fin

I know, right? Just about every post is putting a smile on my face :D

 

This entire thread is the best entertainment read on CC

Do you include the Montevideo account by Sailor Jack?

Seriously??

Jeez folks...this is really a non-issue. The wind blows it away, so YOU aren't breathing it. Live and let live. I can't imagine spending my vacation time trying to "catch" someone doing something they aren't supposed to. Waste of MY time!~

IMO a rather ignorant viewpoint and quite dismissive of good people who have moderate to severe allergic reactions to second hand smoke.

As a former and now reformed smoker myself, I fought hard to break a decade long addiction, and while not allergic, I certainly would be furious if I paid money for a balcony and some other person with NO regard for anyone but themselves decided to break the rules. The smoke stinks and I have no desire to smell it anywhere, anytime.

Just a few minutes ago I watched a Canaveral webcam showing a RCI ship leaving, allegedly for Puerto Rico.

You may have your next candidates from that voyage, OP.

The scooter that I rented had a very prominent sticker right at the top of the speedometer saying Keep Left, with the arrow pointing left for those unsure of which is which.

I don't remember whether it was Bermuda or the Bahamas though.

The traffic circles were my problem. I pulled to the shoulder and waited till someone else went through one the first time, and then just followed them.

For me, it was an ideal way to explore the chain of islands, because I had a towel, face mask and flippers with me, and could (and did) stop any time along the way where I found a pretty looking beach that seemed to say 'snork here'.

Our Sky Suite experience was same as deladypilot. Not one single thing we had requested had been done. Made me wonder why they bothered to send the letter.

The ones we felt strongly enough about, we mentioned and they were done...after a fashion.

Overall, not very impressed with the Sky Suite experience...but it was very cheap.

They must be doing something right. How much per night were the cheapest cabins?

Haven't looked to see if they are having this same discussion over on the Silversea boards.

Well, "she paid the price" and her family is paying the price, and some people here are absolutely willing to let future cruisers pay the price for upgrades to try to keep the 27 people out of 20 million from killing themselves.

Experiences like the OP's are the reason why I cringe when I read "glowing reviews" of these older Fantasy cruise ships sailing from smaller ports on budget minded itineraries. I understand that these ships are sentimental favorites for many, but we are not doing anybody a favor by glamorizing the experience on these ships. Subjective and overly positive reviews just set new cruisers up for disappointment.

 

Yes, these ships are wonderful for a quick, easy, unpretentious, and budget minded getaway. But they are far from being the right fit for people who are more traveled, who set the bar higher, and who expect more out of their vacation.

 

I don't blame the OP for feeling like they went on vacation to a tackily decorated Golden Corral surrounded by people to match. It's a product of unrealistic expectations probably triggered by unrealistic reviews.

 

To the OP. I don't agree with the statement that "cruising in general may not be your cup of tea". But I do believe that "cruising on ships like the Ecstasy may not be your cup of tea".

Most excellent, perceptive and literate response. I agree 100%

You sound like an experienced traveler - I'm not sure why you would book a cruise on a ship you knew was aging, on a cruise line with the reputation of being a "budget" line and expect it to be as good or better than the fancy resorts you're used to?

Doesn't seem quite fair.

If DH and I want "upscale" we book another line with a reputation for that and pay the additional $$ that entails.

My thoughts exactly.

I once did a Panama Canal transit on this ship, which was later used as a hotel for emergency workers after Katrina hit the Mississippi coast.

Why mention the nationality of the noisy group. Thoughtlessness crosses all cultural and ethnic divisions.

It was a fact. The writer was writing a factual account of the event. Your comment is irrelevant.

Actually, Trumpster, It's kind of annoying for people that cruise multiple times a year.

First world problems.

How truly sad is it that as a society we are so willing to excuse the behavior of a company when they hide behind some excuse or other when they are caught false advertising.

I might have thought, once, that a company the size of this one could have an IT department (if not a single person) whose SOLE responsibility would be making sure their website was ALWAYS current and correct, ESPECIALLY as it is often the entry point for younger people who may become lifetime customers..

It would not seem to me to be an unreasonably far fetched goal.

But then, our own dear gummint couldn't get a single website to work properly for years. So, Sayonara to honesty, quality, good workmanship, pride in service and so much more.

With the recent terrorist attacks on airports, some airlines are telling passengers to be at the airport 120 minutes before scheduled flight time.

Check with your own airline website to see if they have modified the 'old' requirement to be there an hour before flight. It could easily take you an hour just to get thru increased security there.

Curiouser & curioser...backing up a second time!

too soon for a medical emergency, I wonder what's happening?

So do several thousand others, both aboard and behind their computers!!

I work at a radio station in Boston and my co-worker was on Anthem Of The Seas. He was back to work today and I conducted an interview to get some first hand insight on how things were on board. It is light-hearted and mostly a positive take. Link to story/interview below.

 

http://myradio929.com/2016/02/12/exclusive-interview-with-radio-92-9-employee-who-was-on-doomed-cruise-ship/

That was fun. Thanks!

