Voyager of the Seas got bounced by Vanuatu

[jsg612]

5 hours ago, stephiems said:

 

I completely understand. I was looking at this cruise and the sole reason was all the islands. I'm pretty flexible but would have been VERY disappointed. We are leaving in just over a week for a New Zealand/Islands tour and even then I'll be disappointed if our 2 island stops are turned away. I'll understand, but still be upset.

Yep. Theres two kinds of people on board, half are disappointed and the other half are like "you guys are so spoilt you're on holiday just chillax" 

 

But honestly I signed up for a summer cruise with six stops, not a cold one with four! I understand nothing can be done but I'm allowed to be disappointed. 

[Biker19]

5 hours ago, panda19 said:

Any update on this?

Welcome to CC.

 

Marinetraffic shows the ship arriving in Tauranga at 5:45 tomorrow morning.

[Hogbay]

well they have made a request to sail to a port agreed about port taxes and fees ... ,last minute fees would be extra $$$ and still have to obtain clearance to disembark passengers. 

[panda19]

7 hours ago, Hogbay said:

well they have made a request to sail to a port agreed about port taxes and fees ... ,last minute fees would be extra $$$ and still have to obtain clearance to disembark passengers. 

This may explain why we haven't been refunded the port fees for the missed ports 😔

 

Arrived in Tauranga this morning. It's cold and foggy, and rain is expected. Not exactly the equivalent of the South Pacific that we are meant to be visiting 🙄

[S904]

8 minutes ago, panda19 said:

This may explain why we haven't been refunded the port fees for the missed ports 😔

 

Arrived in Tauranga this morning. It's cold and foggy, and rain is expected. Not exactly the equivalent of the South Pacific that we are meant to be visiting 🙄

Did you press for more than 1 day refund? Is it actual refund to credit card or future cruise credit??

[panda19]

9 minutes ago, S904 said:

Did you press for more than 1 day refund? Is it actual refund to credit card or future cruise credit??

It's "refundable onboard credit". I guess they are hoping people will spend it onboard so they don't lose as much money. We'll be holding into ours and waiting for it to be refunded to our credit card. 

 

Haven't spoken to guest services yet, it's very busy down there, but we might drop past before the end of the cruise. We'll also try and work out how to submit a formal complaint to RC, the whole situation has been so badly handled, and the Captain barely tells us anything. 

[S904]

1 hour ago, panda19 said:

It's "refundable onboard credit". I guess they are hoping people will spend it onboard so they don't lose as much money. We'll be holding into ours and waiting for it to be refunded to our credit card. 

 

Haven't spoken to guest services yet, it's very busy down there, but we might drop past before the end of the cruise. We'll also try and work out how to submit a formal complaint to RC, the whole situation has been so badly handled, and the Captain barely tells us anything. 

Gotcha gotcha. 
 

for sure. If you don’t mind please keep us posted on how everything goes. Best of luck!!! 

[panda19]

We left Tauranga on time and are heading to the Bay of Islands, so far so good but always ready for a new surprise from Captain Wu. 

 

We booked a tour for the Bay of Islands but it's a private tour from a local operator. Apparently we are only allowed limited tenders and it's 30-45 mins each way so looks like I'll be up at the crack of dawn to try and get a tender ticket 🙄

[jsg612]

14 hours ago, S904 said:

Did you press for more than 1 day refund? Is it actual refund to credit card or future cruise credit??

 

 

I did press for more than one day as its one day minus taxes which comes to a measly 70 USD or 108 AUD, which I dont think is enough. I had several other issues with this cruise though (unrelated to itinerary change). Ive never been an overly difficult to please person, very go with the flow, its never any sole person's fault, but have had several issues this cruise that I am not happy with. I've never complained before in my life but I did tonight. Was told it was a Miami decision and they couldnt do anything about it. So I guess i'll be emailing Miami!

[S904]

2 hours ago, jsg612 said:

 

 

I did press for more than one day as its one day minus taxes which comes to a measly 70 USD or 108 AUD, which I dont think is enough. I had several other issues with this cruise though (unrelated to itinerary change). Ive never been an overly difficult to please person, very go with the flow, its never any sole person's fault, but have had several issues this cruise that I am not happy with. I've never complained before in my life but I did tonight. Was told it was a Miami decision and they couldnt do anything about it. So I guess i'll be emailing Miami!

Good to know. I hope you still enjoy your trip!! Stay healthy!

[Esmerelda]

The moral of these stories would be;  anything can change when you are on a cruise ship. If you don’t understand that from the start, maybe cruising might not be your thing. We have cruised numerous times when ports were missed, people were injured so we rerouted, etc.  Things happen.....everyday. 

[panda19]

Bay of Islands, NZ yesterday was a success, I guess we did get clearance in the end (bus driver mentioned that we only booked the buses the day before, so it must have been touch and go, not that the Captain told us anything). 

