Galveston weather concerns

[LMaxwell]

 

Carnival did it right - Royal Caribbean did it wrong.

Come on you'll mess up someone's bonus

[ezemoney]

once the water does reside there will be tons on debris and mud to deal with to make roads passable if there is a road left! time will tell. remember this rain is days away from ending still. pray to all effected!

[bala1130]

What about Cruise insurance? Are the people that missed the cruise and purchased insurance covered? Will they be reimbursed?

[BarryH]

Don't get mad, get even. I sent this to Fox, CNN, NYT, and WSJ along with RCI.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Hurricane Harvey – A Study in Corporate Greed

 

I’m one of the 3,600 passengers that boarded the Liberty of the Seas for a seven night cruise that left Galveston on 8/20. Obviously what happened afterward due to Hurricane Harvey (HH) is beyond anyone’s control.

 

How the two cruise lines (Carnival [CCL], and Royal Caribbean [RCI]) impacted by the conditions in Houston and Galveston handled passengers onboard their ships trying to return to port and passengers booked on subsequent sailings is very different.

 

First, both CCL and RCI are multi-billion dollar public holding companies with a duty to their shareholders to maximize profit and minimize losses. In the instance of Hurricane Harvey the goal for both companies was to: protect their assets (the ships), keep passengers and crew onboard safe, and minimize expense related to the disruption. It’s in the latter that RCI made decisions based on self interest with little regard to the hardship caused to passengers on board the Liberty and those trying to board it on 8/27.

 

• We (the Liberty) and the Carnival Breeze were docked in Cozumel on Friday when it became clear that HH was going to impact our return to Galveston. Both ships left and were due to return to Galveston on Sunday. CCL had two other ships, the Breeze and Valor, also trying to get back to Galveston. While we were in Cozumel CCL announced the Breeze would remain overnight pending further evaluation of conditions in Galveston and that the other two ships would be routed to New Orleans. Once in New Orleans passengers on those ships were given the choice of disembarking or staying with the ship to eventually return to Galveston. With New Orleans being within driving distance or an inexpensive flight away to their homes many passengers chose to disembark.

 

• RCI opted to sail the Liberty to Galveston and informed us onboard that conditions at the port were showing a “window” in which we would be able to dock as scheduled on Sunday. Those onboard watching the news were quizzical because everything we were seeing on TV and online was projecting devastating flooding and infrastructure damage. If we were able to dock what would happen to us subsequently? We were told we’d be receiving ongoing updates which were given. There was reference to an endless succession of “conference calls” with the Port of Galveston and local Disaster Management. All the updates we were given confirmed the “window.” Meanwhile it became clearer HH was going to move slowly or remain stationary causing untold damage to Houston and Galveston. There was no reporting entity that didn’t predict that.

 

• Saturday night RCI had us pack our luggage and prepare for disembarkation Sunday morning. At 6:00AM Sunday we were holding in place 10 miles outside Galveston waiting for a 9:00AM “conference call” to determine when we’d be able to dock. At 10:00AM the Port announced it would remain closed for at least 24 more hours. The Port also tweeted that road conditions in and out of Galveston were or were becoming impassible. Shortly thereafter the Captain of the Liberty announced our diversion to Miami. About a half hour later he announced our departure for Miami was being delayed because he was working with the already over-burdened Coast Guard to attend to three medical emergencies that had occurred onboard.

 

• Onboard, RCI shared our arrival in Miami would be Tuesday or Wednesday and that we could disembark or stay with the ship and return to Galveston with it on Friday. If we disembarked any travel would be at our own expense. A return on Friday would mean a seven night cruise would become a twelve night cruise. There are people onboard with jobs and family to get back to, people with homes in Texas likely destroyed that they desperately want to get back to, people with only seven days of critical medication, and a large number of mobility impaired people onboard including a veteran with a service animal. For that group a twelve day extended vacation, even if complimentary, is a huge burden and would never be opted for given an alternative.

