On Hold for 1 Hr, 40 Mins??

[RealDeal]

Yes, I'm still on hold. I've heard about long hold times, but this is absurd. Should I give up??

[shoppgirl]

I was on hold for 1 hour, 45 minutes last night starting at 10:15pm!!!!!!

My advice is not to give up. For me, it was a matter of saving $400 because my cruise fare dropped!! I booked it last Sunday, and already within a week, it went down!

[stobe1]

I'm sure they're swamped with calls from those aboard the Navigator. That situation is probably increasing their call volume exponentially.

[At Sea 4Ever]

I was on hold for over an hour a few weeks ago and just as I was about to hang up someone answered! Hang in there!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[RealDeal]

After about 2 hours I had to hang up.

[Allis154]

2.5 minutes on Saturday...was surprised!

[jsquaredfl]

I'm sure they're swamped with calls from those aboard the Navigator. That situation is probably increasing their call volume exponentially.

 

What happened on navigator?

[CruiseDude_83]

What happened on navigator?

 

The environmental issues with the Galveston Port prohibited her from enter port on time yesterday.

[truffles2]

What happened on navigator?

 

Couldnt get to port of Galveston due to barge accident.

[CruiseDude_83]

She is also still in port because of the spill. They are worried about the oil possibly spreading out of the containment area. so the port will not let her leave just yet.

[lady_cruiser]

There was a barge accident near Houston that has thousands of gallons of oil lost. It is affecting ship, barge and boat (pleasure and commercial fishing) from either leaving or entering the Galveston Channel. All three cruise ships; Navigator, Magic and Triumph were able to get into Galveston but there is no word when and if they will be able to leave today. Both the Navigator and Magic has new passengers but last I heard the Triumph still can't dock to disembark the passengers from the last cruise until the Magic leaves.

 

If you go to http://www.galveston.com/webcams you can see all three ships. Use the live cams; cruise, pier 23 and emerald cams to see them. There is also a discussions going on there to. You can join in if you Dave a Facebook or discus (spelling ??) account.

Edited March 24, 2014 by lady_cruiser

[lady_cruiser]

Here's a link to KHOU TV Channel with a noon update.

 

 

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Cruise-Ships-at-a-standstill-as-oil-spill-cleanup-continues-251914981.html

Edited March 24, 2014 by lady_cruiser

[aimathy]

I think it depends on what you're holding for. I was on hold for the same amount of time a few weeks ago...but holding out and waiting meant that I saved almost $3000 (!!!) for our cruise! It was well worth every minute. If you're calling for something more mundane, and you don't have speaker phone to leave it on, then I'd probably hang up at this point and call back. I hate being on hold!

[negc]

Lengthy waits seem to have become the order of the day with RCI even before the Galveston problem. If "your call is really important to us" perhaps they should hire more people to answer their phones. :rolleyes:

[mplusj]

Finally got throughout after 1hr 5 mins today. The rep who assisted me sounded exhausted but friendly.

[jsquaredfl]

oh yeah, i heard about that on the news today. Thanks for the info

[woehwdy]

That would be great, but what happens to the staff when there are no more days with long hold times, just let them go?

[Kevin's girl]

I was on hold 87 minutes, but it was for a price drop of $1280 on our cruise. It was worth the wait. I did a load of laundry, ran the dishwasher...

The rep was also very friendly. It was 3 minutes before midnight. I was so afraid the price would change at midnight.

[LA_CA_GAL]

Yes, I'm still on hold. I've heard about long hold times, but this is absurd. Should I give up??

 

Yes.

[negc]

That would be great, but what happens to the staff when there are no more days with long hold times, just let them go?

 

How likely is it that the long hold times will disappear unless they have sufficient staff to handle them in a timely manner? The reasons for the long hold times are not simply due to the current situation with two ships. They have existed since long before these incidents and are more the result of inadequate staffing. Adequate numbers of staff would be able to handle the increasing volume of calls which are more the result of the addition of more ships to the fleet, the dispersal of their fleet throughout the world, and an increase in the number of cruises, than any isolated incident due to weather or ship's misfortune. This situation is not unique to RCI or other cruiselines. It is prevalent in many areas of business where companies fail to allocate sufficient personnel to handling their customers telephone inquiries.

Edited March 25, 2014 by negc

[rubrrick]

Yes.

 

 

You must work for RCI.

 

Otherwise, why would you give such an answer?

Edited March 25, 2014 by rubrrick

[kruzerci]

The Navigator incident could have added tot he problem, but there have been countless posts on here and Facebook about people waiting well over an hour to speak to somebody for months. That's inexcusable for a travel and leisure company.

[rubrrick]

How likely is it that the long hold times will disappear unless they have sufficient staff to handle them in a timely manner? The reasons for the long hold times are not simply due to the current situation with two ships. They have existed since long before these incidents and are more the result of inadequate staffing. Adequate numbers of staff would be able to handle the increasing volume of calls which are more the result of the addition of more ships to the fleet, the dispersal of their fleet throughout the world, and an increase in the number of cruises, than any isolated incident due to weather or ship's misfortune. This situation is not unique to RCI or other cruiselines. It is prevalent in many areas of business where companies fail to allocate sufficient personnel to handling their customers telephone inquiries.

 

 

Bill........I chatted with the staff in Oregon, which is handling most of the calls these days. And they admitted that they are understaffed.

 

The team of old, from Miami and Witchita, well.......Kansas is gone, Miami only answers the phone when not playing ping pong with Mr. Goldstein.

 

When are we cruising again??:D

 

Rick

[kruzerci]

Bill........I chatted with the staff in Oregon, which is handling most of the calls these days. And they admitted that they are understaffed.

 

The team of old, from Miami and Witchita, well.......Kansas is gone, Miami only answers the phone when not playing ping pong with Mr. Goldstein.

 

When are we cruising again??:D

 

Rick

 

They have time to play ping pong?! And here I thought they spent all their time thinking up sad new ways to scape up pennies off the ground :D.

[LA_CA_GAL]

You must work for RCI.

 

 

I am V.P. of Sales Prevention.

 

 

Otherwise, why would you give such an answer?

 

I just think that waiting on hold for over an hour is a bit too much. I know that I would not.