Terrible customer service

[hazence]

And in the light of the unprecedented shut down of large sections of European Airspace, millions of European air travellers have been asking what their rights are in these circumstances.

The answer is straight-forward:

 

• You have the right to either reimbursement or re-routing
  
• You have the right to information - there is an obligation for airlines to inform you about rights and flight schedules
  
• You have the right to care- that means food, drinks, accommodation as appropriate
  

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/143

 

 

Yes, this says "air passengers" but where RCCL was the booking agent for the complete trip, what WAS their responsibility to assist AT THE LEAST with information, re-routing etc.

 

 

 

How much "training" is required to get updated info to customer service several times a day by FAX or email?

 

 

("Every two hours you will receive updated info from RCCL headquarters to pass on to our stranded customers. Please check FAX or email on that basis.") A little READING....a little EFFORT.

 

 

 

To set up a central area at the ports for information? No one is asking them to erect a three story information center overnight. Is RCCL management that unimaginative, that inflexible?

 

 

 

Travelers who used RCCl exclusively to book air/sea packages should have been able to use the company that took their money...RCCL...as their first point of help and reference.

 

 

This "I-Got_Your_Money-Now-Get-Lost" approach in an emergency may be peachy keen with many of you...but the OP and others should start their own "viral campaign" to get the word out.

 

 

 

Others might hesitate if they know how RCCL treats customers in a crisis.

 

 

Self-reliance is also about making good choices in one's own best interest. The first act of being informed is understanding a company's ethic...and using that as to whether you want to give them your money, entrust them with your vacation. Deciding if a "See-Ya" attitude in a crisis...no help, no info, no nothing...suits you...is the most important way to BE INFORMED.

[galavant3]

Dear friends:

 

RCCL is starting to realize (although probably too late) that it acted improperly, at least as far as European Union law is concerned, and is starting to send out apology letters to European customers.

 

EU customers who are filing complaints for reimbursement with RCCL Europe or their EU travel agencies are getting reimbursed, no problem (at least that is the case here in Spain -- I cannot speak for other locations).

 

What some of you folks should try to understand, and I think this has been clarified on some of the other threads where I have participated avidly in order to explain the European point of view and practice, is that many of the comments that usually come from the American side of the pond, such as "what do you expect, you didn't purchase insurance, so you gambled and lost", "you're out of luck, it was not RCCL's problem", etc., etc., etc., do not apply here in Europe because there is ample legal protection afforded to us in the European Union which makes purchasing travel insurance mostly unnecessary except for the case of medical coverage when we visit countries such as the United States.

 

The cruiselines that refused to honor EU laws during the volcanic ash crisis are starting to realize that they acted improperly and illegally and are starting to rectify.

 

Hope we never have to deal with a volcano or any other major problem again -----

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

I have been reading your posts with interest. Perhaps incorrectly, I assumed that the OP was from the US (use of $$).

 

The EU Laws would have no bearing on those of us from the US, correct? I understand that those traveling under EU law would expect a different outcome.

[newbiecruiser09]

Not everyone affected by the Ash crisis has had 20 cruises or is an experienced traveler. I've only taken 2 cruises and I still would not expect the cruiseline to reimburse me or hold my hand or take care of accommodations for me in this situation.

 

As discussed on another thread, if you book a package in Europe...UNDER EU law...that company had responsibilities to its stranded customer...including lodging, meals, etc. RCCL may yet be accountable to some of its "dumpees" over there. I do not believe the OP was "dumped" over there--they were complaining because they could not fly and get to the port of departure

 

One issue I see on all these complaint threads is that although Goldstein said in his Blog that his mangers were working "seamlessly" and they were conferencing calling every morning....there was no plan in place, much confusion and just plain ineptitude during this Ash crisis.

 

That seems to be a persistent problem with RCCL customer service....ASh Cloud or no.

 

On the Vision,for example, one price was quoted one day for staying on the Ship...but after accepting, RCCL customers were told the price was much more the next day. That is gouging in an emergency situation. It's also complete lack of professionalism.

 

Simply telling YOUR customer who has booked his vacation entirely through RCCL...that they are "on their own"..."contact your airline." etc...is not ANY kind of adequate customer service. When you return something to a store that took your money...do you want to be told "Call the manufacturer. You are on your own."

