Another reason why cruise cancellation policies need to change

[Chigirlcruzin]

We aren't going to convince each other that the other is right. We have to agree to disagree.

[klfrodo]

The airline waived the fee and gave you "goodwill".

The cruiseline stuck to their guns, charged you a $100 administrative fee ( no goodwill in your opinion),,,,,, yet you turn around and rebook a more expensive cruise with the same cruiseline?

 

Which companies are in good standing financially? Oh, the cruiseline? Makes me scratch my head.

[dread_pirate]

Several airlines are waiving fees. It's only for people who were going to travel from the northeast during President's Week but can't go because of the change in the school calendar. AA, Delta and JetBlue agreed to waive change fees. Southwest doesn't charge a change fee.

 

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

 

US Airways is also waiving the change fee.

 

So once again I ask why the airlines did and the cruise lines won't.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Maybe because the airline change fee is $75-150 per person, and not $500-3000 per person as a refund from the cruiseline would be? You don't see the difference?

[Chigirlcruzin]

You're not getting it. No one made you book ES. You had other options. If you had booked under any other fare code, you would have received a 100% refund. This is the policy for all cruise lines. You chose to book ES, which has many more restrictions. While airlines do offer nonrefundable fares, no average person books them. I fly all the time for business and I don't book them because the cost difference is so large. It's apples and oranges.

 

Additionall, like the previous posted noted, because they can. Cruise lines are in better financial shape than airlines (as a whole) for a reason

 

And good will is HIGHLY overrated. The only person that cares is the person directly impacted.

 

I meant refundable airfares above...oops :)

[nitro2448]

Wow, I just got off my B2B cruises, and this thread is still going, lol. If you rolled the dice and lost, suck it up. If you have taken several cruises you have probably gained much more in price drops than you lost in this case. And I'll bet there was no complaining when you saved money. If Carnival asked you to give back one you're price drops would you have done it as a " goodwill " gesture ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[doctork]

I haven't read this whole thread, but seeing the title reminded me I needed to buy insurance for my cruise next summer. Guess what? On InsureMyTrip, I found at least one company offering Trip Cancellation insurance that covered unpredictable changes in school vacation schedules!

 

The carrier must have read this thread, or received an awful lot of phone calls.

[cruiseco]

 

The carrier must have read this thread, or received an awful lot of phone calls.

 

CSA has offered that benefit for years. I believe HTH has also.

[sail7seas]

No one promised us life is fair.

 

This is one person's example of unfairness but most of us older than age 5 can list any number of 'unfair' episodes that have happened in our lives.

 

Truthfully, in perspective of some REALLY, REALLY, REALLY unfair examples, this is a loss of some sum of money only. While I know most of us work hard for our money, none of us want to lose it, all of us want our vacations/cruises,,,,,,

Presumably anyone booking a cruise can afford that amount of money or they should not have booked the cruise in the first place.

 

IMO..... (just my own opinion and I know some will never agree with it.)

 

No one promised us life is fair.

 

[krzi]

I am going to give you my take on this. I was SEVERELY impacted by Hurricane Sandy as I live in Coney Island New York.

 

Cruise ships should not change their cruise policy because each ship only sails a certain amount of times per year. If a ship only does 7 day sailings, that means in the entire year, there is only 52 itineraries. They cannot add an extra boat, or pull a boat out with out affecting the schedules like airlines can. Airlines have the ability to move people to different plans based on need and repurpose them afterwards.

 

Example: Airline A has 10 plans daily, they should have 500 people daily. hurricane hit on the 1st, all planes grounded, change fees are waived. Day 2. hurricane passed, 400 people decide to change. Airline will now only fly 2 airplanes for the 100 people that did not cnacel, the other 8 will be for the people who cancelled and will go based on need.

 

Cruise ship A has 1 ship, they have 500 people each trip. hurricane hits on the 1st, they allow people to cancel their trip or reschedule and 400 people cancel. Cruise ship A now only has 100 passengers and future cruises are most likely already full. Everyone now on Cruise ship A is going to have a bad time because a large ship with very few passengers is a downer.

 

Using the above examples, you can easily see why allowing people to cancel a cruise or change it to be a bad idea. It is not the cruise lines fault for bad weather, it is not their fault your employer decided to force you to work, it is not their fault your child needs to go to school (however it is important for them to go to school). You should instead contact the people who ruined your vacation which in this case would be your employer, your child's school, or just blame bad luck and laugh it off.

 

Also remember, just because you cannot go it does not mean you cannot give your tickets or sell it to a family member or friend. Name changes up to 2 weeks before sail date are permitted by MOST cruise lines for a minimal charge.

 

Anyway happy cruising! and stop blaming other's because your plans did not work out.

[doctork]

CSA has offered that benefit for years. I believe HTH has also.

 

Hmmm....

 

Then cruisers with school age kids can certainly buy the cancellation coverage that includes this benefit.

