Why Doesn't Royal Caribbean Treat Their Customers Well?

[1sttimemariner]

With the approaching hurricane, many departures have been cut short. Most lines are offering a full refund if you choose to cancel OR up to 50% back and 50% off on a future cruise if you decide to go ahead with the sailing. Royal Caribbean is only offering a 50% refund if you cancel and a $100 onboard credit if you decide to sail. Why doesn't RC treat their customers as well as the other cruise lines? If I were to book a future cruise during hurricane season, I think I'd lean toward any other cruise line than RC after seeing this. Your vacation gets cut short and they offer you 50% back if you don't go which means your out 50% and get no vacation. Or, you can go on another line, still take a shortened vacation, and get money back because your not getting the full vacation promised (or you can just cancel and get all your money back). Does anyone else have a problem with this?

[mbisson]

Not me. But then they've always treated me well, AND I buy the insurance. For us, we usually book nonrefundable air so even getting back the entire amount of the cruise we would still be out the air tickets.

-Monte

[hdawson]

When people CHOOSE to sail near the peak of the hurricane season, they know the risk, pays their money and take their chances. I've done it several times and lucked out. Note the work LUCK. What RC is offering is generous.

Four cruises on Royal Caribbean and 5 on Celebrity. I have no complaints. Check the provisions of your travel insurance policy. No travel insurance?

Another risk.

[SRQfireman]

How many different threads are people going to start on this same topic????

They don't owe anybody anything.....it's hurricaine season.....it's not their fault about the weather....if it's something they can control, then they owe you something(like ship problems or something)...it's bonus what they're giving people.....when you're sailing in hurricaine season ,you take your chances

[Pablo's Cruise]

Not me. But then they've always treated me well, AND I buy the insurance. For us, we usually book nonrefundable air so even getting back the entire amount of the cruise we would still be out the air tickets.

-Monte

 

I have to agree with the above post--insurance is key. I have no probs with RCCL.

[skyking]

RCCL has always treated me like GOLD....WAY TO GO RCCL.

[starboardstar]

I agree with the OP whilst fully appreciating the need to change schedules and if advance notice is given that your cruise is to be cut short then a full refund should be offered. Its only good PR and it gives people the option. If I were booked on such a sailing and offered in advance a 50% refund or $100 credit per room that is for what is already a short cruise I would feel short changed. Complaining is not my style however and we would simply take our choice but would not use the company or its affilliates if we could help it in future.

 

Those comments apply solely where advance notification is given, obviously things are different when last minute changes are involved

[ElvisandTracey]

To the nameless complainers freaking out about potential financial loss, port changes, or loss of a day due to Katrina-

 

So much complaining-you are all so lucky to be in a position in life to be able to purchase a vacation to beautiful places around the world-stop and think what an impossibility that idea is to most of the people who live in the places you will be paying to visit-

 

A storm may cause you to lose a day or change a port, god forbid-some people may lose a home, a business, or a life-

 

Have a little perspective, its a vacation, relax and go with it-

 

Sailing 9/11 on the Mariner, with insurance paid in full.....

[TheWog]

That is expensive PR. What is considered advanced notice and what is considered last minute. The storm is scheduled to hit tonight and the notice was made yesterday I believe. Is that advanced or last minute. Its a risk and it is unfortunate. But if you can make it, go for it and enjoy $100 worth of drinks on RCI.

 

p.s. they've treated me very well except for making me get off the ship the last day of our trip.

[J&SLowery]

I believe RCCL treats their passengers just fine. There's a lot of reasons we keep coming back

 

There are many insurance policies out there, and many (if not most) are probably more competitively priced than RCCL's Cruise Care. However, those that Cruise Care from RCCL are very well treated....

 

Did you know that:

 

RCCL will provide a 75% cruise credit for whatever reason you have for cancelling up to the date of sailing whether covered or not buy the insurance carrier (Berkely Care) if you buy Cruise Care from them. That alone is worth the cost of their premium to us.

 

And some are asking why RCCL is treating customers badly???? I just don't get it. I would say 75% credit, because I simply choose/could not go for any number of reasons, is pretty nice treatment.

 

RCCL owes no one anything due to weather related issues, except what is in the Cruise Contract-- this includes safety. What they are providing people is quite generous IMO.

 

Jay

[mbisson]

 

p.s. they've treated me very well except for making me get off the ship the last day of our trip.

 

Yeah, I hate it when they do that! ;)

 

-Monte

[Heidict]

Why doesn't Royal Caribbean treat their customers well?

