Ray

3 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

^^^^ winner!

Yip and its ALL gone again lol  

Drinks package at $46 per day

3 excursions for both of us and 2 spa treatments for my wife  

And what was left for next cruise 

Pre covid it didnt matter what time you were allocated for  check in, you just turned up when you wanted. 

We turned up for our Freedom cruise at 10.30am and was onboard just after 11am with drink in hand, this was well before our allocated check in time.

Things may have changed now slightly in that it may take longer to board depending what measures they put in place but you should still be able to head to ship earlier than allocated time 

Requested refund on 22nd of May received it all in my bank today

Hopefully someone can explain this for me.

Must be redeemed within 14 days of booking i understand 

Limited to sail dates within one year however the last bit...must be used within 100 days of purchase..this bit i dont get! 

So is it a year from purchase or 100 days? Confused and im not even drunk!! Yet lol 

Freedom Of The Seas : 7th of March 2021 :  

4 minutes ago, Jill said:

But my eyes can’t see what color St Maarten is!

Pretty sure its purple  

Map has Peurto Rico as green and a June reopening, hotel i had booked for end of June cancelled my booking as they cannot see PR opening up any time soon

On the bright side booked a week away in Romania for Nov

8 hours ago, J-Fitz said:

I’m down with reform that would bring less pollution, better working rights, and fair hours to the employees. These aren’t crazy things to say. People have been saying this type of stuff about the cruise industry for decades. 

I completely agree with what you are saying! but shouldn't we look at the whole picture? 

Is there any difference between someone from India or Philippines  working on a cruiseship or on land rig in some Middle East  or Asian country? Yes there is!!!

Those on working on cruiseship will be far better paid than those on land rigs, maybe 3 times as much per month not including any tips they get, However it would be interesting to know if say US, UK, German or Italian bar staff earn the same as say Filipino, Indian or Pakistani...If you are doing the same job then wages should be the same

living conditions are a lot better on cruiseships, i have been in areas where people working on land rigs live and they look like parts of Syria after it was bombed!

 food far superior, may not be same as guests get but it's still better than what they cook themselves on land ( wages on land rigs determine what they spend on food ) 

Also lets not forget about closer to home and waitress staff in the US! Shouldn't they have a good hourly wage so they don't have to rely on the tips? 

Simple fact is it's not just the cruise industry that underpays it's employee's, it's right across the globe on a wide scale, will these same Australian Unions fight for better wages and Living conditions for those from so called 3rd world countries employed by Australian Oil companies? i very much doubt it !!!!!

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/5376/

 its only a river cruise but its a step in the right direction

4 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Sure you can. It's called "small pox".

Admittedly this was done in 1980 or there abouts, however 2 lots of the virus are held in storage ( 1 in US 1 in Russia ) scientists have even into the 90s worked on new vaccines because even though there are no cases it is not impossible for it to return. 

In Russia a frozen body was unearthed after a very long period of time, on defrosting the corpse released a virus that had been dormant in the frozen body, this is one situation that medical experts are scared may happen again possibly even with small pox.

3 hours ago, bcarney said:

My deal breaker is that I'm not sailing until there is a vaccine. Getting sick because some yahoo declines to note that they have a fever when boarding the ship since they don't want to lose their vacation.... yeah, not worth it to me.

Personally i dont think they will ever get a proper vaccine for it! 

I think in years to come this is going to be classed and treated by people in the same way as the flu, every year people will get their jabs and every year 100s of 1000s all over the world, some of whom have had the jabs will die of it unnoticed just as flu deaths are today because its just covid19.

You cannot wipe out a virus completely so we may as well live for today because we dont know what tomorrow will bring

1 hour ago, Morganno said:

Update on the refund issue.

 

My UK based TA asked for my UK bank account on Thursday, stating it would be between 90-120 days to get my refund. 

 

 

Think TA is trying to pull a fast one! 

Get Martin Lewis on the case  

Theres no difference between a restaurant on land or on a cruiseship 

No difference between a casino on land or on cruiseship 

If measures be it masks, social Distancing etc are put in place to protect people on land these measures will be implemented on cruiseships.

We just have to get used to the fact the world has changed and it will take a long time to recover

Right now i want to cruise but i cannot, simple fact is government restrictions have made it impossible.

