They Changed My Itinerary!

[not-enough-cruising]

4 hours 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.

 

 

When did you book? How do you know there was a propulsion issue at that time?

[Sam Ting]

49 minutes ago, kelleynicole1978 said:

I'm so upset that they traded St Thomas for San Juan.  I have been to PR...I have not been to St Thomas.  Not a fair trade if you ask me and I agree, this kind of change really does change the cruise and they offer ZERO apology as far as an OBC or something.

 

Agreed but I would be more concerned you will be out to sea with thousands of fellow passengers on a defective ship!

[not-enough-cruising]

2 minutes ago, Sam Ting said:

Agreed but I would be more concerned you will be out to sea with thousands of fellow passengers on a defective ship!

What would be your concern? One of 3 motors isn’t operating at peak performance; there’s not a hole in the side of the ship

[Sam Ting]

Just now, not-enough-cruising said:

What would be your concern? One of 3 motors isn’t operating at peak performance; there’s not a hole in the side of the ship

I think they put three there for a reason What happens if another one breaks or they hit a storm and they need it?  Safety first!

[not-enough-cruising]

3 minutes ago, Sam Ting said:

I think they put three there for a reason What happens if another one breaks or they hit a storm and they need it?  Safety first!

They put 3 there for many reasons; one being redundancy. The ship can operate with one. You would probably be surprised how many cruise-ships operate daily at less than 100% 

[E23NK1]

4 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

When did you book? How do you know there was a propulsion issue at that time?

by reading the forums...its out there.

[eatplayvacay]

Glad I read this forum because I am on the Oct 6 sailing but have not received an email.  Question for the experienced cruisers - one thing I promised my kids is Atlantis.  With the shortened day, is this still doable?  I was planning to pre-buy the tickets and get a taxi over.  I am thinking now the earliest we can get there will be 12, and then have to leave by 4.

[springfire]

19 minutes ago, eatplayvacay said:

Glad I read this forum because I am on the Oct 6 sailing but have not received an email.  Question for the experienced cruisers - one thing I promised my kids is Atlantis.  With the shortened day, is this still doable?  I was planning to pre-buy the tickets and get a taxi over.  I am thinking now the earliest we can get there will be 12, and then have to leave by 4.

Hopefully it won't be busy for you,, but honestly it is not enough time to really enjoy it.  Good luck, I know what it's like to promise kids.  

[HBE4]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

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.

 

Exactly!!

 

100% agree.

 

These azipods seem to require more TLC than expected.

[HBE4]

2 hours ago, E23NK1 said:

Let me explain alittle further....What I meant is they cut the pizza into 8 slices and took 2 out...and then gave me the pizza so I now only have 6 slices....so not a whole pizza....when I open the box you can see that 2 slices are missing....very poor customer service.

 

The length of the cruise is still the same so you are getting the whole pizza.   Some of the port stops are cut short which means some of the slices have skimpy meatball toppings...or no toppings.

 

If they cut the length of the cruise from 7 days to 5 days while requiring you to pay for 7 days, than your missing 2 slice analogy is correct.

 

I could go for some Sorrento's pizza right now.🍕

Edited May 2, 2019 by HBE4

[Mummyof5]

I disagree, Day one starts at 8 pm (Sunday) and we disembark at 6.15am on the following Sunday so we are minus a day in theory.

 

Anyways, it's how it is.  They offer no compensation.

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

You realize they can’t just pull into a service station and get s tune up? Having to wait a significant amount of time for a repair of this nature is VERY common amongst ALL cruise lines 

 

True....but...the azipod issue seems to pop-up more frequently these days. If there is a certain component that was expected to last 5 years and it is increasingly failing every 3 1/2 - 4 years, Royal may want to build in some more scheduled maintenance time into their schedules.

[RCLcruiser2012]

3 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

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.  

Okay, okay you have a point.  I was sympathetic towards the passengers but it would be much worse for your cruise to get cancelled completely. 

