Harmony still a "construction site"

[LMaxwell]

This is well beyond normal first cruise bugs; the ship simply is not ready for prime time. These cruises were sold as regular cruises and guests have a reasonable expectation for things to be ready.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-36389384

 

Just reinforces my viewpoint of

 

-No new ships for 6 months

-No ships out of drydock for 1 month

-No ships going to dry dock in 2 to 4 weeks.

Apply to all cruise lines

 

 

What do you think? I have heard of no compensation, but in this instance I feel some is due.

[A&L_Ont]

This is well beyond normal first cruise bugs; the ship simply is not ready for prime time. These cruises were sold as regular cruises and guests have a reasonable expectation for things to be ready.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-36389384

 

Just reinforces my viewpoint of

 

-No new ships for 6 months

-No ships out of drydock for 1 month

-No ships going to dry dock in 2 to 4 weeks.

Apply to all cruise lines

 

 

What do you think? I have heard of no compensation, but in this instance I feel some is due.

 

I won't speak of compensation but I will speak of your viewpoints. Your 3 viewpoints are spot on and I would not do any of the 3 items you list.

[ryano]

Didnt this same thing happen on at least one of the Quantum ships?

 

Why are they sailing these ships when they arent finished? Especially when sold as regular cruises.

 

I guess its something I dont have to worry about. New ships are out of my league and budget. Im still waiting on Oasis prices to come down to where Freedom was :cool: I think i will be waiting a while.

 

I certainly wont sail on a ship that is about to go in or is fresh out of drydock for sure though

Edited May 26, 2016 by ryano

[Yorkvillain]

-No new ships for 6 months

-No ships out of drydock for 1 month

-No ships going to dry dock in 2 to 4 weeks.

 

I agree 100%.

[ZoeyVictoria]

Your guidelines sound reasonable to me. Spoken by someone who will be getting on the first sailing of the Empress in two days, with fingers crossed.

[Hoopster95]

 

Just reinforces my viewpoint of

 

-No new ships for 6 months

-No ships out of drydock for 1 month

-No ships going to dry dock in 2 to 4 weeks.

Apply to all cruise lines

 

 

What do you think? I have heard of no compensation, but in this instance I feel some is due.

 

Interesting.... with everything we've seen recently (especially the Roa... er ... Empress of the Seas) I have to agree with you. I guess I have been super lucky so far:

 

Vision 2 weeks out of major refurb and immediately after a TA - one of my top 3 cruises

Navigator 2 months out of major refurb - excellent cruise

Brand new Quantum 1 month in service - absolutely superb (for me anyways :))

[LMaxwell]

 

Why are they sailing these ships when they arent finished? Especially when sold as regular cruises.

 

 

Gone are the days of shakedown cruises and long previews for press and T/A's. Now it is get people onboard generating revenue as soon as possible. If they make enough stink apply OBC or FCC. Certainly Royal is NOT the only ones guilty of this. Many new ships in the past few years have been not ready for prime time when entering service.

[little britain]

And to reiterate these cruises were sold as the 4 night getaway and the 3 night getaway.

RCIs spin that these are some sort of Preview or Shakedown cruise was not reflected in either the marketing or the pricing.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6s using Tapatalk

[pilotboy1985]

I learned my lesson as well. I sailed Jewel Of The Seas in April, just 4 days after dry dock....never making that mistake again.

[Merion_Mom]

This is well beyond normal first cruise bugs; the ship simply is not ready for prime time. These cruises were sold as regular cruises and guests have a reasonable expectation for things to be ready.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-36389384

 

Just reinforces my viewpoint of

 

-No new ships for 6 months

-No ships out of drydock for 1 month

-No ships going to dry dock in 2 to 4 weeks.

Apply to all cruise lines

 

 

What do you think? I have heard of no compensation, but in this instance I feel some is due.

 

I won't speak of compensation but I will speak of your viewpoints. Your 3 viewpoints are spot on and I would not do any of the 3 items you list.

 

First one (4 night) received 15% FCC, according to a post on FB.

[Big_G]

 

-No new ships for 6 months

-No ships out of drydock for 1 month

-No ships going to dry dock in 2 to 4 weeks.

Apply to all cruise lines

 

That's pretty much been our only booking restrictions over the years just from reading Cruise Critic...well that and price. That said, I can't comment on compensation. Have I missed any Cruise Critic complaints? I know there's a couple of 'on board now' threads but I haven't read them all the way through.

[MommaBear55]

I learned the hard way never to sail the cruise before a dry dock. The Celebrity ship we sailed was dirty, the staff was inattentive to the point that there were dirty dishes sloshing in the pool water overflow onto the deck. I didn't know to look at the schedule before that!

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Gone are the days of shakedown cruises and long previews for press and T/A's. Now it is get people onboard generating revenue as soon as possible. If they make enough stink apply OBC or FCC. Certainly Royal is NOT the only ones guilty of this. Many new ships in the past few years have been not ready for prime time when entering service.

 

Exactly. I saw some things about Carnival Vista being unfinished. Don't know how true that is because I don't follow Carnival news whatsoever.

 

First one (4 night) received 15% FCC, according to a post on FB.

 

Not bad, not bad. I'd be happy with that.

