Good Business Article on Grandeur Incident

This was in the Saturday edition of the New Orleans newspaper. It explains a lot:http://www.nola.com/business/t-p/index.ssf?/base/money-0/1114236331108300.xml

Thanks for posting! Good article.

Interesting article.

I think RCI is treating passengers scheduled for 4/23 unfairly. It seems to me that each passenger should be given a partial refund, considering they paid for a 7 day cruise and are now getting only 5 days. That's a big difference. There's also the issue of port charges.

I personally think after reading the article and seing what expense Royal Caribbean has gone to to try and get people flown home, repairs, trying to acomodate other flying in to cruise on Monday, putting people up in hotels, + offering compensation for those who do cruise, I feel that they are doing a great job in response to the accident. I guess if I was the one whose cruise was shortened by 2 days I may be a little upset but those people do have the option to rebook and receive a full refund. I feel it is very fair. It is difficult on both sides when something unforseen happens like this. So my word on the subject is- Sometimes in life things happen that are very unfortunate- we do the best we can and move on. I think that Royal Caribbean has acted very appropriately.

Good article, thanks for posting.

The people on the April 23 cruise should definitely be getting 2/7 off the price of their cruise. If it was me, I would cancel and never cruise RCI again. Just recently paid my final payment for my first RCI cruise and really am wondering if it was the wrong move. Yes, it was an accident and accidents happen. If it was me who was in an accident, me and my insurance would be responsible for dealing with it. RCI is responsible for dealing with this. It seems that Norwegian knows how to treat its customers much better than RCI and their problem was an act of nature not a crash.

I don't think the compensation is fair because it is a flat amount given to every cabin. A percentage-based compensation would be fair. Consider the wide range that people pay for their cabins -- from suites to inside cabins and some people pay a lot for 4 in a cabin. The people that are making out the best are the parties of 2 in the cheapest inside cabins. Their $300 onboard credit is a lot compared to $300 for a suite or even a party of 4 in an inside cabin.

I agree with both of the two previous posters. They should pro-rate the refund (2/7 should be refunded) AND give them an on-board credit to spend as a thank you for your understanding. This would take care of the differences in the room prices as well. There's no reason a peson with the lowest price inside room should get the same refund as the highest priced suite.

I know if I were scheduled to go on this next cruise I would be fighting to no end about this. Not to mention that when it comes down to it, this was really all THEIR fault. Wind or not, it still was not a freak of nature like what happened to NCL.

2/7th would be fair. Especially as everyone's cabins range in price. It sucks that Wall Street has to affect how well you treat your customers. But I think they have done a great job getting people off the ship, on charter flights home, and have been trying to accommodate the incoming cruisers. I can imagine the logistical nightmare it must be! I'd certainly hate to have to figure out how to take care of hundreds of people with different travel situations in record time. :eek:

Husband and I discussing this, we're on the 30th. It really seems that the 2/7 is the way to go with the compensation. Also the $300 per cabin would be very fair for us with the basic cabin on the 2nd floor. But if we had a suite instead.... I'm sure I'd feel quite differently:eek:. we think that the compensation per cabin should be a set percent.... that way if your compensated the same $$ wether your in a presidential suite or on the basic cabin.

I personally think after reading the article and seing what expense Royal Caribbean has gone to to try and get people flown home, repairs, trying to acomodate other flying in to cruise on Monday, putting people up in hotels, + offering compensation for those who do cruise, I feel that they are doing a great job in response to the accident. I guess if I was the one whose cruise was shortened by 2 days I may be a little upset but those people do have the option to rebook and receive a full refund. I feel it is very fair. It is difficult on both sides when something unforseen happens like this. So my word on the subject is- Sometimes in life things happen that are very unfortunate- we do the best we can and move on. I think that Royal Caribbean has acted very appropriately.

Cancelling and rebooking a cruise is not as easy for everyone as you make it sound. Some cruisers only have certain time "windows" within which to book a cruise due to either employment or business constraints Others have to request their vacations months in advance and hope that week has not already been chosen by someone else earlier. RCCL has done a good job of taking care of the current pasengers aboard the Grandeur but they're shafting the April 23rd cruisers. At the very least Royal Caribbean should be refunding 2/7 of the cruise fare for each booking, not a flat amount. Any shipboard credit offered as a token of goodwill and good customer service should be in ADDITION to the partial refund, not in place of it. If you paid for a 7-day cruise and you do not get a 7-day cruise, you should not be charged for a 7-day cruise.

I agree that 2/7 would be the fair amount. If I had booked a suite I think that I would be more than a bit ticked off at being given a $300.00 on board

credit.

Karen

The article said RCCL is the #2 cruiseline. Who is #1?

Sher

Carnival

This amuses me...stuff happens...people are never happy..it wouldn't matter if they would have offered a full refund and gave out free cruises...every one of the peeps bitchin would still want more....if you ask me they've done a good job...at least they got hotel accomedations, they didn't have that yesterday. Not everything in life is perfect and sometimes you gotta bend...just because you pay MONEY doesn't mean you control the world...you can't expect the perfect thing in life for anything...

I'm not convinced that comparing the "Rogue Wave" incident that NCL had with the "damaged hull" incident with RCL is a fair one.

The article stated that this repair was very expensive, in that the repairs had to be done in a place where skilled help and materials were not available and had to be flown and trucked in from other places.

With NCL, they could make the repairs in the states.

Also, the cruise passengers were being entertained by a few shore excursions at RCL's expense.

NCL's passengers didn't have to be entertained.

Also, the article stated that RCL's incident would not be covered by insurance.

I don't know if the "Rogue Wave" was, but I get the impression RCL's situation is gong to be very costly for the company.

Between the hotel and flight arrangements for the cruise passengers to get home, it wouldn't be feasible to compensate the next group of passengers as well - all they really can do is either shorten the cruise, or offer full refunds.

I would be severely disappointed if I were one of the passengers whose cruise got cut short or canceled, but I think it's the only way RCL can cut its losses and still stay "afloat" (ouch - bad pun).