FAA grounded all flights to Florida missed cruise

[katiel53]

I agree with the suggestion of leaving a day ahead of time (if possible). But travel insurance is a highly debatable subject. I self insure, and for most people, if you can afford to, you are better off doing so. Travel insurance is generally a bad investment. If you prefer the peace of mind, and you're willing to pay for it, then go ahead. But to intimate that "experienced" cruisers (or travelers in general) "know" this is a smart move is simply false.

 

I have purchased insurance for many years and it wasn't because I was worried about a flight delay. I started because my parents were up in years and I wanted to get my money back if I had to cancel because something happened to either one of them.

 

I have continued to purchase insurance even though they have both passed away, because I am concerned about the cost of medical evacuation should that be necessary. In addition, even though my health insurance has marvelous coverage, it does not cover anything outside of the USA.

 

When we lived in FL, we would drive to the port and it was only an hour's trip to Pt Canaveral, so we weren't worried about getting to the port on time. Now that I am in NY and have to fly again, I go at least one day before or in the case of sailing from San Juan or NOLA, a few days before to enjoy the port itself.

 

I do not want to be in the position to self insure as the cost of the cruise itself is not my biggest concern, albeit it would still be money wasted, but the medical evacuation etc is far more important to my peace of mind.

 

We all do things for different reasons and I'd rather not lose my $2500 for the cruise plus airfare etc. or a lot more for other reasons.

[A&L_Ont]

FYI we renewed my daughters passport a few months ago when she was 17. The new one expires in 10 years. I don't believe there is such a thing as "minor" and "adult" passports.

 

Your passport information is incorrect. A new passport is good for 10 years for a person who is 16 and up. Minor passports are for those 15 and under.

 

So if this passport had been renewed then 6 of 7 would have had passports and could have continued on to the next port of call.

[Paul65]

FYI we renewed my daughters passport a few months ago when she was 17. The new one expires in 10 years. I don't believe there is such a thing as "minor" and "adult" passports.

 

There is such a thing, but the cut-off is 16, not 18. A kid's passport is for a shorter time, mainly because they change so much in a few years, when they're that young. Our son is 18 and got his current passport just about 3 1/2 years ago, at age 14. He looks so much more child-like in the passport photo, and usually gets a smirk from the agent, any time he shows it. It's recognizable as the same person, but very different after that relatively short time.

[Livvie]

Very interesting reading all of the responses I have received on this issue, I have to say I am a bit surprised. It is funny to me that we have turned into a society of nothing but "hedging your bets with insurance, trips, TVs, life, property, and almost anything u can think of, circuit city went of of biz 10 years ago but they showed a loss the last 5 years in products sales and a $90million dollar profit in insurance for those products. Really? As far as passports go my daughters passport expired in March she turns 18 on April 23 we didn't want another minor passport when she could get an adult passport in 22 days, cheap no, I could afford as many passports as they could issue just not smart. Whatever

She could have gotten an adult passport at 16.

[DonnaK]

As far as passports go my daughters passport expired in March she turns 18 on April 23 we didn't want another minor passport when she could get an adult passport in 22 days, cheap no, I could afford as many passports as they could issue just not smart. Whatever

 

An adult passport begins at age 16, not 18

[Michael6913]

What is your idea of the "right way" to handle something like this? Do you want us, as taxpayers to refund you, because it was a government agency that grounded the flights? Do you want RC to refund you, even though it was totally out of their control, and you did not purchase travel insurance?

 

One thing you can look into, if you haven't already, is whether the credit card you used to book the cruise includes any sort of travel insurance that would cover a situation like this. Some do offer that as a perk.

 

The credit card company is a good idea I spoke to them this morning, chase visa, interesting they too agreed thru slews of complaints over the years that the cruise industry had been taking advantage of its passengers for decades. I also agree that going down day before is good idea. However, Look at RCIs perspectus they made more than $4 million in profit from TI and no I do not think it is FAA fault and no I am not looking for refund, simply take the expenses out of my money for this trip and allow me to use remaining on another cruise. Come on that's reasonable!

