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

[luv2travel29]

i board this ship tomorrow and if they cancel a port, so be it. if we have another sea day, so be it.... that is life, **** happens....

hey i am still on vacation, i am not working, i am not cooking and i am with my family. i highly doubt that RC would put passengers and crew in an unsafe situation.....

Planes are cancelled or delayed on a daily basis, hotels have construction and neglect to inform the customer... i will just make the best of the situation......

[2bFREEonTHEseas]

You all sure speculate an awful amount of time on information you read from other people not associated with RCCL. So the big ship has a bad wheel, make the most of it, so you miss a port, make the most of it! last year we missed a few ports and we made the most of it and had a great time! By the way, RCCL did not comp us anything for the missed stops...it was not their fault, **** happens!

[Nana Vegas]

I'm scheduled for the March 6 sailing. MY complaint is that RCL is not owning up to the problem and I find that a big problem. They are not alone in the industry--had a similar problem with NCL and they never admitted they were skipping ports,etc. even when passengers callled with exact details. There should be some regulation that they behonest-we're sailing anyway but we would like to be told the facts--just the facts.

[RaMar]

At least they should inform passengers on the 2/13 cruise about the changes in the itinerary which I am pretty sure that there will be. The lack of communication on their part is totally disgusting.

[mkg]

If the complete propellor was not damaged, just one or two of the blades, this would mean that the vessel would not need dry docking as it could be repaired by simply unbolting the relevant blades by using divers.

 

They would attach a line to the first blade, unbolt it, hoist it clear, lower the new blade, bolt it on and do the same to any other blade. Thus it could be done in a couple of hours, or during a stop over in port.

 

As regards to three wakes behind the ship, a ship might not always use the three screws, but for economical reasons reduce to two. Hopefully this problem has now been rectified and cleared a lot of CC members worries

 

Well, it makes sense and sounds good, but didn't they try that in St. Thomas to no avail?

[aloha43]

i board this ship tomorrow and if they cancel a port, so be it. if we have another sea day, so be it.... that is life, **** happens....

 

hey i am still on vacation, i am not working, i am not cooking and i am with my family. i highly doubt that RC would put passengers and crew in an unsafe situation.....

 

Planes are cancelled or delayed on a daily basis, hotels have construction and neglect to inform the customer... i will just make the best of the situation......

 

That is the attitude that I like to see. :)

 

Have a great cruise!

[laxxcoach]

If the complete propellor was not damaged, just one or two of the blades, this would mean that the vessel would not need dry docking as it could be repaired by simply unbolting the relevant blades by using divers.

 

They would attach a line to the first blade, unbolt it, hoist it clear, lower the new blade, bolt it on and do the same to any other blade. Thus it could be done in a couple of hours, or during a stop over in port.

 

As regards to three wakes behind the ship, a ship might not always use the three screws, but for economical reasons reduce to two. Hopefully this problem has now been rectified and cleared a lot of CC members worries

 

They did some of this in St. Thomas. What is appering is that they may not have been totally successful.

 

I'm scheduled for the March 6 sailing. MY complaint is that RCL is not owning up to the problem and I find that a big problem. They are not alone in the industry--had a similar problem with NCL and they never admitted they were skipping ports,etc. even when passengers callled with exact details. There should be some regulation that they behonest-we're sailing anyway but we would like to be told the facts--just the facts.

 

At least they should inform passengers on the 2/13 cruise about the changes in the itinerary which I am pretty sure that there will be. The lack of communication on their part is totally disgusting.

 

This is what we are finding. I am sailing tomorrow. Some of our cruisers have called RCI and they have said everything is fixed and that there is no change to our itenerary. We will have to see. I will report in from the cruise after I get on board.

 

The thing with the wake, It is one of the outside screws that is not working. And onboard they can see that the speed is not as fast as it usually is when the ship is making a long run. I don't think this is just trying to save fuel. The schedules are to tight for that, going from Bayonne to the Caribbean.

[geegee1]

.....Planes are cancelled or delayed on a daily basis, hotels have construction and neglect to inform the customer... i will just make the best of the situation......

 

but if a plane is cancelled you can reschedule. if a hotel is under construction you can try to find a different hotel. boarding a ship tomorrow and finding out that 2 ports are cancelled, because the captain couldn't steer his way out of trouble - i'm screwed and can't do anything about it. that's not something i am looking forward to.

[geegee1]

At least they should inform passengers on the 2/13 cruise about the changes in the itinerary which I am pretty sure that there will be. The lack of communication on their part is totally disgusting.

