Cancelled next cruise due to experience on last one

[pmymmw]

I'm having to post this again due to the last one apparently being deleted (I really hope it wasn't because it painted the cruise conpany in a bad light :rolleyes:).

 

This thread is not intended to start a debate or because I want advice, it is purely informational. I beleive people should have all the information possible when trying to decide which cruise line to speed thousands of pounds (dollars) on.

 

This is a letter we sent to RCCL customer services describing some concerns we had on our recent cruise:

 

"To whom it may concern,

 

We have just returned from a cruise on Splendour of the Seas, sailing from Venice to the Greek Isles, booking reference XXXXXXX. It is disappointing that we find ourselves having to write this letter but having been on many Royal Caribbean cruises (both my partner and myself are diamond members of the Crown and Anchor, membership numbers XXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXX respectively) we feel we have to voice some of our concerns.

 

Our main cause for concern was our half days visit to Dubrovnik. The problems started the day before (a sea day) when the Cruise Director, Simeon Baker, made an announcement stating that due to adverse weather, specifically thunderstorms, we would not be tendering into Dubrovnik itself but to a port just outside. This was strange as the forecast for that day was very good. He then stated coaches would be provided at an additional cost of $8 per person for a round trip. Although we were disappointed about the tender location and the prospect of bad weather we were more astounded that we were being charged an extra $8 per person to reach the port when our itinerary stated we would be tendering directly into the city centre. This is a hidden cost and when in a group of 7 people is by no means an insubstantial amount of money (I will return to this later). However, this was not the end of our problems.

 

When we awoke the next morning and went out on to our balcony we were pleased to be greeted by glorious weather (as forecast) and seas that could be compared to a 'mill pond' (I have photographs of the conditions). Hopes were raised that we would again be tendering into the centre of Dubrovnik, but these were soon dashed when we realised where the ship had dropped anchored. To say we were surprised is an understatement as the weather could no longer be blamed for this change of plan and we never did find out the real reason. However, 5 other ships were visible, 2 of which were in more advantageous positions, meaning that they did not have to tender to their shuttle bus pick up points, greatly reducing their travel times to Dubrovnik

 

At this point things went from bad to worse. From embarking the tender to leaving the coach at the drop off point in Dubrovnik took over 1 hour and 15 minutes. This is longer than we expected and were led to believe by the Cruise director and very disappointing when we were only in Dubrovnik for a half day.

 

However bad this was it was nothing compared to attempting to return to the ship. As we were only in Dubrovnik for a half day and the last tender to the ship was scheduled for 14:00 it does not take a expert to realise that the majority of cruise passengers would be attempting to return to the ship at the same time. With this in mind we decided to arrive at the coach pick up point a little earlier than we normally would. When we got there we found about 20 other people waiting and 2 local tour operators with clipboards but no coach, which was not a problem as they were scheduled for every 10 minutes. After about 25 minutes there was still no coach but now there were hundreds of people waiting, many of them getting agitated knowing they would only be room for about 50 people when a coach finally did turn up. The 2 local tour operators did not really know what was going on, and no representative from Royal Caribbean was present. When a coach finally turned up although we were one of the first 30 people there we did not manage to get on as there was absolutely no organisation and people from the back of the crowd were able to go around the back of the coach and get on first (and were allowed to do this). When this coach left there were still hundreds of people waiting, some for over 30 minutes now. It was easily another 15 minutes before another coach arrived, in which time people in the crowd had started to get very annoyed and an RCCL employee, wearing a Royal Caribbean shirt and pin badge, showed up proceeded to make things worse. He started shouting orders telling everybody to form an orderly line in pairs, threatening that if this did not happen nobody would get on the next coach. I understand the intentions of his actions but by this point it was too late, no queuing system had been started earlier and now there were too many people for this tactic to be effective. We did manage to get on the next coach, no thanks to the staff but just by sheer persistence, but others were not as lucky. There was an elderly lady behind me on the coach who had been separated from her husband and he had not made it onto the coach. There was a spare seat next to her (she had saved it for him) and she could see her husband by the coach door but the RCCL employee refused to let him on. They had been waiting since we arrived (easily 45 minutes by now). She explained to me that she had his passport and coach transfer ticket and he had her Seapass card so I went to speak to the RCCL employee to explain the situation, and that there was spare seat, however he refused to listen and instructed the driver to close the doors and leave. Now things got really nasty with people gesturing at the RCCL employee and blocking the coach from leaving, it was on the verge of becoming a riot. It was at this point that the local police intervened and then our coach was able to leave. This was a big relief for us as things were becoming very unpleasant but not so for the distraught woman behind me without her husband. It was extremely dangerous and reckless for the RCCL employee to knowingly separate a family like this and I dread to think how many more time this happened.

