RC May Hawaii cruise last minute changes by RC

[pattyg01]

We received this notice today about our upcoming cruise.

Dear Guest:

We have an itinerary change to share with you for our upcoming Ovation of the Seas, May 2^nd, 2019 cruise.

We must conduct two separate inspections, the Certificate of Compliance and an annual exam, to comply with U.S. Coast Guard regulations. Both are required by the U.S. government to continue sailing.

In cooperation with the Coast Guard, to minimize impact to your vacation, these exams will be conducted over two sailings: the previous one and this one. The inspections are anticipated to take three consecutive days and we must remain alongside the pier till completion. As a result, we will replace Kailua Kona, Hawaii with additional time in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. Unfortunately, we’ll be unable to visit the Napali Coast, but were able to shift the time that we sail past the Kilauea Volcano to a more suitable time. We are sorry for the inconvenience this causes and hope you take advantage of the opportunity to get a taste of Honolulu both during the day and at night.

Additionally, because of this disruption to your holiday, we’re adding a refund in the value of one day of your cruise fare paid to your onboard account during your cruise. You may use this credit anywhere onboard and if you don’t use it, it’ll be refunded back onto your credit card on file. Below, please find our updated itinerary.

 

They say they will refund us for one day but this actually changes our cruise quite a bit. two stops are gone and we are staying another day in Honolulu but we are already staying there before the trip so we really don;t want another day in Honolulu. The unfotunate thing is that we can no longer cancel our flights or our airbnb's because this notice came so last minute. We are thinking the cruise but we see no way out at this point. 

ANy advice at all will be much appreciated.

Thank you.

[Clarea]

Not much you can do at this point, you are past the full refund date. Unfortunate, but itinerary changes do happen from time to time. 

 

If you want to cancel, I think you can still get part of your money back.

[Hoopster95]

I don't understand....  you're thinking of cancelling an entire 2 week trip because one day out of 14 you'll miss 6-7 hours in a port vs. the 200+ hours you will be on the ship in the middle of the ocean? Two stops are not gone.... only one. The sail by Napali Coast is not a port stop, and would probably be 2-3 hours just cruising by (like seeing the Glaciers in Alaska for example). This itinerary was not good to begin with as far as "seeing Hawaii" goes.

Edited March 6, 2019 by Hoopster95

[ONECRUISER]

1 hour ago, pattyg01 said:

We received this notice today about our upcoming cruise.

Dear Guest:

We have an itinerary change to share with you for our upcoming Ovation of the Seas, May 2^nd, 2019 cruise.

We must conduct two separate inspections, the Certificate of Compliance and an annual exam, to comply with U.S. Coast Guard regulations. Both are required by the U.S. government to continue sailing.

In cooperation with the Coast Guard, to minimize impact to your vacation, these exams will be conducted over two sailings: the previous one and this one. The inspections are anticipated to take three consecutive days and we must remain alongside the pier till completion. As a result, we will replace Kailua Kona, Hawaii with additional time in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. Unfortunately, we’ll be unable to visit the Napali Coast, but were able to shift the time that we sail past the Kilauea Volcano to a more suitable time. We are sorry for the inconvenience this causes and hope you take advantage of the opportunity to get a taste of Honolulu both during the day and at night.

Additionally, because of this disruption to your holiday, we’re adding a refund in the value of one day of your cruise fare paid to your onboard account during your cruise. You may use this credit anywhere onboard and if you don’t use it, it’ll be refunded back onto your credit card on file. Below, please find our updated itinerary.

 

They say they will refund us for one day but this actually changes our cruise quite a bit. two stops are gone and we are staying another day in Honolulu but we are already staying there before the trip so we really don;t want another day in Honolulu. The unfotunate thing is that we can no longer cancel our flights or our airbnb's because this notice came so last minute. We are thinking the cruise but we see no way out at this point. 

