Told we can't cruise due to Coronavirus - no full refund??!

[Ocean Boy]

15 minutes ago, eldrima said:

 At the end of the day, unfortunately, publicly traded companies make decisions based on the best interest of their shareholders.

How is a quarantined ship in the best interest of anyone? Corporations  can sometimes be very shortsighted.

[marci22]

12 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

How is a quarantined ship in the best interest of anyone? Corporations  can sometimes be very shortsighted.

I can understand quarantining people but not on a cruise ship. I'm guessing that no country would be happy about accepting thousands of passengers and having to quarantine them. So they put it back on the cruiseline. 

Edited February 7, 2020 by marci22

[momofmab]

I commend you for being honest - however you were compensated,  just not the way you wanted to be.

 

I understand your frustration but giving refunds opens up the door for anyone to say they've had contact with someone from China - just to get the refund.  No way to prove it.

 

If you can't book a new cruise with your mom, why not recruit a friend?

[marci22]

1 minute ago, momofmab said:

If you can't book a new cruise with your mom, why not recruit a friend?

Friend cannot use mother's FCC.

[momofmab]

Ahhh... gotcha... marci - not familiar with how cruise credits work.

[eldrima]

11 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

How is a quarantined ship in the best interest of anyone? Corporations  can sometimes be very shortsighted.

Hindsight will only provide the "right way" to handle a situation like this.  If some passengers end up testing positive (might not test positive for a few more days), a quarantine would have been the right decision.  If none end up testing positive, an on-board quarantine would have ended up inconveniencing all passengers currently on board, passengers due to embark today, as well as impacting shareholders.  

 

In many instances a corporation will base decisions on an actuarial analysis of risk and reward.  Sometimes it is the right decision and other times it is more costly to the shareholders.  Didn't work out well for Ford (Pinto) or GM (full size pickups) when they knew about vulnerabilities of fuel tanks and risk of gruesome death/injury to vehicle owners/passengers...end of the day they didn't recall and cost them dearly in PR and civil suits.

[awestover89]

5 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

But it does cover disrupted travel plans. 

 

Most explicitly exclude epidemics unless you are actually quarantined or under a mandatory evacuation order. 

[Ocean Boy]

13 minutes ago, eldrima said:

Hindsight will only provide the "right way" to handle a situation like this.  

It is often the case in medicine that hindsight provides the correct answer. Plenty of lawyers make their living off of it.

[ed01106]

8 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Agree, if they want people to be honest they need to be issuing full refunds.  Word of them only offering FCC’s will spread rapidly through social media and cause many people to be not fully honest thusly jeopardizing the health and safety of others 

I think cruise lines are more worried about what would happen to them financially  if they did start offering full refunds.  Many cruisers are second guessing the wisdom of going on a cruise right now.  Under the current situation if you bail because of your own nerves you lose your deposit or at most get a FCC.  If all someone needed to do to get a full refund is claim one of their coworkers just got back from Hong Kong and has a sniffles, there would be plenty of people lying to get a refund.

 

Not very responsible of the cruise line but they are trying to make money.   And I am betting the CEO is less worried about sick people than he is about the potential for bankruptcy.

[Joseph2017China]

The poster said they live in Asia, and never said if the cruise was in Asia or not.  Asians living in Asia are treated differently than others living elsewhere.  The poster did not give enough details to jump to any conclusion.  They received the same email, but the rules are different.  This might just a post to get everyone excited.

[amwick]

9 hours ago, Hollysmokes said:

Shocked a RCL's customer service.

 

We live in Asia and received an email to say we couldn't board the cruise if we had been in contact with anyone who had been to China, Macau or Hong Kong in the last 15 days.

 

I had hung out with a friend at the weekend who had transited through HK earlier than week so I decided to do the honest thing (I didn't have to!!) and tell them. This wasn't me choosing not to cruise, it was subject to THEIR rules and I did the responsible thing by admitting I had. 

 

Shocked to find out they'll only give me future cruise credit. This is no use to me at all. My mother is here visiting from overseas. I can't cruise with her again as we live on opposite sides of the world and she has no use for the cruise credit.

 

Surely RCL should be offering me a full refund onto my credit card? This wasn't my choice - this was them telling me that I couldn't cruise?

 

I am getting no where with their customer service team. 

Could you contact a news person?  I think that any of the major networks here in the states would jump to tell your story. Seriously.  And I am very sorry about this happening to you and your mom.  I took my mom on a little cruise and it was the best thing I ever did...

[amwick]

I would also send them a tweet... you could  screen dump your post...

[suesnake2002]

Definately use facebook and twitter and all public forums. Rccl actually responds to this. Be relentless

[marci22]

Truly, I never post this, but this is what insurance is for.

[ReneeFLL]

2 hours ago, Moeve said:

........currently I think they are dealing with a much more important issue namely the Anthem returning with what could possibly be sick guests.

Surely they can deal with more than one problem at a time.