To understand RCI’s decisions which are clearly based on their self-interest one needs to look at the following:

 

• Getting the Liberty back in position in Galveston as close to schedule as possible is/was RCI’s most cost affective option regardless of passenger impact. That was clearly the driving force in their decision making. In fact, they were telling people on the upcoming 8/27 sailing to proceed to port for boarding or risk losing what they paid for their cruise. They told those trying to get on that sailing the Liberty would sail a day later than scheduled on Monday. At that time conditions in Houston and Galveston were already unsafe and predicted to further deteriorate. They maintained this position until late Saturday while CCL began allowing cancellations mid-day Friday. People on the Cruise Critic discussion forum were up in arms at RCI’s callous indifference. RCI didn’t grant refunds until the Liberty was diverted to Miami Sunday morning – the day of departure for those booked on the 8/27 sailing.

 

• Had RCI not been so financially motivated to get the Liberty back to Galveston they could have made the decision to keep the ship in Cozumel an additional night (an expense) as CCL did and benefit from additional assessment of HH. Had they done that we could have sailed to an alternate port shaving days off our eventual return to Galveston when it was safe.

 

• The most galling display of expense management and the reason for me writing this missive is the choice of returning to Miami. There are few ports available for diversion that can handle a ship the Liberty’s size. New Orleans is one of them and in fact RCI has announced using New Orleans as a departure port in the near future. Had we diverted to New Orleans rather than attempting to dock in Galveston we would have arrived yesterday (Sunday) or today (Monday) at the latest.

 

• The futile and ill thought out attempt at docking in Galveston wasted two to three days when the decision to divert was finally made. We’re now enroute to Miami (two days) and it’ll take an additional three days to return to Galveston. That begs the question, why Miami and not New Orleans which is days closer? RCI is headquartered in Miami and sails a dozen ships out of Miami and Port Everglades. If we were diverted to New Orleans they’d have to fly in resources and establish a mobile command center assumedly at great expense. There can be no question that, RCI’s expense aside, a New Orleans diversion, and one made earlier, would have been in the best interest of those on the Liberty both in time and personal expense. Even diverting earlier to Miami rather than attempting docking in Galveston would have saved five days. Instead RCI opted for a solution that minimized or attempted to minimize disruption and expense for themselves. It spectacularly blew up in their face. We, and I speak for many onboard, find that behavior reprehensible and inexcusable. Especially in light of the trauma hundreds and perhaps thousands onboard are facing by not being able to return to their flood impacted homes in Texas for days and to be reunited with their loved ones.

 

As I began, RCI can’t be held responsible for a natural disaster. But they should be held to account for their behavior in dealing with it. And every decision they made showed little regard for their fare paying passengers best interest. To be clear, this isn’t about safety and our safety onboard was never in jeopardy. But there were many alternatives available to RCI with no impact on safety that could have made their passengers situations better.

[Milwaukee Eight]

This is not correct. The Carnival passengers had a choice to wait. Royal Caribbean forced their passengers wait. Big difference in how each cruise line handled things. Royal Caribbean comes out on the short end in this case.

 

 

 

Your still not comparing Apples to Apples. CCL gave the same one day notice as Royal on two ships. The other CCL did get two days notice.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Cuizer2]

WOW - so all the noise has just been about when people ended up getting the same (final cancellation & refund) results? Hardly.

 

There's little debate that the announcement timing of RCI and Carnival were different. Viewing the other side of the coin...had the storm subsided and Liberty docked successfully in Galveston on Sunday (weather cooperating), then we'd hear different noise would come from the position "Carnival made their announcement too soon and should not have re-routed their ships - terrible inconveniences".

 

There's no winning with some folks.

 

Carnival looked at the same information that Royal Caribbean did and made the right choice. You are basing all of your posts on "what if." Well, simply put, Carnival got it right and Royal Caribbean didn't. Your "what if" never happened.

 

You want to play "what if?" What if Royal Caribbean had pushed its luck, hit a rock, and sunk? Would you then be saying, what if Royal Caribbean had not hit that rock and sunk? If things had turned out better, would the passengers of the Concordia be saying, "Wow, did you see that great fly by?"

