Nightmare with Royal Caribbean

I had a very bad experience with Royal Caribbean and missed my Cruise. I had booked a Western Caribbean cruise on the Rhapsody that departed Galveston on the Dec. 26th. I booked directly with Royal Caribbean and had them take care of the air. I could have booked the air cheaper myself but I always thought that when the cruise line took care of air it was their responsibility to get you to the ship. I also bought trip insurance from Royal Caribbean.

We arrived at Buffalo airport to find our flight on Delta was really a Comair flight to Atlanta and it had been canceled. They had notified Royal Caribbean the day before. Royal Caribbean did not bother to notify us of the cancellation. If they had, we could have tried to make alternate arrangements, even if we had to drive though the night to make the Atlanta connection. We tried to make alternate arrangements to fly out of Buffalo to get to any hub, but everything was booked up because of the Comair shut down.

We called Royal Caribbean and advised them of our situation. We asked if they could try to get us a flight out of a major airport that we could drive to and still get us to Galveston. Sandra from operations told me that it wasn’t Royal Caribbean’s responsibility to check other airports. I was shocked with the apathetic, if not mean attitude she had. She had time to argue with me, at length, but later told her supervisor that she was too busy to check on other flights. I was also advised that we could not pick up the cruise at the first port of Key West.

When we got back home we tried to salvage our vacation by booking another cruse on the Royal Caribbean web site for the following day. We just had enough time to drive to Miami so we called customer service to advise them of our alternate plans. Customer service advised us that they could not authorize the transfer of our monies paid to the new ship and they would have the executive office call with a decision. When the executive office finally called it was five hours later, too late to drive to Miami.

I was then advised that there would be no refund of the cruise and they took no responsibility for all the errors they made with our flight. They said as a customer courtesy they would give us a credit for another cruise but it was only good for a year and couldn’t be used on Celebrity their sister company. Our schedule does not permit us to go on another cruise this year. After arguing at length with Jason Maltais of the executive office he said if I don’t take their offer by the following Monday Jan 3rd he would withdraw the offer. They also said the trip insurance did not apply because we never started the trip.

We have taken six cruises on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. I am shocked and appalled at the attitude of customer service and the hostile strong arm tactics of the executive office. If you were like me and thought if you booked air fare through Royal Caribbean and got their insurance, you were protected, think again. If you think customer service would be helpful if thing went wrong, you’re in for a surprise.

Rich Milazzo

hohl@adelphia.net

WOW!!!:mad::mad: :mad: I would be furious!!! I would have expected better.

So sorry about your vacation.:(

:eek: I am so sorry to read this! Call the Better Business Bureau. And yes, the insurance does take effect...your flight was cancelled and it was beyond your control.

WOW!!

You might let them know that you are informing us here about their treatment. I sure wouldn't trust their flights and connections again, even if I chose to cruise with them, which I probably wouldn't after this post!!

You fight it!! Let us know how it turns out. If necessary contact the press, if nothing else as a scare tactic to get your money back.

oh my gosh that is horrible. I would have thought you would have been covered since you booked with your air with RCL as well as took out insurance. Shouldn't you be covered under your insurance?

Send everything you just said as well as supporting documentation to them and also let them know if you don't hear back from them with an appropriate offer of compensation within 30 days you will be forwarding the entire packet of information to Conde Nast Traveler's Ombudsmen (a very public forum for travel complaints. example: http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/Editorial/Article/data/cntraveler/2004/12dec/ombudsman.xml/ )

Also, let them know what compensation you would feel is appropriate to give them a starting point.

Good luck!

~fly

That is simple horrendous!! I don't quite understand! That is exactly what I believed when booking airfare with your cruise through Royal Caribbean! I have been second guessing my own decision lately for not doing that exact thing. I'm thinking if we miss our flight for any reason, I will be kicking my butt that I didn't book my air through RCCL. I have been told more than once by my TA that even though it may be a bit more expensive with RCCL, it gives you peace of mind. Well, apparently NOT! How can they get away with that! What exactly did they think you could do if you weren't even advised that the flight had been cancelled??? Something is just not right here, I think you need to pursue this. The credit that they are offering you, is it for the full amount that you have lost? I really think that your money should be refunded. It's not always easy for people to take time off whenever they choose. These vacations very often have to be planned a year or two in advance. I don't understand why they don't see that! Unless I am missing something here, I find them totally at fault! Unacceptable!!!:(

Rich, I empathize with you completely. And I do mean *empathize*, not *sympathize.* We, too, missed our cruise on the 26th, because of the airline mess. We had booked ourselves on USAir, who cancelled our flight, and we were unable to get another flight that would get us to Fort Lauderdale on time. We, too, tried the Key West approach, only to be told by Royal Caribbean that we couldn't do that, because of the Jones Act.

