Feeling a bit screwed over by RC, Irma safety/risk issue and no-refund, greed?

[Coralc]

We fly from California to Florida. If we couldn't fly there on the 10th, it would be kind of sucky to try to fly there on the 13th for a 4 day cruise. 7 day Florida cruises are barely worth the flight time and we rarely do them.

 

But we always purchase insurance. The one time that we didn't, I was nervous about traffic accidents the last few days before we left.

 

I feel very sorry for the people that have been so adversely impacted by these storms. Our next cruise is in December, hopefully we won't hit snow storms anywhere. :rolleyes:

[lowsidr]

We got cancelled on by NCL (Escape 9/9).

 

We received a full refund + 50% credit towards our next cruise. I purchased the insurance, because stuff happens. That being said.. after seeing how Royal handled this, I am in disbelief.. I'm a Floridian and it's going to be bad here with Irma (I personally spent the day filling sandbags in north coastal Florida). We recently started branching out to different lines (we were carnival junkies for years and years).. I won't sail Royal because of how they are handling this situation.

 

Everyone in this storms path, and everyone that will attempt to get to Miami to sail on that sailing - please be careful! Those driving in, at the moment A lot of florida is out of gas and water, traffic is horrendous. STAY SAFE EVERYONE

They really are handling this in a very unusual way. We cruise regularly, easy since we live in Naples and overall we love RC. That said, leaving people hanging like this is really sad. They should have just pulled the plug as NCL did with you. I get they are getting hit hard financially but it's pushing the envelope safety-wise expecting people to try and head into a possibly catastrophic storm.

[lowsidr]

We fly from California to Florida. If we couldn't fly there on the 10th, it would be kind of sucky to try to fly there on the 13th for a 4 day cruise. 7 day Florida cruises are barely worth the flight time and we rarely do them.

 

But we always purchase insurance. The one time that we didn't, I was nervous about traffic accidents the last few days before we left.

 

I feel very sorry for the people that have been so adversely impacted by these storms. Our next cruise is in December, hopefully we won't hit snow storms anywhere. :rolleyes:

Since we are only about an hour and a half away from the ports we never buy the insurance. Never needed it and it wouldn't really have made much of a difference this time as we are prepared to go granted our home is not damaged. If we get nailed and the Allure does sail on the 13th i'll be wishing I had purchased insurance. I doubt however that the port will be functional early next week, I'm pretty sure they will cancel but wish they would just do it and everyone can focus on more important things...

[grandgeezer]

The cruiseline is already offering you lower fares for sailing in hurricane season...that is the trade off you accept.

 

You should read your cruise contract before purchasing your cruise (or any travel)...and ask LOTS of questions. Don't just shell out a bunch of money without knowing consequences.

 

Why would the cruiseline insure you? That is your responsibility. When you book, they ask you if you would like to take the insurance (although their own usually sucks), but you are made aware. I go through insuremytrip.

 

If they offer you FCC, you will be receiving your cruise....at a later date. You will be made whole.

You are not made whole if you don't want to take another cruise. I didn't see any lower rates during this hurricane season. If they can't deliver what I want, when I want it, a refund paid the same way I paid them, in CASH. I don't want anything else such as fcc or the other mostly worthless things as obc. I don't expect them to insure me, I thought they would insure themselves to cover all the money they have to give back. If you think they can keep your money without giving you anything in return you are sadly mistaken. That's called theft.

[ColoradoGurl]

Someone should set the news people straight on what's really going on. They're giving RC credit for cancelling cruises and refunding passenger's money, when that clearly isn't happening!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2017-09-06/norwegian-lets-cruisers-hop-off-in-miami-or-evade-irma-on-board

 

 

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[caribill]

I feel the need to jump in here. You've booked a week long cruise leaving on the 10th. RC is attempting to be accomodating by offering the discounts and sailing on a shortened itinerary departing on the 13th. You said that "if you cannot cruise on the 13th".... if you booked a week long voyage, why wouldn't be able to cruise on the 13th? Assume such people work and have booked holidays, the 13th shouldn't be an issue in departing on that date.