ANy advice at all will be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Happens, not Royals fault. I've had at least 2 dozen Port Changes/Canceled over the yrs. I was you would just roll with it...

[bonsai3s]

An extra day in Honolulu isn't so bad.

It could be worse, on our recent transatlantic, almost all the ports were cancelled...we still had a great time.

[Salt Rocker]

5 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Happens, not Royals fault. I've had at least 2 dozen Port Changes/Canceled over the yrs. I was you would just roll with it...

Hi,

We are on this cruise and the previous one (Sydney to Honolulu), which now results in us being in port for three days.

We are of the opinion that RCI must have known about this requirement long ago. Most of their ships are built in Europe and must therefore have to undergo these same inspections on first entry into USA waters, which is the case with Ovation of the Seas.

The question being asked is why did RCI wait until everybody had paid their full cruise fares, in our case both cruises, resulting in expensive cancellation charges then being applicable?

Certain members on the roll calls have indicated that they would cancel but for the cancellation charges that would now apply.

It is therefore our opinion that RCI have intentionally withheld these changes, until the last minute, to prevent mass cancellations. So is it RCI's fault? Without a shadow of doubt.

Have a great day - Glenn & Patricia

[Clarea]

46 minutes ago, Salt Rocker said:

 ...

We are of the opinion that RCI must have known about this requirement long ago. ...

 

I'm hoping our resident Chief Engineer can comment on the "surprise" part of this.

[uksimonusa]

It's normal for ships to be inspected when they arrive at a new US homeport, never knew they had to be inspected when just visiting a US port

[A&L_Ont]

If the ship is based Honolulu for 3 days fly on the cheap inter island airline to the island you want to see most. Spend a day there, or overnight it. Yes your cost is increased but you get to see what you wanted to the most. 

 

My wife says if you truly want to see the islands fly there.  A cruise is more like a sample plate rather than the full dinner. 

[Biker19]

This refund business is getting pretty good for Biker who didn’t really have plans for Kona. 

[bobmacliberty]

36 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

If the ship is based Honolulu for 3 days fly on the cheap inter island airline to the island you want to see most. Spend a day there, or overnight it. Yes your cost is increased but you get to see what you wanted to the most. 

 

My wife says if you truly want to see the islands fly there.  A cruise is more like a sample plate rather than the full dinner. 

 

Completely agree with Andrew.  Not sure what your other ports are, but go to Maui and see the sunrise atop Haleakela, or rent a car and drive the Road to Hana.  Definitely worth the cost of a hotel room for a night (Grand Wailea, if you want to splurge!).  Unfortunately, I don't think the inter island flights are as cheap as they used to be,  I think I recall reading that one of the airlines went out of business and the whole supply/demand thing kicked in.

[rbschultz]

31 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Completely agree with Andrew.  Not sure what your other ports are, but go to Maui and see the sunrise atop Haleakela, or rent a car and drive the Road to Hana.  Definitely worth the cost of a hotel room for a night (Grand Wailea, if you want to splurge!).  Unfortunately, I don't think the inter island flights are as cheap as they used to be,  I think I recall reading that one of the airlines went out of business and the whole supply/demand thing kicked in.

 

All of the above are phenomenal suggestings (including the Grand Wailea which is an absolutely incredible hotel/resort).

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

Unfortunately, I don't think the inter island flights are as cheap as they used to be,  I think I recall reading that one of the airlines went out of business and the whole supply/demand thing kicked in.

 

Bob, my mom did a couple inter island flights last January and she said it wasn't terribly priced. She was very impressed with  the service and said the flight was only a handful of minutes from Honolulu to Maui. 

[Alter Ego]

I know Southwest’s flights to Hawaii are starting this month.  Not sure when their inter island flights will start, but may want to check if they’re available if you take the suggestion above.

 

I have the NCL POA cruise scheduled and frankly I’m going to cancel and do a land trip.  Far too many variables with cruising with regards to missing ports.

