LIVE from Explorer with a bad propellor 2/1/09

[Yankeefan1955]

why hasn't anybody posted from that ship recently?

[negc]

i love how people are more concerned about RC bottom line then getting what they paid for. i know it says that they can change their port stops and all, but i'm paying for 4 ports, i want 4 ports.

 

i hope that they can fix it in St Thomas, so i can enjoy my cruise in a week and half. but if not, i want the ability to get a full refund without any hassle.

 

I understand your feelings but I wouldn't hold out too much hope for getting that full refund you are hoping for. As you say, you recognize that they are within their rights to change or cancel any ports of call, without providing you with any refund. Under the circumstances, they might be willing to allow you to transfer your booking to another ship or another sailing of the Explorer as good customer relations, but if they don't I doubt you have many options.

[hac82]

i love how people are more concerned about RC bottom line then getting what they paid for. i know it says that they can change their port stops and all, but i'm paying for 4 ports, i want 4 ports.

 

i hope that they can fix it in St Thomas, so i can enjoy my cruise in a week and half. but if not, i want the ability to get a full refund without any hassle.

I understand that you pay for 4 ports, but in the contract that you have to sign when registering for the cruise on-line, there is a section that states the following:

 

6. CANCELLATION,, DEVIATION OR SUBSTITUTION BY CARRIER:

Carrier may for any reason at any time and without prior notice, cancel, advance, postpone or

deviate from any scheduled sailing, port of call, destination, lodging or any activity on or off

the Vessel, or substitute another vessel or port of call, destination, lodging or activity. Carrier

shall not be liable for any claim whatsoever by Passenger, including but not limited to loss,

compensation or refund, by reason of such cancellation, advancement, postponement,

substitution or deviation.

 

That is only a part of the contract. However it is telling you, and your signature during the registration process indicates that you agree to the terms, that yes a port can be canceled without prior notice and for any reason. Believe me there are many reason this can happen. In this case, the ship incurred a damaged prop and they needed the extra time to get back to Bayonne. On the return south since they were unable to fix it in Bayoone, they had to remove a port (San Juan). The ship at its speed would never make all of the ports in the scheduled time frame. They are trying to maximize the ports to the passengers and still attempt to fix the prop.

 

They can also change do to weather, ilness on board, and a whole host of other reasons.

[Rocker313]

i love how people are more concerned about RC bottom line then getting what they paid for. i know it says that they can change their port stops and all, but i'm paying for 4 ports, i want 4 ports.

 

i hope that they can fix it in St Thomas, so i can enjoy my cruise in a week and half. but if not, i want the ability to get a full refund without any hassle.

 

While in a perfect world this would be nice, the reality is, you signed a contract. I too would feel a bit disappointed if a stop was canceled, but I know going in that it is a possibility. If this aspect of the contract does not sit well with you, then cruise with a line that does not have this policy, or pick a different vacation. Once the contract is signed, you are agreeing to it, as you would with any contract. Also, the contract goes both ways - while you might not get a full refund, you also are holding them to aspects of that contract I doubt you would want them to change (ex: they are not going to double the cost of your trip 2 days before you sail) - it goes both ways.

[davrap222]

I am sure it has been discussed, but how many ports of call is this sailing going to miss?

[FIRELT5]

FIRELT5,

 

Can you use your trusty program and tell us where the Explorer is now? The web sites I can find either have estimated positions or positions from years ago rather than current info.

 

Thanks.

 

Sorry, but the AIS system is only available within 30 miles from land. The Sailvwx system that everyone is using is totally unreliable and is a (Voluntary) reporting system for weather observations.

 

Data is available for world wide tracking of Vessels, but the yearly fee would be greater than the cost of our D-1 on 3/15/2009 :(

[The Big Booper]

In the real world, I would rather miss San Juan then have the cruise canceled. Royal Caribbean knows full well, better then any other cruise line, how to schedule a full range of activities for days-at-sea at the last second. We had to miss Mykonos on the Brilliance in Oct 2007 when the wind and water made it dangerous to tie the ship up. We sailed away at 9 AM and by 10 AM there was a full complement of stuff going on arranged by Bill Brunkhorst, the CD.