 

We were shocked by the lack of organisation displayed by RCCL, especially when other cruise companies were displaying much more organised and efficient systems, with their coaches arriving much more frequently. This was all the more surprising when we realised that these companies are known to be of a lesser quality than Royal Caribbean. These were the same cruise lines occupying the most favourable position in the harbour.

 

We now believed this unpleasant experience to be over, however, we were wrong. When we got back to the port we were greeted with the longest queue for a tender I have ever seen (I also have photographs of this). Tenders did not seem to be arriving that frequently and it took another 30 minutes before we were able to board one, by this point the queue behind was much longer than when we arrived.

 

All told it took us 1 hour 45 minutes to get back to the ship from arriving at the coach pick up point. That is a round trip of 3 hours. on previous cruises we have completed the round trip from Civitavecchia to Rome or Livorno to Florence in less time. Also bear in mind that we were only in port for 6 hours, we therefore spent half our time in port travelling to and from Dubrovnik, when it was stated in the itinerary we would have a short tender ride to the centre of town. We noticed that the tenders were still running well after 15:00 and we were approximately 1 hour late leaving port. I have never seen such as lack of organisation in any port, by any cruise line and it was very dangerous and apparently unnecessary.

 

This brings me back to the subject of hidden costs. I was very surprised to find that we were expected pay out more money to reach ports advertised in the cruise itinerary. If the itinerary states Piraeus then I expect to have to pay extra to get to Athens. However, if the itinerary states Dubrovnik I should not be expected to pay an extra $8 per person just to get there (the only alternative was staying on the ship). This also happened at Mykonos where again we were expected to pay $8 per person in order to visit the advertised port. For a group of 7 this was an extra cost of $108 which was not indicated prior to the cruise. Budget airlines have been penalised recently for exactly the same inaccuracies when advertising destinations, for instance advertising Barcelona as the destination when the flight lands in Girona, so I would not expect cruise lines to be allowed to do the same.

 

Finally, as I have previously stated we are both Diamond members and have been used to certain (much appreciated) perks but were disappointed to find some of these were not in operation on this ship. For instance there were no priority tender tickets available to us. There was also no priority disembarkation. I find it strange and disappointing that these benefits were not in operation as they are a good way of rewarding you loyal customers which do not cost you anything and they make a big difference to out holiday experience.

 

We had really enjoyed the first 5 days of the cruise but unfortunately due to our experiences over the last 2 days we left the ship with a very negative impression having had a very tainted experience.

We have a cruise booked for May 2007 (booking reference XXXXXXX) out of Venice and are very concerned about returning to Dubrovnik. We have been very loyal Royal Caribbean cruisers over the past 6 years but due to the negative experiences described above we are thinking about cancelling this cruise. I hope you can find a way to convince us not to.

 

Yours sincerely

Mark Whalley "

 

and this is the response I got:

 

"Dear Mr. Whalley,

 

I write in reply to your letter received regarding the above named sailing. I apologise for the delay in my reply and would like to assure that no discourtesy was intended.

 

We have noted your comments regarding the delay experienced disembarking the ship onto the provided tendering facilities provided to guests in Dubrovnik, and appreciate your comments in this regard. Respectfully, I must advise that originally the ship was due to berth in port, but as you were notified onboard this needed to be amended. The decision was then taken to offer a tender service to guest’s, however availability of suitable tendering vessels was limited to the late notification received. This in turn caused the delay in guest’s disembarking and returning to the ship, and we apologise for the disappointment that you have described. However, as I am sure that you can appreciate, we endeavoured to provide the best possible alternative available, under the prevailing circumstances.

