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

[cruisinfanatic]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

I'm not at all saying not to have insurance, I'm saying that insurance can't cover every contingency and I don't see insurance as paying out in the OP's circumstance. As I pointed out even with CFAR coverage most policies require cancellation 24 to 48 hours before the trip so that wouldn't help in this instance either, although it does have it's place (I personally wouldn't pay more for it but that's beside the point). Yes, insurance is a good thing to have for many reasons but it does still leave gaps.

Royal's doesn't

Cancellation just needs to happen before the ship leaves

[sparks1093]

25 minutes ago, cruisinfanatic said:

In the insurance companies eyes, you are not being provided with the cruise you booked. Insurance would probably cover it.

We were cancelled because of a hurricane that hit SJU a few years ago. The ship couldn't dock at SJ and eventually docked in Port Everglades. At first Royal wanted to do a partial cruise from there and give everyone a FCC if they wanted to cancel.

I called my insurance provider and they told me that since they were not going to provide us with the cruise we booked, we would be covered.

They eventually cancelled and refunded all

I guess every provider is different.

[sparks1093]

21 minutes ago, cruisinfanatic said:

Royal's doesn't

Cancellation just needs to happen before the ship leaves

But would likely need to be done before being denied boarding.

[Magicat]

The OP states he lives in China.  What kind of passport did he try to board with?  All Chinese and Hong Kong passport holders are being refused embarkation

[cloud_nine]

38 minutes ago, Magicat said:

The OP states he lives in China.  What kind of passport did he try to board with?  All Chinese and Hong Kong passport holders are being refused embarkation

Where did it say this? All I saw was that OP said they live in Asia, not where specifically.

[cruisinfanatic]

48 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

But would likely need to be done before being denied boarding.

Nope. Had a group that were all going to cancel if the one person being denied because of BC issues couldn't go. They all would have received FCC's because they had royal's insurance

[sparks1093]

8 minutes ago, cruisinfanatic said:

Nope. Had a group that were all going to cancel if the one person being denied because of BC issues couldn't go. They all would have received FCC's because they had royal's insurance

For them, sure, they weren't being denied boarding (and the OP is receiving an FCC for the full amount, so I fail to see the difference. It's also possible that the OP didn't have Royal's coverage).

[CruiseWendy]

I feel a credit is honest and fair by Royal for this situation. What else would prevent the masses from cancelling because they just don't want to go? So many would take advantage of this situation out of fear. You too hold an obligation with your ticket when sending in the final cruise payment. 

[pink845]

This is an interesting one.  You were being honest and they will not give you a refund. Ok.  Number 1.  Do you trip cancellation insurance?.  Number 2.  Do you have a receipt proving you met this person from Hong Kong over the weekend (e.g. receipt, picture dated of the two of you, something of that nature).?  Number 3.  You have the email from RCCL asking you to not cruise (obviously it must have been set to everyone scheduled to cruise).  I personally think this notice from RCCL comes under "travel alert or travel advisory".     If you have insurance, (we always have insurance, we are always over insured actually when we travel!!!), we know that our insurance covers "travel advisories" and if you have requisite insurance, and can provide proof of Number 2, I would try putting a claim in through your insurance.   As long as you have travel insurance that is.

[robtulipe]

3 hours ago, ed01106 said:

Does anybody know if a one day credit equals 1/9th, 1/8th, or 1/7th of a 8 night cruise? I consider it a 7 day cruise with two travel days.  Seems unfair to consider the morning of demarcation as a day.

We've always have gotten credit for the number of nights missed so it would be 1/8th per night missed on an 8 night cruise.

[gilboman]

22 minutes ago, CruiseWendy said:

I feel a credit is honest and fair by Royal for this situation. What else would prevent the masses from cancelling because they just don't want to go? So many would take advantage of this situation out of fear. You too hold an obligation with your ticket when sending in the final cruise payment. 

well Royal is denying boarding due to their own rule (as prudent or not it maybe), so they need to refund.

 

if they want the money, then let them Board and deal with the possible repercussions. They want to keep the money and deny boarding due to their own arbitrary rules that were not in effect at time of booking. 

 

this is terrible action by RC

[BunnyHutt]

2 hours ago, Magicat said:

The OP states he lives in China.  What kind of passport did he try to board with?  All Chinese and Hong Kong passport holders are being refused embarkation

No, the OP stated that they lived in Asia and had spent time over the weekend with someone who had transited through HK (friend doesn’t even live there!) OP did the right/honorable thing and self-reported, even though the coronavirus risk for them is very slim. 
 

OP - Bravo to you for being upfront with the cruise line. Be the squeaky wheel and hopefully RCI will change its stance on type of refund issued. What are other cruise lines doing with regards to refund policy for coronavirus? May be worth researching.... Royal was extremely generous this past summer with its Cuba cruises (I was directly impacted) but I think that was due to pressure to follow suit within the industry. 

[Love2cruise77]

Travel insurance might not be the answer...this is from Travelex:

 

It is important to note that fear of travel, travel advisories and destination being inaccessible due to this illness are not covered risks under the Travelex Insurance policies. In order to cancel or interrupt a trip due to quarantine, the traveler or traveling companion would need to be physically quarantined themselves .

[Magicat]

Ok, sorry, when they said Asia I incorrectly labelled him as Chinese.  

[RocketMan275]

18 hours ago, Hollysmokes said:

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?

Granted, you are honest but how will the cruise line know that others are honest.  How many will seize upon this and make up a story about meeting with someone who had been to China?  This would be a huge loophole that many would advantage.