 

 

Why it is an issue:

o To be be sure you can be at the port on the 13th you need to get there now before the storm hits because you cannot be sure planes will be flying there again by the 13th or that roads will be open to drive there.

o But if you do get there, there will be no place to stay until the 13th. Beach front hotels are under mandatory evacuations. Inland hotels will be full of those who evacuated.

o Also no way to know now if the port facilities will be too damaged to be used on the 13th.

 

In other words, without going now to where a cat 5 hurricane is heading, you might not be able to be there in time to embark on the 13th.

 

 

And as one of those people posted yesdterday:

I recieved another call today from Tamika in the executive office. They will turn down any claims I file for hotel, food, rental truck home ect. She told me that she couldn't discuss what other cruisers had recieved. We did have insurance through Royal . The kick in th e teeth? She said that was the money I'm still waiting on $355.67 was my cruise protection which they will not refund AND it won't cover any bills incurred by this cancelled trip that Royal Cancelled and not until last second!

As posted on one of the threads about Harvey and the Port of Galveston, some people did make it to Galveston before the storm and (since there was no evacuation for Galveston) did get hotel rooms. The port did not reopen in time for the delayed cruise, so the cruise was cancelled. Those that did what RCI requested and made it to Galveston were out:

a) Their plane fare

b) The cost of hotel rooms waiting for a cruise that did not happen

c) The cost of food while waiting for a cruise that did not happen

 

And once the storm passed, both Houston airports remained closed and have yet to be back at full service levels, so the people who had traveled to Galveston could not fly home once it was known their cruise was cancelled.

Edited September 7, 2017 by caribill

[pspercy]

Um.. exactly what did you say... a cat 5 hurricane will hit directly on Ft Lauderdale Monday.... I am willing to bet that you are wrong. A hurricane is cat 5 only around the eye... which is maybe 12 to 20 miles wide. The odds of it hitting Fort Lauderdale directly is very low. Hurricanes are massively large events, covering hundreds of miles. Not all of that storm is the eye... I.E. cat 5 portion of the storm in fact very little of it is...

 

The confusion of people posting is obnoxious....

 

Just saying....

 

JC

 

Reports earlier said the worst winds were within 50 - 60 miles of the eye, i.e. about in a circle with diameter of 100 miles.

The whole thing is about 400miles across.

[caribill]

Dispute the charge with your credit card company. Services not provided / services not as described. Even if you paid it off you can still get your money back.

 

 

Charges must be disputed within x days of the charge. Chances are the date you made initial and final payments are outside of those x days and you can no longer dispute the charge.

[caribill]

Corrected post:

 

 

Why it is an issue:

o To be be sure you can be at the port on the 13th you need to get there now before the storm hits because you cannot be sure planes will be flying there again by the 13th or that roads will be open to drive there.

o But if you do get there, there will be no place to stay until the 13th. Beach front hotels are under mandatory evacuations. Inland hotels will be full of those who evacuated.

o Also no way to know now if the port facilities will be too damaged to be used on the 13th.

 

In other words, without going now to where a cat 5 hurricane is heading, you might not be able to be there in time to embark on the 13th.

 

As posted on one of the threads about Harvey and the Port of Galveston, some people did make it to Galveston before the storm and (since there was no evacuation for Galveston) did get hotel rooms. The port did not reopen in time for the delayed cruise, so the cruise was cancelled. Those that did what RCI requested and made it to Galveston were out:

a) Their plane fare

b) The cost of hotel rooms waiting for a cruise that did not happen

c) The cost of food while waiting for a cruise that did not happen

 

And once the storm passed, both Houston airports remained closed and have yet to be back at full service levels, so the people who had traveled to Galveston could not fly home once it was known their cruise was cancelled.

