They Changed My Itinerary!

[Notcaptain4once]

6 minutes ago, 2cmu92 said:

Have not gotten an email for the July 7th cruise yet...but sure it is coming.   As long as the cruise is not cancelled I can roll with it.   This should not be anything that would potentially cancel a cruise would it?

We are on the same sailing, hopefully it’s not a potential cancel. That would ruin our anniversary.

[grinthock]

Just received this for our Allure September 22nd cruise.

So it is May 1st,  and they have a busted Azipod - and they are going to run the vessel until it goes into Dry Dock in early 2020... 

Talk about dragging it out - they have so many back to back booked cruises they can't fix it - so now all of us have to lose port time as a result.   Here is the bigger question - is it running on 2 x Azipod's or 2 + 1 that is half busted?    If it's 2+1, what is the chance it sh1t's the bed completely. 

Not making me feel comfortable.

[eastexascruiser]

I'm looking at the 12/22 sailing and it still shows St Marteen and St Thomas.  Will this most likely change?

[grinthock]

4 minutes ago, eastexascruiser said:

I'm looking at the 12/22 sailing and it still shows St Marteen and St Thomas.  Will this most likely change?

 

not the ports - but the times might change for arrival and departure.

[HodgeNNicole]

We are on the May 12 cruise and I have not seen any e-mail or other communication about the change other than this post! Not much we can do other than plan something to do instead of San Juan... We were supposed to be the only ship in St Thomas on our sailing and we were really looking forward to a less crowded fun day!!!!

[sailor05]

I do not understand why they have NOT informed us yet?? I am beyond furious. I booked this for St. Thomas alone, and was already not getting off in Nassau because it doesn't appeal to us either. WHY do I find out on here?? People that are cruising in several months get emails and we're sailing in 1 1/2 weeks and we hear NOTHING. WOW. I try to keep giving Royal more chances and they continue to disappoint....

[E23NK1]

22 minutes ago, sailor05 said:

I do not understand why they have NOT informed us yet?? I am beyond furious. I booked this for St. Thomas alone, and was already not getting off in Nassau because it doesn't appeal to us either. WHY do I find out on here?? People that are cruising in several months get emails and we're sailing in 1 1/2 weeks and we hear NOTHING. WOW. I try to keep giving Royal more chances and they continue to disappoint....

I agree...booked this cruise for St Thomas. 

I will be calling tomorrow to complain but doesnt sound like they will offer compensation...why?, well the cruise contract allows them to change....but not offering anything is poor customer service.

[5thgirl]

I'm considering cancelling Allure and booking the Aug 18 Western Carib Harmony. What are the chances the same issue will occur?  I'd much rather have a few ports I enjoy vs. 3 ports that I consider meh.

[sailor05]

4 minutes ago, E23NK1 said:

I agree...booked this cruise for St Thomas. 

I will be calling tomorrow to complain but doesnt sound like they will offer compensation...why?, well the cruise contract allows them to change....but not offering anything is poor customer service.

I will most certainly be on the phone as well. I wouldn't want to be the person who answers!

Why cancel St Thomas and NOT St Kitts? St Thomas is way closer and imo more desirable than St Kitts.

[apurvanataraj88]

Received the change in arrival at Falmouth from 9 30am to 10 45am. Hope it stays at that, and there are no cancellations. This will be my first ever cruise and I would absolutely hate a cancellation.

[travelplus]

I am sorry they cancelled your itinerary  but please know that no cruiseline can guarantee the posted itinerary as its created  a few years in advance in conjunction with the revenue department, shore excursion department etc.

 

Also during your sailing you could miss a port for whatever reason. Sorry to burst your bubble but if you really wanted to go to X Port then you may want to book it on a land tour. A cruise is an introduction to the culture and country and passengers can decide if they want to return, for others who don't have money for landbased tours they use the cruise as transportation because who knows when and if they will ever return.

