Advice- awful train trip to Rome

I dont understand this. The OP asks for advice and when people respond and obviously not what the OP wants to hear they are "full of negativity". Dear OP all people are giving you is their opinions that you did ask for.

As far as I understand it RCL owes you nothing more.

(But that's just my opinion, not being negative)

And if all you really want is an answer to "Do I wait until I get home to seek some restitution for losing the main trip we wanted and losing a day of our holiday?"

The one word answer is yes. But RCL already told you that. . Please come back and let us know how it worked out in the end.

What would work for you? I'm curious as to what make someone happy in this situation?

 

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Fair question. To be honest, I have no idea as I haven't heard only but one option. I haven't heard other options yet. The cheap wine would not fly though. Clearly, Rome is the jewel for most on this type of trip for most cruisers. Clearly this person is very unhappy. And clearly they did everything that RCL wanted them to do.

They selected RCL to cruise with when going to Europe,

And they selected a RCL excursion.

RCL took this customers money and failed to deliver Rome. I feel bad for these folks and while I recognize RCL now can't deliver Rome now, they can do better. I would expect better.

Here is more unsolicited advice about cruising: If there is a port that is your sole reason for cruising, if missing it due to any reason will cause life long psychological damage, don't take a cruise to visit that port. Take a land vacation to that city.

Also, unless there is a disruption in the space time continuum, missing a planned excursion doesn't cause the loss of a day. The day is still there, enjoyable or not.

I know a woman who missed her daughter wedding. She took a cruise w knowing she was getting off the port where the wedding was to be held and fly home. One small problem, according to the cruise line, due to a paperwork issues, WE MISSED THE PORT. This woman got NOTHING. The entire cruise got nothing, except port fees returned, which they had to give anyway...not even a free beverage per cruiser. While I understand a port stop and an excursion are different. There is documentation to cover the cruise line on both. I'm still not sure what would make someone happy or feel whole. Clearly the cruise line gave what they thought would, those who would not accept that must have an idea of what it would take.

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Documentations are for the legals. It shouldn't have to go that route. He/She just needs to get in front of the right person and explain the humanity of the problem. RCL gets paid to make people happy, dreams come true. They are not a transportation company. They are a people company. In the end, it's going to come down to the people on the ship to work things out.

Not some customer service rep that has nothing to do with this cruise, this ship, this date, this nothing.

Work to get things fixed now. Not later.

Look, getting the refund of the excursion is expected and even entitled. As the excursion never took place. So what's happening here is that RCL is giving a cheap bottle of wine instead of a trip into Rome. Get real folks. Restitution is deserved here. It's part of doing business. They make millions annually by selling independent tours. A cheap bottle of wine would not work for me. But that's me.

As a clarification, I thought I read they got a refund. So they got a refund, a cheap bottle of wine and a cheap box of chocolates.

A tangential question- what if the tracks were damaged that prevented the train from getting to Rome? Would RCI be responsible to make up for that, too?

As for this excursion going away- I don't see it ever doing that- given the busloads of people trying to take the train- it's probably the #1 tour for any cruise to Rome. Maybe the operator will change. Then again, the train operator, TrenItalia, isn't going to change anytime, soon.

One thing to point out for future travelers- the direct train from Civitavecchia to Rome takes 46 min- according to their schedule. The one with stops take about 20 min longer. And the stopping trains are far more frequent. So if you can get from the ship to the train station, you can probably arrange travel for yourself, and arrive earlier than waiting for the direct train. Not that it helps the OP, which I have no idea what to suggest.

explain the humanity of the problem

 

Work to get things fixed now. Not later.

"Humanity of the problem".......that's a new one:p

You keep suggesting more is due, and it needs to be "fixed" and "worked out", but you refuse to suggest what that might be. Should RCCL give them hundreds of dollars in OBC? Fly them to Rome at the next port? Maybe give them an all expense paid vacation to Rome next year via first class air?

It may be only my opinion but RCL didn't 'give' them a refund... they gave them a 'return' of their money as the product they sold was never delivered.

