Help! Anyone who’s had Covid on a RCI Ship please read

[Lottie1974]

Hoping someone can help with my question. My husband got Covid half way through our Osyssey of the Seas cruise out of Rome in July . We were told that the cost of the cruise, pro rata according to how many days he was in isolation, would be refunded for the WHOLE PARTY.

The letter from RCI given to my husband when he was finally allowed to leave the ship, stated that we would receive a refund within 30 days and we didn’t need to do anything more. There is no detail in the letter about the extent of the refund.

.

I decided to call our travel agent when the 30 days has elapsed, just in case they had to contact RCI on our behalf , despite what the letter said . I was correct - and had I not rang the Travel Agent I would doubtless still be waiting for news .

RCI have told the agent that we are only eligible for a refund for my husbands cruise fare- not the whole party. This is contrary to what I’ve read on royal carribean blog, on a cruise to Alaska, when the person who isolated and the travelling party were all compensated. I was also told by a manager at guest services on board that the refund would cover the entire party before I even asked the question.

 

I’d be so grateful if anyone who has experienced the same scenario could let me know what happened regarding their refund . We are a family of four so there is a substantial difference in price . How can they tell people one thing on the ship  and have their staff in call centres say something different ?!  I am so fed so up to have had faith in their ‘cruise with confidence ‘ and then have to try and convince the travel agent that I am telling the truth as they seem to have no clue either ! UK based btw. Thank you in advance!

[Biker19]

12 hours ago, Lottie1974 said:

How can they tell people one thing on the ship  and have their staff in call centres say something different ?!  

Assuming you have documentation of this (refund for everyone in the cabin) send an email with that to mbayley@rccl.com asking for the extra compensation.

 

BTW, I think what you experienced is the default - anyone got a refund for everyone in the cabin, that was a good will gesture.

[Lottie1974]

Thanks but I only have the letter which talks about the refund - but gives no specifics as to whom it applies to. I appreciate the email address .

31 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Assuming you have documentation of this (refund for everyone in the cabin) send an email with that to mbayley@rccl.com asking for the extra compensation.

 

BTW, I think what you experienced is the default - anyone got a refund for everyone in the cabin, that was a good will gesture.

 

[Cruiser24]

I was quarantined on the Jewel of the Seas from May 8-12 during a 14 day TA.  The letter I received included the following:  

      "Royal Caribbean International will be providing you with a refund of the days you were quarantined.  The value will be calculated on a prorated basis, based on the cruise fare you paid for this sailing and the number of days you spent in isolation.  Our Customer Service department processes your refund directly to your original form of payment, there is no further action required on from you.  If you have not received your refund with 30 days, please contact the CS department at 800-529-6918."

    I did not receive the refund with the 30 days.  I called and the prorated amount of $702.14 was credited to my account shortly thereafter.

    No one ever told me that this refund was for my whole party, nor would I have expected it to be.  Since my husband did not test positive, he was allowed to continue on with the normal activities from our original stateroom.  I was pleasantly surprised with the refund I received because I wasn't expecting it.

  I hope you get this issue resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[reallyitsmema]

I was quarantined with covid on Quantum.  I received a prorated refund of my cruise fare about 21 days after my sailing.  My husband was negative for covid and was not quarantined.  He did not receive a refund.  The letter I received said I would receive a refund and did not mention my whole party.

[A&L_Ont]

14 hours ago, Lottie1974 said:

This is contrary to what I’ve read on royal carribean blog

You may or may not know but that is a fan page, not officially tied to RC. It can be correct as well as inaccurate, but they do not speak for RC. 

[Lottie1974]

4 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

You may or may not know but that is a fan page, not officially tied to RC. It can be correct as well as inaccurate, but they do not speak for RC. 

Thanks I’m aware of that ,but the poster on the blog was relating his experience and that included a pro rata refund for his whole party . I’ve no reason to disbelieve him

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, Lottie1974 said:

Thanks I’m aware of that ,but the poster on the blog was relating his experience and that included a pro rata refund for his whole party . I’ve no reason to disbelieve him

You could have exceptions for just about any issue/policy - anyone else's chances of getting that same exception can vary wildly.

[firefly333]

Just because a blogger said that was his experience isnt anything you can rely on. You need it from rcl.

 

Any I've read only the people who tested positive and lost part of their cruise got the refunds. Since you were not positive I think you are not going to get a refund. It's not rcl protocol. Why waste energy on fighting if you arent due a refund, just that's what you think you heard. No one here says the negative person got a refund except possibly one day while they were tested and isolated. 