[traceytd]

Let's get this out there first, I did not take the cruise insurance, I have been on 7 cruises and never needed, not even close. Now after saying that my party of 7 was scheduled to fly out of Nashville yesterday to Ft Lauderdale to board the oasis of seas with a 4:30pm departure. At approximately 9am the FAA grounded all flights entering Florida airspace due to severe weather. After waiting 4 hours to take off it was clear we were going to miss cruise. I called RCI they said I could meet the ship but two passengers did not have valid passports, they then said we could transfer and book on the allure the next day but not enough rooms. I then stated we would simply rebook on the same ship with same itinerary on June 18th and it began, all departments, emergency, post cruise, and passenger relations said sorry we will be keeping your $11,000 and you will get nothing not even a free pina colada, have a nice day. There were over 1000 passengers that missed this boat yesterday. Someone please give me some recourse. Taking all suggestions. Thanks

 

 

Not sure if you have a credit card that insures your trip. Our credit card covers certain trip cancellation or disruption. You should check. I feel real bad for you. It would just kill me if this would happen to us. Good luck anyways.

[uksimonusa]

Really dude u read that entire contract every time, certainly it would have been advisable to know cancellation policies no doubt about it, however, I cancel hotels all the time, get money back, I cancelled Southwest Airlines yesterday got every mile and penny back didn't ask any questions, we didn't make an all inclusive in Turks 3 years ago got 90% back, we miss a cruise due to FAA grounding flight I get zero. Regardless of what contract says, simply not right and something needs to be done. They can't keep u on Tarmac for more than an hour anymore, right policies were changed!!!!!!

 

Southwest reimbursed you because they were they ones that could not fly you and therefore broke the contract. You were the one that broke the contract with RCI so it's only fair that you reimburse them, which by not getting a refund, you have.

[az_tchr]

Crazy flying in the day of a cruise and also crazy taking a cruise anyplace without a passport. As others said an expensive lesson. Would say you hopefully learned.

[Michael6913]

Then you should have considered buying insurance or a hotel night in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Plus, the age for an adult passport is 16, not 18.

 

Well played on passport, but not insurance RCI makes millions and millions on travel insurance, while have a no empathy clause in contracts. No travel industry in the world gets sued more often than the cruise industry, actually it's not even close to airlines, resorts etc. there is a reason and it's not due to the "travel insurance"

[BeagleOne]

no I am not looking for refund, simply take the expenses out of my money for this trip and allow me to use remaining on another cruise. Come on that's reasonable!

 

What exactly does this mean? RCI doesn't owe you anything. You planned poorly, including not researching your daughter's passport renewal, and got stuck. RCI offered you two alternative options, neither of which was acceptable to you. They weren't able to resell the cabins your party would have occupied. What exactly do you want them to do?

[A&L_Ont]

I'm sure someone must have mentioned this but you will get back any prepaid expenses such as drink packages, specialty dining, shore excursions for example.

[BND]

Well played on passport, but not insurance RCI makes millions and millions on travel insurance, while have a no empathy clause in contracts. No travel industry in the world gets sued more often than the cruise industry, actually it's not even close to airlines, resorts etc. there is a reason and it's not due to the "travel insurance"

 

So, why do you cruise? Businesses do exist to make money. It doesn't matter what the rest of the travel industry does. I highly doubt, if you missed your flight due to a flat tire, or traffic, that the airline would say, oh, no problem, we'll return your money. They would make other arrangements, with a fee, kind of like RCI offered. I'm not sure why you bring up the cruise industry and lawsuits. There are lots of frivolous lawsuits. A lot of the lawsuits against cruise lines have nothing to do with the cruiseline itself. People sue over weather, missed ports, doing stupid things when they are drunk, etc.

 

BTW, you still haven't answered the 1000 cruisers missing the ship question.

Edited April 3, 2016 by BND

[elaine5]

RCI was well within their right. however, sometimes, if you get to someone senior enough, they might offer you something, like space on a cruise at an off-time. We met a couple that forgot their documents for cruise that they had drvien to 4 hours from their house. They denied boarding, but eventually offered to credit them for an off-season sailing. They were upset with that compensation--but what is the company to do?

