Slimed by RCCL out of Singapore

[Cruisebug in Canada]

It might not impact many CruiseCritic folks - but I'm a bit incensed with the notice I received today about the Mariner of the Seas' "redeployment" at exactly the same time we booked to take a 7 day SE Asia cruise out of Singapore (March 7/17). While it was too late in the day to contact travel agency (RCCL referred me back to them - due to a "legal contract"), it looks like they just suggest you take the cruise in January instead, or how about a 4 day cruise the week before ???

 

What a crock - like folks can just switch their pre-purchased airline tickets from North America to Singapore as easy as switching from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale. Or fight to get refunds on hotels around the other side of the planet that are already booked and paid for... When you plan the longest trip possible (i.e. almost exactly on the other side of Earth), you plan early.

 

Still to be seen what they will do (their rebooking idea is ridiculous) - but why schedule cruises, then yank them? Shame on RCCL for bait and switch - 8 months down the road. Grrrrrr!

 

Oh well, 900 square feet 5 star hotel rooms run about $90 a night in Phuket and Kuala Lumpur. If I can't get a flight cancellation, will try to make the best of it. Still, RCCL sucks on this one!

[JPEvans]

It might not impact many CruiseCritic folks - but I'm a bit incensed with the notice I received today about the Mariner of the Seas' "redeployment" at exactly the same time we booked to take a 7 day SE Asia cruise out of Singapore (March 7/17). While it was too late in the day to contact travel agency (RCCL referred me back to them - due to a "legal contract"), it looks like they just suggest you take the cruise in January instead, or how about a 4 day cruise the week before ???

 

What a crock - like folks can just switch their pre-purchased airline tickets from North America to Singapore as easy as switching from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale. Or fight to get refunds on hotels around the other side of the planet that are already booked and paid for... When you plan the longest trip possible (i.e. almost exactly on the other side of Earth), you plan early.

 

Still to be seen what they will do (their rebooking idea is ridiculous) - but why schedule cruises, then yank them? Shame on RCCL for bait and switch - 8 months down the road. Grrrrrr!

 

Oh well, 900 square feet 5 star hotel rooms run about $90 a night in Phuket and Kuala Lumpur. If I can't get a flight cancellation, will try to make the best of it. Still, RCCL sucks on this one!

 

I've had a Greek Island cruise cancelled about 10 months before the sailing. I was like "oh well". I just rebooked something else, actually rebooked twice before I settled on a cruise. I got an extra on board credit though.

[Aussieflyer]

Is the cancellation because of a charter? All lines do this more or less regularly and I've heard of quite a few advertised cruisers being cancelled because of this. It doesn't make it any easier when passengers have booked and paid for flights and hotels etc. All of the cases I have heard about though the lines have offered some compensation as well - OBC etc.

[Biker19]

Empress cancellations happened weeks before the sailing date. Tho still very rare, cancellations happen.

[xxHadleyxx]

We had a Disney cruise cancelled a few months out (I don'T recall how many, might have been 4) due to a charter.

 

I had never even heard of such a thing until it happened to us. We were fortunate enough to live a 12 hour drive from port and my in laws, flying to Europe from the US for the cruise had bought tickets to be out early to visit us so we could still fit in a new itinerary without changing their flights--but many others were not so lucky.

 

I agree it is terrible that this is normal in the industry and believe full ship charters should only be for sale for a period of time BEFORE sailings on that ship are made available to the general public. Too bad I don'T get to set cruise ship policy, huh?

 

Lacking the above, I think such cancellations (which have nothing to do with weather or mechanical or other unforeseen issues and are all about taking away what you bought to sell it to someone else for a better price, essentially) should mean that any non refundable airfare, hotels, etc that you can show were booked prior to the cancellation would be refunded or change fees paid by the cruise line. Again, I do not make the rules though.

 

I like cruising enough that I continue to take the risk of a cancellation now that i know--and since every line does it I cannot avoid just a couple of lines. And the lines know this, they know we keep booking when they mess with their customers in this way, so they have no incentive to change, unfortunately.

 

So sorry it bit you this time.

[Iluvcruising2]

ouch, that sucks.

[PCHENG]

I see your cruise goes from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi and Phuket before returning to Singapore. There is a 5 night cruise on the Ovation leaving same day that goes to Penang and Phuket.

 

If you really want to go to KL and Langkawi, you can fly from SG to both destinations after the cruise on Air Asia for less than 50 bucks easy.

Edited June 16, 2016 by PCHENG

[vino123]

Thats exactly what we are going to do PCHENG.

We were originally booked on the 6th March Mariner, already booked non refundable business class airfare so we have switched to the Ovation, taken the $400 obc offered as compensation if you booked a suite and will fly to Kuala Lumpur for a couple of days after the cruise before going on the Vietnam as we had originally planned.

I was surprised how reasonable the airfares to KL from Singapore was plus the hotels in Kuala Lumpur are also good value. So in the end its all turned out well, we love the Quantum class ships so will look forward to being on the Ovation even if it is only for 5 nights.