Abandoned at Barbados port, any suggestions or advice on how to talk to Seabourn?

[ChicagoAlli]

I disembarked the Ovation yesterday in Barbados after a mostly wonderful week in the Caribbean. This was my third Seabourn cruise so not exactly a newbie. I was traveling solo, met some wonderful people both passengers and crew. Then disembarkation happened. I had booked a Seabourn-excursion island tour with airport drop off. I got off the ship prior to the departure time of the tour, albeit a few minutes later than I would have due to a poorly worded disembarkation letter (why would you bold the disembarkation time and then on the back side of the letter say that that time doesn't apply?) I was then forced on a shuttle for a 200 meter trip to the immigration building. I waited an inordinate amount of time for the shuttle to fill up as there were port vehicles blocking pedestrian access to the shuttle. Let's just say the drivers of these vehicles were definitely on island time. When I got to the immigration building I could not find my suitcase. I was walking around for quite a while and had a local Bajan port worker helping me. Finally one of the destination services people asked for my cabin number and then very curtly told me that my suitcase had been put aside and that I was too late to go on the tour as I still had to clear immigration and that was a very slow process. I had wasted at least 10 minutes on the pointless shuttle and at least 5 minutes looking for my suitcase to be denied the tour by a 5 minute difference. Several of the Bajan port workers plead my case to no avail and even one of them ran after a bus that might have been my tour. They were barked at by the destination person that I would not be going on the tour and there was nothing I could do. I had a tense back and forth exchange that included me suggesting I take a taxi, at my own expense, to the first stop on the tour. That suggestion was laughed at (I thought it was a pretty ingenious way of solving a problem). They wouldn't tell me where the bus was going and the tour description was vague on the specific order of the places to be visited. I also pointed out that just one day prior my culinary walking tour in Martinique was delayed 25 minutes in very hot and humid weather waiting on two people.  The destination services person walked away. And that was that. Seabourn was done with me.

 

I did not have a lot of cash; didn't think I needed it at this point. My flight wasn't until late afternoon and it was still before 9am on a Sunday when a lot of places are closed. Luckily all the Bajan port workers were amazing, sympathetic and very much wanting me to not have a bad perception of Barbados (I didn't). One man even gave me a hug and promised to help me figure out a plan. I used the rest of my cash to taxi to the Hilton at a negotiated fare that was likely less than it should have been, and was graciously comped usage of the property for several hours. I did agree to not use a beach/pool chair and bought two drinks and lunch via credit card and just camped out in a shady section of the pool bar. Hilton also helped me arrange transport to the airport that I could pay using a credit card. The kicker is that when I got to the airport, I ran into a few fellow Seabourn passengers who were on the same tour and knew I was on that tour saw me at the immigration building and even tried to alert someone that I was being left behind.

 

Now I'm home and am at a loss at the treatment I had at the port. The nasty, almost punitive attitude of the staff at the immigration building. What if I was older, less travel savvy or had mobility issues? I can't help but think a lot of the passengers I met on the cruise would not have managed their way out of the situation the same way I was able to. What gnaws at me was that, for a while, I was legitimately scared and panicked. That is my last memory from an otherwise enjoyable trip.

 

I open it up to other Seabourn travelers. Thoughts? Is it "rules are rules you are technically late even though it was just a few minutes in a country where nothing happens on time and it doesn't matter why, so you get/deserve nothing?" Has anyone else experienced such a draconian response? Is it worth trying to reach out to Seabourn for a refund for the tour? Or even an apology and discussion of my situation and how a similar situation could be avoided/mitigated in the future?

[johng75370]

This is a horrible situation for you to have been put in, and you are right to feel let down by Seabourn.  I’ve never experienced that kind of treatment with Seabourn, and think you are right in asking for a refund for the airport transfer/tour and an apology.   I’m assuming it was a contract person acting as “Destination Dis-Services”.  Seabourn can work with them to make sure it does not happen to someone else.  I would email the office of the ptesident (Natalya Leahy); for this level of issue I would think that is the right place to reach out to.  Officeofthepresident@seabourn.com 

Edited February 6 by johng75370

[Laylam]

1 hour ago, johng75370 said:

This is a horrible situation for you to have been put in, and you are right to feel let down by Seabourn.  I’ve never experienced that kind of treatment with Seabourn, and think you are right in asking for a refund for the airport transfer/tour and an apology.   I’m assuming it was a contract person acting as “Destination Dis-Services”.  Seabourn can work with them to make sure it does not happen to someone else.  I would email the office of the ptesident (Natalya Leahy); for this level of issue I would think that is the right place to reach out to.  Officeofthepresident@seabourn.com 

I agree wholeheartedly.  We once had a problem disembarking in Manaus.  Although our circumstances were quite different.  Because of an early morning flight we disembarked at midnight, and were taken, and left, at the gates of the port to wait for the taxi we had requested.  We were immediately surrounded by rough sleepers and felt very unsafe.  I complained to Seabourn so it didn't happen to anyone else.  They were very apologetic and I think we received an OBC on our next cruise.

[Covepointcruiser]

We did take this tour in Barbados after debarking.   This was a different cruise and it was confusing as we got off the bus at the wrong building and it didn’t have our luggage.   We had to wait for next bus to get to our luggage which we identified.    ever saw the luggage again until we reached the airport.   The tour was okay but it was at least an hour and maybe more before we reached the first stop at a beach shack.   It would have cost you more to reach that short stop (30 minutes at most) than the funds you had available.   You missed another stop at an old Anglican Church and final stop at a plantation with lunch.   Most of the time was traveling around the island on the bus seeing sights along the road.

Sorry about your experience and hope Seabourn gives you a refund.

 

[alexandria]

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Edited February 7 by alexandria
Posted in error.

