Ebfurr's official Liberty Saga Thread

[caribill]

EBFURR,

I have read your thread all week. I am sorry you missed out on your cruise. We love cruising too. However, I live in League City , Texas and had to swim out of my flooded neighborhood with my husband today.

As another League City resident I am curious which neighborhood you live in.

 

We were very lucky and had no water staying on our street.

[David0422]

This is what I got at 9:30 this morning . We switched our flight from 7am Saturday to 7pm Friday and got into Houston at midnight on Friday night. We've been at a hotel near Hobby since then. It's wet but we're still dreaming of a cruise!!

 

Sent from my SM-J700T1 using Forums mobile app

 

First let me say to you EBFurr, that I am glad that SWA had the wisdom to keep you out of the effected area, unlike Toxic (above). I realize that today is 9/4 and you haven't posted updates, I am very curious as to what you did this past week, not that it is any of my business. I am also curious as to whatever happened to Toxic; did they get out of Houston safely and how long did this process take?

 

EBFurr, I appreciate all of your posts and your candid review of the circumstances.

 

I live in the suburbs of NOLA and am very familiar with the pain and suffering going on in Houston at this time.

Due to my wife's position at a local hospital, we had the "pleasure" of riding Katrina out at the hospital and it was not fun.

Nor was the aftermath that occurred for months after.

 

I was on Allure a few weeks back and enjoyed every minute of it, however, your experience has reinforced my thoughts to explore other lines in my future booking even though I am only 3 points away from the next milestone level.

Thanks again sir and I hope that you and "the wife" :D have many more years together and many more cruises in your future, no matter what Cruise Co you decide to go with.

[toxicfairy]

David0422 we did get out. Royal finally sent official word on Monday afternoon that it was cancelled. We were stuck in the Hotel 4 flights were cancelled ( booked ...cancelled...rebooked...cancencelled...) It was like a bad dream. Hotel did try to find food. They provided 2 dinners and 2 lunches in 5 days. They went above and beyond. On Wednesday we walked to a near by enterprise truck rental. They said the national guard was coming to take 15 to 20 trucks. We waited and the guy Mike finally found us a truck we could drive home back to South Jersey. With 4 of us girls ( 2 in their 20's lol) and my husband we drive 34 hours ( including gas stops and pee breaks ) to get home. We left Houston Wednesday at 12:30 in the afternoon and got home Thursday at 9:30 pm. It was the most insane drive . Flooded roads, being turned away , chemical plant ready to explode turn around again. So much devastation every where. My heart bleeds for Texas.

[David0422]

David0422 we did get out. Royal finally sent official word on Monday afternoon that it was cancelled. We were stuck in the Hotel 4 flights were cancelled ( booked ...cancelled...rebooked...cancencelled...) It was like a bad dream. Hotel did try to find food. They provided 2 dinners and 2 lunches in 5 days. They went above and beyond. On Wednesday we walked to a near by enterprise truck rental. They said the national guard was coming to take 15 to 20 trucks. We waited and the guy Mike finally found us a truck we could drive home back to South Jersey. With 4 of us girls ( 2 in their 20's lol) and my husband we drive 34 hours ( including gas stops and pee breaks ) to get home. We left Houston Wednesday at 12:30 in the afternoon and got home Thursday at 9:30 pm. It was the most insane drive . Flooded roads, being turned away , chemical plant ready to explode turn around again. So much devastation every where. My heart bleeds for Texas.

 

toxicfairy (btw, that is quite the name)

 

I guess WOW, best describes my thought when I read your post.

As I continued to read through the thread earlier today, I kept thinking that surely you would jump back in at some point and give us an update of where and what happened to you and your family. I am very sorry to hear of your ordeal and can relate on many levels.

 

Our youngest daughter just returned home having spent the last 4 years in Hoboken, NJ so I think I can relate as to the drive that you had going back home. I would get lost just trying to follow the cab driver as we made our way from Newark airport to Hoboken for 4 years.

 

Believe me, my 12 year old Katrina story pales in comparison to what these TX/LA folks are going through right now.

There are lots of charity efforts going on down here for our TX neighbors as we all remember how people stepped up to assist our area in the clean-up and restoration.

 

Again, sorry that you went through this ordeal and I hope that you are able to substitute a future, well deserved vacation.

Also, let's all hope that Irma doesn't end up affecting any of us in the coming weeks. If it messes with Oasis/Harmony/Allure itineraries, then fine. Just don't mess with the mainland.

