Serenade early departure 8/21 - what I heard and saw.

[mommabean]

This was the second leg of our B2B. We were at the gangway watching the last people allowed on as they wheeled their own luggage on board.

 

The person in authority who will remain nameless told us the manifest had been submitted and 8 people walked up immediately after that occurred. They had to be denied entry and of course they were upset.

 

The line had to be drawn somewhere because the ship was prepared to leave. They can not keep changing the manifest.

 

One couple told us that their flight from Houston to SJU was midair when the pilot was informed that SJU was shutdown. They were returned to Houston. They caught up with the ship in Aruba as did anyone else who chose to continue with the cruise.

 

Gina

 

 

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[ez2logon]

This was the second leg of our B2B. We were at the gangway watching the last people allowed on as they wheeled their own luggage on board.

 

The person in authority who will remain nameless told us the manifest had been submitted and 8 people walked up immediately after that occurred. They had to be denied entry and of course they were upset.

 

The line had to be drawn somewhere because the ship was prepared to leave. They can not keep changing the manifest.

 

One couple told us that their flight from Houston to SJU was midair when the pilot was informed that SJU was shutdown. They were returned to Houston. They caught up with the ship in Aruba as did anyone else who chose to continue with the cruise.

 

Gina

 

 

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Hi, and thanks for posting. You are probably going to get a lot of questions regarding what happened:) I'm curious if there had been any announcements regarding early departure; also, were shore excursions taking place.

 

Thanks in advance for your patience.

[yj2cute]

Thanks for the update, Gina. There's been a lot of discussion about this cruise. I can't imagine walking up to the ship while it was still there and being denied boarding. I wonder if any of those folks had cruise air? Pobably not many if any. That wld be crusing to have to walk away from the ship with no assistance to the next port.

 

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[oldguysandgalls]

We are not sure if we understand your second paragraph:

"The person in authority who will remain nameless told us the manifest had been submitted and 8 people walked up immediately after that occurred". "They had to be denied entry and of course they were upset"

 

Did the 8 people actually also walk up to the gangway? If they were, they would have gone through the checking-in procedures at the terminal and as such would they not already be on the manifest? ?

 

 

This was the second leg of our B2B. We were at the gangway watching the last people allowed on as they wheeled their own luggage on board.

 

The person in authority who will remain nameless told us the manifest had been submitted and 8 people walked up immediately after that occurred. They had to be denied entry and of course they were upset.

 

The line had to be drawn somewhere because the ship was prepared to leave. They can not keep changing the manifest.

 

One couple told us that their flight from Houston to SJU was midair when the pilot was informed that SJU was shutdown. They were returned to Houston. They caught up with the ship in Aruba as did anyone else who chose to continue with the cruise.

 

Gina

 

 

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[alexkrn46]

The ship due to 9/11 regulations has to submit the manifest electronically, anyone who transmits large data sets knows this can take awhile. The port master probably did not want to delay the sailing to submit this data which could have significantly delayed the sailing.

[oldguysandgalls]

But..(and we don't know that yet) if the 8 passengers actually walked up the gangway, the port master must have realised that the 8 passengers had already cleared pre-boarding check-in and as such the electronic manifest up-date would be updated albeit it later? Sorry, if we are missing something here.

 

The ship due to 9/11 regulations has to submit the manifest electronically, anyone who transmits large data sets knows this can take awhile. The port master probably did not want to delay the sailing to submit this data which could have significantly delayed the sailing.

[Vonbear]

The ship due to 9/11 regulations has to submit the manifest electronically, anyone who transmits large data sets knows this can take awhile. The port master probably did not want to delay the sailing to submit this data which could have significantly delayed the sailing.

 

Makes sense. thanks.

 

I feel terrible for the people who showed up to find the Serenade gone because it left early, but to show up with the ship still threre and be turned away! I think that would upset me more!

[mommabean]

We are not sure if we understand your second paragraph:

"The person in authority who will remain nameless told us the manifest had been submitted and 8 people walked up immediately after that occurred". "They had to be denied entry and of course they were upset"

 

Did the 8 people actually also walk up to the gangway? If they were, they would have gone through the checking-in procedures at the terminal and as such would they not already be on the manifest? ?

 

No. They had not checked in so they never made to the gangway. They walked into the cruiseport and found they could not checkin since the manifest was already complete and the ship was in the process of departing.

 

My husband actually overheard one angry woman complaining about how the airport was not helpful in retrieving their luggage. They knew the ship was leaving early. We wondered why should had to keep complaining since she was one of the lucky ones to bs permitted to carry her luggage up the ramp.

