Legend of the Seas Cancellation Ripoff

My wife and I were booked on RCCL's Legend of the Seas for a cruise from Brisbane to Hong Kong for next April. We had booked our trip to Brisbane using American Advantage miles, traveling from DFW on American and Hawaiian Airlines through Honolulu.

About four weeks ago we got notice that RCCL had sold the ship and was cancelling the cruise since the Legend would no longer be in service. Of course, they refunded our deposit but, when it came to refunding the $200 we paid to reinstate the frequent flyer miles to our account, they refused to pay.

Here's the RCCL policy statement:

"To accommodate guests booked on the affected sailings, Royal Caribbean will provide vacationers with a full refund of their cruise fare, the opportunity to re-book on another Royal Caribbean ship as well as an onboard credit to use during the newly booked sailing. In addition, vacationers who purchased airfare through Royal Caribbean will receive a full refund. Guests purchasing their own airfare will be given a refund for their airline change fee. All refund transactions will be automatically processed back to the original form of payment within four to six weeks."

From my travel agent:

"I again have pleaded our case and received the following answer. You may want to contact Guest relations to see if you get any farther. I again apologize. Robert

RCCL email to my travel agent:

Hello Robert,

Thank you for your email. airline change fees were being reimbursed for any

reservation that moved to a different Royal Caribbean sailing. Airline

change fees do not include restocking fees for airline miles.

Here is the direct information on Air Change Fees from the compensation

letter

o If you incur a fee due to the change in your airline reservations you

will be reimbursed up to $200 per person, for Domestic Flights & $300 per

person, for International Flights.

If you are unable to re-book by 6/22/16, a full refund for the amount paid

on your current reservation will be processed to the original form of

payment. Please note future compensation will not be available due to this

circumstance, including air change fee reimbursement.

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."

The "INCONVENIENCE" is taking $200 out of my pocket to reinstate my 120K+ miles when it was their decision to sell the ship and leave us "high and dry". I gather that, if we had rebooked another cruise, they might have paid the fee for us to "change" to a new destination for a different cruise.

I have expressed to them my extreme displeasure with this policy. I have vowed to never sail with any of their affiliates again: RCCL, Celebrity, Azamara (and I have over 300 days of cruising). Admittedly, this is a rare occurrence when a ship is sold but to be penalized for being an award flyer versus a fee paying flyer is outrageous discrimination in my opinion!

I would like for others to know of this policy should another of their ships be sold in the future! I'm sure there must have been others on this sailing of the Legend of the Seas who are in the "same boat" (so to speak!!). This sailing was sold out. I believe RCCL cruise patrons should be aware of the potential for this kind of corporate abuse and extreme customer unfriendly treatment. NEVER AGAIN FOR ME!!!

That is a tough break. I'm guessing that had you purchased non-refundable airfare with cash that you would be in an even worse spot?

Do you not have travel insurance?

I don't under stand what Rccl has to do with you booking a flight not thru them. Next time use choice air.

You chose to make your own airline arrangements, and now you're upset with the cruiseline, because you have to bear responsibility for your choice? I'm confused as to why you think they owe you more than has already been offered.

I would hope that, even though you booked with air miles, you took out a 3rd party insurance after booking your air so far in advance.

What you quoted from their policy says they will pay for an airline change fee. It doesn't say they'll pay your air mileage restocking fee.

You would have also received some OBC towards another cruise for your inconvenience. Think of that OBC covering the $200 that you had to pay for your miles to be reinstated and it's a wash. Ship happens.

I would say try to make lemonade out of lemon. What I would do is take the plane to Honolulu and get off their and spend the time their. I understand you will lose points. But maybe you can have fun in Honolulu.

Normally I don't respond to threads like this, especially when it appears that the rest of the gang has somehow decided that it is your fault that RCCL canceled the cruise. This is clearly something they did to you and just because you don't fit into the tight parameters of what they deem to be "policy" that you are just supposed to give up. This was RCCLs fault and I think they need to fix it. So, either write ( I don't have the address handy) or e-mail to the executive offices ( I have used these in the past)

rfain@rccl.com; mbayley@rccl.com; agoldstein@rccl.com and see if they are more reasonable. If these are not current e-mails for the executive team, then post another thread on here and get the proper e-mail and send them your issue. This seems like a no-brainer to me. RCCL should give you the $$$. Or, you could just call customer service back and see if you get a different answer. Or, you could call a C&A number (sorry, don't have that either) and see if they can help. I am a little surprised the Cruise Critic gang isn't being more helpful. Let us know how it goes.

I agree with Blondie. Escalate this matter. You suffered a loss due to RCI's action and they should make you whole. Good luck.

