How Do You Know If Your Cruise Has Been Made Into An Immersion Cruise?

[Tropic]

We are going to be on an Asian Immersion on 2/14/09. I talk with RC people today and internally they have not gotten the full story out to even their own people. But look.... it not any worse than visiting a modern city in any part of the world. There will be asian crew members, but that's always been the case. And almost every cruise outside of Alaska and maybe Hawaii has multi lingual announcements. The smoking rules will be the same and the dining assignments... just ask for a different table with common language, but lots of people in the world speak some english. So in the end it's possible this might be an interesting adventure. There will be nice and not so nice people on any cruise... just don't let them make or break your experience. I do think that this in not RC's finest hour with the way they are handling this. There is a "message" system for those who have reservations and yet not even a peep. I found out about this on the Roll Call... by they way thanks for the heads up. My question to them was "what do they consider asian food" is it Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Singaporian, Malaysian, Phillipino, Burmese, Thai, what about Borneo even???? Hope they provide a wide variety of authentic foods from all the countries we visit and when I want a good steak they will provide that too.

[Mark_K]

Good luck on getting the correct answer. These are the same people that told a poster on another thread that his Baltic cruise would be an immersion and the main language would be Scandinavian. Must be a new language, specially concocted for immersion cruises. Duh!

They are also the same people that couldn't answer whether or not the specialty restaurants would be open or whether their menus would be changed.

I don't think RCI has really figured out the details, or if they have, they've failed to communicate them to their staff.

Yes, it's true. They will be speaking Danswefinwegian on the ship.

[antomoli]

Why would anyone cancel a cruise after learning that it is an inmmersion cruise? It puzzles me.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Why would anyone cancel a cruise after learning that it is an inmmersion cruise? It puzzles me.

 

Because it isn't what they booked! Many people (myself included) book cruises because we are comfortable with that experience and anticipate consistency with our room, meals, entertainment and service. We know we can visit other places but not have to deal with language barriers (in large part). It's about comfort, expectations and consistency.

 

Obviously an immersion cruise interests some and adds to their experience. But I'd absolutely cancel.

[bullydogsmama]

I'm I the only one who thinks they might know why they haven't told anyone that their cruise would be an immersion cruise until it's almost to late to cancel? How about they want to fill the ship! IF they told you the cruise was going to be an immersion cruise when you booked it I bet most all would decline the trip. So they wait until, you have planned for a year or more, booked your flights, booked your excusions, gotten all excited about going and THEN they tell you, "Oh by the way this is going to be a totally different cruise than the one you signed up for."

 

I don't think you need to be a rocket scientist to figure this out. The crusie line most likely has known about this for MONTHS.

[altosax]

So will Alaska cruises be Tlingit immersion cruises?

[hcat]

Wouldn't your shipboard acct be charged in the currency in which you book your cruise? If not, that would be a deal breaker for many Americans--the Euro is too strong against the dollar which is one of the main reasons cruises are a good way to visit Europe for Americans.

 

Guess we'll have to see what develops on this since I would not book with a foreign cruise line & would expect that a cruise line doing business in the US would offer an English speaking cruise...with service & entertainment in English--

 

Not booked on anything at the moment on Royal & hope Celeb does not follow suit. Otherwise we'll be cancelling one from Rome...I think they are just going to a more international flavor & not abandoning English however!

[Maraprince]

My cousins just returned last Saturday from a Baltic cruise on Celebrity and hated it. When asked why, the answer was...German chef could only cook meat well, didn't like onions, and the majority of the food was so so. Normally, they can usually find one or more items that they like on the menus everyday. But this was missing the mark. Service was good, only the food was disappointing. This was a 2 week cruise with many Europeans. They were on the same ship that we sailed up to Canada and NE last fall. There was a different crew and we all know a crew can make or break a sailing. Both RCL and Celebrity are going after the European market since many people there do not normally cruise but can easily get from one country to another by train or by driving.

