YlangYlangF9PB3E

Sounds like everyone is having a good time. How is the weather?

So glad your travel to Barcelona wasn't affected by the strike. Thank you for the first installment of your live thread - so looking forward to following along, especially since my sister and brother-in-law are aboard this crossing. :) Safe and happy travels!

Looking forward to it.....I'll be following! Enjoy your trip.

I know that some of the people on the roll call for this sailing have been notified already, but this is for those who may not visit it---

 

This was sent to a travel agent last night -we have to cancel your clients’ May 7 – 20, 2018 sailing onboard Mariner of the Seas to allow for her upcoming modernization. While planning, it became apparent that logistics will require us to arrive at the shipyard sooner than previously thought. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

A perfect example of what I'm referencing. You aren't affected by this situation at all and just posted a wall-o-text of righteous indignation.

 

I'm less indignant than you are and *am* actually affected.

 

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I'll speak for myself but I suspect there are a few who'd agree with me: my "righteous indignation" (empathy) has zero to do with those on the Liberty now. It's for the out-of-state travelers on the next sailing who were told yesterday am that they'd better be in Galveston by Sunday's sail away or lose their money. Not until mid afternoon yesterday, as many were on their way to airports, were they requested to wait until further notice. Those are the folks that have my empathy. Not you.

If/when the ship docks today, and the passengers are given the option of leaving or staying onboard until tomorrow (or later?), I wonder how many people would get off the ship not knowing how bad things are in terms of transportation. And if someone gets off the ship and realizes that they basically can't go anywhere (like through/past Houston), I would guess that they cannot get back on the ship to spend the night. Not a good situation.

The best solution is for the port to stay closed until the situation is under control and all people who live in the area are safely rescued from their rooftops and relocated to shelters, and all streets and freeways clear. FORCE Royal to do the right thing, 'cause they don't know how.

Update from RCL website:

 

August 26, 2017

We are still actively monitoring path and progression of Hurricane Harvey. At this time, Liberty of the Seas will keep her original schedule for Sunday’s turnaround in Galveston, Texas. Should we make any changes to Liberty of the Sea’s itinerary, we will make sure to inform our guests.

 

We will post another update on Saturday, August 26, 2017 by 2:00 PM CT.

To Cruisefan00000001: This was posted on RCI at noon today. Where in this announcement, cruisefan, does it say not to come to the port? Did you miss this, or were you manipulating the truth? The "don't come to the port" announcement was posted around 4 pm today.

If you're basing that on a couple of posts making the (wrong) claim that they encouraged going to the port...you have been misinformed. A few other folks pointed out the error.

 

The exact opposite has been the case - a focus on safety. The ship was steered away from the hurricane, and those on the next cruise have been told to stay away for now. If you read back several posts....you'll see that Royal Caribbean actually told people NOT TO GO TO the Galveston port until further notice - the responsible thing to do.

 

Unfortunately this is exactly why reading posts with mis-information results in confused or misinformed consumers.

You either don't know the facts or are lying. Royal did not tell these people not to go to the port until TODAY, mid-afternoon. Up until this afternoon, as in this morning, they were telling them that if they weren't at the port on Sunday they would forfeit their fare. No ifs, ands, or buts. After being told to come on down, one of our CC members was on his way the airport only to get an alert that his flight was cancelled. Did you miss that post?

Horse hockey

 

Latest chapter:

 

Well, after a couple of calls to RCI which were of no help whatsoever, we headed to the airport. About half way there I got an alert saying that the second leg of our flight into HOU was cancelled. We are back home and I am on hold with the airline trying to get the first leg cancelled and possibly rescheduled. If RCI would just say that they are going to offer some compensation if we cannot get there it would be a lot less stressful. I asked the RCI "Resolutions agent" what happens if I fly into the hurricane zone and the ship cannot dock. Any compensation? Cannot answer. What happens if my flight gets cancelled and the ship does dock? Will I lose my money? Can't answer. Are you going to do anything for people who are having problems but trying to make the cruise that is allegedly on schedule? No answer. So you are saying that I need to fly into a hurricane area or risk losing my cruise? Basically yes. But you put the safety of guests first? Absolutely. So telling them that their cruise is on schedule and they need to go into the vicinity of a hurricane and related storm activity is looking out for their safety? No answer to that question.

