Ended in disaster

Item: Harmony of the Seas
Rating: 3.8
Author: krahman

Harmony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

krahman

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 45

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 19, 2017

Ship: Harmony of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7156

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

The cruise started out amazing and I would say outside of what I am about to explain below everything was spectacular. We missed the cruise departure in Cozumel due to confusion regarding local time and ship time. I even called Royal Caribbean and spoke to your ETT (emergency travel team) and they confirmed with me not once but 3 times that the ships departures was 7pm local time but in reality it was 7pm ship time. Due to the ferries between Cozumel and Play del Carmen running once an hour we had no choice but to wait with the thought that we would still make it back in time. We missed the ship and incurred close to $3000 in flight/hotel/food costs for a family of 5 and then to top it off having to wait 7 hours at the Fort-Lauderdale port to have your representatives locate and find our bags and finally getting all our belongings at 3 pm. We incurred costs to fly from Cancun to FLL, fine, and we were informed we could come to the port at 8 30 am and claim our bags and booked flights with extra cushion for 1 pm only to have to pay fines and cancel our flights due to still not having our belongings and then only having option to drive back to Washington DC. This was the first cruise experience for all of my family minus me and it turned out to be the worst possible outcome.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

3 out of 5

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

3 out of 5

Falmouth, Jamaica

1 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

We missed the cruise by 10 minutes due to confusion regarding local time and ship time. I even called Royal Caribbean and spoke to your ETT (emergency travel team) and they confirmed with me not once but 3 times that the ships departures was 7pm local time. Due to the ferries between Cozumel and Play de Carmen running once an hour we had no choice but to wait with the thought that we would still make it back in time. We missed the ship and incurred close to $3000 in flight/hotel/food costs for a family of 5 and then to top it off having to wait 7 hours at the Fort-Lauderdale port to have your representatives locate and find our bags and finally getting all our belongings at 3 pm. We incurred costs to fly from Cancun to FLL, fine, and we were informed we could come to the port at 8 30 am and claim our bags and booked flights with extra cushion for 1 pm only to have to pay fines and cancel our flights due to still not having our belongings and then only having option to drive back to Washington DC. This was the first cruise experience for all of my family and it turned out to be the worst possible outcome. I am extremely dissatisfied with the process on how this was handled. Even though everyone was very courteous and patient there was no real support to alleviate any of our concerns or burdens. Once we were not able to get on board we were completely forgotten, no one reached out to us for support, advice or direction on next steps or aid us in anyway shape or form. I know this type of situation is a very insignificant small percentage of all the passengers that you guys deal with so this might just be falling on deaf ears.

21 Comments

ghiagal 7 years ago

As well as multiple overhead announcements heard in the cabin stating to stay in ship time.

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ghiagal 7 years ago

Never once have we had a ship that has ever adjusted to the time zone of the port that day. Each has made it very clear (royal, Carnival and NCL) in the daily planner that the departure time is SHIP TIME

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VaBchFam 7 years ago

Royal Caribbean "royally" messed up!!!

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VaBchFam 7 years ago

I don't know if it's a Royal Caribbean thing or not, but having taken so many cruises I've lost count, I have never been on a ship that stayed on "ship time". Every ship has always adjusted to each time zone it entered. It's sad how unempathic most of the responses have been. This person stated that 3 times the RC ETT told her it was 7pm local time. The cruise line clearly messed up and it's ridiculous that they had to go through so much trouble because of it. Especially with cell phones nowadays, it's ridiculous that these passengers were not called when they were not on the manifest for having returned to the ship. Royal Caribbean totally messed up!

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cbfbasil 7 years ago

I always book my excursions through Royal Caribbean. If the excursion gets back late, the ship will wait on the group. I've seen this happen a few times. I remember the captain saying , have your camera ready because you will be taking a picture to remember of the back of the ship as it leaves you behind. Don't take any chances!

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skhinton 7 years ago

It's always cruise time!!

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msbyrd0915 7 years ago

That's why you should book excursions thru royal carribean

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kodak7 7 years ago

the original post is a good lesson for all. but I can see why many will post unflattering response. It's a shame they had such a hard time at the end. that had to be the cherry on top of a bad cruise ending.

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mikennicole 7 years ago

Always go by ship time

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kodak7 7 years ago

if you use another company check if they offer back to ship guarantee. many do. but they always tell you to be back 2 hours before. that way if you miss the ferry you have the extra time to make it. common sense wins every time.

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Bcruising17 7 years ago

costly lesson

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Britluke 7 years ago

Sorry you had that experience...... I would be extremely mad myself for this unnecessary outcome.

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mattward 7 years ago

And the moral of the story... ALWAYS book your excursion through the ship you are cruising on... NOT an independent company.

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seasickcyndi 7 years ago

I've never been on a cruise yet that we didn't stay on ship time...

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Cruzin2Sunsets 7 years ago

Sorry....mistake in my previous post. What I meant to say is it was stressed to use ships time.

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ghiagal 7 years ago

Difference is Dstreeter you sailed the Eastern Caribbean according to your past cruises- Nassau, St Thomas and St Maarten are the same time zone as Florida so the same as ship time. Cozumel is an hour behind Florida so not the same as ship time. Cruise compasses for Harmony for Cozumel clearly state under arrival time (ship time) gangplank open time (ship time) and on board time (ship time) simply taking 5 seconds to read the cruise planner and listen to the the announcements would have had them back in time.

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Cruiserholics 7 years ago

Never heard of using local time. First time for everything I guess

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Cruzin2Sunsets 7 years ago

So sorry this happened. We were in Harmony in April. It was stressed to us at each port to go by local time.

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kodak7 7 years ago

wow, that stinks. I guess that's why they always tell you to get back 2 hours before departure.

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ghiagal 7 years ago

I'm sorry it happened, it's up to captains to go by local or ship time. I've not been on a single cruise yet that has gone by local. They do announce on the ship to go by ship time and it's shown in your cruise planner to go by ship time. If you decide to cruise again really look at the information on each port that is in the cruise planner delivered the night before and listen to the overhead announcements 😊

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Tmac320 7 years ago

So sorry that happened on your first cruise. I can't imagine getting left at port.

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