 

The wine tasting only boasted California wine causing many passengers to feel cheated. Maybe in Europe, California wine is a novelity but you would have expected at least some German, Italian or French wine as well.

 

If this is going to continue to be the norm with RCL, passenger should be made aware of it before they book. It would seem that anything originating outside of the US and Puerto Rico could well be an immersion cruise.

 

Cruises originating in San Juan still have a majority of US passengers from many different states. However, cruises originating in Florida tend to have a higher amount of Latin passengers living in Florida on board. For years Florida has had the benefit of being one of the main ports for cruises to the Caribbean along with San Juan. Now other east coast ports have the same benefit.

 

Cruises sailing out of Europe or Asia have and will continue to have more locals on board with entertainment and food more geared to them. On an Australian cruise that originated in the states, once they left the US the currency on board changed from US $ to Australian along with the slot machines and some of the food items offered. We boarded in Syndey to find about 1/2 US and 1/2 locals on board with some other countries represented as well. We had local shows on board along with nominal entertainment which was dictated more by the size of the ship than anything else. The lounges weren't large enough to do a big production show. Instead, we had a comic, musicians, passengers dressing up and becoming part of a famous singers' Motown show and dancing to prerecorded music. None of the tour people other than the head person had even visited any of the ports and were less than useless as far as providing the passengers with information on them. We learned more from our table mates who were locals on what tours we should book. They learned our food as we learned theirs.

 

MARAPRINCE

[*CENSORED*]

I went on a Texas immersion cruise this past spring. Not bad at all.:D

[G'ma]

IMHO, this whole immersion discussion is ridiculous. Poor us! Poor Americans! We are constantly bombarded by those "foreigners", their language and culture all over the world.

 

People, grow up.

[SF]

IMHO' date=' this whole immersion discussion is ridiculous. Poor us! Poor Americans! We are constantly bombarded by those "foreigners", their language and culture all over the world.

 

People, grow up.[/quote']

 

 

Personally I think your comment is totally out of place. No one is saying or complaining about "foreigners, their language or culture". What I and others are saying is that when you purchase something a cruise, a concert, airline tickets etc.... you expect to get what you PAID for. How would you like it if the airlines decided last minute to change your ticket and not reschedule you or reimburse you because they couldn't accommodate you? One of our airlines recently changed our itinerary but they were nice and reimbursed us for the difference. Haven't heard RCCL mentioning anything similar for those who have already made plans with non-refundable deposits. All they've done is let the people know that their upcoming cruise will be an "immersion" one. Take it or leave it attitude. They didn't consider or take into account many have non-refundable deposits on other plans since they booked this cruise so far out. How would you feel if you got to a concert and found out that the organizers switched performers because it was cheaper to get another act? All most are saying on the boards is that RCCL should have handled it differently, been more open to explain what will change and what won't not that "immersion cruises" are bad. As usual when you call to clarify things you get several different answers mainly because I think they keep their staff in the dark also until last minute. Right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. I personally enjoy meeting new people and experiencing various cultures but I wouldn't want to be on a cruise for 14 days not knowing any of the language. That's why we preferred cruising we could get the best of both worlds. Enjoy the new experience plus still have our "little comfort zone" when we returned to the ship since everything was in English.

[paintedduck]

IMHO, g'ma, it's your comments that make this thread ridiculous. i agree with SF. we did cancel a southern caribbean sailing after the message from rci to inform us of the changes. we just switched to another rci sailing. my only negative comments in other posts have been "a little frustrated" and "a little disappointed" with rci methods. just truth is advertising, please.

 

happy sailing, whatever your choice, there's enough choices for everyone.

[cruisePRN]

IMHO' date=' this whole immersion discussion is ridiculous. Poor us! Poor Americans! We are constantly bombarded by those "foreigners", their language and culture all over the world.

