Windstar cancels all Star Pride Itineraries through April 9

[milepig]

I guess they have been taking customer service lessons from their national park lodging parent company....

 

"I asked that the guest services representative contact me when she returned on Monday." :eek::eek::eek:

 

Any decent company that cared about their customers would have all hands on deck, including senior management, 24/7 to resolve all these customer issues asap.

 

I wish I had not yet paid my final payment, we would switch to another line.

 

Oh. That's another thing. When I did get through to a person on 12/26 I was told things were delayed since "senior management was all on holiday." Um, they should have all been called in. Inexcusable.

[sb44]

It seems that two or three unhappy customers are getting a few people who have no skin in this upset which is silly. They are trying to rebook 12 - 15 weeks of cruises which is somewhere around 2000 to 2500 people, in a very compressed period of time. In addition they must still take care of normal business operations. If they say they will refund 100% or hold pricing for a year then they need to be given the benefit of the doubt as well as time to respond to everyone, all 2000+ people. They are not Carnival and have limited staff that is trained in their reservation system so take a deep breath. There is also the topic of trip insurance. A proper policy will respond to rebooking fees, itinerary cancellation, etc. We have three cruises booked this year and I have not read anything that would make me change my mind about going forward with any of them nor will I let anyone who might have made poor personal choices convince me that Windstar is not doing the right thing. The highest stakes were for the people who were on board when this incident occurred and I would also be upset if I lost personal items but understand they are "things", not lives, and that could have been the story here. Let's give these people a chance to get it all sorted out which will not happen in 3 or 4 weeks.

 

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[6rugrats]

Sb44 -exactly. Thanks for your reasonable post.

[Essiesmom]

Lord knows what she is doing. This morning she appears to be in the anchorage

 

 

But she really gets around...I am especially impressed with her ability to travel cross-country. (Do you suppose a seagull stole her AIS?

 

[Strenz]

Brava Sb44! I think that any savvy traveler should know that cruises and group tours = travel insurance. Travel insurance like pet care is just part if the cost when traveling. Good insurance takes up the slack where a company would/could not. If you decide not to take insurance then you better put on glasses to read the fine print on your contract so you know what you are getting into. Having been in the travel business for 16 years people just do not read and are very quick to blame. Sb44 is correct, fixing all these reservations takes time and sadly this accident and subsequent cancelations happened over the holidays. It is not as though they can hire people temporally without training on computer systems, policies etc. People have families over the holidays. I would bet that they are trying to remedy the situations in chronological order. A bit of patience and goodwill will go a long way. A situation like this, I am sure is a nightmare for WS. When one thinks that thousands have had their vacations compromised and only the same few people are moaning, given the number of people affected, it seems to me that WS is doing a pretty good job. In the end people were safe. Happy Sailing

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

No one is criticizing WS for the grounding, or even their immediate reaction to the incident. Accidents happen.

 

Where people are finding fault is WS apparently handling this like a minor inconvenience. Examples are WS staff telling a customer that they have *one* person handling the rebookings and a customer having to ask a booking agent to have that person call them "when they are back to work on Monday".

 

This is not normal crisis management, at least not for a customer-focused company. I have seen how other cruise companies handle these situations.

 

PS - only a tiny fraction of cruisers read CC, and only a tiny fraction of those actually post.

[Essiesmom]

Can it be that she is finally going into drydock at Balboa?

 

[LindaAndBillTravel]

Shame on all of you who weren't impacted by this for implying people who are having issues now are not savvy, made poor personal decisions, are a minority opinion, or are too impatient. If it happened to you, you would likely be feeling differently. People come here to seek information, help, or even just a sympathetic ear. Insulting people who had their holidays impacted by a negligent carrier (and yes, the accident was their fault, so they are negligent) is completely non-helpful.

 

Travel savvy comes with time and experience. Some folks bought Windstar's travel policy not understanding what it did or didn't cover. Lot of people do this until they or someone they know gets bit by this. And there are a lot of travel insurance plans out there that do not cover trip cancellation due to maintenance issues of a common carrier, which is how this will be classified. You might end up being bit by this too since the ship running aground might not have been a scenario you ever considered would happen.