 

What if, at the end of Super Bowl XLIX (49) Seattle had decided to run instead of pass? Would Seattle have won? Who knows? You can claim that had they completed the the pass, the coach and the quarterback would both be heroes. Well, Seattle did not run, Seattle DID throw an interception, and Seattle's coach took the blame for what DID happen. Nobody claimed that had the pass been complete he would have been the hero. Instead, he made the wrong choice, just like Royal Caribbean did. What if didn't happen.

 

You can "what if" all you want. The bottom line is, looking at what actually happened, not what might have happened, Carnival made much better decisions than Royal Caribbean did.

[Cuizer2]

Don't forget the person you are responding to has a livelihood directly related to RCI. Expecting them to admit they are wrong here isn't going to happen. Too much pride, too much personal income at stake. They did not encourage anyone to cancel out of safety but to just wait for the cruise line, they have zero,compassion, empathy, or care for any human. Just their own wallet. Just the facts

 

I didn't forget. To his credit he admitted this. I am not going to blast him for telling the truth.

[blackshirt]

What about Cruise insurance? Are the people that missed the cruise and purchased insurance covered? Will they be reimbursed?

Reimbursed for what? They are already getting their cruise fare refunded. If they travelled or attempted to travel to Galveston, those expenses would likely be the only thing covered.

[Cuizer2]

What about Cruise insurance? Are the people that missed the cruise and purchased insurance covered? Will they be reimbursed?

 

This is no longer an insurance issue. Royal Caribbean cancelled the cruise. Once they did that, Royal Caribbean is responsible to refund the cruise fare. Even Royal Caribbean's worst critics have said that NOW Royal Caribbean is doing the right thing and will refund the cruise fare, just like the airlines are doing for the cancelled flights.

[EBFURR]

Many would say that RCI spoke with caution and safety in mind...your characterization is only your own view and has already been debated at nauseum by others.

 

I can't for the life of me understand how people couldn't see the handwriting on the wall...call their airline or hotel...cancel without penalties (as many have reported doing)...and stand by (as requested) to see the Sunday cruises cancelled, followed by cruise credits to rebook. Then again, not everyone has the same instincts under these admittedly unique and terrible circumstances for that region, so no blame is warranted to those who didn't have the same foresight.

 

You have no idea. If we wait until Sunday and suddenly they say that the ship is in port and boarding starts, getting a flight at that point is far from a certainty. Each time our flight was cancelled the number of remaining flights with available seats dwindled. What you say is not realistically possible. If you want to prove your theory, wait until day of sailing and try to book airfare next time even without a hurricane at the port. You accuse people of being "armchair experts" and this post the most blatant example of that I have yet seen. There is plenty of legitimate blame and it belongs to Royal Caribbean and not those of us who were told that we had to be at the port because the cruise was sailing. By the way hindsight does not equal foresight.

[Cuizer2]

Your still not comparing Apples to Apples. CCL gave the same one day notice as Royal on two ships. The other CCL did get two days notice.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

It is interesting that you mention only the two ships. Carnival had a third ship that was due into Galveston on the same day the Liberty of the Seas was do in, and Carnival provided two days notice for that ship.

 

Apples to apples is comparing the two ship that were due in on the same day. Apples to oranges is comparing ships that were due in on different days.

[Milwaukee Eight]

It is interesting that you mention only the two ships. Carnival had a third ship that was due into Galveston on the same day the Liberty of the Seas was do in, and Carnival provided two days notice for that ship.

 

Apples to apples is comparing the two ship that were due in on the same day. Apples to oranges is comparing ships that were due in on different days.

 

 

 

Did you really read my post? Please read it again.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[EBFURR]

Your still not comparing Apples to Apples. CCL gave the same one day notice as Royal on two ships. The other CCL did get two days notice.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

On Friday when the hurricane path was a 99% certainty, Carnival acted. RCI did not. Easy to play a poker hand when you have no chips on the table. Our chips were on the table. Defend and equivocate if you wish but RCI had the same info as Carnival at the time regardless of how many ships were involved. At 3 PM on Saturday they were still telling me to be there Sunday and there were tornadoes in the area. On Sunday with parts of Houston under water, airports closed, 4 active tornadoes, and 5 confirmed dead they were still telling us they were going to dock Sunday and to be there Monday. Those are all apples.

