LIVE from Explorer with a bad propellor 2/1/09

[jewelinthesand]

ok, i've been laying back and reading, reading, reading for days now. first, thanks so much to Meg for taking time out of her vacation to let all of us know what she knows. that was above and beyond and i for one, appreciate it!

 

now, as far as all the speculating, we are all human so it's normal. rccl never tells everything they know so naturally we speculate since that's all we have left to do.

 

i feel bad for the next couple of crusies as i think rccl will have to play it all by ear to see how it all plays out. it may go well it may not. so they can't really tell anyone now if any ports will be changed cause they will be learning that info as they go along. we don't want them to cancel our cruises and they don't want to cancel any of our crusies and lose all the revenue so our reasons may differ but the desire is the same - not to cancel any cruises.

 

now, this being said, after the next cruise they should certainly know what they are dealing with and then they should definitely let future crusiers know their fate so that they can choose to rebook, cancel, etc.

 

i know people say it's not that big a deal to miss a port and that if someone really wanted a certain port then they should just have gone there on vacation. that was a silly thing to say as the reason people go on cruises is to experience different places. they pick specific cruises for specific itineraries so they should be allowed to be disappointed if things change. and if rccl knows ahead of time that ports will change, be skipped, etc. then they should share that info. that's only right as we have all paid money and planned our yearly vacations, etc. yes, i see that some of you have 5 and 6 upcoming cruises in 2009 and you all seem to be the most laid back about all this. and i understand that but not everyone is in that boat, so to speak, and might only get one vacation in a year or every two years, etc. ,etc. - you see my point.

 

so while my heart goes out to you sailing tomorrow and the cruise after that, i don't think they could have told you anything ahead of time becuase they probably just don't know how it will all fare out. i'm sure they are hoping the fix they did will last. we all certainly hope you have fun regardless and are able to get to your ports.

 

we sail in about 6 weeks and who knows if it will be resolved by then but if not, i would expect that info and choices would be given to us. one can only hope!

 

good luck to everyone and hopefully you will all have fun.

[Slowboat2]

You are assuming that they "know they will not be going there". I wish everyone was as certain as you are. You may be correct that they will have to change their itinerary and once they know that it is a certainty they should notify the effected passengers. Until then however all is merely speculation. I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. We had a similar situation many years ago with a Carnival cruise out of Boston to Bermuda. At the time we sailed, all of Bermuda was shut down because of an island-wide strike. Circumstances were such that there were no viable alternatives, so when we boarded the ship we were advised that we would proceed to Bermuda and hope that the strike had been settled by the time we arrived. Actually we sat off Bermuda for several hours until the Captain finally announced quite dramatically, that the strike had been settled but we would be unable to get to the island until the next morning when the transportation workers (ferry workers and bus drivers) returned to their jobs. We weren't terribly thrilled about the circumstances but the cruiseline did the best that they could under the circumstances. In the present situation it appears that RCI is doing the best that it can to repair the ship and provide as much of the planned cruise as they can. It is highly unlikely that they purposely set out to "ruin" your cruise.:rolleyes:

 

The example you put forward about Bermuda is excactly what I pointed out about a current cruise being altered, Did the next few cruises have that problem?

I will change the word from WHEN to IF they go there. Now my question is, who knows better than RCI where that ship is going, and they are not saying about any changes, so it will not affect their bottom line. As you can see from my signature, I've sailed most of my cruises with RCL, so I'm just not bashing them.

[BroadwayGirl]

 

i know people say it's not that big a deal to miss a port and that if someone really wanted a certain port then they should just have gone there on vacation. that was a silly thing to say as the reason people go on cruises is to experience different places. they pick specific cruises for specific itineraries so they should be allowed to be disappointed if things change. and if rccl knows ahead of time that ports will change, be skipped, etc. then they should share that info. that's only right as we have all paid money and planned our yearly vacations, etc. yes, i see that some of you have 5 and 6 upcoming cruises in 2009 and you all seem to be the most laid back about all this. and i understand that but not everyone is in that boat, so to speak, and might only get one vacation in a year or every two years, etc. ,etc. - you see my point.

