Labadee - no more upgraded buffet?

[flyingv4me]

To update: SLED called and informed me that those that booked prior to 10/4 would indeed be grandfathered in a manner similar to Royal. She indicated that my group would be receiving wristbands.

[PJB3]

Just went through all these posts and got a feeling I'm out of luck, but I will try to give them a call. I had booked a Nellie's cabana in Sept for a March 2014 cruise. Two weeks ago when prices dropped I changed my cruise reservation and they cancelled my cabana. (booked same room, just new ressie #) So I rebooked a cabana, but now that's booked after Oct 4th. Hmmm . . . not only that, but I've noticed they charged me for the new cabana and haven't refunded me for the old one! Shouldn't my refund have come-it's been two weeks? argh.

[Toddcan]

Just went through all these posts and got a feeling I'm out of luck, but I will try to give them a call. I had booked a Nellie's cabana in Sept for a March 2014 cruise. Two weeks ago when prices dropped I changed my cruise reservation and they cancelled my cabana. (booked same room, just new ressie #) So I rebooked a cabana, but now that's booked after Oct 4th. Hmmm . . . not only that, but I've noticed they charged me for the new cabana and haven't refunded me for the old one! Shouldn't my refund have come-it's been two weeks? argh.

 

 

Call them. I cancelled my cruise, and rebooked it to grab a GS - my refund showed up within 3 days.

 

Ask, but I don't think you will get lucky with the Cabana

[Coralc]

I guess my "not writing" to them worked as well. They were probably swamped by trying to reply to individual emails.

 

Royal Caribbean Marketing emailed this to eligible cabana renters today :D:

 

"We are looking forward to welcoming you onboard Serenade of the Seas® for your upcoming cruise vacation!

 

We want to confirm that your private cabana at Nellie's Beach awaits you upon arrival to Labadee®. Your cabana rental includes 2 floating beach mats, water cooler with 6 bottles of water, the use of beach towels and the service of a cabana attendant. Also, because you reserved your cabana prior to October 4th, 2013 you will also have access to an upgraded lunch buffet at Barefoot Beach. You will receive additional information along with wristbands in your stateroom.

 

While in Labadee, you will be able to enjoy any of the destination's many features, including a Haitian artisan market, an extensive array of watersports options, as well as exciting attractions such as the 2,600-foot Dragon's Breath Flight Line, the world's longest zip line over water, the 300-foot Dragon's Splash Waterslide, and the Dragon's Tail Alpine Coaster."

[Lionesss]

Thank you for sharing the correspondence you received from RCI regarding the buffet.

I wonder how long they will provide this service think--- many people booked well into next year, before the deadline, and only those who visit here probablly new about the change.

I wonder if something happened on a recent sailing to prompt this notice:rolleyes:.

Sea Ya

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I also received the e-mail today. I printed it out and filed it along with the response to the letter I wrote several weeks ago.

 

I have a feeling all of those letters we wrote had something to do with the group e-mail. We aren't sailing until May '15, so will probably be one of the last of the Nellie's crowd going to BB upgraded buffet. I'm bringing along both e-mails as added insurance.:rolleyes:

[Coralc]

I also received the e-mail today. I printed it out and filed it along with the response to the letter I wrote several weeks ago.

 

I have a feeling all of those letters we wrote had something to do with the group e-mail. We aren't sailing until May '15, so will probably be one of the last of the Nellie's crowd going to BB upgraded buffet. I'm bringing along both e-mails as added insurance.:rolleyes:

 

Oh for sure! I think all of your hard work and emails are what prompted them to go through the records and send out the mass mailing.

 

And I sincerely appreciate your efforts! Thanks! :D:):D

[Brandonclan]

Received the same e-mail today. I also noticed in the e-mail they state that additional info and wristbands will be in our stateroom.

We don't sail until May 4th....saved/printed all info...we shall see what happens.

 

"We are looking forward to welcoming you onboard Allure of the Seas® for your upcoming cruise vacation!

 

We want to confirm that your private cabana at Nellie's Beach awaits you upon arrival to Labadee®. Your cabana rental includes 2 floating beach mats, water cooler with 6 bottles of water, the use of beach towels and the service of a cabana attendant. Also, because you reserved your cabana prior to October 4th, 2013 you will also have access to an upgraded lunch buffet at Barefoot Beach. You will receive additional information along with wristbands in your stateroom."

[Coralc]

I interpret that to mean you will receive 6 wristbands and additional information in your stateroom. The passenger that reserved the cabana will distribute them to their guests.

 

I don't understand the emphasis? :)

[Brandonclan]

I interpret that to mean you will receive 6 wristbands and additional information in your stateroom. The passenger that reserved the cabana will distribute them to their guests.

 

I don't understand the emphasis? :)

 

Well, when this issue first arrose, and we were discussing it here (please, read entire thread), we were being told this same info on the phone and in e-mails.

Passengers sailing still stated that their wristbands were still being distributed on Labadee as usual.

We have been discussing how they would know who gets what etc. after the cutoff date. As time goes by we will hear back from pax exactly how thing are actually being distributed. Until then, we can only go by what the e-mail states.

I, like you, take these words to mean we will be given wristbands and info in cabin prior to Labadee.

Now if we could only get them to assign us the cabana number we request all would be great!

[Coralc]

Well, when this issue first arrose, and we were discussing it here (please, read entire thread), we were being told this same info on the phone and in e-mails.