 

And for the poster who won't give any more business to RCI because of this, you might want to research the activities of the main competitor, Carnival. In 2006, the brand new QM2 hit a reef in the Caribbean on a long cruise, causing the ship to miss 5 or so ports. There was quite an uproar over that. Another unit of Carnival, Princess Cruises, sailed the Caribbean Princess the entire 2008 season out of New York with a broken generator. This caused many problems the entire year, including malfunctioning air conditioning since the ship was so underjuiced. In addition the ship lost full power coming back to NY one trip and drifted for 2 hours under the VZ bridge, unable to move until they could jump start the engines. That would have been a disaster if it had grounded, tying up the entire NY harbor. And we could discuss the Carnival Miracle also sailing with problem engines the entire season out of NY.

 

Drydock facilities are far and few between and must be booked months in advance, especially ones that hold a large modern cruise ship at 100,000+ GRT.

[wrp96]

I am sure it has been discussed, but how many ports of call is this sailing going to miss?

 

Only 1, and they will have longer time in St. Thomas than originally scheduled.

[alwalaska]

Sorry, but the AIS system is only available within 30 miles from land. The Sailvwx system that everyone is using is totally unreliable and is a (Voluntary) reporting system for weather observations.

 

Data is available for world wide tracking of Vessels, but the yearly fee would be greater than the cost of our D-1 on 3/15/2009 :(

 

Thanks for the info. I can't remember, are you over on our rollcall? If not, come visit, we are starting to plan activities.

[mom2NnB]

We booked our Carnival trip for the express purpose of going to Costa Maya Mexico since my son was studying it in school we though it was a great opportunity to learn about it first hand.

 

Well just before we cruise, they canceled Costa Maya and put us in Jamaica instead. I was disappointed, but this is what I agreed upon, the possibility we wouldn't make it there one reason or another.

 

I just want to be on vacation going anywhere. :D

[crisndeefromde]

i agree!

 

Me three....cept I would have felt better with Capt Ryan at the helm!! sorry just partial to him.

 

And we did have a blast on the ship...i sure wish our slot pull had made us all wealthy..but heck...we had so much fun!!!!!

[Cheerysmom]

Oh yes .. .I see you are correct. . .. It does say "Scheduled" position. Sorry to have given incorrect info . . . :o

[megr1125]

Just a quick hi...no new info..more tomorrow..

 

BUT..

 

PLEASE can we stop discussing websites of where to find location of the ship?

 

We dock at 3AM in st thomas....if i get a chance i will look at the position on the in room TV....

 

I willl be really mad if this thread gets yanked due to incessant posting of requests for emailing of a site that cant be posted here..

 

I am doing this to be nice...and it is MY money (and/or OBC) and i have to read thru dozens of posts of crap.

 

It is really not fair to me.....or to people who want to keep track!

 

They should be able to fix the prop in STT.....as for the capp machine in the CL...no dice til San Juan next cruise....

 

If you don't want to run the risk of missing a port, then take a land vacation....

 

now...please....keep on topic......it isn't fair!

[nvance724]

I agree, nobodys integrity should be at risk. We areon the next cruise and are anxious but we're trying to remain optamistic.MEGR1125 thanks for all you've done!

[MaryZ]

Just a quick hi...no new info..more tomorrow..

 

I willl be really mad if this thread gets yanked due to incessant posting of requests for emailing of a site that cant be posted here..

 

I am doing this to be nice...and it is MY money (and/or OBC) and i have to read thru dozens of posts of crap.

 

It is really not fair to me.....or to people who want to keep track!

 

!

 

Thanks Meg. Those of us who are going to be sailing shortly appreciate your info.

I hope the weather got nice today for you and that you have all sunny days now :)

Have fun!

