Cruise was Cancelled AFTER we arived, no recourse?

[Lrbatch]

Book another cruise within six months. Cruise lines are not responsible for acts of God.

 

The decision to lease the boat to FEMA while paying customers are in town waiting to board the boat is not an act of God. It is the worst case of communication and planning and customer service I have ever heard of. If they had notified us this was to take place 24 hours earlier, we would not have flown to Florida, we would have rescheduled, and had no problems with it. It is the fact I was assured that the cruise would take place 24 hr before they made the announcement the the cruise was cancelled, less than 24 hrs before the scheduled departure.

[Lrbatch]

What are the written terms in the cruise conrtact? Do you have any written adverrtisement from which you decided to buy that cruise? Did you have any insurance? DID they offer you the oppotunity to buy insurance3 from them to cover your costs? Did you book directly with them or use a TA?

 

Yes, I have printouts of the advertisements, emails and "receipt" for the payment I made. None of these documents would lead me to believe I was dealing with anyone other that the owner of the ship. I have subsequently learned that they did not own the ship, but were acting as agents in selling spaces on the ship. I do not have anything I would call a contract, in otherwords, nothing that outlines limits and liabilities other that in exchange for the $$ I paid I get an "all inclusive 3 day, 2 night stay in a resort followed by a 2 day, 2 night cruise with a day spent on Grand Bahama Island"

[Lrbatch]

Unfortunately, these things are not cruises, they are sales pitches for timeshares. You can probably get back what you paid to them, but nothing you paid to anyone else.

 

I would be happy to get the $ I paid for the cruise. But all they offer is rebooking with no charge for the cancellation. ***? They cancelled on me, you betcha I won't be paying cancellation fees! But to be honest, I don't want to do any more business with them I just want what I paid returned.

[Lrbatch]

Why?

 

The cruise line offered OP full restitution in the form of another cruise. The OP did not pay for this cruise and it was canceled due to weather. OP wants compensation for "incidentals". This time the cruise line is not at fault. If OP want's to go after a company it should be the company that offered them the promotion, which seems to be something other than the cruise line.

 

Not quite true. I did PAY for the cruise, but at a substantial discount. But I am still out money for the "vacation" which included a sales pitch and a cruise. I got the sales pitch, but no cruise. In addition to the $ paid for the cruise, I spent substantial $ flying us to and from Florida, an expense that could have been avoided if they had been just a wee bit honest to start with.

 

If the cruise had been cancelled at the last minute because of happening right then weather, I would understand. But the real reason for the cancellation was something that had to have taken days or weeks to arrange. No excuse for not informing us of the change in plans, particularly when I spoke with CS less than 24 hours prior to the official cancellation announcement.

[mjkacmom]

Not quite true. I did PAY for the cruise, but at a substantial discount. But I am still out money for the "vacation" which included a sales pitch and a cruise. I got the sales pitch, but no cruise. In addition to the $ paid for the cruise, I spent substantial $ flying us to and from Florida, an expense that could have been avoided if they had been just a wee bit honest to start with.

 

If the cruise had been cancelled at the last minute because of happening right then weather, I would understand. But the real reason for the cancellation was something that had to have taken days or weeks to arrange. No excuse for not informing us of the change in plans, particularly when I spoke with CS less than 24 hours prior to the official cancellation announcement.

Cruise lines wait until the last minute to make weather related decisions, I think the earliest any cruise was canceled was with 24 hour notice. There are folks who paid full price, thousands of dollars, who got to the port, and had no cruise. These timeshare deals are as close to a scam as they can be without actually being illegal.

[LMaxwell]

Chargeback your CC against the company you booked through; you did not book direct w the cruise line.

[Hlitner]

Sounds like the OP got scammed, which is apparently nothing new when it comes to the Grand Celebration...which generally runs budget 2 day cruises. For what its worth, a 2 day cruise on a ship that old and of that quality should probably cost no more then $150 per person (total). But we suspect that the OP and many others that get sucked into a Time Share Scam actually end up paying more in taxes and fees then the value of that type of cruise. None of the reputable cruise agencies, with whom we deal, will even deal with that line.

 

This is just another of those Time Share cons where they promise nice "gifts" that usually turn out to be cons....or not so nice. And dealing with a one ship cruise line (with no Better Business Bureau rating) with no track record is really taking a gamble. If the OP simply Googles "Grand Celebration Scam" they will get quite a few "hits." My suggestion to the OP is to look at this as a tough lesson, and next time, book a nice cruise on a legitimate cruise line using a reputable cruise or travel agency.

 

Hank

[perditax]

Just as a data point, that ship really did get chartered by FEMA.

[GUT2407]

It all comes down to what your contract says, most of them cover the company's A.... pretty thoroughly.

[goldenrod]

You could spend time and money taking them to small claims court and if you win you can take the judgement and paper your toilet seat with it! You have an offer to take the cruise and that's all your going to get! Life is sometimes not fair! Hope you enjoyed the presentation.

