Question about not sailing RCCL anymore due to the Hurricane...

[shayelle]

and the way they handled it.

 

Just curious, did the other cruise lines cancel and give full refunds? I see posts of never sailing RCCL again and changing to Carnival. I don't frequent the Carnival board, so I don't know. They obviously gave everyone a full refund? I mean they must have if people are going to leave RCCL for NOT doing that. I mean that would be silly to choose another cruise line if they did exactly what RCCL did, right?

[Lionesss]

Nothing will ever lighten the stress and hardship placed upon those cruisers of the Allure due to a delayed sailing.

 

RCI attempted to assist and re-imburse for lodging and meals, but only those who cruised during this 5 day sailing can testify if it was worth their while.

Those who carried travel insurance, will probably break out about even.

Safety first.

I hope those affected are able to book another cruise and have the sailing of a lifetime.

It does kinda enlighten the rest of us as to what can happen as we sail when the weather is unpredictable.

Safe travelsl

Sue and crew

[janetz]

and the way they handled it.

 

Just curious, did the other cruise lines cancel and give full refunds? I see posts of never sailing RCCL again and changing to Carnival. I don't frequent the Carnival board, so I don't know. They obviously gave everyone a full refund? I mean they must have if people are going to leave RCCL for NOT doing that. I mean that would be silly to choose another cruise line if they did exactly what RCCL did, right?

 

 

I believe they did not give full refunds. I remember reading about the issues Carnival had. Such as the Carnival Legend which was to sail from Tampa and one other ship sailed from Port Caneveral instead. Carnival did bus the cruises from Tampa to PC to board the Legend. I think they did get some obc credit. The person complaining on the RC board was on a 3 day cruise. :)

Do read some of the threads about the shorter 5 day cruise on the Allure and you will see how generous RC was. The cruiselines do not have to offer any compensation due to weather.

[jennmaybe]

You have to keep in mind that this is a big risk you take while cruising during hurricane season. Just sayin.....not being disrespectful at all.:)

[SPacificbound]

Instead of starting a thread that may go on and on for no good reason why not just check out the other cruise line's threads that pertain to Caribbean cruises during that time period?

 

No person, corporation, airline, cruise line etc. etc. etc. can control the weather. :D

[shayelle]

that was kind of my point. People are complaining about RCCL and going to "jump ship" to another cruiseline, but far as I can tell, no cruiseline canceled and gave full refunds. They all did the same thing in this case; Made the best of a bad situation.

 

I just think it's silly for people to say they are going to leave one company, but go to one that has the same policies on the issue for which they are leaving.

 

I wasn't on any of the cruises but it seems to me that RCCL did what they could.

[foxgoodrich]

We were on that cruise on Allure - we were supposed to leave on 8/26 but were delayed until 8/28. Actually, RCI was very generous and covered most expenses for us. The biggest problem for passengers was that it was a weekend and they did not have sufficient staff on duty to make/take the phone calls to/from the 5000+ passengers on the cruise. So most of us spent loooooong periods of time on hold, and/or had to call repeatedly. Some were told to wait for a call back, but the call never came. Some just got information from other cruisers. The communication between RCI and the pax really broke down. (But now they know - they need a contingency plan for communicating with large numbers in unusual situations.)

 

BUT, despite the difficulty with communications, which was a bit frustrating even though we understood the immensity of their communication issues, here is the bottom line for us. We, personally, were given the following:

 

• 
  2 nights at the Embassy Suites - RCI paid for this on a direct bill, we didn't pay. (They would also reimburse up to $125/night for 2 nights if the hotel was not one with a direct billing set up.)

• 
  Up to $100 apiece for meals and incidentals for 2 days. We have instructions on filing a claim for these expenses.

• $650 onboard credit for balconies, outsides, insides. $1000 OBC for junior suites. More for big suites. This was applied to accounts on the second night. (We had a D5. 2/7 of our total actually paid for this cruise would have been right at $700 after our diamond discount, and RCI gave us $650 OBC. Since RCI had already provided room & board, so to speak, for the missed 2 days, this seemed to be a rather generous double dip. We ended up with more OBC than we could use, with this combined with other OBC, so we had a negative balance that will be applied as a credit to our credit card. You could also opt for cash on the last night/morning if you wished.)
  

• OBC for port charges/tax for the missed ports. (Also refundable in CC credit or cash.)

• OBC for 2 days of prepaid gratuities. (Also refundable in CC credit or cash.)

• OBC for any paid RC excursions in the two missed ports. (Also refundable in CC credit or cash.) We had booked a cabana in Labadee, so we got back the full $175 as OBC.