[mom2NnB]

As someone on the next cruise, I very much appreciate you taking time out of your vacation to give us all this info.

 

 

Enjoy your cruise and I hope weather and seas are nicer to you now.:D

[LisaWar]

I agree, Meg needs a big thank you from all of us. We just want to know about the ship and the prop getting fixed (being that we are future sailers). All of the rest of the posts that are complaining and adding their two cents aren't really necessary.

 

Enjoy your trip Meg, hope the weather improved!

[luv2travel29]

I agree, Meg needs a big thank you from all of us. We just want to know about the ship and the prop getting fixed (being that we are future sailers). All of the rest of the posts that are complaining and adding their two cents aren't really necessary.

 

Enjoy your trip Meg, hope the weather improved!

 

i totally agree and thank u meg for the updates... go enjoy yourself and let us know what happens after st thomas..... i am on the next sailing and if a port is cancelled so be it... there are far worse things in life to be concerned about............

[mrdrdoso]

I agree, Meg needs a big thank you from all of us. We just want to know about the ship and the prop getting fixed (being that we are future sailers). All of the rest of the posts that are complaining and adding their two cents aren't really necessary.

 

Enjoy your trip Meg, hope the weather improved!

 

I want to thank you for the updated info. I am on the cruise following you and I am trying not to be nervous about the worse case scenerio. I am so looking forward to your post tomorrow hopefully saying its fixed. thank you for taking the time out of your vacation for us, it is truly appreciated

mary

[jcstk]

Meg,

 

Thanks again for the updates.

 

You said embarkation was easy. What time did you get to the port and how was the traffic getting in?

 

Thanks.

 

We arrived at Bayonne at 10AM, date 1-23-09. We dropped off luggage, parked car, checked in and was sitting having coffee and cookies and reading our books by 10:30AM. We preferred getting there early, rather then waiting in line to do all of the above. Good Luck.

[jumbo1]

Don't worry , Be happy !

 

 

 

 

[Rancher Dave]

Crazy that they can't fix the CAPP machine in CL until they get back to San Juan on the next cruise. Surely someone in Jersey knows how to fix one...or better yet if no parts are needed surely someone on the tech staff of the ship could get on the phone with someone shore based and walk thru how to fix it.

 

Hope you get your Capp/Hot Chocolate/Coffee as you want it even outside of the CL.

 

Happy Sailing!!!

[Bobal]

For those of us sitting at home wondering what is happening - where the ship is currently is relavant.

 

No one is making you read the posts here and spend YOUR money. While I appreciate it, I don't appreciate being scolded like a toddler.

 

Life isn't fair, so if you don't like people posting things that you think are crap, don't read them.

 

I think you're missing the point. Meg is TRYING to help out here and has promised to answer any questions. If there are lots of extraneous posts she has to spend her own money just trawling through them all in order to reach any relevant questions - and goodness knows anyone who has tried to use the internet on ship knows how long this takes :rolleyes: Her point is that in order to reach any relevant posts she has to wade through all the c***

 

With all due respect I think we are likely to get a much better picture of what's happening from someone actually on the ship than from a website which may not be accurate anyway.

[mrdrdoso]

I think you're missing the point. Meg is TRYING to help out here and has promised to answer any questions. If there are lots of extraneous posts she has to spend her own money just trawling through them all in order to reach any relevant questions - and goodness knows anyone who has tried to use the internet on ship knows how long this takes :rolleyes: Her point is that in order to reach any relevant posts she has to wade through all the c***

 

With all due respect I think we are likely to get a much better picture of what's happening from someone actually on the ship than from a website which may not be accurate anyway.

 

 

amen..................., she is our lifeline mostly for us that are on the 2/13 sailing...............crossing my fingers for a good post today.

[LisaWar]

EXACTLY Bobal!!! Meg, we are patiently waiting your emails and as far as I'm concerned, your the one with the most accurate info since you are actually right there on the ship.