Adequate compensation for disrupted travel plans?

[BrendaJ]

After the United “bumping” fiasco this week, and a few threads on Cruise Critic I’ve read recently where people were bumped from a transatlantic cruise, and where a cruises on the Summit were cancelled or shortened, I have been wondering what I would consider adequate compensation.

 

In United’s case, the whole thing should never have happened and at the gate, they should just have upped the offer to take a later flight until someone volunteered. I’m pretty sure even paying four people $5,000 each would have been a lot cheaper than the end result in this case.

 

In the case of a cruise being cancelled a few weeks before sailing, I’m trying to think of what would appease me without being unreasonable. For example, if Celebrity cancelled my transpacific cruise next year a few weeks in advance, which requires a flight to Sydney and a flight home from Hawaii, once I’ve booked my air, it is going to cost me a lot more than $200 to change my tickets, which would be two one-way tickets. And that’s assuming I had somewhere else I wanted to go. As a repositioning cruise is often a once-per-year itinerary, there is no way I could book the same cruise and transfer my airfare. In that case, I expect I could be out of pocket a significant amount of money for cancelling the air and would want the cruise line to cover that cost.

 

In addition to an obvious refund of the cost of the cruise, excursions, insurance, etc., I would also want some meaningful gesture of goodwill. Even if I wasn’t losing money on pre-paid hotels or excursions not through the cruise line, many hours of planning would be lost, and the whole thing would be a major disappointment. A big discount on a future cruise (without restrictions) seems like it might be okay, assuming there’s a future cruise I wanted to take. However, it all comes down to dollars, and I really have a hard time imagining what sum it would take to make me happy if they cancelled a trip I had been looking forward to for so long.

 

Other than getting refunded any money you spent for the cruise and air, I’m interested to know what amount of compensation would make you happy if your cruise was cancelled close to sailing date.

[jelayne]

When you book any trip, not just a cruise, there is a chance it won't occur. Travel insurance would kick in and cover many out of pocket expenses and many credit cards offer some travel coverage if the trip, air, etc were paid for on the credit card. We don't book excursions that don't refund any pre-payment and also don't book non-refundable hotel rooms. So our out of picket expenses would be covered.

 

That said, depending upon the reason for the cancellation; mechanical problem, overbooking, charter I feel some gesture of goodwill will for the inconvenience is reasonable.

[sanger727]

If I read it correctly, I believe that the people who were bumped on the TA got the airfare change fees, option to switch to a new TA, and a refund of their cruise fare. So, while it wasn't the vacation they had planned, got a free cruise out of it.

 

I would find that adequate compensation, though honestly, feel like there has to be a better way than just telling someone they are bumped. If the week of the cruise is in the middle of a larger vacation or required a significAnt notice at work, there's nothing that could make up for getting bumped.

 

Whereas, someone whose retired and just wanted a quick trip might be more than happy to rebook a trip at a different time. Would be nice if they sent a blanket offer out to everyone to see who was flexible enough to take it as opposed to picking and choosing people.

 

I truly don't understand how a cruise can overbook though. After a certain point it's non-refundable and they have no business selling more cabins than they have.

 

 

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[NLH Arizona]

I think the cruise line should make the passenger whole; refund the cruise, refund any costs to change airfare, hotel rooms, etc. and maybe 20% off the purchase of a new cruise.

[bEwAbG]

I think the cruise line should make the passenger whole; refund the cruise, refund any costs to change airfare, hotel rooms, etc. and maybe 20% off the purchase of a new cruise.

 

Well, in the case of the Summit cruise that just got cancelled at the last minute so it could go into drydock to fix the propulsion issue, people are upset that Celebrity isn't willing to pay for their thousands of dollars in costs to book a last-minute cruise with a different company and ultra-high airfare to get to a replacement destination on the same dates. That's unreasonable to me.

 

I do agree that if you're laying out several thousand dollars and don't get cancel-for-any-reason insurance, then you're assuming some risk of loss. The cruise contract clearly allows the company quite a bit of leeway, and they're just not going to go much beyond refunding cruise fare, hopefully paying for airfare change fees so you can use the ticket for somewhere else, and perhaps giving a discount on a future cruise.

