A common theme in recent complaints

[Hunwolf]

Common sense has to kick in at some point, and you utter the words "Regardless of what someone in a call center 1000 miles away says, there's no way this cruise is happening. No Way. We can see it on the news. We're not making that drive. We'll just stay home and have our T/A hash it out with the Travel Insurance people if it comes to it (because we NEVER cruise without getting the insurance). Which it won't because there's no way this cruise is happening."

 

And the reason our T/A is our T/A isn't the OBC or bottle of wine, it's because she'll go to bat for something like that.

 

For those who "Won't sail with RC again because of how they handled this," we'll happily occupy your cabin while you continue your search for a line that's going to never get anything wrong, seeing as how even the local weather folks are marveling how old Harvey's about to make a second landfall.

 

Actually this is Harvey's 3rd landfall.

[bUU]

As long as insurance companies sell Cancel for any Reason coverage, they're not going to give its benefits away for free.

[tankerat]

Another thread said Carnival has just canceled this weekend's Galveston cruises. [i expect that is true and sources confirming will soon be available.]

 

RCL may do that unless they want to sail back across the Gulf again toward a closed port that is as I type getting hit with a lot of rain [and Harborside Drive is now flooded and closed.]

 

There will be issues with suppliers being down and out for a while. Traffic in Houston will be heavily impacted for days. Many routes are closed and will be for quite a while. Then there are the closed airports.

 

But RCL Chief Meteorologist James Van Fleet probably sees a "window" for a turnaround as he did last week. [Except that window was never actually open...just like the Port of Galveston was never open]

[dada2199cc]

A $150 policy or put a condo up for sale. I'd rather pay the 150 and never think of selling or refinancing the condo.

 

Youre pretty spot on about budgeting though. Many people lack having reasonable budgets or any budget at all. Scary.

 

I cruise 12-16 times per year, I'm in my early 40s, and I expect to probably cruise even more next year. $150 per cruise is up to $2400 a year. I've cruised probably 60 times in my life, I have no idea because I never tracked it until 4 years ago. So that's $9000 I'd have thrown away. Doesn't make sense to me.

 

I am fit (6-pack abs), I have never once had a medical need, and I've had accidents while travelling that I dealt with cheap and with cash at a medical clinic.

 

Yes, you do hear stories about a 14 year old teen who gets a medavac or a 31 year old who bangs their head, but I don't get drunk on cruise ships. Most people who get airlifted off are extremely old, with preexisting issues, or they're extremely obese and they had a higher likelihood of a risk event.

 

I'd prefer to pocket $150 every time I cruise than make up scary stories. How many people cruised in 2016? How many were airlifted? How many who were airlifted were not in a high risk health category or obese? Honestly, those numbers will tell you what a scam that scary story is.

 

My medical travel insurance is an annual rider on my main health policy and it's pretty cheap, but it's also almost $7000 deductible, so I can't imagine using it. I put in a call to my insurance agent to see if I can raise the deductible on the travel medical portion to $25,000 because I would if it would save me even $50 a year.

 

The vast majority, supermajority of people who have health risks on board are health risks on land, too. I am not in that group yet, and paying a premium for scary fears doesn't make sense to me.

 

Self-insuring on as much as possible over 25 year has helped me put around $80,000 in savings in that time frame. That includes all of the various travel insurance at checkout costs, plus a variety of other premium plans pushed on me by various travel planners or agents. I just say "how much is it?" and then "no, thanks" and put that amount into savings. I could pay for one airlift right now if I had to, but I am going with the odds. I bet there are probably 100 airlifts a year and millions of customers who don't need it.

 

I also don't buy lottery tickets or play the slot machines. I am good at math.

[Beachdude]

Yes, and it really is becoming a societal issue: People expecting others to make up for their own deliberate neglect with regard to properly planning and protecting themselves to the best of their own ability. The expectation that someone will effectively give them for free, something that that someone charges other people money for, is really quite over-the-top.

.

 

I think it's even more simple than that, we need insurance to reimburse us for our own cultural ignorance.