That is unbelievable. Especially since Carnival has given their passengers the option to cancel with a credit. Best of luck to you, EB, and stay safe. I like the idea of contacting the media with your dilemma. Would love to see Royal embarrassed on their very bad decision.

I don't know how you can say that. No one knows what it will be like yet

The decision Royal should make is to give passengers who are scheduled to board tomorrow the option of canceling with a credit, or waiting to board whenever the port decides to reopen. Local passengers may have the luxury to wait it out -- if their houses weren't blown down last night or are not floating away today -- prayers to them. Most out-of-state passengers are being unfairly held in limbo. Perhaps the Royal Cheering Squad can tell them why they should still feel warm and fuzzy about Royal.

I agree that it was handled horribly. But my experience with RCI is that horrible handling of anything is the status quo. I'm sure that there will be cheerleaders who try to convince you otherwise, I've never been able to figure out how people can continue to support an organization which has proven over and over that they obviously do not care at all about retaining customer loyalty.

Because some of the people who continue to support RCI work for them in one form or other?? That's always been my iimpression.

I just checked on our 2 cruises and as expected, they've jacked up the prices for their "sale".

What's the reason the rest of the world aside from the complainers have no problem?

I have never complained yet have the same problems everyone is talking about. That Royal has allowed the problem to go on this long is perplexing and beyond annoying. Spend just a little of the money you are making on your jacked-up prices, Royal, and FIX THIS!

Once again, cheaters ruin it for everyone.

We brought a rolling carryon cooler full of soda and water -------- went straight through.

I agree, this is all voodoo math to the favor of RCI. Try calling Guatemala to get something repriced! Seriously a big problem! :mad:

Sure is. The problem is that they seem to change the base prices at will (with every new mega-ship they need to finance). So it doesn't matter what kind of dumb sale they concoct -- when they increase the base price it's all a shell game in their favor. So sorry I gave my loyalty to RC. Too late now.

We just received our renewals -- took only about 2 1/2 weeks!

3 FREE mixed drinks per day from a select group of drinks on their special drink menu list, however, no limit on wine and champaign, which is in addition to the 3 drink coupons you get.

Huh?? Wow, we didn't know that. Thanks!

All our room steward is saying is that he heard it was a medical emergency. However, the room still has a padlock on the door. Which makes a medical emergency seem unusual. And we were not allowed to even go down the hallway during the incident. Nor were people allowed to leave their cabins. Thanks for some of the positive responses. I know many cruisers do live posts. So I thought someone on the ship may have more information.

Thank you so much for taking us along with you!

I feel as though I'm on that ship - so excited for you! Thanks for the wonderful posts and pictures - and today's Compass! I hope the weather has improved. We are about 45 minutes north of Ft. Lauderdale and it's been raining buckets all day. It's FINALLY stopped. I hope a ray or two of sun will shine on your sail away!

We docked in Nassau this March. My husband was not feeling well so I went alone. This sixty-five-year-old never once felt in danger, threatened, or frightened in any way. There were SO many cruise ship passengers, most with families or friends in groups. Just stick with the crowd, you'll never feel scared.

Ylang,

Step back a couple of posts and read my last post. It explains it thoroughly.

That "jerk" you keep complaining about was NO jerk. YOur bartender WAS being compensated. The only reason to tip is that you want to ADD to his compensation. Some may, some may not. It's up to the individual. Tipping is NOT required because it is already accounted for. Nothing wrong with NOT tipping. Besides, YOU really don't know whether he tipped extra at all. Maybe he gave the guy a big tip first time he sat down. Maybe he's like me and added an extra tip on the last night of the cruise. Just because someone doesn't do what you do doesn't make them a "jerk". Maybe your watching what he does and commenting on it to others makes YOU the jerk?

Bet Kenneth doesn't think "I'm" the jerk.

There is nothing stipulated anywhere that says you are expected to tip a server in the DL.

Nothing stipulated in any restaurant, either (except a few) that you should tip the waiter. I tip in restaurants and in the DL, "stipulated" or not. The guy I was speaking of was ABSOLUTELY taking advantage. I thought I read that there is a minimum of a 15 minute wait between drinks served. Not with this double-fisted jerk. This is what ruins it for the rest of us, sooner or later.