Wonder of the Seas - Medical Diversion, delay

[firefly333]

14 minutes ago, BND said:

That would be port fees and taxes.  Your cruise fare, while including ports doesn't cost "per port" but it does cost "per cruise night".   They are providing the service by providing the cruise.  How exactly do you price out a port?  

The cruiseline has a amount or estimate or they couldnt charge you taxes and port fees. The port fees would be the same for all ports you book if there wasnt some estimate they had of port fees.

 

Carnival always gives me some obc back for missed ports ... and carnival other lines, princess etc. Its just rcl who chooses not to return any obc for missed ports if they dont want to. Hit or miss, no policy. I think if they collect port fees for each port, they can pick a amt to give as obc if a port is missed. Surely they are as smart as carnival?

[Nunagoras]

22 minutes ago, BND said:

That would be port fees and taxes.  Your cruise fare, while including ports doesn't cost "per port" but it does cost "per cruise night".   They are providing the service by providing the cruise.  How exactly do you price out a port?  

It was port fees and taxes. They had 2 delays, one in Barcelona, one in Civitavecchia, as far as I remember. The ship came late both times in the morning for reasons I'm not aware of. They refunded both instances. They advised by letter we would to be delayed both times. There were individuals losing flights both times once both were embarkation ports. For us it was mostly uneventful and we received a small refund of some USD 10 for those unused port fees and taxes.

[chawkjewel]

29 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Imo the food on jewel should be lower level and less varied than wonder. I haven't ordered that apple blossom dessert in ages, it's all crust and a spoon of apple if you dig. Never been anything but too much crust imo.

 

Really hope the food on oasis class is more varied and better than jewel! Better be. I'm on allure sunday and if it's not more varied I'll be vastly disappointed. I've been looking forward to more food choices and better food.

For main dining room food, I think all ships should have the same options.  I wouldn't want Jewel to be of a lower level than Wonder.  With the larger ships you have more dining options.  I hope that is what you are referring to.  

[BND]

43 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Imo the food on jewel should be lower level and less varied than wonder. I haven't ordered that apple blossom dessert in ages, it's all crust and a spoon of apple if you dig. Never been anything but too much crust imo.

 

Really hope the food on oasis class is more varied and better than jewel! Better be. I'm on allure sunday and if it's not more varied I'll be vastly disappointed. I've been looking forward to more food choices and better food.

MDR food should be lower level?  Seriously?  So, you think because a ship is bigger and newer the MDR food should be better?  Come on.  That's ridiculous.  And, a lot elitist.  

 

As far as the tart goes, you missed the point entirely.

 

Many people were disappointed in the food and that includes people who cruise on all different sizes of ships.  This was by far the worst meals we have ever had on Royal, from Vision class through Oasis class.

Edited November 28, 2022 by BND

[Mum2Mercury]

8 hours ago, Wheels87 said:

I believe the point they were making, as was I, is that when you put it in perspective, anyone who has the ability to cruise in the first place should be grateful. People are complaining about being inconvenienced, plain and simple ...

You can be really concerned about the medical emergency AND ALSO upset about your own inconvenience.  That's allowed.  

7 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

... There will be people who are ecstatic at getting an extra day, as I would be if I were in that situation. There will also be people, however, who will be negatively affected financially with flight costs and/or missing an extra day of work. There will be people stressed who are having to solve childcare and pet care situations back home ... 

Yeah, my husband and I are retired, our kids are adults, and we drive to the port (so no plane flight to miss).  An extra day would be great for us -- our only issue would be leaving the dog in the kennel an extra day.  However, I think we're in the minority, and we definitely have sympathy for people who have plans to get back to their kids and jobs.  

4 hours ago, Mreimer said:

... I would gladly give it up to ensure someone get the medical care they need ... 

I don't know that I'd "gladly" give up a day of my vacation, but I'd understand.  

[A&L_Ont]

3 hours ago, mo&fran said:

I think that what they really meant, if you want to leave at 400, you can. After all, if your car is at the port, you can go get it and be on your way.