[EBFURR]

We are glad to hear that the fairy made it out finally!

 

First of all, I have to say that we were fortunate in having all of our various flights cancelled and not making it into Houston as RCI repeatedly told us to do. All of you who did make it and got stuck have our empathy. Hopefully you are able to get some amends made from the parties involved.

 

Second, both of us sincerely appreciate all of the good wishes we have gotten. We really do not want to make ourselves out to be victims, nor are we anything special. My posts were intended to be about what RCI was doing to us booked passengers as a group and I could only relate what was happening to me as an example. There were a lot of people who had it much worse, anniversary or not.

 

For anyone interested, here is a reap of the missing cruise week. After RCI finally connected with reality and cancelled the cruise and we were told that we would get a refund, we discussed what to do with our scheduled week off. We could just go back to work and try to cruise another time. We both decided that we would prefer to do something since we had been planning this for so long and she actually went through a bit of an ordeal just to get the week off. I looked around for a cruise that we could get onto but the pickings were slim. Carnival Ecstasy had one cabin left for the Wednesday sailing but it was an upper/lower bunk inside. We took it. The cruise left Charleston on Wednesday and returned Labor Day Monday - 5 days - and went to Princess Key and Freeport. Not exactly a 7 day Western Caribbean, but you play the cards you are dealt. Monday was our anniversary and we were at home. I was finalizing the hotel, etc for Charleston and we just hung around the house, being somewhat tired and let down after the weekend's festivities. Along about dinner time we said "what do we do?". We could get dressed and go to dinner, but neither of us felt like doing that. Order a pizza? We both had the same idea at the same time. 35 years ago after out wedding and simple southern reception with punch and finger foods, we headed out for our honeymoon in exotic Myrtle Beach, SC. We made it down to Bennettsville SC and were hungry. There was a McDonalds there on the route, so our first meal as a married couple was at Mcdonalds, so a McDonalds anniversary dinner it was.

 

On Tuesday we headed down to Charleston which is about 3 1/2 hours from us. We had a room at Hampton Inn West Ashley which allowed free cruise parking and had a shuttle to the port for $10pp each way. We checked in and headed over to old town and Market street. We did a lot of bowsing and grabbed some grub here and there and made an early evening of it.

 

Without going into to a full blown review of the cruise (maybe later) here are the high points.

Carnival uses a check in "appointment" system where they assign you a time window to be at the port for processing. Ours was 2:00 PM which was one of the latest ones due to our last minute booking.:( I am like a 5 year old on Christmas when cruise day gets here so we cannot stay at the hotel. The shuttle does not leave until 11:00 AM, so we get an Uber (our first ever) for $12 and roll on over to the port even though it is not even 10:00 yet. We are able to check our bags with the porters and we walk back over the Market street and have some coffee and browse a little. I buy a hat at the straw market that I will wind up wearing all week. We also get "Black Dog" t-shirts since the logo looks like our black lab, Jack. It is now 11:45 and boarding had started at 11. People tell us that Carnival is strict about check in times, but we figure all they can do is tell us to go away so we walk over. We go straight through and are on board by noon. Smooooth!

 

Our first cruise was on Majesty way back in 1994 and te Ecstasy is of the same vintage (1991 debut). I always wanted to try this class of ship to compare. It is, of course, an older ship and we know that going in. The ship layout has not changed much at all and the decor is still pretty much original. We found it to have a sort of retro charm. The bottom line is that we had a really good time and met some awesomely good people. We think the Majesty has a surperior layout and design but this ship has it's good points as well. The weather was nearly perfect and we saw some of the smoothest seas we have ever experienced. The ports were just okay, but we were cruising and we had a fine old time. We would go back on this ship, especially given the departure port, but it remains to be seen if or when. Debarkation was insanely easy and fast. By far the easiest and fastest ever. Props to Port of Charleston and CCL. We found ourselves standing outside the terminal before 7:00 AM and we did not even try to be early since we had no flights.

 

Again, thanks for the good wishes and may I say that we wish the best to all who followed the saga.

[A&L_Ont]

I am glad to read that you made the best out of a bad situation. Hopefully, you next cruise will go off without a hitch.

[lbjen]

I'm glad you still managed to have a great vacation!