[Coopdog08]

You have no idea. If we wait until Sunday and suddenly they say that the ship is in port and boarding starts, getting a flight at that point is far from a certainty. Each time our flight was cancelled the number of remaining flights with available seats dwindled. What you say is not realistically possible. If you want to prove your theory, wait until day of sailing and try to book airfare next time even without a hurricane at the port. You accuse people of being "armchair experts" and this post the most blatant example of that I have yet seen. There is plenty of legitimate blame and it belongs to Royal Caribbean and not those of us who were told that we had to be at the port because the cruise was sailing. By the way hindsight does not equal foresight.

 

Bravo!!! I am sure cruisefan will still try to blame you for your horrible decision making EVEN THOUGH you made multiple attempts with RC to avoid the area and were denied.

[Aquahound]

• The futile and ill thought out attempt at docking in Galveston wasted two to three days when the decision to divert was finally made. We’re now enroute to Miami (two days) and it’ll take an additional three days to return to Galveston. That begs the question, why Miami and not New Orleans which is days closer? RCI is headquartered in Miami and sails a dozen ships out of Miami and Port Everglades. If we were diverted to New Orleans they’d have to fly in resources and establish a mobile command center assumedly at great expense. There can be no question that, RCI’s expense aside, a New Orleans diversion, and one made earlier, would have been in the best interest of those on the Liberty both in time and personal expense.

 

• The most galling display of expense management and the reason for me writing this missive is the choice of returning to Miami. There are few ports available for diversion that can handle a ship the Liberty’s size. New Orleans is one of them and in fact RCI has announced using New Orleans as a departure port in the near future. Had we diverted to New Orleans rather than attempting to dock in Galveston we would have arrived yesterday (Sunday) or today (Monday) at the latest.

 

How do you know that New Orleans can support the Liberty? No one has ever taken a cruise ship the size of Liberty up the river into NOLA. Liberty is over 100' longer than Carnival Dream, which is the largest ship to homeport there. How do you know there weren't further logistical problems that would have prevented Liberty from going to NOLA even if she wasn't constrained by her size?

 

I'd really like to know how you're so sure of these facts. :confused:

[Milwaukee Eight]

On Friday when the hurricane path was a 99% certainty, Carnival acted. RCI did not. Easy to play a poker hand when you have no chips on the table. Our chips were on the table. Defend and equivocate if you wish but RCI had the same info as Carnival at the time regardless of how many ships were involved. At 3 PM on Saturday they were still telling me to be there Sunday and there were tornadoes in the area. On Sunday with parts of Houston under water, airports closed, 4 active tornadoes, and 5 confirmed dead they were still telling us they were going to dock Sunday and to be there Monday. Those are all apples.

 

 

 

Nobody should ever want to be in your situation. I have followed your posts and feel really bad for you and all the others. I wouldn't have been happy either.

 

Let me ask you this, if you had travel insurance, would that have affected what you did or felt at the time. We always get insurance but have NEVER had to use it. Sometimes to me it is a bit waste of money. It's kind of like riding motorcycles in Florida summers. It's going to rain somewhere, just hope not on me. Seems if I pack my rain-suit (my rain insurance), we seem to avoid the rain.

 

Again I feel no ill well towards you and feel really bad for you. I don't consider myself a Royal cheerleader as we have been on other cruise lines. It seems to me many of the very negative comments have never sailed in Royal, all on CCL.

 

Good luck and I will continue to follow.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Milwaukee Eight]

How do you know that New Orleans can support the Liberty? No one has ever taken a cruise ship the size of Liberty up the river into NOLA. Liberty is over 100' longer than Carnival Dream, which is the largest ship to homeport there. How do you know there weren't further logistical problems that would have prevented Liberty from going to NOLA even if she wasn't constrained by her size?