 

As for there only being a few people complaining out of all of the impacted people...there are only ever a small percentage of passengers who participate on Cruise Critic. I don't recall seeing anyone who was actually impacted saying Windstar's customer service has been great. Maybe that's because it really hasn't been. And reservations staffing isn't the problem. You can get through to reservations. The department you can't get a hold of is customer service, and customer service can and should be supplemented by management for something like this. At this point it seems unlikely that they are trying to remedy issues in chronological order since we were on the Pride sailing when the accident occured. My guess is that they might be responding to those in the highest cost cabins first. I say this because that is how they dealt with the situation on Isla de Coiba -- the most expensive cabins got evacuated to the first ship that arrived, leaving the elderly, infirmed and children waiting for the second ship, including an elderly man who had to be laid out on the sand while we waited because he couldn't sit on the hard plastic chairs any longer.

[6rugrats]

Shame on all of you who weren't impacted by this for implying people who are having issues now are not savvy, made poor personal decisions, are a minority opinion, or are too impatient. If it happened to you, you would likely be feeling differently. People come here to seek information, help, or even just a sympathetic ear. Insulting people who had their holidays impacted by a negligent carrier (and yes, the accident was their fault, so they are negligent) is completely non-helpful.

Where is this coming from? I haven't seen any posts saying people aren't "savvy", or that they made "poor personal decisions". I do agree that this isn't going to be cleared up overnight and that people need to be patient.

 

Travel savvy comes with time and experience. Some folks bought Windstar's travel policy not understanding what it did or didn't cover. Lot of people do this until they or someone they know gets bit by this. And there are a lot of travel insurance plans out there that do not cover trip cancellation due to maintenance issues of a common carrier, which is how this will be classified. You might end up being bit by this too since the ship running aground might not have been a scenario you ever considered would happen.

Has there been any substantive discussion about travel insurance and people not understanding their coverage? Reading the Travel Insurance Forum on CC shows you many people have no idea what insurance coverage they have as they don't seem to read the policy before hitting the "purchase" button. No idea if this applies to anyone posting in this thread, as I didn't read much discussion about this. But, when a poster writes they will lose the entire value of their "very expensive business class tickets" because they have to change their flights, this just isn't true with almost every airline. If someone doesn't understand this, they may not understand their coverage. I have no idea what people know.

 

As for there only being a few people complaining out of all of the impacted people...there are only ever a small percentage of passengers who participate on Cruise Critic. I don't recall seeing anyone who was actually impacted saying Windstar's customer service has been great. Maybe that's because it really hasn't been. And reservations staffing isn't the problem. You can get through to reservations. The department you can't get a hold of is customer service, and customer service can and should be supplemented by management for something like this. At this point it seems unlikely that they are trying to remedy issues in chronological order since we were on the Pride sailing when the accident occured.

 

I don't think anyone posting here has any idea how this situation is being prioritized. A logical way way would be in chronological order. I totally agree that bringing in more people would be helpful, just as I agree there probably aren't a lot of people familiar with Windstar's systems/policies sitting at home on call, just as when your crew times out on a plane, sometimes there is no one there to work the flight.

 

As annoying as this is, and I totally understand why people are upset, they are going to have to be patient. Document everything and keep all your paperwork.

 

I also think good PR would be a Windstar Rep. posting to this thread with updates.

Edited January 11, 2016 by 6rugrats

[LindaAndBillTravel]

Where is this coming from? I haven't seen any posts saying people aren't "savvy", or that they made "poor personal decisions". I do agree that this isn't going to be cleared up overnight and that people need to be patient.

This is coming from posts like #102 and #105.

 

I also think good PR would be a Windstar Rep. posting to this thread with updates.

Or even a bulk email to impacted passengers with some status updates would go a long way. Certainly, there must be a number of people who have the same questions and some bulk email updates could address a fair number of the calls and emails they are getting.