 

People, grow up.[/quote']

 

I'm all grown up and that's why I get to do things as I like. I don't like the idea of not knowing the language onboard. IF I want to do a land vacation and wander aimlessly not knowing where I am and how to get to where I am going I'll do that. If I want tours in a language I don't understand I can do that too. But people bought a cruise on a ship that changed the rules in the middle of the game and in cases it's too late to cancel without a penalty.

[jbond]

Yes, it's true. They will be speaking Danswefinwegian on the ship.

:D :D

Why would anyone cancel a cruise after learning that it is an inmmersion cruise? It puzzles me.

We just got back from a cruise on Splendour, Santos, Brazil to Lisbon, Portugal. It wasn't advertised as an immersion, but we found out in Santos that the majority of passengers were Portuguese speaking. Just over 300 non Portuguese speaking passengers. All things were geared to the Portuguese speaking contingent, entertainment, food, primary announcements and even the photos were printed in Portuguese. Of course announcements were also made in English and several other languages. You could get your photos reprinted in English if you requested it. If we had known this beforehand, we probably would not have canceled. We would probably have said, "Great, we'll get to sample some Latin culture and it should be a lively cruise." Unfortunately that was not the case. We did have Brazilian type food, but it was of poor quality and not comparable to the Brazilian food we ate when in port. We are not big show people, so we didn't mind the fact that the comedian was Portuguese language only and the Elvis impersonator was Brazilian. The main problem was the passengers themselves were a disappointment. Nothing like the lively, well dressed, fun loving Puerto Ricans that we have enjoyed on many cruises out of San Juan. They were loud, arrogant and rude.

Would we do an immersion cruise? We'd have to know more about the small details. Would we repeat our Santos to Lisbon cruise? Never.

[Kellie Poodle]

Cruises sailing out of Europe or Asia have and will continue to have more locals on board with entertainment and food more geared to them. On an Australian cruise that originated in the states, once they left the US the currency on board changed from US $ to Australian along with the slot machines and some of the food items offered. We boarded in Syndey to find about 1/2 US and 1/2 locals on board with some other countries represented as well. We had local shows on board along with nominal entertainment which was dictated more by the size of the ship than anything else. The lounges weren't large enough to do a big production show. Instead, we had a comic, musicians, passengers dressing up and becoming part of a famous singers' Motown show and dancing to prerecorded music. None of the tour people other than the head person had even visited any of the ports and were less than useless as far as providing the passengers with information on them. We learned more from our table mates who were locals on what tours we should book. They learned our food as we learned theirs.

MARAPRINCE

 

 

We sailed on the RCI Australia/New Zealand cruise last Fall. It was the first one on the itinerary, sailing from Sydney on Rhapsody.

 

There were many people from the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong on board. All cash transactions were in US dollars. We used the same credit card for our Sea Pass account as we have on Caribbean cruises.

 

The food in the dining room was no different from the regular menu. The Windjammer did have a whole section with Asian dishes (more elaborate than Jade) and there were baked beans for breakfast and Vegemite in little packets, plus a few other items that weren't "American"

 

The entertainment was mostly Australians. We understood this was due to the huge distance that American entertainers would have to travel for the gig. Some of the entertainment was great and some of it was okay. Only one act was horrible and many people, including us, walked out, but this happens on any cruise. We had an awful "comedian" on our last cruise (VOS out of Galveston 2/08).

[linkerbink]

I'm I the only one who thinks they might know why they haven't told anyone that their cruise would be an immersion cruise until it's almost to late to cancel? How about they want to fill the ship! IF they told you the cruise was going to be an immersion cruise when you booked it I bet most all would decline the trip. So they wait until, you have planned for a year or more, booked your flights, booked your excusions, gotten all excited about going and THEN they tell you, "Oh by the way this is going to be a totally different cruise than the one you signed up for."

