Very disappointed in a Royal Carribbean

[John&LaLa]

I found a very similar cruise to the one I asked them to use as a replacement on Windstar. We are going to try that instead.

 

Windstar :confused:

 

On what planet are Royal and Windstar remotely similar. :eek:

[golferwife]

I am just sharing my thoughts and experiences after cruising with Royal for over 20 years and to see if anyone else had a similar experience. I have always found these forums very helpful and informative, especially when I was planning my wedding on a royal ship five years ago

 

Wow CrusingAlong4now. There is no reason to get vicious

[Biker19]

On what planet are Royal and Windstar remotely similar. :eek:

 

Both are passenger cruise ships?

[flag fan]

I'm going to side with Royal Caribbean on this one--sorry.

 

The problem with the cruise line transferring your booking to another sail date is that the company will then lose your fare for the sailing you booked (unless it takes on the burden of finding someone for your cabin at the same rate). The insurance will reimburse your costs while the cruise company gets to keep the fare you paid, so everyone wins (except the insurance company, but it will win out in the long run as it collects more from cruisers who do not need to cancel than it pays out--at least it should or it has a very bad business model).

 

I do not think you should take this personally or see this as the company being disloyal. If they did this for you, they would (or should) do it for everyone, which is not really practical (or necessary in light of the availability of insurance).

 

Anyway, the important thing is that you took care of the family medical problem and still have the opportunity to enjoy cruising. I think you should stick with Royal Caribbean if you like the line (or specific sailings) but if you feel you should switch to another line, go ahead--it's your vacation dollars. (But you should expect the same treatment from all the cruise lines; hopefully, this is a one-time problem and you will never need to find out.)

[golferwife]

UPDATE: we just heard back from our travel agents RCCL rep. If we did not have insurance, they would have moved all of the money to another cruise within 12 months. Since we have insurance, we need to file a claim with the insurance company for the refund. Lesson learned. I don't think we will be buying insurance in the future.

[cruisinfanatic]

Thanks for the feedback. You would think it would be in the cruise lines best interest to keep our money instead of refunding it and keeping loyal customers happy. i found a very similar cruise to the one I asked them to use as a replacement on Windstar. We are going to try that instead. We also "host" an extended family cruise on Royal every other March where we book 10-15 cabins. We have our travel agent looking for other cruise lines at a similar price point to RCCL. Although I understand the feedback and the non negotiable cruise contract, I think it may be time for a change.

Are you for real?

You've certainly cruised enough to know the rules. Now you are ticked because the cancellation penalty came into play even though you are covered with insurance?

Try a new cruise line. Guess what will happen in the same scenario

[cruisinfanatic]

UPDATE: we just heard back from our travel agents RCCL rep. If we did not have insurance, they would have moved all of the money to another cruise within 12 months. Since we have insurance, we need to file a claim with the insurance company for the refund. Lesson learned. I don't think we will be buying insurance in the future.

That's not too smart. Why did you ever buy it?

[CruisingAlong4Now]

I am just sharing my thoughts and experiences after cruising with Royal for over 20 years and to see if anyone else had a similar experience. I have always found these forums very helpful and informative, especially when I was planning my wedding on a royal ship five years ago

 

Wow CrusingAlong4now. There is no reason to get vicious

 

And I am just sharing my thoughts after cruising for many years. You sound defensive. Is that because you sought concurrence with your anger and instead were told to abide by the rules.

[Pipo]

UPDATE: we just heard back from our travel agents RCCL rep. If we did not have insurance, they would have moved all of the money to another cruise within 12 months. Since we have insurance, we need to file a claim with the insurance company for the refund. Lesson learned. I don't think we will be buying insurance in the future.

 

Wow. This is good news, but unless I see it written on an official document or the contract, I wouldn't rely on that "policy" for future cruises. So far our best option is insurance.

[critterchick]

UPDATE: we just heard back from our travel agents RCCL rep. If we did not have insurance, they would have moved all of the money to another cruise within 12 months. Since we have insurance, we need to file a claim with the insurance company for the refund. Lesson learned. I don't think we will be buying insurance in the future.

 

They may have done it once as a courtesy, but I don't think that you should count on them making a habit of it for you.

 

I don't see how RCI has harmed you - you will not be out any money because you purchased the insurance and will get back your $900 deposit. Furthermore, you are free to use your money for any other cruise on any other cruise line and aren't locked into whatever RCI has available for the next year.