 

RCCL could have put in place a bank of phone lines....special representatives...information desks...to help stranded customers make plans.You all do realize that in some places hotel rooms were impossible to get...huge crowds were sleeping for days in airports..trains and hire cars were booked days out.

 

This was an emergency. And as such, how can you expect them to be fully ready and acting up to 100%????? In an emergency, folks are moving very fast to try to adjust and sometimes things get missed or messed up. It's a crisis and crisis mode is very fast paced and onften changing constantly.

 

I wonder if RCCL could have ridden the storm into New Orleans during Katrina...1f they would have dumped their passengers in a hurricane and said "You are on your own. See YA!" Apples & oranges. They would not sail into a dangerous situation. Cruiselines will sail around and away from dangerous situations--and still some people will complain that their itineraries got changed!!!!

 

Insurance isn't up front money. It's not THERE in your pocket when you most need it. Think of the out-of-pocket costs to these customers. Even if RCCL had no obligation to pay (though that may not be the case under European law) AT THE LEAST...they might have provided a life-line of information and advice. A life line? Really? Should they have forgotten about the passengers on other itineraries and shifted all resourses to only those affected by the "ash"? Where do you expect them to get the resources for this "life line of information and advice" from?

 

RCCL seems to have a huge problem with customer service across the Board. We read every day here how answers are different from one agent to the next. If you are the lucky one who doesn't get stuck with a toilet that doesn't work for 4 days on a 7 days cruise...or find blood on your sheets...or fecal matter for days smeared in a public bath...then the attitude here is...you don't care how lacking customer service is to your fellow cruisers.Customer service to me is not always making everything perfect. Sometimes you just can't. You can't change to another cabin if none are open. You can't expect them to have everything under control all the time. Is no company every allowed imperfection?

 

If so, then by tolerating poor RCCL customer service...you're allowing cruising with them to be a lottery....some win, some lose big time.

 

Maybe someday soon...it will be you with a drill going all night above your cabin.

 

This is not just about refunds, etc...it's about a level of professionalism that should be EXPECTED from RCCL.I have never encountered unprofessionalism in any of my dealings with RCI. I have not always gotten what I wanted and things have not been perfect on my 2 cruises but lack of professionalism? No. One hand often doesn't seem to know what the other is doing.

 

In my opinion, what makes a good airline..is not the flights through clear, cloudless skies...it's how things are handled in the white knuckle moments.

Same for cruiselines.

 

What exactly do you feel was not handled professionally or well? No, they did not refund $$$ and they did not let folks just switch ships--which seems to be most lines' policy when situations (weather, airline strikes, etc) prohibit folks from getting to the ports--but from what I've read, they did not act unprofessionally.

[bigasufan]

OP, I'm personally glad you've decided not to sail with RCI any longer. This is ridiculous!

[hazence]

Look at comments on this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1190614

 

 

"We were to disembark in Lisbon on 19 April in the midst of the volcanic ash crisis. Many Brits asked at guest services if we would be afforded any assistance and were told it was not their problem. After phoning Miami and been told help would be given the ship staff refused to assist us. The 36 Brits arranged a meeting and 4 crew members were sent to tell us that we were displaying mutinous behavior and convening a riot!!! Honestly if you had seen the age group involved!! No help was given to people who had been at sea for days, had no 'live' information and were frightened about what lay ahead. That evening they agreed to let us sail on a daily rate (with ' as small amount of tax') to pick up ferries in France and elsewhere. We were told we had until 7pm the next evening to decide as the ship would not be leaving until 9pm. We cancelled our Lisbon hotels deciding to avail of this. Next morning they put up the prices by 25% and were charging $164 taxes and fees. Disgraceful again!! We were told to recheck in at 10 am and this was put back until most people got checking in at 12pm. After trying to argue the unfairness of increasing the cost when passengers were at their most vulnerable we were left with no option but to rebook. One diamond member was told by staff that if he did not rebook immediately he would call port side security to escort him off the ship. The ship sailed that afternoon at 5pm (we were not informed of this and just by luck were on board) with 650 passengers on board, the captain said they had expected 1900 and 36 children. Lots of cabins were vacant and RCI had received full fare for all those who didn't turn up plus the extra for those who remained onboarrd. What a rip off!!! We were told to leave the ship at midday and were given no help with luggage or information on where the ferry terminal at Le Harve was located. 18 of us had to haul our luggage approximately 1 mile, 1 man was aged 71 and his 69 year old wife had been to the doctor 2 days before with pneumonia. We were then left to wait outside the terminal at the side of the road until we could book in at 5pm. Thompson cruises, the British line put their cruise guests with travel issue getting home to UK and Europe up in a 5 star hotel and provided representatives several times a day to update their customers on the travel situation. This puts RCI to shame.

