aloha43

She's not leaving yet.....just flipping a U-ie.......

Where will she be in drydock?

My thoughts and prayers are with the family of the little boy. Until the full story comes out and they find out what happened, where the parents were and how the child got away from them, I will not lay blame on anyone at this point. That is not my place to do anyway.

 

A child is fighting for their life and two parents and a sibling are out of their minds with worry and sadness. They need to deal with this as a family. If the little boy doesn't survive they will have this haunting them the rest of their lives.

 

This should have been a fun time for them going on a vacation after the Holidays and it turned into one of the saddest times of their lives.

 

Praying the little boy makes a remarkable recovery so this family can move on and learn from this and hopefully other families have already learned for this.

 

Everyone on the cruise was also traumatized by the events that unfolded. I am sure everyone is praying for a positive outcome from all of this.

 

Embarkation day can be a little hectic and you need a plan to keep together.

 

Prayers, love and thoughts are being sent their way that everything turns out for the best. :)

Very well said. Thank You.

Matthew 7:1-3

What???

My question is: How do they come up with the amount of time he was under water? Just can't see how they can say that, unless some one watched him go under, (And started their stopwatch) which isn't realistic...

 

David:D

So true....I was going on the media accounts....they could be wrong.

Seems like you know which pool was involved and have concluded that the child was not correctly monitored.

Not sure how you have interpreted that you are a bad person because we disagree.

There are two sides to every story and what seems obvious to you may not be to all. There is plenty of room on these boards for debate. I will withold judgement on these poor parents, or RCI's liability until we have the whole story (which is doubtful we ever will).

I have no idea of which pool this happened in....but I don't think the child was correctly monitored by the fact that all accounts say the child could have been in the water 5-10 minutes. That is a very, very long time......

Again, I am only commenting on my own perspective. Never take your eyes off a child of 4 years old that is anywhere near a pool area.

But it also said that the child could have been submerged from 5-10 minutes. I don't think that would be possible on the flowrider? :confused: Someone would be right there to pick them up???

 

EDIT: I believe the statement about "one surfer" was added by the OP, as it is not written in the actual article that you can view with the link that the OP provided.

5-10 minutes?? :( Now that is a really long time for a child to be in the water without anyone noticing.

Very scary.

In my opinion, if you never look away around sinks, toilet bowls, dog bowls, (the drowning dangers that I cited from an article, and you deleted when you quoted my post), you certainly rank up there in the superparent category.

I'm sorry, but.....there is a big difference between an accident due to sinks, toilet bowls and dog bowls than when it includes a pool that is too deep for a small child.

No I don't consider myself in the "super parent" category. Only a very concerned one.

I stated in another post that we have a water park in our town with a wave pool. I get in with my granddaughter, she has a life jacket on no matter what and I NEVER let go of her.

It is an age thing, not a super parent thing. Just because I post that the child should have been monitored better doesn't make me a bad person.

I'm just pointing out the obvious.

I am saddened by the number of posters who are eager to rush to judgement.

 

My friend's daughter experienced a near drowning in the backyard in a play bucket; lost all vitals and was brought back to life. Adults were feet away.

 

I doubt most caretakers provide constant supervision in the situations cited above, but you never know, the number of perfect parents on these boards never ceases to amaze me.

We aren't saying we are perfect parents....only that, no matter what....if there is water involved, one doesn't look away.

If it is a wave pool that is too deep for a 4 year old, where was the life jacket? How come the parent wasn't in the pool with a child that young?

There is always a group that makes excuses for the people who allow "accidents" to happen

Also....a child that young should never be let into any kind of pool without a life jacket.

We have a wave pool at our local water park. I get in with my grandaughter, along with the life jacket and don't let go of her....period.

I've never heard of a child drowning while being supervised.. but thats just me.

Exactly. I agree completely.

If a 4 year old child is anywhere near the water, let alone in (or near) a wave pool that is too deep.....then yes, there is some kind of lack of supervision happening here.

I would never allow my 4 yr old be anywhere near the water without being sure one of us was watching him EVERY SECOND.

Hello,

 

I said to take the sick child out of the equation as for most of us it was the shortened times in each of the ports that we are debating here and the lack of consistency displayed by RCI.

