Squid

Money-harvesting by CEOs has had a profound effect on the planet. Perhaps it's only a western problem, but at some point soon these companies and individuals are going to be taxed very hard. I suspect it'll be the first item of business for the new UK government in May 2024. Hopefully Biden and the EU follows suit.

So the whole cruise industry relies on us paying gratuities or it will collapse? Interesting take. Maybe some of you ought to spend a bit of time outside of your American bubble. In the real world we pay real wages, with actual dignity, and we give them free healthcare.

I've got the feeling that this wouldn't be welcomed if it meant Israel were highlighted as the main port where most problems were flagged. I've been to many ports in many countries, and many airports. I've never seen other people pulled aside, or maybe I've never noticed them, but seemingly everyone is nodded through. Not in Ashdod. At least 4 other groups affected in the 2 hours we were there.

Well, well, well! And RC do indeed have some part to play in this, after all, they could decide to stop bringing thousands of tourists to a country that seems to be trying to boost its tourism offer. If they can't properly, respectfully, process a family like mine then RC ought to rethink the Israel stop. We weren't the only ones held-up. A lovely British woman in a wheelchair, with her family member, were also with us, as was a woman from Jordan. We all spoke to each other. They did ask for updates but were simply stared-at and then ignored by officials. No, we did no ignore two hours of mistaken name-calling. We were, obviously, paying wry close attention to the officials and what they were saying, as they were saying very little.

I didn't want to write this, I wanted RC to deal with it internally, but they haven't responded, and so this is my experience with immigration in Ashdod, Israel, and the role I think Royal Caribbean should have played. Myself, my wife and two children (8 and 12) are all British, with valid British passports. We were all born in Britain, we are all white by ethnicity, and we have all visited the same places, so in essence all our passports should be the same. However, upon leaving the Odyssey of the Seas in Ashdod on Mon 24 October 2022 we encountered a problem as we tried to get through the port terminal. We were told that my wife's passport had some sort of problem and we were all taken aside in the port terminal and told to wait while they investigated further. And so we waited. For almost 2 hours. An entire queue of 200+ Royal Caribbean staff were lined up next to us. Nobody asked how we were, or if they could help, or even if they could get a drink for my children. But to be fair, that's not their job in the terminal, is it? And finally, a rude woman came out and shouted a name, not my wife's name, but her middle name. She said it in such a way we didn't even know she was trying to say 'Laura' because in her thick Israeli accent it sounded like she was calling for someone called 'Lara'. A plausible name for someone else in the queue we thought. After 30 seconds I said to my wife, "maybe she is getting your middle name wrong", and so she said to them "I think you mean B***** Laura T*******?". The now angry Israeli official squared-up to my wife, in her face, and shouted "well you have been sat here for two hours because of how you don't like the way I said your name", which startled my children, the entire queue of staff who stared in disbelief and at that point she walked off. My wife started crying, in front of our children, in front of 200 of your staff, and again nobody helped. Nobody said anything. We went back to the ship to try and salvage something of the day, for the children, to try and play down what happened. We did not get off in Israel that day, or the next day, because frankly we were scared of my wife's passport being flagged, for reasons unknown to us, and us having problems getting back onto the ship. We thought we could not risk that happening, not with our two children. We then went to customer services to complain. They said they would take it up with the port authority and get back to us. We thought, if we could get some rationale for the passport being held-up, and some assurances that we would get back on the ship safely, that we might get off the next day in Haifa. But we did not hear back from customer services. And so I went back the next day to ask if there was any update. There was no update. Instead guest services sent us some wine and some strawberries, but I think they missed the point. We already had a drinks package and food was plentiful already! We wanted our voices to be heard, we felt we had been treated like criminals by immigration control, and that RC were not there to help or protect us, and we didn't want to feel trapped on the ship for two days in Israel when everyone else was enjoying themselves onshore, we felt we were unable to.My point to you is this: When Royal Caribbean stop at a destination and let us disembark, we do so thinking that we are stopping in a safe place and that to disembark the ship is safe and we can safely get back on later.We expect to be taken care of by Royal Caribbean for the duration of our journey with you. We did not feel that happened, and we think Royal Caribbean could do more to ensure the safety of people disembarking and dealing with immigration.There should be a RC Officer overseeing immigration, in the terminal, and assisting passengers who experience difficulties.I understand that different countries have different customs and approaches, but no approach should leave your wife in tears, and especially when done for no reason whatsoever.An RC officer could have offered to take my children back on board the ship and to Adventure Ocean, but I could not leave my wife alone so I could not do that. That was a horrible day on what was otherwise an incredible cruise, withs uperb service. I absolutely love cruising with you, but please givec onsideration to better support for passengers in immigration, to keep an eye on those being pulled-aside and to assist them, especially those with children. It is a scary experience, and we spoke with others who were denied entry and in some cases were insulted in Hebrew to try and get a reaction out of them, to see if they understood the language. be careful

Thanks all

I've had no luck at all in getting a response from RC to a complaint, not even a confirmation of receiving it, can someone advise as to the best way of emailing them?

Must admit, I'm leaning towards paying for drinks a la carte. The free coffee is top quality, as are the free juices, and if I drink I only go mad one day but don't touch it the next. How much is a Fosters oil can or a Red Stripe?

I have never encountered that. I actually wish I did, I'd drink with them.

I think Karen Cruises are all non-smoking, and nothing but wine, in 1L glasses.

Breath out for a count of 7, breath in for a count of 11. That's regulating your breathing. If you control your breathing then you control fear full stop. Alternatively, have a panic attack. It's not fatal, it feels very scary but it's weak, it can't harm you and it will pass.

Nope. Aside from narcotics, they aren't strong enough to remove the very powerful feelings experienced. Meds can work very well. Herbals may take an edge off for normal slightly anxious flyers, but not properly petrified flyers.

Herein lies the answer. Feel that fear and do it anyway. The fear of flying is worse than flying. I'm in the same situation, and my attitude is "I fly or die". I've got two kids wanting a holiday, if that's not worth dying for then I don't know what is. My personal 'comfort' isn't a reason to stop doing things. It's hard, the worst, terrible, but it's not fatal, it's not a real fear, it's not a lion, it's a sky-train, and Xanax or drinking will help (in the short term). Long term, if you mask your fear it will be there every time, so it's the same fight/fear cycle. It can only be a fear of two things : (A) crashing (B) enclosed spaces I dont fear crashing. It's almost unheard of these days. I fear a panic attack in an enclosed space. And I know it's stupid. It's a panic attack, it'll pass. 7-11 breathing will stop it even becoming a panic attack. Even if it was a full blown panic attack, it'll pass, and I'm not in danger. It's adrenaline being pumped without a good reason, and your body can only pump it for so long before resting. you've got this.

I don't follow the logic in your response. At any point of any day currently, you could 'maybe infect' someone. In western society we are back to normal, with few exceptions such as hospitals and medical facilities, where a mask is now thrown-on out of courtesy more than the belief it'll stop you infecting anyone. Once you have your vaccine and boosters, it's as good as it's going to get, and it doesn't matter if you share a sauna with the unvaccinated. The risk is on them, not you. However, if I was an insurance company I wouldn't cover anyone who hadn't been jabbed, certainly not for cruising.

I cannot imagine that RC will be far behind NCL in an announcement. What possible reason do RC have to maintain an additional, unpopular, barrier, that we know doesn't actually stop Covid from getting on the ship, while their competitor gets the upper hand?

But why did you admit it to the ship? I think there's an unwritten rule now...