Stuck in Rhodes

[TooTrusting]

I was just east of Gennadi, 5 minutes away, at Atlantica Dreams resort (Tui). All day yesterday there was a steady stream of evacuated guests from other hotels arriving.
The fire seemed to die down at around 3pm. But by 7 it was raging again.
We were told one of us needed to stay up all night to listen gif the evacuation siren.
There were hundreds of evacuees there by then.
Just before 10pm we were evacuated. We walked to the road where there was a coach and some cattle trucks. It was chaos and hard not to be separated from my DCs (23, 19, 17 & 17). We had no idea where we were going. I had to calm and keep company 2 distraught children (circa 14 and 8) who had got separated from their parents. I lost a shoe and one DC their phone. We had to jettison the one small cabin size suitcase we had brought our essentials in.
Our truck broke down and we walked about a mile, again not knowing where we were going, and were eventually directed onto Gennadi beach. There were around 2000 people there all crammed together. Small boats, capacity around 10, went back and forth between ferry boats and the shore. There was no Dunkirk spirit. People were tired, upset and frightened. Some had not slept for 2 nights.

It took 4 hours until we finally managed to get on one at around 2. It was bedlam with everyone shoving and barging. I was separated from the DCs several times. Nobody knew where we were going.

We were on the ferry around 4 hours before arriving in Rhodes Town at c6.30am. We sailed through ash clouds and people had towels tied round their faces. People were taken off in different buses. We ended up in a school with 150 others. But there was nothing there for us, no beds, mats, washing facilities or food and it was boiling hot.
There was no list so the authorities have no idea who has gone where. It is a total lie for Tui to say they have re accommodated everyone. They have not. They have no idea where I am and until their phone lines open I cannot contact them either. The only info we have been given is an FCO number for advice on travel and consular assistance (which we don't need).
Luckily I have 24 hour insurance access and when I'd re charged my phone was able to establish I am covered (was worried it would be an "act of God"). I have booked a hotel for 1 night, after a long search. I've just arrived - it's chaos with everyone sleeping on the floor.
Just before we left the school a band of volunteers arrived laden with food and one of them thinks our hotel may have been burned down and we are unlikely to get back to try to retrieve our stuff. She says Gennadi is mostly gone.

We leave on Wednesday. We can't check in here til 2 and need to go and buy clothes and essentials. All we have is what we are standing in.

Agree with everything you've said. Some people, I think, are sat behind their keyboard typing things they'd never dare say in real life. Probably, because the majority are lying hypocrites anyway!

It was a really interesting thread, and I apologise for contributing to the derail. I should have just ignored, rather than clicking on advanced search. But once I did my jaw just dropped at such spectacular levels of hypocrisy.

Glad you've retrieved your things and hope you manage to have a better holiday next time.

Personally, I appreciated your "Advanced Search" skills. Sometimes people need given a reality check on themselves. I think sticking up for the OP was a nice thing. If everyone had ignored it, it could be seen as tacit approval of their behaviors/viewpoints/opinions. Making sure the OP knew that people cared about their experiences was, in my mind, an important point. You showed that perfectly!

Delighted you have all your stuff back, OP. What an ordeal you have been through. I hope you and your DC’s have a good flight back tomorrow.

What @Nanaof1 said ^

I'm having a lovely dinner out with the DCs. We have not had the holiday we envisaged, but we've been together. It's the first time for years we have spent this sort of time all together. It may seem trivial and minimising to be out enjoying ourselves, but we are contributing to the local economy and supporting the island's main livelihood. Many locals are terrified the tourists won't come back. The last thing the lady at the hotel said was "please come back". We are all feeling a bit emotional. I've enjoyed this thread, it's been interesting reading different views, rising above the goading, discovering what advance searches can reveal - and I've been really buoyed up by the support. I will carry on updating x

@TooTrusting - really glad to hear that . Thing is though it's a memorable holiday!! We once had a disastrous one in Egypt but things like this can be quite bonding!!

