Royal Caribbean Bad Customer Service

[Lb737az]

We were on the 10/9 cruise. We were delayed returning to Galveston because of a medical emergency. Do to arriving later I had to change our flight which resulted in a additional $800. Our suite consergie assured us that Royal Caribbean would take care of us and to just call the Miami office when we returned .

I gave them a call , they were aware of the situation on the ship. After a lengthy hold on the phone , the person on the phone told me the cruise line has decided not to offer ANY compensation for our delay . She told me it was categorized as a "change in destination " and the cruise line was not responsible for any additional costs we incurred . She never once even said that they we sorry that we had to pay a additional cost for our flight.

I agree with the captains decision to do what ever he had to for the health of the passenger , but I believe that Royal Caribbean should bear some of the cost and not us.

I know this doesn't really matter to them , but they have lost two Diamond members.

[Ourusualbeach]

What time was your flight originally for?

 

Way to many people make way too early flight reservations and then get upset when stuff happens that cause them to miss their flight. IMO if you want to chance booking an early flight then make sure you have insurance to cover the costs if you are delayed.

 

It is too bad that the concierge gave you incorrect information and that there was not even an appology by Royal.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Ourusualbeach

[Biker19]

I know this doesn't really matter to them , but they have lost two Diamond members.

 

And does it make you feel any better to come vent here?

 

Biker, who just doesn't get the drive by posting mentality.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Biker19

[VASOXFANN]

Sorry for your troubles, but what does your Diamond status have to do with anything?

[cruiselvr04]

Your travel insurance should cover it.

[setsail]

If only you had been D+. All those were taken care of

[Biker19]

If only you had been D+. All those were taken care of

 

:eek::cool::D

[Sea_Salt_Sailor]

We were on the 10/9 cruise. We were delayed returning to Galveston because of a medical emergency. Do to arriving later I had to change our flight which resulted in a additional $800. Our suite consergie assured us that Royal Caribbean would take care of us and to just call the Miami office when we returned .

I gave them a call , they were aware of the situation on the ship. After a lengthy hold on the phone , the person on the phone told me the cruise line has decided not to offer ANY compensation for our delay . She told me it was categorized as a "change in destination " and the cruise line was not responsible for any additional costs we incurred . She never once even said that they we sorry that we had to pay a additional cost for our flight.

I agree with the captains decision to do what ever he had to for the health of the passenger , but I believe that Royal Caribbean should bear some of the cost and not us.

I know this doesn't really matter to them , but they have lost two Diamond members.

 

Is funny how people love to blame RCI but in reality the cruise line recommend not to book flights before 12:00pm on departure day in case of any delays... Yes we heard lots of folks saying that early flight are easy to make without any problems but when situations like this happen is when we see that their is an reason as of why the cruise line do not recommended early flights on departure day.

 

I don't think RCI owe you any refunds due to the missed flight and for the change. In case like this if you've had travel insurance it would've covered the expense you had for the delayed arrival.

 

Use this as experience and any further cruise either in RCI or any cruise line think twice before booking an early flight...

 

Carib Surfer :)

[DisneyDatknee]

If you booked with a credit card, you may have some protection, but that's why I buy travel insurance!! :cool::cool:

[ARCruisinNana]

Welcome to Cruise Critic and your first post.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[George C]

Get travel insurance, sounds like airline ripped you off by charging 800 extra

[Ourusualbeach]

if only you had been d+. All those were taken care of

 

lol.

[COMBOY]

We were on the 10/9 cruise. We were delayed returning to Galveston because of a medical emergency. Do to arriving later I had to change our flight which resulted in a additional $800. Our suite consergie assured us that Royal Caribbean would take care of us and to just call the Miami office when we returned .

I gave them a call , they were aware of the situation on the ship. After a lengthy hold on the phone , the person on the phone told me the cruise line has decided not to offer ANY compensation for our delay . She told me it was categorized as a "change in destination " and the cruise line was not responsible for any additional costs we incurred . She never once even said that they we sorry that we had to pay a additional cost for our flight.

I agree with the captains decision to do what ever he had to for the health of the passenger , but I believe that Royal Caribbean should bear some of the cost and not us.

I know this doesn't really matter to them , but they have lost two Diamond members.

 

I'm not sure what good posting this is CC is going to do. RCI made a financial/business decision that were not going compensate any passenger that incurred a additional cost due to delay arriving into port at no fault of RCI. It was a medical emergency cause by a passenger. Since you booked independent air then it's the passengers that bares the cost of any change of flights. I know that doesn't seem fair and you are out $800. I'm sorry about that; but there really isn't anything further you can do. Yes, RCI will lose your further business you may have given them; but delays can happen on any other cruise line. It's rare, but unexpected things do happen. Travel insurance should cover this if you purchased it. This is good example for those that asked if they could make an early morning flight. It's risky as it can cost you dearly if you are delayed getting back into port on time. Also, the port of Galveston is notorious for arrival delays due to fog.