That’s why I added the 😉 to my post. You’re, like my thoughts are like the post below this comment. 

 

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Yes, there was never any intent to shoo people off the ship before dawn. Just to allow those who wanted to GTFO to make it to school/work to do just that.

Or possibly make a 9am or earlier flight from Orlando to get home sooner. 

[Club33]

Well because the Wish, Independence and Wonder are all here right now. It’s going to take an hour to go 3 miles to get to the terminal. So an hour and half drive is almost three hours now. 

[Wheels87]

We chose to debark at 0430 so we could get started on our 600 mile drive back to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. 

 

It was the smoothest ever! We actually had a party of eight and were able to get elevators immediately. We walked right odd the ship! 

 

We got home a few minutes ago. Just over eight hours of driving. 

 

Safe travels, everyone! 

[lazydayz]

On 11/26/2022 at 1:41 PM, GTO-Girl said:

When we were on the Mariner in May we left from T1 but returned to T5.  Royal provided very nice buses to take people and luggage back to T1 to get their cars.  It was no problem at all…..

That was not the case today.  On the Independence, it took us 1 hour and five minutes to get off the ship (left the cabin at 8:00; stood in line this entire time).  Once outside, their was a double line that was as long as the terminal building.  Finally got on a shuttle at 9:35 and arrived at new parking terminal at 10:05, to find that one set of elevators was out of order.  Debarkation was a nightmare from beginning to end.  

 

I can't help but think Royal could have handled this better, and we (the Indy cruisers) got the short end of the stick because we were not on one of its newest and biggest ships.  Lesson learned.  

 

[myacuna]

4 hours ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

I’ve seen a lot of complaints lately about food on here and Reddit. Is it mainly meat that’s not great, or the overall selection? 

@Thisguylikestocruise yeah I think it was overall selection and maybe a little quality. Even in specialty - Giovanni’s, my husbands chicken was super dry…150 was good, hibachi was great, playmakers was a giant disappointment. 
 

oddly enough, my sons kid steak in MDR was spectacular. El loco Fresh was the best food we had (when it comes to complementary), and oddly enough, sorrentos was the best pizza we’ve had on the ships.

 

my biggest food disappointment was the salad bar. So pared down now and it’s usually my choice for lunch but half the time it was lacking.

 

luckily I don’t cruise for the food. I just noticed most meals were lackluster and I was just eating to make sure I didn’t pass out. 

[tpokels]

7 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

That was not the case today.  On the Independence, it took us 1 hour and five minutes to get off the ship (left the cabin at 8:00; stood in line this entire time).  Once outside, their was a double line that was as long as the terminal building.  Finally got on a shuttle at 9:35 and arrived at new parking terminal at 10:05, to find that one set of elevators was out of order.  Debarkation was a nightmare from beginning to end.  

 

 

It got worse before it got better - we were about 30 minutes behind you.   Took our bus well over an hour to go between the terminals.  

[lazydayz]

7 minutes ago, tpokels said:

It got worse before it got better - we were about 30 minutes behind you.   Took our bus well over an hour to go between the terminals.  

 

Sorry to hear that.  It was such a mess, and I truly felt like Royal could not have cared less about us.  Just wanted to get us off the ship so they could load up the next group.  

[GTO-Girl]

57 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

That was not the case today.  On the Independence, it took us 1 hour and five minutes to get off the ship (left the cabin at 8:00; stood in line this entire time).  Once outside, their was a double line that was as long as the terminal building.  Finally got on a shuttle at 9:35 and arrived at new parking terminal at 10:05, to find that one set of elevators was out of order.  Debarkation was a nightmare from beginning to end.  

 

I can't help but think Royal could have handled this better, and we (the Indy cruisers) got the short end of the stick because we were not on one of its newest and biggest ships.  Lesson learned.  

 

Oh my goodness that’s horrible!!!  What a terrible way to end a cruise!