 

And as one of those people posted yesterday:

I received another call today from Tamika in the executive office. They will turn down any claims I file for hotel, food, rental truck home ect. She told me that she couldn't discuss what other cruisers had recieved. We did have insurance through Royal . The kick in th e teeth? She said that was the money I'm still waiting on $355.67 was my cruise protection which they will not refund AND it won't cover any bills incurred by this cancelled trip that Royal Cancelled and not until last second!

[Sam Ting]

Charges must be disputed within x days of the charge. Chances are the date you made initial and final payments are outside of those x days and you can no longer dispute the charge.

 

 

Within x number of days when services or gods were to be provided, not when they processed the transaction.

 

It's very simple. They sold you something they failed to provide.

 

You have nothing to lose initiating a chargeback. It's your right. Who cares if the cruise line don't like it. They should have refunded you in full, not force you to accept something other than what you purchased.

[waterbug123]

I have to wonder about the reality of getting 50% OBC for a 4 day cruise. That's a lot of OBC for a lot of people to spend in a relatively short amount of time. So what could one do with it?

 

-buy drinks except many probably already have a drink package, so forget that

-eat in specialty restaurants, except that with the entire ship trying to use up OBC, getting rez could be difficult

-go to the spa.... same as specialty restaurants, re: difficulty getting a rez when everyone is trying to do the same

-shore excursions- same thing, plus a limited number of ports due to itinerary changes

-gift shop, except really.... how many t-shirts and rum cakes does one need?

-casino- I guess that's a good option, although it can be tough on a normal cruise to find a spot at the tables, so again, with everyone trying to use up OBC it could be an exercise in futility

 

Just thinking that even if one finds the OBC offer generous, the reality is that much of it could go to waste. I understand the argument about having insurance, but to me, offering OBC in lieu of a partial refund seems like a slap in the face.

[Thetrail]

Set to sail on the Allure September 10th. IRMA, not going to happen, RC chooses not to cancel the cruise but to delay departure till Wednesday the 13th and shorten duration to 4 day's instead of 7. A 50% refundable on-board credit to whom choose to sail on the 13th along with an additional 50% credit for a future booking. The above is gracious and in my opinion more than fair. Unfortunately, if you CANNOT cruise on the 13th there will be no refund, no future incentive, just your fare credit applied to a future cruise with Royal.

 

Other recent cruises have been cancelled due to IRMA and customers have been given a full refund to the method they paid and are being offered an additional 25% credit if they book another RC cruise within 30 days. This I also feel is fair and considerate.

 

Where I take issue is the fact that my paid in full 7 day cruise is essentially cancelled but a full refund is not an option. I find myself in a position of my cruise fare being held hostage without compensation unless I put myself and my family at risk attempting to depart on the 13th. Being faced with a CAT 5 hurricane how does one actually prepare for a departure when the chances are high the port may be closed, flooded, unable to be staffed, etc.? Being frugal, still wanting to salvage some of our vacation along with benefiting from RC's generous 13th sailing incentives I'm tempted to make plans for the 13th. I know I am not alone and I understand RC wants to up it's retention and that's why the incentives are so good for the 13th. I'm one of the "lucky" ones though, I live in Naples, if my home is still standing and the port is open and everything is honky-dory, we can make that 13th date work. I'm just concerned for others that might be trying the same thing and putting themselves in harms way. Right now it's hard to find water, fuel, food, etc. If Florida gets nailed it's the last place you will want to be, especially if you don't live here.

 

I contacted RC about this. They were very cordial but remained firm that their customers come 1st and they take our safety seriously. I disagree, my thoughts are it's a fiscal decision that borders on recklessness. I'm sure some folks that live here in Florida could use their cruise fare to evacuate, not going to happen. Hopefully all will work out and this beast veers way east and we are all spared, including RC but for the time being I'm feeling a little less love from the folks at RC making these decisions. Can you imagine making it here for the 13th or scheduling and paying for flights/travel just to find out that the 13th sailing will be cancelled? The storm is not RC's fault but how they are handling this situation just seems flat out wrong and possibly dangerous for some. Anyone else out there feel the same?