[villauk]

Well, in the case of the Summit cruise that just got cancelled at the last minute so it could go into drydock to fix the propulsion issue, people are upset that Celebrity isn't willing to pay for their thousands of dollars in costs to book a last-minute cruise with a different company and ultra-high airfare to get to a replacement destination on the same dates. That's unreasonable to me.

 

I do agree that if you're laying out several thousand dollars and don't get cancel-for-any-reason insurance, then you're assuming some risk of loss. The cruise contract clearly allows the company quite a bit of leeway, and they're just not going to go much beyond refunding cruise fare, hopefully paying for airfare change fees so you can use the ticket for somewhere else, and perhaps giving a discount on a future cruise.

 

Cancel for any reason insurance is not available in every country - certainly not over here ;).

[naples1]

Well, in the case of the Summit cruise that just got cancelled at the last minute so it could go into drydock to fix the propulsion issue, people are upset that Celebrity isn't willing to pay for their thousands of dollars in costs to book a last-minute cruise with a different company and ultra-high airfare to get to a replacement destination on the same dates. That's unreasonable to me.

 

I do agree that if you're laying out several thousand dollars and don't get cancel-for-any-reason insurance, then you're assuming some risk of loss. The cruise contract clearly allows the company quite a bit of leeway, and they're just not going to go much beyond refunding cruise fare, hopefully paying for airfare change fees so you can use the ticket for somewhere else, and perhaps giving a discount on a future cruise.

 

 

they have to draw the line somewhere!!

[NLH Arizona]

Well, in the case of the Summit cruise that just got cancelled at the last minute so it could go into drydock to fix the propulsion issue, people are upset that Celebrity isn't willing to pay for their thousands of dollars in costs to book a last-minute cruise with a different company and ultra-high airfare to get to a replacement destination on the same dates. That's unreasonable to me.

 

Totally unreasonable to me as well. Make them whole by refunding their money and let them spend it how they will, either on a new cruise or with another line.

[BrendaJ]

I agree - being made whole is the biggest thing. Unfortunately, I hear of people who are out a lot of money due to airline fees being higher than what is being offered, and, unless I'm mistaken, the airlines probably just do not let you cancel your flight and get a refund, so if you can't find a replacement vacation for the right time period, you could be out the money for your airfare. I guess that's one reason for booking with Choice Air; I assume they would refund your flight cost . . . ?

 

 

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[CEOofVacation]

What would stop me from being unhappy would be double the reimbursement of all costs and cancellation fees. Happy will be 10 times that. Either way, we know that the travel industry's compensation is reimbursement of all costs, plus a free future flight or cruise at best.

[sanger727]

Well, in the case of the Summit cruise that just got cancelled at the last minute so it could go into drydock to fix the propulsion issue, people are upset that Celebrity isn't willing to pay for their thousands of dollars in costs to book a last-minute cruise with a different company and ultra-high airfare to get to a replacement destination on the same dates. That's unreasonable to me.

 

I do agree that if you're laying out several thousand dollars and don't get cancel-for-any-reason insurance, then you're assuming some risk of loss. The cruise contract clearly allows the company quite a bit of leeway, and they're just not going to go much beyond refunding cruise fare, hopefully paying for airfare change fees so you can use the ticket for somewhere else, and perhaps giving a discount on a future cruise.

 

 

Why on earth should you pay the high premium of 'cancel for any reason' insurance in cases your cruise gets canceled. Your not canceling, it was canceled out from under you, regular insurance should kick in.

 

And yes, if I have reserved my 3 weeks of vacation time at work a year in advance (which is what we do at my workplace); and purchased all these things in advance, the cruise line has some responsibility to make you whole of the cancel at the last minute. Either put me on a reasonably close replacement and pay the change fees to get me there, or refund my cruise fare and all other non-refundable expenses.

 

 

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[Bo1953]

I agree - being made whole is the biggest thing. Unfortunately, I hear of people who are out a lot of money due to airline fees being higher than what is being offered, and, unless I'm mistaken, the airlines probably just do not let you cancel your flight and get a refund, so if you can't find a replacement vacation for the right time period, you could be out the money for your airfare. I guess that's one reason for booking with Choice Air; I assume they would refund your flight cost . . . ?