 

We talked to a doctor in Hawaii the told us 33 tourist were killed in accidents in his area alone just in the last few years. He said Americans have gotten so used to illegitimate warning signs that are less about warning of real danger and more about preventing litigation, they disregard warnings of real danger.

 

He called it the Disney land syndrome. There are signs all over the Disney parks that that warn tourist of everything from wet grass to rides that may be too fast for kids "under this tall". Where there aren't warning signs, there are fences. So when a sign on a hiking trail in the jungles of Hawaii warn of a dangerous cliff, tourist almost feel challenged to find the cliff. And several do each year.

 

I've even found myself with Disney syndrome. As an avid diver and snorkeler, I jumped in a lot of oceans thinking I am skilled enough for the worst possible danger. One Hawaiian who learned of a beach I was about to snorkel warned me that several divers had been killed by sharks on that very beach. I dove it anyway because I thought he was over reacting. It was one of the best beaches I have ever snorkeled. But I have kept count and at least 3 "tourist" snorkelers have been killed by sharks since I dove there. So I don't dive there anymore. Also, I pay more attention to the beach signs that have a number of undertow drownings on that beach in recent years.

 

Insurance covers us for our loss of common sense.

 

Burt

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I cruise 12-16 times per year, I'm in my early 40s, and I expect to probably cruise even more next year. $150 per cruise is up to $2400 a year. I've cruised probably 60 times in my life, I have no idea because I never tracked it until 4 years ago. So that's $9000 I'd have thrown away. Doesn't make sense to me..

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that if you sail that often and can afford to do so...you likely have exponentially more financial resources to deal with any trip interruption than the majority of other passengers...so given that consideration...you may also be one of the .000000001% of people in the world where insurance may just not be best investment.

[tankerat]

This was posted about an hour ago.

Latest update from Port of Galveston Website:

UPDATE: Official Port of Galveston Parking Lots A and B

Port Police are accessing both parking lots.

There has been steady rain for hours and the roads surrounding the parking lots have become inaccessible again. As you know our lots are large so it is possible that sections of the lots could have water rising while other sections do not.

The lots have taken in some water so as of now there is some flooding. Check back for additional updates.

[Punchy]

I have annual travel insurance plan that runs a little over $1K. I travel a bunch both for work and pleasure and this way it just hits all the bases without doing it trip by trip.

[TubbyMrT]

Getting insurance is an excellent idea but, RCCL's problems haven't been caused by insurance issues. They've been caused by horrible decisions followed up by horrible customer service..

 

Horrible decisions by people trying to catch a cruise ship at the risk of loosing their lives. I'm sorry, but if someone says that I am going to loose $5000 unless I travel into a hurricane to catch a ship, I would stay away from the hurricane and battle for the $5000 from RCCL at a later point in time. I would be a fool to pursue the $5000 by showing up at an empty dock in a hurricane.

 

Blame RCCL for telling you to go to the port? If they told you to jump off a bridge, would you? Let me ask, who cares more whether you live or die? RCCL, me, or you? The correct answer should be you. As such YOU should make the decisions about your life and not blame RCCL. Your financial matters can wait for another day. You have access to the exact same information that RCCL does as it pertains to the weather, the port, the roads, hotels, airlines, etc. Take control. Buy the insurance. Don't blame others.

[bUU]

Horrible decisions by people trying to catch a cruise ship at the risk of loosing their lives. I'm sorry, but if someone says that I am going to loose $5000 unless I travel into a hurricane to catch a ship, I would stay away from the hurricane and battle for the $5000 from RCCL at a later point in time. I would be a fool to pursue the $5000 by showing up at an empty dock in a hurricane.

 

Blame RCCL for telling you to go to the port? If they told you to jump off a bridge, would you? Let me ask, who cares more whether you live or die? RCCL, me, or you? The correct answer should be you. As such YOU should make the decisions about your life and not blame RCCL. Your financial matters can wait for another day. You have access to the exact same information that RCCL does as it pertains to the weather, the port, the roads, hotels, airlines, etc. Take control. Don't blame others.

I agree with your overall sentiment, but I think we have to recognize that in making the "correct" and "responsible" decision, we are explicitly giving up what we would have been entitled to if we did as the policies dictate, make a good-faith effort to continue your travels. It may seem "logical" that cruise lines and insurance companies would make exceptions for hurricanes, but they may or may not. We've already seen that cruise lines will hold people to their actions, giving future cruise credit only to those passengers who held out longer, and denying it to those passengers who opted-out earlier. If a cruise line does that, you can be an insurance company will be ten times as stringent.

[baileybrad]

Common sense has to kick in at some point, and you utter the words "Regardless of what someone in a call center 1000 miles away says, there's no way this cruise is happening. No Way. We can see it on the news. We're not making that drive. We'll just stay home and have our T/A hash it out with the Travel Insurance people if it comes to it (because we NEVER cruise without getting the insurance). Which it won't because there's no way this cruise is happening."

 

And the reason our T/A is our T/A isn't the OBC or bottle of wine, it's because she'll go to bat for something like that.

 

For those who "Won't sail with RC again because of how they handled this," we'll happily occupy your cabin while you continue your search for a line that's going to never get anything wrong, seeing as how even the local weather folks are marveling how old Harvey's about to make a second landfall.

Again, travel insurance is a really good idea. And most likely, an absolute during hurricane or snow storm seasons.

 

That being said, there is "never get anything wrong" and there is WRONG in how RCI handled advising folks sailing on 08/27 in regards to the cruise is still leaving on Sunday when the port was CLOSED.

[mommao729]

I am glad I read this post. Thought I bought the insurance on my harmony cruise September 30th. I guess I didn't. Don't know why. Is it too late to get it now?

[bUU]

I am glad I read this post. Thought I bought the insurance on my harmony cruise September 30th. I guess I didn't. Don't know why. Is it too late to get it now?

No, but some portions of the coverage require purchase either within a short period of time after initial deposit or prior to final payment (and which deadline applies depends on the specific policy).

[mafig]

I live in Florida and don't cruise during the height of hurricane season (anymore, I did cruise in Sept. once).

 

However, whenever I see a post asking "should I book a cruise in August, September? I hear it's hurricane season?" all I read on Cruise Critic is "of course, cruise lines stay away from hurricanes, nothing will happen." I think this does a disservice to those who don't know any better. Airports can close. Cruise ports can close. And cruise companies will protect their bottom line first and you will come second. That's never mentioned to those who ask. And if everything does go well and the hurricane doesn't hit your port or your itinerary, they are never told you'll spend at least a week stressing out whether your cruise is a go or not, or whether you can get to the port or not.

 

Those rates are cheaper for a reason.

[swoopy2110]

I always laugh towards those that feel entitled of "X happened, I missed my cruise, RCI won't give me my money back, I didn't purchase insurance"... Tough. It's not their fault and they shouldn't be giving you anything.

 

There must be 3 posts a week that appear on their facebook page along these lines. Why should they give you anything ? The thousands of cruisers that purchase insurance would be covered for the scenario you're descibing.

 

I always purchase insurance. It came in very useful in March 2016 when I was forced to travel a cruise due to a health issue. I used the money to go on another cruise a few months later.

 

I hope RCI stand firm on the policy every time one of these posts / calls / letters to the CEO is made. It's not their fault.

[Milwaukee Eight]

Interesting thread.

 

So, what happens if you (or a family member) dies during a cruise? Does travel insurance cover that event? And where is your corpse kept? When and how is it taken off board? And what arrangements are made to send your body home?

 

I'm old, never bought travel insurance, but this thread had me thinking I should, and just thinking about that final cruise, should it happen.

 

I read somewhere on CC that on most cruises at least one PAX dies during a cruise. More if it's a long cruise. Is that true?

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

 

On big ships, they put you in the cooler. [emoji33]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[setsail]

Common sense has to kick in at some point, and you utter the words "Regardless of what someone in a call center 1000 miles away says, there's no way this cruise is happening. No Way. We can see it on the news. We're not making that drive. We'll just stay home and have our T/A hash it out with the Travel Insurance people if it comes to it (because we NEVER cruise without getting the insurance). Which it won't because there's no way this cruise is happening."