Hi, can you please pm me or explain how you got to the hotel, was in Atlantica when evac from the beach, they do not pick up phone, spent the last days of our trip in faliraki, I'm not sure whether to risk a taxi to go and pick up, no idea if we would be stopped on the road? One taxi driver was up for it, but it's 150ish round trip.

We fly early hours Thur morning to Birmingham, I have tomorrow.

Or leave with TUI to sort later?

It is a vacation you will not ever forget. I'm glad you are eating out and supporting the local people and businesses. They need it now and in the future.
Have a safe trip home with hopefully no more surprises. You really should write this trip and all your feelings and thoughts in a journal. Even if you think you'll remember everything, memories do dim over the years (personal experience speaking).

I'm glad you have your stuff back, and it's heartening to hear how everyone I'd helping people retrieve things, and that you are trying to help others. This is what humanity is about.

I've been places that have been affected by disaster, and have also seen the desire of the locals that tourists return. The benefits and disadvantage of tourism is complicated.

It may seem trivial and minimising to be out enjoying ourselves, but we are contributing to the local economy and supporting the island's main livelihood

It's not trivial at all, OP; as you suggest, the locals have lost enough without more of them losing their livelihoods as well

I'd say it's odd that the "let's ban flights" crowd have totally failed to address what would happen to all those who depend on tourism if this happened, but actually it's pretty much to be expected - after all, it's often more fun to strike silly positions than engage with the consequences

Yes I bought one just for this trip, only for it to be water damaged when getting in the evac boat! Well it was in daughter's back pack and just did not realise how deep it was when wading up to board, so lucky others had chargers when we was relocated at afantou school.

I'm going to take photos of our passports on the phone and always have a grab bag to hand after reading your posts so thank you OP. I have a grab bag at home with leads, power banks, earplugs and very basic toiletries as my mum had falls before she passed away. Maybe it's a good reason to always have one to hand.

I have a little power bank that can fully recharge my phone twice with two USB ports that was cheap. I will see if I can link it. It fits in my small handbag

So pleased you got your bag back Op & are able to salvage something (even if just a dinner) from your holiday! Safe home.

@H202020
Call this man. He'll take you

They aren't answering the phone. We saw them just picking it up and putting it straight down.

Are you on this group? People post about things like getting to the hotel
I paid 200 to and from Rhodes Town.
If your stuff is all in the room I think you'll get it back. But if you dumped any along the way I'd try and find it.
The dumped luggage is either at the hotel or in Rhodes Town Hall (Rhodes Town)

Cruise ships are well known for not only having awful carbon footprints but also a major cause of marine pollution. I’d say a flight to Rhodes would be less damaging than a cruise.

Posted on FB this morning by a Rhodes bar owner - hopefully OP you realise that having a nice dinner and trying to make most of what’s left of your holiday in a dreadful situation is the right thing to do.

ANNOUNCEMENT...

The events over the last week has shocked and saddened everyone here on Rhodes, those affected directly, those helping others, those trying to maintain normality and those on vacation.

Thankfully we have been safe in Faliraki. Which meant we could help out in the first instance with the evacuation of people from the south to the safety of the emergency shelters here in Faliraki. Now they are safe and in good hands, we feel we have done all we can there. So we turn our attention to what next?

After much deliberation we feel the best thing we can do now, is to return some normality to our valued visitors here, the 95% of holiday makers who have not been directly impacted by the evacuations, but are left wondering if its disrespectful for them to still enjoy their holiday here?

🌞 Dear holiday maker 🌞
Its not disrespectful at all. The best way you can help us on the island now, is by having a great time here and spend on food, drink, taxis, excursions, shops, weddings, events etc. Then tell your friends and post on social media about your positive experiences and come back next year ❤️🇬🇷😁

This does not mean we forget all those who have lost so much, or the massive environmental damage, or the many brave STILL fighting for all our safety!
No... it just means we all help in the best way we can to recover from this horrible event. We will rebuild our beautiful island again, together 💪💪

With this in mind we at Ambience Bar Faliraki will return to our normal programme from tomorrow and do our best to entertain our visitors and raise the mood 🎸🎤🎶🍹🎉❤️🇬🇷

For those planning to visit rhodes soon, we will also post current images with a more realistic perspective to demonstrate the WHOLE island is not engulfed in flames, or the misconception that it looks like a war zone!

