What would make you decide to cancel a cruise?

[CGTNORMANDIE]

DEATH...but it would have to be a very close relative...or myself...but even then I have left istructions for burial at sea!!!:D

[dogsrule]

me too!!! ha ha :D

[lucky white heather]

Cancelling a cruise in the Uk would cost us (minimum) the deposit paid, might be more depending on how near the sail date is unless you have a very good reason ( eg. illness) not to sail and they would expect to see a confirmation from your doc of the reason given for cancellation.I believe (but I am sure there will be an avalanche of responses if I've got this wrong.... ) US citizens can cancel up to a certain amount of days prior to sail date and expect / receive a complete refund of their deposit , or transfer their booking to another ship or just defer ?????

Because we have to consider carefully any commitment to book , we would be unlikely to cancel unless forced by really unexpected circumstances.

[lucky white heather]

Apologies For Timewasting..roughly Same Post Twice...!!!!

[sharpie13]

I've only canceled one cruise, and that was because a family member wasn't able to make the week we had selected. Typically I research the cruise offerings rather thoroughly before booking and see no need to cancel.

[cruiser2004]

:p :p I would not consider canceling a cruise because of a review on this board... They are sometimes so offbase, I wonder if folks were on the same ship I was on. A negative review could be due to lack of experience cruising, traveling, or comparing apples and oranges. It could also be clouded by problem relationships, family issues, etc.

Also, experienced cruisers realize that there could be changes to the itinerary, so you have to have an open mind and look at the trip as an adventure-with the mindset of "what might I see that I didn't expect."

Therefore, the only reason I could see to cancel would be death or illness.:)

In MHO, when making a decision on whether or not to cancel, I would be more concerned in "what I might not see that I have paid for". Many of the problems in making such a decision have been well documented with the facts. No vendor is going to want potential customers to know about the shortcomings of their product, and for me the best way to find out is to talk to unbiased people that have tried the product and read reviews on travel forums.

[Sky Sweet]

I think part of the difference in perception may be caused by people who expect cabins on a ship to be like hotel rooms. When my husband and I booked our first sky suite on a C class ship we cruised with friends who were taking their first cruise and also booked a sky suite. Even though a sky suite is not a real suite, it was the largest cabin we ever had on a ship. Therefore, we loved the spaciousness of our room with its huge balcony, and having a bathroom that was large enough for a tub and storage. Our friends, on the other hand, loved the cruise itself, but complained about their small bathroom and thought the size of the room was just okay.

[drfun48]

I would certainly cancel my Caribbean cruise if a large number of icebergs were found there.

[Germancruiser]

Hi,

only reason I can think of is when I pop my clogs oder near or close family member!

Ready for my next cruise all the time.

The boards are exctremly helpfull, but I always wanna find out myself!

Greetings

Michael

[JunPOA]

A past recent history of patterns and trends for a recurrent, on-going and unresolved Norwalk outbreaks.

 

While infrequent isolated incidents are understandable and are normally occurring in the community, a ship with frequent & recurrent infectious outbreaks is off-limits to me.:eek: This indicates to me problems with chronic deficits in sanitation procedures/ prophylaxis.

 

The Nurse

[cruiser2004]

I think part of the difference in perception may be caused by people who expect cabins on a ship to be like hotel rooms. When my husband and I booked our first sky suite on a C class ship we cruised with friends who were taking their first cruise and also booked a sky suite. Even though a sky suite is not a real suite, it was the largest cabin we ever had on a ship. Therefore, we loved the spaciousness of our room with its huge balcony, and having a bathroom that was large enough for a tub and storage. Our friends, on the other hand, loved the cruise itself, but complained about their small bathroom and thought the size of the room was just okay.

 

I think the reference to perception of the difference between a luxury hotel room and a cabin on a cruise ship was not the size. We all know most cruise ship cabins are not that many square feet. I think the comparison was paying a lot of money for a luxury hotel and finding worn, stained or broken fixtures would not be acceptable to most people. Excuses like "we are going to upgrade in 200x", or "a lot of people stay in the hotel room over the years", would not be an acceptable reason for most people, when paying $400 or more per night, for two.

[dogsrule]

In MHO, when making a decision on whether or not to cancel, I would be more concerned in "what I might not see that I have paid for". Many of the problems in making such a decision have been well documented with the facts. No vendor is going to want potential customers to know about the shortcomings of their product, and for me the best way to find out is to talk to unbiased people that have tried the product and read reviews on travel forums.

 

Sounds like Sour Grapes to me........JMHO

For me, its gets back to that "sense of entitlement attitude.":confused:

[Captain Cosmo]

Sounds like Sour Grapes to me........JMHO

For me, its gets back to that "sense of entitlement attitude.":confused:

 

No, actually its just a comment from someone who expects a vendor to deliver what is promised. In all other areas of our lives, when we pay for a service or product we expect to receive it. It appears that only in cruising are there lots of customers who have no expectations - and worse - no tolerance for those who do. Rather than letting someone with whom they disagree express an opinion, the X loyalists are free to flame those who have concerns about X them on these boards openly and without fear of being "moderated", and routinely have negative posts pulled so their opinion goes unchallenged. That's great news for the cruiselines and their stockholders, but bad news for honest communication on these boards as well as those passengers who never post at all but do feel that paying for a product DOES in fact entitle them to some consideration from X.

[Welshlady]

Why is that if anyone criticises X or dares to reports any problems they've encountered they are seen as being negative in a bad way? Very often criticism is a good thing and can be very constructive. I can't believe that certain posters have been banned!! Surely they are entitled to their say? Where does the name Cruise 'Critics' come from then? I am a big fan of cruising and have just booked another with RCL and can't wait to go! Even after our horrendous experience with X this year. It has not deterred me from cruising again but just who I cruise with and surely if I can relay some things to look out for and make other people aware then that is a good thing - constructive criticism surely?? X/RCL office staff and the communication between ship and shore is absolutely appalling. Due to the problems we had on Infinity on July 9th Alaska sailing we were offered $200 per person future cruise credit which was to be dispatched to us within a few weeks according to the letter we received on board. Thank goodness I kept the letter as when I was talking to RCL offices in the UK they knew nothing of this and I had to FAX over my copy of the letter. Even then they offered us the equivalent of $200 /£125 and then I had to ring them again to point out again that the letter said $200 per person!! They really are useless! It sounds like we've been lucky though as at least I had replies to my letters from RCL UK, whereas I've seen many people complaining that they don't even get replies in the USA. We have now sorted out compensation and they have apologised in a proper manner ( I won't go into detail as it's too long) and so we have happily booked another cruise with RCL, after researching on the RCL section of Cruise Critics! I would not book with Celebrity again though until they improve their services/food/etc. and the ship's mechanical problems. Surely anyone has the right to speak up on here otherwise it becomes a completely biased board with only one view point, i.e. biased towards Celebrity? How can banning posters be fair and constructive?

[cruiser2004]

Welshlady and Captain Cosmo,

 

Thanks for two very well thought out and incisive posts.

[Parrot Mom]

Sadly, we have had to cancel twice because of last minute illness...Now, the subject comes up of the possibility of Celebrity cancelling Morocco 12/07...I would be very, very upset... I would be going on one of these ships BECAUSE it would be going to Morocco.. We always take travel insurance... if I knew in time before the last payment that an important port to me was being cancelled...Iwould have to think hard and long and see what was going to be put in it's place...I'm adventurous.. I'm not worried about terrorists as long as there are men with guns to protect the tourists...