flagger Posted January 9, 2005 #1 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Hi Everyone, After a 4.5 hour drive, we are back from our cruise. We ended up going to Miami instead of Costa Maya due to fog in Galveston causing us not to get fuel. The previous cruise arrived 5 hours late which totally FUBAR'd disembarkation/embarkation. I need to start laundry and tend to my wee one, but hit me with questions and I will answer and post a review later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brn2crz Posted January 9, 2005 #2 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Wow.. Sorry to hear about the troubles.I had not heard she was late last week...But the fog was severe here.. So what was the Itin?? Key West,Miami & Coz? Not understanding where you could not take on fuel? I was really hoping you would have a great time on my little ship.But I would have been bummed about Miami as a port... Rest up,and let us have your review soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaC-Cruiser Posted January 9, 2005 #3 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Hi Everyone, After a 4.5 hour drive, we are back from our cruise. We ended up going to Miami instead of Costa Maya due to fog in Galveston causing us not to get fuel. The previous cruise arrived 5 hours late which totally FUBAR'd disembarkation/embarkation. I need to start laundry and tend to my wee one, but hit me with questions and I will answer and post a review later on. We sail the ROS in just 5 weeks, so looking forward to your review ... so sorry you were delayed departure .... hope the rest of the cruise went better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagger Posted January 9, 2005 Author #4 Share Posted January 9, 2005 So what was the Itin?? Key West,Miami & Coz? Not understanding where you could not take on fuel? Yes our Itin was Key West, Miami, Cozumel. The fog was so thick, the port was closed. They did not arrive until 11:30. We waited until after noon to leave my MIL's house. I dropped Ms. Flagger and Baby Flagger off and went to EZCruiseparking where there was a line waiting to get in. It turned out, no one could park until some of the previous week's passengers came and got their cars. Both ROS and Elation were affected. I had no phone and no way of contacting Ms. Flagger to tell her what was going on. After we left, the captain came on and said we were unable to get fuel and had to go to MIA instead of Costa Maya. At his welcome dinner, he told pax that Elation did not leave until mid-day/afternoon on Monday as the port closed down again because of the fog and because they waited to get fuel. So at least we got a seven day cruise while Carnival pax only got a six day. They had been late the week before because of the Christmas Day storm at sea, so it was two week's in a row that ship was either late arriving or late leaving. There was a large group of shall I say (Non-English) speakers that really took over the bars and casinos as well as partied in their stateroom until after 4:30AM three nights in a row. At one point I saw security knocking on their door and them not answering at all. I did come back relaxed but there were several things I didn't like or felt let down by RCCL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo's Mom Posted January 9, 2005 #5 Share Posted January 9, 2005 flagger ~ Sorry to hear about the itinerary situation. Tell us what you were not expecting to experience on the cruise. The ROS has recently been remodeled, right? Were the improvements visible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagger Posted January 10, 2005 Author #6 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Tell us what you were not expecting to experience on the cruise.A couple of things come to mind. I was not expecting to find cigarette butts on the balcony floor' date=' nor grit and grime on the chairs. The cigarette butts remained their all week. Why didn't I say something about it, some may ask. It is just not something we think we NEED to say something about. We pay a premium for a balcony cabin and consider that balcony an extension of the cabin. The plexiglass under the railing was also not cleaned throughout the week. Also on the way down the hall back to our cabin from about day four until we departed, there was a grate (4'X3") that covers the flourescent bulbs on either side of the hall that laid on the floor for the rest of the week. We watched both cabin stewards and the maint. department walk by it several times throughout the week. Again, not something we should have to mention to anyone. Also, the non-english speakers on our cruise were accomodated left and right. At one dinner, one table showed up AN HOUR after late seating had started. Instead of being told to go order room service or eat in the Windjammer they were seated and served. The ROS has recently been remodeled, right? Were the improvements visible?The only thing I know of were the Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Seattle's Best