Royal Caribbean cans cruise stopover

Aussie passengers aboard a Royal Caribbean ship were unimpressed that one of the highlights of their cruise was cut from the itinerary.

According to WA Today, cruisers aboard Legend of the Seas are enraged after their scheduled stop in Broome was ditched, instead stopping off at Port Hedland.

The cruise ship is currently cruising through the Malacca Straits en route to Phuket, Thailand.

The situation was made known to Fairfax Media through an angry email sent from one of the passengers, who claimed they were deceived by the captain.

‘Garry’ told Fairfax that, just like many of his fellow passengers, he booked the cruise to catch a glimpse of the iconic destination of Broome.

“It was to be the highlight of the cruise for most of the passengers,” he told the media company.

But alas, this was not to be, with passengers told after they had boarded that they would instead be stopping off at the mining hub of Port Hedland, not exactly known for its beauty and tourism traits.

“No other announcement was made by Royal Caribbean staff and it appears that most people learnt of the cancellation by ‘Chinese whispers’ around the ship,” Garry said.

Instead, a bus trip to the local Woolworths was allegedly the highlight of the stopover.

The 14-day cruise attracted 1700 passengers and was scheduled to visit two Aussie ports and several Asian ones before finally docking in Singapore.

But passengers were relentless, and demanded explanations, which was apparently due to the Blood Moon and a nine-metre tide preventing the ship from docking safely in Broome.

Garry told Fairfax that passengers were “pretty enraged” and it was pointed out to Royal Caribbean staff they must have known well in advance of the ship’s arrival in Broome.

The disgruntled passengers were apparently then told the cancellation happened on September 25, two days before the ship’s departure, and that all passengers were notified by email.

“I certainly wasn’t notified by email and nor was any other passenger I have spoken to,” Garry told Fairfax.

“One passenger rang the Broome harbourmaster who said they were told the ship would not be coming to Broome as far back as September 22.”

Per WA Today’s reports, the unresolved issue continued to be an issue even in the second week of the cruise when passengers formed a committee and drafted a letter – signed by 400 of them – to the captain and the chief executive of Royal Caribbean.

Management of Royal Caribbean was asked to formally respond by Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean said the Legend of the Seas was unable to call at Broome on October 1 because the extreme tidal conditions in Broome meant the gangways connecting the ship to the shore could not be deployed safely for seven hours during the ship’s stay alongside.

“This was unacceptable as it would have prevented passengers and crew getting off and on the ship,” she told WA Today.

“It would also have inhibited evacuation of the ship in the event of an emergency.”

“Guests were provided with a letter advising the itinerary change immediately before they boarded the ship,” she said.

“We do our best to minimise itinerary changes to avoid disappointing guests who may be looking forward to visiting particular destinations.”

She told Fairfax that itinerary changes occurred from time to time if sea conditions and available port infrastructure compromised operations.

“Guests will be refunded all prepaid shore excursions and port fees for the missed port,” she said.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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