Rotterdam Costa Maya 12/22 Rescheduled to Grand Cayman

Received an announcement onboard yesterday after leaving Roatan that given the tragedy in Costa Maya earlier this week the Rotterdam will be rescheduled to go to the Grand Cayman Islands instead tomorrow on the 22nd.

They provided $50 obc/person as a gesture of goodwill. It seems like they used the same tour provider as the other cruise lines and were unable to fulfill a proper set of tour options for our arrival. This doesn't sound as legit of a reason for cancelling a port as weather or safety related as it usually is, as plenty of us had booked third party tours with reputable providers. However, things on the ground could certainly be more complicated than they're able to communicate right now.

We're a bit upset on the change as we had booked this cruise vs others specifically because it visited a port in Mexico. Grateful it wasn't us of course and thoughts and prayers to those impacted.

Sorry that your plans have been changed for tomorrow.

Maybe there are some insurance issues.

I suspect it is due to insurance/liability changes.

I know you are disappointed but it really makes sense.

Things do happen. We've had a special port cancelled due to weather. While not weather this is certainly a very unique situation.

Wishing you a nice time tomorrow.

Keith

Isn't it implicit in your cruise contract that the line change change/alter the cruise for any reason they like? The only thing they have to do, is refund any port fees associated with a cancelled stop.

We were on a Baltic Cruise back in 2010 and once on board we received a notice that we would be going to Gothenburg instead of Stockholm. The reason, well it seems the wedding of the Swedish Princess was scheduled for the day after our scheduled stop. Because of preparation for the event, there would have been road closure and other activities that would make running tours difficult.

They did throw us some OBC for the inconvenience, but pissed me (and other off), was that this must have been known for sometime. The princesses wedding plans and street turmoil, was not something that just came up, it was probably planned months in advance. A little more advance notice might have been called for. We had done all our research on touring Stockholm, not Gothenburg.

Last week the Rotterdam had to leave tender #7 in Grand Cayman. My guess is that they need it back this week and this was the best way to do it.

Last week the Rotterdam had to leave tender #7 in Grand Cayman. My guess is that they need it back this week and this was the best way to do it.

This could be half the reason.

This could be half the reason.

Confirmed the lifeboat was back on after leaving Cayman Islands. Makes this port change even taste more sour.

I wonder if other cruises that were scheduled for Costa Maya also changed ports given the tragedy. If not, strong case it was a convenient excuse to get the lifeboat and skip Mexico, which is what many of us chose this itinerary to begin with.

Confirmed the lifeboat was back on after leaving Cayman Islands. Makes this port change even taste more sour.

 

 

I wonder if other cruises that were scheduled for Costa Maya also changed ports given the tragedy. If not, strong case it was a convenient excuse to get the lifeboat and skip Mexico, which is what many of us chose this itinerary to begin with.

Sounds that way. NCL sent us to Grand Cayman as part of totally changing our itinerary due to the hurricanes including the ports that were not damaged. Once was enough.

We were on the cruise that was diverted to Grand Cayman. Really believe it was because they had to pick up the life boat. they seemed very prepared with excursions available in Cayman on short notice. Worst part was that Cayman was considerably farther and in order to get there in a reasonable time, the ship traveled had to travel very fast (23 knots) causing many rooms, including ours in the rear of the ship, to vibrate loudly and constantly all night. No sleep was possible. Everything in the room, including the balcony door shook nonstop.Many complaints.

There were 12 people who died in the crash at Costa Maya, from the article I read online. It was a significant expense for HAL going out of their way, paying everyone $50, rerouting, reprinting all daily itineraries, providing free drinks for all the people clamoring for them as if they never had one in their lives, etc.

I would think an investigation was underway concerning the crash, and I did hear someone talk about proper treatment of the bodies of the dead, etc. Going to all that trouble for a lifeboat sounds extreme and unreasonable, but it may have swayed their choice of alternate ports.

We were aft as well and it was vibrating like mad.

We were in 6240. We definitely felt the shaking. Captain had the pedal to the metal and we were burning a significant amount of fuel. We went from traveling at 15-16 knots to going 22-24 knots. That's a huge added expense of fuel. I'm sure that picking up the tender was definitely a bonus, but would it have been worth all of the extra expense that HAL had to incur? I guess it would all depend on what other options they had for getting the tender back.