[birdie16]

The point is RCCL had to know they would have to do these inspections and it looks like they built an artificial itinerary to sell the cruise, changing it when the 75% cancelation fee kicked in.  We now board in Honolulu, visit Maui and no other Hawaii port.  We purchased this cruise because of the Kona and the cruise by the Napali coast.  I find it hard to believe an annual inspection came as a last minute surprise. 

 

Itinerary changes happen, when it is because of weather or mechanical issues I can suck it up and go with the flow.  When it looks like a “bait and switch” deception, I get mad.  BTW, most of us have yet to be notified by RCCL about the changes.  If not for social media we would not have found out at all.

[cot427]

Sorry to hear about this changes...they obviously impact your cruise but I hope you take advantage of more time in Honolulu or do inter-island flights. I also have heard great things about them...cheap and quick! I'm on the September Hawaii Ovation cruise. Can't see this happening in that time since she'll be sailing from Seattle all summer. I can see taking a bit longer since she's leaving from Vancouver once, but if any delays, they will impact our first Seattle stop, which is fine.

[John&LaLa]

10 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

Not much you can do at this point, you are past the full refund date. Unfortunate, but itinerary changes do happen from time to time. 

 

If you want to cancel, I think you can still get part of your money back.

 

The Revenge of Explorer. 😉

[LBumb]

I guess I would look at the positive.  You’re still in Hawaii 

[BecciBoo]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Completely agree with Andrew.  Not sure what your other ports are, but go to Maui and see the sunrise atop Haleakela, or rent a car and drive the Road to Hana.  Definitely worth the cost of a hotel room for a night (Grand Wailea, if you want to splurge!).  Unfortunately, I don't think the inter island flights are as cheap as they used to be,  I think I recall reading that one of the airlines went out of business and the whole supply/demand thing kicked in.

We have relatives in Honolulu and have been several times.  Inter Island hops are around $80 one way on up to $120 depending on the demand and weather.  We loved our cruise out to the islands, you see most everything on just the one day each island except on Oahu so you have the advantage of seeing it all on that island.  Again, the Napoli coast cruise by is just scenery of the great colors of the cliffs etc.  Been there done that on a rubber dingy and it was our least favorite excursion...everyone got sick due to the large surf.  Kona was just Meh anyway, lots of orchids and if you still go to Hilo you can still do the volcano.  Go and enjoy the extra time in Honolulu, you'll love it.  Be sure to attend as many cultural events on board on the way over, they are fantastic!

Edited March 6, 2019 by BecciBoo

[Hoopster95]

20 minutes ago, birdie16 said:

We purchased this cruise because of the Kona and the cruise by the Napali coast.

 

I am calling out all cruisers who moan about missing one 6-7 hour port stop on a 2 week vacation.... No one books a muilti-thousand dollar TranAtlantic or TransPacific where it's common sense & totally obvious that the intention is not to see any specific port for 6-7 hours vs. the intention to experience sea days for 200+ hours. 

 

In my humble opinion, RCL has done you all a MASSIVE favor! My favorite part of my Radiance 10 day sailing was the 3 days on land post-cruise out of Honolulu. Oahu is an awesome island and requires at least 3 days to visit.

 

1. 1st day rented a car as Thrifty's/Dollar picks you up right at the pier upon disembarkation and takes you to the car rental place in Waikiki. I did my own "Circle Island Tour" visiting the entire Coastline all the way up North into Waimeii Canyon and Waterfall, a must do. Got back to hotel at 7pm, great dinner at Dukes.
2. 2nd day was strictly a beach day, hiked up Diamond Head early morning and spent entire afternoon on the beach... it was great! That night went to Paradise Cove Luau.
3. 3rd day did full day at Pearl Harbor... definitely need full day. The hotel held our luggage all day, we came back and went to final dinner at Dukes, grabbed our luggage and taxi'd to airport easy peasy.