Passengers sailing still stated that their wristbands were still being distributed on Labadee as usual.

We have been discussing how they would know who gets what etc. after the cutoff date. As time goes by we will hear back from pax exactly how thing are actually being distributed. Until then, we can only go by what the e-mail states.

I, like you, take these words to mean we will be given wristbands and info in cabin prior to Labadee.

Now if we could only get them to assign us the cabana number we request all would be great!

 

I've been here since the beginning of the thread, and have read every post, thank you Dan. It is however, our first visit to Labadee, so it truly makes no difference to me whether we receive wristbands onboard or on the island.

 

It would be easier for me to receive them onboard and distribute them to our cabanamates, rather than meeting up onshore.

 

Thank you for explaining. :D:):D

 

Oh...sorry. It just occurred to me that I should probably explain myself. I may be subscribed to half a dozen threads on Cruise Critic that are relevant or are of interest to me....and I never post on them. I use the thread tools option in the upper right corner and click on "subscribe to this thread" . I receive an email notification each time there is a new post, even though I never have posted, and I can follow along on threads like this or even the train wrecks, without getting involved unless I decide to post something.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Coralc

[Coralc]

Missed the edit. I also use Thread Tools/subscribe to this thread option to receive notices from reviews and "live from" threads....instead of cluttering them up with more "I'm subscribed" and "Me Too" useless posts. :D;):)

[nbsjcruiser]

I have not received the latest email but I have all the other correspondence that they sent to me. We don't sail until Feb. I am looking forward to hear how people who sail before us makes out with getting the wrist bands

[Sunny AZ Girl]

there will be five of us in our cabana. I think 4 of us may want to use the floating mats. Does anyone know if it is possible to get two more?

[internetwhiz]

there will be five of us in our cabana. I think 4 of us may want to use the floating mats. Does anyone know if it is possible to get two more?

 

We will be fine with two of them...for the four of us. We usually take one and kick-paddle out and wear our snorkels, face in the water to see the fishies!

I'm just ready to go...six weeks left! Looking forward to a cabana, however, all this crap about the buffet has put a little bit of a damper on it, but it sounds like they have everything in hand, so no worries here.

[Brandonclan]

there will be five of us in our cabana. I think 4 of us may want to use the floating mats. Does anyone know if it is possible to get two more?

 

You might talk your attendant into providing more for free...however, they are available for rent also.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

You might talk your attendant into providing more for free...however, they are available for rent also.

 

At this point we will probably just trade off. But if the cabana attendant can scare up one or two extra it would mean a bonus tip for him!:D

[asuedonym]

You can ask for a refund on it. RC gave us refunds on a shore excursion to the resort in the Bahamas. They traipsed everyone in a large group to the opposite end of the island regardless of what you paid (when we paid the most) and then said, ok you people (us) can go anywhere now. We had a handicapped person with us that was not allowed to bring scooter and couldn't even walk any more. They kindly gave the money back since she had to sit an hour before she could walk at all. Their customer service is very good in that respect so just contact them now and it should be taken care of. We just did it at the service desk after the shore excursion and they refunded all 6 of us.

 

 

 

 

 

Can't remember everything of course but NY striploin was very nice. The thing of it is, it was listed as available when we booked it along with the free bottled water so we booked it at $250 and were ok with it. To find out later that they yanked the free lunch and water? To me its the principle of the thing. It would be no different than buying a car and agreeing on free mats and then find out when you pick it up that they decided you weren't going to get the free mats. Is it something expensive or would make a big difference in my enjoyment of the car? Absolutely not but we agreed on certain amenities and I paid the price knowing I would get them. Once they yanked them, it feels like a bait and switch to me. Sometimes principle can't be measured in $.

Edited November 3, 2013 by asuedonym

[Coralc]

My edit...you received a refund, for an excursion to a resort?

Edited November 3, 2013 by Coralc

[4serenity]

We rented a Cabana on Nellie's beach. Can we request a specific cabana and if so how can I do that?

 

 

Pay It Forward. Be kind.

[Brandonclan]

We rented a Cabana on Nellie's beach. Can we request a specific cabana and if so how can I do that?

 

 

Pay It Forward. Be kind.

 

They are assigned on Labadee. Only way to get what you want is to get off the ship early and deal with them before someone else does.

[4serenity]

Brandonclan, thank you. I will try to do that, I'm traveling with my parents and an elderly uncle which is why I got the cabana, so he could be comfortable on Labadee and enjoy watching everyone. I am hoping to get close to the water. I am planning on tipping the cabana attendant but what is normal, we are good tippers but I have absolutely no idea no clue ow to tip for this.

 

 

Pay It Forward. Be kind.

[MS52]

Brandonclan, thank you. I will try to do that, I'm traveling with my parents and an elderly uncle which is why I got the cabana, so he could be comfortable on Labadee and enjoy watching everyone. I am hoping to get close to the water. I am planning on tipping the cabana attendant but what is normal, we are good tippers but I have absolutely no idea no clue ow to tip for this.

 

 

Pay It Forward. Be kind.

 

I have no idea what is normal. We tipped $20 per couple (3 couples). I thought that was generous, others may not. I think our attendant was happy.

[MS52]

there will be five of us in our cabana. I think 4 of us may want to use the floating mats. Does anyone know if it is possible to get two more?

 

We asked for additional mats last January and they were provided at no cost.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We asked for additional mats last January and they were provided at no cost.

 

Good to know. Thanks!:cool: