Feeling a bit screwed over by RC, Irma safety/risk issue and no-refund, greed?

[Steelers0854]

As the OP I felt the need to check in on this post. I have just had internet restored, water is on but contaminated, no fuel but we regained electricity fully yesterday. I was surprised this thread is still active as when I bowed out to finish preparing for Irma I believe it was at 17 pages. Hunkered down we were east of the eye by about 5-7 miles, it was a nasty ride.

 

Here's how it worked out for me and RCCL. Post storm (Naples), had to drive looking for cell hot-spots. No fuel available anywhere. Once hot-spot found RC's website was not functioning properly, no updates available in regards to Irma just click and freeze, website down or overloaded. On the 12th I was able to contact RCCL to verify if the 13th sailing of the Allure would be a go and if the port would be open, fully functional and staffed. I was told it "should be a go" but to check for updates. When I pressed for a 100% guarantee that if I drove to Port Everglades on the 13th they could guarantee parking and departure I was placed on terminal hold and then disconnected. This happened three times before I gave up and went home. On the morning of the 13th I drove again to the hot-spot. RCCL's website was still down and phone-lines were overwhelmed and unanswered and if you got through to the automated call center terminal holds ended with disconnects without ever speaking to a person. I was finally able to contact an actual RCCL agent with the help of an outside travel agent in the early afternoon (we are 1.5 hour away from the port) via a three-way call. I was told the cruise was still scheduled but when I pressed if the Oasis and Allure had arrived and disembarked yet and if there was parking at the port the agent didn't know. I explained I wasn't sure if I had enough fuel to make it to the port (there is no fuel to be found as I type and when we spoke) but that "if" I could scavenge some could she guarantee that the ship would sail 100% and that if for some reason it couldn't would I be able to find fuel on the east coast to return home? She didn't know, could give no such guarantee and I understood her position so don't flame me on that. She did say that since I was in an affected area an FCC would be issued automatically but no refunds.

 

So it is what it is, the ship did sail on the 13th for a shortened itinerary. I have no idea how many people actually made it on the ship but we were unable due to the fuel issue and possibility of getting stranded on the east coast with an empty tank of gas trying to make it. I'm not exactly happy with how this was handled by RCCL but I am also aware they did what they could and this was an extreme situation for all involved or impacted.

 

 

 

Thanks for coming back and posting your thoughts. All the rest of us are on the outside looking in and you are living it.

 

I have to say I'm most thankful to hear that you and your family are ok, that is really all that matters.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

Oh come on, that's your reason? That's easy. Let's say I pay $1000 to go on a cruise. RCI wants my money 2 1/2 months before departure. They change from a 7 day to a 4 day cruise. I feel I should be entitled (I know I'm not based on the contract) to a refund. They give me MY money back. THAT'S where it comes from. Airlines will generally refund your money (even on non-refundable tickets) if they change your departure or arrival time by as little as an hour. Where does that money come from.

 

 

 

I'm just amazed that people think it's not a significant change to go from a 7 day to a 4 day cruise.

 

 

 

I asked this earlier and no one answered... you are booked to sail on 9/10. Being the good cruiser that you are, your flights are scheduled for 9/9 (I'm not referring to being able to drive to the port). However, a hurricane is on the way. Airports are shutting down on 9/9. The cruise line says "we're going to leave 9/13 instead of 9/10". You call around for hotels but they're all booked (with evacuees). What do you do? Change your air to fly in on a later day? Drive? Where do you stay?

 

 

 

FWIW (nothing) I concur.

 

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

How about a Bella intervention.

 

 

We're lucky, not much travel for us, so no issues booking during hurricane season. As it is, I had to stay back and take care of things here, so Laura is on Oasis solo.

 

Am I disappointed, yes, but Royal pretty much gave all of our fare back, and Laura gets to escape from Irma's cleanup.

 

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[island lady]

How about a Bella intervention.

 

 

We're lucky, not much travel for us, so no issues booking during hurricane season. As it is, I had to stay back and take care of things here, so Laura is on Oasis solo.

 

Am I disappointed, yes, but Royal pretty much gave all of our fare back, and Laura gets to escape from Irma's cleanup.

 

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Aww...sweet Bella!! I think you need a cookie...and Daddy could use a tropical

drink. Looks like great weather there!! :D

[Sam Ting]

And just to chime in on the subject:

 

I keep seeing comments on "Royal Caribbean didn't create the hurricane"... Yeah well neither did we. It's really easy to bash on those when you aren't in the situation we're in. Royal gave us 2 options which benefit them. And as a company, I can see why they did that. But a good company does whatever it takes to keep their customers happy. And in my opinion Royal did not do that. From my experience with this whole thing, it's been a mission for me personally and Royal has not been very accommodating either. I was supposed to be on 09/10 Allure of the Seas sailing and elected not to go. I rescheduled for Harmony on 09/30, had to pay more and tried to get the same amount of on board credit that I had for the 09/10 Allure sailing. And Royal just doesn't budge or help. I've had various conversations with representatives and supervisors and it was clear to me that they just don't care. The best option would've been to just cancel the cruise all together and give us a refund. But instead, people's money is tied down on their end. I ended up resolving my issue by just rescheduling and paying the difference. However, I'm unhappy about how it was handled and some of us had certain benefits on our modified cruises that won't even be transferred to rescheduled sailings.

 

And for those saying, "oh, but insurance....", I shouldn't need to have insurance for situations like this if RCI just did the right thing. And the right thing was to just cancel all of these sailings and refund everyone's money.

 

And I guarantee if all of you were on our end of this mess, most of you would feel slighted, screwed over, etc.

 

Just my .02 cents on this....

 

I agree100%. The cruise line chose to offer cruises during hurricane season. If they could not deliver then they should give a full refund.

 

Next time you go don't spend a penny on board. Lots of people do that and have a wonderful time.

[nealstuber]

And just to chime in on the subject:

 

I keep seeing comments on "Royal Caribbean didn't create the hurricane"... Yeah well neither did we. It's really easy to bash on those when you aren't in the situation we're in. Royal gave us 2 options which benefit them. And as a company, I can see why they did that. But a good company does whatever it takes to keep their customers happy. And in my opinion Royal did not do that. From my experience with this whole thing, it's been a mission for me personally and Royal has not been very accommodating either. I was supposed to be on 09/10 Allure of the Seas sailing and elected not to go. I rescheduled for Harmony on 09/30, had to pay more and tried to get the same amount of on board credit that I had for the 09/10 Allure sailing. And Royal just doesn't budge or help. I've had various conversations with representatives and supervisors and it was clear to me that they just don't care. The best option would've been to just cancel the cruise all together and give us a refund. But instead, people's money is tied down on their end. I ended up resolving my issue by just rescheduling and paying the difference. However, I'm unhappy about how it was handled and some of us had certain benefits on our modified cruises that won't even be transferred to rescheduled sailings.

 

And for those saying, "oh, but insurance....", I shouldn't need to have insurance for situations like this if RCI just did the right thing. And the right thing was to just cancel all of these sailings and refund everyone's money.

 

And I guarantee if all of you were on our end of this mess, most of you would feel slighted, screwed over, etc.

 

Just my .02 cents on this....

 

 

 

I certainly understand your frustration, but even if Royal had offered a straight refund instead of FCC, when you went to book again, you'd still be at square 1 with pricing and perks. Granted you'd have many more vacation options if you had your cash instead of FCC, but I'm understanding that folks have a year to use FCC so your have time to shop around for a deal that might even be better.

 

I realize that means many may be out of pocket to make the most of vacation time they already committed to, but realistically, trying to book anything else at the last minute would likely be more expensive and a refund would take time not only to process from the host, but also from the banking institution.

 

I also understand why you think those of us not booked on these particular cruises have no skin in the game. But that's really not true. Some (like us) have been in similar situations and anticipate that it will also happen again.

 

 

 

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[nealstuber]

I certainly understand your frustration, but even if Royal had offered a straight refund instead of FCC, when you went to book again, you'd still be at square 1 with pricing and perks. Granted you'd have many more vacation options if you had your cash instead of FCC, but I'm understanding that folks have a year to use FCC so your have time to shop around for a deal that might even be better.

 

I realize that means many may be out of pocket to make the most of vacation time they already committed to, but realistically, trying to book anything else at the last minute would likely be more expensive and a refund would take time not only to process from the host, but also from the banking institution.

 

I also understand why you think those of us not booked on these particular cruises have no skin in the game. But that's really not true. Some (like us) have been in similar situations and anticipate that it will also happen again.

 

I don't want to see cruises cancelled when they don't have to be, and I don't want cruiselines essentially bundling insurance in to their fares.

 

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[Big_G]

How about a Bella intervention.

 

 

We're lucky, not much travel for us, so no issues booking during hurricane season. As it is, I had to stay back and take care of things here, so Laura is on Oasis solo.

 

Am I disappointed, yes, but Royal pretty much gave all of our fare back, and Laura gets to escape from Irma's cleanup.

 

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What took you so long? [emoji38]

 

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[cruzer_3]

I certainly understand your frustration, but even if Royal had offered a straight refund instead of FCC, when you went to book again, you'd still be at square 1 with pricing and perks. Granted you'd have many more vacation options if you had your cash instead of FCC, but I'm understanding that folks have a year to use FCC so your have time to shop around for a deal that might even be better.

 

I realize that means many may be out of pocket to make the most of vacation time they already committed to, but realistically, trying to book anything else at the last minute would likely be more expensive and a refund would take time not only to process from the host, but also from the banking institution.

 

I also understand why you think those of us not booked on these particular cruises have no skin in the game. But that's really not true. Some (like us) have been in similar situations and anticipate that it will also happen again.

 

 

 

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In all honesty, a refund gives us more leeway to do what we want with our money. I agree about the fact that perks and prices would be different on their end. But, me personally, had I gotten the refund option, I was ready to just book another trip and do something else. And with what I had in mind doing, it would've been cheaper than the cruise anyway. Just saying, I don't like being tied down like that, and that's what they did. Either way, like I said, I'm already booked again. I had to pay more, but it is what it is. At this point, nothing I can do. But the least THEY can do is honor the on-board credit in which we had. They ended up honoring it for one of our family members. And its frustrating how things go over the phone, and it depends who you speak with. Because calling dozens of times until you get someone that actually does something for you is very tiresome. Every rep says something totally different each time.

[Don Pedro]

Well, I've finally gotten everything straighten out on my September 10th Allure sailing. Just for the record those that opted to do the shortened cruise did just fine. They got a 50% of their cruise cost back in a refundable credit and a 50% discount on a future cruise, so the four days constituted a free cruise. They made out pretty good. Passengers already on board were offered amazing rates if they stayed on for the four days. They made out pretty good. Both groups were made more than whole by Royal Caribbean. Only those who opted to cancel got shafted.

 

My results:

Hotels - Cancelled with no problem. Totally satisfied.

Airfare - American Airlines, without any problem, fully refunded every penny I had paid. Totally Satisfied.

Royal Caribbean - OMG what a mess! Everyone I talked with told me something different. My money is in their bank account, drawing interest for them, and the only way I can use it is to book a cruise with them.

 

I am not new to Royal Caribbean. I am a Pinnacle Club member with more than1050 cruise points. My past experience is that Royal Caribbean typically handles these situation in a fair and equitable manner. Not this time.

[MikeBTN]

Here's a letter from Captain Bob, a private tour operator in St Maarten. To those that have been skewering Royal Caribbean, what are your thoughts on his refund policy?

 

"To all my valued friends and clients,

 

I can not thank you enough for your concerns and emails about our safety during Hurricane Irma and St.Martin. As you have seen in the news, Irma made a direct hit in St.Martin on Sept 5-6. It totally devastated the island. We were lucky and only lost 3 of our 11 boats and everyone is safe.

I personally was able to get evacuated yesterday by fishing boat to St. Kitts where I was able to get on a flight to Chicago with my dog and drive a rental car to Long Island NY. I am lucky to get out with the shirt on my back and a few important belongings and papers.

 

My house withstood the storm with minimal damage but most others were destroyed. The night of the storm was particularly scary and the days and nights following the storm were also dangerous because of looting.

 

We are hoping to be back in business by the middle of December 2017 as long as the cruise ships start coming back but that all depends on how quickly the island rebuilds infrastructure.

 

If you have a reservation booked, I will be making refunds less 5% as per our cancellation policy weekly as the weeks pass until ship start coming back again so look for your refund at the end of the week of your reservation.

 

Have no fear, I am financially solvent and have the resources to refund everyone who is not able to make our tours.

 

Thanks again for your kind words and concerns.

 

Capt. Bob"

[nealstuber]

In all honesty, a refund gives us more leeway to do what we want with our money. I agree about the fact that perks and prices would be different on their end. But, me personally, had I gotten the refund option, I was ready to just book another trip and do something else. And with what I had in mind doing, it would've been cheaper than the cruise anyway. Just saying, I don't like being tied down like that, and that's what they did. Either way, like I said, I'm already booked again. I had to pay more, but it is what it is. At this point, nothing I can do. But the least THEY can do is honor the on-board credit in which we had. They ended up honoring it for one of our family members. And its frustrating how things go over the phone, and it depends who you speak with. Because calling dozens of times until you get someone that actually does something for you is very tiresome. Every rep says something totally different each time.

 

 

 

I don't think anyone would begrudge you the right to vent on the subject. In the end, you're going on a newer ship than you originally planned on and who knows how Allure will handle modified itineraries on two props.

