Dream - Cancelling stop in San Juan

[SFCruisers]

Wow! I read this thread this morning when it was a couple of pages long and just revisited it.

 

So all day it has been they (Carnival) should have, they could have, everyone wanting to jump on the band wagon to assign blame or pretend that they know how to run a perfect cruise line. Carnival made an error, on one port that will not be a part of the Dream’s regular itinerary.

 

Mean while, it was reported by people actually on the cruise that most everyone was taking in stride. Carnival stepped up to the plate, as they should have, to plan more activities, offered the customary missed port refund and will get them to Grand Turk 4 hours early tomorrow.

 

Today all over the world people were victims of crime, fell deathly ill, were murdered, killed in accidents, or like me stuck behind an office desk. I would have loved to trade my day with anyone on the Dream that thought their cruise was ruined because they missed San Juan. It just doesn’t seem like the worst thing that could have happened to me today.

 

I am also grateful that I am not so full of myself to think that I could operate the largest, most successful cruise line in the world without making an error on occasion. I’m sure there is no one on this board that has had everything in there life go exactly as planned.

[leeanninfla]

:eek:

wow.

 

guess they need to make a price adjustment.

 

RCCL stated they will not devalue their product by dropping rates on Oasis.

The ship will not sail full, and they will make up the funds with the sea days they have, not to mention the fact that on a 7 night cruise they are only really going to 2 ports, with the last being their own island. Sounds like 5 days of money making for them.

[Texas Teen]

How many more stops does Dream have planned for San Juan? :eek: It's hard to believe that the structure is preventing the Dream from being able to dock there!

[cruiseknots]

Actually, with the new ships, it is as simple as "park the ship". They don't need to use anchors to stay in one position. The azipods can be set to keep the ship on one spot with the aid of GPS.

 

 

Yes...it's called Dynamic Positioning.

It uses GPS to remain in a fixed position by making thrust adjustments to compensate for wind, current and other sea conditions.

 

I don't believe the Dream has azipods though. However, Dynamic Positioning can be used with conventional bow and stern thrusters as well.

[GXmanDC]

 

Yes, there have been a few passengers who are wanting to make their own personal point known down at the Guest Relations desk, but they are causing themselves to miss some wonderful deck time in the Caribbean sun.

:D

 

That is the best line I've read on CC in years. Thanks, I wish more people had your attitude.

 

I'm glad you are enjoying the sea day. Personally, I love sea days. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[PaulMedik]

Tom,

 

Thanks for the 'Live from...' threads! I've enjoyed them all so far.

 

Has there been any mention of cooperation between Carnival and RCCL in terms of using RCCL Oasis as a port stop since she can only partialy dock in St Thomas? Oasis can tie off the front and debark their passengers at St Thomas then head out to sea and allow wayward ships that can't make a port for whatever reason to pull alongside and make a port day on board Oasis. Carnival could have used them today and I'm sure NCL's Dawn passengers would have enjoyed the port day a few weeks back when they lost power between San Juan and St Thomas. :cool:

[Sargent_Schultz]

It's a RCCL built pier and they use it almost exclusively. If you don't like it, build your own pier and park your ship there.

 

No, it is an RCCL designed PORT, not pier, and they don't own it.

 

"The ironic part of this is that the port was actually developed jointly by the government of Puerto Rico and Royal Caribbean."

[Sargent_Schultz]

How many more stops does Dream have planned for San Juan? :eek: It's hard to believe that the structure is preventing the Dream from being able to dock there!

 

This would have been the one and only stop, so there are no more, so it is no big deal. Some posters insist on trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

[cccer]

I enjoy fun days at sea and if any of the ports to miss, I would not miss PR at all. Of course I went there for work many times in the late 90s so I have seen a lot of the island and I prefer most of the others.

Of course you are on a cruise and I am stuck in Chicago with snow, cold and gusting winds so enjoy.

[SF BAY]

Let me see if I understand whats going on here,in the last 2 months 2 Carnival captains have crashed into parked Rccl ships and now they design a ship with the lifeboats so low they cannot dock at a pier as large as San Jaun. :rolleyes: I am sure the management at Carnival is trying very hard to find a way to blame Rccl for latest miscalculation.

[Aviator of the Seas]

I'll try to close this thread with teh following bit of folklore:

 

The culprit pier is known to locals in San Juan as the Gistro, which is Puerto Rican slang for G-String.

[MrPete]

RCCL stated they will not devalue their product by dropping rates on Oasis.