Agree with Blondie on this, and frankly find the less sympathetic responses hard to understand. This is an airline change fee. Another suggestion is to call your airline, especially if you have status with their program, and ask if they would waive the fee. I just had a similar issue with American Airlines and a supervisor waived the fee.

Four words:

Empress of the Seas

You aren't getting crap and they don't give a crap.

I creel that the intention of them saying a change fee would be the money it takes to change a flight. Which means the money for redepositing. After all, you can't change it if you don't redeposit the miles.

I'd keep going.

That many miles, you must have status. You sure you have fees?

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Feel, not "creel", of course.

And forgive the grammar. Didn't realize there's no edit button at all through tapatalk.

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Royal should pay for your airline fees. Go up the ladder!

Thanks for your empathetic reply, blondie. I will send copies of my post to the three email addresses that you recommended. I was very disappointed when I learned of the cancellation but had no desire to change to another cruise, thus the miles reinstatement. I consider the fee for the reinstatement of miles to be a "change fee"...changing used miles back into usable miles. I will also recontact AAdvantage to ask for a refund of the charges. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll let you know the outcome of these efforts.

Agree with Blondie.

Agree also. There wouldn't be an issue of payment with your miles if your cruise wasn't cancelled. If RCI can pay rebooking fees they should also pay mileage restocking fees.

We use miles to get to or back from all our International cruises and I'm sure many others do too, so I can relate to your problem.

. I was very disappointed when I learned of the cancellation but had no desire to change to another cruise, thus the miles reinstatement. .

You do have a way out. Why not use it?

My wife and I were booked on RCCL's Legend of the Seas for a cruise from Brisbane to Hong Kong for next April. We had booked our trip to Brisbane using American Advantage miles, traveling from DFW on American and Hawaiian Airlines through Honolulu.

About four weeks ago we got notice that RCCL had sold the ship and was cancelling the cruise since the Legend would no longer be in service. Of course, they refunded our deposit but, when it came to refunding the $200 we paid to reinstate the frequent flyer miles to our account, they refused to pay.

 

Here's the RCCL policy statement:

"To accommodate guests booked on the affected sailings, Royal Caribbean will provide vacationers with a full refund of their cruise fare, the opportunity to re-book on another Royal Caribbean ship as well as an onboard credit to use during the newly booked sailing. In addition, vacationers who purchased airfare through Royal Caribbean will receive a full refund. Guests purchasing their own airfare will be given a refund for their airline change fee. All refund transactions will be automatically processed back to the original form of payment within four to six weeks."

 

From my travel agent:

"I again have pleaded our case and received the following answer. You may want to contact Guest relations to see if you get any farther. I again apologize. Robert

 

RCCL email to my travel agent:

 

Hello Robert,

 

Thank you for your email. airline change fees were being reimbursed for any

reservation that moved to a different Royal Caribbean sailing. Airline

change fees do not include restocking fees for airline miles.

 

Here is the direct information on Air Change Fees from the compensation

letter

 

o If you incur a fee due to the change in your airline reservations you

will be reimbursed up to $200 per person, for Domestic Flights & $300 per

person, for International Flights.

 

If you are unable to re-book by 6/22/16, a full refund for the amount paid

on your current reservation will be processed to the original form of

payment. Please note future compensation will not be available due to this

circumstance, including air change fee reimbursement.

 

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."

 

The "INCONVENIENCE" is taking $200 out of my pocket to reinstate my 120K+ miles when it was their decision to sell the ship and leave us "high and dry". I gather that, if we had rebooked another cruise, they might have paid the fee for us to "change" to a new destination for a different cruise.

 

I have expressed to them my extreme displeasure with this policy. I have vowed to never sail with any of their affiliates again: RCCL, Celebrity, Azamara (and I have over 300 days of cruising). Admittedly, this is a rare occurrence when a ship is sold but to be penalized for being an award flyer versus a fee paying flyer is outrageous discrimination in my opinion!

 

I would like for others to know of this policy should another of their ships be sold in the future! I'm sure there must have been others on this sailing of the Legend of the Seas who are in the "same boat" (so to speak!!). This sailing was sold out. I believe RCCL cruise patrons should be aware of the potential for this kind of corporate abuse and extreme customer unfriendly treatment. NEVER AGAIN FOR ME!!!

Escalate.

atolentino@rccl.com

ayera-rodriguez@rccl.com

My wife and I were booked on RCCL's Legend of the Seas for a cruise from Brisbane to Hong Kong for next April. We had booked our trip to Brisbane using American Advantage miles, traveling from DFW on American and Hawaiian Airlines through Honolulu.

