Cruise cancellation

Look, I'm running a business too. And I have a cancellation policy as well. NO REFUNDS. But I'm making exceptions when necessary. A little compassion can actually greatly benefit the business, not hurt it. I know it does in my business. I know that if Oceania made an exception and allow us to reschedule (even for a small extra fee), I would become their customer for life.

 

 

Believe me, nobody wants to cancel on purpose or "game the system". Most people who book a cruise want to go - unless unexpected happens.

 

 

Hotels allow cancellations in most cases. Airlines allow you to rebook in many cases for an extra fee. Why it is different with cruise lines?

Plus 1. I agree completely. Very insightful and well written post.

"Customer for life" is a rounding error.

Before retirement, I was a "1k"'United Airlines flyer and they often went out of their way to accommodate me. Now, if I were to ask for a special accommodation, I trust that the answer would be: "Flatbush Flyer who?"

But, I am closing in on the 1 million mile mark. So, I do expect that, when I hit it, United will go back to "welcome aboard."

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I'm sorry to hear about your wife however I think 25% was a good refund at such short notice. Many cruise lines would give you nothing. We never travel without insurance, we've had lots of hotels that are on non cancellable tariffs and flights from the uk in our experience have been non cancellable and non changeable. When Irma hit we lost 2 hotels and our flight to Miami which cost us a lot to reschedule. We took this risk but we did it on a calculated basis knowing we always have insurance.

I can't express enough working in healthcare how illness often comes when it's completely unexpected and its timing usually sucks. I've had so many conversations with patients and families who were about to attend a family event, take a holiday or even start a new job. Insurance that covers the full value of what is booked is a good move. There are people who decide the risk is worth it and don't buy it and that is each persons individual decision. Unfortunately the stories that come out on cruise critic every month about cancelling and losing money just solidify our decision to insure against losses.

Thank you for sharing your story, I understand you feel aggrieved and to such a degree you wanted the support of other posters but we see it too many times.

Hopefully your tale may one person take cover that wasn't going to.

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I will add to what's already been said. I'm sorry about your wife's illness and I hope you can enjoy a future cruise. However, as soon as you book a cruise with Oceania they make it very clear what their cancellation policies are. Oceania is no different from the other cruise lines. It is a business. I don't know why the cruise industry is different from airlines or hotels, as you posted. It's probably more difficult to re-book that cabin than it is to sell that airline seat or hotel room.

Hotels allow cancellations in most cases. Airlines allow you to rebook in many cases for an extra fee. Why it is different with cruise lines?

But most hotels offer a non-refundable, early purchase option. Effectively the hotel is offering you the option to purchase cancellation insurance...

I'm a bit surprised that everyone on this board is defending the corporate greed of Oceania, when it's clear that cancelling 5 weeks in advance, they will have no issues to re-sell this cabin.

You will be aware that Oceania does offer periods where fares can be partially refunded (or transferred to another cruise).

However, following your logic, what time period constitutes sufficient time for Oceania to resell the cabin? (90 days?, 7 days?, 1 hour?). A line needs to be drawn somewhere.

Of course there would be advantageous for the payment & cancellation date to be closer to the sailing time - but least the line is clear for everyone to see.

Look, I'm running a business too. And I have a cancellation policy as well. NO REFUNDS.

• Would you be as generous to a customer who has never previously done business with you?
  
• Would you be willing to offer a full refund for products with an "expiry date" - when the time between purchase and expiry date is considerably reduced?
  

I certainly hope that you don't become bitter over this incident - and prevent you from experiencing Oceania in the future

Kia Kaha

Very interesting discussion on this subject on the Insurance forum, in CC:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2549859

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Industry wide situation.

Very interesting discussion on this subject on the Insurance forum, in CC:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2549859

 

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Industry wide situation.

Yes. This was my point - "if the cruise line fills the suite that was cancelled, they are in essence doubling their money on that suite."

Also, as some mentioned, why they don't allow me to resell it to someone else?

It should be pretty simple:

If they manage to fill it - allow me to transfer it to future cruise. Win-win for everyone. if not - give me an option to transfer it.

