URGENT HELP NEEDED to Contact RCCL Rep

This is a bit of a hail-Mary, but I've read these boards are monitored by a RCCL Rep. if so, Por favor - we need HELP!! Our Passports were lost in Monte Carlo during our port stop ar Villefrance (Freedom of the Seas May 14 - 21). They were blessedly found and returned to the Port Agent, who was supposed to have messengered them to Barcelona to be retrieved by us at disembarkation.

The Port Agent did NOT send them by messenger; they were apparently put in the mail. We were not informed of this until Saturday (our day at sea). The mail was addresses to our Barcelona hotel but has not yet arrived. We missed our original flight and re-booked for Wednesday (at considerable expense). We absolutely must have them tomorrow and the Port Agent is not returning our calls - we are trying to obtain a package tracking number, if one exists.

Please Note: We do not want reimbursement or any other type of compensation - we just need somebody to talk to us!!

Would the port agent in Barcelona not be able to contact his colleague?

Would the port agent in Barcelona not be able to contact his colleague?

We never thought to try. We've been using the contact numbers we were given and to be honest, at this point we're feeling a little panicky. Thanks for the clear-headed idea.

May be you can try calling directly RCI office for assistance.

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or contact the Canadian consulate in Barcelona? They should be able to help you and maybe even put some pressure on RCCL.

or contact the Canadian consulate in Barcelona? They should be able to help you and maybe even put some pressure on RCCL.

In order to have new Passports issued (which takes 2 days), the old ones need to be cancelled. We now feel like we should have done that first thing this morning instead of trusting the process. Applying tomorrow will mean unequivocally that we will not make our Wednesday flights even if the package does arrive.

And part of our reluctance is that our insurance carrier gave us a recorded message saying they were having "technical difficulties" and phone calls would not v answered for 12 hours. We haven't heard back from them and don't know how much of our expenses will be covered.

The royal rep that shows up here is pretty useless. He usually can answer where the smoking section is, Beyond that ......forget it.

I can not help, but so sorry for your problems. Remain calm and positive, enjoy the city and what an adventure you'll have to share when this is all solved and you are home.

Good luck!:halo:

Sometimes posting on the FB page will get a faster response from RCCL.

Sorry about you predicament, but a word of caution to all. Never take your passports off the ship. happy resolutions

In Cuba you have to. Other ports, we always have a copy along with our passport cards. This doesn't have to turn into a scolding thread.:halo::halo:

In Cuba you have to. Other ports, we always have a copy along with our passport cards. This doesn't have to turn into a scolding thread.:halo::halo:

You have to take them off in Russia too. But I never take them off unless it is required. It is more likely you will lose your passport or have them stolen than you will miss the ship.

This is a bit of a hail-Mary, but I've read these boards are monitored by a RCCL Rep. if so, Por favor - we need HELP!! Our Passports were lost in Monte Carlo during our port stop ar Villefrance (Freedom of the Seas May 14 - 21). They were blessedly found and returned to the Port Agent, who was supposed to have messengered them to Barcelona to be retrieved by us at disembarkation.

 

The Port Agent did NOT send them by messenger; they were apparently put in the mail. We were not informed of this until Saturday (our day at sea). The mail was addresses to our Barcelona hotel but has not yet arrived. We missed our original flight and re-booked for Wednesday (at considerable expense). We absolutely must have them tomorrow and the Port Agent is not returning our calls - we are trying to obtain a package tracking number, if one exists.

 

Please Note: We do not want reimbursement or any other type of compensation - we just need somebody to talk to us!!

There is several people can get involve helping you... Guest Services Manager and Guest Administration Officer, trying to get in touch with Intercruises Port & Shore side Services as is the company that does the turnaround operations for Royal in Barcelona and is also the port agent.

Europe is now in the high season of cruising but knowing that the port agent place the passport in the mail i would not trust that will be in Barcelona when Freedom returns on Sunday. Get in touch with your embassy and be in the safe side starting the process of getting emergency passport. For the rest of the cruise is no needed the passport even when the ships returns on Sunday, is only need it when leaving Barcelona that need to go through Passport Control again.

Hope everything get resolved and for the moment I know is hard but try to enjoy the holidays...

Sailor

UPDATE: We have finally had contact from RCCL who was in touch with the Port Agent in Villefrance and obtained the tracking number of the envelope (thank the Lord they registered it!!). According to the on-line tracking tool it was sent on Saturday (this steams me - it was supposed to have left on Thursday), at 5:30 pm last night it was in Marseille and at 7:00 am today it was in Paris. No way to know how long the Paris-Barcelona transit will take or how long for delivery.