 

 

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As well, purchasing a third (3rd) party travel insurance policy would have gone a long way to alleviate some of the financial pain. Of all the things I like to do 'cheap', insurance is one of them I will not because you never know.

 

 

Better to have and not use, then not have and cannot use.

 

bon voyage

[mickey89]

We recently were delayed by over 6 hours on an American Airlines flight from New York to London due a fault with the aircraft (the flight was booked with British Airways but the delayed return flight was by code partner AA). We were each offered a $100 voucher as a goodwill gesture. If we had traveled on a BA flight we would have received €600 each as compensation under EU rules.

We declined their voucher offer, don't wish to get burnt twice !

[bbeltmom]

Delta just put out notice that gate agents can offer up to $2000 (used to be $800) for volunteers and managers can offer up to $9500! Let's see if others follow suit!

 

 

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[Hlitner]

We see two different scenarios. There are times when things happen that are totally beyond the control of a cruise line (very bad weather, strikes, etc) and its hard to hold the cruise line totally to blame. But when the cruise line makes mistakes, overbooks, decides to charter a cruise after accepting independent bookings, etc....we think the lines should pay lots of compensation. There needs to be a disincentive for cruise lines to simply take advantage of passengers. Sometimes cruise lines screw cruisers because they can! I am not a big fan of government interference, but since the cruise lines seem to be following the airlines with their attitude to customers...perhaps we finally need Congress to step in and legislate a Passenger Bill of Rights with mandated compensation for specific actions. We also think that cruise lines should be required to inform all customers if there is going to be a large group on a specific cruise. Being on a ship with a large group can be a very nasty experience...as you can lose access to many public venues, having dining times changed, be totally close out of certain venues, etc. ARGH!

[Bo1953]

We see two different scenarios. There are times when things happen that are totally beyond the control of a cruise line (very bad weather, strikes, etc) and its hard to hold the cruise line totally to blame. But when the cruise line makes mistakes, overbooks, decides to charter a cruise after accepting independent bookings, etc....we think the lines should pay lots of compensation. There needs to be a disincentive for cruise lines to simply take advantage of passengers. Sometimes cruise lines screw cruisers because they can! I am not a big fan of government interference, but since the cruise lines seem to be following the airlines with their attitude to customers...perhaps we finally need Congress to step in and legislate a Passenger Bill of Rights with mandated compensation for specific actions. We also think that cruise lines should be required to inform all customers if there is going to be a large group on a specific cruise. Being on a ship with a large group can be a very nasty experience...as you can lose access to many public venues, having dining times changed, be totally close out of certain venues, etc. ARGH!

 

That is an admirable idea, yet until cruise lines become an integral part of our transportation system i.e. more of a common carrier, hands will be off beyond ship inspections.

 

bon voyage

[4774Papa]

We see two different scenarios. There are times when things happen that are totally beyond the control of a cruise line (very bad weather, strikes, etc) and its hard to hold the cruise line totally to blame. But when the cruise line makes mistakes, overbooks, decides to charter a cruise after accepting independent bookings, etc....we think the lines should pay lots of compensation. There needs to be a disincentive for cruise lines to simply take advantage of passengers. Sometimes cruise lines screw cruisers because they can! I am not a big fan of government interference, but since the cruise lines seem to be following the airlines with their attitude to customers...perhaps we finally need Congress to step in and legislate a Passenger Bill of Rights with mandated compensation for specific actions. We also think that cruise lines should be required to inform all customers if there is going to be a large group on a specific cruise. Being on a ship with a large group can be a very nasty experience...as you can lose access to many public venues, having dining times changed, be totally close out of certain venues, etc. ARGH!

Agree with your comments, I tend not to favor government interference. More customer protection often results in higher fares.

 

Still, I am repelled by a cruise line bumping, close to the start of the cruise, passengers that have planned their trip around the cruise, including airfare. Travel insurance certainly helps, but I think the cruise line should pony up extras to satisfy the customer in this situation.