Coffee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo's Mom Posted January 10, 2005 #7 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Did you stay at a Galveston Hotel Pre-cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagger Posted January 10, 2005 Author #8 Share Posted January 10, 2005 No. My MIL lives in Houston and we stayed with her Friday and Saturday night. We booked parking at EZCruiseParking in November online and parked our van there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debandbill Posted January 10, 2005 #9 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Flagger, I had the same opinion of our balcony on Rhapsody (JS, deck 8)....it was pretty dirty, the plexiglass stayed dirty (mostly salt and spray grime) all week so our view was obliterated, and our chairs were grimy, stained, old, small and very uncomfortable. I layed it up to being on an older ship...one of the reasons that I will stick to the newer and larger class ships from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagger Posted January 10, 2005 Author #10 Share Posted January 10, 2005 There was a poster on here who said they had our same cabin the week after we did. I will be interested to find out if they found the two little surprises we left them. Sadly I cannot find who it was....maybe when I am more awake I will look at my old posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endi302 Posted January 10, 2005 #11 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Flagger, If I read correctly, you stayed in room 8088. What did you think of the room as far as location and especially balcony size? We have booked that room for the April 17 sailing. It will be our first aft corner balcony. Any comments on the room and location on the ship would be appreciated. Thanks, Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightrider Posted January 10, 2005 #12 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Hello everyone! New to the board and a first time cruiser. My family and I were on this cruise aboard the ROS. I will quickly list a few details and opinions. Positives. 1. Food, entertainment and support staff of the ROS were beyond our expectations. 2. I read that the ROS is an "old" ship, but we thought it to be quite nice! If I remember correctly the build date was 1997? 3. Our waiter in the Edelweiss dining room was incredible. Too bad he was also on his last cruise (as an employee) and we were the last guests to witness his attention to detail and very professional attitude. Detractors. 1. Only spent a few hours in Cozumel on a "Caribbean" cruise. Huh? 2. Extreme sewage smell encountered on our deck (we were on deck 4) when we boarded after the Key West stop. 3. The non-English guests who find it necessary to stay up all night, every night, and stomp up and down the hallways, running and shouting. Also their rude behavior, cutting you off and never, NEVER saying "excuse me." Maybe it's a society thing. 4. Our original stops were to be Key West, Grand Cayman and then Cozumel before returning to Galveston. We knew about the change to Costa Maya but the Miami deal was dropped on us while in the Gulf. No options left there. My personal opinion is that the cruise was very nice but the fact of only spending 12 hours in Cozumel (total time from arrival to departure at port) was a very POOR representation of a "Caribbean" cruise. We want to cruise again, to the eastern Caribbean (we've seen Mexico and could care less about returning) on a different ship. Depending on how RCI responds to our concerns it could also be on a different company's ship. Signed.....holding my breath for more than two reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brn2crz Posted January 10, 2005 #13 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Hi nightrider... Welcome to the boards,and I hope you enjoyed your cruise. Where from Texas are you? We have always had great service on her. As for the Sewage smell.It seems to be an ongoing problem on deck 4.We have stayed on that floor 1 time in 4561..It was an issue a few days.We have been on 7 2 times,and 7 1 time,and has never been a problem. Keep in mind,you are in the far Gulf of Mexico.Key West in as far East as you can go on a 8 day Cruise,unless you go down to two ports.Rhapsody is the only ship out of Galveston sailing to Key West.The others do a mixture of Coz,Belize,Costa Maya,Roaton,Progresso Merridia and Calica.RCI will start alternating Mo Bay,with Key West in May.Rhapsodys itin will be a lot better when they get Grand Cayman back in the Mix.I have thought maybe a Key West,M'bay and Grand Cayman would be great,but when I questioned the staff Captain in Sept he said they did not feel they could comfortable work that in time wise ..Too many people like Coz for the partying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claowens Posted January 10, 2005 #14 Share Posted January 10, 2005 My family and I were on this sailing. We were in cabin 4546. I did not smell the sewage on our floor, but I did in other places on the ship. My daughter was