The ship will not sail full, and they will make up the funds with the sea days they have, not to mention the fact that on a 7 night cruise they are only really going to 2 ports, with the last being their own island. Sounds like 5 days of money making for them.

 

I'm curious what, in addition to these premium fares people are paying, what their Seapass charges are at the end of the week.

 

How happy they must be contributing to paying for empty cabins.

[Savoia]

WOW.......I guess they didn't take the time to confirm that it would fit before hand. :rolleyes:

 

nice work Carnival...LOL

 

Thumbs up to the Captain and crew for realizing it before anything bad happened that would have prevented even a fun sea day. :D

 

What Dolt at Carnival didn't do their homework?

 

Typical..get your money first..worry about the details later.

[Schplinky]

Let me see if I understand whats going on here,in the last 2 months 2 Carnival captains have crashed into parked Rccl ships and now they design a ship with the lifeboats so low they cannot dock at a pier as large as San Jaun. :rolleyes: I am sure the management at Carnival is trying very hard to find a way to blame Rccl for latest miscalculation.

 

It turns out a sculpture RCL helped pay for was the culprit. It must be an evil plot.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=620003207.blog

[MrPete]

I'm curious as to why they plan on taking down this THONG thingie, and why was this the Dreams only call in SJ. WHat made this trek so special?

[Schplinky]

My guess would be that it made more sense than ddoing a two-nighter before they got back onto regular weekly cruises. I think this is a 9-nighter and the bloggers cruise.

 

If it's not going to stop there regularly, I'm not sure why they would take down the sculpture unless someone at CCL pitched a fit yesterday.

[Sargent_Schultz]

The port needs updating. Puerto Rico wants the cruise lines to pay for it and the cruise lines want Puerto Rico to pay for it. It isn't just Carnival. It's typical cruise biz as usual.

 

The Mall of the Seas must be such wracking up some pretty bad numbers for the RCCL cheerleaders to try to use this. Even if only half full, it sounds like some amazing lines on that ship. Reservations required for the shows and many not even bothering to try.

 

The Gistro - I like that!

[Schplinky]

The port for day trips to Puerto Rico has been updated. The sculpture that was built as part of the refurbishment was the insurmountable obstacle for the Dream's over-hangs. That was the coverage in the story. Guess you didn't read it.

[Sargent_Schultz]

The port for day trips to Puerto Rico has been updated. The sculpture that was built as part of the refurbishment was the insurmountable obstacle for the Dream's over-hangs. That was the coverage in the story. Guess you didn't read it.

 

If it had been updated, modern cruise ships wouldn't have an issue with it. Maybe you need spectacles?

[Schplinky]

It wasn't my job to do the inspection so it's not me who needs them but clearly someone did their job poorly. I was addressing your comment that the pier needed updating. It has been.

 

p.s. Modern ships dock at that pier every day.

[Schplinky]

Lest I be accused of being biased, I'd like to point out that John Heald agrees with me. This is from his blog this morning:

 

However, even though plans and simulations had been made, Captain Queirolo realized that the steel cable that was part of the canopy on the pier would cause damage to and possibly puncture the lifeboats and life rafts. We then tried the other piers but due to our length and draft we were unable to dock.

 

...

 

I feel sorry for all the guests. A missed port is never a good thing of course but it’s even worse under these circumstances. And it’s our fault. Regardless of all the checks we made to see if the ship did fit against the pier those checks were not sufficient …………and for that I sincerely apologize to all the 3,800 people onboard.

[FireIce0010]

This would have been the one and only stop, so there are no more, so it is no big deal. Some posters insist on trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

 

LOL. Well the cheerleaders see it as no big deal. For some it is.

[FireIce0010]

Let me see if I understand whats going on here,in the last 2 months 2 Carnival captains have crashed into parked Rccl ships and now they design a ship with the lifeboats so low they cannot dock at a pier as large as San Jaun. :rolleyes: I am sure the management at Carnival is trying very hard to find a way to blame Rccl for latest miscalculation.

 

LMAO. Sounds like it to me.:D

[TheTravelista]

So this basically means that the Magic and the yet unamed 3rd Dream class ship will also be unable to dock at San Juan in the future?

 

Interesting...

[FireIce0010]

If it had been updated, modern cruise ships wouldn't have an issue with it. Maybe you need spectacles?

 

Modern cruise ships dock at this pier weekly. Since you cruise with Carnival, I guess you don't know what a moderen cruise ship looks like. :rolleyes: