Royal Caribbean did not deliver on expectations

[Merion_Mom]

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Actually that's carnival not rcl. Carnival refunds port fees if you miss a port. I got 0 for missing a port last march and wrote to mbayley and his office said it was up to each ship how they handled overpayment of port fees. I kept the email. Yep .. no fleet wide policy. Each ship decides. One ship refunds but not the next. I think they should refund extra port fees. They went on to say if port fees go up they dont bill the extra, so they dont feel they have to refund port fees and taxes if they go down.

 

That's a real problem.  On board, they will apologize and tell you that there's nothing they can do BECAUSE THESE RULES COME FROM MIAMI HQ.

 

😮 

[firefly333]

21 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

That's a real problem.  On board, they will apologize and tell you that there's nothing they can do BECAUSE THESE RULES COME FROM MIAMI HQ.

 

😮 

I was onboard doing a b2b and of course I'd asked onboard, twice and told something like it was weather relate so nothing they can do. I can repost the email from mbayley who of course said since I was still onboard to go ask them .. as if I hadnt lol.

 

Luckily I was solo. There was already a difference of about $20 from paying for grand Cayman and jamaica to what they charged later for costa maya and Belize. X 2 times.

 

We missed costa maya they said 6 ft waves so they couldnt dock last minute. .. though someone up in the diamond lounge had a private diving excursion and had a email from them the night before saying rcl cancelled the port. They emailed back, oh it's not cancelled .. sure enough we cancelled. Too many ships to be safe to dock. ..I have 2 excursions week of sept 18. Finally doing grand Cayman and jamaica. .. I hope. Allure coming in who doesnt do those 2 ports any more from Galveston. My last chance.

Edited September 7, 2022 by firefly333

[frank808]

4 hours ago, 3yorkies said:

Both of my last two cruises had small credits to my onboard account and they were described as decrease in port charge, once on Allure and once on Liberty.  No missed port, just apparently the charge was less than what it was anticipated to be.  Surprised me that they would even bother.   Last one was $8 and one in June was also under $10.   

On Navigator and we got $9.27 each because port fees went down. It was unexpected as we have had times of missed ports with no refund.

[Kathscof]

On 9/4/2022 at 9:37 PM, Seville2Cabo said:

No. But what else was in the port besides the zip line?  
We don’t do DI. But the port has some limited shops, one restaurant and the zip line. You must be easily entertained 

 

We took a wonderful kayak tour, had some awesome Salvation Army doughnuts, had a nice walk along the water to town, had the BEST meal of the trip at the Fisherman’s Daughter, passed a totem carver, had a “dairy free pineapple ice cream dessert” (aka dole whip, they just didn’t know it was called that), attended a native dance show, did some great souvenir shopping, and generally enjoyed the port.....

 

I would say I’m easily entertained, but also that people enjoy different things 🙂 

[Joebucks]

I understand the frustration of missing a port. There is no bigger bummer for me than being excited to go to an exciting port, only to have it replaced with another sea day.

 

With that said, the cruise line was in a no-win scenario here. To cancel the sailing, would have also left people unhappy. They at least gave the option for people to go, with a credit. You knew what the outcome was. Yet you felt that you were entitled to more for some reason. It is super cringe to hear any story about people's repeated contacts and "waiting on hold for 2 hours" for entitlements.

[mpdog42]

On 9/4/2022 at 4:19 PM, sshubinski said:

I have sailed 6 times previously on Holland America and had wonderful experiences every time. I was notified by RC that the itinerary for this cruise was going to have to change due to one engine not working and another needing maintenance. As a result, the ship could not travel as fast or as far and complete the itinerary. RC chose to remove what would have been the most interesting stops including Icy Point Strait and Dawes Glacier and offered us a meager $100 shipboard credit for the inconvenience. This was an insult to me and I attempted to contact RC numerous times prior to the cruise, once on their website, 3 times by phone and 2 more times by email. There was no response at any time. Once onboard the ship, I found out the cruise on the same ship that went out the week before us received a full day's sailing credit. At this point, I spoke to guest services on the ship and every one I spoke with said it was a corporate decision and there was nothing they could do. They did provide a number I could call onboard but I was on hold once for 2 hours and another time for 45 minutes and still never spoke to anyone. Finally, when I returned, I contacted the guest services department by email. They did respond the next day but basically said there was nothing else they could do for me. For a cruise line that likes to bill itself as "The Best Cruise Line Overall", The fell very short. I will NEVER cruise with Royal Caribbean again!

Alaska season this year has been a poop show!!

[mpk]

On 9/4/2022 at 5:11 PM, Seville2Cabo said:

Except for the Zip line,  icy strait was not a great port. Back on the ship by lunch. You did not miss much 

They had really good Bloody Mary‘s

 

Icy Strait can be quite interesting.  There's several hikes through the rainforest, two right from the port.  There's also a bear finding excursion (I haven't tried that).  Visiting nearby Hoonah was nice, there's a place that serves locally caught seafood.

Edited September 7, 2022 by mpk

[mpk]

6 hours ago, Kathscof said:

 

We took a wonderful kayak tour, had some awesome Salvation Army doughnuts, had a nice walk along the water to town, had the BEST meal of the trip at the Fisherman’s Daughter, passed a totem carver, had a “dairy free pineapple ice cream dessert” (aka dole whip, they just didn’t know it was called that), attended a native dance show, did some great souvenir shopping, and generally enjoyed the port.....

 

I would say I’m easily entertained, but also that people enjoy different things 🙂 

 

Thanks for the reminder, I had totally forgot about the doughnuts- they were great and within the Icy Point area.  Fisherman's Daughter was great too, a local recommended had it to us.  Locally caught halibut for the win!  yum yum.