VERY disappointed with RCI

[xprmntl1]

After reading all these responses, I will never walk on one of these.

[DrD]

Awesome! Now when I yell at my boys not to roughhouse on balcony, and they say why, I can tell them this story.

 

Thanks.

 

PS You're over-reacting. Let it go. Remember the Concordia.

[Irene7]

Glad Im not the only one that noticed that.

 

Ditto! I stopped reading and thought, why would you allow them to rough house on a balcony.

[Sherlock43031]

why the glass broke probably your guess is as good as theirs. even if you had been on the balcony you wouldn't have been hurt just pissed when the glass rained down on you. if you saw glass after the initial clean-up you should have called house-keeping.

 

Now, as to the folks who gave you the beat-down over your kids playing on the balcony, why else have a balcony (I know but not with little kids around). kids are not going to accidentally or could most climb up and on purpose go over-board.

[mollyeilis]

I am not exaggerating tho, there were most definitely "shards" of glass. Slivers that remained. Of course one can argue this was glass from a cocktail or water glass breaking or something similar. Also, when I tell you my brother in law did infact step on a piece and get a glass sliver I expect the response that no one should ever step on a balcony in bare feet ;-)

 

As for leaning of the balcony.. I'm pretty sure there is no Cruise line out there that doesn't have an advertisement featuring a loving couple leaning on a balcony enjoying a glass of wine while watching the sunset. Come on people.. that criticism is laughable that balconies aren't designed to be leaned on! Ha ha!!

 

 

Pretty easy explanation. Came to mind instantly when you said there was a mixture of glass (which, as far as I know, doesn't happen with tempered glass). People above you threw something at the balcony glass. That something was glass. Therefore you got a mixture of glasses.

 

There aren't pictures of children leaning their bodies against GLASS. There are pictures of adults leaning arms on the railings, though.

 

 

I guess I wonder why RCI "owes" you anything in way of an explanation. Quite simply, this did not happen to you. It just didn't. I thank God that no one above was injured - this certainly could have been worse with tragic consequences. But it wasn't.

 

I agree.

 

 

The person who mentioned that children want to do exactly what they are told not to do, as though this is a universal experience...holy heck NO. That was not my experience as a child. My mom's look of death was far too frightening.

 

 

 

Surveys aren't meant to be ways to get in touch with a company. They aren't generally read by people who might respond. It's like putting a serious problem in an amazon.com product review. Inappropriate method of contacting the company. If you really want to know the business of the people above you and what they did to break the glass, contact RCI directly.

[knittinggirl]

They should have swept it up several times, then mopped it. Lesson from all this is to never step into the balcony in bare feet. I'm wondering if slippers are safe. Sorry to hear this happened to you. I would have wanted on explanation too.

 

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[funfamilyfun]

No way.....This I disagree with.....I trust that the glass on a balcony is secure enough for myself or a child to put their head against and look down.....sorry I don't buy that you should't lean against it....It should be secure enough so that I feel comfortable that it won't break....Why stop at glass???....what if the railing simply split and gave way??....do we now say..."well you shouldn't be leaning on a railing"....Come on....

 

OP....I understand your worry, and at a minimum I think an inquiry or RCCL is warranted......THere are so many "what ifs" in this scenerio that it's scary.....

 

I agree.

[LetsGetWet!]

Pretty easy explanation. Came to mind instantly when you said there was a mixture of glass (which, as far as I know, doesn't happen with tempered glass). People above you threw something at the balcony glass. That something was glass. Therefore you got a mixture of glasses.

 

If you really want to know the business of the people above you and what they did to break the glass, contact RCI directly.

I admit I hadn't thought of that - but it makes sense, if there were "shards of glass" they were not from the tempered balcony glass. And if the people above did throw something glass and break the balcony glass, that would explain it - and that would also explain RCI not providing an explanation to anyone else beyond "the glass broke and we're very sorry."

[newparents]

I must say some of you are acting in a very nasty and sarcastic manner to the OP.

The person has clearly saw this and is worried there may have been a problem and God forbid something is wrong with her balcony and her glass breaks and her child falls into the sea, let's say that actually did happen some of you I am quite sure would be saying "why would u let ur child on the balcony when u saw one just fall out, should have kept your children indoors" Also yes "rough housing" was said but dont make out her kids were acting wild on the balcony, none of us were there with her, some people, the majority on cruise critic are really nice and helpful but some really are just rude and sarcastic, the kind that u woukd hate to end up sharing a dining table with.

