FAA grounded all flights to Florida missed cruise

[ReneeFLL]

Your recourse WAS for the five in your party that had a passport to fly into the first port and board the following day and enjoy the rest of the cruise. Or to take whatever cabins were available on Allure for the next day. INSTEAD you chose to accept none of these alternatives and fight RCI for an $11,000 refund that you are not entitled to receive. Sorry, but your judgement sucks. Good luck with your refund.

 

Exactly!! Their mistake their problem. They should have been happy RC offered them something when they didn't have to. To me that's a slap in the face to RC when they think they deserve more.

Edited April 4, 2016 by ReneeFLL

[payitforward]

I think the majority of this thread could be summed up with one sentence: "Don't gamble with more than you can afford to lose." I buy the trip insurance because the expense of a cruise is a lot for me, and I would hate to put that money out and get nothing in return. Also, I don't have extra money just lying around to spend on extra hotels, book additional flights, buy all new clothes if my luggage were lost etc. I could not afford to drop and extra couple grand in the ship's infirmary. Therefore, I choose to "gamble" the $100 - $200 that trip insurance cost me rather than to gamble on the rest.

 

As for all of the arguments as to whether flights were really cancelled, whether it costs more for the ship to wait or not wait...none of it matters. YOU are responsible to be on the ship when it is scheduled to sail away. If YOU can't get your butt back from an excursion on time, or elect to fly in the day of a cruise and have your flight delayed, why should that become MY problem when I was on the ship when I was supposed to be? Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part or the cruise line's part.

[xxHadleyxx]

Really dude u read that entire contract every time, certainly it would have been advisable to know cancellation policies no doubt about it, however, I cancel hotels all the time, get money back, I cancelled Southwest Airlines yesterday got every mile and penny back didn't ask any questions, we didn't make an all inclusive in Turks 3 years ago got 90% back, we miss a cruise due to FAA grounding flight I get zero. Regardless of what contract says, simply not right and something needs to be done. They can't keep u on Tarmac for more than an hour anymore, right policies were changed!!!!!!

 

It is the standard in the industry. And even in your examples, you are cherry picking--on nearly any airline other than SW you would lose 100% of your airfare if you cancelled a flight with less than 24 hours to go.

 

Hotels vary--but I cannot recall the last time I booked a fully cancel-able room and was not at least offered a lower rate for a non cancel-able one (and even with cancellation many require 24 hours notice). Some hotels require a non refundable deposit to hold any room at all (10% for hotels on site at Disneyland Paris, fr example--that being hte most recent one we were at).

 

Others have already explained why allowing a last minute cancellation to get a refund to take up space in a ship sailing far enough out to still be booked by a fare paying customer hurts the carrier's bottom lime (and for ships we are talking about a week of no money coming in, not one night at a hotel or one flight for an airline). It is actually pretty reasonable and NOT taking advantage, IMO. You were offered two options which did not cause RCI to lose more money while helping you (catch up to the ship or sail the next day in unsold cabins on another of their ships) but for various reasons could not make those work.

[Keith1010]

Two lessons:

 

Take travel insurance or if you don't recognize the consequences.

 

Avoiding flying in the day of the cruise because things can go wrong.

 

Keith

[IsanTom]

Sorry about your cruise, but they did give you an option!

[momof3cruisers]

Whether the OP is exaggerating, misinformed, or just late with an April Fool's joke, it is enough to get me a little worried. I have 7 hours' leeway on arrival on a direct flight and also have the Air2Sea guarantee that they'll either wait for me or get me to the next port. So I feel like worst-case scenario RCI will cover me. I wonder, though, whether anyone has had to rely on that Air2Sea without additional insurance and what happened?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Just please say you have a passport.

[momof3cruisers]

I would hope the captain would wait as long as possible. After all, they pad all their travel times. People make mistakes. Why ruin someone's day when it doesn't cost the cruise line?

 

Well, they have to leave sometime. And since they tell you about 9,700 times when back on board time is AND that is always a decent chunk of time before actual sail away, why shouldn't they leave on time? They will also wait if you are on ship sponsored excursions as well as if you buy your air through them. If you forgo those options and go out on your own, then essentially, you are self insuring and should be prepared for the possible loss. You're a big proponent of that, right?