Bless you and thank you

Iggy

That can't be a serious comment about boats being better for the environment than flying? Small sailboats maybe but anything large, with nets or with a motor or engine is terrible for sea. Cruise ships are far, far worse than planes as they emit the same levels of CO2 from the fuel that powers their engines as a plane, but also discharge pollutants directly I to the sea and fuck up the sealife.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_pollution/09activities.html#:~:text=A%20popular%20recreational%20activity%2C%20boating,contaminate%20waters%20around%20the%20marina.

From Friends of the Earth: "Cruise ships are a catastrophe for the environment — and that’s not an overstatement. They dump toxic waste into our waters, fill the planet with carbon dioxide, and kill marine wildlife. Cruise ships’ environmental impact is never ending, and they continue to get bigger. They once were small ships, around 30,000 tons. Now, corporations are building billion-dollar cruise ships to hold more than 9,000 people. They’re doing everything they can to pack these floating cities full of tourists while polluting everything in their path."

https://foe.org/blog/cruise-ships-environmental-impact/

OP I hope you had a lovely dinner and managed to track down the missing case.

I've always liked the Greek people - and that you have managed to retrieve not only luggage from the hotel but a bag abandoned during the evacuation is a great testament to their honesty and their hospitality.

OP is there any news of a fund to help the Greek people who have lost their homes and whose livelihood has suffered? Once these fires have burnt out people will be clearing up and there is a lot on the island that wont have been affected.

Thanks OP I used your contact and drove down and will leave today with all my bags, small thing in the grand scheme but I just wanted my things, albeit a cost.

I was surprised by the damage around Atlantica, but hotel seemed fine, as mentioned ash here and there so suspect a good clean up will be needed, I joined the FB group lots more updates I don't use social media.

Was crazy to walk in and see about 8 people who's faces I recognised from days before who had been serving us, quick chat making sure everyone was ok and families and friends safe, wished them speedy recovery and all the best for future.

My kids school has slightly different holidays to all the other local schools. All it means is that there are no holiday clubs that cover the entirety of each holiday.

OP are you home?

Got home last night!

To recap, I'd got a text on Monday at 3am saying get to the airport but I saw it too late, the flight had gone at 7.30 so I would never have made it. I had spoken twice to Tui reps after this to make sure we would still be on our scheduled flight on Wednesday. Both times they'd taken my details, done something on their iPads and said it would be fine.
When we got to the airport however our names had been removed from the passenger list. But it was ok there was room for us and after a bit of toing and froing we were added on. We had heard nothing te transport so had organised a taxi.

The hotel had really cleared out by Tuesday evening, and many evacuees flew out Monday/Tuesday.

I was half expecting a bit of special treatment on the flight. Maybe a food and drink voucher for evacuees - given that the financial responsibility for helping us has been absorbed entirely by the locals and given how absent Tui has been on the ground.
But no. There was announcement after announcement about food and drink and what we could buy. It was all script stuff.

Really, how much would it have cost Tui to let evacuees have a sarnie and a soft drink? I thought it was so tone deaf. But I bit my lip.

Lessons learned/top tips -
Check what I'm actually covered for under my policy
Power bank for phone
Rucksack as hand luggage
Never rip the airline labels off your suitcase. These will be invaluable in identifying all the missing bags.

The locals are terrified of losing their livelihood. They are fearful the tourists will not return. Where we were in Rhodes Town (and in the north) it was pretty much business as usual. The air is clear and everything is open and the locals want us, as a PP said, to be out putting money into their economy.

What an experience!

Sorry, someone asked if there is any effort from this end to help. I'm sure there are the usual, but there is talk on one of the fb pages about setting something up which is smaller and more direct. I'll post details on here when I know more.