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We ended up writing to Guest Relations right after the cruise via fax and received no response. We sent our letter again by mail after a month and finally received a response this week. We expressed our concern that the rescheduling was to actually get back the tender given our late afternoon arrival in Grand Cayman that made it pretty much useless on top of cutting port hours in Guatemala - which would be considered a mechanical / operational failure per the cruise contract, and that our decision to book the itinerary versus competitors was specifically to go to a Mexican port (which is true). They held firm the reason for the rescheduling was because of their inability to provide a full shore excursion experience and not to get the tender, which we still find hard to believe given how out-of-the-way Grand Cayman was compared to the multitude of other ports available in the area or even substituting just a sea day instead to avoid causing as much turbulence to passengers given the non-typical distance for the vessel:

--------------------

Thank you for contacting us regarding your ms Rotterdam sailing. First and foremost, we apologize for the delay in our response and we appreciate your patience. It’s disheartening to learn of the disappointment you encountered.

We understand the displeasure our guests feel when a planned itinerary is revised and we sincerely apologize for your disappointment. As stated in our brochures and online, an itinerary may change on any given sailing for a number of valid reasons, and though we make every effort to maintain an original itinerary, unfortunately, it is not always possible.

In this case, some shipboard equipment was shore-side in Grand Cayman for repair. While the originally scheduled pick up date was January 26, in light of the tragic accident which occurred in Costa Maya and the uncertainty of the ability to provide a full EXC tour program, senior management made the decision to replace the call to Costa Maya with Grand Cayman. We deeply regret the necessity of this change and we are very sorry for the resulting dissatisfaction. Each guest on board was affected by the change and to be fair to all guests we are not in a position to make an exception for one guest and not all affected. Be assured your comments have been forwarded to the appropriate management for their review.

Again, please accept our apologies for your disappointing holiday. We hope the issues you faced won’t deter you from sailing with us again so we may have an opportunity to create for you the positive experience we know our sailings can offer.

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Still have a sour taste in our mouth from this. Seems like not much room for recourse unfortunately.

Some helpful hints for booking future cruises:

1. Never book a cruise for "gotta" get to port. "Ship" happens and no port is ever a guarantee on a cruise.

2. Of course cabins in the aft (or forward) are going to feel more motion than those amidships. And yes, vibration is possible depending on engine speed and sea conditions. Book low and amidships to avoid the problem.

3. Costa Maya basically exists as an excursion port to the Maya ruins. If HAL did not feel that it could safely offer excursions as planned, the decision to change ports was justified. Your private excursion plans did not factor into the decision.

4. Cruise ships do not just "change" ports on a whim; there are many logistics involved and you are lucky that another port could be substituted. It could have just been a sea day.

5. From your port of Costa Maya, there are very few ports that would be possible given that the ship was heading back to Tampa. Cozumel (which by the way is a Mexican port) would be one if the Rotterdam didn't already call there on your trip (did it?), but again there are logistics in arranging a port call and Cozumel may not have been an option. Yes, Grand Cayman was a distance, but it also was a port that the ship could visit and make it back to Tampa.

You are correct. You have no recourse. Your experience is something that can happen on any cruise and something that one must consider when booking a cruise.

Some helpful hints for booking future cruises:

 

1. Never book a cruise for "gotta" get to port. "Ship" happens and no port is ever a guarantee on a cruise.

 

2. Of course cabins in the aft (or forward) are going to feel more motion than those amidships. And yes, vibration is possible depending on engine speed and sea conditions. Book low and amidships to avoid the problem.

 

3. Costa Maya basically exists as an excursion port to the Maya ruins. If HAL did not feel that it could safely offer excursions as planned, the decision to change ports was justified. Your private excursion plans did not factor into the decision.

 

4. Cruise ships do not just "change" ports on a whim; there are many logistics involved and you are lucky that another port could be substituted. It could have just been a sea day.

 

5. From your port of Costa Maya, there are very few ports that would be possible given that the ship was heading back to Tampa. Cozumel (which by the way is a Mexican port) would be one if the Rotterdam didn't already call there on your trip (did it?), but again there are logistics in arranging a port call and Cozumel may not have been an option. Yes, Grand Cayman was a distance, but it also was a port that the ship could visit and make it back to Tampa.