 

In view of your comments pertaining to the charge you incurred for shuttle buses. Our brochure terms and conditions state what is included in the price. Respectfully, I must advise that it does not state shuttle buses are included. This varies between ports and so we are unable to include it within the price or advertise this separately. I regret that you felt our information relating to this was mis-leading.

 

I thank you for contacting our office and would like to inform you that, as a gesture of goodwill, I have arranged for a bottle of champagne to be sent to you under separate cover.

 

I do hope that despite the above you enjoyed your time onboard Splendour of the Seas and I do hope we can look forward to welcoming you onboard another Royal Caribbean International sailing in the not too distant future.Yours sincerely

ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL

 

 

Samantha Todd

Customer Relations Representative

Tel: 01932 834 330

Fax: 01932 820 286

Email: custserv.uk@rccl.com"

 

On the back of this we have cancelled our next RC cruise.

 

(I hope this thread does not get deleted! :rolleyes:)

[cruisinfanatic]

you made your point. We all saw your post and lets move on

[lori450]

How sad that they would respond in such an insincere manner. I can understand why you would feel it necessary to cancel your upcoming cruise.

[MGoBlue2]

Give it up. You overreacted to a relatively minor problem on your cruise by cancelling your future cruises. You're overreacting again. Move on.

[GMoney]

You are starting this all over again??????:eek:

[Aquahound]

This horse was beaten and then rightfully deleted. Get over it.

[pmymmw]

Yes I am starting this again. I don't want my thread deleted, the point is I want people to see this. Not everybody thinks I overreacted. The fact that people think it is OK for cruise lines to do this is exactly why they keep doing it and getting away with it. I don't think it should be OK for a 6 hour visit to Dubrovnik to turn into a 3 hour visit for no good reason, other than bad organisation.

[wraithe]

I gave up on your other thread because I really thought you over reacted, now that you've decided to post this again, I'll weigh in with my opinion. First off, if a visit to a place on land is that important to you, then I'd highly recommend that you simply plan a vacation to that spot. What in the world would you have expected from RCL if the ship had canceled the port call altogether? JMHO, YMMV, but starting a second thread just to vent your spleen is a bit much, don't you think.

[jennew]

I wondering what would make you feel validated. Are you hoping that others will cancel cruises also? I am very confused about what exactly you are hoping to get out of this.

 

You posted your letter so I will give my opinion. It is too long and too full of unneeded details. You are not clearly requesting any action and your tone is combative. Letters like that rarely get anything resolved. Threatening to cancel a cruise is not a great way to get your point accross.

 

I am sorry you were not happy with this one part of your cruise. I personally would not have let it ruin my whole trip.

 

One think I have been learning lately....you can't always chose your circumstances but you CAN chose your attititude.

[JanineM]

It's unfortunate that things did not turn out the way you had hoped on your last cruise. I guess you're operating under the old marketing maxim, "those with a good experience tell 1 person, those with a bad experience tell 10". I think you've told your ten, and you may want to now move on to something more positive and productive. My experience on these boards is that most people are RCCI cheerleaders, which is absolutely their prerogative, so you will receive little support in your expression of dissatisfaction.

[pmymmw]

Thanks Water.Baby,

 

That might explain why the previous post was deleted, an fake argument just to get a negative post removed.

 

(Maybe a little paranoid ;) )

[laxdef10]

We all have bad experiences some times get over it! I think everyone has already read you don't need to post it again. Things happen, RCI didn't plan to make your vacation and they try to do their best. If you don't like rci then switch.

[MGoBlue2]

Thanks Water.Baby,

 

That might explain why the previous post was deleted, an fake argument just to get a negative post removed.

 

(Maybe a little paranoid ;) )

More than a little paranoid. ;)

 

We all understand you had a bad experience related to a port visit. Lots of other people have as well over the years (but not more so on RCI than other cruiselines). It's neither that unusual nor that noteworthy - except to you.

 

However, if you need to believe in some conspiracy, OK.

[Alexis]

Many of us on here have had ports totally missed, ports taken away from the itinerary so we do not get to see them and yet we still cruise RCCL. These things happen. Sometimes it is not the ships fault but the ports themselves who make the rules on how and when you dock.

For me, a whole new itinerary was put in place of the one I had booked. Am I still cruising with RCCL? Yes, I have learned to roll with the punches and just go with the flow.