About four weeks ago we got notice that RCCL had sold the ship and was cancelling the cruise since the Legend would no longer be in service. Of course, they refunded our deposit but, when it came to refunding the $200 we paid to reinstate the frequent flyer miles to our account, they refused to pay.

 

Here's the RCCL policy statement:

"To accommodate guests booked on the affected sailings, Royal Caribbean will provide vacationers with a full refund of their cruise fare, the opportunity to re-book on another Royal Caribbean ship as well as an onboard credit to use during the newly booked sailing. In addition, vacationers who purchased airfare through Royal Caribbean will receive a full refund. Guests purchasing their own airfare will be given a refund for their airline change fee. All refund transactions will be automatically processed back to the original form of payment within four to six weeks."

 

From my travel agent:

"I again have pleaded our case and received the following answer. You may want to contact Guest relations to see if you get any farther. I again apologize. Robert

 

RCCL email to my travel agent:

 

Hello Robert,

 

Thank you for your email. airline change fees were being reimbursed for any

reservation that moved to a different Royal Caribbean sailing. Airline

change fees do not include restocking fees for airline miles.

 

Here is the direct information on Air Change Fees from the compensation

letter

 

o If you incur a fee due to the change in your airline reservations you

will be reimbursed up to $200 per person, for Domestic Flights & $300 per

person, for International Flights.

 

If you are unable to re-book by 6/22/16, a full refund for the amount paid

on your current reservation will be processed to the original form of

payment. Please note future compensation will not be available due to this

circumstance, including air change fee reimbursement.

 

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."

 

The "INCONVENIENCE" is taking $200 out of my pocket to reinstate my 120K+ miles when it was their decision to sell the ship and leave us "high and dry". I gather that, if we had rebooked another cruise, they might have paid the fee for us to "change" to a new destination for a different cruise.

 

I have expressed to them my extreme displeasure with this policy. I have vowed to never sail with any of their affiliates again: RCCL, Celebrity, Azamara (and I have over 300 days of cruising). Admittedly, this is a rare occurrence when a ship is sold but to be penalized for being an award flyer versus a fee paying flyer is outrageous discrimination in my opinion!

 

I would like for others to know of this policy should another of their ships be sold in the future! I'm sure there must have been others on this sailing of the Legend of the Seas who are in the "same boat" (so to speak!!). This sailing was sold out. I believe RCCL cruise patrons should be aware of the potential for this kind of corporate abuse and extreme customer unfriendly treatment. NEVER AGAIN FOR ME!!!

I agree with you. I feel if they are willing to pay $200.00 to someone who paid for tickets why shouldn't they allow up to the same $200.00 for restocking fees for air miles.

And while you would think this is a rare occurrence, it isn't as rare as you think. This time they sold the ship, but more often the "Charter" the ships for specialty cruises with outside vendors...like Jazz Cruises, Gay Cruises, Nude Cruises, or something like Dancing with the Stars or some musical acts.

Last year I was the victim of two chartered cruises, both canceled by the cruise line. I was offered the same deal, the kicker was that I did not find out from the cruise line, I found out on Cruise Critic and I waited for notification and still to this day was not notified for one of the cruises.

I agree with you. I feel if they are willing to pay $200.00 to someone who paid for tickets why shouldn't they allow up to the same $200.00 for restocking fees for air miles.

 

And while you would think this is a rare occurrence, it isn't as rare as you think. This time they sold the ship, but more often the "Charter" the ships for specialty cruises with outside vendors...like Jazz Cruises, Gay Cruises, Nude Cruises, or something like Dancing with the Stars or some musical acts.

 

Last year I was the victim of two chartered cruises, both canceled by the cruise line. I was offered the same deal, the kicker was that I did not find out from the cruise line, I found out on Cruise Critic and I waited for notification and still to this day was not notified for one of the cruises.

The same thing happened to us with the cancellation on an Asian Ovation cruise. I only found out on the Roll Call and called to ask about it. The person I spoke too denied it twice before I asked for resolutions and then was given the correct information.

We had used our air miles to fly to Beijing and I was lucky we were able to change our flights (same # of miles) at no extra charge for an alternative cruise.

I wish you good luck in getting your $200 refunded but honestly, I wouldn't count on it. If you read the statement from RCI more carefully, you will see that they're willing to cover air fees IF you booked with them to start with, and IF you book another cruise to replace the cancelled one.

Look at it this way--it's like booking shore excursions. You book with RCI and the ship waits for you if your bus breaks down and you're late back to the port. You book on your own, and your bus breaks down, it's sorry Charlie, gotta sail without you.

In your case, you chose to book air without the assistance of RCI and you're not throwing more business their way, so they they're sailing without you. :cool:

Why not just book another cruise? Then if there is a change fee they'll pay it. Surely the same itinerary is being sailed by another ship.

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