A terrible time and a disgrace to cruising. I will never cruise with RCI again."

 

@@@@@@

 

Further in the thread:

 

You have it in one, Celebrity is RCIs sister line and they cynically delayed the launch with journlists and travel agents to pick up Brits free from Spain. Great advertising! Meanwhile loyal paying customers with travel issues do not get the time of day to assist them.

 

In my book and practise the Priest who buys his own PC deserves the same porfessional attention and courtesy with his problem as the bank or stock exchange paying millons of pounds for their central computer. By the way I say this because I have personally had to help both!

 

I was on the Vision of the Seas on this Transatlantic crossing. 5-19 April 2010. To put the "naysaysers" coments iinto perspective:

 

snip

 

Asolutely NO and I mean NO infomformation was communicated to the ships passengers about the travel chaos ensuing and what would happen or the options at Lisbon desembarkation.

 

Please remember Lisbon to ANY South American airports continued to run throughout the Vocano event and over 1700 of the 1900 passengers were from South America. They could get home as planned!

 

The only information we managed to get was by the intermittent CNN and BBC World News service on TV plus by contacting friends, family and colleagues at home. Surely any decent holiday provider worth their salt would seek to re-assure their customers of the siutation and how they were monitoring and thinking about the situation (especially as so few were impacted and they knew who we were as they still had our passports details etc). You can imagine that many of the customers involved were retired so they really do need re-assurance in these circumstances.

 

Passengers had to force RCI into action the afternoon before dis-embarkation by convening a meeting to see what was known about the travel status and options. RCI Guest and Loyalty services were informed so they could send a representative to provide information. As was said they sent 4 security officers. Enough said.

 

Finally at the 11th hour we were offered the chance to stay aboard but as was indicated the price effectively doubled overnight by the time we go to re-registration. By this time of course airport transfers had long departed. And then no shuttles offered from the ship to the ferry port so we all had to walk with our luggage.

 

This is not an isolated instance of a lack of assistance:

 

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-revie..._review_21836/

 

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-revie..._review_21793/

 

http://www.holiday-truth.com/holiday...se_reviews/15/

 

As somebody said earlier in this thread, the metal of a good company is not how they deal with things when they are going well but how they deal with things when they are going wrong. It was unprecendented but ignoring customers and being defensive is not an option in my book. Helping them through problems is how you obtain loyalty, I believe that's how I have the loyal 20 year customers I have now.

 

@@@@@@ "

 

 

More here....

Add ComputermanofEngland to Your Contacts

 

 

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-revie..._review_21857/

 

"That day, we heard of the volcanic eruption –it was clear to us we would not be flying home two days later – no problem we thought as we had booked a package holiday through RC – a reputable operator we (mistakenly) thought. Everything written in other reviews of this cruise and RC’s treatment of its passengers is totally accurate. There was no information whatsoever about how RC would get us home until the day we were due to depart when a letter was wedged under the door of our cabin. The information was not clear – the letter said our flights would be automatically rebooked (they were not!) and seemed to indicate that our hotel accommodation would be booked. We went to Reception to check this out and were told that block bookings had been made. Throughout the emergency there was no sign of the captain or any senior officer – no meetings to allay our fears, even though the ship had two very large meeting areas. RC just wanted us off that ship asap and we were left stranded at Venice Airport. We were given a telephone number which did not work and when I phoned the London and Miami numbers they seemed oblivious to what our problem was – the RC approach to any problem seems to be ‘tough, that’s the way it is, what’s your problem!!’ The exceptions were our excellent cabin attendant and waiters.

We were directed to a hotel by RC’s local staff. No record was made of where we were sent but the rep made sure we knew that RC would not be paying the bill. The failure of BA and RC to work out what they would do with the several hundred British people who cam off Splendour of the Seas was scandalous."

 

 

 

http://cruisediva.blogspot.com/2010/...cts-royal.html

 

DaisyEngland said...

Adam Goldstein. My husband and I cruised with RCL to Dubai and were disgusted with your cruise line. You dumped all passengers at Dubai with no accommodation, flight or money and sailed to Barcelona. You then offered a return flight date of 6 May which was completely unnacceptable. We had to pay for our own accommodation (booked by my sisters in the UK) and make our own travel arrangements to return home. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Thousands of passengers were left stranded. We booked a package holiday with you and were told by guest relations that they would help us. You did nothing. I will be sending you a list of invoices for reimbursement. Failing that I fully intend to sue you as do hundreds of other people. I hope you get what you deserve. You made my husband and I ill.

RCI definitely the villains.....from one family (us!) who were abandoned at Venice airport and not contacted for a week - RCI had no idea, and no interest in our whereabouts, we spent around £80 on fruitless calls to their flight centre and are around £2000 out of pocket with little hope of getting it back......and RCI don't care a jot!!! We have been good customers of RCI, as have many others, but NEVER AGAIN!!

 

 

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-answers/question-22650/

 

 

Stuff like that....

[andrzej5914]

Once again, and I don't really know why :rolleyes:

 

You bought air/sea package from a TA or RC, you are getting compensated/credit for future cruise.

 

You bought cruise only package and could not make it to the port on time while the cruise line sailed off with thousands of other passengers that did make it to the port, you're on your own. If you had insurance, you may take it up with them, if you didn't you're SOL.

 

You bought passage from RC from point A to point B and RC was there to provide it for you and did for thousands of others. They did not cancel, you just did not show up on time for the sailing.

 

What is so hard to understand?

 

Explain to me how should Rc or Carnival have handled the following?

 

We're driving from Sarasota to Tampa to cruise on one of the ships. There is a freak brush fire or a pileup on I-75 and we're stuck in non moving traffic for hours. We don't make it to Tampa port on time.

 

We bought cruise only from RC or our TA.

 

Should we get credit or refund from RC?

[CruisinGerman]

To the poster above who decided to cite only the Airline Passenger Rights directive, the same poster forgot to cite the EU Package Travel Directive, which is an entirely different law.

 

Under this Directive, and individual country laws enacted to implement and, in some cases, even expand it, the passenger is entitled to assistance, recourse, refund, accommodation, etc., against the CRUISE LINE.

 

This Directive makes the cruise line primarily liable, although if the cruise line provides accommodation, etc., it will then be the cruiseline who is entitled to seek reimbursement from the airline, so that the passenger is not reimbursed twice.

 

All of this has been discussed in-depth on other threads.

 

The EU Passenger Rights directive must be followed by EU airlines and any other airline operating to or from an EU airport.

 

The EU Package Travel Directive applies to trips purchased from an EU office of a cruise line, tour operator, and the like, or from an EU travel agency.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[andrzej5914]

To the poster above who decided to cite only the Airline Passenger Rights directive, the same poster forgot to cite the EU Package Travel Directive, which is an entirely different law.

 

Under this Directive, and individual country laws enacted to implement and, in some cases, even expand it, the passenger is entitled to assistance, recourse, refund, accommodation, etc., against the CRUISE LINE.

 

This Directive makes the cruise line primarily liable, although if the cruise line provides accommodation, etc., it will then be the cruiseline who is entitled to seek reimbursement from the airline, so that the passenger is not reimbursed twice.

 

All of this has been discussed in-depth on other threads.

 

The EU Passenger Rights directive must be followed by EU airlines and any other airline operating to or from an EU airport.

 

The EU Package Travel Directive applies to trips purchased from an EU office of a cruise line, tour operator, and the like, or from an EU travel agency.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

 

okay Gunther........

[hazence]

To the poster above who decided to cite only the Airline Passenger Rights directive, the same poster forgot to cite the EU Package Travel Directive, which is an entirely different law.

 

Under this Directive, and individual country laws enacted to implement and, in some cases, even expand it, the passenger is entitled to assistance, recourse, refund, accommodation, etc., against the CRUISE LINE.

 

This Directive makes the cruise line primarily liable, although if the cruise line provides accommodation, etc., it will then be the cruiseline who is entitled to seek reimbursement from the airline, so that the passenger is not reimbursed twice.

