we saw each other at the Hyatt...saw lots of gay guys there! :) We were 2nd seating for dinner, had 9 of us at a table on Deck 4 just to the right of the doors next to the railing.

 

We were Deck 9 right in the center of the hump, was perfect. Not getting a suite on our upcoming Solstice...I'm thinking I'm spoiled and probably going to feel like I need room! The Solstice will be our 3rd cruise in less than 12 months, I think it's time for a land vacation next and maybe cruise around Thanksgiving/Christmas time at the end of 09.

 

What did you guys end up doing in Cozumel?

[lance32]

WEll,

First the cab driver tried to rip off two New Yorkers lol!!

Then I spent a frantic half hour looking to purchase a phone card. My bank account was not working, due to my failure to call them in advance. Getting an Amex card to prevent this ever happening again.Next my friend found a Lacoste hard to find watch. For the finale. lol we went to Carlos and Charlies and I loved it. Especially the Huge Margaritas. We then walked back to the ship in the heat!! All in all I will take St. Martin any day. Glad you guys found an Italian place. In Ny we eat so much Italian probably would not eat it on vacation. Most of my friends even make there own sauce, or Gravy as old school italians like vicky gotti calls it. I love to eat and try favorite local cuisines. Gloria Estefans place in Sobe called LArios was a big dissapointment. We did eat at Portofinos on the ship wich was comparable to places near me.

Peace,

Jon P:)

[SLCBoys]

You guys are crazy, I would have never walked that far back to the ship in that heat/humidity unless I had 4-5 margaritas from Carlos & Charlies to help make that miserable walk more enjoyable.

 

We didn't go to Carlos & Charlies this time...after the catamaran tour we walked around a bit in the shops right at the pier then went to the Solarium pool for the rest of the day.

 

Didn't eat at Portofino this cruise either, we tried Chops instead. It was good but I think I'll pass on it and do Portofino again on the next one. I was looking online last night for a fall 2009 cruise. I really want to do a 10 day, never have and the Jewel has a pretty decent itinerary that goes to Panama, Costa Rica. May end up booking that in the next few months.

[lance32]

Hi Guys,

 

I was very impresssed with Portofino. To be honest The Filet Mignon was better than in Chops. Yes we were crazy to walk the 2 miles back to the ship. I went to the promenade Cafe and drank a gallon of water. Well I have to go talk to you soon.

Peace,

Jon P