[sjb317]

1 hour ago, lazydayz said:

That was not the case today.  On the Independence, it took us 1 hour and five minutes to get off the ship (left the cabin at 8:00; stood in line this entire time).  Once outside, their was a double line that was as long as the terminal building.  Finally got on a shuttle at 9:35 and arrived at new parking terminal at 10:05, to find that one set of elevators was out of order.  Debarkation was a nightmare from beginning to end.  

 

I can't help but think Royal could have handled this better, and we (the Indy cruisers) got the short end of the stick because we were not on one of its newest and biggest ships.  Lesson learned.  

 

Actually, the beginning was pretty good😂.  Our son and his husband walked off at 735 and we had them at the airport at 817.

 

Sherri🙂

[mco_rich]

just boarded Independance, got there at 10.45am, absolute chaos line after line after line, no communication from RCI now 3pm & rooms not ready

[lazydayz]

18 minutes ago, sjb317 said:

Actually, the beginning was pretty good😂.  Our son and his husband walked off at 735 and we had them at the airport at 817.

 

Sherri🙂

Were your son and his husband parked at the port?  

[FLCruiser97]

We were told by a port rep that only one gangway was in operation so hence the long debark time on the Indy. 

[Oceansaway17]

1 hour ago, Wheels87 said:

We chose to debark at 0430 so we could get started on our 600 mile drive back to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. 

It was the smoothest ever! We actually had a party of eight and were able to get elevators immediately. We walked right odd the ship! 

We got home a few minutes ago. Just over eight hours of driving. 

Safe travels, everyone! 

I am actually surprised the border control and immigration was letting folks off so early 

even with facial recognition they were really at the port that early.

 

I was watching on ptz at 2:30 am and she came in early but the docking was slow.  It looked like no one there to take the lines and tie up the ship

[Bobal]

3 hours ago, BND said:

 

 

Many people were disappointed in the food and that includes people who cruise on all different sizes of ships.  This was by far the worst meals we have ever had on Royal, from Vision class through Oasis class.

Interested to read this. We sailed on Jewel for 10 days in September and found the MDR food better than on many of our recent RC cruises - and like you we have sailed on all classes. We usually always book a speciality dining package but used our D+ BOGOs on the first two nights in Chops and Giovannis and were so disappointed we decided not to bother with the package and chance the dining room and felt the food and menu choices were a cut above our previous cruises. Having said that and seeing your previous post on this (#342) we wouldn't opt for your preferences so maybe it was all about what food you chose

[chiguypaul]

1 hour ago, myacuna said:

@Thisguylikestocruise yeah I think it was overall selection and maybe a little quality. Even in specialty - Giovanni’s, my husbands chicken was super dry…150 was good, hibachi was great, playmakers was a giant disappointment. 
 

oddly enough, my sons kid steak in MDR was spectacular. El loco Fresh was the best food we had (when it comes to complementary), and oddly enough, sorrentos was the best pizza we’ve had on the ships.

 

my biggest food disappointment was the salad bar. So pared down now and it’s usually my choice for lunch but half the time it was lacking.

 

luckily I don’t cruise for the food. I just noticed most meals were lackluster and I was just eating to make sure I didn’t pass out. 

We just got off the freedom from last week and my wife said the exact same thing about the salad bar lacking so many items. 

[BND]

20 minutes ago, Bobal said:

Interested to read this. We sailed on Jewel for 10 days in September and found the MDR food better than on many of our recent RC cruises - and like you we have sailed on all classes. We usually always book a speciality dining package but used our D+ BOGOs on the first two nights in Chops and Giovannis and were so disappointed we decided not to bother with the package and chance the dining room and felt the food and menu choices were a cut above our previous cruises. Having said that and seeing your previous post on this (#342) we wouldn't opt for your preferences so maybe it was all about what food you chose

