Is RCI's "refund" for the Oasis "Tragedy at Sea" Appropriate?

[internetwhiz]

Cruise lines allow for no delays or issues when they dry dock IMO. Thus, they are rushed and probably take short cuts at end to get dry dock done. Been on only one cruise that was first sailing after dry dock. It was on Celebrity Infinity in 2006 and it was a great sailing. Not extensive changes though. They did change the port of embarkation after we had booked flights/hotel. Lucky for us it changed from Fort Lauderdale to Miami or vise versa.

 

The reason, is $$$$ and we are talking lots of $$$. They, and I would agree, try to minimize the time the ship is not making lots of $$$ for them. They could not rush as much and have a mini cruise, then start back with normal itineraries, but they don't from what I can see. That way they have not lost a week cruise and the associated $$$, still allowing for time in dry dock to do a good job. Secondly, they need to train crew when adding cabins. There HAS to be new issues with cabin addition that need to be addressed. Guess they work in out on the first sailing and those passengers are the 'test' AND should get some compensation for their participation in working out the kinks.

 

To me the biggest issue was the addition of additional cabins and reduction of public space. I loved our Allure cruise and look forward to sailing her again. Would not consider Oasis. Will miss not seeing 'Cats, the musical'. Hope to get on Allure before she is 'fixed'. :rolleyes:

 

 

Shipshape Sam, are you aware that we sailed with 5100 passengers not the over 6000 that Oasis often travels with, and certainly not the new capacity with added rooms. We had the same number of staff, so having additional cabins to handle was a non-issue.

 

 

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[insidecabin]

UK is the EU and costums Union. However they have not signed the Schengen agreements.

This means basically no costum control within EU however you have to go thru Passport/ID control.

 

Coming into the UK there is soft customs even from the eu(you volunteer).

 

At Southampton they do a custom sweep of the baggage hall and have picked up pax with excess cigarettes from Gib.

 

Some eu ports and airports do incoming id checks(glance at the passport) from the UK Amsterdam port is one.

[insidecabin]

Shipshape Sam, are you aware that we sailed with 5100 passengers not the over 6000 that Oasis often travels with, and certainly not the new capacity with added rooms. We had the same number of staff, so having additional cabins to handle was a non-issue.

 

 

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The additional cabins were not ready and there were a lot of contractors on board so reduced guest load.

 

Loads of construction and cable work there was also some pipe work as they had the ceilings down in the corridors with pipes going nowhere.

[Ocean Boy]

Imagine the thread if they cancelled this cruise to finish up the dry dock. :eek:

 

Imagine having no thread at all if RCI had scheduled enough time in the first place to finish up the dry dock. I get that it is all about profits. But not everyone is a seasoned cruiser. Most of us know that this is routine for the cruise lines to get a ship back in service as soon as possible with work still remaining to be finished. Maybe the cruise lines should make a disclaimer about this when people are booking so people can adjust their expectations. Nah, that will never happen as the cruise lines are not going to risk loosing a booking. They would rather deal with disappointed customers.

[insidecabin]

It is not just dry dock scheduling it is new build as well, Quantum is also unfinished.

 

In recent years many new ship have been ready early adding cruises into their schedules.

[Ocean Boy]

Wow Art, I was a big fan of your blog and you just lost me as a fan. I was willing to forgive your wanting compensation for the inconvenience of having our carpet cleaned without notice and your partners complaints about the incomplete sets of Mahjong tiles, but your quote above it mean at best and I believe against Cruise Critic rules. Also you stayed in a suite so my guess is your future cruise voucher is sizable.

 

Sorry I really liked your blog and reading about how you enjoyed drinks in the Suites Lounge and the other perks that went along with it. I also appreciated some of the things you were unhappy with such as the chemical fumes bothering your partner. However, being nasty is never pleasant.

 

But sometimes you have to cut someone a break for an over the top post when they are responding to a post that was pretty much ridiculous.

[Chelsea1]

As I have posted already, we were on this TA, is a GS, same as Art. We filled in the online guest survey before disembarking and gave our honest feedback on the on-board facilities for a TA, management and service. This was completely irrelevant to the weather/route - as I said it could have been a lot worse in October and the Captain made exactly the right decision to avoid rough seas and take a northerly route , I don't think anyone who was onboard would question that.