[birdie16]

=

Edited March 6, 2019 by birdie16
Move

[birdie16]

7 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

I am calling out all cruisers who moan about missing one 6-7 hour port stop on a 2 week vacation.... No one books a muilti-thousand dollar TranAtlantic or TransPacific where it's common sense & totally obvious that the intention is not to see any specific port for 6-7 hours vs. the intention to experience sea days for 200+ hours. 

 

In my humble opinion, RCL has done you all a MASSIVE favor! My favorite part of my Radiance 10 day sailing was the 3 days on land post-cruise out of Honolulu. Oahu is an awesome island and requires at least 3 days to visit.

 

1. 1st day rented a car as Thrifty's/Dollar picks you up right at the pier upon disembarkation and takes you to the car rental place in Waikiki. I did my own "Circle Island Tour" visiting the entire Coastline all the way up North into Waimeii Canyon and Waterfall, a must do. Got back to hotel at 7pm, great dinner at Dukes.
2. 2nd day was strictly a beach day, hiked up Diamond Head early morning and spent entire afternoon on the beach... it was great! That night went to Paradise Cove Luau.
3. 3rd day did full day at Pearl Harbor... definitely need full day. The hotel held our luggage all day, we came back and went to final dinner at Dukes, grabbed our luggage and taxi'd to airport easy peasy.

I am a retired flight attendant.  I used to have many layovers in Hawaii and have seen all the islands many times.  One of the best ways to see the Napali Coast is by sea.  Just like cruising the inside passage is not really a port, I would not like an Alaska cruise that missed it.  Kona and the Napali Coast are more interesting to us, we have that right to our opinion, you have a right to yours. Again, what is very upsetting is they took an 11 night Hawaii cruise and basically are giving us one port besides the embarkation port.  Changes happen and the cruise line has that right, however, this is clearly a case of bait and switch, not a mechanical or weather necessity.  They would not have been able to sell this cruise had they advertised the real itinerary.  These inspections have been planned for months, maybe even a year, I am sure of that.  Forgive me for not agreeing with you but this is NOT a favor.  I could have done a land vacation much cheaper if that is what we wanted to do.

Edited March 6, 2019 by birdie16

[Biker19]

4 minutes ago, birdie16 said:

  These inspections have been planned for months, maybe even a year, I am sure of that.

It could very well be that the Coast Guard extended the inspection and only told RCI recently.

 

Note to self: Be wary of any sailing which includes a ship which has never visited a US port.

Edited March 6, 2019 by Biker19

[ONECRUISER]

4 hours ago, Salt Rocker said:

Hi,

We are on this cruise and the previous one (Sydney to Honolulu), which now results in us being in port for three days.

We are of the opinion that RCI must have known about this requirement long ago. Most of their ships are built in Europe and must therefore have to undergo these same inspections on first entry into USA waters, which is the case with Ovation of the Seas.

The question being asked is why did RCI wait until everybody had paid their full cruise fares, in our case both cruises, resulting in expensive cancellation charges then being applicable?

Certain members on the roll calls have indicated that they would cancel but for the cancellation charges that would now apply.

It is therefore our opinion that RCI have intentionally withheld these changes, until the last minute, to prevent mass cancellations. So is it RCI's fault? Without a shadow of doubt.

Have a great day - Glenn & Patricia

Not sure if they were aware, maybe "Chief" can comment. But sorry if change has effected your plans too much. Hope you have great cruise...

[birdie16]

6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

It could very well be that the Coast Guard extended the inspection and only told RCI recently.

 

Note to self: Be wary of any sailing which includes a ship which has never visited a US port.

Biker19, you are correct on one thing, I should have done more research.  I saw this cruised called "11 night Hawaii" cruise and just looked at it.  I had no idea it had never sailed in US waters before.  In the future I will be researching the status of the ship, like is it due for a renovation, just coming out of a renovation or dry dock?  Where is the cruise coming from?  So, for that I am at fault.