 

What I have noticed on a lot of my Trans Atlantic Cruises I have stopped at the Azores which I know well. I took some tours there so this time when we hit the port I'll be happy to go to the town for a beer or two and back to the ship to enjoy peace and quiet. It will help  me recover from the long port intensive tours from the last cruise and Lisbon

 

Also I have been to Rome so we will take it as another relaxing day. I feel that Royal tries to cater the itineraries for the masses but some may or may not like the  ports and well then they may want to look at another trip.

 

I would love to go back to the Canary Islands so if its swapped for the Azores due to the Hurricane season then I'm happy .  If they skip a port  such as Dublin last year on our Tampa-Amsterdam Trans Atlantic of course I was disappointed but I did like our overnight in Cobh and the upside is I  will spend more time in Dublin. 

 

With the ship sponsored tours they will refund it if the ship skips port you may not have this protection with third party independent operators. 

 

Again I am sorry your port was changed but you can make  lemons out of lemonade. Puerto Rico is beautiful and you can take a tour or just explore the Old Town on your own and enjoy a meal there.

 

Flexibility is key in any travel that you do. The airlines or land tours can't guarantee an itinerary and can cancel it or amend it at any time .  

[screenname2004]

Seems like Allure has a lot of issues with its propulsion pods. For our Nov 2017 cruise, they announced about 3 months before sailing that St. Thomas will be replaced with San Juan due to issues with its propulsion pods. However, because of the hurricanes, we ended up going to Falmouth, Labadee & Nassau. For our last week's cruise on the Allure, our time on San Juan was reduced half hour and Labadee was cut 1.5 hrs also because of Allure's propulsion pods.

[E23NK1]

The issue I have is that this apparently has been an issue for some time and they chose NOT to address it.

Had they been transparent when I booked and said hey we have propulsion issues which can/will severely affect the ship, book at your own risk because we may need to skip ports then yes I signed up for that.

If there was a weather related itinerary change then I don't think anyone would have an issue with it but I booked this cruise based on the itinerary they sold be.

Its the equivalent to buying a pizza and getting 6 slices but still being expected to pay for all 8.

I certainly wish I could cancel but they don't give me that option.

Good customer service says you take care of your customers so they should offer a credit or OBC....but as we all know RCI customer service sucks a*s so I an not expecting anything.

 

[Tropikali]

I’m also on the May 12th sailing and a little disappointed, but more so because I had to turn to the internet to find out (Thanks CruiseCritic friends!). I do have a zip lining excursion planned for St. Thomas and am bummed out because it is the only place I found that allows a small child do a tandem ride, BUT there’s nothing I can do, so I’m just going to get my refund and enjoy a relaxing day in SAN Juan.

[Iamcruzin]

We are calling on San Juan on Anthem in June. It's also a hit and run stop 7-2.(no change that's how it was scheduled) We have also been to San Juan several times. We decided to book the cruise line Rain Forest tour. We never book ships tours but when I researched private tours Royal's price was on par with the Private tours since they were running the excursion sale at the time.

[cruisegirl1976]

I'm on the Allure next Feb, cause we got bumped from the Oasis cause of a charter.. and I am complete opposite.. we are scheduled for St. Thomas ,,.. ( not a big fan of).. and now I'm hoping for San Juan.. cause that is one of the ports we were originally supposed to go on the Oasis.. I know I'm odd..lol

[springfire]

50 minutes ago, E23NK1 said:

The issue I have is that this apparently has been an issue for some time and they chose NOT to address it.

Had they been transparent when I booked and said hey we have propulsion issues which can/will severely affect the ship, book at your own risk because we may need to skip ports then yes I signed up for that.

If there was a weather related itinerary change then I don't think anyone would have an issue with it but I booked this cruise based on the itinerary they sold be.

Its the equivalent to buying a pizza and getting 6 slices but still being expected to pay for all 8.

I certainly wish I could cancel but they don't give me that option.

Good customer service says you take care of your customers so they should offer a credit or OBC....but as we all know RCI customer service sucks a*s so I an not expecting anything.

 

Royal has made it clear, they are about the bottom line and they no longer care about customer relationships.  The fact they will not address this propulsion issue for a year is a joke.   It is one thing to change the itinerary for a weather related issue but to just change the itinerary because they do not want to make the proper repairs to the ship just shows they no longer care about their cruisers.  