 

Now, if you didn't have insurance and were out the $900, you would be harmed and I can see why you would be upset, but you wouldn't be in any better position with any other line unless they make a policy exception, so I don't think that would be a good reason to abandon ship, as it were.

 

We aren't loyal to the RCI family, but have a lot of cruises with RCI. I wouldn't ever expect them to bend the policy for us (and we don't buy insurance). I would be really grateful if they did and I would keep it to myself.:)

[Grandma Dazzles]

UPDATE: we just heard back from our travel agents RCCL rep. If we did not have insurance, they would have moved all of the money to another cruise within 12 months. Since we have insurance, we need to file a claim with the insurance company for the refund. Lesson learned. I don't think we will be buying insurance in the future.

 

That makes no sense! You benefited from having insurance! Why would you not buy in the future? What if you couldn't have sailed within the 12-month period? Seems to me that you could take the insurance money and re-book without limiting the time frame.

[FLSteve11]

Maybe it soured because folks come on internet chat rooms and brag that Royal bent the rules for them. :eek:

 

Which is why they shouldn't bend the rules for people then. They do it for one person and everyone wants it.

[FLSteve11]

I'm going to side with Royal Caribbean on this one--sorry.

 

The problem with the cruise line transferring your booking to another sail date is that the company will then lose your fare for the sailing you booked (unless it takes on the burden of finding someone for your cabin at the same rate). The insurance will reimburse your costs while the cruise company gets to keep the fare you paid, so everyone wins (except the insurance company, but it will win out in the long run as it collects more from cruisers who do not need to cancel than it pays out--at least it should or it has a very bad business model).

 

I do not think you should take this personally or see this as the company being disloyal. If they did this for you, they would (or should) do it for everyone, which is not really practical (or necessary in light of the availability of insurance).

 

Anyway, the important thing is that you took care of the family medical problem and still have the opportunity to enjoy cruising. I think you should stick with Royal Caribbean if you like the line (or specific sailings) but if you feel you should switch to another line, go ahead--it's your vacation dollars. (But you should expect the same treatment from all the cruise lines; hopefully, this is a one-time problem and you will never need to find out.)

 

Actually I don't think the insurance company will pay if they just transfer the cruise to another date. They're not cancelling a cruise. Or are they planning to tell the insurance that they didnt' sail on it so they want their reimbursement, and then sail on a diffrent cruise. In that case, it sounds like they want a free cruise! (Pay for one cruise, move it to another date, get paid back for the cruise they "didn't take").

 

I don't even quite see the OP's problem. Cancel the cruise you were supposed to take, get the insurance money back for the medical issue, back a new cruise with the money.

 

Transferring the cruise to Royal means THEY pay for the cruise switch, rather then the insurance company. Why would they want to do that?

[crosby99]

Most people would be saying, "I'm sure glad I bought insurance."

 

Really, isn't this what you buy insurance for? To cover emergencies?

 

Insurance is a waste of money........until you need it.

As people have said contracts are contracts and they have to deal with everyone the same

[FLSteve11]

UPDATE: we just heard back from our travel agents RCCL rep. If we did not have insurance, they would have moved all of the money to another cruise within 12 months. Since we have insurance, we need to file a claim with the insurance company for the refund. Lesson learned. I don't think we will be buying insurance in the future.

 

I'd have to see that in writing to believe it. Basically that would be the rep saying insurance is a waste of money and don't buy it, as our company would rather swallow the cost of any loss of revenue then have an insurance company do so. I think anyone counting on this being policy is going to be in for some heartbreak if they can't make their cruise.

 

In fact I might have to ask RCL about that myself, so I can skip insurance in the future *grin*

[katiel53]

I think the OP is upset because (s)he is out money. The OP is out the cost of the insurance. Had Royal Caribbean just transferred the booking, in all likelihood, the insurance would have gone with the new booking.

 

I don't agree that it should make a difference if one has insurance or not. From what the TA told the OP, it does appear Royal does make exceptions for those with no insurance. That is another subject as it seems as though those of us who do purchase insurance are fools by doing so.

 

I won't cruise without insurance because if I had to be airlifted to a hospital, the expense is outrageous. My family feels the same as we all buy insurance, albeit not from the cruise line.

[Ourusualbeach]

UPDATE: we just heard back from our travel agents RCCL rep. If we did not have insurance, they would have moved all of the money to another cruise within 12 months. Since we have insurance, we need to file a claim with the insurance company for the refund. Lesson learned. I don't think we will be buying insurance in the future.

