Don't Trust Family Members

[CruiseGal999]

A side note about family and expectations .... years ago my sister in law was getting married in AZ. My DH & I lived in CA. They told us they were not going on a honeymoon. No money, no time off work, etc. We said we would find the nicest hotel in the town they lived/getting married in (don't remember what town) and we'd pay for 3 nights in the best room the hotel had. We didn't tell them, but we had plans to have it decorated, champagne and food & strawberries in the room, etc. SO .... 3 or 4 days before the wedding, DH's mom calls and states "If your wife (me) goes to the wedding, we won't go and we are driving ALL of the rest of the family to AZ, and they won't be there." SO essentially I/we were uninvited to the wedding. I called the hotel and cancelled the 3 day weekend. Mostly because the hotel HAD to have actual credit card to pay for room. They HELD the room over the phone, but HAD to have actual cr card for payment. BUT also .... hey ... I've been uninvited to the wedding! So it was cancelled. For YEARS I was scorned and told what a horrible thing I did to the newlyweds and how COULD I cancel that room? ???? Really? You uninvite US from the wedding but want us to pay for their 3 day honeymoon hotel room? It takes all kinds.

[TyBaby]

Man, and I thought my brother was cheap when he never brings a Christmas present for the gift exchange.

Sorry. This is not a funny thread but this made me chuckle.

[SadieN]

Man, and I thought my brother was cheap when he never brings a Christmas present for the gift exchange.

 

 

 

Not necessarily cheap, probably just doesn't want the clutter. Our family stopped gift giving years ago. Lots less stress.

[sfaaa]

I would never cruise with dishonest people no matter the cost. Ditch them and be done with it.

[debster11]

Are there two other people that would pay that could go in their place? I'd have no problem telling them that since they can't pay they can't go.

 

 

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THIS^^^^^^^^^ Even if there aren't two other people, I would cancel them. You will have resentment the whole trip and that's not fair to you. A $300 loss in my opinion would be worth it to have a great cruise.

[tea4ular]

Quite honestly, there is no alternative except to cancel THEM (not you and grandma). Once you get to the port there's the need for a cash deposit or credit card for expenses. Trust me, you'll be on the hook for that too.

 

Lowlifes who are trying to get a free cruise out of you.

 

Cut your losses TODAY. Simply cancel them. Period.

[spleenstomper]

At least tell them you cancelled them and have them be no shows.

[Ziggy7]

If you let them go and they dont pay their on board charges, are you willing to walk off the ship leaving them to pay the price, my grandmother would never allow us to leave them stranded, better to cancel them while you can!

[Siora7777]

If they haven't paid for anything I'd just cancel them. No brainer. Can't be mad if you didn't pay anything.

[nursepixie]

Yep! I'd cancel too. Get your $300 and have a good time without that weight on your shoulders.

 

 

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[Badfinger]

How much will you get back if you let these sorry losers cruise with you?

At this point, it might be worth $300 to cruise without them.

 

There is an old joke...

 

I once loaned a friend $50. I never saw him again. Best money I ever spent!

[grandmarnnurse]

I am traveling with a large group of family members on our cruise in January. I gave them all the info and they all booked their own cabins. That is what you should have done, but lesson learned. I would cancel them ASAP! Even if you don't get their full fare back, you do NOT want these people staying in your cabin! What a way to ruin your vacation!

 

 

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[Drazil65]

Oh H-ll no!!! Cancel them and tell them if they still want to go here is the 1-800 number for CCL reservations....and have a great time with grandma!!!!!

[micheecruise]

Oh boy....sorry you are in this situation. Not sure what your relationship is like with those family members, but it seems to me the best option would be to remove them from the reservation. Like others have said, what happens when they don't have a credit card/cash for on board expenses? Take the $300, have a great cruise with your grandmother.

[Tatka]

Sorry about situation. There is a rule (not only about cruises) . You can only lend to people so much money, you can afford to lose.

[Bevv]

You would get a bit more back than $300.00 Port fees are close to $100 per person depending on the number of ports. If you pre-paid anything else (like gratituties) you would get that back also.

 

I am also on the "cancel their booking" side... if you cancel you get $300+ back. If you don't it will cost you more for onboard expenses since they will EXPECT you to fund the rest of the trip also.

[mikayla73]

In addition to drinks, shopping, or whatever else they may try to get you to pay for on the ship, assuming you let them go, there will be gratuities for two additional people that will also be added to the room. Unless of course you pre-paid them already.

[VolzCruiser]

OP I can only imagine what a tough spot you are in. I am going to play a bit of devil's advocate here, how much would this affect the family relationship? Would your Grandma be upset if you canceled their cruise? Would it cause a lot of heart ache at the next family gathering? These are questions you must ask. You have to honest in answering these because they could have a huge impact in the family dynamics from here on out.

