Who is responsible for bad excursion

[Iamcruzin]

On 1/16/2020 at 4:00 PM, exactorman51 said:

I first want to say that the cruise and most of the onboard staff were fine, some excellent. However, we had an experience that was totally unacceptable. 

We booked an excursion, Go Native Jamaica, through the excursion desk on the ship. This excursion was a disaster from the start. The bus broke down and we had to change buses. We were supposed to spend 1 hour and 40 minutes on the bus but were on for over 4 and 1/2 hours. We were supposed to visit a plantation and farm which turned out to be a smelly, dirty chicken coop. We had a meal included that was mediocre to say the least and you had to pay extra $3 for water more for other drinks.

 

But, the worst was when we visited Saint James Church in Falmouth. A completely naked man was lying in the middle of our walk to the church. I would post pictures but have been told they are inappropriate, I did send them to some RCL Executives. We are infirm seniors. My wife was traumatized I was disgusted. We informed the excursion host and he refused to have the man removed. I immediately contacted RCCL head offices in our return. I received a call from a low level inarticulate employee who offered an insincere apology. At the very least, I thought the cost of the excursion should have been refunded and we should have received an apology from a Senior Executive.

 

My wife and I  do not think we should have been subjected to such treatment. We will never cruise with RCCL again. I just wondered if if anyone believes the cruise ship holds any liability for a disastrous excursion.

 Sounds like a typical day in Jamaica right down to the naked man. We were there once on a Princess cruise and will not book any itinerary that calls on Jamaica. With that said you should be compensated for the broken bus.  Over the years I have been disappointed with ship sponsored excursions. We do research either through CC roll calls or on other travel sites. Private excursions are 1/2 the price of what the cruise line charges and are better quality.

[deliver42]

So you think you deserve a refund because of a naked man, in Jamaica of all places? My advice is get real. Royal owes you nothing.

[LXA350]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:00 PM, exactorman51 said:

But, the worst was when we visited Saint James Church in Falmouth. A completely naked man was lying in the middle of our walk to the church. I would post pictures but have been told they are inappropriate, I did send them to some RCL Executives. We are infirm seniors. My wife was traumatized I was disgusted. We informed the excursion host and he refused to have the man removed. I immediately contacted RCCL head offices in our return. I received a call from a low level inarticulate employee who offered an insincere apology. At the very least, I thought the cost of the excursion should have been refunded and we should have received an apology from a Senior Executive.

 

My wife and I  do not think we should have been subjected to such treatment. We will never cruise with RCCL again. I just wondered if if anyone believes the cruise ship holds any liability for a disastrous excursion.

 

I really feel sorry for the cruise line dealing with people like you, which they unfortunately have more than enough. Ranging all the way to blame them if someone drops their grandchild from a open winow and kills it. Very tragic but here only the stupidity of the grandfather can be blamed, which hopefully will close this case in favor of RCCL now with the latest published footage.

 

Back to your case, this is the real world, how can they control that there was a naked man lying on your walk to the church??? If your wife seems to be traumatized of everything it's maybe better for her to stay at home and not go out on the street. I guess it's time to add a additional disclaimer to tours "No responsibility taken on behaviour of local individuals".

 

Now gettng things maybe straigt about Jamaica, it's one of the most criminal and poorest Islands / countries in the caribbean. Hence that abnormal events and or behaviour such as these, probably this person was on drugs / alcohol etc. needs to be expected and that the reality from the perfect catalog picture you might have seen before booking this excursion will be slightly different. Hence if you look for the "Perfect Day" then go to "Coco Cay" a Disneyland version of a Caribbean Island as you wouldn't find it in the real world 😄

 

I don't know how you addressed that matter after the excursion, but you deserve USD 0 in compensation. This would be different if the itinarary of the tour was completely different, unexepcted issues, such as breakdown of the van etc then you have the right to request a refund.

[SRF]

I am still waiting to see the pics of the "chicken coop."

 

 

[Iamcruzin]

3 hours ago, deliver42 said:

So you think you deserve a refund because of a naked man, in Jamaica of all places? My advice is get real. Royal owes you nothing.