[LindaAndBillTravel]

I just got off the phone with a reservations rep who informed me that our refund check was printed, but they only send checks out on Fridays so that would be the soonest ours would be mailed. The refund check was only cut for the amount of the cruise, and did not include our untaken shore excursions. He originally told me he would just refund those to our credit card, but then came back and said we would have to wait for a separate check to be cut to refund those because they had to "talk to the ship" first. Huh?!?

 

He also let me know that personal belongings arrived in Seattle over the weekend, but he was unsure how long it would take to sort through things and get information for specific cabins.

[sb44]

I would imagine they are dealing with their insurer on all of these refunds and probably need to furnish proof of loss as they go. I would doubt they have the cash on hand to refund 2000 or more fares from their regular operating accounts. Since some excursions were taken and others had to be cancelled they most likely need to verify which ones each guest had contracted for. I don't envy them trying to unravel all of this. Hopefully your missing items are amongst the ones that have now been located. If not then ask how to file a claim with their insurance carrier. You probably have coverage with your homeowners company as well so, if you haven't already, start documenting your loss. Insurance companies require documentation of personal items regardless of the cause of loss. Too many people don't realize that until after a fire or flood etc. Best of luck getting final resolution.

 

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[6rugrats]

There is nothing wrong with post #102 & 105. They are not berating anyone, merely suggesting these things take time and patience is needed.

[ducklite]

I would imagine they are dealing with their insurer on all of these refunds and probably need to furnish proof of loss as they go. I would doubt they have the cash on hand to refund 2000 or more fares from their regular operating accounts. Since some excursions were taken and others had to be cancelled they most likely need to verify which ones each guest had contracted for. I don't envy them trying to unravel all of this. Hopefully your missing items are amongst the ones that have now been located. If not then ask how to file a claim with their insurance carrier. You probably have coverage with your homeowners company as well so, if you haven't already, start documenting your loss. Insurance companies require documentation of personal items regardless of the cause of loss. Too many people don't realize that until after a fire or flood etc. Best of luck getting final resolution.

 

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Travel insurance might be a better route and then they can surrogate from Windstar or their indemnity carrier. Travel insurance typically has a fairly low deductible, while homeowners is typically $500-1000. Additionally a claim can cause homeowners rates to rise while that isn't the case with travel insurance.

[sb44]

Agree but if they don't have travel insurance homeowners should respond and some people may not realize that the majority of policies have a minimum of 10% personal property worldwide, some more. Travel insurance is pretty interesting and has its own twists which is why we never buy from the cruise line or the airline. Did you know that when all of the

flights were cancelled because of the ash from Iceland very few policies paid as it was not a covered peril. Some companies stepped up but not many. AAA changed insurers after that whole disaster. When I buy and am using a small carrier like WS I make sure that we are covered for carrier financial default (bankruptcy ) as well as mechanical breakdown. Also prefer that their medical is primary to avoid getting caught in a battle. The one time we did have to collect made me realize that everything needs documentation, even had to prove we paid the premium by producing credit card statement. It took 60 days but by having good records we got all of our non refundable costs back.

 

 

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[6rugrats]

Travel insurance might be a better route and then they can surrogate from Windstar or their indemnity carrier. Travel insurance typically has a fairly low deductible, while homeowners is typically $500-1000. Additionally a claim can cause homeowners rates to rise while that isn't the case with travel insurance.

 

It's "subrogate". Suspect you are a spell check victim. And, I've never had any travel insurance policy that had any deductible at all.

[mominhouston]

We took our first Windstar cruise in May on StarBreeze from Monte Carlo to Rome. It was amazing! Sorry to hear about the StarPride grounding. I am following this thread and hope Windstar does the right thing!

[ducklite]

It's "subrogate". Suspect you are a spell check victim. And, I've never had any travel insurance policy that had any deductible at all.

 

 

Yes, on my iPad which autocorrects and I missed it until too late to fix it. And I know the word, I worked for a major P&C insurer for over five years and at one point had a brokers license in NY.