 

All of this has been discussed in-depth on other threads.

 

The EU Passenger Rights directive must be followed by EU airlines and any other airline operating to or from an EU airport.

 

The EU Package Travel Directive applies to trips purchased from an EU office of a cruise line, tour operator, and the like, or from an EU travel agency.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

 

Thank you!

[Chip and Dale]

It's up to you to get to the ship. Why blame the cruiseline for the problem?

If you bought Royal's insurance, you could have canceled for any reason up to the day of the cruise and gotten a 75 % credit toward another cruise within a year. And that's if the reason was not covered. Chances are this would have been. Don't blame the cruiseline because YOU didn't cover the bases.

 

 

Unfortunately RCI's insurance is not available to everyone for instance Canadians. I would love to know if it is available to those who are booking outside the US, since it is not available to Canadians.

[The Big Booper]

It has been interesting reading this and other threads about the chaos in the travel business with the volcanic ash situation. I never was aware of the extensive laws established in the EU to require the cruise companies to aid stranded travelers.

 

I now wait with bated breath for the next thread where the Europeans bitch and moan about how much more they have to pay for a cruise booked thru an EU TA, then US cruisers booking the same trip through an US TA.

 

TANSTAAFL !!

[hazence]

Personally, I respect any and all information I can derive from a Board like this.

 

I do not limit my respect to just "reviews." I am here to gather insight to help me make an informed decision. Every bit of information posted IN ANY FORMAT is welcome.

 

I understand that this customer was an American. However, RCCL's response or lack thereof...to its entire customer customer base...is all part and parcel of a general inablity to react to a crisis...providing AT THE MINIMUM...clear, conststent information and options.

 

The OP states: "It took a whole week for them to offer even this, and was good only though this week."

 

Goldstein says on his Blog that his senior managers were meeting every morning and reacting "seamlessly." Yet the "reaction" , responses, decisions on the GROUND LEVEL to their customers seem erratic and sometimes absolutely unresponsive.

 

This is unprofessional for a company of this size.

 

You want the customer to have a plan B...fine.

 

How about RCCL?

 

We do live in a time of terrorism, natural disaster, etc....what does it say about RCCL that they have no "plan B" in place.

Customers should be aware they may just be dumped with no information...or left waiting a WEEK...if they invest in an RCCL cruise and anything...unexpected...happens.

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

 

The published cruise fares in Europe are higher. If you call the cruise line, they will match the U.S. dollar fare, usually without any hesitation.

 

We book all of our cruises here in Spain, and have always paid U.S. prices, except for one Silversea cruise where the euro price actually worked out better than the U.S. dollar price.

 

This is an RCCL thread, and I must say that RCCL's Spanish office has been great about discounting the euro rates to match the U.S. dollar prices.

 

So if we shop carefully, here in Europe we can enjoy the U.S. prices and still reap the benefits of the EU travel protection to which we have become accustomed.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[ahottoddie]

Thank you....

 

I don't know how anyone could look at my original post or subsequent posts and think that i wanted both a credit and recoup funds from insurance claim...As a matter of fact we have not yet been able to file a claim on the insurance (that we did purchase in advance, for those of you out there wondering about our "personal responsibility") because RCI will not issue a "certificate of cancellation", which we need for our claim, until after the cruise is completed (that by the way was 2 days ago)...I would comment on "customer service" regarding this, but would probably get slammed again...

 

Perhaps RCI would not need any special staffing for "customer service" in emergencies if they put more emphasis and training into creating "customer service" as part of their corporate culture :rolleyes:

[The Big Booper]

Dear friends:

 

The published cruise fares in Europe are higher. If you call the cruise line, they will match the U.S. dollar fare, usually without any hesitation.

 

We book all of our cruises here in Spain, and have always paid U.S. prices, except for one Silversea cruise where the euro price actually worked out better than the U.S. dollar price.

 

This is an RCCL thread, and I must say that RCCL's Spanish office has been great about discounting the euro rates to match the U.S. dollar prices.

 

So if we shop carefully, here in Europe we can enjoy the U.S. prices and still reap the benefits of the EU travel protection to which we have become accustomed.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

Scamming the system.