 

When our kids were in school, we cruised in the summer, and now our kids our grown, so I hadn't paid any attention to whether that was a covered benefit. Each of us has the opportunity to buy the coverage we need/want so I don't feel it's up to the cruise line to make us whole for an event that is not their fault.

 

Life is full of unfairness and unexpected events. My mother always told me "You have to roll with the punches." Pretty good advice.

[mitsguy2001]

Wow, I just got off my B2B cruises, and this thread is still going, lol. If you rolled the dice and lost, suck it up. If you have taken several cruises you have probably gained much more in price drops than you lost in this case. And I'll bet there was no complaining when you saved money. If Carnival asked you to give back one you're price drops would you have done it as a " goodwill " gesture ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I too am shocked this thread is still going on. I agreed to disagree long ago. It's clear that nothing that I say will convince anyone that I'm right. And nothing that anyone here says will convince me that they are right. So, I agreed to disagree long ago. My silence does not mean I agree.

[nitro2448]

I too am shocked this thread is still going on. I agreed to disagree long ago. It's clear that nothing that I say will convince anyone that I'm right. And nothing that anyone here says will convince me that they are right. So, I agreed to disagree long ago. My silence does not mean I agree.

 

It's been so long I forgot what we agreed to Disagree about. But I bet we do agree that, when you saved money from Carnival, you didn't complain. And if Carnival gave you a $200 price drop, but then fell on hard times and asked you to go ahead and pay that $200 as a " goodwill " gesture, you would not do it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mitsguy2001]

It's been so long I forgot what we agreed to Disagree about. But I bet we do agree that, when you saved money from Carnival, you didn't complain.

 

Actually, I didn't save money, since I had to pay a lot of extra money for cancel for any reason insurance, which would have only covered a fraction of the cost if I had to cancel, but was still better than risking a total loss.

 

And if Carnival gave you a $200 price drop, but then fell on hard times and asked you to go ahead and pay that $200 as a " goodwill " gesture, you would not do it.

 

Actually, what would happen is they would keep the cost the same, but reduce the quality of the cruise, without even giving an option.

[mitsguy2001]

Also remember, just because you cannot go it does not mean you cannot give your tickets or sell it to a family member or friend. Name changes up to 2 weeks before sail date are permitted by MOST cruise lines for a minimal charge.

 

Actually, I don't think that is allowed. I remember reading that someone had a child who died shortly before the cruise. When the heartless cruise line denied them a refund, they then asked if they could donate the cruise to the Make a Wish Foundation so that a seriously ill child could go on the cruise. The heartless cruise line denied that request too! Even if you don't agree with refunds, even for a deceased child, how could you possibly justify not allowing the family to donate the cruise?

[nitro2448]

Actually, I didn't save money, since I had to pay a lot of extra money for cancel for any reason insurance, which would have only covered a fraction of the cost if I had to cancel, but was still better than risking a total loss.

 

 

 

Actually, what would happen is they would keep the cost the same, but reduce the quality of the cruise, without even giving an option.

 

So you have never once received a price drop from a previous cruise. ? And I know carnival is not going ask you to pay more, it was a hypothetical statement, but you still know you wouldn't do it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WhansaMi]

The take away:

 

Read your contract.

 

Buy "cancel for any reason" insurance if losing the fare in the face of unexpected circumstances is not acceptable to you.

 

If the industry standard is not acceptable to you, seriously consider choosing a different vacation venue.

[mitsguy2001]

The take away:

 

Read your contract.

 

Buy "cancel for any reason" insurance if losing the fare in the face of unexpected circumstances is not acceptable to you.

 

If the industry standard is not acceptable to you, seriously consider choosing a different vacation venue.

 

You obviously haven't been reading any of my posts.

[WhansaMi]

You obviously haven't been reading any of my posts.

 

Actually, I have. Every post on this thread.

 

It is still my take away - and what I think others should take away too.

 

Not only is the cruise line's position not going to change, but it appears that a number of us (the majority, according to these posts) believe it is a fair system.

[mitsguy2001]

Actually, I have. Every post on this thread.

 

Then you would know:

 

1. I do get cancel for any reason insurance

 

2. I do not consider cancel for any reason insurance to be a reasonable solution since it only covers a fraction of the cost and is expensive.

 

It is still my take away - and what I think others should take away too.

 

Not only is the cruise line's position not going to change,

 

If they start losing business (and eventually they will), they will be forced to change their policies, whether they like it or not.

 

but it appears that a number of us (the majority, according to these posts) believe it is a fair system.

 

It may be a majority of Cruise Critic members, but not a majority of the general population.

[WhansaMi]

Then you would know:

 

1. I do get cancel for any reason insurance

 

2. I do not consider cancel for any reason insurance to be a reasonable solution since it only covers a fraction of the cost and is expensive.

 

 

 

If they start losing business (and eventually they will), they will be forced to change their policies, whether they like it or not.

 

 

 

It may be a majority of Cruise Critic members, but not a majority of the general population.