The RC person asked if we had booked our air through them, and I said that we hadn't, but I asked her if that really could have made any difference; after all, there simply weren't any seats on any flights available; they couldn't have manufactured three available seats any more than I could. She agreed with that, and said, no, they still couldn't have gotten us to our cruise. (I made it clear to her that I wasn't blaming them for the airline mess and that I felt fully covered by our travel insurance.)

I was also not satisfied with the treatment that I received on the phone from RCI representatives - like you, I found them unresponsive and borderline rude. I don't know about you, but I spent two and a half hours on hold with them.

You MUST pursue this matter with Royal Caribbean. If you bought their travel insurance, and they booked your flight, and you couldn't make the cruise, they HAVE to refund your money. That's what the insurance is for. Get out the policy and read it. Don't back down on this one. Even if the "fine print" is fuzzy, go after them. Don't let them get away with this.

We had travel insurance from CSA, and though the claim process is just beginning, I have no reason to believe from my contact with this company that it won't be a very simple matter of sending in the requested paper work and getting my refund.

Best of luck to you. And keep us updated.

Carol

I feel for you on this one. I cannot believe that RCI has this attitude towards their valued customers. I would pursue this and not give up. Good luck and let us know what happens.

That's so horrable you guys!!! Now I know why I don't ever do these things over the holidays.:(

PLEASE, PLEASE persue this!! It sets precidence for all of the rest of us.

Good luck.

Oh my goodness! 99.9% of the time I book my own air, but I have always been under the assumption that I am taking a chance that things might not work out if I don't purchase the air add on from the cruise line. Since I purchase insurance, I guess I'll never even consider doing it with the cruise line in the future, since it's generally more expensive to do with them and I have less control over carriers and schedules. I agree with the Conde Nast suggestion - sounds like something right up their alley.

You could have boarded in Key West. The Jones Act does not come into play.

Friends of mine, missed their Celebrity embarkation in San Juan. Next stop was St. Thomas (both are US jurisdiction btw). AA could not get them to San Juan.. but was able to get them to St. Thomas the next day. The family of four boarded in St. Thomas NO PROBLEM! I've often seen delayed passengers boarding Celebrity ships in Key West!

Your insurance is issued and underwritten by an outside company. No customer service agent or supervisor at the cruiseline represents the insurance company and cannot speak for the insurance company. Please file a claim with the insurance company.

Whether you book your air through the cruiseline or independently, it is the AIRLINE'S responsibility to get you to the ship. The cruiselines offer air booking arrangements merely as a convenience to their cruise passengers.

Good luck.

Hopefully you made your payments on a credit card. Notify your credit card company that you are disputing the charge and let them help negotiate on your behalf. :)

My gosh I am so sorry for this situation. I certainly would not let this drop. It certainly puts my mind at ease about booking my own air since taking their higher airfare really amounts to nothing. I had a situation back in 99 with another cruise line and was treated pretty much the same way as you so I went online to the parent company's webpage, got the name of all officers and the board of directors and faxed or mailed a copy of my letter to the customer service manager (who had previously refused to help me)and advised her that I was doing such. I received a satisfactory refund for the problem we had, after all I was not asking for a free cruise or anything but I felt some compensation was warranted. Stick with it they will do the right thing as they don't want the hassle of explaining to the board what is going on. Good Luck.

Sadly, this does not surprise me. RC was very apathetic to resolve an issue I had with them 2 weeks ago. I ended up being transfered from one agent to another, given one excuse after another & was finally given a similar ultimatum. I think that these ultimatums are their way of pressuring you to take their offer... or else you'll get nothing from them. It's definitely a form of pressure in order to get you to settle asap.

I do not believe that RC is a member of the Better Business Bureau. If they were, yikes. They'd be in mediation through the BBB constantly. Remember, if you take an offer you may disqualify yourself from future remedy against your initial dispute/claim. I took an offer once (from a car dealership)... and ended up losing my right to seek remedy later. Essentailly the BBB told me that when I took their offer I forfeited my rights to the initial dispute. If I hadn't done this... then the car dealership would have been liable to follow through on the original agreement. Whatever you choose, continue to get good counsel before you decide which way to go!!

Sorry you missed your trip. It seems, however, that what you really have here is just an insurance claim. Delta and Comair, and US Air are the ones who screwed up. Yeah, maybe the RCI rep was rude, we hear that a lot, but it isn't there fault your flight got cancelled. There is no quarantee with the air arangements when booked with RCI, look through your contract. If they help with alternate flights, it is simply a courtesy. That week, you were beat any way you went, it was a big mess. Take the insurance claim, and book another trip when you can, and try to get over it, thousands of people were abandoned that week, you are not alone.