 

Lurking on the Princess boards in the past, many posters there complained that Princess would unilaterally cancel a cruise booked by a UK citizen thru a US TA. IF your IP address was the UK you had to go thru a UK operator.

 

We prefer the RC/=X= product but will admit that Carnival/Princess runs a more organized company.

[Captain Jake]

Thank you....

 

I don't know how anyone could look at my original post or subsequent posts and think that i wanted both a credit and recoup funds from insurance claim...As a matter of fact we have not yet been able to file a claim on the insurance (that we did purchase in advance, for those of you out there wondering about our "personal responsibility") because RCI will not issue a "certificate of cancellation", which we need for our claim, until after the cruise is completed (that by the way was 2 days ago)...I would comment on "customer service" regarding this, but would probably get slammed again...

 

Perhaps RCI would not need any special staffing for "customer service" in emergencies if they put more emphasis and training into creating "customer service" as part of their corporate culture :rolleyes:

 

another good post.I for one cannot see how anyone could think you wanted to be compensated twice.

:cj

[The Big Booper]

In general,whenever an unforeseen disaster / catastrophe happens, RC is not the best at dealing with it. The company seems to lack the flexibility to improvise on the spot. Such as The Brilliance in Barcelona several years ago when the Spanish fisherman blockaded the port as part of a strike.

 

BTW, Thompson Cruise company chartered the Celebrity ship to rescue the stranded cruisers.

[Paul65]

Personally, I respect any and all information I can derive from a Board like this.

 

Part of your problem, hazence, is that you seem to "respect" every criticism and dismiss any understanding of the cruise line's perspective. In one of your earlier postings, you quoted two different passengers about the Vision incident, one of which said the cost for remaining onboard the ship went up 25% overnight and another that said it doubled overnight. Don't get me wrong, if they promised one price and then raised it, that's wrong, but the two vastly different descriptions (and yes, the difference between a 25% increase and doubling are pretty vast) illustrate that you have to take things with a certain grain of salt.

 

There have also been some reports from people who felt like they were treated pretty well by RCI during the crisis. You choose to ignore such reports, though, to bolster your claims of total incompetence (or lack of caring) on the part of RCI, when you write things such as:

 

I understand that this customer was an American. However, RCCL's response or lack thereof...to its entire customer customer base...is all part and parcel of a general inablity to react to a crisis...providing AT THE MINIMUM...clear, conststent information and options.

 

Just as some are accused of being "cheerleaders" who can see no wrong in RCI, you appear to be a basher who can see no right; just an opposite extreme of bias.

[spongerob]

To the poster above who decided to cite only the Airline Passenger Rights directive, the same poster forgot to cite the EU Package Travel Directive, which is an entirely different law.

 

Under this Directive, and individual country laws enacted to implement and, in some cases, even expand it, the passenger is entitled to assistance, recourse, refund, accommodation, etc., against the CRUISE LINE.

 

This Directive makes the cruise line primarily liable, although if the cruise line provides accommodation, etc., it will then be the cruiseline who is entitled to seek reimbursement from the airline, so that the passenger is not reimbursed twice.

 

All of this has been discussed in-depth on other threads.

 

The EU Passenger Rights directive must be followed by EU airlines and any other airline operating to or from an EU airport.

 

The EU Package Travel Directive applies to trips purchased from an EU office of a cruise line, tour operator, and the like, or from an EU travel agency.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

Thanks Gunther. Perhaps this also explains the disparity in pricing between the EU and the US. (I think so.) It probably explains why everything else in Europe is twice the cost compared to the US. Your house, your rules.

[spongerob]

We do live in a time of terrorism, natural disaster, etc....what does it say about RCCL that they have no "plan B" in place...

Customers should be aware they may just be dumped with no information...or left waiting a WEEK...if they invest in an RCCL cruise and anything...unexpected...happens.

That's called LIFE. By definition, you cannot plan for the unexpected. You can only plan for the expected, and base your contingencies of the probability of a foreseeable interruption - that's the essence of insurance.

[hazence]

That's called LIFE. By definition, you cannot plan for the unexpected. You can only plan for the expected, and base your contingencies of the probability of a foreseeable interruption - that's the essence of insurance.

 

The second best "insurance" is dealing with a company with a reputation for fast response, integrity, and good customer service in a crisis.