 

In your spot, if we had found a cheaper option that interested us, we probably would have jumped on it and looked for the most cost effective way to use the FCC on our next vacation. True, we'd be tying up our limited funds by paying for two vacations at once, but we usually do two vacations a year and we'd be paying for our next vacation in a couple months.

 

Anyway, hope you enjoy your unexpected cruise on Harmony.

 

 

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[Cuizer2]

You are 100% correct. However, based on the contract, RCI (any cruise line) can decide on a whim (day of sailing) "hey, instead of being a 7 day cruise, we're going to come back in 4 days". Passengers who flew would then have to find hotel arrangements or pay to change their flights. Passengers would be rightfully upset, but still not due anything from the cruise line. Insurance wouldn't cover anything because the cruise actually happened.

 

That sounds "fair" to people? Yes, I know, we all signed the contract allowing the cruise line to do that. Many people would say "I'm never sailing line 'z' again!" and probably wouldn't. Would they be justified?

 

So why should a weather incident make it ok?

 

You can only hold the cruise line responsible for things that are in the cruise line's control.

[Cuizer2]

RCI did not create the storm

 

Which storm are you referring to? This one or the one on the Weather Channel? :confused:

[S.A.M.J.R.]

You can only hold the cruise line responsible for things that are in the cruise line's control.

I didn't realize Royal couldn't cancel their own cruise.

[rukkian]

I didn't realize Royal couldn't cancel their own cruise.

 

I didn't realize they forced you to not buy insurance, and decide the risk was acceptable to you that if the cruise was changed you would loose out on the money - oh wait, they never did that.

[cruisinfanatic]

here's a letter from captain bob, a private tour operator in st maarten. To those that have been skewering royal caribbean, what are your thoughts on his refund policy?

 

"to all my valued friends and clients,

 

i can not thank you enough for your concerns and emails about our safety during hurricane irma and st.martin. As you have seen in the news, irma made a direct hit in st.martin on sept 5-6. It totally devastated the island. We were lucky and only lost 3 of our 11 boats and everyone is safe.

I personally was able to get evacuated yesterday by fishing boat to st. Kitts where i was able to get on a flight to chicago with my dog and drive a rental car to long island ny. I am lucky to get out with the shirt on my back and a few important belongings and papers.

 

My house withstood the storm with minimal damage but most others were destroyed. The night of the storm was particularly scary and the days and nights following the storm were also dangerous because of looting.

 

We are hoping to be back in business by the middle of december 2017 as long as the cruise ships start coming back but that all depends on how quickly the island rebuilds infrastructure.

 

if you have a reservation booked, i will be making refunds less 5% as per our cancellation policy weekly as the weeks pass until ship start coming back again so look for your refund at the end of the week of your reservation.

 

have no fear, i am financially solvent and have the resources to refund everyone who is not able to make our tours.

 

Thanks again for your kind words and concerns.

 

Capt. Bob"

what?????

[Cuizer2]

I didn't realize Royal couldn't cancel their own cruise.

 

Don't read something into the statement that isn't there. For the most part, the decision to cancel a cruise is within Royal Caribbean's control. For the most part the weather is not within the cruise line's control.

 

So again, you can only hold the cruise line responsible for things that are within the cruise line's control.

[ColoradoGurl]

We'll just agree to disagree.

 

 

 

If you want to talk about the perfect solution, then the perfect solution would have been just keep the 4-day shortened cruise for those that still want to go and offer a full refund for those who elect not to go.

 

 

 

Again, since this is not happening to you personally, you simply wouldn't understand.

 

 

 

It's safe to say that most people in our situation would've preferred a refund. So it's very easy for you guys to just bash on us. And I can take it, whatever. Most people commenting in this thread weren't even effected by this. Like I said, I already resolved my issue by just paying more for another sailing. It is what it is at this point.

 

 

No, I totally get what you're saying. If you read earlier posts in this thread I actually suggested the same thing (give 4 day cruise to those who want it, give refunds to others).

 

I also agree that would have been a much better solution.

 

However, what I'm saying is that based on the facts, I have to agree with the people who are saying you are not owed any more than what you got, EVEN THOUGH I agree that from your end it totally sucks.

 

That being said, there were ways that would have protected you in this situation, and it's unfortunate you didn't have those things in place. I would have been in the same position you're in if I had booked these cruises because I also would have assumed that RC would cancel these cruises, and insurance would kick in. Case closed. Now we know that isn't how it always works, and I for one, will never buy another insurance policy without a "cancel for any reason" policy.

 

But, if I were in your shoes right now, I really think the best option for your own sanity is to accept the terms you agreed to, and understand that those terms were not super customer service friendly, but they are what they are, and take the best option you can from what is offered and accept the rest as a loss.