 

Our itinerary was changed on boarding day just like the itinerary on December 21st. We were both Western Itineraries. They were immediately offered OBC as some of the other sailings were that weren't Western. We were not. That's my point. I would have liked to see Royal treat all of their passengers the same....consistency.

 

BTW what delay are you referring to? We had no delays. We missed Cozumel and made it back to Port Canaveral with no delay.

 

Thank you,

Donna

I thought you had delays due to the propulsion issue. If not, then it was the sick child that was the problem.

If that is the case, then why should you be compensated?

I'll be frank, It's none of your business why someone would want to bring a gun.

It is my business as much as it is yours, as it was asked here for opinions. Is your opinion better than mine?

My question is WHY someone would feel the need to bring a gun along for a ride?

Your opinion is no better, so don't single me out.

Anyone have any suggestions for wear to store a gun while you are on the ship? I have friends driving down to Port Canaveral for a cruise and they are going to have a gun with them. The only thing I could think of was leaving it locked and in the car. I also thought of a storage locker' date=' like you might see in a train station. But I have never been to that area so I have no idea. Someone else must have been in this situation before. Thanks![/quote']

 

Is there a real problem with people being in danger of being murdered on the way to the cruise terminal that requires one to bring their gun along for the ride?

 

Is this an epidemic that we should be aware of?:eek:

 

Leave it home.....

Wow, some of the posters on here are really rude and quite hateful! Those on the 12/7 sailing are entitled to our opinion, as you are entitled to yours. If you were one of the customers being shafted on the 12/7 sailing, you might feel differently. Taking the issue with the sick child out of the equation, the cruise vacation was no where near what was advertised. I'm well aware of the cruise contract I signed. A company like Royal Caribbean should have given cruisers on all sailings affected by the damaged propeller the option to cancel with full refund, or at the very least, the option to reschedule within a year. I would have been happy with these options.

 

The 11/30 sailing and all other sailings after ours (not 100% sure of the 12/28 sailing) were compensated. I don't see how that is equal treatment. I've never been treated so poorly by customer service in 26+ cruises. I'm not loyal to any cruise line and will be taking my vacation dollars elsewhere.

Bye, bye.....

YES our port fees were refunded. I cannot answer for excursions but I assume so.

 

Can we all please take the child out of this debate. I for one applaud what the Captain did in turning the ship around and returning to The Caymans. No one should question this when a child's life or any life for that matter may be at stake. Bottom line is that we had a shortened/adjusted itinerary as others did on boarding day and Royal decided to compensate some cruises and not others. Why not be consistent?

 

To clarify again this western sailing (December 7th) was the exact same sailing as December 21st the exact same ports and shortened time in port and they DID receive compensation and we did not.

 

BTW I still had a good cruise.....never been on a bad one. Any day at sea is still better than a day at work ��

How can you possibly suggest taking the "child" out of the debate? The sick child is the reason the ship was delayed. RCL amended the itinerary before the cruise, planned out the timing even with the propulsion issues and thought they would be on time....the sick child was the reason for the delay.....not the changed itinerary.

I have a hard time with whining after the fact. You all cruised, enjoyed your cruise, your room, the activities, the food, etc.....then come home and ask for more compensation for future cruises.

Perfect! :D:D

Let me see if I got this right....her father and husband were denied boarding because they were late getting back to the ship. Maybe it's just me but it appears she is asking the cruise line to waive the late boarding regulations (that are printed on literally every cruise document) just for them? I think the RCCL agent was correct in saying that if they did it for them, they would have to do it for everyone. But maybe it's just me....

I agree. The problems started when the husband and father were denied because they were late, so in turn they had problems with the return trip. This was not RCI's fault, this was the fault of the husband and father being late.

Everything else just exasperated the stressful situation.

I too was on the Dec 7th sailing and requested a future cruise credit and was told no one on the ship received on. If indeed you did receive a future credit im curios to know the amount per person. If you did receive anything can you please contact me so I can plead my case to them as they were vary rood.

mbernal at ewaste1.com I have to say this was the cruise from hell as I call it.. Please read my concerns and problems I wrote to them..