It sounds like they almost hope for people to cancel so they can make double profit on that suite.

Yes. This was my point - "if the cruise line fills the suite that was cancelled, they are in essence doubling their money on that suite."

 

 

 

 

 

Also, as some mentioned, why they don't allow me to resell it to someone else?

 

 

 

It should be pretty simple:

 

 

 

If they manage to fill it - allow me to transfer it to future cruise. Win-win for everyone. if not - give me an option to transfer it.

 

 

 

It sounds like they almost hope for people to cancel so they can make double profit on that suite.

Okay- time for a reality check.

Reread all the replies. Let it go.

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Look, I'm running a business too. And I have a cancellation policy as well. NO REFUNDS. But I'm making exceptions when necessary. A little compassion can actually greatly benefit the business, not hurt it. I know it does in my business. I know that if Oceania made an exception and allow us to reschedule (even for a small extra fee), I would become their customer for life.

 

 

Believe me, nobody wants to cancel on purpose or "game the system". Most people who book a cruise want to go - unless unexpected happens.

 

 

Hotels allow cancellations in most cases. Airlines allow you to rebook in many cases for an extra fee. Why it is different with cruise lines?

When we started our business in 2007, our corporate lawyer and other attorneys in the same industry constantly drummed into every business owners' heads that we need to be consistent with everyone with our company polices. If exception is made for one but not others, it opens the doors to others to sue the company. You are fortunately that making exceptions have not come back to bite you. Oceania and any other business with decent corporate lawyers would have trained the company's management about ensuring that policies are consistently applied. I do not buy travel insurance ever since we have Chase Sapphire Reserve. But we do buy medical insurace like GeoBlue. We can afford to lose $ paid for travel because we have set aside the money to do so. For medical, it is a different story. You gambled and you lost. Life is not fair but company policies are.

When we started our business in 2007, our corporate lawyer and other attorneys in the same industry constantly drummed into every business owners' heads that we need to be consistent with everyone with our company polices. If exception is made for one but not others, it opens the doors to others to sue the company. You are fortunately that making exceptions have not come back to bite you. Oceania and any other business with decent corporate lawyers would have trained the company's management about ensuring that policies are consistently applied. I do not buy travel insurance ever since we have Chase Sapphire Reserve. But we do buy medical insurace like GeoBlue. We can afford to lose $ paid for travel because we have set aside the money to do so. For medical, it is a different story. You gambled and you lost. Life is not fair but company policies are.

Yes, our lives are governed by greedy lawyers and lawsuits. Instead of doing a real work, people are worried about covering their asses against possible lawsuits. I know that. It is sad. And it is even more sad that people consider it normal. Well, I don't. Sorry. I don't consider it normal for a cruise line to make a double profit on a cancelled cabin. IT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG.

Yes, our lives are governed by greedy lawyers and lawsuits. Instead of doing a real work, people are worried about covering their asses against possible lawsuits. I know that. It is sad. And it is even more sad that people consider it normal. Well, I don't. Sorry. I don't consider it normal for a cruise line to make a double profit on a cancelled cabin. IT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG.

Let it go. You're not helping yourself here.

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It is sad. And it is even more sad that people consider it normal. Well, I don't. Sorry. I don't consider it normal for a cruise line to make a double profit on a cancelled cabin. IT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG.

it's also sad that you are letting this issue eat you up. Time to chill out and listen to some music...

Kia Kaha

You’re never going to let this go, are you? Now it’s not just greedy Oceania but greedy lawyers as well.

ak1004

So sorry to hear about your wife.

You sound like a very angry person at the moment and that's not surprising.You must be angry with the fact that it is your wife that is suffering and it probably feels like Oceania has dug the knife deeper with your current pain.

Try and focus on your wife now.As others have said,let it go and you can give much needed time and energy to your family.Best of luck.

Thank you everyone for your valuable tips.

 

As I mentioned, I did have trip cancellation from the credit card company - my mistake was not to check the fine print. I could not imagine that they would have a limit of $1,000 only.