[toxicfairy]

I thank God we had a home to come home to. Need to say that ! However I wrote to the CEO of Royal and got a call back today from a woman in the executive office who basically said oh sorry about your bad luck. I told them that we enjoy Royal and I realize they can't control the weather HOWEVER they CAN control their fares. And the exact cruise next summer is way more. So my refund and FCC won't cover rebooking. I said all I am asking for is my cruise, no upgrades or extras just the same cruise at the price I paid since I didn't cancel and infact it was their people who told me I would lose my money if I didn't show up and they cruised. She said well we won't do that. If we did that for you We'd have to do that for everyone . So I said ok well for the pax that were on the ship the week before they got their cruise...an extra free 5 days ....free cocktail party... cruise points for the extra days Plus the refund and FCC. Soooo HOW is this fair? All I want is the cruise at a price I can afford. Nothing more nothing less. She said well watch the prices they do fluctuate maybe you'll get lucky!

WOW thank a whole lot Royal for your commitment to excellent customer service

Now I'm sure plenty out there will say I'm asking too much and compare it to making a purchase of some type. But it really isn't the same since I made every effort and they are the ones that cancelled at the very last second they could! Very sad, very hurt and very disappointed

[BNBR]

I thank God we had a home to come home to. Need to say that ! However I wrote to the CEO of Royal and got a call back today from a woman in the executive office who basically said oh sorry about your bad luck. I told them that we enjoy Royal and I realize they can't control the weather HOWEVER they CAN control their fares. And the exact cruise next summer is way more. So my refund and FCC won't cover rebooking. I said all I am asking for is my cruise, no upgrades or extras just the same cruise at the price I paid since I didn't cancel and infact it was their people who told me I would lose my money if I didn't show up and they cruised. She said well we won't do that. If we did that for you We'd have to do that for everyone . So I said ok well for the pax that were on the ship the week before they got their cruise...an extra free 5 days ....free cocktail party... cruise points for the extra days Plus the refund and FCC. Soooo HOW is this fair? All I want is the cruise at a price I can afford. Nothing more nothing less. She said well watch the prices they do fluctuate maybe you'll get lucky!

WOW thank a whole lot Royal for your commitment to excellent customer service��

Now I'm sure plenty out there will say I'm asking too much and compare it to making a purchase of some type. But it really isn't the same since I made every effort and they are the ones that cancelled at the very last second they could! Very sad, very hurt and very disappointed

 

I think your request seems entirely reasonable and I'm disappointed in Royal. You would have to do that for everyone? You mean everyone who had their cruise canceled, yeah, rebook at same price. Nothing wrong with that. What a shame.

[lbjen]

Wait, the people who were on board also got a full refund and 25% FCC?!

 

Are they doing anything about your expenses incurred while stuck here? Did you have insurance that would help with that?

[toxicfairy]

Wait, the people who were on board also got a full refund and 25% FCC?!

 

Are they doing anything about your expenses incurred while stuck here? Did you have insurance that would help with that?

 

 

I recieved another call today from Tamika in the executive office. They will turn down any claims I file for hotel, food, rental truck home ect. She told me that she couldn't discuss what other cruisers had recieved. We did have insurance through Royal . The kick in th e teeth? She said that was the money I'm still waiting on $355.67 was my cruise protection which they will not refund AND it won't cover any bills incurred by this cancelled trip that Royal Cancelled and not until last second!

[lbjen]

That's disgusting. I'm really disappointed. Is there any chance that you have some coverage from a credit card?

[landfarm]

As another League City resident I am curious which neighborhood you live in.

 

We were very lucky and had no water staying on our street.

 

We live in Magnolia Estates. In our neighborhood of 187 houses, 180 flooded.

[caribill]

We live in Magnolia Estates. In our neighborhood of 187 houses, 180 flooded.

 

Wow! Looks like it was an overflowing Clear Creek that hurt your area.

[Wanna Be Retired]

Wait, the people who were on board also got a full refund and 25% FCC?!

 

Are they doing anything about your expenses incurred while stuck here? Did you have insurance that would help with that?

 

Wait! I was on that extra week. It was not a normal cruise week. I got no cruise points for that night. It wasn't a week of fun and games. It was not like the people who did not get on the ship. I think they were the ones that got hurt but I have seen people boasting about how we got all this stuff and it's just not like that. I think it is just wrong to brag when people were trying to get on this ship were in danger and people in Texas died. This situation is horrible. I cannot understand treatment of those who made it in and could not get on the ship. I also cannot understand people bragging about how great it was.