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Royal Caribbean Bumps Passengers from Grandeur of the Seas Cruise


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Article says 125% cruise refund being offered, but no offer of reimbursing the passengers their non-refundable airfare and hotel fare.

 

Hotels usually let you cancel within 24 hours. As for losing the cost of the flight, that is a good reason for insurance.

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I am not a cheerleader for any cruiseline, nor am I a media "basher", but I cannot believe this is on page 5. Had Carnival canceled these passengers cruises, there would have been another round of uprisings!

 

Personally I believe RCI should do much more than 125% credit. Yes I know they are beholding to their shareholders, but I own my own business. Sometimes we screw up (like putting a ship to sea with 70 reserved cabins not available). When this happens we give the customer their service for free. Now granted, our fee is $40 and the cruises were probably over $1,000 each. But our company only has gross receipts of about $600,000. RCI has receipts of millions in sales every year. So that take a .0000025% hit to profits, they take a 5% rise in customer satisfaction.

 

Not necessarily from just the affected passengers, but all of us here on CC, but throughout the media. I would be impressed if I saw a new story where RCI had given the affected passengers two free cruises for the inconvenience. Instead I have a little thing in the back of my head (like Carnival being unsafe, true or not) saying rethink booking an RCI cruise, you might get dumped with just a refund and small discount for the next time they ruin my vacation.

 

My dos centavos!:D

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Article says 125% cruise refund being offered, but no offer of reimbursing the passengers their non-refundable airfare and hotel fare. If I was one of those passengers I'd be a little "peeved". In quotes because I'd like to use a stronger word.

 

This would be covered by insurance so not really a big deal. Stuff happens, so just deal with it an enjoy your next vacation.

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This would be covered by insurance so not really a big deal. Stuff happens, so just deal with it an enjoy your next vacation.

To me this is not an issue of simply making alternate arrangements for another cruise or vacation at another time. For overseas cruises, I'm booking airfare 331 days in advance. For work-related reasons for both DW and me, we have to sign out for vacations at least 90 days in advance to make schedules work. (And we are both business owners.) If I already have my airfare paid to Baltimore (miles or cash), I'm committed to having a vacation that week when I get notice just days before the cruise. It's not like I can say I'll take a cruise next month, and use the 25% off certificate to get a deal. Our schedules don't work that way.

 

While there are logistical issues for cruise lines, there was a time when airlines could pick who to bump in the event of overbooking. That ended when Ralph Nader took an airline all the way to the Supreme Court to establish that he could sue for damages because he got bumped. (He lost a speaking fee, as I recall.) The rules got changed and now airlines are required to ask for volunteers. I've been there and never seen a shortage of volunteers. At St. Louis in 2010, DW and our daughter volunteered on two consecutive flights, leaving me to go home to SoCal with 9 pieces of luggage. They got $600 each in AA credit, a free hotel room, and meals. There must be retirees in the Baltimore area who would rather have the 25% discount in a week or so than leave as scheduled. (I hope to retire someday and have that flexibility.)

 

We're not without experience in this area. A few years back we had booked a land tour in Italy through a motoring club's travel agency. With 31 days to go, the tour company cancelled because they only had 29 spots sold. The minimum, for them, was 30. The tour company cancelled no other tours that year.

 

Since we were committed on our free seats to Europe on American (it's not like you can just call up American in July and say do you have two first or business class seats you want to give away next week? And there are penalties for such changes, which are simply not covered by any trip insurance. Not covered. We had trip insurance.)

 

So we did not let the tour company and the motoring club mess up our vacation. There were no other tours which worked (they don't have vacancies at that point and our schedule was fixed by the airline tickets), so DW spent considerable time making individual arrangements. We went and had a great time. It cost several thousand more than the tour, and that change in price was not covered by insurance. Not covered. We had trip insurance.

 

And what happened when we returned from a great trip? No refund from the tour company. Why? They coded us that we cancelled, not them. Was our travel agent helpful? Not one bit. Why? We did not make our alternate arrangements through him. And why didn't use him? Because he charges fees for Rail Europe tickets that don't get charged if you buy on-line. He could not (or would not) get as good a deal as we could get at the last minute on some hotels. I could get a better rate from Hertz. So I was left to dealing with the tour company. When I finally persuaded them that it was their cancellation, not ours (I had it in writing, after all), they first provided a full refund in the form of a credit towards a future tour, and tried to point to some fine print about their ability to change itineraries (which had nothing to do with what happened). Then they sent a check for half. After a few more phone calls, we got a full refund.