 

Royal said they would have covered it this time because it was a medical necessity.

 

What happens the next time if you need to cancel for a different reason that your insurance would have covered but Royal won't or that Royal changes their mind and maybe aren't so forgiving a year or 2 from now.

[CapeCodCruiser]

UPDATE: we just heard back from our travel agents RCCL rep. If we did not have insurance, they would have moved all of the money to another cruise within 12 months. Since we have insurance, we need to file a claim with the insurance company for the refund. Lesson learned. I don't think we will be buying insurance in the future.

 

Pretty short-sighted to not buy insurance because of one possible situation and not be covered for all of the other possible perils that can happen - no guarantee RCCL will treat every one the same.

 

I can guarantee they will not pay for medical evac or other such major expenses.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

The OP is sharing her opinion, I don't see why some users are criticizing her point. I know there is a contract, and the cruise line will have it harder to sell that cabin now, but she is asking her deposit or final payment being used for a future cruise.

IMHO, RCI and any other cruise line should implement a policy for these cases, where the credit can be used for future travel, but with a FAIR penalty ($50-$200) per passenger, non-refundable, but $900 for keep traveling with them it's insane.

Being loyal has never meant anything to companies. Even, cruise lines consider repeating guests as their worst customers.

 

Like.

It is about customer loyalty. It's not about Insurance at all.

I do believe w/ the OP's loyalty and future cruises already reserved, that someone w/ the level of authority would cringe to hear that this is happening. Like all large companies, they thrive on loyalty. Upper management works hard to achieve this loyalty. Mid managers implement what they are instructed to do. The key is reaching the management level that can make the adjustment. My suggestion is to obtain a Dr's statement and submit it to multiple levels. Follow up relentlessly until you hit that manager that has the authority. Believe me, he/she is there.

[WpgCruise]

I don't understand why anyone would want RCL to take the loss when the O.P. purchased insurance, which was bought to provide cover in case of loss.

 

If RCL were to accommodate the O.P., then really all of us should expect the same treatment, as treating one better than another wouldn't be fair. What do you suppose would happen to overall prices if we were allowed to cancel and/or switch at will ?

 

The O.P.'s issue has nothing at all to do with Customer Service or Loyalty.

Customer Service is implementation of policy, Loyalty is covered by C&A.

 

 

Like.

It is about customer loyalty. It's not about Insurance at all.

I do believe w/ the OP's loyalty and future cruises already reserved, that someone w/ the level of authority would cringe to hear that this is happening. Like all large companies, they thrive on loyalty. Upper management works hard to achieve this loyalty. Mid managers implement what they are instructed to do. The key is reaching the management level that can make the adjustment. My suggestion is to obtain a Dr's statement and submit it to multiple levels. Follow up relentlessly until you hit that manager that has the authority. Believe me, he/she is there.

Edited August 15, 2016 by WpgCruise

[BettyPC]

I hope the surgery goes well and you enjoy cruising in the future.

[John&LaLa]

Both are passenger cruise ships?

 

Sure, kind of sort of

[BeachChik]

UPDATE: we just heard back from our travel agents RCCL rep. If we did not have insurance, they would have moved all of the money to another cruise within 12 months. Since we have insurance, we need to file a claim with the insurance company for the refund. Lesson learned. I don't think we will be buying insurance in the future.

 

I'm finding this comical at this point. Someone angry because they have insurance and will be refunded all their money. Smh. The ridiculousness never ceases to amaze me.

 

Yes great lesson learned that if you have insurance you can cancel and get your money back.

 

Quite frankly I'm finding all the boards littered with people that think all the lines should bend rules just for them. It's quite annoying. And all use the same line of "I'm loyal to xyz line". I'm not loyal to any brand because it's a business out to make money.

Edited August 16, 2016 by BeachChik

[ducklite]

Seems like a DYKWIA issue. Personally I would never leave the country without insurance, and would never expect any special compensation for any situation they didn't create or have control over.

[AdGuyMG]

Pretty short-sighted to not buy insurance because of one possible situation and not be covered for all of the other possible perils that can happen - no guarantee RCCL will treat every one the same.

I can guarantee they will not pay for medical evac or other such major expenses.

 

Of course Royal Caribbean won't.

 

But if the OP were to need med evac or out of country medical not normally covered by US health insurance on their Windstar cruise, they could go a Health Insurance message board and start "Very Disapaointed / Loyalty..." thread about Blue Cross, Aetna, Cigna etc...

 

"after all these years of paying premiums, yada yada yada...