Question for everybody: Given the above, would you wait for the delivery, hoping it arrives today so we can make our flight tomorrow morning or attend at the Consulate and have new Passports issued, knowing that process will take 2 days and will necessitate cancelling our flights and re-purchasing them for the 2nd time?

I also want to be very clear on something: We are grateful to RCCL for their assistance in this matter. The loss of our documents was in no way their responsibility and they had no obligation to help the way they have. The attention from the Guest Services and Security staff on-board was excellent; they were able to get us through mandatory screening in LaSpezia and coordinate with the Italian authorities so that we could leave the ship at our final 3 ports and not miss out on our touring plans. This meant the world to us and our travel companions.

Unfortunately the events shoreside have turned into a bit of a train wreck. I suppose these things happen in all lines of work - the Port Agent made a bad judgement call by using the postal service that has had grave consequences. But in hindsight, we should have insisted on arranging our own courier. Although I can promise there will never be a next time for us, we have certainly learned a lot that might benefit somebody else with the same misfortune.

UPDATE: We have finally had contact from RCCL who was in touch with the Port Agent in Villefrance and obtained the tracking number of the envelope (thank the Lord they registered it!!). According to the on-line tracking tool it was sent on Saturday (this steams me - it was supposed to have left on Thursday), at 5:30 pm last night it was in Marseille and at 7:00 am today it was in Paris. No way to know how long the Paris-Barcelona transit will take or how long for delivery.

 

Question for everybody: Given the above, would you wait for the delivery, hoping it arrives today so we can make our flight tomorrow morning or attend at the Consulate and have new Passports issued, knowing that process will take 2 days and will necessitate cancelling our flights and re-purchasing them for the 2nd time?

Any contact from your travel insurance yet?

Loyal2Royal

MOTS 11/04, NOTS 4/18,

Allure 9/17, Anthem 4/18

Any contact from your travel insurance yet?

 

Loyal2Royal

MOTS 11/04, NOTS 4/18,

Allure 9/17, Anthem 4/18

No, but it's the middle of the night there right now (Toronto, Canada). We will try again ASAP. I'm surprised they don't have a more reliable, 24 hr. access number for medical emergencies. Maybe they actually do - the number we're using is for non-urgent claims assessment and was given to us by their sales department, who was the only live voice we could get on the phone.

I would strongly suspect the passports will be delivered tomorrow around noon or later but certainly not today - it will take overnight from Paris to Barcelona.

Using regular postal mail for this was a BIG mistake....who ever decided that....

I hope all goes well -- keep us informed.

Sorry about you predicament, but a word of caution to all. Never take your passports off the ship. happy resolutions

That would go for the Caribbean, not the Mediterranean

That would go for the Caribbean, not the Mediterranean

It does apply to the Mediterranean. I always leave passports in the cabin safe or hotel safe. That is recommended by the US State Department along with carrying a copy. Also several Med ports have pickpockets. On one of my Med cruises the ship collected out passports when we checked in.

Just a FYI- one must present their passport at the casino in Monte Carlo if one wants to gamble.. We always take our passports off in Europe never in Caribbean.

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This is what I use when carrying my passport ashore. https://www.amazon.com/Pacsafe-Coversafe-Anti-Theft-Blocking-Pouch/dp/B017BPN3PK/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1495543192&sr=8-17&keywords=pacsafe

Why not wait until you have passports in hand before re-booking anything? I wouldn't want to take the chance of them not coming on time again and having to keep cancelling/re-booking flights

Just a FYI- one must present their passport at the casino in Monte Carlo if one wants to gamble.. We always take our passports off in Europe never in Caribbean.

 

 

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I didn't know that. If they took them in order to gamble then taking them made sense.

I wouldn't be so kind towards Royal Caribbean in this matter because their agent sending them by postal mail fails the common sense test. That is if they knew they were sending passports. Maybe it was a purse or daypack and they didn't know the passports were inside? I worked for a transportation company and we often had found items. Procedures were in place. If the person could not come and pick them up they were sent by FedEx if they were a valuable item.

We were not able to get into the Casino in Monte Carlo because we left our passports on the ship. We were not advised that we would need our passports. We really didn't want to gamble, just buy some chips to bring home.