 

So when a tour operator cancels at the last minute, I'm stuck with my own scheduling problems, I'm stuck with paying last minute prices to salvage my vacation, and I (or DW) has to spend time dealing with all sorts of things like alternate plans and getting refunds. And some of our trips involve 8 or 10 or 11 people. Try juggling those logistics on a late cancellation. Try dealing with them when the tour operator cancels some but not all of your group. Try explaining that to an insurer even if you bought cancel-for-any-reason coverage.

 

I'd never trade for 25% off some future cruise. Someone else might. Let them benefit.

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To me this is not an issue of simply making alternate arrangements for another cruise or vacation at another time. For overseas cruises, I'm booking airfare 331 days in advance. For work-related reasons for both DW and me, we have to sign out for vacations at least 90 days in advance to make schedules work. (And we are both business owners.) If I already have my airfare paid to Baltimore (miles or cash), I'm committed to having a vacation that week when I get notice just days before the cruise. It's not like I can say I'll take a cruise next month, and use the 25% off certificate to get a deal. Our schedules don't work that way.

 

While there are logistical issues for cruise lines, there was a time when airlines could pick who to bump in the event of overbooking. That ended when Ralph Nader took an airline all the way to the Supreme Court to establish that he could sue for damages because he got bumped. (He lost a speaking fee, as I recall.) The rules got changed and now airlines are required to ask for volunteers. I've been there and never seen a shortage of volunteers. At St. Louis in 2010, DW and our daughter volunteered on two consecutive flights, leaving me to go home to SoCal with 9 pieces of luggage. They got $600 each in AA credit, a free hotel room, and meals. There must be retirees in the Baltimore area who would rather have the 25% discount in a week or so than leave as scheduled. (I hope to retire someday and have that flexibility.)

 

We're not without experience in this area. A few years back we had booked a land tour in Italy through a motoring club's travel agency. With 31 days to go, the tour company cancelled because they only had 29 spots sold. The minimum, for them, was 30. The tour company cancelled no other tours that year.

 

Since we were committed on our free seats to Europe on American (it's not like you can just call up American in July and say do you have two first or business class seats you want to give away next week? And there are penalties for such changes, which are simply not covered by any trip insurance. Not covered. We had trip insurance.)

 

So we did not let the tour company and the motoring club mess up our vacation. There were no other tours which worked (they don't have vacancies at that point and our schedule was fixed by the airline tickets), so DW spent considerable time making individual arrangements. We went and had a great time. It cost several thousand more than the tour, and that change in price was not covered by insurance. Not covered. We had trip insurance.

 

And what happened when we returned from a great trip? No refund from the tour company. Why? They coded us that we cancelled, not them. Was our travel agent helpful? Not one bit. Why? We did not make our alternate arrangements through him. And why didn't use him? Because he charges fees for Rail Europe tickets that don't get charged if you buy on-line. He could not (or would not) get as good a deal as we could get at the last minute on some hotels. I could get a better rate from Hertz. So I was left to dealing with the tour company. When I finally persuaded them that it was their cancellation, not ours (I had it in writing, after all), they first provided a full refund in the form of a credit towards a future tour, and tried to point to some fine print about their ability to change itineraries (which had nothing to do with what happened). Then they sent a check for half. After a few more phone calls, we got a full refund.

 

So when a tour operator cancels at the last minute, I'm stuck with my own scheduling problems, I'm stuck with paying last minute prices to salvage my vacation, and I (or DW) has to spend time dealing with all sorts of things like alternate plans and getting refunds. And some of our trips involve 8 or 10 or 11 people. Try juggling those logistics on a late cancellation. Try dealing with them when the tour operator cancels some but not all of your group. Try explaining that to an insurer even if you bought cancel-for-any-reason coverage.

 

I'd never trade for 25% off some future cruise. Someone else might. Let them benefit.

Some cruisers were re-booked on the Explorer that left Friday. They got a good deal!

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"In addition, a number of crew cabins still are undergoing repairs, forcing some crew to sleep in passenger cabins, which in turn has forced the line to bump some passengers from today's sailing. The crew cabins suffered water damage as firefighters fought to contain the blaze and have had to be completely gutted.

Lutoff-Perlo says all of the final repairs will be done by next week's sailing starting on July 19."

 

From USA today

 

The pax cabins are ok, but they are being used to house contractors and crew. Also the cause has not been determined

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It would be interesting to find out if any of those passengers were flying in. The Grandeur cruises from Baltimore and it draws a large percentage of its passengers from neighboring states because they prefer to drive to the port. I know it is one of the big reasons that I booked it. When they cancelled my sailing I only had to worry about cancelling the stay-and-park deal at the pre-cruise hotel.