 

A Transatlantic needs to be differnt than a standard 7 night Caribbean port-intensive and RCCL simply did not care to think about that. We did a 4 night Disney from Florida last year, which I was dreading as am I am not really a Disney fan, expected it to be loud, full of kids, disorganised, but it was fantastic - the product really well delivered for the adults and children in Caribbean, private Island etc. But would I go on a Disney transatlantic....only if it acknowledged a different experience.

 

This Oasis TA RCCL really hyped up here in the UK from the beginning and they did not deliver on the hype. We were on a drydock repositioning, a ferry repositioning. RCCL charged a premium price for a basic passage.

 

I was asked by several passengers we talked to - "so how is this different from Cunard on a longer voyage" and my immediate answer was lack of visibility of senior staff - the senior management are always visible on Cunard and you at least feel they are in control of the ship and it's operation. With the absolute exception of the Captain on Oasis I did not feel the staff were in control of the daily operations. It was an arrogant attituted from RCCL and they are lucky serious went wrong.

[UNV-IT!!!]

My issue was the rude passengers. In all my cruises with RCL I've never experienced so many "elitist and entitled" cruisers who loved to yell at officers and point at their loyalty tier pins. This was my first TA and everyone warned me about the older crowds. Having now experienced it I completely understand why the crew were so stressed out. When you have thousands of bitter people sailings all your going to get is complaints.

 

I appreciate Rccl's credit and will gladely accept it. Was it needed? No. Customs screwed up not rccl. They cant force customs to bring more men.

 

It's funny I had a small issue while on board. I talked to management while on board. I was extremely polite. Not only did I get my issue resolved I received a gift when arriving back to my room as a thank you for my kindness in dealing with the officers. I also received a free dinner of my choice as another thank you.

 

I think the issue is passengers attitudes. Some people complain far too much in life. Instead of killing people with kindness they blast people with elite attitude.

 

I remember the days when all the crew was extremely friendly to everyone. I also remember the passengers being much nicer then too. The crews attitude is relative to the way you treat them. They aren't slaves. They aren't your workers. They are people.

[jackyfromwyk]

It's funny I had a small issue while on board. I talked to management while on board. I was extremely polite. Not only did I get my issue resolved I received a gift when arriving back to my room as a thank you for my kindness in dealing with the officers. I also received a free dinner of my choice as another thank you. .

 

That is very interesting. We also had a small issue while on board and spoke, politely, with someone from guest services. Since she could not address that particular situation, she said she would inform a supervisor who would get back to us. After not hearing back for two days we checked back with guest services and were again informed that a supervisor would contact us.

We never heard from anyone.

[SuiteTraveler]

The definition of tragedy is

"an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe:" or " A disastrous event, especially one involving distressing loss or injury to life:"

 

Can someone who was actually on this cruise please clearly explain exactly what the "tragedy" was?

[Chelsea1]

Tragedy in English (Greek) originaly had an artistic/dramatic definiton referring to a situation where one is explaining a drama with an unhappy outcome (think Bee Gees song), rather than the "distaster" definition which it is now currently associated with it. I guess the former is the the context of Art's title.

[dep]

We just received the following e-mail from RCI. With all that went wrong (see various threads), we would like to ask our fellow cruise critic friends if this is what you would do if you owned a company that screwed up and wanted to encourage their customers (passengers) to try your product again.

 

Dear Valued Guest:

 

We understand how much our guests look forward to and invest in their vacation. I am so sorry there was some disappointed on your Oasis of the Seas cruise and we hope to regain your trust.

 

We never want our guests to go through any kind of difficulties during their time with us and we recognize how frustrating it must have been for you to encounter delays due to the additional mandatory customs inspections. We are sorry our efforts fell short and would like to apologize for the disappointment with the service provided.

 

Additionally, as part of our commitment to provide our guests with the best vacation facilities, we added several improvements to the Oasis of the Seas during her refurbishment. However, with so many changes being completed in a short span of time, there were unforeseen complications that arose. We apologize for any inconvenience these enhancements may have caused you.

 

To thank you for your understanding, we would like to provide you with a special discount for use on a future Royal Caribbean International sailing. The discount value will be 20% of the cruise fare paid for this sailing. You should receive your certificate in approximately 6 weeks. Please be guided by the offer instructions on the certificate when finalizing plans for your next cruise vacation.