 

And the reason our T/A is our T/A isn't the OBC or bottle of wine, it's because she'll go to bat for something like that.

 

For those who "Won't sail with RC again because of how they handled this," we'll happily occupy your cabin while you continue your search for a line that's going to never get anything wrong, seeing as how even the local weather folks are marveling how old Harvey's about to make a second landfall.

 

Perfectly said. I wondered if some of these posters would just stick their head in a fire if rci said it was necessary in order to cruise. All these hurricane threads over the years are mostly alike, one of the problems pointed out by Max, no insurance. Another, blame rci for everything, it's what they do and another, whine about it on cruise critic when their ego does not get a massage by rci. Will any of the cruise lines get their PR right during a hurricane, I doubt it

 

Flying/driving into the face of a cat 4 with a 50" forecast of rain in an area that has a history of flooding is not something I would try regardless of what some cruise line says.

Edited August 29, 2017 by setsail

[Milwaukee Eight]

Another thread said Carnival has just canceled this weekend's Galveston cruises. [i expect that is true and sources confirming will soon be available.]

 

 

 

RCL may do that unless they want to sail back across the Gulf again toward a closed port that is as I type getting hit with a lot of rain [and Harborside Drive is now flooded and closed.]

 

 

 

There will be issues with suppliers being down and out for a while. Traffic in Houston will be heavily impacted for days. Many routes are closed and will be for quite a while. Then there are the closed airports.

 

 

 

But RCL Chief Meteorologist James Van Fleet probably sees a "window" for a turnaround as he did last week. [Except that window was never actually open...just like the Port of Galveston was never open]

 

 

 

More #FAKENEWS. Please look at a calendar. August 31st is this Thursday and not this weekend.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[bUU]

However, whenever I see a post asking "should I book a cruise in August, September? I hear it's hurricane season?" all I read on Cruise Critic is "of course, cruise lines stay away from hurricanes, nothing will happen." I think this does a disservice to those who don't know any better.

We all should recall these threads about Harvey and refer to them when the question comes up next.

 

Will any of the cruise lines get their PR right during a hurricane, I doubt it

Since it is so consistent, both across time and across companies, perhaps your judgement is missing critical aspects of what constitutes getting it "right". PR is not the only consideration a company must factor in.

[CRZR58]

Horrible decisions by people trying to catch a cruise ship at the risk of loosing their lives. I'm sorry, but if someone says that I am going to loose $5000 unless I travel into a hurricane to catch a ship, I would stay away from the hurricane and battle for the $5000 from RCCL at a later point in time. I would be a fool to pursue the $5000 by showing up at an empty dock in a hurricane.

 

Blame RCCL for telling you to go to the port? If they told you to jump off a bridge, would you? Let me ask, who cares more whether you live or die? RCCL, me, or you? The correct answer should be you. As such YOU should make the decisions about your life and not blame RCCL. Your financial matters can wait for another day. You have access to the exact same information that RCCL does as it pertains to the weather, the port, the roads, hotels, airlines, etc. Take control. Buy the insurance. Don't blame others.

I've got no skin in the game. It's not my circus and not my monkeys. I wasn't told to go to a port in a hurricane, but I know it was a horrible decision by Royal to tell anyone to do that or risk losing all their money. It's unconscionable to tell your customers to head to a hurricane location. Period. Full stop.

 

It's not the customers who believed the company who are at fault here. Many of them likely had trip cancellation insurance that they couldn't use until RCCL finally got around to cancelling their cruise. It's the company who gave them the horrible information in the first place.

 

Trip cancellation insurance, doesn't come into effect until the trip was actually cancelled, which happened way later than it should have (Another horrible decision). Carnival had the same info as Royal, which is more than the average customer had BTW, but they made the right decisions in a timely manner which means they didn't affect their customers nearly as badly.

 

Note that anything you actually use isn't covered by trip cancellation insurance (I know because I had to use it once when my wife had a medical emergancy on Carnival). If you flew in to Houston, you used your ticket so it's not covered. If you got a hotel room before the trip was cancelled, those days aren't covered. What would be covered is the cruise itself, but (Stay with me as this is where it gets really fun) RCCL is covering the cruise because they didn't go anywhere anyway. In this particular case, Trip Insurance would covered the incidentals. That's it.