 

Part of your "contigency plan" is how you choose to spend your money. Who you can trust...if "Life" happens. Or who might dump you at the dock.

 

That's the true value of this wonderful Board.

 

As for the discrepancies in what was quoted by RCCL in the gouging incident...the one relevant factor that didn't change...was that the price ROSE AFTER...AFTER... the RCCL customers had no other choice. One quote might have included fees and taxes..or who knows with such unorganized responses..if different employees did't say different things.

 

Seems to happen when you call RCCL ALL the time. Inconsistent customer service...different answers depending on whomever you get...

[kkorman]

I think I understand what the OP is trying to say. If they booked a replacement cruise outright, they would have been out the original cruise fare (until the insurance paid them) AND the fare for the second cruise. That's a lot of money to put out at once. The OP just wanted to go on a cruise, and was asking RCCL to let them switch to a cruise to which they could get. I don't think the OP would expect to get the insurance money AND a replacement cruise.

 

Eileen

 

I do not see this being an issue... well, RCI does not care or know if you have insurance or not (unless through them), so do not know if you will be getting money back. If RCI gave them their cruise, and they got refunded through insurance, that is insurance fraud. It would be difficult for this to happen unless, the OP decided to pay for a room which them would.

 

We had an issue with the Celebrity Azipod fiasco a few years back. We had the Infinity booked to AK, it was canceled 2 weeks out. We had booked everything through RCI, so we were immediately refunded for everything including airfare. Our travel agent worked it out so that we could go on the Voyager, at no cost during that week. If we had filed an insurance claim, I do not see how it would legally work. Different scenario, but similar solution was wanted.

[Paul65]

As for the discrepancies in what was quoted by RCCL in the gouging incident...the one relevant factor that didn't change...was that the price ROSE AFTER...AFTER... the RCCL customers had no other choice. One quote might have included fees and taxes..or who knows with such unorganized responses..if different employees did't say different things.

 

Seems to happen when you call RCCL ALL the time. Inconsistent customer service...different answers depending on whomever you get...

 

Well, if it was different answers from different people, and maybe one quote being a "base" price and the higher quote being the price including fees or taxes, that would be poor communication, but not nearly the same as "gouging." So, it really does matter to know exactly what happened, if you're going to start throwing accusations around.

[hazence]

Well, if it was different answers from different people, and maybe one quote being a "base" price and the higher quote being the price including fees or taxes, that would be poor communication, but not nearly the same as "gouging." So, it really does matter to know exactly what happened, if you're going to start throwing accusations around.

 

Two posters on that cruise have stated that RCCL, "responding to a crisis"... quoted a price for staying on the cruise.

 

On that information, the customers accepted and canceled their hotel rooms.

 

The next day, they were told the price would be substantially higher.

 

Do you think, particularly in a crisis, that is an ethical business practice?

 

Do you like dealing with companies that quote one price and when your options are then pretty much limited to them and AFTER you accept BASED on that quoted price...the company then raises the price?

 

Really?

 

I guess you wouldn't mind getting in a cab late at night in NYC, being quoted $65 to the airport...and after you are in the cab and in a sketchy neighborhood...being told the price is $150....or out you go.

 

Happened to a friend of mine. I guess you'd say, like RCCL...just good business..huh?

[Paul65]

Two posters on that cruise have stated that RCCL, "responding to a crisis"... quoted a price for staying on the cruise.

 

On that information, the customers accepted and canceled their hotel rooms.

 

The next day, they were told the price would be substantially higher.

 

Do you think, particularly in a crisis, that is an ethical business practice?

 

Do you like dealing with companies that quote one price and when your options are then pretty much limited to them and AFTER you accept BASED on that quoted price...the company then raises the price?

 

Really?

 

I guess you wouldn't mind getting in a cab late at night in NYC, being quoted $65 to the airport...and after you are in the cab and in a sketchy neighborhood...being told the price is $150....or out you go.

 

Happened to a friend of mine. I guess you'd say, like RCCL...just good business..huh?

 

Umm. I didn't say good business. I don't think you even read what I said. I said that IF it was a case of poor communication, where different people were saying different things or the originally quoted prices did not include some taxes and fees, then that is POOR COMMUNICATION, but not the same as GOUGING. It is an important distinction.