 

Again, thank you for choosing to sail with Royal Caribbean International. We look forward to welcoming you back again in the not too distant future.

 

Sincerely,

 

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo

Executive Vice President, Operations, Royal Caribbean International [/What was the date of the sailing

 

What was the date of this sailing ?

[Cruising89143]

My issue was the rude passengers. In all my cruises with RCL I've never experienced so many "elitist and entitled" cruisers who loved to yell at officers and point at their loyalty tier pins. This was my first TA and everyone warned me about the older crowds. Having now experienced it I completely understand why the crew were so stressed out. When you have thousands of bitter people sailings all your going to get is complaints.

 

I appreciate Rccl's credit and will gladely accept it. Was it needed? No. Customs screwed up not rccl. They cant force customs to bring more men.

 

It's funny I had a small issue while on board. I talked to management while on board. I was extremely polite. Not only did I get my issue resolved I received a gift when arriving back to my room as a thank you for my kindness in dealing with the officers. I also received a free dinner of my choice as another thank you.

 

I think the issue is passengers attitudes. Some people complain far too much in life. Iwnstead of killing people with kindness they blast people with elite attitude.

 

I remember the days when all the crew was extremely friendly to everyone. I also remember the passengers being much nicer then too. The crews attitude is relative to the way you treat them. They aren't slaves. They aren't your workers. They are people.

 

Most crew do not like TA's for the exact reason you gave. Too many crotchety passengers with their loyalty status who love to shove it in the face of the crew.

 

Also the title of this thread tells me a lot about attitudes of some guests on board. It sounds like some things were not ready and the weather caused some issues but this was a tragedy? Was not aware that the ship sunk..... :rolleyes:

Edited November 8, 2014 by cruisingator2

[chloe kitty]

Chloe, are you unhappy with the compensation?

 

I followed the three blogs/threads from those who were willing to share their western TA journey with us and I thank them for doing so. Their blogs were honest, upbeat and critical when necessary. Art had a some issues but for the most part he tried to be even handed. The one constant on all three blogs was your negative comments about the cruise. At the time, I wished you had started your own blog/thread as you became a distraction to their hard work with your endless and repetitive complaints.

 

So, do you think the compensation offered is fair and, if not, what would you like.

 

Thank you.

 

I have been on 38 cruises, on mostly different cruise lines, and have not once complained about anything, because they were wonderful. In all cases, the CD had control and did his job. When credit is due, I will post that and did post that regarding the wonderful entertainment, food and waiters. Since you obviously read only what you wanted to read you missed that. Having experienced many transatlantic and transpacific cruises, I know they can be great even with poor weather, if the CD takes control and does his job. Since many of the items on this cruise were negative, I will continue to state so. If you don't like it, go to another blog. No, I don't think the compensation was enough, but I feel that at least they made an effort to rectify the situation.

[DirtyDawg]

I have been on 38 cruises, on mostly different cruise lines, and have not once complained about anything, because they were wonderful. In all cases, the CD had control and did his job. When credit is due, I will post that and did post that regarding the wonderful entertainment, food and waiters. Since you obviously read only what you wanted to read you missed that. Having experienced many transatlantic and transpacific cruises, I know they can be great even with poor weather, if the CD takes control and does his job. Since many of the items on this cruise were negative, I will continue to state so. If you don't like it, go to another blog. No, I don't think the compensation was enough, but I feel that at least they made an effort to rectify the situation.

 

I was just wondering if you will sail with Royal again and use the credit? i.e. as Royal probably can't satisfy everyone on your cruise, was the 20% credit offered close to satisfying most of the people? Or were they way off in the compensation offered?

[tanzer22pilot]

The definition of tragedy is

"an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe:" or " A disastrous event, especially one involving distressing loss or injury to life:"

 

Can someone who was actually on this cruise please clearly explain exactly what the "tragedy" was?

 

I thought we covered this.

[Big_G]

Imagine having no thread at all if RCI had scheduled enough time in the first place to finish up the dry dock.

 

It's all too common industry wide. I wonder if the Netherlands played a role in how much work they completed in the allotted time. Like you said earlier, I too don't think I'll be taking a TA anytime soon and it won't be on a ship just out of dry dock for sure.

[chloe kitty]

I was just wondering if you will sail with Royal again and use the credit? i.e. as Royal probably can't satisfy everyone on your cruise, was the 20% credit offered close to satisfying most of the people? Or were they way off in the compensation offered?

