RC May Hawaii cruise last minute changes by RC

[Biker19]

4 minutes ago, birdie16 said:

  Where is the cruise coming from?  So, for that I am at fault.

No fault at all - don't think anyone can forecast how long USCG will take with their inspection (other than in this case it's longer than RCI anticipated). It's coming from Sydney, Australia.

Edited March 6, 2019 by Biker19

[John&LaLa]

4 minutes ago, birdie16 said:

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.

 

She was purposefully built for China.  This trip is a way to reposition her for an Alaska season

[Hoopster95]

14 minutes ago, birdie16 said:

I could have done a land vacation much cheaper if that is what we wanted to do.

 

And that is exactly what you should have done if your one and only criteria was to sail by the Napali Coast for 3 hours vs. being on a ship in the middle of the ocean for 200+ hours. Your argument is extremely weak.

[John&LaLa]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

No fault at all - don't think anyone can forecast how long USCG will take with their inspection (other than in this case it's longer than RCI anticipated). It's coming from Sydney, Australia.

 

Wasn't that just a temporary stop?

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

She was purposefully built for China.  

Not sure I'd describe it like that - Spectrum is more like that. Ovation has some temp mods for China market.

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

Wasn't that just a temporary stop?

Regular day layover like Radiance.

[Hoopster95]

Just now, Biker19 said:

No fault at all - don't think anyone can forecast how long USCG will take with their inspection (other than in this case it's longer than RCI anticipated). It's coming from Sydney, Australia.

 

The Explorer embarkation in Seattle 2015 after being overseas for 5 years was also somewhat of a mess, however was only delayed by a few hours that day. Nonetheless, the WJ had to be closed for the inspections with hundreds of people lined up around the pool deck. Guest Services was lined with complaints and many/most were outright unhappy until lunch was finally served around 230-3.

 

Vision from Europe when she was first amped in 2013 was also delayed a great deal. Any ship that has been overseas for more than one season will have inspections done that may delay embarkation. I've never heard of a 3 day process though.

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

 I've never heard of a 3 day process though.

🤙 time, maybe things are a bit slower in Hawaii.

[euphscott]

I am on this cruise and am the dissenting opinion for those of my fellow passengers.  While I won't get to a day on the big island and I won't get to see the Napali Coast in a sail by (why not this over a dormant volcano at 9 PM?), I am happy with the extra time this affords us in Oahu.  

 

And for my travel party - part of the allure of this trip was a ship we love (we have sailed on Anthem) that touches Hawaii, but gives us many sea days (bring on the FlowRider time and relaxation!).  Whining and crying about this is kind of silly - but everyone has their own perspective.  Mine is - I got a GREAT price on a cruise - and it just got better with one day refunded to me!

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, euphscott said:

 While I won't get to a day on the big island and I won't get to see the Napali Coast in a sail by (why not this over a dormant volcano at 9 PM?)

I don't get that either, other than perhaps timing wouldn't allow for it during day time.

[Ourusualbeach]

35 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

 

 

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

 

I was thinking the exact same thing.

[steveru621]

Canceling at any time probably would have cost you your NRD.  Not sure I would have cancelled for missing Kona.  Outside of the volcano the big island is pretty boring.  It's certainly a loss missing the Napali Coast, but I'm not sure a cruise ship would have gotten that close to begin with.

 

We had our Radiance May 2019 cruise altered with no overnight in Kauai, and an extra day in Oahu do to port congestion.  Oahu is my least favorite island.  Maybe now we can go back to an overnight in Kauai.

 

RCI always overestimates inspections, but in this case it's probably the Coast Guard.  It's a huge ship and a style they have not seen before.  

[steveru621]

23 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

I don't get that either, other than perhaps timing wouldn't allow for it during day time.

 

Kauai is the opposite way.

 

BTW Kilauea Volcano is certainly not dormant.  It will be beautiful to see the red at night.

[birdie16]

2 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

Kauai is the opposite way.

 

BTW Kilauea Volcano is certainly not dormant.  It will be beautiful to see the red at night.

One good thing with the change is we are going by the volcano at a much better time.  It really is beautiful, even though it is a very violent and destructive thing.