 

 

Thank you for posting that. We have saved for this vacation for 2 yrs. We haven't gone on a vacation in at least 5. Not everyone has the funds to go on multiple cruises every year or go every year.

 

I just want RCCL, once they know the full impact of their fix, to be forthcoming with how this will (or will not) effect upcoming cruises. I'm sure we will all know more once this next cruise departs.

[Salt air hair]

DH & I and friends are scheduled to go out on EOS on March 15, 2009. I sailed with RCL once before. We were scheduled to go to Bermuda (a friend of my DD was getting married) Now, prior to our leaving the house, we called RCL, "Has the itinerary being changed due to the possibility of a not yet determined, tropical depression that is not so close to Bermuda". The reply, "No, we're heading to Bermuda" all along the ride in (from eastern LI) calls to RCL , same questions, same answer .. We pull into the cruise terminal and once last telephone call, "Has the cruise itin been changed?" As they replied, "No, all is fine, we're heading to Bermuda" the guy in the parking lot handed us a flyer that the itin has been changed and we would be going to Canada. So, as far as letting people know when they know, I don't believe it. Needless to say the bride was devestated, no wedding took place and to get the final kick in the backside we learned that four other ships all went to Bermuda, as scheduled, to enjoy a week of beautiful weather. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[jewelinthesand]

DH & I and friends are scheduled to go out on EOS on March 15, 2009. I sailed with RCL once before. We were scheduled to go to Bermuda (a friend of my DD was getting married) Now, prior to our leaving the house, we called RCL, "Has the itinerary being changed due to the possibility of a not yet determined, tropical depression that is not so close to Bermuda". The reply, "No, we're heading to Bermuda" all along the ride in (from eastern LI) calls to RCL , same questions, same answer .. We pull into the cruise terminal and once last telephone call, "Has the cruise itin been changed?" As they replied, "No, all is fine, we're heading to Bermuda" the guy in the parking lot handed us a flyer that the itin has been changed and we would be going to Canada. So, as far as letting people know when they know, I don't believe it. Needless to say the bride was devestated, no wedding took place and to get the final kick in the backside we learned that four other ships all went to Bermuda, as scheduled, to enjoy a week of beautiful weather. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 

wow! that sure sucks! you didn't even have the correct clothing, nevermind the correct info! that's really sad. i think part of the wrong answers you were getting just shows how much they tell their own staff! nevermind the passengers! what a damn shame. i do think though that this might be the case for tomorrow's cruise. they aren't really going to know till they limp back into port tomorrow morning and perhaps take another look to see how their fix held up. let's all just hope that all goes well

[megr1125]

OK....this is it!

 

ALmost out of credits, but when i get to whereever i go tomorrow for the weekend, i will post more...

 

REALLY rough...55+ MPH winds and seas up to 20 feet!

 

VERY not fun!

 

No more info about anything yet....

 

felt a few THUDS but i presume it's the ocean since Capt Ryan didn't come on the PA and say...OOPS!!!

 

FOr the person with the ?? about spinning...looks like there are some sort of things to hold your feet on, and i think it's 12 bucks a session.....HTH.

 

again, i will check in tomorrow and answer any ???s and hopefully finish the review!

[mkg]

Thank you for posting that. We have saved for this vacation for 2 yrs. We haven't gone on a vacation in at least 5. Not everyone has the funds to go on multiple cruises every year or go every year.

 

I just want RCCL, once they know the full impact of their fix, to be forthcoming with how this will (or will not) effect upcoming cruises. I'm sure we will all know more once this next cruise departs.

 

Yes, we booked this cruise June of 07' and even though I've been on a couple since then, this one we are looking more forward to because of the itinerary and the fact that its 12 days. Lets hope it all works out.

