Royal Caribbean strands 145 passengers in San Juan when Irene forces early departure

[packedandready]

Wow....the pages were adding up quicker than I could read them.

 

Has there been any information on what the time span was from when the port authorites told them they would have to leave and when the ship actually left?

[bigeagle12]

Not sure how that works because my entire company has a Verizon contract. Our San Juan office had to break from our contract and go with Sprint because Verizon could not provide them service in SJ.

 

Edit - I believe they use another's towers in PR, hence the spotty coverage.

 

I have been traveling to PR for 30 years, the last 11 years with Verizon and do have free coverage (no roaming), although you may be right it may be through a 3rd party. In the early 2000's, 9 out of 10 calls to the US, would be answered by someone in PR :D. Recently, we have had good coverage in the area from the airport to OSJ.

[DaytonCruiser]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4584

 

 

For Carnival's part, spokesman Vance Gulliksen tells Cruise Critic that the line "tried to contact all guests who didn't make the ship and was successful in reaching most of them." We're attempting to clarify this statement.

 

Hotel accommodations and flights to Aruba to meet the ship were provided to the 15 Serenade of the Seas passengers who had booked the air/sea package through Royal Caribbean. The balance of cruise-only passengers were, upon arrival at the cruise terminal, "advised of hotel availability in San Juan," said the line. The expense of both the potential hotel stay and airfare to reach the ship was the passengers' responsibility -- or covered by their travel insurance, depending on the policy -- because the early departure was a weather-related incident.

 

Carnival response was markedly different. Spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz tells Cruise Critic that the line offered complimentary hotel rooms for two nights in San Juan to all 300 passengers, regardless of whether they booked air through the line. The 300 impacted passengers were also offered a free flight to Barbados to meet the ship. The flight required that they have a passport; about half of the passengers took the line up on the hotel and air offer.

 

At this point, a number of left-behinds have connected with Serenade of the Seas and Carnival Victory, said spokespeople from each line. "We're only aware of the independent guests who made contact with us," said Royal Caribbean's Cynthia Martinez, "[but] of those, 45 joined in Aruba and two in Curacao." As mentioned above, about 150 of Carnival's impacted cruiser, many of whom were sailing as part of a large group, met Victory in Barbados on Wednesday.

 

Royal Caribbean is not providing compensation for passengers who miss the sailing, says Martinez -- again, because the early departure was a weather-related event. De la Cruz said that any passenger who missed the Carnival Victory cruise will be refunded in the form of a future cruise credit.

[fl-raybee]

Why couldn't the ships go out to sea and pick up the passengers the next day?

[DaytonCruiser]

Why couldn't the ships go out to sea and pick up the passengers the next day?

 

The port was closed until this morning.

[lovesublime]

I really can't believe it. RCI didn't even try to notify passengers of the early departure, but yet plan to keep all the passenger's cruise fares. Doesn't seem fair or like good business to me.

[Pushka]

I really can't believe it. RCI didn't even try to notify passengers of the early departure, but yet plan to keep all the passenger's cruise fares. Doesn't seem fair or like good business to me.

 

I agree. And why do people assume that others knew there was a hurricane alert and that they should take their own precautions. Why assume that others from outside the USA know anything about hurricanes, and the fact that it could mean your cruise will leave four hours early because of it. Why assume that everyone has internet acccess the 24 hours before their cruise leaves? It's the same as the "dont wear white after labor day" thread. Labor Day only exists on that date in the USA so the rest of the world knows diddly squat about it.

 

All passengers are told is to be onboard 90 minutes before it departs. They are told to compplete their online seapass three days before. If a passenger complies with both of those requirements, and arrives at the Port three hours before sailing, then they have fulfilled their contractual obligations. But RCI didnt, irrespective of the cause, and they did nothing, apparently, to inform people of the issue.

[foxesden1]

I agree. And why do people assume that others knew there was a hurricane alert and that they should take their own precautions. Why assume that others from outside the USA know anything about hurricanes, and the fact that it could mean your cruise will leave four hours early because of it. Why assume that everyone has internet acccess the 24 hours before their cruise leaves? It's the same as the "dont wear white after labor day" thread. Labor Day only exists on that date in the USA so the rest of the world knows diddly squat about it.

 

All passengers are told is to be onboard 90 minutes before it departs. They are told to compplete their online seapass three days before. If a passenger complies with both of those requirements, and arrives at the Port three hours before sailing, then they have fulfilled their contractual obligations. But RCI didnt, irrespective of the cause, and they did nothing, apparently, to inform people of the issue.

 

Well said. CCL did a much better job then RCL. Says slot about CS.

[amybear912]

I view my vacation as an investment of both time and money... in order to protect my investment, I purchase travel insurance... I arrange to arrive a day early, I keep an eye on the weather (at home and my destination)...

 

All travel is risky and nothing is certain... Cruising the Caribbean during hurricane season requires an ackowledgement of that extra risk and to plan accordingly...