[euphscott]

15 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

 

BTW Kilauea Volcano is certainly not dormant.  It will be beautiful to see the red at night.

Fair enough in terminology - not dormant - but neither is the volcano active currently.

 

The most recent update from the National Park Service:

 

Tuesday, February 26, 2019, 9:50 AM HST

Activity Summary: Kīlauea Volcano is not erupting. Rates of seismicity, deformation, and gas emissions have not changed significantly over the past week.

Observations: Geophysical and geologic data indicate no significant change with volcanic activity. Low rates of seismicity continue across the volcano, with earthquakes occurring primarily in the summit and south flank regions. GPS stations and tiltmeters continue to show motions consistent with refilling of the deep East Rift Zone magma reservoir. Sulfur dioxide emission rates from the summit and from Puʻu ʻŌʻō remain low. These rates have been steady over the past several weeks.

[pattyg01]

Thank you Salt Rocker and Birdie for understanding the situation.Funny how the most negatively vocal person is not even on this cruise. Strange and kinda suspect if you ask me. Yes, changes do happen I've dealt with them in the past but my biggest concern is the timing. CMon! They didn't know about this until two days after we can no longer get half our money back? A day after Southwest realeased and sold out all their cheap Hawaii flights? And, yes, we were looking forward to cruising the coast just as much as we look forward to glacier watching in Alaska. Plus, we are missing Kona. Again, things happen but we doubt that Royal did not know about this earlier.I would definitely cancel a cruise if I learned it was no longer going to go to the glacier because that is what I look forward to the most. I never cruised just to be on a certain ship. That comment is just weird. We mostly took this cruise because is was a lower cost way to visit Hawaii. We are really on a budget right now because of illness in our family any vacation is a big deal to us. We will be in Honolulu for several days before the cruise so we do not really see that as a favor. I am so sorry that we cannot afford to just grab a "cheap" intr island flight Again, now that SOuthwest sold out (two days ago)all the other airlines reraised their prices. Four hundred plus dollars in addition to a place to stay etc. is just not affordable at this time. BTW< we did not pay multi thousands for this cruise. We actually paid less than a grand each. Salt Rocker and Birdie, let's keep in touch and please let me know where others are talking about this.

[euphscott]

5 minutes ago, pattyg01 said:

 Salt Rocker and Birdie, let's keep in touch and please let me know where others are talking about this.

 

Try here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2481674-ovation-ots-11-night-honolulu-to-vancouver-may-2-2019/?page=25

 

[pattyg01]

Thank you< euphscott. Again, thank you to the folks here that are kind, helpful and respectful. 

[steveru621]

1 hour ago, euphscott said:

Fair enough in terminology - not dormant - but neither is the volcano active currently.

 

The most recent update from the National Park Service:

 

Tuesday, February 26, 2019, 9:50 AM HST

Activity Summary: Kīlauea Volcano is not erupting. Rates of seismicity, deformation, and gas emissions have not changed significantly over the past week.

Observations: Geophysical and geologic data indicate no significant change with volcanic activity. Low rates of seismicity continue across the volcano, with earthquakes occurring primarily in the summit and south flank regions. GPS stations and tiltmeters continue to show motions consistent with refilling of the deep East Rift Zone magma reservoir. Sulfur dioxide emission rates from the summit and from Puʻu ʻŌʻō remain low. These rates have been steady over the past several weeks.

 

Good news for the residents! 

 

Bad news for the tourists.

[steveru621]

I really don't think RCI choose to do this.  Spending an overnight in HNL will cost them a lot of money in the casino and the operators of the shops will lose as well.  They may make up a small amount by not visiting Kona, but they were not overnighting there anyway.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, steveru621 said:

 They may make up a small amount by not visiting Kona, but they were not overnighting there anyway.

Speaking of which, I wonder if there's some port fee refund involved here.

[Salt Rocker]

3 hours ago, steveru621 said:

I really don't think RCI choose to do this.  Spending an overnight in HNL will cost them a lot of money in the casino and the operators of the shops will lose as well.  They may make up a small amount by not visiting Kona, but they were not overnighting there anyway.