[kelleynicole1978]

We are sailing on June 2nd and was so bummed last night when we got the email.  This is the 2nd Summer in a row we have tried to cruise to St. Thomas for the port to get cancelled. This is our 1st time cruising with RCL.  We usually cruise with Carnival -- last Summer when our port was changed from St. Thomas Carnival compensated each of us $50 OBC.  I can't believe RCL makes a change like this and doesn't even offer some sort of OBC.   How is PR even a fair compromise?  I've been there done that with PR...I booked this cruise to 1.) try out RCL for the first time and 2.) Finally make it to St. Thomas.  So far I am not impressed with RCL and their customer service.  I will continue my loyalty with Carnival in the future.  Especially for the price I paid for this cruise!  Almost double what I pay on CCL.

[E23NK1]

14 minutes ago, kelleynicole1978 said:

We are sailing on June 2nd and was so bummed last night when we got the email.  This is the 2nd Summer in a row we have tried to cruise to St. Thomas for the port to get cancelled. This is our 1st time cruising with RCL.  We usually cruise with Carnival -- last Summer when our port was changed from St. Thomas Carnival compensated each of us $50 OBC.  I can't believe RCL makes a change like this and doesn't even offer some sort of OBC.   How is PR even a fair compromise?  I've been there done that with PR...I booked this cruise to 1.) try out RCL for the first time and 2.) Finally make it to St. Thomas.  So far I am not impressed with RCL and their customer service.  I will continue my loyalty with Carnival in the future.  Especially for the price I paid for this cruise!  Almost double what I pay on CCL.

I have been loyal to royal for a long time but this will make me rethink future bookings.

The fact that this has apparently been an issue with Allure for some time and they chose not to address it speaks volumes.

I can not believe that they are not even offering any type of compensation either.

I am very very frustrated. I sail in 10 days and am trying to not let this get the best of me.

[LTFRFD]

Patiently waiting to hear about our November 10th Eastern Caribbean sailing on Allure now. Not a fan of San Juan either but I guess it will allow us to take more advantage of the drink package since we wont be away from the ship that long while in port.

[orville99]

Quick question: Did they make these itinerary changes before or after the Oasis drydock fiasco in Freeport?

[sandebeach]

2 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Quick question: Did they make these itinerary changes before or after the Oasis drydock fiasco in Freeport?

Emails were sent out last night. 

[papaflamingo]

I agree with many, I love St.Thomas and am ho hum on San Juan.  We go to St. Thomas on Harmony in Sep.  So I understand the disappointment.  But such is cruising.  These things happen.  Our last 2 cruises were in San Juan from 7 am to 2 pm.  There's lots you can do.  Take a shore excursion as some have suggested.  Stay on the ship and enjoy all the amenities.  Or do what we did.  We walked Old San Juan, went out to Castillo San Felipe del Morro, had a pina colada at Barrachina.  Oh yeah, if you're a Senior and you have a Senior lifetime National Park pass, you can get into del Morro for free.  

So, San Juan?  Take it or leave it for me. But if you go there, enjoy it for all it offers.  And if you aren't a fan, then the short day should be a plus to you. 

As for "gee why doesn't Royal Caribbean fix this problem?"  I'm quite sure they've tried.  But if it means a drydocking, that would be pulling Allure out of service for a significant period.  How would y'all be liking an email saying that the cruise you have looked forward to, planned for, taken time off of work for, has been cancelled for an unscheduled drydocking because passengers were upset with San Juan being substituted for St. Thomas.  Man I can just imagine THAT thread.  

[E23NK1]

I dont think anyone wants their cruise cancelled but I do think everyone wants what we paid for.

I feel like I just bought a pizza, opened the box and there are only 6 slices but I still have to pay for 8.

RCI should offer some sort of compensation to us...thats just common sense and the right thing to do.

[orville99]

25 minutes ago, sandebeach said:

Emails were sent out last night. 

That's what I thought. My guess is that the week-long drydock that they had planned for Freeport to fix the azipod issue got scratched when Oasis broke the drydock, and Cadiz in 2020 became the only option for the repairs.