 

I think its premature to cast the villains here... the story isn't over yet... Who knows what may be offered to those who missed the ship in the days to come...

[FLSteve11]

It's mentioned in the WFOR article:

 

“There was nobody there,” she said. “Everybody was gone and there was nobody there to tell me where the ship was.”

 

I'm not sure I would base my info on a one or two line quote from a single passenger. Not to put her in a bad light, but I find a lot of people in situations like that highly exagerate what happened. Outside of quotes sometimes being out of context.

 

Not that i absolve RCI in all this. They had no choice to leave the port, it was not up to them. BUT while they may legaly have no obligation to provide, it was their ship that left early on people who presumed they were on time. This wasn't passengers showing up late, it was them leaving early, and they should try to do SOME kind of help/compensation for it. I'm not saying free cruises, but something. Even airlines, who cancel flights, have to at least get you on a future flight at some time.

 

This is a rare event for ships, and the hurricane was not originally expected to pass over PR so I can understand not having a larger warning, but some attempt at helping your customers should be in order. I have trouble thinking RCI should just wipe their hands clean and go "not our fault" on their customers who arrived on time in good faith.

[DaytonCruiser]

I think its premature to cast the villains here... the story isn't over yet... Who knows what may be offered to those who missed the ship in the days to come...

 

True, but many only can take one Vacation a year, so any compensation package is a little late for them. Royal was within their rights to do what they did, it wasnt their fault that a hurricane was bearing down on PR.

 

Carnival just chose to be proactive and try to salvage pax vacation.

 

I can see this potentially being a huge story, if those they were left behind opt to take this to one of the morning shows.

[bbbearden]

And when you did, what hurricane was hitting your port at the time of embarkation?

 

 

 

With a hurricane on a collision course for your embarkation port, normal is not a part of the equation.

 

 

You really are missing the point. The comment was made that it was unlikely people would leave the ship once they have checked in, but in fact it is done all the time in SJ. It is even encouraged by the cruise lines with shore excursions. Which begs the question, the cruise lines are in a better position to know what is happening with the weather. What type of notifications did they give to passengers already on board or in the port area. One poster suggested sounding the ships horns repeatedly, lots of attractions including the old fort or close by. RCCL did not do enough in this case and now it needs to step up and make it right. They did not even try.

 

I really makes me question if I can trust the, with my vacation dollars.

[time4u2go]

This is a slippery slope. The ship left 3 hours early. A lot of people are saying that it's OK that they didn't do anything for those left behind because it was due to the weather. What if they had left 6 hours early, possibly leaving 2000 people on shore? Can they just leave whenever (due to weather) and not do anything for those left behind? Just sayin'.

[Pushka]

 

This is a rare event for ships, and the hurricane was not originally expected to pass over PR so I can understand not having a larger warning,.

 

 

So if the weather bureau could not predict where it was heading, how is it reasonable to expect travellers to be fore-warned? especially if they are travelling in the days prior, and not from the USA?

 

I am not sure how our Australian Insurance would pay for this, because they might seek restitution from the Cruise line for not even trying to warn people about the early departure.

[cruisindoggie]

I am really disapointed that I am reading that RCI is not paying for some peoples hotels or flights. This is totally Royal Caribbean fault for leaving early, if they planned on leaving early they should of let everyone know the day in advance (I know I know its a hurricane and its unpredictable, but your trying to blame the customers the same way for not knowing). Royal caribbean should not only make sure all the extra expenses are covered but they should all be getting other compensation for their vacation now being ruined. This is really disapointing to read.

 

It was a port decision, not RCCL fault. Shame on you for thinking it is the cruise lines responsibility. It is very dangerous for a ship to be in port during a major storm. The lives of the crew and passengers is more important than a few people missing the ship. This is not something the cruise lines wants to happen. Unfortunately for the few that missed the ship thier vacation was ruined. Hopefully they had insurance and are not depending on some Socialist Government intervention.

[FLSteve11]

So if the weather bureau could not predict where it was heading, how is it reasonable to expect travellers to be fore-warned? especially if they are travelling in the days prior, and not from the USA?

 

I am not sure how our Australian Insurance would pay for this, because they might seek restitution from the Cruise line for not even trying to warn people about the early departure.

 

You never can predict exactly with a hurricane. All those forecasts you see on tv's are predictions based on models, but there are huge probabilities of errors in them. I think at 3-day forecasting the error window is over 250 miles. Those big "cones" they show are just the most likely paths it may take, but even with those cones being wide hurricanes go outside them completely often enough. For this reason RCI, and the port authority, can't just say ahead of time if they will need to restrict traffic and that the ship may need to leave. The earlier forecasts did not have the path being close enough that it would be needed, but the hurricane choose it's own path

 

However, the forecast did have it coming near PR, just not over it. Any time a hurricane is anywhere near a location, the possibility of it hitting is there, certainly high enough you need to take it into any planning accounts.