[happymanitee]

What airline was it? $800 seems like a lot. I used to book the cheapest flight possible, but I'm starting to realize that some airlines are much better than others.

Sorry!

[TigerLady]

We were on the 10/9 cruise. We were delayed returning to Galveston because of a medical emergency. Do to arriving later I had to change our flight which resulted in a additional $800. Our suite consergie assured us that Royal Caribbean would take care of us and to just call the Miami office when we returned .

I gave them a call , they were aware of the situation on the ship. After a lengthy hold on the phone , the person on the phone told me the cruise line has decided not to offer ANY compensation for our delay . She told me it was categorized as a "change in destination " and the cruise line was not responsible for any additional costs we incurred . She never once even said that they we sorry that we had to pay a additional cost for our flight.

I agree with the captains decision to do what ever he had to for the health of the passenger , but I believe that Royal Caribbean should bear some of the cost and not us.

I know this doesn't really matter to them , but they have lost two Diamond members.

 

 

A. Did you have insurance, and if so, did you contact them??

 

B. What time was your flight?? Suggestive flights times are given for a reason.. NOT the cruise line's fault if you decided you were not going to follow them

 

Two less Diamond members?? More room for me in the lounge..

[cruise47]

To the OP. It is good to exhale/vent your problems. This is a stress relax component in counseling.

[UCF_Knight]

You'd have to give a lot more specifics here before I could make a decision on if I feel sorry for you or if I jump on "burn him" bandwagon:

 

What time was your flight scheduled?

What airport were you flying from?

What was your scheduled arrival time in port?

What time did you actually arrive in port?

When did the medical emergency occur and which port did you divert to for it?

Did you have any type of travel insurance?

[TonyBuzz]

We were on the same ship and had 3:20 flights out of Hobby (HOU). We barely made our flight (arrived at gate 10 minutes before boarding). We were glad we had booked a later flight.

[xxHadleyxx]

Had your flight to the ship been delayed by needing to make an emergency medical landing and that caused you to miss the ship, would you expect the airline to reimburse you for the cruise?

 

I really do not see this as any different.

 

If you want coverage for this type of thing, I agree with the majority of posters that you need to buy insurance.

 

Otherwise, do whay you can to lower the risk---take late flights (or next day flights), etc.

[ticketsunlimited]

"Diamond members" should have known better with all their cruise experience than to put themselves in this predicament without having insurance.

[MikeBTN]

Yes, this stinks. No, it was not Royal Caribbean's fault. No, they are not obligated to compensate you for anything. No, the concierge does not speak for corporate; anything he said was just him trying to make a bad situation better at the time. This is why travel insurance is highly recommended. You don't mention what time your flight was scheduled for, but this is also why Royal recommends a flight after 12 noon. My guess is, as a seasoned cruiser, you've never had a problem making an early flight and so you scheduled one, and it came back to bite you.

 

If you're going to hold anyone responsible, maybe the traveler who had the health issue should be the one to compensate everyone. After all....it was their "fault", not Royal's.

[MikeBTN]

Had your flight to the ship been delayed by needing to make an emergency medical landing and that caused you to miss the ship, would you expect the airline to reimburse you for the cruise?

 

I really do not see this as any different.

 

If you want coverage for this type of thing, I agree with the majority of posters that you need to buy insurance.

 

Otherwise, do whay you can to lower the risk---take late flights (or next day flights), etc.

 

From the sounds of it, yes.

[mollyeilis]

DH traveled half the year for his job for 7 years,

missed some flights, and the airlines never charged him for a rebooking after he had missed it. He once missed one by 24 hours (time change funkiness that the TA causes but neither of us caught) and still wasn't charged to get him on a flight.

 

You did something very wrong to get charged like that.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited October 19, 2016 by mollyeilis

[hapster85]

I know this doesn't really matter to them , but they have lost two Diamond members.

 

Did you go to the meeting in the conference center, or stop by guest services, for the letter the cruise line provided? They said it's worked in the past for getting the airlines to waive the change fees.

 

I don't know if that actually worked, though. We booked our flights through the cruise line, so changes were covered.

 

 

We were on the same ship and had 3:20 flights out of Hobby (HOU). We barely made our flight (arrived at gate 10 minutes before boarding). We were glad we had booked a later flight.

 

I'm guessing you didn't do early walk off. We had a 3:20 flight out of Bush (IAH) and were there more than two ours early. And that was with an RC bus transfer. Our friends who flew out of Hobby at 3:40 were sweating bullets, because they didn't do walk off either, and weren't off the ship until almost 1 o'clock. They made their flight, but the margin wasn't that tight. I think they made the airport just after 2 o'clock. No fun ending your vacation stressed out.

[Desert Cruizers]

We will be packing only Carry On luggage for our July cruise out of Galveston and plan to do self disembarking. We have a 2:15 flight back to Palm Springs out of IAH.We also have a rental car so can get on the road as soon as possible, no waiting on shuttles.