• A credit to apply to a future cruise of 10% of what we paid for this one. For us, this will be about $250.

• Refunds were NOT offered. All those who inquired were consistently told 'NO' on a refund.

 

We had already arranged for $300 of OBC on our own ($100 OBC from booking this one onboard the last one, $150 from RCI points from the Visa, and some OBC from our TA), so when all this additional OBC stuff got posted to our account, we had a negative balance of over $1200. And now we're on a 5 night cruise! OMG!:eek:

 

So...I went shopping in the Britto Gallery and I'm now sporting 2 pieces of new, very cool, Britto luggage!:D And we bought some nice gifts onboard. And we did a specialty restaurant. And we had a few drinks. (and by the way...if anyone is interested...of all the bars I tried, the Rising Tide Bar makes the best Mojito...but unfortunately with only 5 days, I couldn't possibly make this research totally accurate by hitting ALL the bars on Allure.:p)

 

So...bottom line is, although we were terribly disappointed to miss 2 whole days on this fantastic ship, and we were also disappointed to miss 2 of our ports, we had a wonderful 5 days. We will get close to $600 credited back to our credit card, even though we shopped, drank, and ate. The decision to shorten the cruise was not one that RCI made - they had no choice when the port closed. We honestly think RCI did their best to make it right, and we think they were generous. There are others who disagree - I did hear a few very grumpy people complaining - but, in the end, if you actually read the cruise contract and see what they are legally obligated to do for weather issues (that would be NOTHING), I think we came out very well.

 

So let's see...we hung out 2 days in Fort Lauderdale on RCI's tab, we left the ship with a sizable negative balance on our account, we had a wonderful time, and Mama is sporting new luggage....:) No complaint here...I'm kinda thinking we may have come out ahead.

Judy

[Eng23]

I have read on the boards that Royal Caribbean was the most generous in what they provided to those impacted by the hurricane. Carnival didn't even come close to what Royal provided to their customers.

[kccrzr]

I'm amazed how generous RCI was in this situation - almost wish I had been on that shortened cruise.

[Desertbelle]

.....

So...I went shopping in the Britto Gallery and I'm now sporting 2 pieces of new, very cool, Britto luggage!:D ...Judy

I am so jealous, I love that Britto luggage!! One way to turn lemons into lemonade!

[fisherguy]

I was on that cruise as well and was quite satisfied with what RCCL gave us. When we first found out about the delay in our sailing I was expecting some sort of OBC but I did not expect it to be that much. Nor did I expect them to pay for our hotel rooms and meals for two days. Think of this, do airlines give out free hotel rooms and food when their flights get delayed due to weather? Of course not. RCCL stepped up to the plate on this one.

[ssb]

Great thread and everyone agrees !!!!:D

[Merion_Mom]

Nothing will ever lighten the stress and hardship placed upon those cruisers of the Allure due to a delayed sailing.

 

RCI attempted to assist and re-imburse for lodging and meals, but only those who cruised during this 5 day sailing can testify if it was worth their while.

Those who carried travel insurance, will probably break out about even.

Safety first.

I hope those affected are able to book another cruise and have the sailing of a lifetime.

It does kinda enlighten the rest of us as to what can happen as we sail when the weather is unpredictable.

Safe travelsl

Sue and crew

 

Along with fisherguy and foxgoodrich, I was on this cruise.

 

While hardly ideal, by no stretch of the imagination did I consider this "stressful" and certainly not a "hardship".

 

Did I miss those two days of cruising? Oh, YES!

 

Did I appreciate the compensation package? Oh, YES!

 

Would I have preferred my cruise as scheduled? Of course.

 

Will I complain or whine? Heck, NO.

 

Did I make lemonade (or in my case, limeade, i.e., caipirinhas) out of lemons?

 

You betcha!

 

I barely cost RC anything, compared to some others.

 

When I found out about the delay, quite literally as I was walking out my door to go to the airport, I changed my flight down from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando. My son just moved there. I stayed with him for two days. (no hotel bills)

 

He drove me to the port on Monday. (no transfer bills)

 

I eat cheap. :D (low food bills)

 

I don't have "incidentals". (no incidental charges)

 

I welcome the OBC and the FCC.

 

No need to feel sorry for us. Feel sorry for cruisers who were much less well-compensated. (read: Carnival cruisers, and some Allure cruisers who were first-timers and felt much more deprived of the full Allure experience)

 

:)

[Able Seaman H]

All cruise companies operate the same policy:

 

If your cruise is cancelled you will get a refund. If your itinerary changes due to circumstances beyond the companys control you will not get a refund.