As far as what I would personally take to satisfy the situation, as I've stated I'm not sure. A first class RT to Rome would be nice but also a bit ridiculous. I think a lot would bear on the circumstances. Specifically the chances in my life of a return to Rome would come into play, but all in all, I would not walk away w/ a bottle of wine feeling good about my vacation. I don't think many of us would. I would indeed not stop until I spoke direct to the Hotel Manage of the Cruise Ship. I'm pretty confident that this person is experienced enough and has the people skills to make me feel a lot better about my loss of Rome on my vacation.

It may be only my opinion but RCL didn't 'give' them a refund... they gave them a 'return' of their money as the product they sold was never delivered.

 

As far as what I would personally take to satisfy the situation, as I've stated I'm not sure. A first class RT to Rome would be nice but also a bit ridiculous. I think a lot would bear on the circumstances. Specifically the chances in my life of a return to Rome would come into play, but all in all, I would not walk away w/ a bottle of wine feeling good about my vacation. I don't think many of us would. I would indeed not stop until I spoke direct to the Hotel Manage of the Cruise Ship. I'm pretty confident that this person is experienced enough and has the people skills to make me feel a lot better about my loss of Rome on my vacation.

Once again I ask, what could be said or done to make you feel good enough to let it go. You have been asked this by me a few times and other posters but other than what you yourself deemed too much you have come up with nothing. I'm guessing it's because there is nothing short of what you have suggested, which we all know isnt going to happen.

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It may be only my opinion but RCL didn't 'give' them a refund... they gave them a 'return' of their money as the product they sold was never delivered.

 

As far as what I would personally take to satisfy the situation, as I've stated I'm not sure. A first class RT to Rome would be nice but also a bit ridiculous. I think a lot would bear on the circumstances. Specifically the chances in my life of a return to Rome would come into play, but all in all, I would not walk away w/ a bottle of wine feeling good about my vacation. I don't think many of us would. I would indeed not stop until I spoke direct to the Hotel Manage of the Cruise Ship. I'm pretty confident that this person is experienced enough and has the people skills to make me feel a lot better about my loss of Rome on my vacation.

I don't doubt everyone would not feel good about the vacation.

The question is, what can be done? Or should be done when calling back? And within RCI's domain.

Which is basically a discount for a future cruise, and that's about it. Won't be 100% free cruise, as this was just one excursion for all of the ports that failed.

I don't see much else, really. RCI protected themselves from TrenItalia's issues, so there's no legal recourse. And passengers who are dealt some nasty blows due to weather do often get future cruise discounts.

 

Seriously, a few hours off a cruise ship in Rome is all it takes to "see" Rome?

 

Once again, if the point is to fully experience a port, take a land vacation to the city. A few hours off a ship in a port does not let you "see" a city. It is just a small appetizer of what is available.

Once again I ask, what could be said or done to make you feel good enough to let it go. You have been asked this by me a few times and other posters but other than what you yourself deemed too much you have come up with nothing. I'm guessing it's because there is nothing short of what you have suggested, which we all know isnt going to happen.

 

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Did you not read what I posted, or do you not comprehend what you read? I suggest that you go back and try again.

As to my thoughts, the OP asked for advice. I offered mine. If it's different from your, so be it. It was the OP's decision to seek advice on this forum, it'll be their choice to use what advice they receive.

BTW, you guessed wrong.

Seems to me that rci offered up a coach for the tour and the op refused , too bad, it's on them. Rci was very nice to refund

Wonder how many of the other cruisers took the coach?

Did you not read what I posted, or do you not comprehend what you read? I suggest that you go back and try again.

 

As to my thoughts, the OP asked for advice. I offered mine. If it's different from your, so be it. It was the OP's decision to seek advice on this forum, it'll be their choice to use what advice they receive.

 

BTW, you guessed wrong.

I read and understood it and stand by my post. The OP can take his complaint up the food chain but shouldn't be upset if he doesn't get any more than he has received. I personally would let it go.

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When we were in Rome they had a national train strike and they got their lunch boxes and just walked off the trains . Lasted 24 hours in all of Italy. Bob & Nancy

We lived in Italy for 4 years. This happened quite a few times while we were there. Gas stations went on strike several times too. We learned we needed to pay attention to the news and make sure the car didn't get too low on gas pretty quickly, :o

Our (probably) one and only Mediterranean cruise was scheduled to stop in Athens. I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, it was May 1 and there were demonstrations. The captain decided not to dock there. I was disappointed, but when you travel things happen. We got our excursion cost back but nothing additional. It never occurred to me to ask for more.