That is DISGUSTING! I really feel for you, and I'm truly sorry that your vacation was ruined. I am appalled at the treatment you received by RCI, customer service is obviously not a strong point, and someone obviously peed in someone's Cheerio's that morning and you bore the brunt of it :(

I sincerely hope you are able to re-book a cruise and enjoy the vacation I'm sure you were looking so forward to.

Sorry you had that problem. The person you talk to should not have been rude. But did you check your flights with the airline 24 hours ahead of time or that day. If you had maybe you could have changed your flights. You also said that Comair notified the cruiseline the day before. That was christmas day, a holiday who did they talk to a machine. A lesson to be learned is in to check with the airline before you leave because you just do not know what is going to happen in the airline industry. ALWAYS COMFIRM YOU FLIGHT 24 hours ahead of time and the day of.

rcicruiser:

Excellent advice. This is advice that works in a normal situation. Airlines are fully "open" and operational on every day, including Christmas Day. Why would you question the availability of information and personnel on December 25th? Many industries are not only open, they are in full swing, PARTICULARLY in the travel industry and PARTICULARLY Christmas.

I, in fact, had just printed out my e-tickets from my computer about 16 hours before flight time. All was well and confirmed.

Eleven hours before flight time, an automated system from USAir called and informed me that our flight was cancelled.

What advice would you give to me, to warn me away from future mishaps?

Carol

What an awful situation. I would have been irate! Maybe I missed it, but could someone explain to me why they couldn't have boarded in Key West. I thought that is what happened if someone's flight was delayed. I read a bit about the Jones Act but as ocngypz said, shouldn't you have been able to board in Key West?? I feel so sorry for you and your family.

Paskyhawk - are you having to fight this battle by yourself? Did you book through a TA who could act on your behalf?

Wow! I truly feel for your situation. This Christmas was bad for most of the airlines. Delta, Comair, and US Airways made the news, but others had their issues as well. My bags were delayed because 15 baggage handlers for Northwest walked off the job Christmas Eve. Although the airlines are "open" as Merion Mom suggests, they rely on automated customer service. It is next to impossible to speak to a live person for anything as you continually get routed to the automated phone line or are told on the phone to check the internet site.

The most upsetting part of your situation is that the RCI customer service personnel were rude. They are supposed to be friendly, supportive, and as helpful as possible to meet customer's needs (at least that is my expectation of good customer service). I must admit that I have not had the "pleasure" of dealing with RCI by phone. We had a minor issue that needed attention on our last cruise and the Purser's desk was a mixed bag in the pleasant category.

Good luck getting satisfaction from a holiday letdown and make sure you get your insurance coverage. Keep us informed and remember, that upsetting as your situation was, there were people in this world that faced much worse during this season than we did.

Jen

Your insurance is issued and underwritten by an outside company. No customer service agent or supervisor at the cruiseline represents the insurance company and cannot speak for the insurance company. Please file a claim with the insurance company.

Is that how insurance purchased through the cruise line works? You have to file your claim directly with the insurance company since they are not affiliated with RCI? If so, is the credit RCI is offering for a future cruise IN ADDITION to whatever refund can be obtained by filing directly with the insurance company that underwrote the policy? If so, then the offer seems fair, though handled in far from customer-friendly manner.

My recommendation to the original poster is to clarify with RCI exactly how the insurance works, and who to contact to get an insurance-covered refund if they do not handle it themselves. This should also be in whatever insurance paperwork you received after booking the cruise. Then make that contact asap to get the claim process started.

Would someone please explain the Jones Act to me? I have always heard that if you miss a port you could fly to the next and pick up the ship.

MerionMom and Paskyhawk: I am so sorry to hear that you both missed your cruises. How terrible! It would absolutely kill me to miss a cruise that I paid for, planned for, dreamed of. The only thing I can think of to tell you is that I would have jumped in the car asap and started the drive to Florida. I know from where we live in Upstate NY the drive is over 25 hours straight through, but I would have had to try. I'm sailing in 2 weeks and I'm very nervous that we will have a flight cancellation due to one reason or the other. We were originally flying down the day of the sailing, but changed to the day before just in case of flight problems. There are 4 adults in my sailing party, so if we have to drive at the last minute, we can share the load and head straight through.

I hope that you both continue to fight for your refunds and keep us posted. Best of luck to you with this horrible situation.

This really is a horrible story. I think far worse than the RCCL rep was rude to you was the fact that a vacation that I am sure you planned and looked forward to for months did not happen... To me that has to be the worst of this entire situation.

Your post however, does bring up a very good point. Is in fact there anything in writting that say the cruise line is responsible for your airflight, when booked thru them? I too have beleived that by booking airfare thru the cruiseline you are safe, but now....I have not ever seen this assurance anwhere in writting, and wonder if is a false sense of security.

I also ask, what is it that you want RCCL to do for you now. They have offered a credit. If they offered you a refund would you then be happy? I am just trying to understand, what you would feel is approporate for RCCL to do at this point.