We also used to not get travel ins. for shorter cruises. However, DD9 fell and hit her head abroad and we wound up in the ER and almost had to canx a Baltic cruise the next day. We had trip ins. b/c it was a $$$ European cruise, but it made me realize that things happen when you least expect. Who would have thought a 9 yr old would have issues--I was more concerned with my 65 yr old Mom. Now, we get it for every cruise. And, if flying in the day of, I carefully review the missed connection section and make sure that I buy a policy that covers me (say 3 hr delay vs. 6 hr delay). Good luck. Hope you can salvage something from corporate next week. They will certainly be getting a lot of calls.

[champagne123]

Well played on passport, but not insurance RCI makes millions and millions on travel insurance, while have a no empathy clause in contracts. No travel industry in the world gets sued more often than the cruise industry, actually it's not even close to airlines, resorts etc. there is a reason and it's not due to the "travel insurance"

 

 

 

"Oh! What A Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice To Deceive"

 

You have evaded all questions posed to you..and have already been caught in one lie.

[sargeantcurley]

Let's get this out there first, I did not take the cruise insurance, I have been on 7 cruises and never needed, not even close. Now after saying that my party of 7 was scheduled to fly out of Nashville yesterday to Ft Lauderdale to board the oasis of seas with a 4:30pm departure. At approximately 9am the FAA grounded all flights entering Florida airspace due to severe weather. After waiting 4 hours to take off it was clear we were going to miss cruise. I called RCI they said I could meet the ship but two passengers did not have valid passports, they then said we could transfer and book on the allure the next day but not enough rooms. I then stated we would simply rebook on the same ship with same itinerary on June 18th and it began, all departments, emergency, post cruise, and passenger relations said sorry we will be keeping your $11,000 and you will get nothing not even a free pina colada, have a nice day. There were over 1000 passengers that missed this boat yesterday. Someone please give me some recourse. Taking all suggestions. Thanks[/quote

 

 

this is tough....if you paid with a credit card...check to see if it offered trip interruption coverage...some cards do at no additional cost .. good luck

[Charles4515]

Well played on passport, but not insurance RCI makes millions and millions on travel insurance, while have a no empathy clause in contracts. No travel industry in the world gets sued more often than the cruise industry, actually it's not even close to airlines, resorts etc. there is a reason and it's not due to the "travel insurance"

 

 

 

You don't have to buy your insurance thru the cruise line. I buy mine from other companies. Third party insurance. By the way the insurance you buy from a cruise line is underwritten by an insurance company, not RCI. RCI probably makes only a commission for selling the policy.

[Merion_Mom]

I think we need a bit of sociological understanding here. Experienced cruisers tend to be a tad older than the newbies found on so many of the 4-6 day cruises. You have to remember these folks come from the "participation" trophy generation and have never had to really deal with adversity such as losing their entire fare. So they honestly believe that they are due a refund and other compensation for something they could well have avoided with better planning. So don't jump to harshly on them, remember many are just fragile snowflakes.

 

Also a fast web search does NOT reveal any blanket FAA grounding of flights in any part of the US yesterday or any time recently.

 

Your right we should have gone down day before, however if u look at all the posts around all sites cruise companies have been taking advantage of passengers for years, again regardless of policy there is a right and wrong way to handle these situations, I would hope you would agree. And, anytime you want to compare heads you let me know!

 

Lakesregion, OH HOW RIGHT you turned out to be! :rolleyes:

[cello56]

The credit card company is a good idea I spoke to them this morning, chase visa, interesting they too agreed thru slews of complaints over the years that the cruise industry had been taking advantage of its passengers for decades. I also agree that going down day before is good idea. However, Look at RCIs perspectus they made more than $4 million in profit from TI and no I do not think it is FAA fault and no I am not looking for refund, simply take the expenses out of my money for this trip and allow me to use remaining on another cruise. Come on that's reasonable!

 

But no, it is NOT reasonable! You reserved a cabin that could not be resold. You paid for the use of that particular cabin(s) on that particular cruise. Letting you rebook on another cruise means that you are getting to reserve two cabins for one fare! I'm afraid that when it comes to cruise cabins it is use it or lose it for last minute cancellations.