 

You are correct. You have no recourse. Your experience is something that can happen on any cruise and something that one must consider when booking a cruise.

We always understand that life happens and no port visit is ever guaranteed. We have had scheduled visits deviated from on a vacation before because of security incidents, and not a single peep of objection came out of us.

The *only* reason we felt cheated was because of the tender pickup in the Grand Cayman. Multiple other cruise ships arrived in Costa Maya on the same and neighboring days without incident or cancellation.

If the tender pickup had not occurred, we would have just accepted it as 'life' and moved on. It's possible that the missing tender was necessary to operate for their later cruises, and deviating from the itinerary we paid for in order to address their mechanical/repair needs would merit a different perspective.

Received an announcement onboard yesterday after leaving Roatan that given the tragedy in Costa Maya earlier this week the Rotterdam will be rescheduled to go to the Grand Cayman Islands instead tomorrow on the 22nd.

 

They provided $50 obc/person as a gesture of goodwill. It seems like they used the same tour provider as the other cruise lines and were unable to fulfill a proper set of tour options for our arrival. This doesn't sound as legit of a reason for cancelling a port as weather or safety related as it usually is, as plenty of us had booked third party tours with reputable providers. However, things on the ground could certainly be more complicated than they're able to communicate right now.

 

We're a bit upset on the change as we had booked this cruise vs others specifically because it visited a port in Mexico. Grateful it wasn't us of course and thoughts and prayers to those impacted.

After visiting both these ports recently, I personally would have paid HAL $100 to go to Cayman Islands instead of Costa Maya.

 

The *only* reason we felt cheated was because of the tender pickup in the Grand Cayman. Multiple other cruise ships arrived in Costa Maya on the same and neighboring days without incident or cancellation.

 

If the tender pickup had not occurred, we would have just accepted it as 'life' and moved on. It's possible that the missing tender was necessary to operate for their later cruises, and deviating from the itinerary we paid for in order to address their mechanical/repair needs would merit a different perspective.

Moooommm!!! All the other kids get to.....;p (And we all know how valid and effective an argument that is).

And then there is this from the response you received:

"In this case, some shipboard equipment was shore-side in Grand Cayman for repair. While the originally scheduled pick up date was January 26, in light of the tragic accident which occurred in Costa Maya and the uncertainty of the ability to provide a full EXC tour program, senior management made the decision to replace the call to Costa Maya with Grand Cayman. "

Yes, there was equipment in Grand Cayman that was scheduled to be picked up later in January. When HAL was able to give you a port call instead of a sea day and it happened to be Grand Cayman, they could pick up the tender ahead of schedule.

Give it up. There was no grand conspiracy to do you out of a port and HAL gave you all the compensation that was their decision to give (none was required).

Give it up. There was no grand conspiracy to do you out of a port and HAL gave you all the compensation that was their decision to give (none was required).

What do you mean that there was no grand conspiracy. I was on the same sailing and we all clearly saw Lee Harvey Oswald eating dinner at the buffet with three of the aliens from The Roswell Crash. The were urging the captain to sail full steam ahead past Costa Maya and straight to Grand Cayman to retrieve the tender. They said that they would cause some type diversion in Costa Maya to cover everything up and that they even had some unknown bus driver already set up as a patsy. It seems that Lee Harvey had a lot of inside information on how to set up a patsy.

All joking aside - I really was on the same sailing. I don't feel ripped off in any way, shape, or form.

Would you/people pay extra for a cruise itinerary that was guaranteed? I think many people would. HAL should consider this in the future.

Would you/people pay extra for a cruise itinerary that was guaranteed? I think many people would. HAL should consider this in the future.

??????? - there are things like safety, safety and safety, along with wind, tides, sand bars, insurrections.

How could any ship guarantee anything no matter what the price. Best you do a private charter, and even that could not guarantee the captain could be bought off to do anything he/she deemed imprudent. Are you new to cruise ship travel?

What do you mean that there was no grand conspiracy. I was on the same sailing and we all clearly saw Lee Harvey Oswald eating dinner at the buffet with three of the aliens from The Roswell Crash. The were urging the captain to sail full steam ahead past Costa Maya and straight to Grand Cayman to retrieve the tender. They said that they would cause some type diversion in Costa Maya to cover everything up and that they even had some unknown bus driver already set up as a patsy. It seems that Lee Harvey had a lot of inside information on how to set up a patsy.