 

Medical insurance in this case would have been completely useless. It doesn't get activated unless you had a medical condition. Bringing it up in this situation is simply a red herring.

 

I totally get where company, the industry folks and the cheerleaders, would love to make this all about getting insurance instead of being about how shabbily RCCL treated it's customers. Turn the story into something that isn't the companies fault. Focus on what the customer could do instead of what the company should do. Lots of folks are happily going on and on about 'protecting yourself' and 'blaming others', but that's not what it's about in this case.

[Hunwolf]

Honestly the arguments on here kind of make sense. Use good judgement instead of listening to customer service. Taking that to the next level, why do you need customer service to begin with. Just shut it down.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I've got no skin in the game. It's not my circus and not my monkeys. I wasn't told to go to a port in a hurricane, but I know it was a horrible decision by Royal to tell anyone to do that or risk losing all their money. It's unconscionable to tell your customers to head to a hurricane location. Period. Full stop.

 

It's not the customers who believed the company who are at fault here. Many of them likely had trip cancellation insurance that they couldn't use until RCCL finally got around to cancelling their cruise. It's the company who gave them the horrible information in the first place.

 

Trip cancellation insurance, doesn't come into effect until the trip was actually cancelled, which happened way later than it should have (Another horrible decision). Carnival had the same info as Royal, which is more than the average customer had BTW, but they made the right decisions in a timely manner which means they didn't affect their customers nearly as badly.

 

Note that anything you actually use isn't covered by trip cancellation insurance (I know because I had to use it once when my wife had a medical emergancy on Carnival). If you flew in to Houston, you used your ticket so it's not covered. If you got a hotel room before the trip was cancelled, those days aren't covered. What would be covered is the cruise itself, but (Stay with me as this is where it gets really fun) RCCL is covering the cruise because they didn't go anywhere anyway. In this particular case, Trip Insurance would covered the incidentals. That's it.

 

Medical insurance in this case would have been completely useless. It doesn't get activated unless you had a medical condition. Bringing it up in this situation is simply a red herring.

 

I totally get where company, the industry folks and the cheerleaders, would love to make this all about getting insurance instead of being about how shabbily RCCL treated it's customers. Turn the story into something that isn't the companies fault. Focus on what the customer could do instead of what the company should do. Lots of folks are happily going on and on about 'protecting yourself' and 'blaming others', but that's not what it's about in this case.

Nearly every whiner, complainer, or finger-pointer looking for somebody/something to blame got it wrong.

 

It has been Mother Nature's fault. Period.

 

Everything else is just noise.

[Hunwolf]

 

Flying/driving/(sailing) into the face of a cat 4 with a 50" forecast of rain in an area that has a history of flooding is not something I would try regardless of what some cruise line says.

 

Isn't that kind of what RCCL was trying to do Sunday evening to get to Freeport? :cool:

[Kingofcool1947]

I always laugh towards those that feel entitled of "X happened, I missed my cruise, RCI won't give me my money back, I didn't purchase insurance"... Tough. It's not their fault and they shouldn't be giving you anything.

 

There must be 3 posts a week that appear on their facebook page along these lines. Why should they give you anything ? The thousands of cruisers that purchase insurance would be covered for the scenario you're descibing.

 

I always purchase insurance. It came in very useful in March 2016 when I was forced to travel a cruise due to a health issue. I used the money to go on another cruise a few months later.

 

I hope RCI stand firm on the policy every time one of these posts / calls / letters to the CEO is made. It's not their fault.

 

Re: "I always purchase insurance. It came in very useful in March 2016 when I was forced to travel a cruise due to a health issue. "

Sorry I don't understand.

[swoopy2110]

Re: "I always purchase insurance. It came in very useful in March 2016 when I was forced to travel a cruise due to a health issue. "

Sorry I don't understand.

 

Typo..

 

Ment to say "Forced to cancel a cruise and put in a claim due to a health issue"