[Ocean Boy]

You have a great attitude. I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

 

If there happen to be problems or changes on your cruise (fingers crossed that there won't be), may I suggest the following game to keep your spirits up:

 

Anytime someone complains about how RCCL ruined their vacation you take a drink (or eat a cookie or something else you enjoy).

 

Anytime someone around you demands compensation you take a drink.

 

Anytime someone mentions this wouldn't happen on XYZ cruiseline, take a drink.

 

You get the idea. You know you can't do anything about these issues once you are onboard the ship so don't let it ruin your cruise.

 

What are you trying to do run up people's onboard spending accounts??:D:D

[wrp96]

What are you trying to do run up people's onboard spending accounts??:D:D

 

 

Hey I didn't say WHERE she had to get the drinks from.;)

[Shar27]

i know people say it's not that big a deal to miss a port and that if someone really wanted a certain port then they should just have gone there on vacation. that was a silly thing to say as the reason people go on cruises is to experience different places. they pick specific cruises for specific itineraries so they should be allowed to be disappointed if things change. and if rccl knows ahead of time that ports will change, be skipped, etc. then they should share that info. that's only right as we have all paid money and planned our yearly vacations, etc. yes, i see that some of you have 5 and 6 upcoming cruises in 2009 and you all seem to be the most laid back about all this. and i understand that but not everyone is in that boat, so to speak, and might only get one vacation in a year or every two years, etc. ,etc. - you see my point.

 

Thank you for your post. I have been feeling the same thing reading these posts.

 

The interesting thing is that most of the ever present Royal Cheerleaders are not sailing on the Explorer at all or are still many, many months out.

[cruz4evr]

Shar27............This is off topic but I love your signature quote. :D

[Shar27]

Shar27............This is off topic but I love your signature quote. :D

 

Thanks,

 

Feel free to steal it. I'm not quite as possessive as some people on this thread are.:rolleyes::p

[above sea level cruiser]

Ummmm...hi there....I see you are new to CC...but I don't remember giving permission to use my signature. :confused:

 

***

 

I just stumbled upon this almost month old thread. Two pages back the big "L" lambasted some poor soul for not being on topic. Yet petty crap like this still exists? And the big one allows it to go through?

[sea-cruise]

The wind is howling here in Jersey, Meg.

Safe cruising back to Bayonne! :)

[cruz4evr]

Thanks,

 

Feel free to steal it. I'm not quite as possessive as some people on this thread are.:rolleyes::p

 

 

Thank you Shar!.......I just stole it. :D

[mkg]

OK....this is it!

 

ALmost out of credits, but when i get to whereever i go tomorrow for the weekend, i will post more...

 

REALLY rough...55+ MPH winds and seas up to 20 feet!

 

VERY not fun!

 

No more info about anything yet....

 

felt a few THUDS but i presume it's the ocean since Capt Ryan didn't come on the PA and say...OOPS!!!

 

FOr the person with the ?? about spinning...looks like there are some sort of things to hold your feet on, and i think it's 12 bucks a session.....HTH.

 

again, i will check in tomorrow and answer any ???s and hopefully finish the review!

 

Meg

How bad was the boat rocking through the winds and high seas. I know its

always worse in the Atlantic, but I have a tough time with a real rocky ship. Was

there any passengers sick??

Safe home!!

[trishnbaby]

I know anxieties and stress is running high, but has it not occurred to anyone yet that maybe RCCL won't KNOW how serious the problem is until they complete the long haul back up the eastern seaboard? If something breaks on your car that effects your ability to go highway speeds, you won't really know if it's been fixed until you get back on the highway. And that's just a CAR!

 

And for the record, I do have a vested interest in all of this, as I'm on the 2/22 sailing (with all of my in-laws, God help me! lol)

[FIRELT5]

EOS is off of St. George Staten Island in upper NY Harbor and should be docked at CApe Liberty in less than 30 mins.