One word for your post....bull----, where is the risk sailing on that day????:rolleyes:

[Ourusualbeach]

I have to wonder about the reality of getting 50% OBC for a 4 day cruise. That's a lot of OBC for a lot of people to spend in a relatively short amount of time. So what could one do with it?

 

-buy drinks except many probably already have a drink package, so forget that

-eat in specialty restaurants, except that with the entire ship trying to use up OBC, getting rez could be difficult

-go to the spa.... same as specialty restaurants, re: difficulty getting a rez when everyone is trying to do the same

-shore excursions- same thing, plus a limited number of ports due to itinerary changes

-gift shop, except really.... how many t-shirts and rum cakes does one need?

-casino- I guess that's a good option, although it can be tough on a normal cruise to find a spot at the tables, so again, with everyone trying to use up OBC it could be an exercise in futility

 

Just thinking that even if one finds the OBC offer generous, the reality is that much of it could go to waste. I understand the argument about having insurance, but to me, offering OBC in lieu of a partial refund seems like a slap in the face.

 

The OBC is fully refundable. What you don't spend will be refunded to your credit card that you set up your Seapass account with.

[starfish216]

I see so many people complaining about the cruiselines not giving them all their money back.

 

This is what Trip insurance is for. A cruiseline (or any vacation) is not there to hand money out if something out of their control happens.

 

We all should know the ramifications of booking trips and cancellation fees, and trip insurance is very cheap. I just paid 100 bucks for 3 of us for our Allure trip 10/1 a few weeks ago. So glad I have that peace of mind and will not be worrying about problems if they arise. That's my responsibility as a consumer.

 

Would you drive your car without insurance? I have been in the insurance industry for 30 years and have seen more people than I can count try to save a few bucks on insurance (of any kind) and pay an immense price for it in the end.

 

If you are getting trip insurance for three for a hundred bucks you must be young, lucky you.

 

Can you please let me know which provider you use.

 

When I purchase trip insurance for my family of 3 when we travel and it's always over $500. I use that popular insure my trip site.

 

We never travel without trip insurance, even if it means we must purchase the cruise lines insurance.

[dcgrumpy]

If you are getting trip insurance for three for a hundred bucks you must be young, lucky you.

 

Can you please let me know which provider you use.

 

When I purchase trip insurance for my family of 3 when we travel and it's always over $500. I use that popular insure my trip site.

 

We never travel without trip insurance, even if it means we must purchase the cruise lines insurance.

We found our insurance through them for our cruise this year. We bought a policy through C&F Travel Insured International. Kids were free so we only paid $100 for my husband and me. I'm in my 50s.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

My family of 8 (2 adults, 6 kids) normally gets insurance for less than $300 on 2 staterooms. Cruise only, no air.

 

 

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[RoLoHa]

Insurance policies are not all created equal and may not cover weather at all unless the cruise completely cancels, but without insurance there is no guarantee of any compensation whatsoever.

[LMaxwell]

It might hit FLL it most likely will not. I haven't looked at the models track since noon, but the odds are it will not even hit land in Florida...

 

When Ignorance goes Dangerous, coming up next...

[LMaxwell]

One word for your post....bull----, where is the risk sailing on that day????:rolleyes:

 

How do you get there with all the airports closed and hotels already booked solid?

 

We can't even find hotels up in Nashville. Go ahead, roll your eyes from your safe space...

[SRF]

I've been to many islands after a Hurricane hits, you'd be surprised for fast they get most everything back up, they want and need tourist $$$. Worst had was St Maarten was hit 20 yrs ago, Cruise ship pier was taken out but they just tendered everyone in for while. Myself, I'm set go to St Maarten, St Kitts & Antigua in Nov/Dec like I have last 5 yrs in row. Just hope they aren't hit that bad, feel for them...

 

Yeap.

 

We went to the Virgins a few weeks after Hugo hit, many years ago.

 

Very few things were not operating and most were fully back to normal.

