Royal working COVID case reporting % to meet Bahamian Gov requirements??? We experienced it first hand.

[dkgrove]

We just got off a very disappointing 4 Night Freedom of the Seas cruise where we only got 3 late afternoon hours in Coco Cay due to the Bahamian Gov not clearing us until then.  We arrived at 8:00am and did not get clearance until almost 2:00pm.  We were told hourly starting at about 10:00am that Miami HQ was working with Bahamian officials to get us cleared but there was no information why.  We all assumed COVID-19 but not one crew member or officer would speak of it.  We were cleared just before 2:00pm after everyone crowded the pool deck, jammed the buffet which did a horrible job of providing food for us when they did not expect to. We finally ate a breakfast / brunch at 11:00 never expecting to be cleared when finally we saw signs of an opening.  We canceled our Coco Beach Club Cabana after hearing of the clearance just before 2:00 in the afternoon.  The excursions desk offered us a 50% discount if we still wanted to use our cabana at the Beach Club but there would be no food served.  THAT was a huge insult in our opinion after no reasoning behind the ridiculous delay.  We asked for a full refund and canceled which was completely accepted.  Disappointment still huge since THIS was the the one item we were looking forward to during this less than optimum itinerary.  We did get off finally after the entire ship was in the departure area for hours.  We walked around Cococay for an hour with little to no services transferred to the island. There was no buffet, few bars were open and the place was empty.  We returned to the ship with few services open and bar service at a minimum.  We still had no announcement or explanation as to the reason for the huge delay sitting at the pier.  They did inform us that we would not be departing after the 5:30 all on board notice that Vision of the Seas would be joining us later that night for a crew transfer.  From my balcony, I personally saw 50+ crew members transferred to Vision of the Seas (current hospital/quarantine ship used by Royal) that evening while still docked at the Coco Cay pier. All departing crew were wearing white N95 masks, white gloves and luggage wrapped in plastic! We missed the Beach Club Cabana and everything. Very disappointing.  I later researched that Royal has been supposedly doing this from time to time using Vision and Rhapsody in order to bypass Bahamian requirements that less than 1% of crew and passengers can be positive with COVID at any time arriving in the Bahamas.  I am not a travel expert so I do not know if this is in fact the current requirements but it completely explains why so many crew left the ship and how we were eventually allowed to be cleared to leave the ship at Cococay when we spent the previous day in Nassau with no issue.  There could only be one logical reason why we were denied clearance at Cococay and why we off loaded so many crew members.  THEY MADE A DEAL.  Shame on Royal for not providing us full information and providing a less than positive experience.  

[Traveling Mike]

Yours was not the only ship.  MSC, NCL and Disney had troubled the day before and the same day as you.  I know it does not make what happened to you and better, but the Bohemian government was blocking lots of ships this week.  Disney had two ships in the same port one was able to let people off and the other one could not let passengers off.  We are going to have a wild ride for a couple of weeks and unfortunately you were hit in one of the first waves.

[Reigert2008]

Sorry for your disappointment, in my opinion it probably would have been better for Royal to skip Perfect Day entirely, but then people would complain about that at well.  Not sure how frequently OP cruises, but frequent cruisers understands that no ports are guaranteed, but most times things flow smoothly.  During these times, it’s important to be flexible and go with the flow.

 

we sailed on Freedom back in August on a 4N when our 7N Allure was cancelled as the last before she restarted. Was it what we wanted? No, but we still had a great time.

[CruiseGus]

3 hours ago, dkgrove said:

 Shame on Royal for not providing us full information and providing a less than positive experience.  

Welcome to the forum !!

Guess you were not reading what was happening on cruise ships this Xmas well before you stepped on board on the 27th.

3 posts 3 complaints.

 

 

 

[Ray]

Im confused!!!

Was it making a deal or adhering to Bahamian covid rules? 

And if you are correct then i agree! Shame on Royal for removing 50+ covid carrying crew to another ship! I mean they could have just left them onboard where they could have transmitted virus to another 50 crew or even passengers but hey at least you would have gotten to use your Cabana

[twangster]

Very early on the CDC established that certain ship be designated as hospital/quarantine ships.

So your complaint is that they followed CDC recommendations? 

 

[TXcruzer]

"working the numbers"? Why post something that makes ir sound as if something nefarious and sneaky is going on?  Royal is doing exactly the right thing, quarantine the positives (just like we do on land), and EXACTLY like the CDC had requested that they do in the very early versions of the CSO.

[Neesa]

If choosing to cruise during this time you must understand you must expect the unexpected. If you look within yourself and can't be flexible, and I mean gumby flexible and roll with everything .....minute by minute, please push your cruises out a bit. 

While some things boggle the mind Royal is doing what it needs to playing nice with the CDC because they believe that will keep them afloat. They are not doing anything as a personal affront to any of us. 

I for one like many others do not want another pause in cruising. Go to Next Cruise and book a cruise of your dreams.....in 2023

[Matt]

I'm sorry the mixup happened to you on Freedom. I'd hate to miss anytime at Cococay.

I don't know this for a fact, but the issue appears to be a paperwork problem between Bahamas and cruise lines. Not a Covid issue.

Thus far, it only impacted a Disney, Royal and MSC ship that day. From what I've heard, it was a misunderstanding on Bahamas and once it got cleared up, you were able to dock.

[Thorntor]

No need to shame the OP.  I appreciate all the current “on board” information I can get as we have a B2B scheduled for 23 Jan and 30 Jan on Oasis.  This would have been our first Diamond cruise and we were really looking forward to cruising again, but we will be cancelling.  It just isn’t worth it to us to sit in a floating hotel for two weeks.  I am only waiting to see if the CDC shuts things down so we can get a refund rather than a FCC.  

[Ampurp85]

9 hours ago, Thorntor said:

No need to shame the OP.  I appreciate all the current “on board” information I can get as we have a B2B scheduled for 23 Jan and 30 Jan on Oasis.  This would have been our first Diamond cruise and we were really looking forward to cruising again, but we will be cancelling.  It just isn’t worth it to us to sit in a floating hotel for two weeks.  I am only waiting to see if the CDC shuts things down so we can get a refund rather than a FCC.  

OP isn't being shamed but informed. Also, the lines don't have to shut down for you to cancel and receive a refund. If you are sailing and don't agree with the protocols, you can request a refund.