 

We are currently booked on the Quantum, and are trying to decide whether we should give them another chance or cancel it. I know this was not the norm for most cruise lines, including RCCL, since we have cruised twice with them before, and had a great time. This does, however, give one a bad taste in their mouth. The 20% is close to satisfying us.

Edited November 8, 2014 by chloe kitty

[reedprincess]

Conflicting posts :confused: Were you able to see cats without reservations or long lines?

 

Excuse me for not being clear enough. Should have read, Went BY Cats second day, no reservation and no lines. No, we did not stay and watch it this time around. Yes, we went by the theater before the showing on Sunday afternoon, no lines at all, no reservation and just walked on it and checked out the staging. Will see it on the next time we sail her. Happy now? Does that clear it up for you? Great detective work.....

[jackyfromwyk]

 

What was the date of this sailing ?

 

Westbound Transatlantic departing Rotterdam 10-14-14 or departing Southampton 10-15-14

[DirtyDawg]

It's all too common industry wide. I wonder if the Netherlands played a role in how much work they completed in the allotted time. Like you said earlier, I too don't think I'll be taking a TA anytime soon and it won't be on a ship just out of dry dock for sure.

 

Sorry, I do not understand why you wonder why 'the Netherlands played a role in how much work they completed in the allotted time.' It was one company (RCL) contracting with another company (Keppel Verolme) to do the work. What does the country on the Netherlands have to do it any delays, uncompleted work or substandard work?

[klfrodo]

Sorry, I do not understand why you wonder why 'the Netherlands played a role in how much work they completed in the allotted time.' It was one company (RCL) contracting with another company (Keppel Verolme) to do the work. What does the country on the Netherlands have to do it any delays, uncompleted work or substandard work?

 

Unions and labor laws of various countries.

[Big_G]

Sorry, I do not understand why you wonder why 'the Netherlands played a role in how much work they completed in the allotted time.' It was one company (RCL) contracting with another company (Keppel Verolme) to do the work. What does the country on the Netherlands have to do it any delays, uncompleted work or substandard work?

 

http://www.vesselfinder.com/news/2419-Royal-Caribbean-fined-over-600000-for-overworking-crew

 

I was referring to uncompleted work.

Edited November 9, 2014 by Big_G

[DirtyDawg]

Unions and labor laws of various countries.

 

That company has been operating in the Netherlands in various forms for 300 years. I would think by now they know the Unions and labour laws of the Netherlands and bid on the work based on those Unions and labour laws. Also this wasn't RCL first rodeo - i.e. they have dealt with ship builders is various countries over the years so they know or should know the Union situation and labour laws of the countries where they have had ,or will ever have,work done.

 

Both RCL and the shipyard screwed up - period. No one else to blame.

[CruiseMore1]

My issue was the rude passengers. In all my cruises with RCL I've never experienced so many "elitist and entitled" cruisers who loved to yell at officers and point at their loyalty tier pins. This was my first TA and everyone warned me about the older crowds. Having now experienced it I completely understand why the crew were so stressed out. When you have thousands of bitter people sailings all your going to get is complaints.

 

I appreciate Rccl's credit and will gladely accept it. Was it needed? No. Customs screwed up not rccl. They cant force customs to bring more men.

 

It's funny I had a small issue while on board. I talked to management while on board. I was extremely polite. Not only did I get my issue resolved I received a gift when arriving back to my room as a thank you for my kindness in dealing with the officers. I also received a free dinner of my choice as another thank you.

 

I think the issue is passengers attitudes. Some people complain far too much in life. Instead of killing people with kindness they blast people with elite attitude.

 

I remember the days when all the crew was extremely friendly to everyone. I also remember the passengers being much nicer then too. The crews attitude is relative to the way you treat them. They aren't slaves. They aren't your workers. They are people.

 

Sincerely glad you got such good treatment for your polite attitude. This has generally been our experience with RC as well. Not this time, however. The crew - waiters, stewards, bar service - were great! Higher management/officers - not! They were mostly invisible and definitely non-caring. Gee, I couldn't have yelled at an officer even if I had wanted to - they just weren't to be found. And judging ALL higher status and "older crowd" guests by the ones you actually saw is pretty narrow-minded - I had expected better of you.