Hi,

Unfortunately it is not an overnight for us. We are B2B from Sydney to Vancouver. We are now arriving a day earlier on 1 May and only leaving on the 3 May (3 days / 2 nights in Honolulu). The cruse changeover occurs on 2 May, which from experience will be hectic, and we are sure that the muster drill will be on 3 May just before we sail at 17h00, so everyone will have to be on board earlier than would probably be necessary.

It will therefore be difficult, with such timing restraints, to try and organise, at short notice, an extended shore excursion.

Have a great day - Glenn & Patricia

[steveru621]

2 minutes ago, Salt Rocker said:

Hi,

Unfortunately it is not an overnight for us. We are B2B from Sydney to Vancouver. We are now arriving a day earlier on 1 May and only leaving on the 3 May (3 days / 2 nights in Honolulu). The cruse changeover occurs on 2 May, which from experience will be hectic, and we are sure that the muster drill will be on 3 May just before we sail at 17h00, so everyone will have to be on board earlier than would probably be necessary.

It will therefore be difficult, with such timing restraints, to try and organise, at short notice, an extended shore excursion.

Have a great day - Glenn & Patricia

 

Wow, that's even worse.

 

Maybe rent a car.  I know we drive on the wrong side of the road, but there is lots to see.

[frank808]

14 hours ago, steveru621 said:

I really don't think RCI choose to do this.  Spending an overnight in HNL will cost them a lot of money in the casino and the operators of the shops will lose as well.  They may make up a small amount by not visiting Kona, but they were not overnighting there anyway.

No gambling sailing within the hawaiian waters.  Ok to open casinos outside hawaiian waters. Ncl pride of america does not have a casino due to sailing hawaiian waters.

[chengkp75]

22 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

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

I don't believe this was a "surprise", but I do believe this was caused by the USCG, not RCI.  Over the last decade or so, the USCG has been reluctant to send their Marine Safety inspectors overseas to conduct mandatory inspections of US flag ships, so I doubt they would even consider doing it for a foreign flag vessel.  During the recent government shutdown, the USCG Marine Safety Division was virtually closed, and there were regulations promulgated to extend mariner's licenses because the exam facilities were closed, and to extend vessels' certificates of inspection because the inspectors weren't working.  Even after the shutdown, there is a backlog of licensing and inspections.  As a US flag vessel, we were trying to schedule our bi-annual Certificate of Inspection, which for a tanker only takes about 8 hours, and most of the USCG Districts we were calling at, could only agree to schedule us 4 weeks in the future, no weekends, or in limited cases on weekends if we agreed to pay the overtime for the inspector.  The problem was that as a tanker, we could not guarantee what port we would be in 4 weeks in advance, so we ran right up to our expiration date frantically trying to get inspectors scheduled.

 

Yes, RCI knew these inspections were coming.  The certificate of compliance inspection goes over the ship from top to bottom to see that it meets all safety requirements as mandated by SOLAS and other maritime conventions (MARPOL, MLC, STCW).  On ships that are intended for service in the US, this can be accomplished while still being constructed, and a lot of it can be done by plan review, but this costs, and if the ship was not intended for regular use in the US there is no need for it at construction.  The annual inspection is more likely the USPH inspection, which again, if the ship was not intended for use in the US, then the construction was likely not submitted to USPH for review to ensure compliance.  All of these will take quite some time to complete, and I suspect that it was not until just before the itinerary change was announced, that the USCG had notified RCI of when and where they would have inspectors available, and that RCI had to make arrangements to conform to this schedule.

 

I can remember when I worked for NCL, and the US flag cruise ships, which are required to have USCG inspections 4 times a year, could not get a quarterly inspection done for 5 months, because the USCG in Honolulu did not have the budget to fly their inspectors from Honolulu to the Big Island.

 

Unfortunately, Marine Inspection (a descendant of the Steamboat Inspection Service, and the main reason for passage of the PVSA) has been getting less and less of the USCG budget over the last few decades, as their mission evolves from marine safety and lifesaving to more and more drug interdiction, law enforcement, and anti-terrorism.

Edited March 7, 2019 by chengkp75