 

 

Couldn't agree more. this is what's driving me nuts.

[negc]

Couldn't agree more. this is what's driving me nuts.

It is also possible that they don't know whether or not there will be any changes in itinerary. Better to say nothing than spread misinformation. By the time the ship returns to Bayonne, maybe everyone will have a better idea of the true situation. Insisting on the worst scenarios without having all the facts is speculation at its worst.:rolleyes:

[Slowboat2]

It is also possible that they don't know whether or not there will be any changes in itinerary. Better to say nothing than spread misinformation. By the time the ship returns to Bayonne, maybe everyone will have a better idea of the true situation. Insisting on the worst scenarios without having all the facts is speculation at its worst.:rolleyes:

 

That is precisely why RCI should be saying something in regards to the problem. Please don't quote that they have the right to change itinerary without notice, that should only apply to the current cruise. They should not keep offering that cruise with the posted itinerary when they know they will not going there.

[mkg]

It wouldn't bother me to have to miss one port like PR I don't want to miss the entire cruise due to cancellation. I also don't want to have a noisy ride either. Hopefully they will just try to fix it again in another port. We leave 3 sailings from now. I just hope all is well by then.

[jmurphy918]

Hi Guys, well I board in about 12 hours, so I called RCI and was told the ship is fixed. Do i belived it? I dont know. well hopefully it will be smoothe sailing. Valentines day is first formal night so that will be fun! Have exersions on each island so I will keep my fingers crossed:confused:

[2bFREEonTHEseas]

but if a plane is cancelled you can reschedule. if a hotel is under construction you can try to find a different hotel. boarding a ship tomorrow and finding out that 2 ports are cancelled, because the captain couldn't steer his way out of trouble - i'm screwed and can't do anything about it. that's not something i am looking forward to.

 

Does anyone actually know they are changing the port calls...? Or are we just speculating...?

 

Here is the thing, I am sure they are trying to fix this thing without changing the schedule, or if they need to change the schedule, they will do it as it needs be to accomidate the repairs and will notify the passengers!

 

Nice of you to blame the captain 100% for your misfortunes...you must of been on the bridge the day it happened and know 100% what happened...? maybe the tides were lower than norm, who knows...the ships run pretty much 100% on a marine GPS system which the captain follows...so no one here really 100% knows what happened.

 

Make the most of your cruise! It is not the end of the world. If you wanted to see that port of call, perhaps you should have just flew there and stayed at a resort!

[BermudaPrincess]

The competition out of New York had an engine/generator problem on the Caribean Princess which reduced the cruising speedthat went on for over 6 months before Princess repaired the ship. The only notification that we had of a specific problem from Princess before our cruise last summer was a change of arrival and departure times for each port 3 or 4 months before our departure with no reason given. It was only after investigating on CC and other boards that I discovered the truth. Did this ruin our vacation - no. Did we have a great time - yes.

 

We are booked for this August on EOS (have to love not flying to a ship!) and I have been monitoring the status since this surfaced. Of more concern to me is not the status of repair, but the cause of the problem, which RCCL is still investigating.

 

As far as the reservations folks knowing what is going on - this is a problem in the entire travel industry. The job of reservations folks is to sell, sell, sell. They are given happy talk and stick to the script. Unless you have a way to get to the real operations folks the dirty laundry is hidden far from the consumers view.

[MaryZ]

Does anyone actually know they are changing the port calls...? Or are we just speculating...?

 

Here is the thing, I am sure they are trying to fix this thing without changing the schedule, or if they need to change the schedule, they will do it as it needs be to accomidate the repairs and will notify the passengers!

 

Make the most of your cruise! It is not the end of the world. If you wanted to see that port of call, perhaps you should have just flew there and stayed at a resort!

 

The schedule has to be changed due to lower speed.

So it might be a whole port or a few hours shaved off port time.

[negc]

That is precisely why RCI should be saying something in regards to the problem. Please don't quote that they have the right to change itinerary without notice, that should only apply to the current cruise. They should not keep offering that cruise with the posted itinerary when they know they will not going there.

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:

[mom2NnB]

I am on the cruise that leaves tomorrow. If we lose a port - so be it - I'm on vacation I'll make the most of it. If I make all ports - so be it - I'll have fun as originally planned.

 

I have two choices:

 

1. Go on the cruise and take my chance we lose a port and if we do, make the most of what we get and have fun.

2. Go on the cruise and bitch and complain how unfair this is and that we are being held prisoner - on a cruise ship:confused::confused:.

 

RCCL could have easily cancelled all cruises till the EOS got fixed - who likes this as an alternative? I certainly do not! I'm sure they aren't doing any of this in piss us off.

