Had medical emergency being charged $941 pp

[Floridado2020]

Hi

my dad had a medical emergency on the third day of his 7 day cruise and was admitted to the local key west hospital while the ship was on dock. When my mom went to gather their bags the rcl people did not want to let her disembark and told they would charge her $941 and my dad $941 for early disembark because of the jones customs laws . When she presented a hospital letter they said they would try to ask customs to do a medical waiver and let her disembark with her bags without signing the form that said she had to pay the fee. However now 2 weeks later they charged their credit card over $1800 for what they assume is this fee but we have been trying to call RCL and no one can help us or even give us a receipt that says this is what we are being charged for or a receipt of the payment RCL made to customs (if it happened ). We can’t even do an insurance claim because we have no evidence that this is what the charge is for even their folio shows the charge as “guest services “. It has been a horrendous experience for my parents needless to say and the way they were treated by RCL before during and after the episode has been awful . 
not sure how I could get a receipt of what rcl paid customs CBP  (which technically the fee is $761 and not $941 but cruise lines are known for taking advantage of situations like this ). Rcl customer service keeps saying they emailed the ship but no response yet

Thank you 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Floridado2020

[Ourusualbeach]

Have you tried calling post cruise guest relations at 800.256.6649

 

If you have tried thet route then I'd  send a nicely worded letter to the executive offices c/o mbayley@rccl.com

[barbeyg]

I’m sorry your parents are going thru this. and I hope your dad has a full recovery.

 

I don’t have any info that would be helpful for RCI.  It could take a bit for them to reach the ship and get the answers necessary to deal with this.  A couple of suggestions otherwise.  If your parents have travel insurance, it’s worth contacting the insurance agency to see if something like this is covered.  If they had a travel agent, possibly the agent would have better contact info for RCI. 
 

I see Ken has shared Michael Bayley’s email.  And a last resort would be posting on their wall at FB and X.  Sometimes that gets a response.

Edited September 18, 2023 by barbeyg

[dunedinmaiden]

If you cannot resolve this directly with Royal (which is the first step), you could dispute the charge with your credit card company.  I would think the hospital letter would help prove their case.  Good luck!

[Floridado2020]

10 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Have you tried calling post cruise guest relations at 800.256.6649

 

If you have tried thet route then I'd  send a nicely worded letter to the executive offices c/o mbayley@rccl.com

Yes my parents have called multiple times and  I even tried calling myself today with my dad . All they say is that they have no access to that information , that all they can do is email the ship again and await response  . Maybe we will wait a few weeks to see if we can get any response . We can’t even file an insurance claim because the charge is listed as a guest service charge 

thank you !

[smokeybandit]

PVSA, not Jones.

 

But PVSA fines are levied against the cruise line. So they're just passing it down to you. But that seems like a situation to easily get a waiver for since that's way beyond the spirit of the law.  And I doubt RCL had paid anything at that point.

 

I'd go the credit card route since.

Edited September 18, 2023 by smokeybandit

[reallyitsmema]

1 minute ago, Floridado2020 said:

Yes my parents have called multiple times and  I even tried calling myself today with my dad . All they say is that they have no access to that information , that all they can do is email the ship again and await response  . Maybe we will wait a few weeks to see if we can get any response . We can’t even file an insurance claim because the charge is listed as a guest service charge 

thank you !

 

I saw somewhere that there is a form they can file with CBP to dispute the charge and ask for a waiver.  I forget if it was in this forum or another social media site.  I would look on the CBP website and see if you can find something.

[MommaBear55]

Since Royal Caribbean cannot tell you what this is, challenge this through the credit card

[twangster]

Ultimately your complaint is with CBP.  Often they waive the fee for violating US Federal law in the case of medical emergencies but ultimately it is CBP who decides.

 

If they went the credit card dispute path I'd love to hear how that goes.   I'm guessing the cruise contract has enough verbiage to cover them since the fees are from CBP.  

 

I'm sorry your family is having to deal with a medical emergency and I wish you the best.  

[smokeybandit]

7 minutes ago, twangster said:

Ultimately your complaint is with CBP.  Often they waive the fee for violating US Federal law in the case of medical emergencies but ultimately it is CBP who decides.

 

If they went the credit card dispute path I'd love to hear how that goes.   I'm guessing the cruise contract has enough verbiage to cover them since the fees are from CBP.  

 

I'm sorry your family is having to deal with a medical emergency and I wish you the best.  

By law the affected individual can't challenge the fine.  Only the ship operator can do that. So unless RC can provide some documentation as to the reason for the charges, disputing with the credit card company may be the only option.

[twangster]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

By law the affected individual can't challenge the fine.  Only the ship operator can do that. So unless RC can provide some documentation as to the reason for the charges, disputing with the credit card company may be the only option.

 

A credit card dispute is not a silver bullet that one can engage when you are not pleased about a  charge you agreed to.  Royal may not have to justify anything.  They said there was a fee and they agreed to pay it.   Justified or not, they accepted the charge and used a credit card to satisfy their debt.  