[ace2542]

Chinese and Hong Kong cruisers are banned from RCI by nationality. Surely it must follow that a full refund in money should be granted? Especially as the ban on Chinese and hong kong cruisers is permanent not temporary so there is no option for a future cruise with RCI?

Edited February 7, 2020 by ace2542

[bonsai3s]

OP, we're all hoping that Royal Caribbean will do the right thing.

[ARandomTraveler]

11 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

But the cruise line is issuing a credit, so in the eyes of the insurance company there is no loss.

Right, but insurance would cover the change fees for the airfare, or the refund for airfare if a person didn’t leave for their trip yet. 

[suzyluvs2cruise]

3 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Right, but insurance would cover the change fees for the airfare, or the refund for airfare if a person didn’t leave for their trip yet. 

Insurance coverage depends on the terms of the policy you have. 

[cruisinfanatic]

2 hours ago, BunnyHutt said:

No, the OP stated that they lived in Asia and had spent time over the weekend with someone who had transited through HK (friend doesn’t even live there!) OP did the right/honorable thing and self-reported, even though the coronavirus risk for them is very slim. 
 

OP - Bravo to you for being upfront with the cruise line. Be the squeaky wheel and hopefully RCI will change its stance on type of refund issued. What are other cruise lines doing with regards to refund policy for coronavirus? May be worth researching.... Royal was extremely generous this past summer with its Cuba cruises (I was directly impacted) but I think that was due to pressure to follow suit within the industry. 

You better read it again

[JaneStarr]

Check out the 6pm update here: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/anthem-of-the-seas-updates

Excerpt...

”...All guests who are denied boarding due to these restrictions will receive full refunds...”

[ARandomTraveler]

5 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

But would likely need to be done before being denied boarding.

My cancel for any reason policy allows me to cancel after I’ve already started my vacation, but I would have to wait for 48 hours before I tried to go home if I wanted to use the trip cancellation for the remainder of my vacation. 

 

My cancel for any reason policy also comes with trip interruption coverage which would refund my money in the event that I got denied boarding and couldn’t finish the trip I had already set out on and needed to change my plans by either getting a flight home or paying for a hotel room while I waited until my original flight left.

 

I read every single word of all 5 cancel for any reason policies I qualified for (including reviews) and feel very confident that I have the ability to get money back if I were in this posters situation. The worst I could do is get 75% of my money back, but the policy only cost me $251 for 2 people. Totally worth it. 

Edited February 7, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[PortFees45]

4 minutes ago, JaneStarr said:

Check out the 6pm update here: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/anthem-of-the-seas-updates

Excerpt...

”...All guests who are denied boarding due to these restrictions will receive full refunds...”

So if you show up at the terminal, say you've had the flu and don't feel well, you'll get a full refund? 

[ARandomTraveler]

3 hours ago, gilboman said:

well Royal is denying boarding due to their own rule (as prudent or not it maybe), so they need to refund.

 

 

I’m pretty sure I’ve read somewhere in the cruise contract that they can deny boarding for certain reasons. A potentially deadly virus would surely be a reason where they’re within their rights to deny boarding in an effort to protect other passengers. 

 

It should be assumed that a passenger is aware something could come up that leaves them unable to travel or might cause them to be denied entry, and it’s up to the passenger to protect themselves, knowing (after reading the contract) that the cruiseline has covered themselves and gives them a right to turn you away. 

Edited February 8, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[ARandomTraveler]

8 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I'm not at all saying not to have insurance, I'm saying that insurance can't cover every contingency and I don't see insurance as paying out in the OP's circumstance. As I pointed out even with CFAR coverage most policies require cancellation 24 to 48 hours before the trip so that wouldn't help in this instance either, although it does have it's place (I personally wouldn't pay more for it but that's beside the point). Yes, insurance is a good thing to have for many reasons but it does still leave gaps.

I have yet to see anyone post on these boards for this coronavirus issue or the hurricane Maria issue and say they bought cancel for any reason coverage and they didn’t get a refund. In fact the reason I buy it now myself is specifically because I’ve read these boards for years and every time a situation comes up like this, the only people who walk away fully satisfied with their insurance coverage are those with cancel for any reason policies.

 

It’s true that there are stipulations in those policies, but people who buy them are likely aware of them because they’ve  read through multiple policies after specifically seeking out that type of coverage. They’re happy knowing they have the most coverage that is available, so they walk away satisfied when issues arise. 

 

The complaints we keep reading on these boards are primarily from people who chose to buy zero insurance, or who assumed that their basic trip insurance covered all reasons. If they had read the terms and conditions I don’t think they’d be as surprised as they would have realized there were very specific reasons listed where people could get money back and for most people, the regular insurance is  worthless. Regular insurance covers you if you’re hospitalized, lose a job, get pregnant, your home becomes inhabitable due to flood or fire etc. It usually also carries some medical evacuation which is beneficial, but unless you have one of these rare life circumstances happen to you, regular insurance does nothing for you and that’s pretty clear when you read the policy. 

 

Cancel for any reason insurance is great, and under the terms of my policy, I would be refunded money if I were the person who posted the original message on this thread. Sure I’d only get 75% of my money, but I would get 100% of the money it cost me to pay for a hotel or fly home, and I would be perfectly happy with that.

 

Unfortunately for many people just now learning this, they’ve already booked their vacations and are no longer eligible to buy cancel for any reason insurance (it has to be purchased within 14-21 days of booking your trip), but hopefully people will now be more informed that it’s an option. 

Edited February 8, 2020 by ARandomTraveler