So my quick 2 cents aka recap of events as I see them... I do not in any way believe that RCCL deliberately put their ship, crew and passengers in danger... But decisions which affect schedules, ports, staying, going, etc... Are a combined effort and coordination requiring MANY different people, departments and outside vendors (approvals from port, longshoremen, main office etc) and there are logistical as well as financial factors involved. The ultimate decision, regardless of the pressures from all these forces lies with the master of the vessel... That being said, I believe there might be a combined miscalculation of weather, overconfidence of vessel and/or crew and underestimation of conditions especially considering the type and design of the vessel and its performance in extreme conditions.

 

Once the event was over and things calmed down, initial assessments were done with all departments reporting. Initially, the marine ops of RCCL might have directed vessel to continue to port Canaveral. Sometime after that decision, (based on observations and descriptions of the "feel" of the ship, how they turned around and photos clearly showing port propulsion and significantly decreased forward progress) they probably discovered and issue with the propulsion system. At this point the chief engineer would be asked to asses the ships capability to either A. Return to home port or B. Make emergency stop in Port Canaveral. The home office would of course prefer returning to home port because the costs and logistical nightmare of transporting 4000 passengers back to their home is a total nightmare scenario (ask CCL about the Liberty and chartering 14 flights out of St. Thomas and flying in comtractors and marine operations and guest services teams)... So at some point RCCL probably realized they will need additional repairs and when the engineering department gave the green light to make it back to NYC, they chose to do so.

 

Being many of these "post incident" issues are decided by teams at the home office, they are not usually very rapid responses and take time and MANY approval levels. Once the ship was in its way back to port, the onboard team was probably spending all day and night evaluating and testing the system. The office was busy organizing parts and contractors to meet the ship Now in port, they are, I am sure, crazy trying to repair the system... any rumors being spread by crew members are just that, "rumors" because, unless there is a more personal,relationship going on, a waiter or bartender would not be getting "briefings" from the senior staff...

 

Now how this was handled from a PR standpoint is another matter... As CCL learned and I believe RCCL, now in the harsh spotlight is learning, pretending this never happened and total radio silence is not the proper way to handle bad press. There will always be cheerleaders and haters... The reality lies somewhere in between....

 

Again, just my observations combined with a bit of industry knowledge... Take as you will... An unfortunate incident for the passengers, RCCL and the cruise and travel industry as a whole...

It is posts such as this one which justify wallowing through forty pages of mostly utter garbage. This is a gem, and one which the sharks in the media should glom onto and recite as holy gospel. Which of course, being the truth, they will more likely simply ignore it, in favor of "we listed at 45 degrees for six hours".

Thanks for the input!

You asked a troll-like question and nineteen people answered it, some of whom were aboard.

What IS your problem?

It just shows how they will say anything, without looking at the facts. At 45 degrees there would have been major damage and injuries. Classic example of bad news reporting. So if they got this news story wrong, how many others they broadcast daily are just as bogus or made up?

The deliberate editing of the 911 call in the Trayvon case comes to mind. NBC deliberately (and despicably) cut out the question asked by the 911 operator to change the entire nature of the response.

They "had a large response so they discontinued it".

Sounds like government Newspeak to me.

In other news, I just found myself in chat while looking at some cruises on the NCL website. It was NOT an NCL rep...it was a former customer.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Enjoyed your photos thoroughly. Did the same voyage the other direction some years ago on the NCL Crown. The photo of the capt looks familiar, and I'll need to check and see if he is the same one.

The passengers sure all look like the ones on my cruise, which was very comfortable and pleasant.

"I don't think this is fair to OP or anyone else who went through this ordeal"

I totally agree with you, and so I reported the post as a probable personal attack.

I would hope the one who posted it had the decency to delete it or apologize, but the mods here seem really happy to make entire multi page threads vanish, so likely they will do the right thing if the poster doesn't.

What are you talking about? You have been whining about NCL since you got here.

Bit of a surprise to read this, actually.

My first NCL cruise on the Sky was just weeks after a Panama Canal transit on another line, and it was also the first I ever heard of Cruise Critic, from passengers on the sky who were formulating their own posts of their experience.

I wrote my honest appraisal of the differences between the lines (smaller cabin = objective and worse food = subjective). The New Mexico class monitor promptly advised me how wrong I was and likely (though I don't remember) mentioned my post count which was "one".

I read a good deal more of the cc website in the next few weeks and then in an almost uncanny series of coincidences, ended up on the 11 night Dawn in truly unusual (good) circumstances, about which I felt reluctant to write, and never did. I had and still have good reasons for not sharing the details of that cruise, the Crown around the Horn and the Sun out of New Orleans, but I will darn well guarantee you that no whining was forthcoming about any of them, nor even the transatlantic which followed later.

So I am somewhat confused by your impression, but hey...everyone has one.

PS - I see you joined years after I began posting. So did you go back in the 2005 archives to read my original posts, or were you a careful reader for a decade or so before you joined, or something else? No need to answer, because honestly your assertion is so silly I don't care one bit.