Exchanging a Cruise with Confidence Certificate for a refund on cancelled Alaska cruise on Royal Caribbean?

[babykangaroo50]

My family and I would have been first time cruisers on RC's Ovation of the Seas (Alaska 7/24-7/31).  Just prior to the April due date of our final payment, as the world began to unravel due to the coronavirus pandemic, we had to make the difficult decision to take 100% of our deposit in the form of a Cruise with Confidence Certificate.  Our Royal Vacation Planner presented this as our best option at the time, since RC expected to be sailing again in May!  As time went on and our voyage ended up being cancelled for obvious reasons, RC was offering 125% FCC (higher value) or 100% refund (lower value) to those passengers who had remained committed to the cruise and had paid in full.  Since the cruise never occurred, shouldn't RC extend the same refund offer to all passengers (to be fair to everyone - including those of us who anticipated early on that the voyage would not likely happen in July, as well as those who held out hope for the cruise to set sail!).  Per the Royal Caribbean website, those of us who opted for our deposits in the form of Cruise with Confidence Certificates are excluded.  Sadly, we are not expecting to use our Cruise with Confidence Certificates (valued at $250 per passenger) before they expire with the continued uncertainty of everything.  And I'm pretty sure that the "paid in full" passengers who take their 100% refund must be thinking the same thing or they would choose the higher value in the form of 125% FCC.

 

Why won't RC treat all of their customers equally? 

 

I sent a letter to RC's Customer Service department requesting a refund in place of the Cruise with Confidence Certificate and received an email from a gentleman from the Royal Guest Experience Management Team in response.  He denied my request for a refund.  I replied to him requesting the contact information for the next person up the chain of command since the Royal Guest Experience Management Team was unable to honor my request.  This time, a different member from their Team replied telling me once again, that they are not able to override anything and it would not be fair to give us a refund.  She said that they don't give refunds for "self-cancelled" trips, which I can understand and appreciate if the cruise actually happened!  But the cruise was cancelled due to the global pandemic, which is very different from us just changing our minds!  She also mentioned something about travel protection, which is not mentioned on the RC website's Health and Travel Alerts as a requisite for receiving the refund.  Like before, I replied to her asking for the contact information for her manager so I may discuss our situation with him or her.  That was nearly two weeks ago and I have not received a reply.

 

Has anyone else been in this situation?  I can't imagine that we are the only ones with the volume of cruises that were cancelled.  RC needs to do the right thing and swap our Cruise with Confidence Certificate for a refund.  Please reply or send me a direct message.

 

babykangaroo50

new to cruisecritic, first time post

 

 

[Coralc]

No. You chose to cancel. They are treating all passengers in the same way. Which I think is a good thing. If you cancel before final payment, you receive your deposit back as a future cruise credit. If they cancel your cruise, you receive a 125% credit or a refund. Most sailings have not been cancelled before final payment. And you agreed to the terms of a non-refundable deposit. 

 

Keep watching this space. There may be like minded cruisers. And there may be a class action lawsuit where you may get like $7.00 back eventually. If you had a non-refundable deposit, you are fortunate (as are we) that they are presently waiving the $100, p/p penalty that they usually charge. 

[Missusdubbya]

Welcome to Cruise Critic

[Coralc]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! I forgot that part. And you are from the Bay Area. Royal Caribbean is a nice cruise line, and I'm sorry that your first cruise with them was spoiled. These are unprecedented times and all of the cruise lines and airlines and hotels are reluctant to issue refunds as they try to conserve cash.  

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, babykangaroo50 said:

Please reply or send me a direct message.

The DM function on CC is disabled for regular users.

[bigrednole]

Unfortunately, you opted for what was available at the time. No one knew what was going to happen and how much this would affect the world. They are honoring what you made a choice for. You cannot be upset for getting what you requested. What you are upset about is people getting something else offered to them. This would be the same for anything a cruise line offers. If one group of people jump on an $18 drink package, everyone fleet wide should be given it and it should never go away ever. 

[Ourusualbeach]

6 hours ago, babykangaroo50 said:

My family and I would have been first time cruisers on RC's Ovation of the Seas (Alaska 7/24-7/31)

Why not use your FCC as a deposit on a 2021 Alaska cruise on Ovation or Quantum.  Prices are cheaper for next year.