FL-momma

True.  The porters are part of International Longshoremen's Association and not RCCL employees.  However, I believe RCCL along with the Port Authority help to set the tipping policies at their terminal.

Jasukkie - we're definitely hoping they do the right thing and ship the bag back to her.  As far as the made up story, you may be right; however, my sister said it sounded like an older lady who hadn't cruised before.  She said she was very upset and worried about her two bags.  I guess time will tell.

No, I think the passengers who took the bag are ultimately to blame.  However, I think if the porter had done his job the way it should have been done, he could have fixed it.  Instead he made up some answer about why there is a ribbon there that he knew wasn't true.  That is on the porter.

Yes, but when the passenger questioned the ribbon on the bag, it seems the porter should have told her to recheck the bags.  

She has insurance; however, it may or not pay since she knows the location of the bag now.

As far as tipping goes, I firmly believe that the porter didn't bother checking the tags when questioned because it would have taken time and slowed down his ability to get back inside and get the next tip.  If he wasn't trying to hustle as many tips as possible, he might have looked at the tags and been able to keep an even bigger mistake from happening.

My sister returned after her Independence sailing on 10/20/23 to find her bag missing.  After waiting 2 hours, the RCCL people said there were two people missing bags and two bags left unclaimed.  It appeared that someone had left with the wrong bags.  RCCL gave her the claim information and a website (chargerback.com) where she could file a claim online for her missing bag.

Later that day, my sister got a call from one of the other guests who said they had gotten her bag by mistake and were missing their two bags.  My sister called C&A (she is D+) who transferred her to the post-cruise department.  She explained what happened, and asked how she could get her bag back now that they knew where it was. The rep said that the couple who took the bag is responsible for getting the bag back to her and that RCCL was not responsible.  They did confirm, however, that they would certainly be sending the two bags from the terminal to the couple in SC. 

WTH???   The people who screwed up get their bags back free of charge, but my sister who did everything she was supposed to do has to pay to get her bag back?!?!  (or depend on the people who screwed up in the first place to get her bag back to her).  Seems very unfair to me.

It turns out the bags were brand new (a gift) so the woman that took them wasn't that familiar with what they looked like, but she did ask the porter why there was a ribbon on the handle of her bag that wasn't there before.  They were going into the parking garage at the time, and the porter made up some BS story about RCCL putting a ribbon on the bag if there was any damage.  He didn't check the tags to make sure they were correct or tell them to recheck the tags to make sure they had the right bags.  He just quickly loaded them in the car, took his tip and headed back inside.  If he hadn't been in such a hurry to get to his next tip, he might have been able to save everyone a lot of trouble and expense.

I know we have sailed through a number of ports where there are signs saying that tipping is not permitted.  Perhaps Canaveral should change their policy so that tipping is not permitted.  Then maybe mistakes like that might not happen.

What do you guys think?

43 minutes ago, TX.Mameow&Papeow said:

Just a little FYI, we are very close friends with some of the current cast of "Mamma Mia" and the current cast came onboard March 19, 2023, and there first performance was the following week March 26, 2023. Their contract ends in December. Currently on Allure out of Galveston they do 3 performances of "Mamma Mia" and 3 Performances of "Blue Planet" which began during our cruise April 30 - May 7. Their schedule changes and some weeks they have done 2 Mamma Mia's in the same day, and also 2 Blue Planet's in one day. Mamma Mia is usually near the beginning of the week and sometimes a matinee on Saturday. Blue Planet is usually during the end of the week. Not sure about the scheduling for the shows from Cape Canaveral, but the cast should still be on the ship so I would assume the shows will continue. We booked a b2b, 5 nights on Oct.25, and 4 nights on Oct.30. Hope this is helpful to those with questions.

Glad to hear it.  I really hope they keep it on the shorter cruises.  And, it sounds like I'll be following you a couple of weeks later on Allure.  Happy sailing!

2 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I could see RCI eventually getting away from shows that they have to pay royalties for. Their whole mindset seems to be saving money.

 

However, when I was on Odessey this past February, the CD was talking about shows on the various ships. I don't remember how long she said the contracts for Mamma Mia and CATS have left to go but I remember thinking that both shows will be around for awhile.

 

I still don't understand how they are going to make this work on short sailings. Maybe the show would be moved to a different ship doing longer sailings? I'm just musing as I have no idea what is going to happen.

I agree.  They seem to be very cost conscious these days (often to the detriment of the cruise experience).  As far as Mamma Mia goes, they currently do 3 shows a week on their 7-day voyages, I could see them doing it on Days 1 & 4 on the 4-day cruise and Day 2 on the 3-day cruise.  Same number of shows per week.  The capacity on their theaters is about 1400 so I suspect there wouldn't be a lot of people on a 3-day who wanted to see the show and couldn't.  I'd just hate to see it go.  CATS on the other hand would not be missed.

I hope the rumors about Momma Mia going away are wrong.  Maybe we should start a "Keep our Momma" petition on RCCL's website.  It is so much better than most of the shows they have, especially the ones they commission just for the ships.  I thought the "Columbus, the Musical" one on Harmony was horrible.

I just started a thread on the Royal Caribbean Blog.  Maybe if enough of us complain (beg!!), they will reconsider

4 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

I wouldn’t call it strenuous but there are some optional lengthy walks and some which are necessary from the tender to the beach, to the restaurant and to some of the animals.
 

If you zoom in on above photo from the ocean you will see the typical type of inclines, steps and natural pathways. 
 

Someone with mobility problems could definitely have difficulties or restrictions depending on how far they can walk.

Thanks for the info.  I think she may want to pass.

Question about Maya Key - the excursion description on RCCL classifies it as "strenuous."  Is there a lot of walking or hiking necessary to get to the beach or animal encounter?  Or are they talking about choosing "strenuous" activities like snorkeling? 

One of our party has bilateral knee replacements and cannot do a lot of climbing, strenuous activity.  Is it easy to do the animal encounter?

Appreciate any info you guys can give.

Loving your posts.  When we were on Wonder last month, they set up snacks in both the smoke-free and regular casinos around midnight (similar to the hors d'oeuvres they do in Diamond Club or Suite Lounge).  Wondering if that is the new norm.  Are that doing that in the Allure casinos as well?

We have booked the Krakow extension on the Celebration of Classical Music tour. 

* Does anyone know which hotel Ama uses in Krakow? 

* Also we are interested in a food tour our first evening there.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks for any information.