 

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[softsands]

We cruised this past New Years on the Oasis. There were 10 of us, 5 of which were children ranging in age from 3 to 14. We'd been on the Allure 2 years before and have concluded it simply is the very best ship for us. Wonderful in more ways that I can even begin to describe. We are all seasoned Cruisers if that makes a difference

 

While in port at St Martin we had an absolutely horrific thing occur. The ship had docked, we were just waking up.. It was around 8am when we heard the shattering of glass break. A little at first, followed by an enormous "break". We had 4 balconies in a row and we all ran to see what the noise was all about. Imagine our shock when we looked up to the deck above us (we were deck 11)and saw an entire balcony panel was gone and in a million pieces scattered on our balconies and on the lifeboats a few decks down!!! AN ENTIRE BALCONY PANEL SPONTANEOUSLY BROKE FOR NO APPARENT REASON. Of course it was only minutes before cruise staff came to investigate and "interview" us on what we had seen. Needless to say all we wanted was an answer as to how this occurred. Of course no one knew, and staff simply brushed it off with "maybe it was the way the ship docked.." Or whatever reasoning they came up with.

 

My brother in law and I are what you would call "worriers". We are overly concerned with the safety of our children and definitely imagine worse case scenarios. What if it had been our balcony? What if our 3 and 4 year old were leaning up against it at the time it shattered? How about if my boys ages 9 and 14 were rough housing on the balcony at the time of impact? Horrifically frightening and I'd be lying if I said we have nightmares the rest of the Cruise. Less traumatizing, but equally as concerning is that the glass on our deck was never really totally cleaned up. Yes the vacuums were used a few times but many shards of glass remained. Our kids never stepped foot on the balconies again.

 

Post Cruise we completed the online survey form and in GREAT DETAIL we described the incident. It has now been almost a month and ZERO reply. Very disheartening. We are incredibly disappointed with how this has been handled. We aren't seeking compensation, we want an explanation as to how on earth this happened. I believe we deserve one.

 

Now if anyone from RCI reads this PLEASE CONTACT ME directly

 

Scary. Sad. Unacceptable.

 

 

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Stuff happens.

[oneputt18]

Sailed on the Allure inaugural cruise. We were relaxing in loungers in the Solarium and the glass panel in front of us exploded in to a million pieces. Fortunately there wasn't anybody on the secret balcony below (I guess nobody had discovered it yet) It startled us, but they replaced it immediately. Good part was we found out about the balcony wings.

 

 

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[cage keeper]

I think the cruise lines like to look the other way on some of these things. We were sailing Celebrity when one night at dinner I felt something touching me all over all at once. We were eating dinner and one of the servers cleaning a table on the deck above us broke a glass covering my husband and I with glass. It was raining glass. We didn't want to make a big deal of it because we felt so bad for the young girl that had this accident. One diner who had glass by his foot made a big deal of it. Everyone from the chef, to all the important staff came to apologize. That was the end of it. Nothing from the cruise line.

[edjny]

Personally, I would never lean or push on the balcony glass panels. They are, after all, GLASS.... Glass is not as strong as steel. Glass will break. All it takes something small and hard, hitting it and it will shatter. Try taking a small steel punch and hit a piece of safety glass. It will shatter and that is the recommended way to get out of a car if you run off the road into a body of water.

 

IMHO, the people on the balcony where it shattered hit the glass panel with something and caused to shatter. Do you really believe they would admit to being STUPID?

[Langley Cruisers]

We saw a naked body at quest once...

 

Does this cost extra?

 

Nope. It's included in your cruise fare. Bwahahaha!!! :D:p

[A2Mich]

Another thought is that tempered glass may have been inferior from manufacturing, or had broken previously and replaced with lower quality glass at some point. That particular point may be a bit weak and have enough flex to break the glass, or the way the glass is mounted doesn't allow for any flex. I know the glass looks pretty and all (when it's actually clean), but wonder if it was the best choice of materials to use. Also, being that all of these ships are bout in Europe, could their safety requirements be lower than US standards? That being said, I would hope that the USCG has certain requirements for glass durability and quality...

 

 

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[daniels5759]

I think most of you are crazy if you think its ok for balcony glass to shatter. And then to say don't lean on the glass. Were you never a kid. This whole post and peoples responses totally disgust me. OP I totally agree with you.