[waterbugohio]

Are you sure you said this right? You're sailing 1 day earlier than planned, and not flying on the day of the cruise? :confused:

 

Yes. I typed that wrong. Since the navigator now leaves a day earlier than the empress was suppose to. We ARE NOT flying in a day early. I'm sure we will be ok. But just makes me nervous even though all the OP info doesn't add up

[Ladysilver]

Number one... ALWAYS buy the insurance.

Number two... ALWAYS fly in the day before.

 

Sorry this happened to you. :(

[gjkubel]

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the ship sailed.

 

How long should they have waited? An hour? Three? Six? If the ship waited, then the port employees would have to be there. The porters, the longshoreman...all the support staff necessary to ultimately 'disconnect' from the pier and move out.

 

Not to mention that it is a Dept of Homeland Security requirement that manifests be turned in at least 90 minutes before the ship sails. Yet another delay once those passengers arrived.

 

If the delay is too long, will that mean a missed port?

 

Should the few thousand already on board have THEIR vacation altered to accommodate others?

 

If 1000 people were missing because the FAA shut down airports (note, two things that I think have been exaggerated here) I would expect them to wait until they needed to free the berth for Allure. And I'm confident that is what they would have in fact done.

 

When we cruised out of Alaska an accident shut down Seward highway. I believe maybe 600-800 people would have missed the ship had we left on time, so we waited. Because of the delay, everyone on the ship missed Hubbard Glacier. But it was the correct decision.

 

I truly think you are ignorant if you believe the cruise line would just say too-bad-so-sad to 1000 people. Those onboard can still enjoy the facilities of the ship.

 

All that said, I don't think even close to 1000 people missed this sailing.

Edited April 3, 2016 by gjkubel

[internetwhiz]

Number one... ALWAYS buy the insurance.

 

Number two... ALWAYS fly in the day before.

 

 

 

Sorry this happened to you. :(

 

 

 

Number 3. Know the rules for passports. You could be on the ship now.

[jonj]

And another thing, if the FAA truly grounded all flights into Florida, I would have heard about it on the local news or read about it in today's paper. Nope, nada, nothing

 

That doesn't really mean anything. I had family members flying from Florida to the east coast and their flight was delayed for five hours due to weather conditions over the flight path the plane was supposed to take

 

To the OP - cruises work very differently from hotels and are very strict with their policy, has always been this way and being a previous cruise you should have been aware. When you book a cruise you are agreeing to their terms and conditions

 

I really feel for you as we all plan and look forward to our vacations.

 

As for insurance you don't have to take the cruise insurance. You can purchase it on your own from any of the companies that offer it. Take a look at http://www.insuremytrip.com

[BlueRiband]

The credit card company is a good idea I spoke to them this morning, chase visa, interesting they too agreed thru slews of complaints over the years that the cruise industry had been taking advantage of its passengers for decades. I also agree that going down day before is good idea. However, Look at RCIs perspectus they made more than $4 million in profit from TI and no I do not think it is FAA fault and no I am not looking for refund, simply take the expenses out of my money for this trip and allow me to use remaining on another cruise. Come on that's reasonable!

 

I would be feeling very bad right now myself if I just said goodbye to eleven grand and had my vacation ruined. However I disagree on both of your statements.

 

Cancellation schedules are spelled out in the contract. Nobody is holding a gun to anybody's head to sign on for a contract that has taken "...advantage of its passengers for decades." Contracts also spell out that one is liable for damage to a staterooms (e.g. bleeding dye Christmas stickers) and also that one can be denied boarding for lack of proper travel documentation, failure to inform the cruise line of mobility special needs, and advanced pregnancy to name just a few. Once somebody checks off that they have read and accepted the Terms and Conditions there is no recourse.

As to asking RCI to be "reasonable" - they held all of those staterooms off the market for you and your party. You now want them to lose all of that revenue from the missed sailing and apply your fare to another sailing. Unlike a hotel or an airline which fill cancelled rooms and seats, a cruise line cannot fill four berths the same day of sailing.

 

Everybody makes choices based on their tolerance for risk. Some claim that they never had problem flying in the same day for 30 cruises, claim they don't want to spend money on a passport when their sailings don't require them, claim that what they have spent in insurance would have added up to another cruise. I'm afraid you just make a hefty tuition payment in the University of Experience.