Edited May 27, 2016 by OfTheSeasCruiser

[setsail]

So I wonder what's not finished as no list was given.

[ChipLondon]

Okay so you ask "What do you think", well I think this

 

The title of this thread and the news report is a massive over exaggeration of the facts.

 

Sure it is easy to take some photos of areas that need finishing touches, but this is only a very small percentage of the overall ship.

Yes some areas like the suite sun deck are closed of, but there has until today been no sun anyway, and yes there are some small areas that need some finishing paint work or decorative touches, but none of these are major.

 

The restaurants and bars are fully open, as are entertainment areas except the Acqua Theatre as the weather has been too bad to enable the performers to complete final onboard practices.

 

Day by day some facilities are being opened like the one of the water slides today. Anyone that booked one of these first 4 or 3 days cruises knew what they were booking, and as such had a risk that not all facilities or shows would be up and running from day one, as it has been for the last few ships.

 

Anybody that has fears about the Harmony please do not have, the ship is incredible and the management and crew working hard to ensure guests have a great cruise experience.

 

I have taken many photos around the ship and it looks amazing, could I repeat some of the less attractive photos, yes sure I can. Have I seen ceiling panels being removed to fix electrical or plumbing issues, yes I have but I can see this any week on any ship. But this ship is not a construction site, and unsafe to walk around.

 

Of course I am sure the management on board would want to have everything perfect from day one, however they were only handed the ship a short while ago, and yes it should have been handed over without any issues.

 

The areas that require work are those ares that are least used by guests in the current weather conditions, who cares if a couple of hot tubs are out of use, there are others that can be used and only have a few people in them.

 

I respect the OPs opinion that it is not ready for prime time, but these first sailing are not prime time nor sailing with a full house. Sure this does not help those that only cruised for the first 4 days sailing, but already things are better on this 3 day sailing. Anyone that cannot enjoy themselves with all the facilities that are available will probably never be happy. I agree that guests should have reasonable expectations met, but having heard some people scream because there favorite hot tub or water slide is closed, well I am not sure if that is reasonable.

 

This is a fabulous ship, with an amazing crew that are smiling through despite the rudeness of some guests. We are happy to be on board and even happier to be staying on for the next 9 days.

 

 

 

This is well beyond normal first cruise bugs; the ship simply is not ready for prime time. These cruises were sold as regular cruises and guests have a reasonable expectation for things to be ready.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-36389384

 

Just reinforces my viewpoint of

 

-No new ships for 6 months

-No ships out of drydock for 1 month

-No ships going to dry dock in 2 to 4 weeks.

Apply to all cruise lines

 

 

What do you think? I have heard of no compensation, but in this instance I feel some is due.

[Big_G]

So I wonder what's not finished as no list was given.

 

That's why I wouldn't comment on compensation. Not much in details.

[ken_nyc]

Sailing on her June 26, 2016 in 31 days and we hope she is complete and they fix everything!

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Okay so you ask "What do you think", well I think this

 

Thanks for a different point of view.

[Big_G]

Okay so you ask "What do you think", well I think this

 

This is a fabulous ship, with an amazing crew that are smiling through despite the rudeness of some guests. We are happy to be on board and even happier to be staying on for the next 9 days.

 

Thanks Chip. Can't say I'm surprised that a first hand account would differ from a vague news story. Jealous of your 9 day adventure.

[koolforkatz]

 

-No new ships for 6 months

-No ships out of drydock for 1 month

-No ships going to dry dock in 2 to 4 weeks.

Apply to all cruise lines

 

 

 

I used to work on a cruise ship and having going through one major drydock and a few refurbs, I would never sail after one.

 

Things rarely go as planned.

[Florida Fan]

We went on the maiden voyages of Freedom and Oasis, and each time, the ship was ready for passengers. The cruises were a delight. Then we went on the maiden voyage of Quantum, and it was a shock. So many things went wrong. After the earlier maiden voyages, we saw that things had gone downhill. Now the trend seems to be continuing with Harmony.

[jaspercat]

Gone are the days of shakedown cruises and long previews for press and T/A's. Now it is get people onboard generating revenue as soon as possible. If they make enough stink apply OBC or FCC. Certainly Royal is NOT the only ones guilty of this. Many new ships in the past few years have been not ready for prime time when entering service.

 

OMy -- I'm agreeing with you:)! My mom and I sailed on the Legend (of the Seas) her second week of "paying customers" on her Alaskan route even though she had been accepted almost a month earlier. Ship was pristine and crew - awesome. One of my best cruises ever! I was lucky -- after reading so much "gone wrong" I probably would not book another cruise like that.

Edited May 27, 2016 by jaspercat

[riclop]

It'a a shame but do they care?

[kevink]

-No ships going to dry dock in 2 to 4 weeks.

 

I had a similar concern going on Jewel earlier this year when it turned out to be the week before drydock, but I saw no issues.

 

-- Kevin

[L454S]

LMaxwell is giving good advise. 2 years in a row(Allure prior to dry dock) and Jewel(post dry dock) ships are NOT 100%, not even close. Workers all over, venues closed off at random, sawing, drilling, clogged hallways with cables and insulation, etc.........I did enjoy my cruises, but I will not book one again unless there is a HEAVY discount. Not worth it!