in cabin 4556 and she did have to call about her comode one time filling up and not flushing. We all had a good time, but were disapointed about not going to Costa Maya. We were not even told about not going to Cayman Islands before we got on board the ship, I found out on Cruise Critic. I know that they can not do anything about the weather, but I could not understand why we could not have gone to Costa Maya anyway, we had a Sea day on the day that we were suppose to go to Costa Maya, with the wait to get on board and it was very crowded with everyone getting on board at the same time, RCCL could have paid the extra port charge for us to go onto Costa Maya. I was very dissapointed about the way RCCL handeld things at Galveston, none of the workers knew what was going on, it was very confusing, even though I have sailed as many times as I have. I felt very bad for the people that were with us that had not sailed before. I really thought that RCCL could have been better prepared. We have sailed at spring break several times, summer time several times, and the childeren were never as bad as they were this time!! I went out one time around midnight and it was a pack of non english speaking childern, around 15 children, ages around 8- 12 running up and down, making all sorts of noise. My Husband was in the Casino and he said all of their parents must have been in there and everyone of them were smoking. I never went into the Casino on this trip but once, I went in one time and it was so smokey that I just couldn't stand it, it never has been so smokey the times before. But even with everything it was a good trip! and I am ready to go back!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrmanlht Posted January 10, 2005 #15 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Well Everyone... I called our Travel Agent and she call Rcl about this Miami fiasco and she told me that our Jan. 23rd cruise is On for Costa Maya. So keep your fingers crossed. I still don't understand why they couldn't take on Fuel because of FOG...?????? Sounds like an excuse to me..... But if I was on she I would ask for a practal refund for not going to more ports in the Caribbean. Although I am a trouble maker some times....lol. Let me know if anyone has heard of such a thing like not taking on fuel......??????:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claowens Posted January 10, 2005 #16 Share Posted January 10, 2005 They told us that the Tanker with the fuel could not get into the port due to the fog??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagger Posted January 10, 2005 Author #17 Share Posted January 10, 2005 I still don't understand why they couldn't take on Fuel because of FOG...?????? Sounds like an excuse to me..... From what I ascertained, the fuel barge comes from the port of Houston. It is normally a six hour trip. Many times when the fog is bad in Galveston, it is even worse in Houston. I need to check with some aviation officials, but I would be curious as to the conditions on Sunday. The drive down itself was pretty foggy even at noon. If the port of Galveston was closed due to fog, it is safe to say that the port of Houston was closed as well. If they were not able to dock until 11:30, then I could see them not getting fueled until later in the evening. We were also told it takes five hours to fuel our ship. The port of Galveston does not have a true cruise terminal by any stretch of the imagination. From what I understand there are not fueling facilities at the port. It is also why you clear immigration on the ship itself instead of inside the terminal as is the norm. When we were across from the ship in Miami I did see a fuel barge next to the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightrider Posted January 11, 2005 #18 Share Posted January 11, 2005 They told us that the Tanker with the fuel could not get into the port due to the fog??? Whomever said that should check with people that were on the Elation as it did receive fuel IN THE FOG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow to sea Posted January 11, 2005 #19 Share Posted January 11, 2005 I was on the Elation on 1/02/05. We were able to start boarding the ship around 3. I myself, was on the ship by 4:30. We were told there would be a several hour delay as they were waiting for the fuel barge. Around 11 p.m. we were told as soon as we were finished fueling we would be able to sail. I think we left port shortly after midnight. The rest of our cruise was on schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser77 Posted January 11, 2005 #20 Share Posted January 11, 2005 I just had to ask, what nationality were the non-english speaking people that you were refering to? Just curious since the cruise left from Galveston, am I right?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagger Posted January 11, 2005 Author #21 Share Posted January 11, 2005 I just had to ask, what nationality were the non-english speaking people that you were refering to? Just curious since the cruise left from Galveston, am I right?... I have purposefully left that part out of my review as not to be called a racist. Everyone on the ship took to referring to the troublemakers as the "group of non-English speakers". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tybug Posted January 11, 2005 #22 Share Posted January 11, 2005 Hello everyone! We knew about the change to Costa Maya but the Miami deal was dropped on us while in the Gulf. No options left there. My personal opinion is that the cruise was very nice but the fact of only spending 12 hours in Cozumel (total time from arrival to departure at port) was a very POOR representation of a "Caribbean" cruise. We want to cruise again, to the eastern Caribbean (we've seen Mexico and could care less about returning) on a different ship. Depending on how RCI responds to our concerns it could also be on a different company's ship. Signed.....holding my breath for more than two reasons. Okay, just curious... what do you expect RCI to do for you for a change in itinerary? In the cruise contract(that you signed) it clearly states right under the Travel Itinerary on page 3, "Cruise itinerary may change as conditions warrant." And then again on page 52, item #6, "Carrier may for any reason, at any time and without prior notice, cancel, advance, postpone or deviate from any scheduled sailing or PORT OF CALL, or substitute another vessel or PORT OF CALL and shall not be liable for any loss whatsoever to Passenger by reason of such cancellation... etc." Missed ports are a disappointment for sure. I've missed plenty of them myself... including New Orleans on a MARDI GRAS cruise!! Talk about being disappointed!!:eek: But, things happen that are out of people's control and there's nothing that can be done about it. You don't know the agreement that transpired between the port, RCI and Carnival as to why Carnival remained and refueled and RCI went to Miami. You paid for a 7 night cruise and that's exactly what you received. The only thing I have read that could be complained upon is the cleanliness of the ship itsself. I agree! You shouldn't have to tell/ask for the balcony to be cleaned or the grate replaced in the hall. And it would irritate me as well. Flagger, I'm looking forward to your full review as we board the Rhapsody in less than 2 weeks!! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagger Posted January 11, 2005 Author #23 Share Posted January 11, 2005 Flagger, I'm looking forward to your full review as we board the Rhapsody in less than 2 weeks!! :D My review is posted in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tybug Posted January 11, 2005 #24 Share Posted January 11, 2005 My review is posted in this thread. Just read it. Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightrider Posted January 11, 2005 #25 Share Posted January 11, 2005 Quote from "Tybug" Okay, just curious... what do you expect RCI to do for you for a change in itinerary? In the cruise contract(that you signed) it clearly states right under the Travel Itinerary on page 3, "Cruise itinerary may change as conditions warrant." And then again on page 52, item #6, "Carrier may for any reason, at any time and without prior notice, cancel, advance, postpone or deviate from any scheduled sailing or PORT OF CALL, or substitute another vessel or PORT OF CALL and shall not be liable for any loss whatsoever to Passenger by reason of such cancellation... etc." Missed ports are a disappointment for sure. I've missed plenty of them myself... including New Orleans on a MARDI GRAS cruise!! Talk about being disappointed!!:eek: But, things happen that are out of people's control and there's nothing that can be done about it. You don't know the agreement that transpired between the port, RCI and Carnival as to why Carnival remained and refueled and RCI went to Miami. You paid for a 7 night cruise and that's exactly what you received. WOW! Thank you for pointing out the obvious, which by the way I am aware of. FYI, my wife booked this cruise, I didn't sign. I stated that this was our family's FIRST cruise and that I am A NEW POSTER. I believe I mentioned that "spending 12 hours in Cozumel was a poor representation of a Caribbean cruise" which appears in the paragraph that I called "opinion." "Depending on how RCI responds to our concerns it could also be on a different company's ship". Let me elaborate: Maybe our second cruise will be on a different line, that's ALL that statement means. For the record and "Tybug" we never asked for any type refund/explanation or otherwise. I left comments on our "Customer survey form" and our account and spoke to RCI yesterday for nearly 30 minutes. The service rep was very receptive and cordial and was in no way short or offending. We do not EXPECT anything from RCI other than a letter. I hope that my experience on this website will be the same. oh and before I forget: HI brn2crz! We live in central Texas and yes the cruise was great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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