 

Where things get complicated is when a cruise duration is altered or the departure point / return destination is altered significantly. The it will be down to individual companies and individual cases. The same is true of mechanical defects with the ship.

 

In the case of the post which prompted the original question the three day cruise went ahead as planned, it just didn't visit the ports of call due to foul and potentially life threatening weather.

 

All companies make the policy on missed ports abundantly clear in their terms and conditions.

 

 

Henry :)

[rafinmd]

Sorry, I've been at sea and missed a lot. How were the people on the 7-day cruise make out. 2 free days of cruising? How much help with rescheduling flights?

 

Thanks,

 

Roy

[FTLCruiseGal]

Unfortunately, some people have a really bad case of entitlement syndrome. They feel that no matter what, someone owes them something. "Who cares that it was beyond Royal's control that the Port was closed -- I demand compensation!!!!"

 

I always go back to a saying that my mother taught me and that I live by: "Don't look a gifthorse in the mouth."

 

I highly commend Royal for what they did for the passengers. I, as well, am jealous that I could not have been on this sailing -- I am sure that I could have found a way to spend the OBC.

[Linda & John]

and the way they handled it.

 

Just curious, did the other cruise lines cancel and give full refunds? I see posts of never sailing RCCL again and changing to Carnival. I don't frequent the Carnival board, so I don't know. They obviously gave everyone a full refund? I mean they must have if people are going to leave RCCL for NOT doing that. I mean that would be silly to choose another cruise line if they did exactly what RCCL did, right?

 

We were on a cruise two years ago on Labor Day & the captain was forced to evade a hurricane. Everything worked out. Will not cruise the East or Caribbean at the end of Aug or month of Sept again.

[poncho1973]

Unfortunately, some people have a really bad case of entitlement syndrome. They feel that no matter what, someone owes them something. "Who cares that it was beyond Royal's control that the Port was closed -- I demand compensation!!!!"

 

This

[lah66]

I am so relieved to hear such positive viewpoints of RCI and their attempt to make things better for their passengers! I was simply amazed at how it was handled and the huge amount of compensation the passengers were getting! They did not have to do anything AT ALL! Really OP, you are complaining and wanting to jump ship?? Maybe you should....By experiencing other cruiselines, I think then you will realize how great RCI truly is!

[BillOh]

Instead of starting a thread that may go on and on for no good reason why not just check out the other cruise line's threads that pertain to Caribbean cruises during that time period?

 

No person, corporation, airline, cruise line etc. etc. etc. can control the weather. :D

 

Ah, another volunteer moderator :rolleyes: I wondered the same thing, but don't want to go over to the Carnival board.

[maggieworkman]

Carnival Elation guests got some compensation. But the cruise wasn't "cancelled" and they didn't get a full refund.

 

"Due to the inclement weather from Hurricane Isaac, the Carnival Elation cruise itinerary has shifted. Originally, it was scheduled to leave from New Orleans today [8/30]. This has been changed to departing from Mobile, Alabama tomorrow [8/31]. Guests cruising on Carnival Elation will arrive at the New Orleans cruise terminal to be bused over to Mobile.

 

The 4-day cruise will be shortened to a 3-day cruise departing on Friday, August 31, 2012. Buses will take guests and their luggage to Mobile. Plan to arrive between 1:00 ***** and 4:00 PM on Friday at the Port of New Orleans. [The parking garage at the port will be open then.]

 

Carnival has offered these incentives if you continue to sail on the 8/31 Carnival Elation departure:

 

- 50% refund of your cruise fare (refunded within the next 2 weeks)

- 25% future 3-5 day cruise discount (restrictions apply)

- Gratuities will be adjusted

- Refund of government fees and taxes

- Refunds will not be provided for flight changes, hotel accommodations, meals, transfers, or other incidental costs

 

Should you wish to cancel or reschedule, please contact 1-800-CARNIVAL to request your future cruise credit.

 

Guest who purchased flights with Carnival’s FlyAweigh program will automatically have their flights adjusted to the new day and time. You will be notified of your new flights by our Travel Services department. Guests with independent flight arrangements, please adjust your travel plans accordingly.

 

At the moment, there are no changes expected for any other sailings departing on or after Thursday, August 30, 2012."

 

I was on the Carnival Dream that left August 25. Our itinerary changed and they switched Grand Turk for Nassau. I think we got a bonus!!!