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To me this is not an issue of simply making alternate arrangements for another cruise or vacation at another time. For overseas cruises, I'm booking airfare 331 days in advance. For work-related reasons for both DW and me, we have to sign out for vacations at least 90 days in advance to make schedules work. (And we are both business owners.) If I already have my airfare paid to Baltimore (miles or cash), I'm committed to having a vacation that week when I get notice just days before the cruise. It's not like I can say I'll take a cruise next month, and use the 25% off certificate to get a deal. Our schedules don't work that way.

 

While there are logistical issues for cruise lines, there was a time when airlines could pick who to bump in the event of overbooking. That ended when Ralph Nader took an airline all the way to the Supreme Court to establish that he could sue for damages because he got bumped. (He lost a speaking fee, as I recall.) The rules got changed and now airlines are required to ask for volunteers. I've been there and never seen a shortage of volunteers. At St. Louis in 2010, DW and our daughter volunteered on two consecutive flights, leaving me to go home to SoCal with 9 pieces of luggage. They got $600 each in AA credit, a free hotel room, and meals. There must be retirees in the Baltimore area who would rather have the 25% discount in a week or so than leave as scheduled. (I hope to retire someday and have that flexibility.)

 

We're not without experience in this area. A few years back we had booked a land tour in Italy through a motoring club's travel agency. With 31 days to go, the tour company cancelled because they only had 29 spots sold. The minimum, for them, was 30. The tour company cancelled no other tours that year.

 

Since we were committed on our free seats to Europe on American (it's not like you can just call up American in July and say do you have two first or business class seats you want to give away next week? And there are penalties for such changes, which are simply not covered by any trip insurance. Not covered. We had trip insurance.)

 

So we did not let the tour company and the motoring club mess up our vacation. There were no other tours which worked (they don't have vacancies at that point and our schedule was fixed by the airline tickets), so DW spent considerable time making individual arrangements. We went and had a great time. It cost several thousand more than the tour, and that change in price was not covered by insurance. Not covered. We had trip insurance.

 

And what happened when we returned from a great trip? No refund from the tour company. Why? They coded us that we cancelled, not them. Was our travel agent helpful? Not one bit. Why? We did not make our alternate arrangements through him. And why didn't use him? Because he charges fees for Rail Europe tickets that don't get charged if you buy on-line. He could not (or would not) get as good a deal as we could get at the last minute on some hotels. I could get a better rate from Hertz. So I was left to dealing with the tour company. When I finally persuaded them that it was their cancellation, not ours (I had it in writing, after all), they first provided a full refund in the form of a credit towards a future tour, and tried to point to some fine print about their ability to change itineraries (which had nothing to do with what happened). Then they sent a check for half. After a few more phone calls, we got a full refund.

 

So when a tour operator cancels at the last minute, I'm stuck with my own scheduling problems, I'm stuck with paying last minute prices to salvage my vacation, and I (or DW) has to spend time dealing with all sorts of things like alternate plans and getting refunds. And some of our trips involve 8 or 10 or 11 people. Try juggling those logistics on a late cancellation. Try dealing with them when the tour operator cancels some but not all of your group. Try explaining that to an insurer even if you bought cancel-for-any-reason coverage.

 

I'd never trade for 25% off some future cruise. Someone else might. Let them benefit.

 

 

Thank you for posting so reasonably on the problem of any tour or cruise company cancelling at the last minute.

 

I am a nurse and our vacations are bid on and granted one year in advance (so that everyone will get a vacation and the unit will still be staffed) If the cruise cancelled my vacation, it would mean no vacation this year.

 

It would be nice if they could do as the airlines do and ask for volunteers!

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"In addition, a number of crew cabins still are undergoing repairs, forcing some crew to sleep in passenger cabins, which in turn has forced the line to bump some passengers from today's sailing. The crew cabins suffered water damage as firefighters fought to contain the blaze and have had to be completely gutted.

Lutoff-Perlo says all of the final repairs will be done by next week's sailing starting on July 19."

 

From USA today

 

The pax cabins are ok, but they are being used to house contractors and crew. Also the cause has not been determined

Oh, the cause has been determined, all right. At least with a good degree of certainty. If it hadn't, the Coast Guard would not have given them clearance to sail.

 

What has not happened, and may not for quite a while (if ever), is that the official report has not been released.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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