[HBE4]

6 minutes ago, Mummyof5 said:

I disagree, Day one starts at 8 pm (Sunday) and we disembark at 6.15am on the following Sunday so we are minus a day in theory.

 

Anyways, it's how it is.  They offer no compensation.

 

Noted. Sorry, I did not read all of the itinerary changes. Certainly, some are more impacted than others.  My pizza post above yours was meant for the sailings that has a hour or 2 cut off the port time.....which is really more time on the ship, enjoying free food and entertainment. Getting more bang for the buck!!

 

In your case - and in others where a full St. Thomas day was replaced by a 1/2 day in San Juan - you are truly losing out. Getting on the ship at 8:00 pm is like losing an entire day.

[TXGreens]

I am now 0-2 in 2019 with RCL. Sigh.  We are on the 9/15 sailing (now SJU instead of STT) only because our Feb sailing on the Navigator of the Seas was cancelled. That was the first sailing out of dry dock.  So sad - we booked this one BECAUSE of the St. Thomas itin stop where my kids have not been.  Debating on swapping to the Western or alternative eastern stop that has SXM and Labadee.  

[springfire]

6 minutes ago, TXGreens said:

I am now 0-2 in 2019 with RCL. Sigh.  We are on the 9/15 sailing (now SJU instead of STT) only because our Feb sailing on the Navigator of the Seas was cancelled. That was the first sailing out of dry dock.  So sad - we booked this one BECAUSE of the St. Thomas itin stop where my kids have not been.  Debating on swapping to the Western or alternative eastern stop that has SXM and Labadee.  

I would make that switch if I could.  We are also on the 9/15 cruise but we have a nonrefundable deposit so we can't change.

[Quincy50]

We also got the change and were headed to see friends in St Thomas.  Tried to get them to work with us for a different ship/date going there.  They wanted another 5K.  Already spent 12K.  Unfortunately, they did this to us after fully paid, so it cost us thousands to cancel.  After gutting our cruise we will never use RC again and we have cruised 25 times w? Various over the past 20 yrs. Also will never recommend RC!

[Quincy50]

Not sure if all have been to St Thomas and San Juan, but these are not equivalent stops!  Cutting St Thomas vastly cuts the value of the cruise!

[kelleynicole1978]

2 minutes ago, Quincy50 said:

Not sure if all have been to St Thomas and San Juan, but these are not equivalent stops!  Cutting St Thomas vastly cuts the value of the cruise!

My thoughts EXACTLY!!!!!!

[Quincy50]

We cancelled and took the hit, but will never use RC or any of their other lines again!  I was on the phone with them for hours last night and they refused any kind of change or accommodation.  Since they notified us after all paid, we took a big penalty hit...for THEIR issues!  Rude and incompetent customer service!

[HBE4]

3 minutes ago, Quincy50 said:

Not sure if all have been to St Thomas and San Juan, but these are not equivalent stops!  Cutting St Thomas vastly cuts the value of the cruise!

 

Agreed.  Love St. Thomas but the only thing I do in SJ is get off the ship to stretch the legs a bit and get some exercise.

[Sam Ting]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

They put 3 there for many reasons; one being redundancy. The ship can operate with one. You would probably be surprised how many cruise-ships operate daily at less than 100% 

 

Kinda like driving through the middle of the desert with a flat spare tire. No thanks!

[not-enough-cruising]

16 minutes ago, Sam Ting said:

 

Kinda like driving through the middle of the desert with a flat spare tire. No thanks!

That’s your prerogative to feel that way of course, but using that reasoning you will NEVER cruise again. 

[FLACRUISER99]

Guess what, I would rather stop at San Juan than St Thomas if it's a short stop. Their is nothing much to do at Crown Bay,

Edited May 2, 2019 by FLACRUISER99

[springfire]

7 minutes ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

Guess what, I would rather stop at San Juan than St Thomas if it's a short stop. Their is nothing much to do at Crown Bay,

St Thomas is so much better, even on a short stop!