Rescheduling Cruise within 30 Days

[Shneumann]

Hello all,

My parents are leaving on a cruise 9/8 and my mother, who is a caretaker for her parents, just found out that her father is extremely ill and most likely, only has a few weeks.

 

My parents would like to postpone their cruise - does RC allow for anything like that or will they lose their fare?  The doctor said she would write a letter, confirming.

[Another_Critic]

 

They would get no refund from Royal Caribbean when cancelling, except for taxes/fees, pre-paid gratuities, and cruise planner purchases, if applicable.  They would have to submit an insurance claim, assuming they have travel insurance.

 

Another option is you can replace your mother on the booking with another person, as long as your father remains on the booking (father could sail with another person, solo, or be a no show).

Edited August 19 by Another_Critic

[Shneumann]

Thank you so much!  

[Another_Critic]

Your parents can also call the cruise line (if booked direct) or their travel agent and explain the situation.

[reallyitsmema]

2 hours ago, Shneumann said:

Hello all,

My parents are leaving on a cruise 9/8 and my mother, who is a caretaker for her parents, just found out that her father is extremely ill and most likely, only has a few weeks.

 

My parents would like to postpone their cruise - does RC allow for anything like that or will they lose their fare?  The doctor said she would write a letter, confirming.

 

Did your Mom check her booking to see if she bought any kind of insurance that might help her cancel or reschedule?  Even check to see if the credit card she paid with has any travel insurance associated with it.

Edited August 19 by reallyitsmema

[pcur]

I found RCCL very, very compassionate when my husband passed in 2021. They allowed me to choose from moving my booking to another cruise, refunds, or FCC. I suggest you have the doctor's documentation available when you first contact RCCL.

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, pcur said:

I found RCCL very, very compassionate when my husband passed in 2021. They allowed me to choose from moving my booking to another cruise, refunds, or FCC. I suggest you have the doctor's documentation available when you first contact RCCL.

Sorry for your loss.

Royal was very compassionate during the restart after pandemic.   Hopefully for the OP they will also be compassionate.

 

When within 30 day period is moving the sailing for $100 pp penalty an option?

[firefly333]

2 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Sorry for your loss.

Royal was very compassionate during the restart after pandemic.   Hopefully for the OP they will also be compassionate.

 

When within 30 day period is moving the sailing for $100 pp penalty an option?

No has to be before final payment. I've lost 2 cruises. No recourse my TA said. 

[Ken at the beach]

16 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

When within 30 day period is moving the sailing for $100 pp penalty an option?

The ability to change for a fee ends at final payment date.

[nelblu]

2 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Did your Mom check her booking to see if she bought any kind of insurance that might help her cancel or reschedule?  Even check to see if the credit card she paid with has any travel insurance associated with it.

They might examine the mode of payments as travel credit cards also have trip cancellation/interruption insurance.

[Ken at the beach]

I have mixed feelings on this. 

 

On one hand it is nice to see Royal be compassionate in certain situations but on the other hand this is what insurance is designed for, if you choose to save a few $ by not purchasing the insurance then there should be consequences. 

 

On the other hand, when Royal offers these compassionate solutions it's an added cost that ultimately gets passed on to everyone.  Also it is no one person making the decisions so 2 people in similar situations could receive completely different responses thusly creating an inequity in how guests are treated.

[MommaBear55]

Her travel insurance should handle refunding her. If she neglected to purchase that, perhaps the credit card she used to pay has some travel benefits she was unaware of. 

[pcur]

I have always preferred to get FCCs or move deposit money to another cruise, instead of refunds. I first contacted RCCL after my husband passed to see about doing this. I really did not want to be reimbursed, and wanted to know what my options were.  RCCL responded immediately and gave me the options I had, including refunds. I chose not to get refunds.

 

Had their response been different, I would then have moved to travel insurance as my next option. As I've posted many times on this board, I advocate annual insurance with credit card travel insurance as a back-up. I didn't have to use this option as RCCL worked with me and my travel agent at the time to move money to other cruises, or obtain FCC's. 

[cruiseboy89130]

On 8/20/2024 at 12:19 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

Also it is no one person making the decisions so 2 people in similar situations could receive completely different responses thusly creating an inequity in how guests are treated

I totally don't see a problem there - some are lucky - some are not.....

[Another_Critic]

10 hours ago, pcur said:

As I've posted many times on this board, I advocate annual insurance with credit card travel insurance as a back-up. 

As I don't recall what you've posted in the past, is your annual policy only for medical or also trip cancellation, etc.?  It looks like GeoBlue is only for medical, but other companies include trip cancellation, etc. but of course at a higher cost.

 

I had GeoBlue included with my employer provided health insurance, but no longer have that since retirement.  

 

I'm leaning toward GeoBlue Trekker Essential or Trekker Choice combined with my Chase Sapphire Preferred travel insurance.

[pcur]

On 8/22/2024 at 9:48 AM, Another_Critic said:

As I don't recall what you've posted in the past, is your annual policy only for medical or also trip cancellation, etc.?  It looks like GeoBlue is only for medical, but other companies include trip cancellation, etc. but of course at a higher cost.

 

I had GeoBlue included with my employer provided health insurance, but no longer have that since retirement.  

 

I'm leaning toward GeoBlue Trekker Essential or Trekker Choice combined with my Chase Sapphire Preferred travel insurance.

I believe in 2021 we had Allianz, and I switched to GeoBlue in 2022. If I have a problem with a cruise, I always go to the cruise line first, then insurance. Plus, I always have Chase Sapphire's trip interruption and cancellation as a back-up option. Not ever having submitted a claim, I don't know the specifics.

 

The flexibility RCCL showed me might be because it happened early in 2021, and maybe they had more incentive to keep the money and give credit instead.

[Ken at the beach]

15 minutes ago, pcur said:

The flexibility RCCL showed me might be because it happened early in 2021, and maybe they had more incentive to keep the money and give credit instead.

2021 had entirely different policies and were indeed very flexible.  Much different in today's environment.