[SRF]

Yeah, what we really need are politicians sticking their collective fingers up to the wind to save us from our own ignorance.... Awesome idea....

 

Yes, like the highly publicized event of people sitting on an airplane. That happens rarely.

 

So Congress passed a law.

 

So now the airlines just cancel the flight. And BTW, since it was canceled due to weather, they owe you NOTHING. No meals, no hotel, nothing, except a later flight, which might be MUCH later.

 

BTW< the latest track shows the eye running up the east coast of FL.

[lbjen]

If you are getting trip insurance for three for a hundred bucks you must be young, lucky you.

 

Can you please let me know which provider you use.

 

When I purchase trip insurance for my family of 3 when we travel and it's always over $500. I use that popular insure my trip site.

 

We never travel without trip insurance, even if it means we must purchase the cruise lines insurance.

 

We usually pay about $200 for our family of 4, in two cabins. We get cruise specific insurance from Nationwide, we don't need flight coverage.

[bingomamma19]

If you are getting trip insurance for three for a hundred bucks you must be young, lucky you.

 

Can you please let me know which provider you use.

 

When I purchase trip insurance for my family of 3 when we travel and it's always over $500. I use that popular insure my trip site.

 

We never travel without trip insurance, even if it means we must purchase the cruise lines insurance.

 

 

From Insuremytrip, I picked Travelex...we are me--50, dd 11 and my mom is 76.

 

Covers my full cost of trip, full medical at primary (since mom is medicare and that covers nothing outside of US), we have trip interruption, delay, baggage delay/loss, dental and med evac is $500k

 

I bought in August for our October trip

[The Grumpus]

How do you get there with all the airports closed and hotels already booked solid?

 

We can't even find hotels up in Nashville. Go ahead, roll your eyes from your safe space...

I agree, pushing the return so quickly after a major storm hit is rolling the dice. There's no way to know the condition of PE after the storm, if there will be power at the Port, if it will be even open, or if the staff and immigration officials will have returned from the evacuation and ready & willing to work instead of dealing with their own personal issues after the storm. Telling people you have to be there or you lose out is pretty hard line if you ask me. Then, if they decide to cancel the sailing anyway, especially just before the 13th, it will add insult to injury.

 

I do agree though that this storm has put all the major cruise lines in a tough spot. Whatever they plan and do is going to be perceived by some as the wrong thing to do.

[waverley7]

I do purchase cruise insurance and I would hope I'd be covered if I were sailing in hurricane season with a hurricane heading for my departure port. Having said that, if the cruise line realizes it can't deliver what I purchased, and I know I read the contract about changing ports, meaning my 7 day cruise is reduced to 3 days, why should they not refund my money?

 

For many of us, it's not just a matter of reducing the number of days, it involves hotels, flights etc. The offer of OBC is totally wrong. Last week Royal made some very poor decisions which I felt left some stranded by waiting until the very last minute to say no cruise etc.

 

Even though Royal Caribbean has no say in the weather, they are still penalizing their customers. They can't deliver a 7 day cruise and expect passengers to say oh, well, I will find a flight etc and go for 3 days. I think this is the worst customer service and makes me think of how they only think of the almighty dollar.

 

Now, I just want to say that I don't have a cruise scheduled for a few months, but I do understand those who feel they are being ripped off and saying they should have insurance, isn't like saying I got a sore throat or the flu and Royal Caribbean won't refund my cruise fare.

 

I think Royal Caribbean's thoughts are "you pays your money and you takes your chance." Once again, I have no problem with their changing ports, but shortening the cruise or letting passengers hang is NOT good customer service.

 

I agree, I'm in Canada....if my cruise were to leave on the 9th I would be at my destination port probably on the 7th or 8th. If I'm not sailing until the 13th, I need to pay and book a hotel for a few nights now. (If you can even get one) I'd rather not be in limbo land waiting to hear, I'd rather cancel everything and start all over.

 

Good luck to those of you in this dilemma.