No flights, hotels on lockdown, cruise cancelled and now new quarantine regulations so god only knows when i will be able to rebook

On the plus side when we do sail again wearing masks doesnt bother me, in fact its a bonus as it makes her indoors look better

Was hoping to get away end of Nov however UK government has basically made that impossible with new legislation stating that anyone ( national or foreigner ) MUST register and then self isolate for 14 days upon arrival in country, so this would mean taking another 2 weeks vacation just to be locked up in my house with local authorities doing random checks to make sure im sticking to the rules

This applies to anyone arriving at any airport, Dock or ferry terminal

Hard to smoke anywhere not just casino when you are wearing a mask

Well Just recieved an email its official " no cruises between June 12th and July 31st" 

Back to planning stage again

With so much negativity being directed at all travel companies for  how they are behaving during these unprecedented times, some of which is well deserved its only correct that when a company does things correctly its noted.

Jetblue changed the time of my flight from JFK to San Juan and it messed up my timings, now chances are cruise will be cancelled  and i would have had to cancel anyway, 

So i contacted them by chat on their App, no waiting or fuss just straight down to how they could assist.

Was offered a FULL cash refund or 125% in future credit that lasts 18months, i took the cash refund and was informed it would be in my bank within 10 to 14 working days.

4 days it took for full refund to appear in my bank.

Hats off to Jetblue a smaller airline showing the Big Boys how it should be done 

6 hours ago, Jmccaffrey said:

Let's make sure we are talking about Facts here: This was post on May 18. 2020

According to numbers reported by The Miami Herald, the proportion of crews actually repatriated varies by cruise line, ranging from an estimated 23% of Royal Caribbean and 37% of Carnival crew members to 76% of MSC shipboard personnel.

To be honest after seeing the writer for that rag is a maratime laywer who gos after maratime companies , and the fact these post by RYeo are just designed to cause issues which i said previously i have no interest in anything that rag has to say because they and they writer are not interested in anything not even the welfare of the crew, all its about is how much much can be made from lawsuits and they are not worried who gets hurt while trying to make a buck 

5 hours ago, Crazycruiser50 said:

 
 

As far as getting home?  Carnival has already figured out a way to get all their crews home minus the bare minimum to keep the ships running at sea.  That was over a month ago too.
 

The country’s are closed to foreigners, but if you are a citizen of that country you are allowed in as long as you self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.  
 

I agree Carnival found a way they shipped crew from one ship to another then sailed that ship to a number of destinations, they chartered aircraft and flew them home....JUST as RC did at the start as the crew member who posts on here informed us when he headed home..and as they had planned again with sailings to the UK..are carnival doing this now with those who have went out of contract since then? Since countries went into lockdown? 

No they are not! They are in the same boat as every other cruiseline, and as i mentioned on another post  OFW ( oversees filipino workers ) are NOT being allowed in, Aida which is part of Carnival charterered 2 aircraft to fly to Manila, they arrived safely, my friend was due to be on next flight home however the government shut the door even to nationals and they are still in hamburg waiting to find out when they will get home. 

A Norwegian government official stated yesterday it was impossible to repatriate crew whilst their countries had no flying and lockdown! 

Maybe other governments should stand up and state the facts instead of allowing garbage press to print complete rubbish which anyone with half a brain would know is impossible due to the restrictions not because a company isnt seen to be trying.

With regards wages, yeah they should be paid but that isnt going to get them home any sooner unless they club their wages together and bribe their governments to open its borders 

Finally

These posts by the OG poster are for 1 aim only! To cause more disruption and issues! 

Click the link for Jim Walker who writes these newspaper artices, he just happens to be a maritime laywer dealing in crew disputes etc

These posts are aimed at any RC crew who read this site, to cause unrest etc and to get him work $$$

Its not RC causing the issue its this rag and its writer and they are the ones who should have blood on their hands.

Btw always thought jim walker was another name for a treadmill

2 minutes ago, Crazycruiser50 said:

Ray, they were in lockdown in their rooms for 21 days to ensure that every single crew member went fever free for 14 days.  
 

They haven’t had pay since April 1st.  They are basically being held as prisoners.  They are being fed, but have to pay for alcohol if they choose to drink.  As far as pools etc, they have been only allowed in them a few hours a day and are required to social distance.  

 

How do I know all of this??? 
 

A very dear friend and his wife are crew members on board one of the ships and we talk almost every other day on FB messenger.  
 

It is a nightmare for them and there is no end in sight.  They want to get home so they can work whatever job they can to feed their families.  Have a little compassion. 

That want home i get that totally but its not going to happen until their governments allow it, its not RC or any other cruiselines fault airports and cruiseports are closed. 

