Here is my attempt at taking the current mess with a cruise line and making sense from a flyertalk viewpoint. Been on several cruises over the years, but this is a first time having to deal with IRROPS on an upcoming cruise; something I'm all too familiar with and somewhat experienced with when it comes to airlines. So in the interests of sharing information with fellow Flyertalkers...here we go!

Let us start with something that at least one of my fellow Flyertalkers would understand: Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF).

BLUF: Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) when experiencing a technical problem during a cruise provides less information that what we have come to expect when encountering similar problems with air transportation.

RCCL had a technical problem with propulsion on a 4 day cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver resulting in a decision to drop 2 ports from the cruise and head directly to Vancouver to perform repairs prior to the 7 day R/T Alaska sailing a day after arrival in Vancouver. The ship here is the Radiance of the Seas (ROTS) which experienced a similar propulsion failure last year resulting in cancellation of a couple of Alaska cruises.

RCCL has been less informative and transparant than what we have come to expect from airlines when problems arise while we are either already at the airport or enroute. At first they gave the impression that the problem would be fixed at the Vancouver port on the arrival day sucvh that the next cruise would take place. They were notices on their website that explained there would be an update the morning of the net cruise on 26 April. Well, they didn't post anything until they instructed those passengers to board as planned only to advise them once on board that they would be staying in port for 2 days and dropping a couple of ports from itinerary. They also told the passengers once on board that they were not allowed to leave the cruise ship due to ... (US Customs, Canadian Customs, Post Closure, whatever). They then moved the ship across the harbor to a commercial pier (kinda like the penalty box many of us have experienced over the years on the tarmac). The following morning they came up with another update and this was the kicker: Everyone has to disembark the next morning as they could not repair the ship in time for the sail.

Compensation was provided in the form of refunds, future credits and a limited reimbursement for onward travel fees incurred. For some it was not really satisfying when you consider all the parameters with planning a cruise, taking time off work, making travel arrangements and excursions, etc.

Now the part that gets me worked up is my cruise on this ship is scheduled to depart in 5 days. I cannot get any information about the situation and in fact RCCL has removed the only travel update related to the ROTS as of this morning. I have been in communication with someone on the ship who has no information and based on last years situation I suspect my cruise will be canceled as well.

My worst case scenario is losing the $350 for one hotel night (3 night prior cancel requirement) and $400 for train and whale watch excursion in Seward at the end of the cruise (non refundable). I looked at travel insurance and it would be stupid to cover an expensive cruise for those two expenses knowing the cruise line will refund their piece and the cost of insurance would be almost as much as those other expenses. Trying to insure just $1000 of expenses related to the cruise is not covered unless I get sick or there is extreme weather (I checked 3 providers).

Now, let us get back to comparing RCCL with an airline I'm familiar with, say UA, AS, AA, BA, JL, ANA, TG, or DL. I can get decent information from a number of websites to determine if the inbound is arriving on time. If there are delays (even rolliing ones) I can inquire at the gate or lounge to assess and make changes if needed. In addition we have recent protections for things like tarmac delays that can result in getting back to the gate and disembarking within a couple of hours.

This cruise situation is like a black box, opaque as can be. What is worse is that most passengers have to travel to the port of embarkation ahead of the sail and most of the savvy ones book hotel for at least a night before (kinda like my positioning flights for aspirational F awards).

This, in my opinion places cruises in the stone age of customer information in the travel industry and highly suspect in terms of their focus; anyone notice the recent RCCL earnings PR and stock price?

I don't think this is something that can be fixed with regulation like we tried with airlines due to the laws concerning international waters and ships per se. However, It does fall into the catagory of buyer beware!

As for me? I'm still planning on taking the Alaska cruise on 3 May, flying to YVR on the 2nd and staying overnight in town before boarding the cruise. If this trip goes sideways I'll just deal with it, but there are some folks I've been reading about online who really got screwed based on cost and logistics.

On another almost comical note, the propulsion system used on ROTS is a novel one based on gas turbine engines; someone online claims it was the MD80 engine. I was the guy who McD dropped off on the runway in Long Beach to video the maiden voyage of that aircraft. I also get the irony that another online poster made in jest about ROTS being the "Max" of the seas...Boeing did acquire McD and seems that was part of the legacy related to recent QC problems.

Cheers,

-Cyborg