 

Re: 1 & 2 -- I wasn't speaking to you, specifically, but to the generic group.

 

Re: your third point -- I doubt, very seriously, that will happen.

 

Could you please direct me to your source that the majority of the general population believes it is unfair? Apparently, I did miss a post, as I don't recall seeing that one.

[mitsguy2001]

Re: 1 & 2 -- I wasn't speaking to you, specifically, but to the generic group.

 

Re: your third point -- I doubt, very seriously, that will happen.

 

Could you please direct me to your source that the majority of the general population believes it is unfair? Apparently, I did miss a post, as I don't recall seeing that one.

 

Just basing it on the letters to the editor that I've seen, and conversations with people that I know.

 

Why does it matter? Even if my opinion is in the minority, I am entitled to my opinion, and I am allowed to share it here.

[WhansaMi]

Just basing it on the letters to the editor that I've seen, and conversations with people that I know.

 

Why does it matter? Even if my opinion is in the minority, I am entitled to my opinion, and I am allowed to share it here.

 

Absolutely! I am often in the minority in my opinion! :-)

 

I just meant it to suggest that, if, indeed, public opinion might sway the cruise lines policies (which I think may be a faulty position anyway), it would only be if a great majority of the public were to hold that position.

 

I don't think that is the case.

 

As you said earlier, though, we can just agree to disagree.

[momof3va]

My husband lost his job and we had to cancel our Disney Cruise 73 days before the sailing date. The Disney Cruise line policy is to require forfeiture of the entire deposit amount for cancelations that take place 74 to 45 days before the sailing date.

 

I had tried calling the day before but could not get through to their customer service line because they were having issues where the automated menu kept repeating itself over and over again. When you pressed '1' it would repeat itself over again.

 

I argued this point and was very upset. We really could use the money right now. Finally, they agreed to reschedule our cruise out one year, but if I cancel now for any reason, I lose the deposit amount. They also charged me $50 per person to change the date.

 

I find this to be completely heartless considering our financial situation. They will have no problem selling that stateroom that I cancelled, so they just profited from our misfortune.

 

I am so upset about this that I don't even want to cruise with Disney. However, I have no choice now.

[cruiseco]

My husband lost his job and we had to cancel our Disney Cruise 73 days before the sailing date. The Disney Cruise line policy is to require forfeiture of the entire deposit amount for cancelations that take place 74 to 45 days before the sailing date.

 

I had tried calling the day before but could not get through to their customer service line because they were having issues where the automated menu kept repeating itself over and over again. When you pressed '1' it would repeat itself over again.

 

I argued this point and was very upset. We really could use the money right now. Finally, they agreed to reschedule our cruise out one year, but if I cancel now for any reason, I lose the deposit amount. They also charged me $50 per person to change the date.

 

I find this to be completely heartless considering our financial situation. They will have no problem selling that stateroom that I cancelled, so they just profited from our misfortune.

 

I am so upset about this that I don't even want to cruise with Disney. However, I have no choice now.

 

What does your travel insurer say? Almost every third-party insurer I'm aware of covers job terminations/layoffs as does the Disney plan.

[sail7seas]

My husband lost his job and we had to cancel our Disney Cruise 73 days before the sailing date. The Disney Cruise line policy is to require forfeiture of the entire deposit amount for cancelations that take place 74 to 45 days before the sailing date.

 

I had tried calling the day before but could not get through to their customer service line because they were having issues where the automated menu kept repeating itself over and over again. When you pressed '1' it would repeat itself over again.

 

I argued this point and was very upset. We really could use the money right now. Finally, they agreed to reschedule our cruise out one year, but if I cancel now for any reason, I lose the deposit amount. They also charged me $50 per person to change the date.

 

I find this to be completely heartless considering our financial situation. They will have no problem selling that stateroom that I cancelled, so they just profited from our misfortune.

 

I am so upset about this that I don't even want to cruise with Disney. However, I have no choice now.

 

 

Could you have sent Disney an e-mail to cancel your cruise on day 74?

 

Everyone who cancels has a reason for it.

Someone had a heart attack.

Someone lost their job.

Someone got a divorce.

Someone suffered a death in the family.

Someone just decided they didn't want to go.

 

While we all feel awful to hear when someone loses their job, the cruise lines have to hold firm to their rules or everyone would be looking for them to 'have a heart'. Not to mention, how do they really know the excuses they are being given are true?

 

They sell insurance and make a lot of money on it.

Why should anyone buy the insurance if they keep hearing that people told the cruise line their story and got an 'exception' and they were able to get a refund? Who would buy the insurance? How would those who did spend the money feel to learn all they would have had to do was tell the cruise line a 'worthy reason' why they should get a refund.

 

I'm sorry I sound so harsh and please know I really feel awful to hear when someone loses their job but maybe you might see my point.

 

In any case, I sincerely wish you and your DH the best and hopefully he will find something very soon that will be the perfect position for him.

 

Good luck.