Edited August 6, 2022 by firefly333

[mjkacmom]

From everything I’ve read only through positive person gets a refund, unless it’s a negative parent staying with a positive child.

[ONECRUISER]

43 minutes ago, Lottie1974 said:

Thanks I’m aware of that ,but the poster on the blog was relating his experience and that included a pro rata refund for his whole party . I’ve no reason to disbelieve him

Though "Whole Party" is not Policy. What one was lucky to get isn't norm, I know. My Daughter got her part, rest of Family(for a negative CV)Nope!

[molly361]

Deleted

Edited August 6, 2022 by molly361

[molly361]

50 minutes ago, Lottie1974 said:

Thanks I’m aware of that ,but the poster on the blog was relating his experience and that included a pro rata refund for his whole party . I’ve no reason to disbelieve him

I tend to think that "blogger" gets special treatment on some things

[reallyitsmema]

39 minutes ago, Lottie1974 said:

Thanks I’m aware of that ,but the poster on the blog was relating his experience and that included a pro rata refund for his whole party . I’ve no reason to disbelieve him

 

I would send an email to the address above stating what you were told by the Guest Services Manager.  We were told conflicting information on the ship too, not in regards to refund though, ours was concerning transfer off the ship.  Different ships seem to have slightly different policies and some are making some exceptions that others aren't, like I was allowed to quarantine in my suite and my DH was given a balcony cabin.  I would try for what you were told you would receive.

[Jasukkie]

I received reimbursement for post-cruise isolation expenses but am still waiting for the actual cruise refund. We all had to isolate so no experience with split refunds. It does fundamentally change the cruise experience to lose a cabin mate so I would hope you get the refund too. I would not expect that for a whole entourage of multiple cabins but I do think it's reasonable to refund per cabin.

[Lottie1974]

9 minutes ago, Jasukkie said:

I received reimbursement for post-cruise isolation expenses but am still waiting for the actual cruise refund. We all had to isolate so no experience with split refunds. It does fundamentally change the cruise experience to lose a cabin mate so I would hope you get the refund too. I would not expect that for a whole entourage of multiple cabins but I do think it's reasonable to refund per cabin.

Thank you for your empathy - I missed my husband dreadfully and my kids and I were not allowed to eat in any restaurants.

 

We were told to grab and go. Nor were we allowed off in Port and we had to wear masks around the ship. Not to mention the extremely long lines at guest services when I was trying to find out what I should do about my husbands travel arrangements.

 

As we sailed from Italy their rules applied- hence my husband had to isolate for 5 days and we flew home without him. We were devastated and it cost a fortune in last minute air fare for him when he finally came home.

 

I am so confused as to how there is any lack of clarity - how can they have one policy on one ship and seemingly from what others have said on this thread, another policy on a different ship.

[ARandomTraveler]

Why would they refund part of everyone else's cruise fare just because one person was quarantined? That doesn't even make sense. 
 

If someone told me that was the case, I guess I'd hope for some additional refund as a surprise but would never expect to actually receive it. But if I cared about making sure I did, I would get it in writing immediately. 
 

Now that you're off the ship and the only thing you have in writing appears to make sense only for the person who was quarantined and lost part of their vacation, I wouldn't even bother trying to take this up with RC, let it go, you're not owed anything and shouldn't expect it, given you got the vacation you paid for. 
 

PS - there is insurance that provides you money if you or one of your traveling party is quarantined during the vacation. If having one of your party quarantined was going to ruin the vacation for the rest of you, you probably should have bought the insurance. 

[reallyitsmema]

3 minutes ago, Lottie1974 said:

Thank you for your empathy - I missed my husband dreadfully and my kids and I were not allowed to eat in any restaurants.

 

We were told to grab and go. Nor were we allowed off in Port and we had to wear masks around the ship. Not to mention the extremely long lines at guest services when I was trying to find out what I should do about my husbands travel arrangements.

 

As we sailed from Italy their rules applied- hence my husband had to isolate for 5 days and we flew home without him. We were devastated and it cost a fortune in last minute air fare for him when he finally came home.

 

I am so confused as to how there is any lack of clarity - how can they have one policy on one ship and seemingly from what others have said on this thread, another policy on a different ship.

 

I isolated alone after the cruise too and my husband flew home on our original flight as he was still testing negative at that point (he was positive 6 days after the cruise).  I flew home after my 5 days was up.

