To GM Vacations,

Our friends, Rod and Anita, and my wife and I just returned from a week cruise (10/22/00 to 10/29/00) on Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas.
This letter is written to express our disappointment with your agency regarding the flight arrangements for our party of four. Later, I've included some cruise feedback.

Your lack of indulgence and /or communication with Delta concerning our seat assignments resulted in an extremely stressful period of uncertainty at the flight gate for our return flight in San Juan.

The ship does a good job of preparing their passengers for debarkation. We were told to meet with a Delta rep in one of the ship's lounges to check our photo ID and our flight coupons in the packet provided by Royal Caribbean. We met with representatives at 6:30 AM, Sunday. They placed the tickets in a sealed Delta packet , not to be opened until we got to the Delta service desk at the airport.

At the airport, the lady checked our tickets, looked at the computer and frowned. She called two other Delta reps over to look at the screen. I began to get an uneasy feeling. She handed our packet back to us, telling us we would get our seat assignments at the gate. We found the gate, which hadn't opened yet. We had arrived at the gate three hours before our flight's scheduled departure time. We settled in and waited for the gate to open.

Once the gate opened, we took our place in line. We were told our names would be called when they had our seat assignments and, most unsettling, that the flight is oversold. Could this be why we didn't have seat assignments and, if so, why? We booked this trip almost six months ago.
Uneasily, we waited for our names to be called.
They announced boarding to begin. All seats were called and still we had no seat assignments.
The delta clerk assured us that we would be on the flight.
We were finally given seats only after volunteers were solicited who gave up their seats for us.
I noticed a couple seated a few rows in front of us calmly, patiently waiting for takeoff. They had sat at the dining table next to us on the ship, oblivious to our recent ordeal. I wondered what circumstances had permitted their flight experience to contrast with ours.

When we arrived in Atlanta, I found the Delta service desk and described to the rep what had taken place in San Juan. I told her that the couple we were traveling with and my wife were very upset. I was hoping for an explanation.
She searched the computer for our flight records. She informed me that the four of us never had preassigned seats on any of the flights. Now I know why we had seats in the tail of the plane.
She said whoever made our travel arrangements should have asked for confirmed seat assignments. We then would have been all but assured of our seats. She said we could have called Delta ourselves and asked for the seat assignments when we received our travel documents from Royal Caribbean three weeks before the cruise.
Had your agency told us it was necessary and our responsibility to call Delta for seat assignments, we would have obliged. We were only told to contact Delta to confirm the flight's schedule, which we did.
Irregardless, I feel that it is the travel agency's responsiblity to contact the airline and make complete flight arrangements, including confirmed seat assignments.

I don't fly often. I haven't flown since 1989. Our last cruise was in 1988. I don't recall having to concern myself with flight arrangements or seat assignments on it or any vacation that was ever arranged through a travel agency.
A relaxing week on the ship was spoiled by this episode in San Juan.


I thought I would give your agency some unsolicited positive and negative feed back about our Royal Caribbean cruise.
It was Rod and Anita’s first cruise. My wife, Betty, and I had previously sailed the western Caribbean in April, 1988 on the Song of America, and was a factor for choosing Royal Caribbean once again. Betty and I truly enjoyed that first cruise with RCC. I would tell people "We wanted for nothing". RCC took care of everything. I'm afraid this cruise wasn't completely carefree but was overall enjoyable.

POSITIVES:
-We may have cruised during the known hurricane season but it wasn't a factor. We had fine weather throughout and what showers occurred weren't a factor.
-San Juan airport greeting, shuttle service, and ship boarding went very smoothly.
-Leaving San Juan at night is very romantic.
-It was noteworthy and amazing to hear the cruise director tell us there were 182 known newlywed couples cruising; nearly a fifth of the passenger total.
-We got along great with the third couple placed at our dining table for six.
-Dining and cabin service were excellent, food was just good.
-Nightly entertainment was excellent.
-In St. Thomas USVI, we took a short 1 1/2 hour taxi tour of the island which provided some great views. In the afternoon, we took the Buck Island sail and snorkel excursion. A 45 foot sailboat took six of us out to snorkel off of the boat then raised the sail for the trip back to the ship. It was wonderful, what I consider a great value. I highly recommend it.
-In Barbados, we took the Island Safari Adventure tour; bright yellow Land Rovers that seat eight sideways in the rear bed with canopy. Great views of the Atlantic coast surf. Still time in the afternoon to hit a beach by taxi.
**They're building lots of hotels in Bridgetown.

NEGATIVES:
-In '88, when the Song of America, our first cruise, was underway, one could hardly tell. There was just a little bit of roll between Grand Caymen and Jamaica. Consequently, we told our first time cruise partners not to expect motion to be a factor. They brought patches with them anyway. Wise choice. The Monarch rolled significantly the entire time it was underway and was accompanied by varying degrees of engine vibration.
-Furniture cushions in the "Sound of Music" lounge/theatre were worn out and the backs of the sofas angled back too far. Both were uncomfortable and should have been replaced long ago before becoming a negative element. Ship personnel said they were aware of the problem.
-At St. Maarten, I took the shore excursioin to snorkel at Pinot Island. The water was rough and not much to see. Lousy for any first timer.
-In Antigua, we took the Rain Forest hike. Very little rain forest growth and no wildlife. Great views at the top. A bit pricey for what you get.
In St Lucia we took the tour that viewed the Pitons combined with the hike to the hot sulphur springs and waterfall and plantation. This could have been a good tour but all the buses arrived to unload hikers at the same time. consequently there were too many people at the sulphur springs bath and waterfall at once. We were rushed and unable to enjoy it. They also need to improve the facilities here if they intend to continue to offer this tour. Natural rock steps are very slippery and only one way up/down. Muddy conditions prevail at the site; too primitive for most cruisers.
-Our next cruise will probably be to Alaska to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We have several couples interested in joining us.

The preceding message was sent two weeks after our cruise. To date I've had no response from either GM Vacations or Royal Caribbean.

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Originally posted by RichardThorpe:
My wife and I finally received a letter from GM Vcacations in the mail today. They had corresponded with RCCL about our feedback to them. Included was a copy of a RCCL correspondence they sent back assuring GM Vacations that they would communicate our feedback to the ship, that they appreciated our comments and apologized for the clients' dissatisfaction.
I would expect that RCCl would contact us directly but that hasn't happened to date.
There has been no evidence that there is anyone on the other end at RCCL's website contact address. All messages there have went unanswered.
Included in the envelope were two $100 discounts off a vacation with GM Vacations. End of story.
Remember; Confirm your flight seat assignments!

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Originally posted by Suzie249:
I've recently became a travel agent sorry to hear about your episode.I will be sure to assign seats for my clients. I'm also going on the monarch with my husband. we leave march 24. It's our first cruis ever. I'm so excited we are staying in san juan a day befoe our cruise is it a good idea to rent a car? we want to go to the EL YUNQUE RAINFOREST . would it be better to take a tour [/B]

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The comment was inapropriate and in American probably translates to "bitch, bitch, bitch".

I believe if we make complaints too detailed and lengthy, those that have to read them tend to tune out.

My first flight commercially was on a Lockheed Constellation. Imagine the number of pages it would take to complain about engine noise, rough ride, seating etc.

Look at the recent cruise report from a lady who had nothing good to say about the vessel. This included her inability to shave her legs because the shower was too small and the ship pitched violently.

For anything like this to get attention, I suggest , keep it short.