 

I do remember the uproar a few years ago when airlines had flights on hold for hours while passengers were on the tarmac waiting for clearance to fly. Imagine sitting for hours, seat belted, waiting to fly. Congress passed protections. Guess what, the airlines avoid paying customers by just cancelling flights, so instead of waiting on the tarmac and at least getting to your destination a few hours late, your flight is cancelled and you have to spend the night in a hotel, come back to the airport the next day, you hope to get to your destination. Sometimes waiting on the tarmac would be better.

 

I do wonder about the cause of X's bumping and wonder if it had to do with a TA's negligence.

[marcoigna]

After the United “bumping” fiasco this week, and a few threads on Cruise Critic I’ve read recently where people were bumped from a transatlantic cruise, and where a cruises on the Summit were cancelled or shortened, I have been wondering what I would consider adequate compensation.

 

 

 

In United’s case, the whole thing should never have happened and at the gate, they should just have upped the offer to take a later flight until someone volunteered. I’m pretty sure even paying four people $5,000 each would have been a lot cheaper than the end result in this case.

 

 

 

In the case of a cruise being cancelled a few weeks before sailing, I’m trying to think of what would appease me without being unreasonable. For example, if Celebrity cancelled my transpacific cruise next year a few weeks in advance, which requires a flight to Sydney and a flight home from Hawaii, once I’ve booked my air, it is going to cost me a lot more than $200 to change my tickets, which would be two one-way tickets. And that’s assuming I had somewhere else I wanted to go. As a repositioning cruise is often a once-per-year itinerary, there is no way I could book the same cruise and transfer my airfare. In that case, I expect I could be out of pocket a significant amount of money for cancelling the air and would want the cruise line to cover that cost.

 

 

 

In addition to an obvious refund of the cost of the cruise, excursions, insurance, etc., I would also want some meaningful gesture of goodwill. Even if I wasn’t losing money on pre-paid hotels or excursions not through the cruise line, many hours of planning would be lost, and the whole thing would be a major disappointment. A big discount on a future cruise (without restrictions) seems like it might be okay, assuming there’s a future cruise I wanted to take. However, it all comes down to dollars, and I really have a hard time imagining what sum it would take to make me happy if they cancelled a trip I had been looking forward to for so long.

 

 

 

Other than getting refunded any money you spent for the cruise and air, I’m interested to know what amount of compensation would make you happy if your cruise was cancelled close to sailing date.

 

 

You really need to read the fine print of contract - if you do the air with cruise line much better. If not a $200.00 change fee offer IS their goodwill - they are not obligated at all

 

Did MSC ship one time and sailing date got adjusted by five days. They did offer to change the air tickets for us that we had booked on our own but if passengers decided to cancel the cruise then they were out the money of the airline tickets themselves - and no compensation was offered.

 

It's all in the fine print.

 

 

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[oroszdb]

In our case we were "bumped" from a cruise in Summit in 2018, we were contacted in August 2016 - way before air was even able to be booked, we were guaranteed the same pricing on "select" cruises as we had paid for Summit and an additional $400 on OBC...when I looked at the pricing for the cruise we selected I believe we were saving $1K so IMO the advanced notice, the savings on the new cruise and the additional OBC certainly made up for having to switch to another cruise

 

 

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[upwarduk]

Other than getting refunded any money you spent for the cruise and air, I’m interested to know what amount of compensation would make you happy if your cruise was cancelled close to sailing date.

 

 

Well I wasn't happy with the $200 OBC per cabin that we received when our cruise Dubai to Rome was cancelled due to 'redeployment ' of Celebrity Century 6 months before sailing date, but at least we didn't loose our air fare as we had booked that through Celebrity, so the deposit was just transferred to our new booking.

BTW we were given more in Future Cruise Certificates because of the bad smell outside our cabin on Eclipse during the inaugural season! If I remember correctly that amounted to $ 335 p.p.

[CRZR58]

I think there is a difference between problems that are beyond the control of the company like weather and problems caused by the company like overbooking or charters. There's also a difference between cancelling a trip that's a year away over one that's coming up soon.

 

In all cases, the company should make the customer whole at the very minimum. That's everything they've paid the company plus all non-refundable cost incurred by the customer. Examples: Non-refundable airline tickets and Non-refundable hotel costs.

 

If the trip is a year or more away or weather related, then a gesture of good will would be prudent. 10-20% off of another trip if they keep your down payment for example.