 

Maggie

[lady_cruiser]

We were on that cruise on Allure - we were supposed to leave on 8/26 but were delayed until 8/28. Actually, RCI was very generous and covered most expenses for us..............

 

THANK YOU for your comprehensive answer to the OPs question. It does sounds like that RCI was very generous.

[ssb]

Again

Great thread!

A positive attitude by everyone. :)

[Ladysilver]

We were on that cruise on Allure - we were supposed to leave on 8/26 but were delayed until 8/28. Actually, RCI was very generous and covered most expenses for us. The biggest problem for passengers was that it was a weekend and they did not have sufficient staff on duty to make/take the phone calls to/from the 5000+ passengers on the cruise. So most of us spent loooooong periods of time on hold, and/or had to call repeatedly. Some were told to wait for a call back, but the call never came. Some just got information from other cruisers. The communication between RCI and the pax really broke down. (But now they know - they need a contingency plan for communicating with large numbers in unusual situations.)

 

BUT, despite the difficulty with communications, which was a bit frustrating even though we understood the immensity of their communication issues, here is the bottom line for us. We, personally, were given the following:

 

• 
  2 nights at the Embassy Suites - RCI paid for this on a direct bill, we didn't pay. (They would also reimburse up to $125/night for 2 nights if the hotel was not one with a direct billing set up.)
  

• 
  Up to $100 apiece for meals and incidentals for 2 days. We have instructions on filing a claim for these expenses.
  

• $650 onboard credit for balconies, outsides, insides. $1000 OBC for junior suites. More for big suites. This was applied to accounts on the second night. (We had a D5. 2/7 of our total actually paid for this cruise would have been right at $700 after our diamond discount, and RCI gave us $650 OBC. Since RCI had already provided room & board, so to speak, for the missed 2 days, this seemed to be a rather generous double dip. We ended up with more OBC than we could use, with this combined with other OBC, so we had a negative balance that will be applied as a credit to our credit card. You could also opt for cash on the last night/morning if you wished.)
  

• OBC for port charges/tax for the missed ports. (Also refundable in CC credit or cash.)
  

• OBC for 2 days of prepaid gratuities. (Also refundable in CC credit or cash.)
  

• OBC for any paid RC excursions in the two missed ports. (Also refundable in CC credit or cash.) We had booked a cabana in Labadee, so we got back the full $175 as OBC.
  

• A credit to apply to a future cruise of 10% of what we paid for this one. For us, this will be about $250.
  

• Refunds were NOT offered. All those who inquired were consistently told 'NO' on a refund.
  

We had already arranged for $300 of OBC on our own ($100 OBC from booking this one onboard the last one, $150 from RCI points from the Visa, and some OBC from our TA), so when all this additional OBC stuff got posted to our account, we had a negative balance of over $1200. And now we're on a 5 night cruise! OMG!:eek:

 

So...I went shopping in the Britto Gallery and I'm now sporting 2 pieces of new, very cool, Britto luggage!:D And we bought some nice gifts onboard. And we did a specialty restaurant. And we had a few drinks. (and by the way...if anyone is interested...of all the bars I tried, the Rising Tide Bar makes the best Mojito...but unfortunately with only 5 days, I couldn't possibly make this research totally accurate by hitting ALL the bars on Allure.:p)

 

So...bottom line is, although we were terribly disappointed to miss 2 whole days on this fantastic ship, and we were also disappointed to miss 2 of our ports, we had a wonderful 5 days. We will get close to $600 credited back to our credit card, even though we shopped, drank, and ate. The decision to shorten the cruise was not one that RCI made - they had no choice when the port closed. We honestly think RCI did their best to make it right, and we think they were generous. There are others who disagree - I did hear a few very grumpy people complaining - but, in the end, if you actually read the cruise contract and see what they are legally obligated to do for weather issues (that would be NOTHING), I think we came out very well.

 

So let's see...we hung out 2 days in Fort Lauderdale on RCI's tab, we left the ship with a sizable negative balance on our account, we had a wonderful time, and Mama is sporting new luggage....:) No complaint here...I'm kinda thinking we may have come out ahead.

Judy

 

 

What a great attitude! :D

[euphio]

I believe it's all about perspective.

As someone who travels for a living (airplanes, not cruise ships unfortunately) I know that weather is not something you can control. If you go into a trip thinking that and trying to get the best out of things that do happen then you're a whole lot happier when the inevitable hiccups do occur. As a wise person once said to me:

 

"It's better being on the ground wishing you were in the air than the other way around"

 

It sounds to me like RCI did a pretty good job considering.