My choices lol?  I don't eat hotdogs and rarely eat hamburgers.  I also never order the apple tart.  My "choices" are only limited by the fact I'm allergic to shrimp (so I do not eat seafood since I don't particularly want to get sick).  We shared a table with a couple we met the first night (4 of us assigned to an 8 top that no one else came to) and decided to share on our second leg of our b2b also.  They also weren't impressed.  They did say the seafood was pretty good.  They cruise regularly, as in every few weeks and also said the food quality onboard was less than good.  We ate in Giovanni's one night and it was good (love Osso Bucco and pasta).  My/our experience doesn't have to be anyone else's, but as I said, we heard a lot of complaints about food quality including from the chef we met on board who works at a resort in FL.   We have cruised on 3 b2b's and one single cruise in the last year and up until Jewel, the food has been pretty good.  Not everything was bad, but most wasn't great on this last b2b.  You were onboard  in Europe, correct?  You ever think the food quality from FL may not be the same as in Europe?  You know, different suppliers and all.  

Edited November 28, 2022 by BND

[lazydayz]

9 minutes ago, mco_rich said:

just boarded Independance, got there at 10.45am, absolute chaos line after line after line, no communication from RCI now 3pm & rooms not ready

 

I have never seen lines like we had on any cruise ship at any time.  The Captain tried to sell this by saying we were doing a great thing for the patient (medical emergency) and "our" sister ship, Wonder of the Seas and the bonus is that we get to see that new ship.  I hope to never see the Wonder of the Seas again. 

 

How can a company be so unprepared for a single medical emergency that it would opt to lose major revenue and anger and inconvenience over 10,000 customers?  I am including those on the Wonder last week and this week, as well as those on the Indy this past weekend and this week.  

 

3 minutes ago, FLCruiser97 said:

We were told by a port rep that only one gangway was in operation so hence the long debark time on the Indy. 

 

There was only one gangway open so they could do crowd control. They kept us all in line to get off the ship, but would not let us off because the line in front of the terminal wrapped around twice.  Once that line died down, they would let a few hundred more off. 

 

I will say most of the cruisers handled it well, given we were stuck together for hours in a crappy situation through no fault of our own.  Thanks Royal, really appreciate the Royal treatment. 

[Bobal]

23 minutes ago, BND said:

  You ever think the food quality from FL may not be the same as in Europe?  You know, different suppliers and all.  

Very interesting point. Perhaps that was it

[Wheels87]

Just now, Oceansaway17 said:

I am actually surprised the border control and immigration was letting folks off so early 

even with facial recognition they were really at the port that early.

 

I was watching on ptz at 2:30 am and she came in early but the docking was slow.  It looked like no one there to take the lines and tie up the ship

 

Yep, they had multiple lanes open. It was smooth as silk. 

 

I agree with everyone about the food...not as good as usual and everything was quite slow coming out of the kitchen.  My entire party was seated every night by 5:15 for dinner and two different times it took over 2 hours to finish. We are not slow eaters, either. They also left dirty dishes sitting in front of us for long periods of time. It was like the staff had way too many guests to look after. 

 

I'm hoping it improves with time. 

 

Brad

[jrapps]

4 minutes ago, Wheels87 said:

 

Yep, they had multiple lanes open. It was smooth as silk. 

 

I agree with everyone about the food...not as good as usual and everything was quite slow coming out of the kitchen.  My entire party was seated every night by 5:15 for dinner and two different times it took over 2 hours to finish. We are not slow eaters, either. They also left dirty dishes sitting in front of us for long periods of time. It was like the staff had way too many guests to look after. 

 

I'm hoping it improves with time. 

 

Brad

Have you ever tried the UDP? While it is expensive, it (to us) is totally worth it. I feel the quality of food in MDR has slid a lot for years now. We used to be those people that could never imagine paying more for food, now we can't image doing the MDR ever again. Every meal on the Wonder was high quality, and most meals we were done in under 90 minutes. The Wonder was a great ship to do this on as there were so many upgrade restaurants, we never ate dinner in the same restaurant twice!