 

That is why I'm interested in how this plays out.  

[smokeybandit]

Oh by the way, googling PVSA and medical gives some rather unexpected results.

[Floridado2020]

Thank you everyone I’ll keep you updated . If they could at least provide us with something that proves this is a customs fee that RCL paid (if they paid it right ?) we could submit to our travel insurance, but travel insurance said they would need a receipt that states the exact charge or a letter . Unfortunately with the folio only saying guest services they will not accept that ;( 

[not-enough-cruising]

11 hours ago, dunedinmaiden said:

If you cannot resolve this directly with Royal (which is the first step), you could dispute the charge with your credit card company.  I would think the hospital letter would help prove their case.  Good luck!

It’s a valid charge; disputing it would be fraudulent 

[smokeybandit]

7 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

It’s a valid charge; disputing it would be fraudulent 

Not if it happened weeks later with no explanation.

[Starry Eyes]

9 hours ago, twangster said:

 

A credit card dispute is not a silver bullet that one can engage when you are not pleased about a  charge you agreed to.  Royal may not have to justify anything.  They said there was a fee and they agreed to pay it.   Justified or not, they accepted the charge and used a credit card to satisfy their debt.  

 

That is why I'm interested in how this plays out.  

The OP said mom did not sign the letter agreeing to pay the charge.  From the OP it sounds like there was a verbal agreement that Royal Caribbean would seek a waiver.  

[not-enough-cruising]

3 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Not if it happened weeks later with no explanation.

I agree there should be some receipt or paperwork, but in the end the fee is valid.  
A dispute may facilitate getting documentation; I’ll agree on that count. 

[smokeybandit]

9 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I agree there should be some receipt or paperwork, but in the end the fee is valid.  
A dispute may facilitate getting documentation; I’ll agree on that count. 

I'd argue the fee isn't valid. PVSA violations are levied against the operator, not the person.

[Ocean Boy]

Medical emergencies occur at sea every week. There is no need for people to endure this type of stress on top of the medical issue. The cruise lines should have a system in place to provide those affected with all the paperwork that is needed. Our dysfunctional government could easily fix this problem too. Though I suppose there is no pressure on the cruise lines to address the issue since they simply pass on the cost.

[dunedinmaiden]

26 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Not if it happened weeks later with no explanation.

And no legitimate receipt.  Royal hasn't been able to provide one!

[Floridado2020]

Sadly the cruise lines probably don’t care because at the end they are making a profit off this . The actual customs fee is in the 700s and rcl is charging $941 so they’re making a profit of the tragedy to start with . And if they get the CBP charge waived they make a $941 profit.

Our large family who used to cruise a lot until now will no longer be cruising . We would rather fly and stay at a hotel and not have to worry about being charged this fee or treated like crap because you have to disembark and do what’s best for your health. 

[barbeyg]

I suggest sending an email to Michael Bayley directly.  I would be polite and include all the facts (parents names, date of sailing, cabin number, medical emergency, port, who was spoken to at RCI, etc).  It is always helpful to include everything so you don’t have to waste time going back and forth.  
 

Ourusualbeach (Ken) recommended this in his reply.  He is very knowledgeable and reaching out to Michael Bayley has rendered results for others with hard to resolve issues. 
 

I wish all of you the best.  It must be very stressful for them to be dealing with this on top of the medical emergency. 

[smokeybandit]

My uneducated guess is that a green purser (or whomever made the decision) went a bit too by the book instead of working with the process.

Otherwise we'd be hearing about this a lot. 

[Ocean Boy]

14 minutes ago, Floridado2020 said:

Sadly the cruise lines probably don’t care because at the end they are making a profit off this . The actual customs fee is in the 700s and rcl is charging $941 so they’re making a profit of the tragedy to start with . And if they get the CBP charge waived they make a $941 profit.

Our large family who used to cruise a lot until now will no longer be cruising . We would rather fly and stay at a hotel and not have to worry about being charged this fee or treated like crap because you have to disembark and do what’s best for your health. 

Well this is a very interesting post. If it is true, and I do mean IF as I don't know, then the cruise lines could in fact be getting all of these charges waived and pocketing a nice little sum of money. I wonder if this contributes to their evasiveness when responding to inquiries?🤔

[PhillyFan33579]

11 hours ago, MommaBear55 said:

Since Royal Caribbean cannot tell you what this is, challenge this through the credit card

The risk, which may or may not matter to the OP, is going this route can result in getting banned by RCI. Two summers ago my friend didn’t show up for a cruise because he thought he had COVID. However, when he took a COVID test it came back negative. Since he couldn’t provide a positive COVID test, RCI would not refund his fare or offer a FCC. He eventually disputed the charge with his credit card money. He got his money back from them, but shortly afterwards received a letter from RCI stating he was no longer allowed to cruise on RCI. According to a phone call he made to RCI, the ban only applied to RCI so he is still able to cruise on Celebrity, which is now his preferred cruise line.