 

What else can you do? You can scream that RC should have done differently, and as a customer, I would not disagree with you, but I now understand after reviewing all the arguments regarding terms and contracts and insurance policies, that they didn't have to, and you are owed nothing more than you got, even if that sucks. I do feel for you. But you need to try and take something positive out of it because it's not gonna change.

 

 

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[ColoradoGurl]

Actually, I take that back. I think it could change, but only if enough people make a highly visible public outcry that affects Royal Caribbean's bottom line. Meaning, someone goes to the news, calls them out on this situation, and they suddenly see a whooooole bunch of cancellations and an extreme drop in bookings. But that's highly unlikely because most people will complain about RC's policies til they're blue the face and then turn around and talk about the 5 cruises they have booked. But, maybe you can be the one to try and get this story out, if you want to try and make the policy change.

 

 

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[Don Pedro]

You can only hold the cruise line responsible for things that are in the cruise line's control.

 

Not True! Cruise lines have been successfully sued for many things that were not in their control. Families have sued them when a relative jumped overboard, when passengers have gotten drunk and were injured and many other things.

 

Incidentally, Captain Bob has a lot more class than Royal Caribbean.

Edited September 15, 2017 by Don Pedro

[Johnamac123]

How about a Bella intervention.

 

 

We're lucky, not much travel for us, so no issues booking during hurricane season. As it is, I had to stay back and take care of things here, so Laura is on Oasis solo.

 

Am I disappointed, yes, but Royal pretty much gave all of our fare back, and Laura gets to escape from Irma's cleanup.

 

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Bella is undoubtedly the most spoiled Westie in FL, if not the entire world. She is awfully sweet, though....

[cruzer_3]

I didn't realize they forced you to not buy insurance, and decide the risk was acceptable to you that if the cruise was changed you would loose out on the money - oh wait, they never did that.

 

Lol, all these travel insurance agency pawns are out in full effect. Is that all you guys have? It's getting old.

 

Insurance or not, the options they should've provided are:

 

Option A: 4-Night Cruise, 50% Refundable OBC & 50% Future Cruise Credit

Option B: 100% Full Refund

 

I hope you never have to live through a Hurricane like this (I live in Florida), manage all the chaos that happened plus deal with the frustrations of not being able to get your money back on YOUR side. We that live in Florida are very aware of Hurricanes here. And RCI's customer service through this has been piss-poor. Liberty of the Seas guests had it worse with Hurricane Harvey. They took a better step with Irma, but it's still not at the level where it should be.

 

It's easy to talk crap about it on the other side of things when you weren't directly affected by Irma and/or these sailings that got cancelled/modified.

[ColoradoGurl]

what?????

 

 

The highlighted portion of the email that you quoted means that the tour operator will give refunds every week, to whoever is booked that week and won't be getting their tour.

 

The refunds will continue on a weekly basis because the tour operator doesn't know how long his tour will be out of service. So if your tour is this week, you are in the refund group this week. If your tour is next week, you get refunded next week and so on.

 

 

 

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[cruzer_3]

No, I totally get what you're saying. If you read earlier posts in this thread I actually suggested the same thing (give 4 day cruise to those who want it, give refunds to others).

 

I also agree that would have been a much better solution.

 

However, what I'm saying is that based on the facts, I have to agree with the people who are saying you are not owed any more than what you got, EVEN THOUGH I agree that from your end it totally sucks.

 

That being said, there were ways that would have protected you in this situation, and it's unfortunate you didn't have those things in place. I would have been in the same position you're in if I had booked these cruises because I also would have assumed that RC would cancel these cruises, and insurance would kick in. Case closed. Now we know that isn't how it always works, and I for one, will never buy another insurance policy without a "cancel for any reason" policy.

 

But, if I were in your shoes right now, I really think the best option for your own sanity is to accept the terms you agreed to, and understand that those terms were not super customer service friendly, but they are what they are, and take the best option you can from what is offered and accept the rest as a loss.

 

What else can you do? You can scream that RC should have done differently, and as a customer, I would not disagree with you, but I now understand after reviewing all the arguments regarding terms and contracts and insurance policies, that they didn't have to, and you are owed nothing more than you got, even if that sucks. I do feel for you. But you need to try and take something positive out of it because it's not gonna change.

 

 

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Thank you for understanding. I already reached a resolution, as I've said. But I'm still voicing my opinion of how I think the outcome should've been. As a business owner, I do everything in my power to make sure my customers feel comfortable. And I don't feel that RCI delivered in that aspect to cater to ALL.

 

Just my opinions. :)