 

Did the letter he received have any information about airfare reimbursement?  There are many different versions of the letter and many say they will reimburse up to $400 in change fees for airfare.  I would have him submit copies of his original airfare and his new airfare for reimbursement, along with hotel and food receipts.

 

As far as the cruise fare, I did not have to request my pro rated cruise fare, I was contacted via email that my refund was processed.  It was calculated correctly and received earlier than the 30 days they quote.

[Lottie1974]

16 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

I isolated alone after the cruise too and my husband flew home on our original flight as he was still testing negative at that point (he was positive 6 days after the cruise).  I flew home after my 5 days was up.

 

Did the letter he received have any information about airfare reimbursement?  There are many different versions of the letter and many say they will reimburse up to $400 in change fees for airfare.  I would have him submit copies of his original airfare and his new airfare for reimbursement, along with hotel and food receipts.

 

As far as the cruise fare, I did not have to request my pro rated cruise fare, I was contacted via email that my refund was processed.  It was calculated correctly and received earlier than the 30 days they quote.

Thanks for providing your experience, we have insurance to cover the airfare. RCI provided no help with this .

 

It seems amazing to me how many people appear to think I have some how unjustified in requesting something I was told would happen by staff on board a ship - I didn’t ask about compensation they proactively told me the refund would apply to the wholeparty- I was too

upset at the time being separated from my husband on a cruise we had saved for and looked forward to sharing for two years.
Yet some of the responses to

my honest attempt to ask about other peoples experiences seem to be delighting in making me appear like a money grabbing unreasonable person . 

So thanks for the constructive answers like yours. I appreciate it

[topnole]

10 minutes ago, Lottie1974 said:

Thanks for providing your experience, we have insurance to cover the airfare. RCI provided no help with this .

 

It seems amazing to me how many people appear to think I have some how unjustified in requesting something I was told would happen by staff on board a ship - I didn’t ask about compensation they proactively told me the refund would apply to the wholeparty- I was too

upset at the time being separated from my husband on a cruise we had saved for and looked forward to sharing for two years.
Yet some of the responses to

my honest attempt to ask about other peoples experiences seem to be delighting in making me appear like a money grabbing unreasonable person . 

So thanks for the constructive answers like yours. I appreciate it

Yes, there are some on cc who love to do this regularly.  It is very odd.  They truly seem to enjoy it.  
 

You are obviously trying to figure out other’s experiences which seems like totally normal behavior to me.  Sorry you had this happen on your cruise and I’m sorry Royal does such a bad job communicating at times.   

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, Lottie1974 said:

Thanks I’m aware of that ,but the poster on the blog was relating his experience and that included a pro rata refund for his whole party . I’ve no reason to disbelieve him

I wasn’t aware if you knew that, as some do think they are connected to RC. Just thought I’d clarify just in case. 

 

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

I tend to think that "blogger" gets special treatment on some things

I might tend to agree with you. Free promotion does occasionally come with a price. 

[Lottie1974]

Topnole, thank you very much - truly .

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by Lottie1974

[3yorkies]

I agree that they should be consistent in what they say and what they do.  However, I don't think I would ever feel entitled to a refund if I were not quarantined, so would probably just forget about it.   Also until it is in writing I doubt it is enforceable.   Glad none of the rest of your party became ill!!!

[Jerseygirl1416]

2 hours ago, Lottie1974 said:

my kids and I were not allowed to eat in any restaurants.

 

We were told to grab and go. Nor were we allowed off in Port and we had to wear masks around the ship. Not to mention the extremely long lines at guest services when I was trying to find out what I should do about my husbands travel arrangements.

Honestly before I read this I didn’t think you should be eligible for a pro rate refund but if they imposed restrictions on you all that weren’t quarantined then yes I do think you should be entitled to that refund. It’s the cost of doing business for RC in these crazy times.  Follow others advice here and write that email to M Bailey and explain the restrictions you had to follow. I hope they do the right thing. Good luck🍀

[JMToke]

I was quarantined on Symphony (7/23-30) day 3 of our second leg of a B2B. According to the paperwork that I received when I was relocated to deck 3, it clearly says “Please know that we will be providing all quarenetines guests and their travelling party with a prorated refund of your cruise fare based on your time spent in quarantine and cruise time lost. This refund will be issued to your original form(s) of payment”.

 

Before everyone jumps on the new member, one and done, yes I just subscribed but I’ve been in lurk mode long enough to know what’s coming my way.