[Cruise Junky]

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/post/2011/08/carnival-cruise-lines-royal-caribbean-san-juan-hurricane-irene/416604/1

 

I have to give props to Carnival for going above and beyond during a difficult situation. This is certainly great PR for Carnival after the Splendor incident.

 

Great business practice, it was probably worth the expense for the press they're getting. Idiots at RCL failed to pick up on this.

[time4u2go]

OK, I'm a bit confused...RCI helped out the ones that had purchased their air fare through RCI...what about those that live in PR and DROVE to the port? They are penalized just because they happened to live there? This seems extremely unfair to them. I don't get it.

[readytogo2]

This is a slippery slope. The ship left 3 hours early. A lot of people are saying that it's OK that they didn't do anything for those left behind because it was due to the weather. What if they had left 6 hours early, possibly leaving 2000 people on shore? Can they just leave whenever (due to weather) and not do anything for those left behind? Just sayin'.

I don't think people were saying it was OK for RCI to leave without doing anything, I never got that out of anyone's post...It was something they had to do. I do think there has been a lot of speculations here (including myself) without knowing the full story.

[readytogo2]

Great business practice, it was probably worth the expense for the press they're getting. Idiots at RCL failed to pick up on this.

 

Not that it matters to the passengers...but possibly, there could be some job vacancies at RCI.

[FLSteve11]

It was a port decision, not RCCL fault. Shame on you for thinking it is the cruise lines responsibility. It is very dangerous for a ship to be in port during a major storm. The lives of the crew and passengers is more important than a few people missing the ship. This is not something the cruise lines wants to happen. Unfortunately for the few that missed the ship thier vacation was ruined. Hopefully they had insurance and are not depending on some Socialist Government intervention.

 

Let's say you call a store and buy something that costs a few thousand dollars. They tell you to come at 8:30 to go pick up your item. You show up at 5 and they tell you "Sorry, our landlord had to close the building earlier because of bad weather, you're out of luck and we'll keep your cash" Are you telling me you would not be upset and want your money back? Seriously?

 

And not sure what socialist governments have to do with this? (Outside of you wanting to somehow blame this on goverment parties now)

[grand isle joe]

Let's say you call a store and buy something that costs a few thousand dollars. They tell you to come at 8:30 to go pick up your item. You show up at 5 and they tell you "Sorry, our landlord had to close the building earlier because of bad weather, you're out of luck and we'll keep your cash" Are you telling me you would not be upset and want your money back? Seriously?

 

And not sure what socialist governments have to do with this? (Outside of you wanting to somehow blame this on goverment parties now)

 

I guess I would refer to the sale contract I signed before. And after spending thousands of dollars I guess I would BUY INSURANCE against possible loss especially when I read the small print on said contract (and read horror stories on Cruise Critic about similar situations.) Since the situation has just occured I would at least take a few breaths before I condem RCCL to Hadies....

[Starry Eyes]

Let's say you call a store and buy something that costs a few thousand dollars. They tell you to come at 8:30 to go pick up your item. You show up at 5 and they tell you "Sorry, our landlord had to close the building earlier because of bad weather, you're out of luck and we'll keep your cash" Are you telling me you would not be upset and want your money back? Seriously?

 

And not sure what socialist governments have to do with this? (Outside of you wanting to somehow blame this on goverment parties now)

 

Ah, but to extend your analogy, Steve, the landlord was forced by weather to close the building, knowing it would be unsafe not only for you as a customer, but also for all the employees (for example, the snow was coming down so quickly the roof was expected to collapse at 8:30 pm. the landlord was doing the right thing and might have saved lives by closing the building. the analogy breaks down because the landlord cannot sail his building away from the danger as cruise lines can.

 

I think Royal should treat well those passengers who arrived after the ship left, but before the scheduled cutoff. Although the events were weather and port related, the passengers need to be able to count on Royal Caribbean.

[Rancher Dave]

I think Royal should treat well those passengers who arrived after the ship left, but before the scheduled cutoff. Although the events were weather and port related, the passengers need to be able to count on Royal Caribbean.

 

Well put. Those who were there on time (based on latest check-in/boarding time) should be cared for by RCCL as if they were on the ship. Accomodations, Food, Transportation should all be provided to these folks.

 

Although it was not RCCL's fault they were paid to provide these services to the guests who showed up on time.

 

Those who showed up after that sadly aren't owed quite as much help from RCCL and need to turn to their Travel Insurance.

[Captain Jake]

Let's say you call a store and buy something that costs a few thousand dollars. They tell you to come at 8:30 to go pick up your item. You show up at 5 and they tell you "Sorry, our landlord had to close the building earlier because of bad weather, you're out of luck and we'll keep your cash" Are you telling me you would not be upset and want your money back? Seriously?

 

And not sure what socialist governments have to do with this? (Outside of you wanting to somehow blame this on goverment parties now)

Excellent Point.How can anyone defend RCCL for keeping the passangers hard earned money