 

This is a letter that I had wrote Royal Caribbean about our (group of 7) cruise experience and their response was im sorry there is nothing I can do to help you. If we gave you money back we would have to give everyone on the ship the same thing. I was hoping you could give me some advice or assist me in any way possible. . Thank you for your time.. Melissa

Where do I begin! Let me first start off by saying my husband was so agents taking a cruise saying it was too structured (did not like being told when to eat dinner and times to get on and off the ship). I finally talked him into going in Jan 2014 on the Oasis of the seas. Let’s just say he LOVED it ranted and raved about it to his parents and his sister. We loved it so much we booked another one right away WITH them. We were so excited to show them what we had experienced.

My father and my husband dropped us off at the cruise on departure day and then headed back to drop off the rental car (budget) after running into traffic and arriving at budget at 3:40 they were closed. So the drove to port and paid $120.00/day to park, they went to get on the ship at 3:55 and were told they could not board the ship. We were standing on our balcony watching them getting turned away. My children were standing there crying as the ship sailed away without them. Both children climbed into bed and said they did not want to do anything without their dad and grandpa there. To make a long story short it was devastating for them and also me. They then flew back to Detroit after there they realized if they could get a one day passport they could fly into Jamaica and board the ship. We my husband let the ship know they would board the ship with the flight numbers. When we arrived in Jamaica we were trying to meet a location to make the best of the day. We ended up meeting up in a not so nice beach area. After the little bit of time there we went to board the ship. There my husband and father took over 3 hours being passed back and forth from customs on the gangway to the service desk. After a long flight and all the confusion it was frustrating for them and us.

After the boys missing the first port we were looking forward to getting off the ship at the Cayman Islands but with the propulsion problem that the ship was having our trip was cut short. With this being said we were really looking forward to Mexico but an announcement from the captain saying there was a life or death situation on the ship and we need to turn around and we would not be going to Mexico. I called to guest services inquiring and they stated “the family could not afford a helicopter”. When she said that my stomach turned and I thought they are taking away a port from so many people because “the family could not afford the helicopter” That was a huge disappointment for our family. My husband and father paid a fortune to fly into Jamaica for a crappy beach there, a short visit at the camion island and a missed port. They will not let a passenger board the ship 45 min before sailing but will let a passenger dictate where the ship goes because they don’t have the funds for an air flight.

Now we can move onto the cruise itself.

I loved that we had an 8:00 dinner time but have to say the quality of food was dramatically different from when we traveled on the Oasis of the Seas. Our Steaks were fatty and the tiger shrimp was dramatically smaller then before just to list a few. With my grandparents being Diamond members and saying the smaller ships are more personable and attentive to you we were excited travel on this ship. Another disappointment! The waiters were slow and had to wait for drinks, even refills on the kid’s drinks. We were sat at the back of the dining room and witnessed one of the waiters getting into trouble by one of his managers and other staff member were coming to the one waiter’s defense. It’s something that a guest should not have known about or even witnessed.

Broken propulsion:

We were not notified of the ships broken propulsion until the second night as an announcement was made then. Our dinner table was on deck 3 at the back of the ship. We felt the ship rock and sputter more there then anywhere on the ship. It was so bad that both my children felt sick the whole trip even while taking motion sickness medication. (Never needed in prior cruises) The vibration at the dinner table was so bad my sister got sick every time at the dinner table she was not able to eat and even vomited 2 out of the 6 nights we went to dinner. If we would have known about the propulsion problem on the first day and known then that the Cayman Island was going to be cut 3 hours and the Mexico trip being shortened as well my husband and my father would have not flown into Jamaica for little bit of time on the island. We could have/would have saved the $1000.00 flight and just booked another cruise. I feel Royal Caribbean knew about the issues and failed to mention it to us until later in the cruise. If we would have known we would not have flown into Jamaica. With that being said.. if the cruise was working properly( as we thought when we got on) we would have still been in the Cayman Islands when the little girl stopped breathing. Our Island was cut short 3 hours! We turned the ship around 2.5 hours after leaving.