 

The announcement about early departure was first made at 11 am to the crew by Capt. Karin. She told crew to be back on board by no later than 1pm. I checked the RCI website and never saw an important update at the bottom of the screen as there is right now.

 

I heard there were plenty of people who booked air with RCI and they were taken care of. The people I spoke with who booked on their own are letting their travel agent deal with RCI. I have no idea how it will be resolved if air was booked separately. I do know that this couple was already offered 30% off a future cruise for a start at their compensation.

 

 

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[Cuizer2]

This might be a lesson to those that like to arrive late so as to avoid the lines that form early.

[mommabean]

But..(and we don't know that yet) if the 8 passengers actually walked up the gangway, the port master must have realised that the 8 passengers had already cleared pre-boarding check-in and as such the electronic manifest up-date would be updated albeit it later? Sorry, if we are missing something here.

 

Those people were not to the gangway. They were not checked in. They came in to find the ship all ready to depart. There was no huge flow of people as on other ports. We were outside on the pool deck just prior to going to deck 5 where the gangway is located. We were surprised at the lack of cars or taxis driving in. We actually had wondered if everyone had already arrived. The count we got later was that 160 missed the ship. They must have had later flights or they didn't call RCI to find out what was happening due to the obviously deteriorating weather.

 

Final boarding was originally to be 7pm. The gangway was pushed away promptly and orderly at 5:30pm.

 

It was quite interesting and exciting to watch this unusual process.

 

Had I been the one in the cruise terminal and told I couldn't check in, I would be so upset. It all went well with the comedian's joke the night before about missing the ship in port. He'd rather get to the pier and look down to see the ship sunk rather than know it left without him. No one had a clue what was to come on turn around day. :)

 

 

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[oldguysandgalls]

Thank you for clarifying the actual series of events Gina; very much appreciated. Thank you.

[mommabean]

Thank you for clarifying the actual series of events Gina; very much appreciated. Thank you.

 

You're welcome.

 

The crew and officers did a great job in dealing with it from their end. It's up to Miami to inform the incoming passengers. But in all fairness, with all the people who choose to fly in on the day of departure, there is no way RCI can contact them. Maybe they learned a costly lesson. People make that same mistake during the snowy winter months, too.

 

People who can't easily drive to port should fly in at least 1 day early. We always opt for a 2 day minimum.

 

 

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[oldguysandgalls]

We agree, and that's exactly why we are flying in few days ahead (we had a few "too close for comfort" very close calls) :eek:

[NH Cruisers]

If they would have booked the Carnival Victory they at least would have had a hotel for two nights and free air fare to the next port. On RCCL only the folks who booked the expensive air package with them got that.

 

RCCL needs to work on caring for the individual passenger, they have some work to do.

 

Jon

[foxesden1]

But..(and we don't know that yet) if the 8 passengers actually walked up the gangway, the port master must have realised that the 8 passengers had already cleared pre-boarding check-in and as such the electronic manifest up-date would be updated albeit it later? Sorry, if we are missing something here.

 

That's what I was thinking. I would think that they would have locked the doors, cleared the room and departed.

 

But maybe that would have taken to Long..

 

UPDATED as I see OP expanded on what she said.

 

Now for me, if I understood it correctly, the ship departed at 5:30, rather then 7 ? that would be a flight I would not book. Way to tight IMPO. A 1pm arrival would cause my heart to flutter!

[LBumb]

i never fly in departure day. way too risky.

[critterchick]

Gina, many thanks for your updates! Did RCI let the new passengers know of the early departure when you checked in so they wouldn't leave the ship?

 

We still don't know how many of the passengers were flying and how many were driving to the port. I can't let RCI off the hook for not trying to contact everybody, but I suspect that customer service had no idea what was going on until it was too late to do anything.

[FLSteve11]

That's what I was thinking. I would think that they would have locked the doors, cleared the room and departed.

 

But maybe that would have taken to Long..

 

UPDATED as I see OP expanded on what she said.

 

Now for me, if I understood it correctly, the ship departed at 5:30, rather then 7 ? that would be a flight I would not book. Way to tight IMPO. A 1pm arrival would cause my heart to flutter!

 

Considering the weather conditions, some flights may have been delayed and people were arriving later then expected. Still, as it's been said many times, fly in a day ahead if at all possible.

[Langley Cruisers]

It's up to Miami to inform the incoming passengers. But in all fairness, with all the people who choose to fly in on the day of departure, there is no way RCI can contact them.