Lockdown until everyone was clear same rules as onboard to onshore, if any of my family or yours got symptoms we would have to self isolate for 14 days also so thats not an issue

As for getting home and finding work, how does that happen when most places are closed? Shops, restaurants,  offices etc etc 

2 hours ago, bobroo said:

You have to want to get them home, like calling Royal Caribbean to get an issue taken care of; you have to be persistent. Like a James Van Fleet weather forecast, you have to be honest and frank. Like James Van Fleet, daily briefings and frequent updates will go a long way. Van Fleet uses a bunch of social media to get his word out. In short, honest communication will go a long way with the stranded crew if Royal is in fact trying. Today, Royal Caribbean is not trying.

CDC mandates??? How about turning your negatives around into positives??? How about leadership and guidance??? This whole maritime platform is based on leadership, seniority, and wisdom; well.....I'm expecting brilliance out of highly paid people with stripes on their shoulders and corner offices in Miami and so far I'm not getting any.

If I was the zookeeper I would clean the floating petri dish to the point it was a germ free environment. I would test everyone aboard twice a day. I would implement platforms and activities so that those onboard do things. I would start with the easy stuff, how can we do the dances that are done during the sail away? How can these people go to the main theater and watch a movie or a performance? How can we let them on the pool deck and occupy a lounge chair for an hour? How can we feed them all together? It means changing behaviors, it means changing norms. 

Instead of saying we'll just let our boat and the staff linger on some ocean; I would create a space and protocols that make a cruise ship better and safer than being on land. Someone disembarking from one of my cruise ships would be welcome in any country, in any airplane, or at any hotel. The relative few staff that are onboard would be my guinea pig, a nice small sample size to work with to establish how life and activities on future sailings might be preformed for when we pack the boat with 5,000 passengers.

Imagine....people wanting to get on a cruise ship because it is a better, safer place than where they are at??? Whoa...

Doing so requires leadership. It means changing things and implementing practices that other companies and institutions will look at see are a successful path going forward. It means being a pinnacle.

 

 

Firstly havent a clue who james van fleet is

Secondly you went way off subject, no one was talking about cleaning or social Distancing etc it was about getting crew home, and my question was how would YOU get them home? The answer to This one simple question we still await 

Hopefully you can figure out how to get filipino and Indian crew home to their respective countries both of  which have closed their doors to all flights domestic and international because ALL cruiselines not just RC are struggling to work out a way to do it until lockdown measures are lifted in these countries.

My friend who works for Aida may be lucky in that they are still being paid despite contract being up 7 weeks ago, they have a nice cabin, plenty food and activities to keep them amused but the one thing they dont have is a date to go home, Aida cannot tell them that! That answer lies with the Philippine government and when they decide it save to lift restrictions even for OFW 

Having worked abroad and had workers from Asia ( Ph, India , Pakistan etc ) employed on 2 year contracts with only 1 day off a week,  passports taken off them so they couldnt go home, living in buildings that could only be descibed as worse than a slum or ghetto for pay that was roughly $200 per month and they were HAPPY, i very much doubt its these employees that are causing the issues

Also crew from india and PH know that even if they get off ships they cannot get home due to no flights into their countries even chartered.

To me this is Western Crew ( Europe / North America) looking to get a big pay day from lawsuits 

25 minutes ago, bobroo said:

 

It's clear these crew members feel marginalized. Royal has promised to send them back home and has not done so. 

 

 how would you get them home? 

So let me get this correct

They are proresting about being locked on a ship with 100s of fellow crew for company, with food and drink available at no cost, still getting paid their wage, lots of things to do such as games, pool, ice skating etc YET they want home to their countries where they will be in lockdown in their home only talking with those in their household, food and drink will be whats available at local shop they have to que to get into and they wont have wages.....makes a lot of sense

To me this photo is a small group organising a protest and as everyone knows when something is happening others come out to watch, those watching are probably the laundry staff wondering how the hell they are going to get the pen marks off the bed sheets for new guests arriving 

BTW anyone notice its only the Miami newspaper that poster links? Probably works for them and is trying to further their career by looking for negative posts on here 

It's NOT just Royal who cannot get crew home it's every cruiseline!!

Look at Allure being refused entry into Spain, Countries across the world do not want to take people in ( not just crusieship crew ) because they are scared!

It's easy to say charter a flight and fly them home but how can you do this when the country they are flying to is closed for flights, the Philippines stopped all flights a week or so ago so Filipino crew are stuck on ships until either Aircraft are allowed to fly or other ways are found to get them home, this may involve transferring crew onto 1 ship then sailing that half way around the world.

The Media are making it out these crew are being held hostage and companies are not interested in their welfare but fact is companies will  not only want these people home so they can get them off the wage bill but more importantly to stop these bad press coverage. 

Even if ship introduces restrictions such as observing a 2m rule at bar i have it covered