Try it, you might like it.;)

[bubbadog]

time will heal the pain:))):p :rolleyes:

[Cruzaholic41]

Everyone read your complaint on the other thread and most of the responders didn't agree with you. Some of the things you complained about were observations of yours and not experiences. Plus, your letter was harsh and combative. Why are you back for more?:confused:

 

We get the point. You're mad at RCCL. It's time to move on. Do you expect us to all cancel our RCCL cruises too? Not a chance!

[GMoney]

I just booked a cruise to make up for the one you canceled...:D

[sea-cruise]

If you want to cancel because of a missed port, prepare yourself to cancel with other lines as well. We always wanted to see the pyramids in Egypt, and we never got to, but were rerouted to 2 different ports in Israel instead...(That was NCL). We missed other ports on other cruises/cruiselines, but we just had to learn to mellow out and enjoy what comes our way.

It sounds like the captain believed that there might be a chance of lightning & decided to go with plan B. At least you got to see some of the port. Sorry for you, but it's not really like the cruiseline is "out to get" anybody.

[pmymmw]

Alexis,

I have also missed ports before but that has always been because of good reasons (missed Grand Cayman on Century due to the Hurricane) and that doesn't bother me. What did bother me is being lied to, the cruise director made an announcement saying the plans had changed due to adverse weather conditions. The day in Dubrovnik was the best weather of the holiday (some of the group even got burnt wanting for the coach) and I still haven't found out what the real reason for the change was.

 

GMoney,

You'll have to let me know what walking the walls of Dubrovnik is like, I didn't have time to do it :D

[cruisinfanatic]

Why dont you just admit that you are cancelling because you don't want to pay $3.95 for a hamburger.

[pmymmw]

Cruisinfanatic,

 

Don't start that again or this thread will get deleted as well :p

Then I will just have to post it again and the real RC die hards will go really nuts :D

[Fran Harp]

Alexis,

I have also missed ports before but that has always been because of good reasons (missed Grand Cayman on Century due to the Hurricane) and that doesn't bother me. What did bother me is being lied to, the cruise director made an announcement saying the plans had changed due to adverse weather conditions. The day in Dubrovnik was the best weather of the holiday (some of the group even got burnt wanting for the coach) and I still haven't found out what the real reason for the change was.

 

GMoney,

You'll have to let me know what walking the walls of Dubrovnik is like, I didn't have time to do it :D

 

We missed Costa Maya and were rerouted to Montego Bay. We didn't find out until much later what the reason was.....and you know, it didn't bother us at all. We saw Jamaica instead of another stop in Mexico. Just as standing in line in Madeira and getting a burn didn't really bother us. The people who needed to get out of the sun were allowed to sit inside, some of us let others go ahead, we laughed and talked with the people around us.

 

You weren't lied to.....someone gave you the information they had and it turned out not to be accurate. You've beaten the horse to death, and no one here is cancelling a future cruise. Like others, I'm perplexed as to what you expect to gain here.

 

Fran in Toronto

[d2man]

Sorry to hear of the bad experience; it is a bummer indeed; those situations are a test of one's patience. (I have a similar story about our trip to the 100th re-enactment of the Wright Brother's flight)

 

We've had a few cancelled port days on RCCL; one time a few tenders made it in rough seas; but then they cancelled all tenders and the few "lucky" ones had several hours with the private island (Cocoa Cay, if I remember correctly) to themselves with the full wait staff; then they were all brought back later.

 

I suppose I could write on and on about how it was unfair, some were treated differently than others, the ship was under-staffed while the staff was on the island; very disorganized, and on and on.

 

But instead, we enjoyed the day on the ship; and did not let it affect our enjoyment of the rest of the cruise.

 

One has relatively little control over circumstances around him; but one has nearly complete control over their reaction to those circumstances and how it affects them.

 

And fyi; we sail tomorrow on AOS!!!!! Wahoo!!!

[Mrsg324]

I'm leaving for Splendour on Thursday & can't wait.

 

Sorry but it is

realized, organized, penalized, & apoloized

 

Please use the Z's

[d2man]

I'm leaving for Splendour on Thursday & can't wait.

 

Sorry but it is

realized, organized, penalized, & apoloized

 

Please use the Z's

 

and the g's...

 

:)