 

I'd really like to know how you're so sure of these facts. :confused:

 

 

 

Great point and my thoughts as well. We know it can't go to Tampa because of the bridge.

 

 

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[Cindy]

The cheerleading is astounding. How can anyone think it's even close to being OK to tell people to travel into a hurricane and require photographic proof that the roads were flooded and they couldn't get there? It's right there on their Facebook page for all to read. Unbelievable.

 

I often disagree with things you post, but in this case I think you hit the nail on the head. We were deep into the worst flooding in the history of this part of Texas and the official line from RCI was still that people needed to provide proof of flooding in order to receive a cruise credit.

 

 

 

The misleading information from those posting that information is even more astounding...including the gross misrepresentation that 1) such a directive lasted more than a short period of time; 2) this was prior to more weather facts becoming known in every-changing conditions; and 3) there was ample opportunity to cancel plans as more real weather facts became known.

 

Blame blame blame...that's all people want to do. We see that on TV all the time these days too - it appears that many people don't want to take any personal responsibility for their own decisions/actions.

 

How about blaming people for not having the wisdom to make their own choices (like cancel things) without having to be told what to do hour by hour like sheep? Nope...won't do that. :eek:

 

 

Take off your Royal Blue colored blinders! I am an RCI frequent cruiser/Diamond member/Houston resident/stock holder who is appalled at what the 8/27 cruisers were being told. Royal Caribbean should have erred on the side of caution, and instead they insistently told future passengers they were proceeding with business (almost) as usual. 8/27 cruisers were repeatedly instructed their cruise would sail one day late, and if they were unable to make it proof of flooding was required.

 

I really don't understand why anybody thinks this is OK. It's one thing to make a decision based on current information and have it be the wrong decision. Compounding it by repeatedly telling people they should make their way towards Galveston as late as mid day yesterday is unacceptable. Do individuals need to purchase insurance and make decisions based on their safety? Absolutely! Nevertheless, I think Royal Caribbean has to shoulder a lot of the blame for the problems. I hope the fall-out from this incident causes Royal Caribbean to examine their policies and make changes that help improve decision-making in a time of crisis. I'm not going to hold out hold my breath though. That's what they said they did after sailing in Anthem into a storm.

 

 

 

 

 

[Coopdog08]

Don't get mad, get even. I sent this to Fox, CNN, NYT, and WSJ along with RCI.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Hurricane Harvey – A Study in Corporate Greed

 

I’m one of the 3,600 passengers that boarded the Liberty of the Seas for a seven night cruise that left Galveston on 8/20. Obviously what happened afterward due to Hurricane Harvey (HH) is beyond anyone’s control.

 

How the two cruise lines (Carnival [CCL], and Royal Caribbean [RCI]) impacted by the conditions in Houston and Galveston handled passengers onboard their ships trying to return to port and passengers booked on subsequent sailings is very different.

 

First, both CCL and RCI are multi-billion dollar public holding companies with a duty to their shareholders to maximize profit and minimize losses. In the instance of Hurricane Harvey the goal for both companies was to: protect their assets (the ships), keep passengers and crew onboard safe, and minimize expense related to the disruption. It’s in the latter that RCI made decisions based on self interest with little regard to the hardship caused to passengers on board the Liberty and those trying to board it on 8/27.

 

• We (the Liberty) and the Carnival Breeze were docked in Cozumel on Friday when it became clear that HH was going to impact our return to Galveston. Both ships left and were due to return to Galveston on Sunday. CCL had two other ships, the Breeze and Valor, also trying to get back to Galveston. While we were in Cozumel CCL announced the Breeze would remain overnight pending further evaluation of conditions in Galveston and that the other two ships would be routed to New Orleans. Once in New Orleans passengers on those ships were given the choice of disembarking or staying with the ship to eventually return to Galveston. With New Orleans being within driving distance or an inexpensive flight away to their homes many passengers chose to disembark.

