Question about not sailing RCCL anymore due to the Hurricane...

[Trainman-2]

We all take out chances when we cruise during hurricane season.

 

RCI has no obligation to compensate us in the event of changes caused by hurricanes.

 

I think that they did the best that they could under the circumstances.

 

There is no valid reason for cruisers to expect to make money or get something for nothing in a case like this.

[loubetti]

RCI was very, very generous, and they seem to know when to throw out parts of the cruise contract, and take a potential financial hit in order to maintain passenger relations.

 

In changing weather conditions it is all last minute decisions. It's hard to plan for this stuff. Of course they likely have a policy in place, and some rough ideas as to what they might do in certain circumstances.

[utkikr21]

This was my first time saling with Royal and I can honestly say that the way they handled our sailing on the Allure was above and beyond what we expected of them. I told my DW when we found out about the delayed sailing that we may (and i stressed may) recieve $300 OBC due to the delay and of course any port charges missed would be refunded. Imagine our surprise when we found out what we were really receiving. The staff we spoke to and the crew on board went way above what they could have and becuase of this we will continue to sail with Royal.

[foxgoodrich]

RCI was very, very generous, and they seem to know when to throw out parts of the cruise contract, and take a potential financial hit in order to maintain passenger relations.

 

In changing weather conditions it is all last minute decisions. It's hard to plan for this stuff. Of course they likely have a policy in place, and some rough ideas as to what they might do in certain circumstances.

 

Yes! They were generous and they definitely did take a huge financial hit here. Multiply that compensation package by the number of cabins and suites on Allure for our 8/26 cruise...then consider the additional costs for the previous cruise with 2 extra days tacked on and no revenue at all for those 2 days.

 

Also, the staff who depend on gratuities took a hit. The previous cruise morphed from 7 days to 9 days, but I'd bet that the vast majority of cruisers didn't adjust their gratuities from 7 to 9 days worth. And on our cruise, 7 nights became 5 nights. We had prepaid ours, so we got 2 days back as an OBC. So the waiters and cabin stewards got shorted 2 nights of tips on our cruise. (But some of us were good guys and added extra cash on our cruise.)

 

Another thing I found fascinating - we had a galley tour on Friday and we learned some interesting things. RCI provisions each cruise on Allure for 7 nights. Proteins/meats and staples are loaded at the embarkation port for the whole cruise. Veggies, fruits, and other fresh stuff are loaded at every stop. Those additional 2 days tacked onto the 8/19 cruise wreaked havoc in the galley! Once they got the word that Port Everglades was closing, they had to do an immediate inventory of all the food onboard to figure out if they had enough of a supply to use the regular menus. This inventory included the MDR galley, crew galley, plus all the specialty restaurants, and the food was pooled and used by all the dining venues. This was an administrative nightmare and took a LOT of extra staff time. The chef conducting our tour said they were able to implement the regular menus in the MDR by doing this. (and some of that MDR beef was likely actually Chops beef!) They had to cut back on some of the variety normally offered in the Windjammer to make it work, and the crew galley was doing pot luck. Who knows what the crew were eating!

 

Also, with regard to the new RC menus...when you see the "implementation date" for a particular ship, add a week to that. The chef told us that a training team comes aboard on the implementation date to train the staff, so the actual serving of the new menu does not begin until the following cruise. Just FYI....

Judy

[gladguy]

I was on the August 26 sailing on Freedom out of Port Canaveral. We had 1 sea day of very windy conditions (couldn't really stay out on deck) and missed our stop at Coco Cay. We had an extra sea day, and were compensated about $17/person in port fees as OBC.

 

I would certainly have enjoyed the beach day in Bahamas, but I understood when booking in Hurricane Season that port days might be messed up. We had two gorgeous days in St. Thomas and St. Martin, and enjoyed the beaches there very much.

 

Reading this thread, I am impressed with the way RCCL handled the Allure delay. Seems like they seriously compensated passengers for any inconvenience -- well above what I would expect!