[mcatmcat]

I'm so fortune to live in a 25 miles radius of a port[emoji1], but I'm sorry for your situation [emoji52]. I took a fly the same day of my cruise leaving from Puerto Rico but I couldn't do that again.

[Newby58]

I agree things do not add up--at the very least there is a lot of exaggerating and missing information going on here.

 

 

Agree

[Newby58]

If you can't afford to pay the extra 10% of so for the insurance, you probably really can't afford the first 90% of the trip cost either.

 

 

 

Drink tabs on cruises usually far exceed the cost of an insurance policy.

 

 

 

Just sayin....

 

 

Yes. And just saying that RCI missed out on the revenue from the OPs parties on board expenditure. That said, I am so sorry OP.

[Newby58]

FYI we renewed my daughters passport a few months ago when she was 17. The new one expires in 10 years. I don't believe there is such a thing as "minor" and "adult" passports.

 

 

In Australia, a minor, under the age of 18 can only get a passport for 5 years. Those over 18 can get a passport for 10.

[Newby58]

We don't do insurance

 

 

What? I am surprised as you guys are experienced cruisers aren't you?

[DirtyDawg]

I am also in the camp of not buying trip cancellation insurance. For us it just has not made economic sense so far. We mostly cruise the Caribbean from Canada and the extra costs of an outright cancellation or missing embarkation combined with the probability of occurrence just did not justify paying the premiums that were being charged. So basically we self-insure. Medical insurance is a different issue for us at least. Others will factor 'peace of mind' into the decision to buy the insurance. We just don't give 'peace of mind' much of a value in our decision making process.

Edited April 4, 2016 by DirtyDawg

[Mom.to.2]

I didn't read the entire thread. Has it been suggested that the 2 without passports get expedited same-day passports (expensive & could be the nearest passport agency to OP that offers this service is hours away.). Then meet the ship at next port (at your cost to get there.)

 

Granted, this is an expensive option, but at least you'd make part of the cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[phabric]

We had snow over night (April 3) in Toronto and 50+ planes were canceled this morning. Who thought we would have snow in April and most of the city plow had finished their contracts.

 

You might want to check your credit card to see if it would be covered.

[leisuretraveler223]

If you are not covered with your personal health insurance on a cruise, you take a huge risk with travel insurance

 

For about the hundredth time.... I am not advocating for traveling without health insurance. That to me is somewhere between irresponsible and unconscionable. The OP was lamenting the loss of cruise fare for cancelling and people chimed in with the typical chorus of "that's why you should always get trip insurance". I am simply pointing out that "trip insurance" or "cancellation insurance" to be more specific is generally not considered a sage investment.

[grandmarnnurse]

We had snow over night (April 3) in Toronto and 50+ planes were canceled this morning. Who thought we would have snow in April and most of the city plow had finished their contracts.

 

You might want to check your credit card to see if it would be covered.

 

Snow here, too, in Buffalo, NY. You just never know what will happen---even in April--that could cause flight delays and cancellations. It took us 2 days of cancellations, flight changes, and then delays to get down to Florida in February. When dealing with unpredictable Mother Nature, I feel peace of mind in having trip insurance. Those that don't believe in it, that's their choice, but once you experience even one cancelled or interrupted trip, and loss of all fees paid, the paltry amount of trip insurance is well worth it, if for only giving you peace of mind. My husband and I are both retired, and live on a fixed income in which we watch every penny spent, and I still purchase trip insurance. But to each their own.

[brazilgirl]

That really sucks. So sorry to hear your story.

[Oak Hill Cruisers]

Trains, planes & buses usually depart on time and wait for nobody. Why shouldn't ships?

