Riding the waves on the Rigoletto

[AprilWhine]

My unique MINI is scheduled to arrive in NJ aboard the Rigoletto on June 3.

So, my production date was May 17. The Rigoletto departs Southhampton on May 26, and arrives in NJ on June 3. I will post with more dates as they come available. Like everyone else, I am hoping for a very short wait between ship docking and arrival at my dealer.

[jbkone]

Damn April,

My build date was right in there somewhere (last week). I'd better check that Wallenius site!

[jbkone]

WOO Found it! She'll be coming on the Tanabata when she comes! She'll be coming.... alright, enough singing. Supposed to depart on 27 May and arrive in Charleston on 10 June. From there? Hopefully not too long.

Checked the booking number also and it seems she'll have 50 brothers and sisters with her to keep her company!! Hope she learns to play nice.

Her sea legs will benefit her when those twisties come calling.

[AprilWhine]

My build date was May 17, but all build dates are listed as Fridays. It was probably built early in the week, that would explain getting a boat so soon.

Anyway, glad yours is ready for a sea cruise, too!

[AprilWhine]

I just checked the booking number on the Rigoletto, and my MINI is going to have loads of companions! I counted:
58 MINI Coopers
131 MINI Cooper S
62 MINI Cooper CVT

And my silk green CVT.

~~My MINI lies over the ocean~~
~~My MINI lies over the sea~~
...
~~Oh bring back my MINI to me!~~

[gja_era]

You guys should call MINIUSA Customer Service. They can tell you exactly when your car was built. Don't assume it was built on the build date. My Cooper 'S' is also on the RIGOLETTO.

My 'Build Date" was listed as 5/10. The actual date it was completed was 5/02. It then spent two weeks sitting at the plant before being released for shipment. It arived at the port on Thursday 5/16 on was scheduled to ship on the JINGU MARU on Saturday 5/18. It did not. It was then booked on the AIDA on Monday 5/20. On Tuesday 5/21 it was changed to be on the Rigoletto.

MINI will apparently get your car to you on their schedule. Just because it is booked on a ship does not mean it will be shipped. If shipped it could still be held at the distribution center.

I was told on 4/08/02 when I put my deposit down that the car should be here the last week in June. It appears the MINI is doing everything they can to make sure it gets here on time but not too much earlier.

Gary A

Cooper 'S'
Chili Red / White
17" R85 Alloy Wheels with Performance Runflat Tires

[jbkone]

Your comments are duly noted era. I'll have to call and find out when her "birthday" was

AprilWhine, how did you find out what types of cars were on the ship with yours. I've gone to the tracking site, but all they list is the last 7 digits of the VIN. Is one of those the type and transmission? Hmmm...

[AprilWhine]

TE = CVT
TD = S
TC = Cooper 5 speed

[gja_era]

AprilWhine:

What is the Booking Number for your car? Since my car is part of a group transfered from the Jingu Maru my booking number is the old number with 'A' added (GBSOU79917A). The 18 cars are the only ones that show up. I'm curious about the others.

Thanks

Gary A

[AprilWhine]

Here's the booking number for the Rigoletto: GBSOU79933. And, BTW, the MINI count on the Rigoletto is up to 322 now.

Happy Browsing!

[Colorado "S"]

April,

I'm glad to see someone else likes searching by booking number.

I found that particular feature to be most handy when the MINI's where being loaded onto the ship.

Also, something important to remember for those yet to go through the process:

Just because your MINI is booked onto a ship does not mean that it will be LOADED onto the ship. My Booking Number GBSOU79915 hit nearly 400 cars just before loading began. Of that only 246 actually made it on board. The remainder were dropped from the TRINIDAD's manifest and had to wait a week for the next ship. So until your car is loaded you are not out of the woods.

[AprilWhine]

I thought once it was at the terminal for the Rigoletto, that was almost a sure thing.

Was the W/W web updated right away? The Rig is scheduled to load on Sunday, but I don't know if they would update over the weekend.

Also, did you notice a correspondance between the date at the terminal, and the order loaded? I would think the earlier arrivals would load first.

[Colorado "S"]

Quote:

Originally posted by AprilWhine
I thought once it was at the terminal for the Rigoletto, that was almost a sure thing.

If your car has been RECEIVED AT TERMINAL a couple days before, it is all but certain that it will wind up getting on.

The problem comes for those people who's cars are listed only as BOOKED the day before the ship is in. All booked means is that WW is expecting a train of MINI's to be sent from Oxford to Southampton. So if MINI doens't send the train in time, WW doesn't have enough time to receive the MINI's and load them.

Quote:

Originally posted by AprilWhine
Was the W/W web updated right away? The Rig is scheduled to load on Sunday, but I don't know if they would update over the weekend.

I noticed that cars which were loaded early showed up pretty quickly. After about 40-50% of the MINI's on my booking number were loaded the update stopped. I sent info@2wglobal.com e-mail about this. They said that they didn't do the final update until they had confirmation of ALL the cars that made it on (because like I mentioned earlier some cars on the booking number got left behind at port). Thus, it took about a day and a half for that final update to happen (i.e. before ALL the cars showed up as LOADED ON VESSEL. Those that weren't loaded dropped off the booking number completely and were put on another one.)

Quote:

Originally posted by AprilWhine
Also, did you notice a correspondance between the date at the terminal, and the order loaded? I would think the earlier arrivals would load first.

YES, but only loosely. Your car must first show up as RECEIVED AT PORT. Once that happens, you're basically assured of getting on (from what I've gathered tracking the loading of a few different booking numbers). But again, no promises for those who's cars are only BOOKED. They will be loaded later in the sequence, or maybe not at all (and thus have to wait a week).

There were cars on my booking number being added as BOOKED even after loading had begun. Near as I could tell though almost none of those late additions made it on board. Thus they had to wait for the next ship.

[minicoopersgirl]

Dumb question...
How do you find out all this information? Is it listed on the miniusa.com lounge? How do you know what boat it is on?
Thanks,
Aimee

[Colorado "S"]

Aimee, see my signature for the TRACKING FAQ I put together.