"Humanity of the problem".......that's a new one:p

 

You keep suggesting more is due, and it needs to be "fixed" and "worked out", but you refuse to suggest what that might be. Should RCCL give them hundreds of dollars in OBC? Fly them to Rome at the next port? Maybe give them an all expense paid vacation to Rome next year via first class air?

This. The OP mentioned upthread that because it was booked as a package, UK regulations require some form of compensation, and this would be true if Rome were the outward or return point. It wasn't. It was part of the itinerary. RCI didn't deviate from the itinerary, so that's not the issue. RCI delivered the package as described in the brochure. RCI does not require passengers to purchase excursions. Therefore, the excursion was not purchased as part of the package.

Royal Caribbean refunded their money. I'd be happy with that. Missing Rome is disappointing, but if you want to guarantee seeing it (and not just a whistle-stop tour), fly there and spend a few days.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/package-travel-regulations

I have checked a couple of pages of posts and couldn't see a post relating to this problem.

Friday we were supposed to get the RCI express train to Rome, no stops. Many cruise lines use this train. Up at 6, a quick bite to eat. Meet in the theatre. On the platform for 8.20. Waited for 20 mins for the train, no shade. Got on the train and our carriage had no aircon. Finally the train set off. It then stopped at the next station. After a while we found out that one of the ships' coaches were running late so we would wait for them.

After about an hour a lot of passengers got On, but we didn't set off for Rome! We spent about an hour and a half rolling about a foot an stopping. Finally we got told the train was broken and we would have to go back to Civitavecchia. We got back about 20 past 11.

Everything so far has been unfortunate. What annoyed me was that we then stood around in the Sun waiting for coaches that didn't turn up. No one from RCI there. No water or anything. The tour guide knew nothing so we walked to the main station to get a taxi at 12:10. No taxi so ended up walking through the town back to the shuttle bus. Got back to Indy and went to complain at customer services who said there was a replacement coach tour going at 1.30, it was now ~2.00, nothing else they could do. We didn't want to go to Rome at this point, we were dehydrated, tired and upset, so no great shakes that we'd missed the coach.

The advice I want. We got a full refund of the excursion cost 6 chocolates and a bottle of wine we don't want. I have now been told that if I want to take this further then I need to persue this when I get back home as they won't do anything on board.

Do I wait until I get home to seek some restitution for losing the main trip we wanted and losing a day of our holiday?

Thanks in advance for all the positive comments

I'm a little confused here. The shuttle bus took you back to the ship, but you missed the re-arranged 1.30 tour? What happened to the other folks on your tour? Did you leave the rest of the group prematurely? Surely the 1.30 tour was arranged as a replacement for your unfortunate non-event.

I'd like to hear RCI's side of the story, as it seems they have tried very hard to minimise the misery of something that was not of their making. I'm quite impressed really.

I'm a little confused here. The shuttle bus took you back to the ship, but you missed the re-arranged 1.30 tour? What happened to the other folks on your tour? Did you leave the rest of the group prematurely? Surely the 1.30 tour was arranged as a replacement for your unfortunate non-event.

I'd like to hear RCI's side of the story, as it seems they have tried very hard to minimise the misery of something that was not of their making. I'm quite impressed really.

It is somewhat surprising that this site isn't overrun with threads of people complaining about this incident. Only one out of those affected.:confused:

I think that's a very generous offer. RCI is not responsible for the failings of an external train company. Claim on your travel insurance if anything.

A refund is the bare minimum; a $3 bottle of Chateau Le Toilet Water is not what I'd call generous.

A refund is the bare minimum; a $3 bottle of Chateau Le Toilet Water is not what I'd call generous.

The only thing they're responsible for is the refund of the excursion. Anything else is 'above and beyond'

I have checked a couple of pages of posts and couldn't see a post relating to this problem.

Friday we were supposed to get the RCI express train to Rome, no stops. Many cruise lines use this train. Up at 6, a quick bite to eat. Meet in the theatre. On the platform for 8.20. Waited for 20 mins for the train, no shade. Got on the train and our carriage had no aircon. Finally the train set off. It then stopped at the next station. After a while we found out that one of the ships' coaches were running late so we would wait for them.

