Stuck on Serenade!

[RedIguana]

8 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I hear during earnings how they want to close the gap to land vacations. I think there should still be a gap. 

That gap has already been closed and opened the other way for those of us who typically do balconies and mini-suites.

[Host Jacquelyn]

23 minutes ago, Beachin2 said:

Have more nights on the Serenade than any other ship.  One of our favorites.  Worst places to be delayed.

Most of us are thrilled to have an extended vacation! Although I did overhear some group complaining that the captain would have known about this back on Sunday and kept silent (!!) and should have given us the option to debark in Key West.  Of course, that would not be possible as it is a US port, but there is no way this situation could have been predicted! Even on Tuesday, we thought we would depart on time. Some people... 😮

[Starry Eyes]

20 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I saw this in your other post. Well I lost my car to hurricane Ike.. so it could have been worse.

 

I think there is a good reason sept and top of hurricane season used to be so cheap. Cheapest month. People forget how hurricanes can affect your cruise and sept fares hardly budge from full price. Hurricane fares imo should come back to reality like pre covid. There is a risk. 

 

I hear during earnings how they want to close the gap to land vacations. I think there should still be a gap. 

People’s land vacations get spoiled by hurricanes, too.  Several years ago we were vacationing in Florida when a Hurricane developed.  Our planned accommodation closed after the storm as did others; power outages were widespread.  We went online and felt fortunate that Royal Caribbean ship embarking the next day was still  open for booking.  We booked an inside gty and took a cabin somebody else had to cancel due to the storm.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Starry Eyes

[grandgeezer]

1 hour ago, GoochDSA said:

 

Worst vacation ever? Sounds to me like it was a once in a lifetime experience that you got a good story out of. You experienced first-hand what the first few days of a post-apocalyptic society would look like (anxiety, irritation, unknowing, the hunt for food, acceptance, survival, etc.). It may have not been ideal, but I am sure it is more memorable than some vacations that went very smoothly. Or maybe I am just too much of a cup-half-full kind of guy. 

What about getting flights back home, in a timely manner? Maybe people have to get back for work, school, or other plans that might have been made? If seen the results of a hurricane first hand and found it very disturbing and distressing, no thank you.

[Starry Eyes]

1 minute ago, Starry Eyes said:

People’s land vacations get spoiled by hurricanes, too.  Several years ago we were vacationing in Florida when a Hurricane developed.  Our planned accommodation closed after due to the storm as did others; power outages were widespread.  We went online and felt fortunate that Royal Caribbean ship embarking the next day was still  open for booking.  We booked an inside gty and took a cabin somebody else had to cancel due to the storm.

 

[Tromler]

10 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

What about getting flights back home, in a timely manner? Maybe people have to get back for work, school, or other plans that might have been made? If seen the results of a hurricane first hand and found it very disturbing and distressing, no thank you.

 

I think anyone that books a cruise during hurricane season needs to always take into account the very real possibility of changes like this happening and plan accordingly.  If your "normal" life cant accommodate these types of unknowns, then booking during hurricane season is not for them.

 

We cruise during hurricane season frequently, i am fully prepared for any and all changes...its the risk of booking during this time of year. 

[cello56]

6 minutes ago, Tromler said:

 

I think anyone that books a cruise during hurricane season needs to always take into account the very real possibility of changes like this happening and plan accordingly.  If your "normal" life cant accommodate these types of unknowns, then booking during hurricane season is not for them.

 

We cruise during hurricane season frequently, i am fully prepared for any and all changes...its the risk of booking during this time of year. 

You do realize that 'Hurricane Season' encompasses six months of the year? That is 50%! That includes the very expensive July and August cruises. 

Personally I totally understand that weather issues are out of the control of Royal. What IS in their control is being honest and up front with passenger both on the ship and waiting to get on the ship. They need to make sure the correct information is being given out through all their social media channels. They need to make their updates more frequently - even if they just state that they are still waiting for the Coast Guard to complete their inspections of the channel. To just go radio silent and leave people hanging is just plain wrong. Carnival managed to get info to their passengers. 

[Host Jacquelyn]

Update just now: we are 13 nautical miles off Tampa. Plan is still to begin disembarking 7 am Friday. Weather will be nice for the next 24 hours. 

 

I have been very happy with the level of updates we received on board. The first we heard of a possible delay was Tuesday morning when we docked at Cococay. We have been receiving steady updates since then

[cello56]

3 hours ago, Host Jacquelyn said:

Update just now: we are 13 nautical miles off Tampa. Plan is still to begin disembarking 7 am Friday. Weather will be nice for the next 24 hours. 

 

I have been very happy with the level of updates we received on board. The first we heard of a possible delay was Tuesday morning when we docked at Cococay. We have been receiving steady updates since then

If the Serenade Captain was able to give frequent updates to those on board, then there is no reason why the shoreside staff were unable to keep the passengers waiting to board updated as well. Thank you for your updates Jacquelyn - you are much more informative than Royal has been!