[nbsjcruiser]

Very interesting reading all of the responses I have received on this issue, I have to say I am a bit surprised. It is funny to me that we have turned into a society of nothing but "hedging your bets with insurance, trips, TVs, life, property, and almost anything u can think of, circuit city went of of biz 10 years ago but they showed a loss the last 5 years in products sales and a $90million dollar profit in insurance for those products. Really? As far as passports go my daughters passport expired in March she turns 18 on April 23 we didn't want another minor passport when she could get an adult passport in 22 days, cheap no, I could afford as many passports as they could issue just not smart. Whatever

 

So really it was the trifecta of risky decisions, all of which increased the risk you'd lose your $11K.

1. Traveling the day of a cruise.
   
2. Traveling without insurance
   
3. Traveling with no passport
   

 

You really rolled the dice.

[southnam]

I called RCI they said I could meet the ship but two passengers did not have valid passports, they then said we could transfer and book on the allure the next day but not enough rooms.

 

 

 

What do you mean they did not have valid passports?

[S.A.M.J.R.]

3. I have argued that "trip insurance" i.e. coverage for the cost of the trip should you have to cancel, is generally not a good INVESTMENT.

I agree, it's not a good investment. IF you only consider investments "good" if you get a return on them. However, let's do the math... let's say insurance is $200 for a $5000 trip. It would take 25 trips of NOT buying the insurance to make up if you miss ONE trip.

 

Do I think you should get insurance for EVERY trip you take? No. However, we do get it on every cruise we take...

1) We book far enough in advance, we don't know what will happen that might prevent us from going.

2) We don't know what might happen on the trip (medical evacuation) that might require it. Yes, I know you say "medical doesn't count", and that's your OPINION. But if the insurance is going to cover a helicopter evac, why wouldn't you count it?

 

Personally, I don't think drink packages are a good "investment", but I'm not going to say those that get it are "suckers".

[Keith1010]

The key is when you don't take insurance, don't get an airport and don't get a passport to think through the consequences. And there are many with each one.

 

Insurance is not just for the trip. Rather it is also beneficial should you have a health issue and your health care provider doesn't cover it. What can happen?

 

A big fall where you break something such as your hip?

 

A medical issues and it doesn't matter what your health is up to that point in time. I am in good health. I had an issue. I am probably one of the last people that someone would expect to have a medical issue. Required an ambulance, several tests in a private hospital. Medical insurance was very valuable.

 

You could have Appendicitis. Again this can touch any age.

 

The key to all of this is history means nothing. You can fly in the day of the cruise 10 times and not have a problem. But the odds say overtime it will catch up with you.

 

I even learned something from this. I used to advise people that on a closed loop cruise not having a passport had a risk and that was if you have to fly home before the cruise ends due to a medical issue or some other emergency. I had never thought about what happens if you miss the ship.

 

Anyway, there is a big lesson here. I hope many people learn from this.

 

Keith

[marci22]

The key is when you don't take insurance, don't get an airport and don't get a passport to think through the consequences. And there are many with each one.

 

Insurance is not just for the trip. Rather it is also beneficial should you have a health issue and your health care provider doesn't cover it. What can happen?

 

A big fall where you break something such as your hip?

 

A medical issues and it doesn't matter what your health is up to that point in time. I am in good health. I had an issue. I am probably one of the last people that someone would expect to have a medical issue. Required an ambulance, several tests in a private hospital. Medical insurance was very valuable.

 

You could have Appendicitis. Again this can touch any age.

 

The key to all of this is history means nothing. You can fly in the day of the cruise 10 times and not have a problem. But the odds say overtime it will catch up with you.

 

I even learned something from this. I used to advise people that on a closed loop cruise not having a passport had a risk and that was if you have to fly home before the cruise ends due to a medical issue or some other emergency. I had never thought about what happens if you miss the ship.

 

Anyway, there is a big lesson here. I hope many people learn from this.

 

Keith

 

All good points. It's not just missing a plane or a hurricane being predicted. There are so many expensive things that can go wrong.

[LMaxwell]

OP your failure to purchase protection for this sort of possibility was your gamble and choice. Fine. But you can't get the protections you didn't pay for. It's that simple. The company offered more alternatives than they were obligated to and it really isn't their problem that it didn't work for you.

 

I've never had a cruise line or TA not offer me insurance and not explain it's purpose.