 

Lesson learned of course. But I'm a bit surprised that everyone on this board is defending the corporate greed of Oceania, when it's clear that cancelling 5 weeks in advance, they will have no issues to re-sell this cabin.

Purchase trip insurance next time that covers the cost of your cruise or other vacation, as well as medical in case you get sick on the trip. It is not very expensive.

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Thank you everyone for your help and support.

Sorry. I don't consider it normal for a cruise line to make a double profit on a cancelled cabin. IT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG.

Oh but it is normal for the RCI family of cruise lines. That's why in 2015 they instituted the program double/double. Double the revenue and double the net profits. You can google RCL double/double to read more. The company last week reported quarterly record profits.

I can't speak to the reasoning behind Oceania's decision however as others have suggested, I agree that trip insurance is the safety net that handles the unexpected. That being said, sorry for your wife's illness. I hope she has a speedy recovery.

Believe me, nobody wants to cancel on purpose or "game the system". Most people who book a cruise want to go - unless unexpected happens.

You write that because that's the kind of person you are. Unfortunately, I'm sorry to report that there are, indeed, cruisers out there who attempt to game the system. Someone else will have to help me out, but there used to be a poster to this board who bragged about how he manipulated the system to his benefit. He was quite open about his strategy. (The issue was not cancelling a cruise for a serious medical emergency, but I believe it involved a cancellation and a credit applied against a future cruise.)

Bottom line: Oceania monitored this board, banned this cruiser from all future cruises, and, most significantly, changed the policy to prevent others from adopting the same game-the-system strategy that had been explained in many posts.

We cannot begin to imagine the full range of human behavior on any topic that cruise lines deal with daily.

You write that because that's the kind of person you are. Unfortunately, I'm sorry to report that there are, indeed, cruisers out there who attempt to game the system. Someone else will have to help me out, but there used to be a poster to this board who bragged about how he manipulated the system to his benefit. He was quite open about his strategy. (The issue was not cancelling a cruise for a serious medical emergency, but I believe it involved a cancellation and a credit applied against a future cruise.)

 

Bottom line: Oceania monitored this board, banned this cruiser from all future cruises, and, most significantly, changed the policy to prevent others from adopting the same game-the-system strategy that had been explained in many posts.

 

We cannot begin to imagine the full range of human behavior on any topic that cruise lines deal with daily.

All very true.

I do remember that case.

You write that because that's the kind of person you are. Unfortunately, I'm sorry to report that there are, indeed, cruisers out there who attempt to game the system. Someone else will have to help me out, but there used to be a poster to this board who bragged about how he manipulated the system to his benefit. He was quite open about his strategy. (The issue was not cancelling a cruise for a serious medical emergency, but I believe it involved a cancellation and a credit applied against a future cruise.)

 

Bottom line: Oceania monitored this board, banned this cruiser from all future cruises, and, most significantly, changed the policy to prevent others from adopting the same game-the-system strategy that had been explained in many posts.

 

We cannot begin to imagine the full range of human behavior on any topic that cruise lines deal with daily.

Well, there are always some rotten apples - does it mean you have to punish all cruisers?

Well, there are always some rotten apples - does it mean you have to punish all cruisers?

That seems to be the response by corporate interests.

Look at booze smuggling...both Carnival and RCL now have rules in place where no one can even bring an empty water bottle onboard at checkin...much less a full one.

Do we all have to pay the price....yep.

Suggest you consider changing Credit Card Companies. Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred both offer excellent Protection for Travel Medical and delay problems with the EXCEPTION of Prior Medlcal issues Everyone uses a Credit Card, why not use one that Provides both good Travel Rewards and Travel protection

Suggest you consider changing Credit Card Companies. Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred both offer excellent Protection for Travel Medical and delay problems with the EXCEPTION of Prior Medlcal issues Everyone uses a Credit Card, why not use one that Provides both good Travel Rewards and Travel protection

Thank you, but I'm Canadian. Have Visa from CIBC, will have to check regarding other cards.