 

I stand corrected. :D:D:D:')

Would you/people pay extra for a cruise itinerary that was guaranteed? I think many people would. HAL should consider this in the future.

Do you mean like booking a cabin guarantee category? Book our cruise and we guarantee to visit one port (maybe more if we decide to upgrade you).

That would work. I mean people will already pay more for cabins in locations that will experience the most motion and vibration in bad weather (high and aft or forward) or have unusable deck space when under way because of the wind making necessary high wind shields for the areas (think NCL's Haven and MSC's Yacht Club).

??????? - there are things like safety, safety and safety, along with wind, tides, sand bars, insurrections.

 

How could any ship guarantee anything no matter what the price. Best you do a private charter, and even that could not guarantee the captain could be bought off to do anything he/she deemed imprudent. Are you new to cruise ship travel?

Well, I have done four cruises and plan to take a 5th this summer. So, I am not really new. I just don't accept past practice as the way of the future. Many, many people complain about their cruise itinerary being being altered. I have read these complaints on the HAL board as well as Royal Caribbean. Have you not? It seems to me that it is only a matter of time before cruise lines will offer guaranteed cruise itineraries at higher prices. I would pay hundreds of dollars more for a guarantee that the the itinerary will be followed and if it is not followed we would get a complete (or partial) refund. I think this would be a marketing coup.

Do you mean like booking a cabin guarantee category? Book our cruise and we guarantee to visit one port (maybe more if we decide to upgrade you).

 

That would work. I mean people will already pay more for cabins in locations that will experience the most motion and vibration in bad weather (high and aft or forward) or have unusable deck space when under way because of the wind making necessary high wind shields for the areas (think NCL's Haven and MSC's Yacht Club).

Joke if you want, but many tour companies guarantee that I will see a whale or I will get my money back. HAL should guarantee that I will make it to these ports (or some type of compensation will be offered). Taking a cruise is no different than flying. If the airline doesn't get me to destination then I get a refund. If the cruise doesn't take me to listed ports then I have not been taken to my destinations.

This is insane. You use the airlines as an example. I guess you don't fly much either. The airlines will only provide you with a hotel and meal vouchers if the flight was cancelled due to weather, ATC delays, or other situations out of their control. The only reason they will comp you for a cancellation is if they have an equipment failure or crew non-arrival. The airlines have many wiggle-clauses that they will throw at you to justify nothing in compensation except a ticket on the next available flight..

You expect the cruise lines to give you a guarantee that they will call at every port in the itinerary, or they refund the entire cruise fare to everybody onboard. And for that guarantee, you expect to pay "a few hundred $$ more". Please tell me what you are smoking, because it must be good stuff !!

A dock workers wild-cat strike, a hurricane, rough seas in a port where tendering is required, a terrorist attack or threat of same, a noro-virus outbreak on the ship and the port refuses to allow the ship to dock, civil unrest, or any of a hundred other things that will prevent a ship from calling at a specific port. And you expect, for a "few hundred dollars increase in price" the cruise line will refund all passengers their full cruise fare. Wow !! I hope you are don't run a business in the same manner that you expect a cruise line to operate. You would be broke within a year.

Joke if you want, but many tour companies guarantee that I will see a whale or I will get my money back. HAL should guarantee that I will make it to these ports (or some type of compensation will be offered). Taking a cruise is no different than flying. If the airline doesn't get me to destination then I get a refund. If the cruise doesn't take me to listed ports then I have not been taken to my destinations.

Here is a deal for you. Hurtigruten once offered a gauranteed northern lights sighting cruise, or your money back. Check them out -see if they are still making this offer.

Aha, no more money back guarantee but they will give you another 6 day cruise if you don't see them. This comes with the provision they can wake you up at anytime during the night to get you out there to take a look. https://www.hurtigruten.us/norway-offers/northern-lights-promise/

And now for the fine print: A Northern Lights Occurrence is defined as a sighting from the ship which is recorded by the ship’s deck officers and which is announced to passengers on board. An occurrence can last anywhere from a few minutes to a matter of hours, and the ship’s decision as to whether the Northern Lights occurred is final.