The difficulty is that everyone boarded in the frame of mind of a tropical South Pacific Islands cruise, and then after Noumea we have had two extra sea days, sailing at high speeds so very windy, two unexpected days in NZ where the weather was not exactly "tropical" and now two more sea days across the Tasman Sea on the way home, we are travelling at 21 knots in 3 metre seas in overcast weather and it is very rough, so there's no water in the pools and the ice skating shows and other outdoor activities are cancelled due to the conditions. Our cabin balcony door has been "whistling" 24 hrs a day on the sea days due to the high speeds. The last port is in Australia and there is really not much to see there, so people don't really see it as a valid port day. 

The cruise director Sophie is apparently not a cruise director at all, but is filling in as we have no cruise director. You can tell. It doesn't help the situation and she hasn't even acknowledged the itinerary change, just carrying on as if everything is fine, which is awkward. 

I feel like we should complain to RC about the handling of these issues and lack of communication, but also not sure anything will come of it. Before Noumea we were talking about doing a cruise in the Caribbean on Symphony of the Seas in a year or so but with the way things have panned out on this trip I will look into alternatives. 

[jsg612]

On 3/2/2020 at 11:50 AM, Esmerelda said:

The moral of these stories would be;  anything can change when you are on a cruise ship. If you don’t understand that from the start, maybe cruising might not be your thing. We have cruised numerous times when ports were missed, people were injured so we rerouted, etc.  Things happen.....everyday. 

I really don't think this mindframe is very helpful to be honest, we are allowed to be disappointed without someone telling us cruising isn't our thing.

 

We have also cruised numerous times where ports were missed and rerouted but nothing has ever been this drastic. This is a completely, not even remotely close to the cruise we booked. If it's one or two or even three stops then it's all good, which has happened before, but it was all of them, not once but twice over. You can see how it would be disappointing when we booked a south pacific cruise, got told it would change to four different city-style ports instead of 6 Beach ones which was fine with me because it was still warm, but then to be told we are instead getting cold NZ cruise with two stops and then back to the coast of Australia. 

 

It isn't RCIs fault, we know, but we are allowed to be disappointed. 

[stephiems]

On 3/2/2020 at 10:50 PM, Esmerelda said:

The moral of these stories would be;  anything can change when you are on a cruise ship. If you don’t understand that from the start, maybe cruising might not be your thing. We have cruised numerous times when ports were missed, people were injured so we rerouted, etc.  Things happen.....everyday. 

 

This isn't really necessary. Especially "If you don’t understand that from the start, maybe cruising might not be your thing."

 

This is a little different to going to a different island. If you thought you were going to the Caribbean and ended up in NY, in the fall or winter, it would be something pretty major. This time of year the climate can be completely different in the South Pacific Islands vs New Zealand, and at the moment it is.

 

No one in this thread is being unreasonable. They are disappointed, which is fine.

[S904]

On 3/2/2020 at 6:50 AM, Esmerelda said:

The moral of these stories would be;  anything can change when you are on a cruise ship. If you don’t understand that from the start, maybe cruising might not be your thing. We have cruised numerous times when ports were missed, people were injured so we rerouted, etc.  Things happen.....everyday. 

Cruising is absolutely my thing and ive never had an itinerary completely change. As i've said and many other people have said if thy want a cold new zealand cruise they wouldve booked it. everyone booked a south pacific cruise for a reason. 

likewise weve re routed missed ports but never a different region. 

[S904]

10 hours ago, panda19 said:

Bay of Islands, NZ yesterday was a success, I guess we did get clearance in the end (bus driver mentioned that we only booked the buses the day before, so it must have been touch and go, not that the Captain told us anything). 

The difficulty is that everyone boarded in the frame of mind of a tropical South Pacific Islands cruise, and then after Noumea we have had two extra sea days, sailing at high speeds so very windy, two unexpected days in NZ where the weather was not exactly "tropical" and now two more sea days across the Tasman Sea on the way home, we are travelling at 21 knots in 3 metre seas in overcast weather and it is very rough, so there's no water in the pools and the ice skating shows and other outdoor activities are cancelled due to the conditions. Our cabin balcony door has been "whistling" 24 hrs a day on the sea days due to the high speeds. The last port is in Australia and there is really not much to see there, so people don't really see it as a valid port day. 

The cruise director Sophie is apparently not a cruise director at all, but is filling in as we have no cruise director. You can tell. It doesn't help the situation and she hasn't even acknowledged the itinerary change, just carrying on as if everything is fine, which is awkward. 

I feel like we should complain to RC about the handling of these issues and lack of communication, but also not sure anything will come of it. Before Noumea we were talking about doing a cruise in the Caribbean on Symphony of the Seas in a year or so but with the way things have panned out on this trip I will look into alternatives. 

appreciate you sharing that info. i would absolutely press for more from RCL especially after the whole experience with no communication, poor cruise director, etc. 

 

if what they offer on the ship is limited, definitely get in touch with C&A or the executive office.