I don't know, but let me tell you, I'm getting sick and tired of the room steward constantly coming into my room and cleaning it, and giving me fresh towels and ice. Who do they think they are? Maybe I like to sleep in a messy bed, maybe the highlight of my day is getting to run my hand though the ice cold water in the ice bucket looking for those last few dregs of ice.

 

And what is with the buffet being closed? Just how the heck am I supposed to eat 24 hours a day? They have no consideration at all. I shouldn't have to run all over the ship just to look for food.

 

And the rudeness is just unapologetic. Making me leave? Come on! They have no sense of fairness. I don't want to go back home!!

 

Okay.........now I will be serious. I would say that if you choose to not just travel during hurricane season, but the height of the hurrican season you have to expect that hurricane's are going to happen and that your trip may be inconvinenced. If how the ship compensates you due to a hurricane is your primary concern when choosing a ship then maybe people need to do their research before purchasing a ticket. Myself, travel outside of hurricane season, if possible, by insurance, and cross my fingers.

 

I feel that offering $100 shipboard credit is fair. After all, technically they could have offered nothing and still have been within the terms of their contract.

[1sttimemariner]

You know you guys are funny. Did you ever think that it's you all that like to complain. I'm not complaining, I'm asking a simple question. I did just take a cruise with RC...during hurricane season. I understand that you are taking a chance by cruising then and anything can happen. That's why you pay a little less for your cruise than at other times of the year. I'm simply wondering why the other cruise lines are doing a great deal to make sure that their customers remain happy after having their vacation cut short, and RC doesn't offer half the same. Just seems like good PR to at least match what other cruise lines are doing. But hey, forget I asked. I didn't know you were all out there looking for someone to jump all over. I was away from the boards for a little while and forgot how hostile you people can be. Go take a cruise and relax.

[bplazo]

I have no problem with RCCL and their policies. We cruised with them last year during the hurricane season and had alot of headaches but you know that when cruising during hurricane season. I think that they are more than generous.

 

Did you have cruise insurance? It paid for alot of our out of pocket expenses last year.

[justaknucklehead]

People really get nasty when others don't agree with them. Oh, well.

[Brad1185]

I agree with the other posts, if you cruise the caribbean this time of year, you cannot expect all these refunds. Its a chance your taking to go. I would be thrilled with the $100 credit. On the weather issue, I think your treated just fine.

 

But I do agree with you for some reason RCI seems to go out of their way to treat their paying customers badly on other issues. It is also apparent to me that they take their customers for granted. Why, I dont know. From what I see no other cruise line does this as much as RCI. There is no reason for RCI to do this. People still keep coming.

[waterrats]

Compared to other cruise lines, RCCL and Princess fall far behind the compensation curve. I do buy insurance and if this were to happen to me, I would hope I would get most if not all my money back. Lets figure this out, your cruise is cut 33% and RCCL is only going to refund you $100 per stateroom. At about $700 or so for the stateroom, that works out to be just under 15% credit. If you were squeezing more than 2 people in the stateroom, you got screwed.

 

We were actually looking at booking the Majesty for February for 3 nights. If this were to happen then (I know not in hurricane season but one never knows) we would be getting jipped big time. 4 people in a cabin get $100 credit, same as if only 2 people were in a cabin. This credit also does not take into account your actual fair paid. So the theory goes when booking with RCCL, book the cheapest cabin available and with only 2 people in it to make out with a credit if a credit is due.

 

Since this has come about this week, I may actually look at booking Carnival instead just because they seem to treat their passengers better and not look so much at the bottom line at the moment.

[nosnobunny]

You know you guys are funny. Did you ever think that it's you all that like to complain. I'm not complaining, I'm asking a simple question. I did just take a cruise with RC...during hurricane season. I understand that you are taking a chance by cruising then and anything can happen. That's why you pay a little less for your cruise than at other times of the year. I'm simply wondering why the other cruise lines are doing a great deal to make sure that their customers remain happy after having their vacation cut short, and RC doesn't offer half the same. Just seems like good PR to at least match what other cruise lines are doing. But hey, forget I asked. I didn't know you were all out there looking for someone to jump all over. I was away from the boards for a little while and forgot how hostile you people can be. Go take a cruise and relax.

 

I have an RCI cruise booked during the hurricane season this year and disagree that my fare is "a little less" than other times. I paid a lot less for it. There was a substantial financial benefit to cruise this time of year. I knew what I was getting into when I booked it so I don't think you'll hear any complaining from me if we have weather issues.