 

Truth in advertising works both ways...I'd be willing to bet that any cruise originating in a European, South American or Asian port that's advertised as an "immersion" cruise that is geared to the majority of people from those respective areas, the ship would be filled with people from those areas who could be assured that THEY would be able to be comfortable in a setting that is not geared to North Americans! Yes, there are non-North Americans on many cruises originating in the US, but they book with the understanding of what they are getting....a cruise geared to an English-speak North American culture. Those whose cruises are changed mid-booking to an "immersion" cruise are not given the choice.

 

By the way, I would not mind an "immersion" cruise if I know ahead of time and can make the choice.

[FOXTROT]

We just found out we are booked on a Latin Immersion cruise. We were not notified by RCCL but by this board. Being Diamond Plus members you would think they would treat us better. If they want to gear cruises to other nationalities, no problem mon. Let us know before we book air, hotels & other things.

 

If RCCL wants to give us the same old itineraries & the new exciting ones to other cultures. It is time to find a cruise line who still values American buisness.

[Moeve]

I think what bothers most of us is that we are not sure just how much these plans will change the product we have come to enjoy and for many of us which we have explictly chosen. Large national groups DO change the dynamics of a cruise and sometimes actually show that the ship was not even built to deal with certain population groups.

 

Here is an example - please be aware that I am not critizing the Skandinavians but using this to explain that a ship originally built for the main US marketing has its problems when the main group is not. I have just done a 4 day cruise out of Stockholm to Tallin and St. Petersburg. The cruise had 2.100 passengers - the vast majority 1.900 were Swedisch. Now the Swedes like to sit end enjoy their coffee after the meal, talk and relax. There is nothing wrong with that!! But the Jewel of the Seas was just not able to cope with that sort of thing. Basically because it was very cold on top of that the indoor areas were just tooo small to cope. This ship was built for the US market where the majority of guests tend to have their meals get up and proceed to other activities. This cruise was completely different - people were actually forced to stand at the clearing stations to eat because there was just not enough space for all. By day 2 the M'd brought in tables an chairs from outside and filled areas usually used as walk ways to try and alieviate the problem but even THAT was not enough. Lunch on the seaday - That was a night mare -2.000 passenger all in the Windjammer Cafe at the same time!!!!

[sr4mjc]

Any chance my Splendour cruise from Venice to Lisbon might be changed?

[Grannycb]

Tried to post a link that wasn't allowed....sorry.

[Mines]

I don't think that the differences are that great. We did a South American cruise where 90% of the passengers were Brazilian. The only change that RCL made was to make announcements in two languages and provide some local food (this was as a complement to the normal fare, not a substitution) and worked very well.

 

We found out before that the dining times had been changed to 8:00 and 10:00, so we switched from our normal 2nd seating to 1st.

 

Our next cruise will be a Spanish immersion on Navigator. This could be interesting.

[Mines]

Any chance my Splendour cruise from Venice to Lisbon might be changed?

 

No chance - no nationality will be predominant.

[Monkeythyme]

If you e-mail a question to RCI about your specific cruise and the reply comes back with the greeting "G'day Mate", you might be going on an immersion cruise.

[antomoli]

Cancelling a cruise because no one had advised you beforehand, that it was going to be an inmmersion cruise, makes sense.

 

Personally, I do not mind being among non Spanish speaking persons, or persons of any other nationality. I would rather choose to learn something about their culture.

 

Now, is travelling to Spain to spend a couple of weeks there, an inmmersion trip?

[runnerandme]

The main problem for me is the lack of communication from RCCL. Let me know what is going on, and how things on board will change. SPECIFICS. I would not have booked a Latin Immersion cruise. Not because of Latino Culture. But my blind daughter deserves to be able to "hear" and understand her cruise. Please don't anyone suggest she should just adjust or something like that, she does not have that ability. We now have a cabin that I can't get on another ship at this late date. We have a stiff penalty/ air deviation fee. I also booked a hotel that will require a fee to cancel. This is what I object to. If RCCL had notified me in a timely manner, I would have been able to avoid a lot of headache..not to mention I booked with friends and family and we are dealing with who is still going and who is not..some are not sure. Some just can't change their flights.