 

• RCI opted to sail the Liberty to Galveston and informed us onboard that conditions at the port were showing a “window” in which we would be able to dock as scheduled on Sunday. Those onboard watching the news were quizzical because everything we were seeing on TV and online was projecting devastating flooding and infrastructure damage. If we were able to dock what would happen to us subsequently? We were told we’d be receiving ongoing updates which were given. There was reference to an endless succession of “conference calls” with the Port of Galveston and local Disaster Management. All the updates we were given confirmed the “window.” Meanwhile it became clearer HH was going to move slowly or remain stationary causing untold damage to Houston and Galveston. There was no reporting entity that didn’t predict that.

 

• Saturday night RCI had us pack our luggage and prepare for disembarkation Sunday morning. At 6:00AM Sunday we were holding in place 10 miles outside Galveston waiting for a 9:00AM “conference call” to determine when we’d be able to dock. At 10:00AM the Port announced it would remain closed for at least 24 more hours. The Port also tweeted that road conditions in and out of Galveston were or were becoming impassible. Shortly thereafter the Captain of the Liberty announced our diversion to Miami. About a half hour later he announced our departure for Miami was being delayed because he was working with the already over-burdened Coast Guard to attend to three medical emergencies that had occurred onboard.

 

• Onboard, RCI shared our arrival in Miami would be Tuesday or Wednesday and that we could disembark or stay with the ship and return to Galveston with it on Friday. If we disembarked any travel would be at our own expense. A return on Friday would mean a seven night cruise would become a twelve night cruise. There are people onboard with jobs and family to get back to, people with homes in Texas likely destroyed that they desperately want to get back to, people with only seven days of critical medication, and a large number of mobility impaired people onboard including a veteran with a service animal. For that group a twelve day extended vacation, even if complimentary, is a huge burden and would never be opted for given an alternative.

To understand RCI’s decisions which are clearly based on their self-interest one needs to look at the following:

 

• Getting the Liberty back in position in Galveston as close to schedule as possible is/was RCI’s most cost affective option regardless of passenger impact. That was clearly the driving force in their decision making. In fact, they were telling people on the upcoming 8/27 sailing to proceed to port for boarding or risk losing what they paid for their cruise. They told those trying to get on that sailing the Liberty would sail a day later than scheduled on Monday. At that time conditions in Houston and Galveston were already unsafe and predicted to further deteriorate. They maintained this position until late Saturday while CCL began allowing cancellations mid-day Friday. People on the Cruise Critic discussion forum were up in arms at RCI’s callous indifference. RCI didn’t grant refunds until the Liberty was diverted to Miami Sunday morning – the day of departure for those booked on the 8/27 sailing.

 

• Had RCI not been so financially motivated to get the Liberty back to Galveston they could have made the decision to keep the ship in Cozumel an additional night (an expense) as CCL did and benefit from additional assessment of HH. Had they done that we could have sailed to an alternate port shaving days off our eventual return to Galveston when it was safe.

 

• The most galling display of expense management and the reason for me writing this missive is the choice of returning to Miami. There are few ports available for diversion that can handle a ship the Liberty’s size. New Orleans is one of them and in fact RCI has announced using New Orleans as a departure port in the near future. Had we diverted to New Orleans rather than attempting to dock in Galveston we would have arrived yesterday (Sunday) or today (Monday) at the latest.

 

• The futile and ill thought out attempt at docking in Galveston wasted two to three days when the decision to divert was finally made. We’re now enroute to Miami (two days) and it’ll take an additional three days to return to Galveston. That begs the question, why Miami and not New Orleans which is days closer? RCI is headquartered in Miami and sails a dozen ships out of Miami and Port Everglades. If we were diverted to New Orleans they’d have to fly in resources and establish a mobile command center assumedly at great expense. There can be no question that, RCI’s expense aside, a New Orleans diversion, and one made earlier, would have been in the best interest of those on the Liberty both in time and personal expense. Even diverting earlier to Miami rather than attempting docking in Galveston would have saved five days. Instead RCI opted for a solution that minimized or attempted to minimize disruption and expense for themselves. It spectacularly blew up in their face. We, and I speak for many onboard, find that behavior reprehensible and inexcusable. Especially in light of the trauma hundreds and perhaps thousands onboard are facing by not being able to return to their flood impacted homes in Texas for days and to be reunited with their loved ones.