 

 

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[Cruisercl]

Not quite true. I did PAY for the cruise, but at a substantial discount. But I am still out money for the "vacation" which included a sales pitch and a cruise. I got the sales pitch, but no cruise. In addition to the $ paid for the cruise, I spent substantial $ flying us to and from Florida, an expense that could have been avoided if they had been just a wee bit honest to start with.

 

If the cruise had been cancelled at the last minute because of happening right then weather, I would understand. But the real reason for the cancellation was something that had to have taken days or weeks to arrange. No excuse for not informing us of the change in plans, particularly when I spoke with CS less than 24 hours prior to the official cancellation announcement.

 

Make copies of all paperwork you were given; even make notes with dates on what you were told in any telephone calls. texts, etc., that you had with this company. The contract or paperwork may be misleading on contradictory.

 

Submit all of this with your complaint to the State attorney general and the credit card company.

This is fraud.

 

I am a bit surprised at the lack of compassion from some here; the 'to bad for you' and 'you should have known better' messages are not helpful and are really quite rude. They kick you while you are down; not nice at all.

 

Good luck!!

Edited September 22, 2017 by Cruisercl
typo

[zqvol]

delete

[bUU]

I am a bit surprised at the lack of compassion from some here; the 'to bad for you' and 'you should have known better' messages are not helpful and are really quite rude. They kick you while you are down; not nice at all.

Apparently you believe that we have reached the recriminations potion of the thread. Given how many have already given the advice you've given, I supposed that's all that is left to discuss.

 

I can only guess but I assume that some of the recriminations stem from the original post's insinuation that the cruise line has anything to do with this situation. As you and many others point it out, the party at fault is the company that made the offer, the company selling the timeshare. Perhaps some people thought that the original poster should have asked who was playing before assuming it was the cruise line. I don't know.

 

Another aspect of this is a general negative regard for exploits. It's a bit like the discussions about travel insurance. Those who follow the cruise Line's advice and insure themselves against losses are negatively inclined towards those who do not do so and then complain about the fact that the cruise line is not making them whole after an insurable circumstance occurs. People reasonably wonder about when others presume that they should be fully protected and cared for despite their decision to take risks others don't take.

 

We saw the same sort of thing recently with regard to discounted Carnival gift cards. People who obtained them from resellers (a riskier choice) instead of from first sale sources were victims of fraud, and some proceeded to insist that the cruise line should take on the burden of the costs of the fraud rather than acknowledging that they, who decided to use the riskier approach, need to take responsibility for their own decision. We try so hard to instill in our children a sense of accountability for their own actions that it is jarring to be confronted by other adults who are not doing so.

 

I suppose there could be other explanations as well.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[Cruisercl]

Apparently you believe that we have reached the recriminations potion of the thread. Given how many have already given the advice you've given, I supposed that's all that is left to discuss.

 

I can only guess but I assume that some of the recriminations stem from the original post's insinuation that the cruise line has anything to do with this situation. As you and many others point it out, the party at fault is the company that made the offer, the company selling the timeshare. Perhaps some people thought that the original poster should have asked who was playing before assuming it was the cruise line. I don't know.

 

Another aspect of this is a general negative regard for exploits. It's a bit like the discussions about travel insurance. Those who follow the cruise Line's advice and insure themselves against losses are negatively inclined towards those who do not do so and then complain about the fact that the cruise line is not making them whole after an insurable circumstance occurs. People reasonably wonder about when others presume that they should be fully protected and cared for despite their decision to take risks others don't take.

 

We saw the same sort of thing recently with regard to discounted Carnival gift cards. People who obtained them from resellers (a riskier choice) instead of from first sale sources were victims of fraud, and some proceeded to insist that the cruise line should take on the burden of the costs of the fraud rather than acknowledging that they, who decided to use the riskier approach, need to take responsibility for their own decision. We try so hard to instill in our children a sense of accountability for their own actions that it is jarring to be confronted by other adults who are not doing so.

 

I suppose there could be other explanations as well.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

 

You really need to read the whole thread before you make disparaging comments to others. Most of the posts are not contributing on a positive note.

 

Also, your examples and verbiage are not even close to the situation the OP is going through.

I do, however, respect that you can write here what ever you wish, relevant or not. :)

[goldenrod]

"This is Fraud" that statement is bull! I'm sure the time share sales company conspired with FEMA to rip these people off, they probably formed the hurricane. These people have been offered the option to take another cruise I would say what happened to them falls under the "s--t h-----s" category, saying it was fraud is nonsense !

 

 

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[sail7seas]

You could spend time and money taking them to small claims court and if you win you can take the judgement and paper your toilet seat with it! You have an offer to take the cruise and that's all your going to get! Life is sometimes not fair! Hope you enjoyed the presentation.

 

 

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Most cruise conrracts spe ifcfy in what jurisdi tion suit must be brought. Which, of c course, could require travel on the part of the Plaintiff.. ( $ $ $ )

[pamrose228]

I have booked directly thru the Grand Celebration and the cruise had non issues both times. The time share program is awful and stressful. Not my idea a pee vacation destressing

 

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