Beth

[mdmourges]

I guess RCCL, whom I think do a great job, don't do as the others because they have taken everything into consideration (financial, PR related, etc.) and feel this is the best move for their shareholders, the people to whom they are ultimatly accountable to.

 

Mark

[firstcruise05]

That is expensive PR. What is considered advanced notice and what is considered last minute. The storm is scheduled to hit tonight and the notice was made yesterday I believe. Is that advanced or last minute. Its a risk and it is unfortunate. But if you can make it, go for it and enjoy $100 worth of drinks on RCI.

 

p.s. they've treated me very well except for making me get off the ship the last day of our trip.

 

Well, then they should have compensated you for the Mental pain and anguish that you suffered from being forced to get off the ship on that last day. Perhaps a free cruise for the whole family. ;)

 

My opinion on the matter in general: I would be a little bent out of shape if I paid for a 7 day cruise and got a 3 day instead and only a 100 credit. I'm not sure how much shortened this cruise is but I wouldn't worry about a day less and I certainly would not complain about a full 7 day cruise with a modified itinerary to avoid the hurricane as some people have done. I look at it this way: if you've decided to go on vacation to the Carribean during Hurricane season then the best thing to do is take a cruise. What if you paid 1000's of dollars to take a land based vacation to Grand Cayman and they got hit by a hurricane? Your vacation would be a complete washout and you would be out 1000's of dollars...not to mention you may be lucky to be alive. If you are in a ship, they can steer you to safety and allow you to still have a vacation to enjoy. If I was hell bent on seeing a certain port and I would be devastated if we couldn't go then I wouldn't go to that port during their storm season...you're just asking for disappointment. I am taking the Eastern Caribbean route in the Mariner in October...if we get detoured to the west because of a hurricane we get detoured, heck I'll be happy just to be on vacation.

[ElvisandTracey]

Bunny-

I agree 100%-I got a $599 balcony on the Mariner for a reason-cuz its September and ya takes your chances in September-thats what insurance is for-

 

knock on wood-:eek:

[Hnymooncruiser]

I haven't had a chance yet to enjoy RCCL hospitality, (leaving for on the Navigator in 9 days!!) but I will tell you they have treated me extremely well.

 

I was supposed to sail last year on September 5th on the Explorer. Then Hurricane Frances happened and we couldn't make it to Miami. We were hoping for some of our money back and called and cancelled instead of being no-shows. The shipped sailed without us a day late.

 

We were extremely surprised to find out later that not only had they had given us a credit that included the cost of the cruise but also the port charges, taxes and anything else we paid for...to put it simply, every penny we paid for that cruise could be transferred to another cruise of our choice. We were very happy and felt confident in booking with them again.

[Heidict]

You know you guys are funny. Did you ever think that it's you all that like to complain. I'm not complaining, I'm asking a simple question. I did just take a cruise with RC...during hurricane season. I understand that you are taking a chance by cruising then and anything can happen. That's why you pay a little less for your cruise than at other times of the year. I'm simply wondering why the other cruise lines are doing a great deal to make sure that their customers remain happy after having their vacation cut short, and RC doesn't offer half the same. Just seems like good PR to at least match what other cruise lines are doing. But hey, forget I asked. I didn't know you were all out there looking for someone to jump all over. I was away from the boards for a little while and forgot how hostile you people can be. Go take a cruise and relax.

 

You asked for everyone's opinion, just cause everyone doesn't agree with you don't go jumping on them. If you really need an answer as to why RCI is not compensating their passengers the way that either the other cruise lines are or the way you feel they should be then maybe you need to call and speak with RCI.

 

None of us here work for RCI and can only guess as to why they offer what they do. You seem to want a final answer that can only come from the home office.

 

And from the last sentence of your post, you seem to be the one who is getting hostile.:cool:

[lamo0050]

I think that the compensation is a bit unfair as well. I went on the Mariner last fall when there were hurricanes and our cruise was cut short by 2 days. We were offered a full refund if we chose to cancel or a $500 shipboard credit and a 50% future cruise credit. I thought that was VERY generous but accepted it gladly! I would have been happy with less but I think that what this cruise is being offered is less than acceptable!

[ElvisandTracey]

My final thought on this subject of booking trips in storm season. My son's grandmother is Jamaican, and knows a thing ot two about hurricanes-she taught him a nursury rhyme when he was a baby about hurricanes-this is how Jamaican people teach children to plan their lives around storms, and when to expect them:

 

July-sneak by

August-pray for us

September-remember

October-all over

 

What more can I say-buy insurance;)