I should have flown to Cuba ...
Empress of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
5 Night Costa Maya & Havana (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 19, 2017
Ship: Empress of the Seas
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 4017
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
The only part that redeemed the cruise for my wife and I were the incredible staff onboard.
Royal carribean customer service is a completely different story. Our flight was delayed by two hours so we called customer service three times from the airplane and they said they would send a notification to the ship to hold the doors till 3:30 pm. They reassured us that they talked to the ship and that everything would be fine. We were at the doors by 3:26pm, and were told by the port supervisor that we could not board and that no one contacted the port about our delayed flight. After showing her all the calls on my wife's phone, she still said there's nothing she could do. When my wife asked what she can do to assure this doesn't happen to anyone else, the supervisor stated, "nothing, it's a flawed system." If that's what front line employees are saying, it must be pretty bad.. After talking to customer service for 2+ hours they suggested that we catch the ship in Mexico on our own (they did not help with this process at all). I should have known better when earlier in the planning process a customer service rep told me I did not need a passport to visit Cuba (as and American). After 2 days of rationing water in Mexico and riding sketchy taxis and buses to the port, we arrived on the ship. Waiters Rex and his assistant were fantastic. However, I don't think we will chance royal carribean again.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Smaller ship but it was for the better, wasn't crowded at all
Ports of call
8 Comments
twangster 7 years ago
CrusinTim 7 years ago
Hate to break this to you but none of this was the cruise lines fault. I realize that this was your first cruise but regardless of what you were told while delayed on your flight, there were two very easy ways your mishap could have been avoided. The first would have been to arrive to the port the day prior to your sailing and stay in a motel or hotel overnight. This would have given you ample time to travel and would have assured you were there in time. The second would have been to purchase cruise insurance. It is very inexpensive considering things such as what you went through can happen. Was insurance not offered by your agent or the cruise line when booking your cruise? Also, most insurance carriers would have gotten you booked on a flight to the next port the ship was due to visit which would have been included in the price of the coverage. Was your flight booked through the cruise line? In most situations, if this was the case, there may have been a better chance of the ship waiting temporarily depending on how long the delay was. We have sailed 13 times and 3 times with RCI and have never had an issue. Cruising is a learning process and I'm sorry you had to take a crash course. Better luck next time.
olldbob 7 years ago