My wife works for NYU but her office is in Bellevue Hospital. She has seen a naked man run past her a few times with security chasing him.  She still goes to work everyday.  When we were on a Princess tour my 13yr old son was solicited drugs and a prostitute solicited me in front of my wife.  It was a Princess tour but I didn't hold the cruise line responsible. I was upset about the drug deal but we laughed over the prostitute. I was a unique experience. The only way to see Jamaica is if you are locked in at one of their resorts.

[SRF]

3 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

and a prostitute solicited me in front of my wife.  It was a Princess tour but I didn't hold the cruise line responsible. I was upset about the drug deal but we laughed over the prostitute. I was a unique experience. The only way to see Jamaica is if you are locked in at one of their resorts.

 

It sounds like the old joke.

 

Prostitute solicits a man walking with a woman.  He says, But this is my wife.  Prostitute says, OK, half price for her included.

[Merly]

On 1/17/2020 at 12:38 AM, cruiselvr04 said:

They really should send staff once in a while on these excursions, especially if there have been complaints.  To sell a product they know is bad is wrong.

 

That said royal was not responsible for the naked man or the bus breaking down ( unless this happens on a regular basis.) The poor quality overall is what they are responsible for.

 

We are seasoned cruisers.  We choose carefully but still use a lot of ship excursions in certain ports.  In others we make our own plans.  I wouldn't write off the cruise line because of a bad excursion but I might choose to not use them for excursions again after they showed no responsibility for what sounds like a waste of a day.

 

A full refund is an unrealistic expectation.   A sorry and a small refund should have been what you got. Royal used to allow reviews of their excursions on their website but that didn't last long.

 

 

 

[Merly]

Just now, Merly said:

Guess we were lucky ! We got a full refund on our poor excursion  

 

[KaththeTaff]

I feel so sorry for poor exactorman. It must be a very traumatising experience to come across a naked man, and in a church of all places.

 

I would fully expect Royal Carribbean to have scouted the area before allowing their valued guests anywhere the church, and to have physically removed this person before anyone could be offended.  If RC cannot or will not ensure that they can protect God fearing eyes from naked genitalia, then they should avoid visiting dens of iniquity like Jamaica where apparently such disgusting sights are considered normal.

 

RC have let themselves down by exposing tow guests to this filth. And then so obviously demonstrating their lack of care and empathy afterwards.They should immediately refund all of exactorman's money, and offer two free one week (or one free fortnight) cruises every year for the next decade as recompense.

 

But I wouldn't blame the OP at all if they chose to reject such an offer. They should go and sail on a line that isn't so obsessed with profit, if such a thing exists. 

 

I ran out of tablets on Saturday, but I hope to get some more later today.

[dogs4fun]

We rarely book ship excursions - we book independent tours or DIY. I would recommend that the OP post his/her comments on RCCL's FB page - that may elicit a more favorable response from RCCL concerning the poor quality of your shore excursion.

[SRF]

3 hours ago, KaththeTaff said:

I feel so sorry for poor exactorman. It must be a very traumatising experience to come across a naked man, and in a church of all places.

 

I would fully expect Royal Carribbean to have scouted the area before allowing their valued guests anywhere the church, and to have physically removed this person before anyone could be offended.  If RC cannot or will not ensure that they can protect God fearing eyes from naked genitalia, then they should avoid visiting dens of iniquity like Jamaica where apparently such disgusting sights are considered normal.

 

RC have let themselves down by exposing tow guests to this filth. And then so obviously demonstrating their lack of care and empathy afterwards.They should immediately refund all of exactorman's money, and offer two free one week (or one free fortnight) cruises every year for the next decade as recompense.

 

But I wouldn't blame the OP at all if they chose to reject such an offer. They should go and sail on a line that isn't so obsessed with profit, if such a thing exists. 

 

I ran out of tablets on Saturday, but I hope to get some more later today.

 

HILARIOUS. 

 

😄 😄 😄 😄 😄

[waterbug123]

On 1/16/2020 at 4:40 PM, exactorman51 said:

It would have made us feel better if they at least showed they cared. The fact they didn't was even more upsetting. Yes, still there at least half hour later and visible most of the time spent at the church.