 

If you decide to keep them on you do need to talk to them and lay down the law about what is expected payment back is required. The first thing I would do either at embarkation or once you are the ship is move them to their own sail and sign account. Make sure they know this before you leave for the port. Also if they do go, you will have to let the rest of this go while on the cruise so you can have a good time, if not it will just eat you up until a blow up happens and this is never good.

[Domino D]

So, we booked a cruise on the Victory for a quick getaway this month and paid extra for an Ocean Suite for my grandmother and I and our roommates, her sister and her husband. Well, we booked the cruise around 50 days before departure and were promised to be paid the next day. Well, it's been 4 weeks. If I cancel, I'd only get about $300 back for them. I'm just trying to weigh my options. I just don't want this to be an ill vacation where I have to stomach the fact that the lied and used us. It's not like they are going through hard times, they lied when they said they would pay me back. She just happened to tell us that she maxed out all her credit cards and has not had money for months!

 

Next time, we will require it up front. It's put my grandmother in an emotional situation. So yes, our fault, but it's just hurtful and deceitful. Money isn't a problem, it's the fact that they used us.

 

Lesson learned.

 

Sorry to read this. Am I understanding this correctly, it is your Grand Aunt and Grand Uncle (your Grandmother's Sister)? Your Grandmother is upset by the situation ("grandmother in an emotional state")? And, the money is not an issue?

 

If all that is correct, I have one question and one comment. Have you asked them for the money? I get that they should have paid you without asking, but since they have not, I would ask them if they still intend on going.

 

If it would make my mother happy (She is 84, so I am thinking of her instead of my grandmother), and I had the money, I would probably just pay for the cruise and hope for the best in terms of getting it back. I know, for me, peace in the family is what my mother would want the most.

 

But you are certainly justified in any decision you choose to make.

[LaShelle2]

Cancel them. Is it possible to move to a smaller, less expensive room since you will have less people?

[DisneyDatknee]

Wow. I'm shocked at the number of responses. So GM and I were discussing over the phone today and it came down to, if they don't pay by tomorrow, we will cancel them off the booking. GM told me that's when there SSI comes, but they should have said something by now on when they were going to pay. It's been weeks and we've asked multiple times.

 

I booked through Costco and I'm not sure if they charge a service fee or not as it says "vacation changes are $50 per person", so I'm not sure if that's cancelling a person off the trip.

 

I was going to call Costco today and ask how much we would get back, but GM told me to hold off tomorrow. The fares listed on my reservation is "$535, $335, $10, $10". $10??? But I looked down and it was "$185 in Taxes/Fees" per person. I know as of right now, the cruise fare is 75% penalty and we would get taxes back.

 

I checked to see the price of the room for two and it's a $391 difference.

 

I did try to see if two our past cruising buddies could come with us, but they are unfortunately busy that weekend and my brother cannot take off work either.

 

I did try to text her sister last night at 10 PM, but I have not got a response as of 9:30 PM the next day. GM does not have the courage to call her. I have no clue why.

 

Sigh. Thank you all for the responses. (Y) I hope there's some light tomorrow, but it's looking pretty cloudy.

[DisneyDatknee]

Sorry to read this. Am I understanding this correctly, it is your Grand Aunt and Grand Uncle (your Grandmother's Sister)? Your Grandmother is upset by the situation ("grandmother in an emotional state")? And, the money is not an issue?

 

If all that is correct, I have one question and one comment. Have you asked them for the money? I get that they should have paid you without asking, but since they have not, I would ask them if they still intend on going.

 

If it would make my mother happy (She is 84, so I am thinking of her instead of my grandmother), and I had the money, I would probably just pay for the cruise and hope for the best in terms of getting it back. I know, for me, peace in the family is what my mother would want the most.

 

But you are certainly justified in any decision you choose to make.

 

Totally agree with everything you said. That's what she wants, peace.

[April42749]

You can figure out how much the cruise would cost you to pay (don't give them access to your credit card...all on board expenses are up to them, including tips)....and say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Birthday" from you and Grandma. Then you come out the winner.

 

Believe me, I know dysfunctional families....I have the SIL from hell. You really don't want perpetual disharmony.

[DisneyDatknee]

You can figure out how much the cruise would cost you to pay (don't give them access to your credit card...all on board expenses are up to them, including tips)....and say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Birthday" from you and Grandma. Then you come out the winner.

 

Believe me, I know dysfunctional families....I have the SIL from hell. You really don't want perpetual disharmony.

 

Good Idea.

[DisneyDatknee]

I will take all of your advice into consideration.

 

I'll put the energy into a live trip report etc.

 

Thank you all.