 

Pilot pick up was around 0540 at Ambrose light.

[FIRELT5]

EOS should be Docked (Port side to Dock) in less than 10 Mins.

[jimmercoons]

can't seem to find the web cam of the dock

Might you have the link?

Thanks

[2bFREEonTHEseas]

DH & I and friends are scheduled to go out on EOS on March 15, 2009. I sailed with RCL once before. We were scheduled to go to Bermuda (a friend of my DD was getting married) Now, prior to our leaving the house, we called RCL, "Has the itinerary being changed due to the possibility of a not yet determined, tropical depression that is not so close to Bermuda". The reply, "No, we're heading to Bermuda" all along the ride in (from eastern LI) calls to RCL , same questions, same answer .. We pull into the cruise terminal and once last telephone call, "Has the cruise itin been changed?" As they replied, "No, all is fine, we're heading to Bermuda" the guy in the parking lot handed us a flyer that the it in has been changed and we would be going to Canada. So, as far as letting people know when they know, I don't believe it. Needless to say the bride was devestated, no wedding took place and to get the final kick in the backside we learned that four other ships all went to Bermuda, as scheduled, to enjoy a week of beautiful weather. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 

I feel sorry you missed the wedding, etc, but here the thing, if it was such an important event, you should have flown to Bermuda instead of trying to plan a wedding around a cruise, that is just asking for trouble, and unfortunate, it happened to you!

 

The number one most important rule of cruising, NEVER EVER PLAN on going where you are supposed to be going, mechanics, mother nature, and acts of idiotic management will fail you when a date, time, and place is planned around a cruise! A cruise is a vacation, not a mode of transportation from point A to point B for some big event.

"Itineraries are Subject to Change" is pretty much the wall paper of any and all cruise lines, learn to live by it! We are all lucky that this does not happen more often - but it happens enough.

 

As far an a broken prop, do you think that the purser can just walk to K-mart in St Thomas and buy one at the blue light special...? These are most likely a specialty item made specific to a cruise lines specs. They are balances to the millionth degree, so just going underwater and welding one would not be a great fix and it will be off balanced and vibrations would cause further damage to bearings, etc, and not to even think the complains from the passengers who felt those vibs...god help us all!

 

Once they get a prob made, they just can not Fed Ex it either...most likely due to the size (these are not for a mercury 185 outboard) - they need to be air freight to a port that can even handle an airplane that does air freight, I suspect Cape Air into St Thomas with their 9 person planes would not work! So, it would have to be barged or steam shipped (freighter) to a port other than the country it came from, probably the Netherlands or some European country....

 

Good grief people...you booked a cruise for a vacation, and that is what you are going to get, sure you might not end up where it was originally planned to go, but at least you are going somewhere...or cancel and sit at home - your choice, but stop blaming RCCL for every little detail...no wonder why nit picky people ruin vacations...

 

What's next, the amount of ice cubes in your water...? To much salt in the water at the beach, heck, lets blame RCCL for the cold temps in Florida the last few weeks...I really think they are at fault!!!!

[cnickcruiser]

I feel sorry you missed the wedding, etc, but here the thing, if it was such an important event, you should have flown to Bermuda instead of trying to plan a wedding around a cruise, that is just asking for trouble, and unfortunate, it happened to you!

 

The number one most important rule of cruising, NEVER EVER PLAN on going where you are supposed to be going, mechanics, mother nature, and acts of idiotic management will fail you when a date, time, and place is planned around a cruise! A cruise is a vacation, not a mode of transportation from point A to point B for some big event.

 

"Itineraries are Subject to Change" is pretty much the wall paper of any and all cruise lines, learn to live by it! We are all lucky that this does not happen more often - but it happens enough.

