Our one in a life time cruise

I must be missing something here: first you are mad because you can't
see France because RCCL won't tender due to the weather, than you say
you understand about the weather??? We have had our cruise plans
change several times on RCCL, once we were docked for over 6 hours
when a hurricaine came into the Honduras. One time, going through the
first locks on the Panama Canal, the old Song of Norway hit the side
of the locks, bent her propulsion, and the cruise was over, etc.
Live with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get on with your life. The valid
complaint I feel you have is the attitude of the Guest Relations.
Yes, the front desk is far from what it should be sometimes. I am
sorry they did not treat you very well. When you take a cruise you are
totally in the hands of mother nature and what she deals out to the
cruise ships. I am glad you posted your complaint with people's
names, maybe RCCL can talk to her about the way she treated you.

I had to stop and re-read this rant 3 times before I was able to take
it all in! While some people may think nothing of decent grammar and
punctuation, it does count when you're trying to make a point or
persuade someone to see things your way.

First of all, it kind of puts a spin on your story when you say it was
a "once in a lifetime" cruise when you are actually "platinum"
travelers on RC. "Once in a lifetime" implies that its something
special and rare, not something you do annually or enough to earn you
"platinum" status.

Secondly, if it was that important to you, I would have had them
handle ALL the excursion details before you ever sailed. Air travel
being what it is, the cut off was too close to play around with.
Shame on your agent for not taking control of the situation and
handling these details for you - thats what they get paid for!

Thirdly, your interpretation of other travelers moods is immaterial to
your complaint - you have no proof and no reasons to provide to
support this claim. It has nothing to do with your situation.

Finally, you state that the staff made your trip enjoyable, so I have
to take issue with your insinuation that the entire trip was a loss.
Those staff members worked extra hard to make you happy and you are
lumping them in with idiots like Liina.

Speaking of which, Liina may definitely be in need of charm school
lessons, but I have a feeling she was not attitudinal without cause.

I find it a bit indignant and arrogant of you to assume just because
people book Caribbean Cruises that these are less important than the
MANY you book.

Also you do not want to hear how RC has no control over the weather or
other such disasters. What you want to hear is "yes they can, yes we
will do that for you and yes you are important to us more than any
other passenger"! Which being a Platinum Member should get you but
evidently does not.

Don't get me wrong I love going on a cruise even if its is to the
simple Caribbean Islands.
But my agent has always managed to get me a schedule of all
tours/excursions that fall within the time the boat docks and when it
departs. It seems your travel agent should have done this prior to
your booking your cruise...I mean especially if you told her/him how
important it was to take an excursion of London while docked.

You do not deserve complete compensation for your cruise. You know
that but want it anyway.

To Kenneth D:

Did your TA suggest you take a cruise to see London and Paris? Seems
like a lot of time on a (admittedly great!) ship when those are both
inland cities. You would have been much better served going to London
and Paris alone, if that was the whole purpose of the trip.

As for the rest of your comments, you might want to see what some of
your fellow passengers are saying on cruisecritic.com:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=803891

BTW -- hope you enjoyed the rest of the cruise -- if memory serves,
it's a terrific itinerary regardless.

Happy travels.

Since you cruised before you know that ports are not set in stone and
subject to change without compensation. The most you ever get back in
the small port charge if you don't make another port. That's just the
way it is, the cruiselines can't control the weather or labor strikes.

Must respond to the below poster:

In the cruise contract (and this is for EVERY cruise line) and during
the booking process you are told repeatedly that the itinerary is
subject to change, and ports can be dropped or substituted with no
compensation due.

By booking your cruise, you agree to those terms and conditions.
Therefore, you have no leverage to demand anything later.

Pretty simple.

The OP has EVERY RIGHT to expect to see the ports included in her
cruise package. If it were "no big deal" or not that significant a
part of a cruise why do the cruise lines charge MORE for certain
ports/locations? You can't have it both ways. I realize that the price
of a cruise is based on the cruise line, particular vessel and cruise
length as well, however the ports play a large part in that as well.
While I can agree that things DO happen, and a "go with the flow"
attitude is best for one's own sanity, the cruise line should not be
allowed to not fulfill it's end of the bargains with no reasonable
substitutes. I do agree with other posters though, skip cruising, and
book a land based vacation to have a better trip. Not because "the
cruise lines are right," but because that would allow you better
control of having the trip you envisioned!

I am sorry you had such a hard time. You describe this as being a Once
in a life time cruise, however, you stated you have cruised before.
So you must know that things like this DO happen. Sucks yes, but it
happens. I have only been on one cruise and was very pleased with the
out come.

I understand your desire to see Europe. I lived there for quite some
time and miss it terribly and would give anything to be able to go
back. I think you were trying to fit in too much. You wanted to
cruise and yet you wanted to see London, Paris, ect. If in the future
you can do this again might I suggest if you love crusing you might
take the Queen Mary 2 from NYC to England and then take the trains to
London and from London you can go to Dover and take the chunnel or
hover craft to Calais and from there a train to Paris is a less then
day trip. The trains in Europe are wonderful. I was able to go from
Frankfurt to Paris in less then 4 hours. Or you could just fly into
London and use that as your base and see the rest of Europe. Europe
is really quite small and the major cities can be seen about 1 every 2
days if you plan well.

I love to travel and I see you do as well, and I really hate it when
fellow travelers have such bad experiences. But I really dont think
you should be given any type of compenstation for the lost ports. As
you stated you cruised before and know the risks.

I have to agree with the other posters. If seeing London and Paris
were so important, you should have booked a land trip. Cruising
focuses on the cruise experience, not so much the ports. My last
cruise completely eliminated the Key West port-we stayed at sea that
day. I just enjoyed my time on the deck of the boat and in the spa.

Sorry you had a disappointing trip but I do not think the cruise line
should compensate you. What you described is typical for cruises;
ports are quite often missed and this is clearly spelled out in the
cruise contract. If seeing particular land destinations are important,
cruising is not the best type of vacation for the very reasons you
encountered. Ports are extras on a cruise; the primary point of a
cruise is the ship itself.

If your heart was set on seeing London and Paris, why not plan a
vacation to those cities? If you're on a cruise, you get one day or
just part of one day to visit a city -- that's not enough to do
anything in London or Paris! And how do you plan a visit to Paris,
which is not on the sea, when you're doing a cruise?

It just makes no sense to make a cruise a part of "seeing" London OR
Paris.

You understand that Royal Caribbean can't control the weather, but you
still want compensation? You are a nut. If cruise ships offered
compensation every time weather caused itinerary changes, they would
not be in business for long. For someone who has cruised before, you
don't seem very cruise savvy.

If certain places are that important for you to see, may I suggest a
land vacation to those places.

Crusing is a unique type of vacation and requires a go-with-the-flow
attitude. We have missed ports on several cruises and it did nothing
to dappen our enthusiasm or ruin our trip.

Everyone spends a lot of time planning their cruise, and everyone pays
a good deal of money, not just you.

I am inconvienced every day. Where is my check?

I agree that itineries are subject to change, but I'm wondering what
the reasons were for such drastic changes. The rough seas in Plymouth
I understand; they need to put the safety of the passengers first. But
what were the reasons for changing the other ports?

I understand you're unhappy, but I doubt you will get full
compensation for your trip.

I don't cruise, so I may be wrong, but I thought that "Itineraries are
subject to change" was pretty standard in a cruise contract.