exactorman51

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/canadas-top-doctor-warns-against-travelling-on-cruise-ships-over-covid-19/ar-BB10VU8N?li=AAggNb9&ocid=mailsignout

Hoping a couple companies go broke. They have been ripping off their customers for years.

7 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

@exactorman51  Still no answer about whether any other pax on the excursion were as upset or believed it to be so bad as to deserve a full refund? This is the 4th request or so about that information. I am wondering if you tried to talk to them about it at all. Did they just go with the flow and laugh off the "overexposure"?

 

Also, I was taken aback by the difference between your initial post and a later one. Your first post began:

 

"I first want to say that the cruise and most of the onboard staff were fine, some excellent."

 

Later, you wrote:

 

"I did like our waiter and cabin steward. I found the food mediocre and most other elements nothing special. The crew other than the workers were aloof and not a lot of fun."

 

From the cruise and crew being "fine" and "excellent" your description diminished to "mediocre," "nothing special,"  and "aloof and not a lot of fun."

 

In answering your initial question--seeking opinions about whether people think the ship should be liable for the "disastrous excursion"--I think many people here obviously believe RC should be willing to reimburse for things not delivered as promised. But they also seem to suggest pretty heavily against actually getting RC to do anything about it. Many have stated their own stories and while some received compensation, most got no further than you did. (I was surprised at this because I have heard otherwise from some people we have talked to, but that may have been Celebrity.)

 

The responses you contend were mean to you or unsympathetic were uniformly about the naked man. Bottom line, you want to hold RC liable for the excursion operator's failure to ensure you were not seeing a Jamaican not in their employ who was in an area not in their control. Do you really not see the huge difference between something you were not delivered (the promised excursion, plantation, food, etc) and the failure to police property not theirs? The days of tourists successfully ordering islanders to clean up their culture went out with colonialism. Insisting that you have the right to tour another country and not be subjected to things you don't want to see...well, can't you even chuckle at how arrogant that comes across?

 

Anyway, the stuff quoted above seems to me to show that you have let the excursion paint your emotional reaction to the entire cruise. A change from "fine" to "mediocre" is a significant drop in satisfaction. If the first is accurate, I would think an excursion is not a reason to blackball a cruiseline that did well overall. If it was as poor overall as you say, then certainly cruising elsewhere is your better bet.

 

But, please, other than perhaps the cruise director running games, how was the crew supposed to be "a lot of fun"? We have only been on 4 cruises, and the entertainment has been fun, a guacamole class was humorous, a coffee steward singing "Good Morning!" was a blast, and a few clerks in stores have been amusing. But we didn't expect our fun to come from the crew. What was missing for you?

It seemed to me that about 75% of the group were unhappy. I saw one guy in a heated discussion with the host. Whether or not they complained, I do not know. I believe I had said in one of my responses we were told it would be dealt with after the fact.

Fine to me is mediocre. I stated that only the waiter and cabin steward were exceptional. As I said we are seniors on limited income and I do not think we got good value for our money. Certainly, the lousy tour was enough for me to say our next cruise will be on another line. I just wanted to know what people thought. I got various reactions but seemed to see that this kind of thing happens regularly and it is par for the course. I thank those who responded and did not make it personal. I hope the moderator will close this topic.

Thanks to all who responded. I wanted to see if people would think I was over-reacting. It is split but I understand that it is not a big deal to RCL or some other cruisers. I stick to my beliefs but am  glad to hear from the other side.Thanks to those who seriously gave me their kind and honest opinions. To those who feel they had to be sarcastic or downright mean to me, glad to be able to give you a chuckle. I am sure you post on boards like this all day hoping someone will like your post. Good luck for that! You must be terribly lonely people.

1 minute ago, GarlicBread said:

I don't think Royal paid a man to stand in his birthday suit in the middle of your adventures, and unless the bus breaks down every time, I don't think they can really be in the firing line for that one either...

 

 

Was it really an 'insincere inarticulate apology' or was it just a reply that you didnt want to hear? Especially as it came from a 'low level employee' rather than a 'senior executive'?  

Yes it was. I will spend my money elsewhere. My money is certainly more important to me than it was to them.

17 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

My thought exactly... It wasn't even a bad cruise, just one bad excursion.  It seems like an over-reaction to me. That being said, I know I have been guilty of a few knee jerk reactions.  Usually a little time and perspective helps smooth the rough spots. 

I did like our waiter and cabin steward. I found the food mediocre and most other elements nothing special. The crew other than the workers were aloof and not a lot of fun. The cruise offered nothing we couldn't find either as good or better on other ships. I'll give the other lines a shot.

4 minutes ago, lovescats5 said:

So one bad experience and you never want to cruise RCL again and will tell all your friends.  We have had good experiences and not so good but we will not stop sailing on that line again completely.  Just an unfortunate adventure.  I would have actually turned the whole experience into a teaching lesson for my 12 yo granddaughter.  Seeing the naked man might be a little over the top but life is not perfect.  Hope you enjoy your next cruise and excursions more than this one.

They tipped their hand as far as I'm concerned. They don't care about anything but taking our money. I don't know about you but we are on a fixed income and what we paid was a lot for us. I'll take a pass and give the others a shot.

Thanks to all. I would have expected RCL to care a lot more. We have gone on close to 20 cruises and rarely take ship excursions. We do expect to be slightly disappointed considering the synopsis of the tour but never a total disaster. The lack of empathy by RCL is disheartening. We will take a pass on them in the future and advise our friends to choose elsewhere.

5 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

So a lack of sympathy equates to having the entire excursion price refunded?  

 

The authorities probably should have been called.  But, wouldn't that have taken time away from the tour (that was already running late?)?  Was the naked guy in the same place when you returned?  

It would have made us feel better if they at least showed they cared. The fact they didn't was even more upsetting. Yes, still there at least half hour later and visible most of the time spent at the church.

It was the lack of sympathy and treatment that was the most disconcerting. If they had shown any real concern about our issue, that would have been appreciated. And I do believe the authorities should have been called.

We did and were told we would be contacted on our return to port. We heard nothing so I wrote to the Executive Offices.

Thanks, I did and he had a lackey contact me. Who was rude and insincere. Sounded like he read from a paper then hung up.

I first want to say that the cruise and most of the onboard staff were fine, some excellent. However, we had an experience that was totally unacceptable. 

We booked an excursion, Go Native Jamaica, through the excursion desk on the ship. This excursion was a disaster from the start. The bus broke down and we had to change buses. We were supposed to spend 1 hour and 40 minutes on the bus but were on for over 4 and 1/2 hours. We were supposed to visit a plantation and farm which turned out to be a smelly, dirty chicken coop. We had a meal included that was mediocre to say the least and you had to pay extra $3 for water more for other drinks.

But, the worst was when we visited Saint James Church in Falmouth. A completely naked man was lying in the middle of our walk to the church. I would post pictures but have been told they are inappropriate, I did send them to some RCL Executives. We are infirm seniors. My wife was traumatized I was disgusted. We informed the excursion host and he refused to have the man removed. I immediately contacted RCCL head offices in our return. I received a call from a low level inarticulate employee who offered an insincere apology. At the very least, I thought the cost of the excursion should have been refunded and we should have received an apology from a Senior Executive.

My wife and I  do not think we should have been subjected to such treatment. We will never cruise with RCCL again. I just wondered if if anyone believes the cruise ship holds any liability for a disastrous excursion.