 

It sounds like you were more focused on looking at the naked man than the other sites in and around the church. 

 

On 1/16/2020 at 8:05 PM, BeachChik said:

As an adult I don’t find seeing a naked body “traumatizing”. Inappropriate sure. Out of other people’s control, yes. 

 

Agree completely.  Surely you can understand that this man is clearly not of sound mind....why not a little empathy for him instead of being "traumatized."

 

On 1/16/2020 at 9:09 PM, GarlicBread said:

Was it really an 'insincere inarticulate apology' or was it just a reply that you didnt want to hear? Especially as it came from a 'low level employee' rather than a 'senior executive'?  

 

Royal has 20-ish ships, carrying tens of thousands of passengers every single week.   With numbers like that, things go wrong.  Can you imagine how many complaints they get on any given day?  And you expect senior executives to respond personally to every one?  

 

Back to the actual complaints:

Bus broke down:  Chalk that up to unfortunate bad luck.  DIsappointing, but things happen. 

Hours on bus:  You weren't clear if that was because the bus broke down and you had to wait for repair/replacement, or if that the extra hours were actual travel time that were not described correctly in the tour description.  If the former, it's all related to the bus breakdown.  So again disappointing, but sometimes things happen.  Not that you shouldn't get some partial refund, but you also shouldn't expect that nothing like that will ever happen.  If the latter, then RC should be notified of the drastically inaccurate description.

Bad lunch:  Hard to comment without knowing exactly what it was and how that differed from the description.

Drinks price:  Again, what did the tour description say?  Most tour descriptions are very clear as to what is and is not included.

Farm/plantation vs. chicken coop:  I'm having a hard time believing that the entire tour was just to see a chicken coop.  Was the tour cut short because of the bus situation?  Was the coop just a part of the greater tour that you didn't care for?  What did the tour description actually say about the destination?

Naked man:  Completely not the fault of RC or the tour operator or the guide.  Completely IS your own fault if you continued to dwell on the presence of the man, which you must have since you apparently looked at in his direction and at him throughout your visit to the church, and even took pictures of him. 

If the onboard person you spoke to was rude, then yes that's unfortunate, but a lot of the response one gets when making a complaint has to do with one's initial approach.  If you are calm and polite and informative ("I feel like I should let someone know that this tour isn't at all like it's described, and beyond, we didn't even get the complete tour because a lengthy bus breakdown..." you likely get one response.  If you are confrontational and demanding and use a lot of hyperbole ("This was a disastrous and traumatizing experience and I demand to know what you are going to do about it...") you''ll likely get a very different response.

[SRF]

Still waiting for pictures of the "chicken coop."

 

 

[ReneeFLL]

I still can't get over the fact the wife was "traumatized" by a naked man!!! Obviously she has seen at least one before, or at least I would think so. How do you think the poor naked man felt about his picture being taken? Probably traumatized himself. What are you going to do for him since you probably did it to him???

Edited January 20, 2020 by ReneeFLL

[Sunny AZ Girl]

U

2 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

I still can't get over the fact the wife was "traumatized" by a naked man!!! Obviously she has seen at least one before, or at least I would think so. How do you think the poor naked man felt about his picture being taken? Probably traumatized himself. What are you going to do for him since you probably did it to him???

I just got done looking at a new "People of Walmart" article (complete with pictures). Apparently that kind of thing isn't just limited to Jamaica anymore, LOL! 

Edited January 21, 2020 by Sunny AZ Girl

[SRF]

Strange, there was a picture posted of the "chicken coop" and I was writing a comment, and the picture post disappeared.

 

BTW, IMO, it was not a chicken coop.  It was a setup for people to look at birds.  And maybe they were all chickens, but not a chicken coop.  Except maybe to someone who has never been on a farm or in a chicken coop.

[broberts]

On 1/16/2020 at 4:00 PM, exactorman51 said:

Go Native Jamaica,

 

From the OP description of events the tour delivered exactly what its title promised.

Edited January 21, 2020 by broberts