[jollyjones]

I'm sorry for your bad experience - I find Barbados as a cruise port just dreadful to the extent that I no longer book cruises that disembark there. Embarkation there isn't great but can occasionally be OK.

It is almost impossible to get a hotel day room in Barbados and you can't even enter the airport until a few hours (three, I think) before your flight, not that there is any sort of decent lounge there in which to wait.

The tours offered by cruise lines to fill in the time are fairly useless and often still get you to the airport far too early.

 

It's a real problem, I've never found an acceptable solution.

 

Also, no use to you but for information for others - you are not obliged to use the awful shuttle from cruise terminal to ship, they cannot force you, I always refuse and walk. They may yell at you but just ignore them. There is a marked walkway. It is quicker.

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, jollyjones said:

Also, no use to you but for information for others - you are not obliged to use the awful shuttle from cruise terminal to ship, they cannot force you, I always refuse and walk. They may yell at you but just ignore them. There is a marked walkway. It is quicker.

 

Beg to differ.  I've been to many a cruise stop where you are docked in an industrial area.  There is no "marked walkway" and you absolutely must use the shuttle.  And as for them just yelling -- when security comes along and hauls you off (which I've seen happen when someone started wandering), just say "I heard on Cruise Critic that we can just walk around on our own".

[jollyjones]

Beg to differ also. 
I speak specifically about Barbados. 
I too have been to many industrial ports and know that one must use the shuttle. 
However, in Barbados, there is a marked walkway that I, along with many other pax, have used every time I’ve been there. 
In Barbados you can walk to and from your ship. On the marked walkway. 

[FlyerTalker]

55 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

Beg to differ also. 
I speak specifically about Barbados.

 

Never saw reference to Barbados in your post.

[ChicagoAlli]

On a prior cruise where Barbados was a port stop, not disembarkation, I did not take a shuttle to leave the port. Things may operate differently for a disembarkation day and given the layout of where specifically the ship had docked, a walkway was not clearly evident.

 

As I reflect on my original post, I wish I had stuck around and maybe forced Seabourn's hand a bit. If I just sat there someone would have had to acknowledge that at some point I'd think... Some wonderful passengers I had met on the ship had not disembarked yet and I know they would have helped me out in a heartbeat. Of course, in the moment when things have gone so wrong, I was just so angry and frustrated and felt the need to get out of there. 

 

Regarding the transfer tour itself--having spent a fair amount of time in Barbados prior, I knew the tour wouldn't be that great and I strictly booked it to kill some time and for the ease and security of getting to the airport. Ha ha!

 

In the end, I come back to the expectations I had for Seabourn. They hold themselves out as an ultra- luxury five star experience. Not a company that would just leave a passenger to fend for themself in a foreign port. I don't expect perfection-that is impossible. I do expect than when things go wrong, I would not be treated the way I was. Having the mindset of anticipating or assuming all the things that could go wrong seems incongruent with the product being offered. The sign of true luxury is that when the inevitable mishap occurs, it's all about the response.

[jollyjones]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Never saw reference to Barbados in your post.

My first sentence referred to ‘Barbados as a cruise port’

 

[cruiseej]

@ChicagoAlli My wife and I are the ones who shared the cab with you to the Hilton! You shared your story, but I didn't know you were short on cash, or we would have been happy to help you. I'm glad you worked things out, were able to sit at the bar/restaurant at the Hilton for a while, and apparently got home okay. 😀  I'm sorry this ending put a damper on an otherwise fine cruise. (At least you didn't have our experience, with our American Airlines plane arriving late into Barbados and then being just a few minutes too late getting to Charlotte for us to make our connecting flight to Philadelphia. So we spent an extra night at an airport hotel in Charlotte, along with more than a hundred other passengers stranded by late connections.)

 

As others have said, I would assume the people who were rude/argumentative/uncaring were from a ground services company Seabourn hires, not one of the destination services members of the ship. In either case, you weren't treated well, and it's worth emailing Seabourn about it. At the very least, I think they should refund what you paid for the excursion. All Seabourn may know is that you didn't show up at the designated time and place for your bus trip — if they even get that information from the tour operator. 

 

I do understand them not allowing people to walk to the terminal; the pier we were docked at was fairly narrow and had two ships doing turnover with passengers, luggage and resupply cargo. 

 

Not that it helps now, but on a prior Seabourn cruise ending in Barbados, we took the bus tour ending at the airport, and the bus stopped somewhere to meet a couple who took a taxi to catch up to us. So I'm just letting you know that your proposed solution has been used before, if it gives you more ammunition in making your case to Seabourn!

[Sunprince]

8 hours ago, jollyjones said:

However, in Barbados, there is a marked walkway that I, along with many other pax, have used every time I’ve been there. 
In Barbados you can walk to and from your ship. On the marked walkway. 

100% agree. I have done the same many times, whether it be Seabourn, Silversea, Regent or Windstar.  Unless you have mobility issues, it is easier and faster just to walk.  Barbados as a port, is fine (although small), unless the massive “Brit ships” are in port, then it gets very congested. 

[purpleally]

Wow, that is horrible 

At the very LEAST, a refund from that tour but Seabourn owes you more than that for what happened. Definitely email the president. Don’t give up, keep pushing. 
 

Some have said they assume it is a contract excursion person not Seabourn. Why would you assume that?  Seabourn excursion people come off the ship to hang out with the excursions 

 

I have walked from the ship in Barbados, not on disembarkation day which might be different?

[Covepointcruiser]

I doubt OP was in port on a Sunday with no other ship in the port.   Walking was not possible when we docked, we had to be bussed to the terminal that held our bags and also had immigration for Barbados.   There is another closer terminal with small shops and no immigration  and this was for passengers just visiting Barbados as a port on their cruises.