 

 

Yes, I tend to agree with you. We have taken hotel rooms that didn't have free WiFi, and not thinking we would need it, chose not to pay for it. We also turn off our cell phone when we travel. Both of these are methods that are obviously frequently used to let passengers know about any changes.

 

Given this situation and all that has transpired, perhaps we will re-think how we keep in touch before a cruise, should we have a relatively short window of time.

[Desert Cruizers]

We left from San Diego in 2008 and even though we are 2:20 min from San Diego, drove down the day before.I would be nervous arriving at the terminal within 3 hrs of departure and are always on board by noon for our cruises.

[mommabean]

That's what I was thinking. I would think that they would have locked the doors, cleared the room and departed.

 

But maybe that would have taken to Long..

 

UPDATED as I see OP expanded on what she said.

 

Now for me, if I understood it correctly, the ship departed at 5:30, rather then 7 ? that would be a flight I would not book. Way to tight IMPO. A 1pm arrival would cause my heart to flutter!

 

People were to have originally been on board by 7pm for an 8:30 departure. We departed at 5:30 only minutes after the last people were permitted to board.

 

 

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[frito58]

I just find it hard to believe RCI just left 140 people swinging in the wind with no one to help them , unreal . You would have have have thought they would have have sent somebody to at least answer questions to help direct these poor souls to what to do , not just pull up the gangway and shove off , Carnival sent a whole support team to look after the 300 they had to leave behind. I realize this was an unusal thing to happen but someone should have been smart enough to say oh wait we have 140 people stranded that are going to be panicking we need to do something its called customer service.

[mommabean]

I just find it hard to believe RCI just left 140 people swinging in the wind with no one to help them , unreal . You would have have have thought they would have have sent somebody to at least answer questions to help direct these poor souls to what to do , not just pull up the gangway and shove off , Carnival sent a whole support team to look after the 300 they had to leave behind. I realize this was an unusal thing to happen but someone should have been smart enough to say oh wait we have 140 people stranded that are going to be panicking we need to do something its called customer service.

 

What makes you think RCI didn't do anything? Carnival Victory pulled in their gangway and shoved off early, too. I'm sure things appeared the same from on board their ship, too.

 

RCI has no control over the way the San Juan cruise port handles their port. The captain had to respond to what the port authorities told her they were doing. CCL used a different port. Maybe that is why they were permitted to leave a little later than us. Their scheduled departure time was already later than ours.

 

I know it was handled well on our side of the gangway.

 

 

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[Ship's Wake]

Thought I would include a link to the previous thread (it's a long one) discussing Royal Caribbean's response to those left behind:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1469842

 

From the Cruise Critic Blog:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2011/08/25/bad-weather-blunder-a-lesson-in-cruise-crisis-control/

[mjldvlks]

What makes you think RCI didn't do anything? Carnival Victory pulled in their gangway and shoved off early, too. I'm sure things appeared the same from on board their ship, too.

 

RCI has no control over the way the San Juan cruise port handles their port. The captain had to respond to what the port authorities told her they were doing. CCL used a different port. Maybe that is why they were permitted to leave a little later than us. Their scheduled departure time was already later than ours.

 

I know it was handled well on our side of the gangway.

 

 

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Thanks for your update.

 

I don't think anyone has complained about the way passengers that were able to board were treated. Frito's comment was based on a RCI rep quoted in USA Today saying that RCI made no effort to contact passengers of the early departure and did not offer any compensation to passengers who missed the ship who had not booked through RCI.

 

I recognize [and agree] that arriving early is the way to go. We always try to arrive at least a day early and we like to get aboard as early as they let us. But if I had arrived within the advertised time and had not been allowed to board, I would be upset. My major complaint with the way it was handled [having absolutely nothing to do with the ship's crew] was the comment in the press that RCI made no effort to contact passengers of the change because there was no way to do so. I notice you made the same comment. To this extent, I disagree with you. There are many possible means of contacting passengers, even in transit. RCI asks for emergency contact information with early check in. As other posters in an earlier thread have pointed out, airlines have schedule change information available by email or text. There are ways. Undoubtedly, they would never reach everyone, but I would bet they would reach some. And they had quite a bit of time. Your earlier post said that on-board announcements about potential early departure were being made by 11 a.m. That is something like six and a half hours before the ship actually left, correct? What bothers me is the statement by the rep that they didn't even try. I certainly don't fault the crew for that, that should have been a shore-side responsibility in my opinion.

 

I am also concerned about the statement by the rep that they did not offer much help to the passengers who had not booked air through RCI, but I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on that issue until we hear what they actually did for such passengers. My biggest concern is the lack of any reasonable effort to contact passngers about the early departure.