 

As I began, RCI can’t be held responsible for a natural disaster. But they should be held to account for their behavior in dealing with it. And every decision they made showed little regard for their fare paying passengers best interest. To be clear, this isn’t about safety and our safety onboard was never in jeopardy. But there were many alternatives available to RCI with no impact on safety that could have made their passengers situations better.

GL Barry...FYI carnival has officially announced all three of there ships will head back to NO for more provisions and to allow guests to get off the ship again if they wish. This will happen Tues/Wed depending on ship. Once they depart they will continue to wait for the port of Galveston to open which they expect to be late this week. Carnival will now have made two attempts on a couple of there boats to allow guests off before RC makes there first attempt. Sure the people will say its logistics but it's also compounded by RC choice to sit 10 miles outside Galveston port Sunday morning expecting to port.

[Cruiseathoning]

The situation with NOLA is similar to Bayport-narrow and shallow channels, except the trip in is about 8 hours. That is eight hours of driving a wide load on a two lane highway. Besides the fact that in perfect conditions the Liberty is not well-suited to the passage, the storms themselves now pushing more towards LA, and therefore creating crosswinds, would make it an at best extremely risky proposition.

 

You do not want to risk running a ground.

 

Miami was the right decision, however, one needs to consider that in cases of large ships, Miami or Galveston appear to be the only disembarkation alternatives stateside. Meaning practically speaking, if the opposite were to happen, a cruise starting in FL may have to land in Galveston.

 

Largely I have confidence the appropriate pink slips are being issued as we speak, because RCCL is not an inherently bad, or stupid company. So before a pile on ensues, it is only fair that those with established relationships give the organization a fair opportunity to address their judgment and make appropriate adjustments as needed.

[tonit964]

Carnival has canceled this coming weekend cruises. ETA: Just noticed Royal has canceled the 8/27 cruise.

Edited August 28, 2017 by tonit964
Added info

[EBFURR]

Bravo!!! I am sure cruisefan will still try to blame you for your horrible decision making EVEN THOUGH you made multiple attempts with RC to avoid the area and were denied.

 

I am really trying hard not to get personal. There are folks who simply have no conscience. Fortunately for every on of those there are many who do. There are some of us who admit our mistakes, own them, adjust, and move forward. There are those who can not or will not. I try very hard to be in the former group. I really should just stop reading these boards since the vast majority of posts now are from people who were not even remotely involved or affected, were not on the phone all weekend with RCI trying to get information, and yet are now experts on the whole debacle. I am getting my money back and am getting refunds and credits from all other sources as I can. That does not change how they did things on Friday. Saturday, and half of Sunday. Anyone who was not directly involved has no credibility in commenting but that will not stop them from doing so.

[BarryH]

Miami was the right decision

 

Agreed. And I'd be there now and on my way home if it weren't for the incredibly selfish and illconceived descision by RCI to attempt to send us to Galveston. CCL was faced with the exact same decisions to make as RCI and both had access to the same information. Why did CCL take the more expensive diversion route if the infamous "window" could have benefitted them also?

 

RCI had tons of options and they stuck unyieldingly to the one that would benefit them most. And as I said above, it blew up in their face.

[kevdad]

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot believe that string of messages! Those should be shared with the press in addition to Barry's letter. Outrageous and completely inexcusable.

 

For the record, I have no connection whatsoever to Carnival, have never sailed with them and probably never will. I have cruised with RCL once and have an Oasis cruise booked for December. I just get outraged when a company treats its customers poorly in a crisis, particularly when it would have been simple and inexpensive to give them the option to rebook.

[BarryH]

I just get outraged when a company treats its customers poorly in a crisis.

 

Once you're in a situation like this where you're facing untold expense the PR playbook says go long. Sink even more money in to the situation and get "hero" points for going above and beyond. That status overshadows any missteps you make along the way and turns a bad thing in to a positive. That positive PR is worth something. Carnival gets it, RCI appears clueless.