 

As far an a broken prop, do you think that the purser can just walk to K-mart in St Thomas and buy one at the blue light special...? These are most likely a specialty item made specific to a cruise lines specs. They are balances to the millionth degree, so just going underwater and welding one would not be a great fix and it will be off balanced and vibrations would cause further damage to bearings, etc, and not to even think the complains from the passengers who felt those vibs...god help us all!

 

Once they get a prob made, they just can not Fed Ex it either...most likely due to the size (these are not for a mercury 185 outboard) - they need to be air freight to a port that can even handle an airplane that does air freight, I suspect Cape Air into St Thomas with their 9 person planes would not work! So, it would have to be barged or steam shipped (freighter) to a port other than the country it came from, probably the Netherlands or some European country....

 

Good grief people...you booked a cruise for a vacation, and that is what you are going to get, sure you might not end up where it was originally planned to go, but at least you are going somewhere...or cancel and sit at home - your choice, but stop blaming RCCL for every little detail...no wonder why nit picky people ruin vacations...

 

What's next, the amount of ice cubes in your water...? To much salt in the water at the beach, heck, lets blame RCCL for the cold temps in Florida the last few weeks...I really think they are at fault!!!!

 

Very well said!!! I totally agree with everything that you said.

Thank you.

[FIRELT5]

can't seem to find the web cam of the dock

Might you have the link?

Thanks

 

No Web Cam of Cape Liberty would be available at this time.. We were using realtime AIS Marine Data.

[setsail]

I feel sorry you missed the wedding, etc, but here the thing, if it was such an important event, you should have flown to Bermuda instead of trying to plan a wedding around a cruise, that is just asking for trouble, and unfortunate, it happened to you!

 

The number one most important rule of cruising, NEVER EVER PLAN on going where you are supposed to be going, mechanics, mother nature, and acts of idiotic management will fail you when a date, time, and place is planned around a cruise! A cruise is a vacation, not a mode of transportation from point A to point B for some big event.

"Itineraries are Subject to Change" is pretty much the wall paper of any and all cruise lines, learn to live by it! We are all lucky that this does not happen more often - but it happens enough.

 

As far an a broken prop, do you think that the purser can just walk to K-mart in St Thomas and buy one at the blue light special...? These are most likely a specialty item made specific to a cruise lines specs. They are balances to the millionth degree, so just going underwater and welding one would not be a great fix and it will be off balanced and vibrations would cause further damage to bearings, etc, and not to even think the complains from the passengers who felt those vibs...god help us all!

 

Once they get a prob made, they just can not Fed Ex it either...most likely due to the size (these are not for a mercury 185 outboard) - they need to be air freight to a port that can even handle an airplane that does air freight, I suspect Cape Air into St Thomas with their 9 person planes would not work! So, it would have to be barged or steam shipped (freighter) to a port other than the country it came from, probably the Netherlands or some European country....

 

Good grief people...you booked a cruise for a vacation, and that is what you are going to get, sure you might not end up where it was originally planned to go, but at least you are going somewhere...or cancel and sit at home - your choice, but stop blaming RCCL for every little detail...no wonder why nit picky people ruin vacations...

 

What's next, the amount of ice cubes in your water...? To much salt in the water at the beach, heck, lets blame RCCL for the cold temps in Florida the last few weeks...I really think they are at fault!!!!

 

Very well put, but they can't here you because of all the screaming about OBC and I want my money back because Bla Bla Bla. The people who man the pursers desk must just want to hide somewhere. The prop police are watching.

[MaryZ]

I

The number one most important rule of cruising, NEVER EVER PLAN on going where you are supposed to be going, mechanics, mother nature, and acts of idiotic management will fail you when a date, time, and place is planned around a cruise! A cruise is a vacation, not a mode of transportation from point A to point B for some big event.

!

 

 

Then I suppose the cruise lines should stop selling excursions ahead of time.

Because after all, you should just be happy to be on the cruiseship.

And they don't have to take you to the ports that are on the itinerary you paid for.