[Saab4444]

Offering full refund would ruin Royal. This goes directly in their books while future cruise credits do not impact revenue. If everyone currently wants a cancellation without any fee you just have to make something up. High risk for the cruise companies. 

[sparks1093]

2 minutes ago, marci22 said:

Truly, I never post this, but this is what insurance is for.

Not really, insurance doesn't cover when the carrier cancels and refunds the customer (even though the refund in this case isn't in the form that works for them). 

[marci22]

7 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

Not really, insurance doesn't cover when the carrier cancels and refunds the customer (even though the refund in this case isn't in the form that works for them). 

If you are cancelling for a covered reason, I would expect that you could decline the FCC and be reimbursed in cash by your third party insurer. If you are cancelling without insurance, or for a non-covered reason, you have to take what they give you.

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, 1992cruiser said:

Royal needs to change this policy immediately or they will definitely have people sailing when they shouldn’t be. A 1000 refunds are better than having a ship quarantined for 14 days off the coast. 

Somebody isn’t using the smart side of their brain. Hope it works out for the op. 

 

I agree.  A ship in quaratine for 14 days cancels the next couple of cruises.  The only advantage of a FCC for them, is the line still has your money.  If they cancel your sailing, it is because the ship is not available then I think a full refund it would be in order.  The line loses out one way or another.

 

19 minutes ago, amwick said:

Could you contact a news person?  I think that any of the major networks here in the states would jump to tell your story. Seriously.  And I am very sorry about this happening to you and your mom.  I took my mom on a little cruise and it was the best thing I ever did...

 

If the OP is from/living in Asia I am not so sure American networks would be as concerned.  I'd email HQ and put in the request first.  If that doesn't work then consider Asia press.  Hopefully it will work out in the end.

[ReneeFLL]

17 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Offering full refund would ruin Royal. This goes directly in their books while future cruise credits do not impact revenue. If everyone currently wants a cancellation without any fee you just have to make something up. High risk for the cruise companies. 

Why would this ruin them when they will pay millions just to make a ridiculous lawsuit go away?

[Moeve]

25 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Surely they can deal with more than one problem at a time.

With all due respect but I think you are underestimating the severity of what is happenIng at all cruise line HQ at the moment.
 

as I said in my original post since the OP is not in the US things may have to be checked over with legal departments in different parts of the world due to other rules and regulations in other parts of the world. This often takes time. I have personally experienced such an event outside of quickly developing global events.

 

Patience is a virtue especially when the OP is apparently in a part of the world where this virus is playing out and disrupting day to day operations.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Moeve
Terrible auto correct

[Moeve]

1 hour ago, marci22 said:

I can understand quarantining people but not on a cruise ship. I'm guessing that no country would be happy about accepting thousands of passengers and having to quarantine them. So they put it back on the cruiseline. 

I get your point but where, near this port do you have the facilities to quickly quarantine 6.000 plus people safely in small groups without putting the local population and over 300 million US citizens in harms way? I am will to bet with you not even  the USA is capable of such a feat.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Moeve

[sparks1093]

14 minutes ago, marci22 said:

If you are cancelling for a covered reason, I would expect that you could decline the FCC and be reimbursed in cash by your third party insurer. If you are cancelling without insurance, or for a non-covered reason, you have to take what they give you.

Possibly but if you are denied boarding you are typically inside the window where you could try to claim a covered reason, and in this case there isn't one so the only possible hope would be cancel for any reason coverage and those policies typically require you to cancel 24 to 48 hours prior to the cruise. The other factor is if you decline the FCC and the insurance finds out that it was offered they might use that to deny your claim since you were made whole by the carrier. The one thing this all emphasizes is we can't cover all potential loses with insurance, there is still risk involved.

[Buckeyebrd]

I am sure RCCL and all the cruise lines are somewhat "frantic" about the "what-ifs" that could take place if this issue continues to expand.............The media loves a good crisis for ratings but, the key is accurate info to make good decisions ie: what is true and what is not (social media has shown itself as a positive weapon and, also as an inaccurate device as well). 

But, make no mistake, this Anthem OTS issue will raise everyone's anxiety that the issue is not abating...........and, at some point, if it continues, the GOVERNMENT will step-in and make whatever decisions it needs to make re: safety. At worst, that could mean shutting down parts of the industry for periods of time (again, fast forwarding worst case) so, RCCL and all  cruise lines had better make good decisions in the best interests of safety and using a LONG-TERM view.............there are certainly many examples of Corporations NOT taking this approach. Example: If Anthem issue is not handled properly, and with that many people exposed (again, if accurate), I can see the Govt. taking the decision-making power out of the hands of the cruise companies in that case................at minimum, a high-level of accurate communication is critical on-going to allow customers to make their own decisions---and, I agree, refunds/credits should be part of what is allowed for passengers wanting to make changes..................otherwise, the cruise industry is really opening itself to Government intervention in my opinion. 

[Buckeyebrd]

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Edited February 7, 2020 by Buckeyebrd
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