Internet:

I called to inquire about the internet before booking this ship as I need to log onto my work server and work from the ship (as I did on the oasis). I arrived to the ship paid for the internet and could not log onto my server. I talked with the front desk who was talking to the it department who said it was impossible; apparently the Oasis of the seas has a different band width then the freedom. I had to try and work from my cell phone which was very time consuming. Because I was not able to log onto the server I had to make calls from my cell phone (I hate to see that bill). Very disappointing to know I was told one thing and then when I get there it’s something else.

Air in the room:

I noticed in the room that the air was not working properly but it was no big deal for me as my mom’s room had extra room for us to sleep.( my dad was not on ship) So we just bunked together in her room. When my husband arrived he had to call the maintenance crew to come and fix it. (They were able to)

Wheel chair:

My sister had food surgery in Sept and was able to walk but after all the walking required a wheel chair. We went down to the service desk and they were great and said they would send one up quickly. After an hour one was delivered to the room. It would have been great if it would not have been broken. We called down to the service desk and they said they didn’t have another one available at that time. So we kept trying to use the broken one stopping ever 100 feet or so fixing it again and again.

Shower:

Our shower had a gap in the door and no matter how you showered or pointed the sprayer a puddle of water ended up on the floor. See attached photos.

Leaving:

Because my husband and father arrived in Jamaica we were pulled to the side when trying to exit the boat(understood) We were placed in a room(photo) were we had to wait over 1.5 hours for a security guard/customs to escort us off the ship. Because of the wait it caused us to miss our flight.

I have to say this was the worst vacation that I have gone on. We call it the cruise from HELL. We were on the ship so long we could not wait to get off. This cost of vacation time, time off school, loss of work that I was not able to get done on the ship, the cost of airfare to get back home. This is something that you took from us.

Im hoping that you or someone in your department can help me. We are your average family who booked a cruise a year in advance who made payments. This was something that we were looking forward too. I am hoping you can assist me in compensation or money off another cruise. Thanks you so much for your time. I hope you have a wonderful day. 

I'm sorry....but your cruise from hell started because your husband and father missed the ship due to getting the car back after closing time. RCI had nothing to do with that. The rest was just bad luck, a sick child and missed ports due to propulsion problems that have been going on for a while. The delay getting off the ship....again, if your father and husband hadn't missed the ship that problem wouldn't have arisen.

They have to right to alter the itinerary and couldn't predict the medical emergency.

If you are sailing soon on Freedom of the Seas...a heads up that they have had a propeller issue and are cutting all the port stops short. We were not notified of the issue until after boarding. We also missed the Cozumel port entirely because there was a medical emergency and the ship had to return to Grand Cayman. The fact is that if the ship had been at full functionality, we would have still been at Grand Cayman when the medical emergency occurred and therefore would not have cancelled Cozumel. So far Royal Caribbean is saying that because it was due to a medical emergency they are not doing anything. I would urge you to call the customer service number if you were on one of the recent sailings and had your itineraries shortened due to the propeller issue. Or if you are cruising soon I would also call to ask about it. I don't like the fact that they are not telling anyone ahead of time. Seems deceptive and unethical as we paid 100% for our cruise and bottom line didn't get what we paid for. the number is 1-800-256-6649 - Have cruised with Royal Caribbean three times now and they have always been first class on everything else. I hope they will consider doing the right thing.

This information has been going around for weeks. The propeller problem has been an issue and it has been scheduled for drydock for Jan 2015 for months now.....the problem only got worse lately.

RCL has the right to change or drop ports.....it is in your contract.

Sorry if you didn't get your 100%, but it happens. Especially when a medical emergency is involved.

$2093 for 2 people, Freedom Jan 2016, 7 night! (Yes, for a junior suite...middle of the hump! :D)

I just bring along my smokeless ashtray. Never had any problem or issues with it out on the balcony.[ATTACH]333633[/ATTACH]

Does your smokeless ashtray suck up all of the smoke that comes out of your mouth? Pretty nervy to announce that you blatantly break the rules.

I would report it also.

big breakfast before boarding...

Hit the bar at boarding time.....

Drink until rooms open...

Store luggage....

Hit the bar again....

No problems!

love it!! :d

Just off the QOS and hated DD. We will be on the FOS in April I think I remember reading somewhere that FOS was going DD after dry dock. If this is true would like to find out before final payment so we can cancel.

Thank you for your help.

What is it about Dynamic Dining that you don't like?