After about an hour a lot of passengers got On, but we didn't set off for Rome! We spent about an hour and a half rolling about a foot an stopping. Finally we got told the train was broken and we would have to go back to Civitavecchia. We got back about 20 past 11.

Everything so far has been unfortunate. What annoyed me was that we then stood around in the Sun waiting for coaches that didn't turn up. No one from RCI there. No water or anything. The tour guide knew nothing so we walked to the main station to get a taxi at 12:10. No taxi so ended up walking through the town back to the shuttle bus. Got back to Indy and went to complain at customer services who said there was a replacement coach tour going at 1.30, it was now ~2.00, nothing else they could do. We didn't want to go to Rome at this point, we were dehydrated, tired and upset, so no great shakes that we'd missed the coach.

The advice I want. We got a full refund of the excursion cost 6 chocolates and a bottle of wine we don't want. I have now been told that if I want to take this further then I need to persue this when I get back home as they won't do anything on board.

Do I wait until I get home to seek some restitution for losing the main trip we wanted and losing a day of our holiday?

Thanks in advance for all the positive comments

Sorry things didn't go to plan. I would be interested to know what happened to the other passengers on your excursion. Did they walk back with you?

How you get treated in terms of compensation may well be affected to by what choices you made voluntarily. If you were the only ones that chose to walk back whilst the others on the excursion waited and managed to get on the coach for a shortened excursion, it may influence what they offer you. I know even a shortened excursion is not ideal. I have been there in St Petersburg our coach was in a crash and we had stops on our excursion, that we really wanted to see, cancelled due to it. As in everyday life things happen, and there are things that are beyond anyone's control. RC and the excursion company do not own the trains. You live in London, can you honestly say you've never had issues with tube/train services being delayed or cancelled? It happens worldwide. Disappointing yes, controllable no.

Whilst I appreciate it is not ideal, if you really want to see Rome just go for a long weekend. A one day excursion from a cruise is not long enough IMO. From London it's a much easier flight than if you were living in USA or Australia and for those long distance passengers it was your only opportunity to get to Europe. I'm just saying put things into perspective. Life gives you lemons, make lemonade. The tour isn't happening so it's about moving forward. When I missed where I wanted to go in St Petersburg I was very disappointed as I know it could be years before I get to go back there. But one day I'm determined I will, and I'm not giving up hope yet!

Seems to me that rci offered up a coach for the tour and the op refused , too bad, it's on them. Rci was very nice to refund

 

Wonder how many of the other cruisers took the coach?

This was the impression I got too, OP decided to quit waiting with the others and by the time they got back to the ship, they'd missed it. Hence the refund.

Just to put things in perspective, here is a recent post from a frequent cruiser who truly had a "bad" day:

"I am posting this because i just relogged into this computer and saw my old fun posts. We showed up for this sailing at the Ft. Lauderdale airport on January 6 2017. We were getting our luggage from carousel #3 when we heard a loud bang. We turned and saw a mad man coming at us with a gun. We hit the ground. Everyone within 5 feet of us died from a gunshot wound to the head. It was the beginning of a new life for us. We are survivors of a mass shooting. It was my son's 12th birthday. I am not sure why I am posting this. We went on the cruise. No luggage (held for blood splatter), in shock and not knowing what else to do. The sailing was pretty much horror filled all the way around. The weather was brutal and we missed multiple stops. My wife, mother-in-law and son stayed in bed seasick all week and in shock. I ran among the rooms with medicine. It was the worst week of our lives. We had just survived the massive wildfire in Gatlinburg a month earlier. We thought nothing would be worse than that. We were terribly wrong. Our lives changed that day. I watched a woman die in her husbands arms as they were going to go on their 60th anniversary cruise. I think she took my bullet. Sure of it in fact. Surer than anything I have ever been sure of in my life. She fell behind me. Esteban Santiago goes up for trial in 2018. He ruined many lives that day not all of which perished by a bullet. My advice to all of you...pay attention to your surroundings. Luggage carousels are "soft" targets. Anyone can come from anywhere, Hug your family now. Tell them you love them. It can all change in an instant by a madman with a gun in an airport on a winter's day."

Just to put things in perspective, here is a recent post from a frequent cruiser who truly had a "bad" day:

That should be a reminder in virtually every thread where someone goes on a rant.