 

If the trip is closer and the problem was caused by the company or a mechanical failure, which is ultimately the company's responsibility, then simply making the customer whole isn't enough. You want to make it less expensive to the company to fix it's mistakes, then it is to continue to make decisions that make them more money by punishing their customers.

 

As for Trip Insurance... It shouldn't be the customers responsibility or cost to protect themselves from the cruise companies mistakes or policies.

[peteukmcr]

We have had 2 experiences of having cruises cancelled, once by Celebrity and once by NCL.

 

Our Celebrity experience was after we booked a May 2017 sailing on Equinox back in May 2016.

 

We booked non refundable flights to Barcelona on 30th June 2016 once they became available and were waiting to book the return flights when they came available in July.

 

On 19th July 2016 we were advised the Equinox sailing was cancelled as the ship was being re-deployed and basically not coming back to Europe in 2017.

 

We were given alternative Mediterranean sailings available at prevailing rates (note, prevailing rates, not the rate we paid for the Equinox 10 night sailing), $200 OBC and up to £250 per person for flight changes (we are from, and booked in the UK), plus the difference in airfare if we booked another cruise with Celebrity. We had 14 days to make our decision.

 

We chose a Reflection sailing out of Civitavecchia departing 11 days later than planned(luckily our employees were flexible in letting us change our absences from work). The cruise cost more, but only £2 pp! We kept the classic drinks package and got the additional $200 OBC.

 

As the airline we were using to fly to Barcelona do not offer a service to Rome we could not re-route the flights and could only cancel and rebook with another airline. Cancelling our Barcelona flights meant we would get the taxes refunded, but less admin charges plus a charge for a letter to confirm the cancellation which Celebrity required before any pay out.

 

By 25th July all was sorted and Celebrity paid up the difference in flight costs, we hadn't incurred any other expenses at this stage as cancelling our pre cruise hotel was within cancellation policy (I never reserve non refundable hotels that far in advance).

 

Did I receive adequate compensation? I think so. I wasn't out of pocket (well £2 pp!) and Celebrity refunded me within a reasonable timeframe.

 

OK we had to spend more time researching and booking a new pre-cruise hotel, pay more for airport transfers but that didn't take too long nor cost much more as the accommodation in Civitavecchia cost less than that in Barcelona and so the extra transfer costs balanced out the total cost.

 

Should I have held out for more? Maybe, but to be honest I didn't think I'd win so didn't push it.

 

If it were to happen just weeks before a sailing, as reported recently, then that would be a completely different matter.

 

As for the NCL cancellation, that was handled so badly in my opinion, including the reaction of people on the NCL boards on CC where I was called a liar for saying I'd booked non refundable flights 16 months out (it is possible with one of the UK airlines). NCL changed their promise to refund all non-refundable expenses and took over 2 months to process the refund of cruise deposit and non refundable expenses (which they did reinstate when I proved I had non refundable, non changeable flights) as the alternative sailings offered were not suitable. Needless to say we don't have any future NCL cruises in the works.

[CRZR58]

Any compensation that the customer is happy with is good enough.

[BrendaJ]

Thanks, everyone, for offering your perspectives. I guess we can be grateful that social media, message boards and vacation review sites are making most companies at least try to keep their customers happy, as bad customer experiences can be very expensive from a reputation standpoint. I remember many years ago, we booked a transatlantic cruise, including air, with a vacation package vendor. We were already at our airport hotel for our flight the next day, when our travel agent called us and told us our cruise had been cancelled. We at first thought she was kidding. I just thank my lucky stars we didn't fly to Spain a day early because if we had, we would have been standing at the port with our bags the next day, wondering where the ship was.

 

Our "compensation" in that case was $200 per person off our next vacation with the package company. Everything else that company offered was unappealing to us so we passed. It took them 5 months to refund the money we had paid them. Both the package company and cruise line are no longer in business - not hard to see why.

[oroszdb]

Both the package company and cruise line are no longer in business - not hard to see why.

 

 

I think you hit the nail on the head Brenda - make sure you're always dealing with a reputable company....those are the ones that'll survive (and you're right, there's a reason why)

 

 

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