[Host Jacquelyn]

6 minutes ago, cello56 said:

If the Serenade Captain was able to give frequent updates to those on board, then there is no reason why the shoreside staff were unable to keep the passengers waiting to board updated as well. Thank you for your updates Jacquelyn - you are much more informative than Royal has been!

That's too bad to hear that the shore side staff was unhelpful. A lot of our updates were speculation though, and ended up being incorrect. Perhaps they did not want people to change their travel plans unless they knew what was going on for sure. For example, up until 8:00 p.m. yesterday, we thought we would be leaving today at 4:00. 

[firefly333]

40 minutes ago, Host Jacquelyn said:

That's too bad to hear that the shore side staff was unhelpful. A lot of our updates were speculation though, and ended up being incorrect. Perhaps they did not want people to change their travel plans unless they knew what was going on for sure. For example, up until 8:00 p.m. yesterday, we thought we would be leaving today at 4:00. 

I just saw a thread on social media where someone called and was told boarding as usual on thursday. 

 

Rcl staff didnt get the memo boarding delayed until friday. 

[Host Jacquelyn]

26 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I just saw a thread on social media where someone called and was told boarding as usual on thursday. 

 

Rcl staff didnt get the memo boarding delayed until friday. 

Oh that's just awful!! 

[mo&fran]

4 minutes ago, Host Jacquelyn said:

Oh that's just awful!! 

My experience, sadly, is the people that answer the phones are the last to know anything.

[Tromler]

4 hours ago, cello56 said:

You do realize that 'Hurricane Season' encompasses six months of the year? That is 50%! That includes the very expensive July and August cruises. 

Personally I totally understand that weather issues are out of the control of Royal. What IS in their control is being honest and up front with passenger both on the ship and waiting to get on the ship. They need to make sure the correct information is being given out through all their social media channels. They need to make their updates more frequently - even if they just state that they are still waiting for the Coast Guard to complete their inspections of the channel. To just go radio silent and leave people hanging is just plain wrong. Carnival managed to get info to their passengers. 

thanks for educating me on when hurricane season, i was completely unaware of the timeline (sarcasm).  I still stand by my original comment. Dont cruise in those months of risk tolerance isnt there. All of this goes along with taking this risk of booking a Caribbean cruise during June thru Nov.

[Host Jacquelyn]

7 minutes ago, mo&fran said:

My experience, sadly, is the people that answer the phones are the last to know anything.

Yes completely, I have my share of misinformation given by the phone staff. But you would expect thise answering the phones to know about 24 hour delayed boarding. Wow

[Go Noles62]

Although hurricane season does run June through November you can absolutely set your watch with it peaking right around Labor Day. 

[Go Noles62]

[Go Noles62]

Those on board,

 

Port is still closed according to website. Is confidence still high you guys can get in tomorrow morning?

Edited August 31, 2023 by Go Noles62

[Weluv2cruise2gether]

According to the Tampa port website they have been reopened 

[jwlane]

Here's the latest (and probably last).

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/notices/travel-updates

[marci22]

1 hour ago, Go Noles62 said:

Although hurricane season does run June through November you can absolutely set your watch with it peaking right around Labor Day. 

Last week of August, first week of September, something is always going on.

[Sunshine3601]

7 hours ago, cello56 said:

They need to make sure the correct information is being given out through all their social media channels. They need to make their updates more frequently - even if they just state that they are still waiting for the Coast Guard to complete their inspections of the channel. To just go radio silent and leave people hanging is just plain wrong. Carnival managed to get info to their passengers. 

I don't understand your comment as Royal did update their website last night and again this morning and they sent out emails to passengers scheduled to board today.    Did you not receive their emails?   

[firefly333]

10 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I don't understand your comment as Royal did update their website last night and again this morning and they sent out emails to passengers scheduled to board today.    Did you not receive their emails?   

There were cruisers calling yesterday during the day. By last night seems like royal knew before last night. Wrong information was being given out before last night. If I was supposed to board today I too would have called before last  night.

[Sunshine3601]

44 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

There were cruisers calling yesterday during the day. By last night seems like royal knew before last night. Wrong information was being given out before last night. If I was supposed to board today I too would have called before last  night.

The Hurricane just hit yesterday.   No one knew when the Port of Tampa would open so what would have been the point of calling during the day yesterday?    I am sure Royal was truly hoping that the schedule would only be slightly changed by a couple of hours as their announcement said yesterday.   

[Go Noles62]

Some of you folks need to put your blue and white Pom poms away. Royal did not tell 8/31 passengers it was delayed until 11:00 pm. Passengers on the ship knew hours earlier they would be at sea an extra day hours earlier. Carnival alerted their passengers at 7:00 pm. Bottom line is Royal could have, and should have done better.