 

The policy we bought before we went to Europe last year had a $50 deductible for something, can't recall what and fortunately we didn't need to remember the hard way. :)

Edited January 14, 2016 by ducklite

[monicajax]

We were booked for the Windstar Pride cruise for 1/16 that is cancelled. WS switched us to another cruise with the same itinerary and will give us each $500 to recover what we lost in switching airline tickets. However, the costs were $612 per person, and even if we had purchased travel insurance, we would still be out of the extra $112 not covered by WS. Now wouldn't one think to keep customers satisfied after their ship created the problem through no fault of the consumer, WS would at least give us $100 pp ship credit for this loss. No they won't AND they are no longer answering my emails or phone messages and told the booking agent at Avoya (who btw, has been excellent in assisting us in this matter) that there's nothing else they will do for us. Some quality customer service, heh??

[ducklite]

Why do you think travel insurance wouldn't have covered the difference?

[monicajax]

we would have got back the $$ for the original air costs, but we got fantastic deals in November and since then, the same airfare has gone sky high.

[monicajax]

With insurance we would have been reimbursed for the cancelled air fare. However, in getting new air fare, prices have sky rocketed and therefore costing us additional $$. The fares are more than quadrupled from what we paid in November.

[6rugrats]

.However, the costs were $612 per person, and even if we had purchased travel insurance, we would still be out of the extra $112 not covered by WS. Now wouldn't one think to keep customers satisfied after their ship created the problem through no fault of the consumer, WS would at least give us $100 pp ship credit for this loss. No they won't AND they are no longer answering my emails or phone messages and told the booking agent at XXXX [removed as specific TA discussions aren't allowed on CC] (who btw, has been excellent in assisting us in this matter) that there's nothing else they will do for us. Some quality customer service, heh??

 

It's rather a moot point, as you state you didn't have insurance. If you have an agent, they should be dealing with this problem. Usually, if you are using a TA, the cruise line will only discuss these things directly with the TA, not with the passenger.

 

You know your TA received a commission for this booking, don't you? Perhaps the TA should give you each a $100 OBC? They can do this if they want to. Ask them.

 

I have written before, I've had one cruise cancelled with WS, one chartered, and one was changed to a different itinerary and ship. I was not made totally "whole" with any of them. I got my airline change fees back, a future cruise discount, and an OBC. The cruise line holds all the cards. I did not book a cruise with WS for a very long time after that, and so lost my OBC and my booking discount.

 

Why do you think travel insurance wouldn't have covered the difference?

 

Because insurance will only reimburse you for the original airfare. Some insurance companies won't even do that because even if you cancel a nonrefundable ticket, you will still have the original ticket funds to use within one year of the date you first booked the tickets. They will just reimburse you the change fee to use that voucher. Depends on the company and the policy.

Edited January 14, 2016 by 6rugrats

[milepig]

If you have an agent, they should be dealing with this problem. Usually, if you are using a TA, the cruise line will only discuss these things directly with the TA, not with the passenger.

 

This is true, and everything beyond the initial form letter has been communicated via my TA, who's in turn sent me copies of his questions and WS's responses. Unfortunately, what they've done for us seems to be in conflict with what he received in writing. Also unfortunately, we're in a bit of a holding pattern as my TA is, um, traveling, putting me into a 2 week holding pattern. I think this is complex enough that I'd rather wait until he's back than to trust someone else in the office to try to pick up the pieces.

 

We have a cruise booked and airline tickets purchased so we have an itinerary - the details can be sorted out later.

[LindaAndBillTravel]

Interesting development...we got an email from Windstar today with a survey to fill out regarding how the Star Pride accident was handled. Some of the questions seem to display little understanding of what happened, but maybe it is a standard form. Curiously, one of the questions asks if there was any specific examples of passenger behavior I wanted to comment on, but no question about if there were any specific examples of crew behavior I wanted to comment on.

Passenger Survey.pdf