[A2Mich]

I'm not saying that I think it's ok for balcony glass to shatter. I was simply stating opinions as to what may have happened. Unfortunately things do happen, and I also feel that using glass for a balcony barrier to the ocean is probably not a great idea

 

 

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[sully62]

Was probably a dam smoker who caused the whole thing !!!

 

Busy body , havta know it all , worriers are a pain in everyones rear ends ! If glass breaking ruined your cruise ( when it didn't happen to you or caused you any injury ) then I would guess it would have been something else like a water spot on the mirror or some other simular tragic event ! Lighten UP

[LMaxwell]

OP, the post cruise survey is administered by a third party company. I would not expect anything in the survey to be responded to just because you aren't dealing direct with RCI. I don't blame you for making that mistake, just pointing it out.

 

Here is all RCI contact information; phone, address, email, for Post Cruise Care. If you direct a letter or correspondence with them you will receive a timely reply.

 

The fact of the matter is sometimes glass just breaks; ships are subject to a lot of force both up down, left right, and twisting actions. Sometimes stress causes the crack, sometimes manufacturing defects take a long time to come up. It sucks that it happened to you and I understand your concerns about kids. RCI may not give you a better answer than that. But they WILL respond if you address them.

 

All RCI contact information

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/contactUs.do

[Big_G]

This happened on our Allure cruise in 2012. I have to admit I wasn't that concerned but I can understand why you might be. I don't think you can expect much from a survey and should contact them direct through the address provided by cruisinfever. I'm not sure you'll get a satisfactory answer as they may not know what happened but at least you'll get a response.

[Langley Cruisers]

I think most of you are crazy if you think its ok for balcony glass to shatter...

 

Please quote me one person who said it was "ok". None of us said that, not one. Some people agree with OP and some do not. What you are seeing here is a discussion with varying opinions. :)

.

[newcruiser80]

I never understood the logic in people thinking that their specific thoughts/comments/suggestions/laments on a fleet-wide survey would be individually addressed. Surveys are meant to collect data, and that data is meant to inform decisions. There are many other avenues to direct your frustration/confusion/anxieties that would warrant the expectation of a chance of a response. Bottom line, nobody was hurt, you're on a mass of metal and glass floating in the water, and what you experienced isn't surprising from a realistic view of the risks of life. Your one survey of thousands that more than likely get scanned and randomly sampled for hand written comments might not be as special as you'd like to think it was!

 

:rolleyes:

[Motleu]

Why is this thread 4 pages long?

[DreamingBig1]

Good answer. I think I am more concerned that the OP would let their children engage in "rough housing on the balcony" and/or lean against the balcony than the less than one-in-a-million chance of the glass breaking while on the balcony. While I understand the situation would be a bit unnerving, IMHO it was not that big a deal to have a lasting impact or warrant the cruise line to follow up with individual passengers about (unless someone was injured). The ships are kept in pretty good repair; sometimes on a vessel that size things break - unfortunately you were nearby when this occurred, but fortunately not actually on the balcony. They should have done a better job cleaning the glass from your balcony; that is the only thing that would have upset me and I would have spoken with an officer to ensure this was addressed ASAP and followed up if necessary. Otherwise I would chalk it up to a freak incident and let it go.

 

Glad Im not the only one that noticed that.

 

Ok to be fair.

 

I read the OP's post two times after my initial reading. I think they were speaking in hypotheticals. What if's?

 

I myself would be a concerned. Most people would be horrified if they were sailing on a cruise or in a tall building, and suddenly the balcony broke. Just thinking about it, makes me uneasy.

 

Yes, glass does break, but this is a safety concern. If a person falls over the balcony they are out to sea, or a new addition to the pier. Just saying. Call me crazy, but there's not much room for error.

 

I understand the point the OP was trying to make, and it seems completely legit to be concerned.

 

OP:

 

In the end, as a consumer, your best ammo when you have concerns or you are dissatisfied, is to simply move in another direction. Don't spend your money there.

 

I would say that Royal probably is concerned, and is quietly reviewing the matter. Writing to you, opens a possible public backlash, if you bring it to the news outlets.

 

If you believe Royal has your best interest in mind, trust them to study it, fix it if it needs fixing, and do what they need to do to make it right. Then stick with them. There's a reason you have been loyal to them thus far. There's a old saying, what we don't know won't hurt us. I have a feeling that applies to more things than we want to even know.

[maureencruiser]