 

If you dont want to take your chances - cancel, rebook, whatever!!!

[negc]

I am on the cruise that leaves tomorrow. If we lose a port - so be it - I'm on vacation I'll make the most of it. If I make all ports - so be it - I'll have fun as originally planned.

 

I have two choices:

 

1. Go on the cruise and take my chance we lose a port and if we do, make the most of what we get and have fun.

2. Go on the cruise and bitch and complain how unfair this is and that we are being held prisoner - on a cruise ship:confused::confused:.

 

RCCL could have easily cancelled all cruises till the EOS got fixed - who likes this as an alternative? I certainly do not! I'm sure they aren't doing any of this in piss us off.

 

If you dont want to take your chances - cancel, rebook, whatever!!!

 

Have a wonderfully Happy Birthday on your cruise and don't let the complainers prevent you from having a great time. :)

[wrp96]

I am on the cruise that leaves tomorrow. If we lose a port - so be it - I'm on vacation I'll make the most of it. If I make all ports - so be it - I'll have fun as originally planned.

 

I have two choices:

 

1. Go on the cruise and take my chance we lose a port and if we do, make the most of what we get and have fun.

2. Go on the cruise and bitch and complain how unfair this is and that we are being held prisoner - on a cruise ship:confused::confused:.

 

RCCL could have easily cancelled all cruises till the EOS got fixed - who likes this as an alternative? I certainly do not! I'm sure they aren't doing any of this in piss us off.

 

If you dont want to take your chances - cancel, rebook, whatever!!!

 

 

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.

[mom2NnB]

Love your game - but if I do it, I may end up drunk by 9 am;) or too fat I'll sink the ship.

 

Thanks for the Birthday wishes!!:D

[negc]

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.

 

I like your game, Wrona. Maybe you should copyright it.:D If we applied the rules to these boards though, there would be a lot of fat, drunken CCers online.;)

[esbie11]

I can only speak for myself, although it seems as though several others have also expressed this, but I am not bothered by missing ports, and I won't complain about it if it happens. What I (and others) are upset about is the lack of communication and accurate info from RCCL. The next sailing should tell us alot. Several people have called RCCL and have been told it was fixed and the itinerary will not change. However if that changes once they board the ship, I will have a big problem with that. This problem didn't occur 2 days ago...it has been going on for weeks. I don't expect a specific update with all of the details, but even something like "The propeller was fixed to the best of our ability under water. Our plan is to take her to dry-dock as soon as available. Until then the itineraries will be altered accordingly" This would save us the guessing and speculation. I don't ask them to pass along info that they don't know, but they obviously know more then they are sharing since they have shared nothing! If my itinerary is altered that's fine. But I would be upset if I found out once I got on the ship, after the problem has been going on for a while. My nightmare is that I get a call 2 days before sailing to be told they are dry-docking during that week and my cruise is cancelled. It is easy to sit back and say to just enjoy the cruise, but we have $22000 invested in this trip, not to mention the money for the actual wedding itself. My fiance picked up another job over the past two years to pay for all of our guests to come with us on the cruise and to our wedding. So sorry, but I can't sit back and say "Oh well, I'll have fun no matter what." Particularly if there is a chance they would cancel our wedding port. I would prefer to know this info BEFORE boarding if I have to cancel my wedding due to an itinerary change, not once I am on the ship! But time will tell, as we'll see whether this next one sails as planned, as the RCCL CS folks say it will.

[wrp96]

Hey, what can I say. When life hands you lemons, make lemoncello!!!:p I just figure that when you are in a situation like this where complaining isn't going to make the ship go faster, you have a choice: you can ruin your own vacation by spending time complaining or you can enjoy yourself on the cruise and then when you get home write a letter letting the people in charge know how they could've handled it better.

[panda14]

We are sailing on EOS on 27th March and I totally agree with the coments from esbie11. As customers of RCCI with large investments in our various cruises, we have a right to be informed before boarding if ports are to be missed or shorten.

 

Changes to itineries due to inclement weather or problems to the ship at sea have to be accepted, these are unforseen. But not to keep people updated when RCCI KNOW there is a problem is just wrong.

 

We sailed on IOS last year and noticed how much RCCI had increased their bar prices in six months. Perhaps they hope that if they dont fix the prop until she dry docks, and it means a few more seadays each cruise, they will beat the credit crunch - off the back of their loyal customers!!!

 

All those sailing tomorrow, I hope your intinery is fine, but please keep posting and keep us all updated....

 

PandA :)